Newbie with a horse story

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Hi! We just moved into an old house on Maryland's Eastern Shore. My friend has me HOOKED on this site (Hi! Karole!) Anyway... My husband lived in OK as a kid and had a horse. He bought Traveller before the horse was weened, so the mama horse came along temporarily. Traveller was very curious so Hubby called him "George" after the monkey Curious George. He also had a special whistle to call him in from the pasture. Hubby's family moves to Maryland and brings George and all the other animals with them (even the goldfish). After we got married in 1988, he sold the horse due to some circumstances beyond his control. (No, I was not one of the circumstances!) Fast forward 12 years. Hubby's sister moves to Maryland and buys a small farm and buys a high strung filly and wants to get an older horse to teach her some manners, but has no money to do so. She looks in the paper and answers an ad for a free horse. She brings this horse home and thinks "He reminds me of Traveller." She calss to ask my Hubby to come look at him, but Hubby thinks his sister is just being overly dramatic. We drive up a couple weeks later to see this horse. Hubby does his special whistle and horse comes flying out of the barn. He checks him out and,Yup, identical scars from when he was bullied by sister's horse all those years ago. It was a reunion of great joy! My husband cried like a baby! Now we are in the process of putting up a fence to bring George to live with us. He is 19 years old and had been somewhat neglected, so we have doubts as to being able to ride him, but to have him back is all that matters. Hope this story does your heart good.

-- Jo (mamamia2kids@msn.com), October 04, 2001

Answers

I do love stories with happy endings!!! How wonderful for you both!!!

Just because Traveller is 19 doesn't preclude being able to ride him, especially once he gets some groceries back under his girth, so to speak. Have a good horse vet check him out thoroughly, to check his teeth to see if they need "floating" (takes the sharp egdes off from wear), bring his shots up to date, and in general evaluate his condition and lamenesses, if present or not. Have a farrier check his feet to see if they need attention or shoes, if they are in decent shape, you will not need shoes just to pleasure ride him on non-paved/non-gravel surfaces.

I used to have a 20 year old Anglo-Arab that I did endurance riding on, old Raffles once completed a two day 100 mile ride at the age of 19, and did so in fine shape!

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), October 04, 2001.


Reminds me of Black Beauty. Good luck with him. Horses are like potato chips...you cant have just one[LOL]

-- tracy (murfette@stargate.net), October 04, 2001.

How exciting! I am so happy for you both! I wish that would happen with me. I had to sell my first horse because of lack of room and funds. He was a beautiful, purebred, Arabian. Maybe someday........

-- c.d. (his4ever@mac.com), October 04, 2001.

Maybe I am just emotional today..but that story made me cry...how sweet. That is so neat. I still ride my 25 year old gelding. He has had a very easy life though, so he is in great shape for his age. He is a running quarter. His name is Mick. He was a "free" horse too. A friend who had him for 10 years couldn't keep him any longer, and just wanted him to have a good home. He is a great friend. I would have him even if I couldn't ride him. Have fun with Traveller/George.

-- Jenny Pipes (Auntjenny6@aol.com), October 04, 2001.

Great story, Jo! Obviously, your husband and George were meant to be together!

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), October 04, 2001.


Oh, that is such a NICE story! Thank you for telling us!

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), October 04, 2001.

Oh what a great story. I have a 30 year old mare that is frisky enough to be a handfull. Try feeding him equine senior and high quality alfalfa. It will do wonders for his weight. (None of the knockoff brands for equine senior are as good. I think I have tried them all).

-- Stacia n OK (OneClassyCowgirl@aol.com), October 05, 2001.

How exciting, Jo! Funny what folks call 'old.' I feel when a horse is in his later teens, he's just starting. All the bugs are out! I ride hard and long up and down the mountains. Four of the friends I've ridden those mountains with have horses in their 30's. One of my friends rode endurance rides on a horse til he was almost 30. Another friend didn't retire her horse from competitive riding until he was just over 30. He's now 36 and just pleasure rides. Thirties seems to be a magic number! -LOL- Too many folks retire horses to the pasture when they're too young and that's what often kills them. They miss having a job.

Your horse could surprise you once you've built him back up. Just take it slow in the re-building and enjoy watching him get back in shape.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), October 06, 2001.


=== Try feeding him equine senior and high quality alfalfa. It will do wonders for his weight. (None of the knockoff brands for equine senior are as good. ===

Stacia, out west here, most are feeding a senior feed to the 25 years and over horses that also has Glucosamine and Chondroitin in it. They lugged many a bucket of Glucosamine/Chondroitin until this feed came out! -G- The feed is from a mill out west here, and I doubt if it's all over the country (but I don't know for sure).

Different point of view ~ None of us feed alfalfa. We free feed 24/7 pasture or grass hay, either Bermuda or Coastal, depending on location, to all the equine, regardless of age.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), October 06, 2001.


Hi Jo, How come I missed that beautiful story sitting next to you all those days at the "Y". Where was I????? It made me cry, Love you, Karole

-- Karole (Biz3boymom@aol.com), October 08, 2001.


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