07/13/2024
Two pictures of the same horse -- one described by the rescue she was recently sent back to as " literally...sweating from just the idea of getting worked, so worked up and bothered she could not focus" and the other taken during a riding lesson here at my facility just a couple of months ago....
In early 2021 one of my clients decided to adopt a mare from an area rescue. The horse was trailered by the rescue to Alamo Area Vet Clinic in Castroville for a prepurchase exam before coming to my property for boarding. She arrived at the clinic with a large open gash on the inside of her right hock. The horse’s previous owner or maybe the rescue, had chopped her tail off to a length that was too short to swish the flies off her legs and body. Consequently, she was kicking and stomping to keep the flies away. In the process, she kicked a big gash on the inside of her right hock. During the prepurchase exam Dr. Luis evaluated her and saw nothing wrong structurally, so my clients went through with the adoption, and we treated the wound. The mare continued kicking and stomping at flies and eventually kicked the inside of her left hock. This injury was examined by Dr Guevara and determined to be ok structurally, so we treated both wounds and everything eventually healed. She has to live in fly boots and be slathered in fly spray because she is "thin skinned" and very bothered by flies. However, during the time she was recovering from her wounds, she stopped picking up her right hind foot on cue. Our farrier Skip Burgess would use a soft rope to pick her foot up for trimming, and she complied without much fuss. He determined this was behavioral and not from pain. Dr. Guevara was again consulted and agreed that there was no apparent unsoundness. My clients continued to work with Elektra to overcome this problem, but were unsuccessful. The farrier was always able to use the soft rope to pick her right hind foot up, but she wouldn't give her foot on cue for them.
About a year and a half into their partnership, the mare, now named “Elektra” spooked at something and took off at a gallop. Her 13 year-old rider (who is a good rider btw) was caught off guard and fell off. Over the next year and a half, my clients continued to ride every week; more if their schedule allowed. Generally, Elektra would do great; 9 times out of ten she was a pleasure to ride. Usually, after our lesson, Elektra would take her young rider for a slow plod trail ride around our acreage as a cool down – we often remarked that she would make a good trail horse. She was willing to go by herself or with another horse. However, when riding in an arena, she continued to sporadically, out of the blue, and with little or no warning, slam on the brakes and rear up or buck. She became very reactive to poll pressure and would fling her head up forcefully pulling away during bridling or haltering. Sometimes, she would throw herself back when she was standing tied. My clients worked with her behaviors and learned how to overcome the challenges that were coming up. Because these behaviors were so unexpected the vet came out to check her frequently over the next year and a 1/2 to palpate her for back problems or other lameness, check for ear problems, check for jaw or mouth problems...nothing was ever revealed and she was determined to be sound and healthy. She even went to a couple of schooling shows and did great, but she was still unpredictable. Since January of this year, after Elektra once again reared and dumped her rider, our strategy has been to warm her up on the longe line at the WALK only for 10 or 15 mins before asking for anything faster. For 7 or 8 months we were having success this way and Elektra was doing great--- until not long ago she again, without warning, slammed on the brakes and dumped the kid. At some point enough is enough. This horse was not a good match for this family and the decision was made to rehome her. Her owners began searching for the right situation for this mare and offered her for sale...when they were unsuccessful, they turned back to the rescue for help. It is the rescue's policy that their horses be returned to them in the event that things don't work out. I am aware of two different times that this family approached the rescue for help during the time that she was here and received no support. I was not willing to advertise this horse for sale at my facility because of her unpredictable nature under saddle and not being 100% sure that she wouldn't hurt someone coming to try her out; a liability that I was not willing to assume.
Which brings me to the point of this post. The local rescue organization who adopted this mare to my clients made a lot of untrue and unfair accusations on their social media page. They then removed our comments to the contrary. It was insinuated that this mare was mishandled and neglected by my clients which is very incorrect and untrue. Elektra is a very sensitive Thoroughbred mare and needs an experienced and patient person to be her rider and handler – she’s quirky. She does have a lot of potential with the right person. In my opinion, this rescue organization made a bad match in the first place --- who would adopt out a barely ridden, 17 hand, chestnut Thoroughbred mare to a green novice family? Further, based on the amount of horses that are returned to this organization it would seem that this is a theme--foisting an inappropriate horse off on an inexperienced person...and then ranting and bad mouthing about it on social media for the sake of drama. Poor form.
Good Luck to Elektra ~ I really do hope that she finds a good situation somewhere. The rescue took no information about this horse, choosing instead to slander and shame, and so really knows nothing about her. The picture they posted of her sweating and scared of working was sad to see; she wasn’t like that here. If you wind up with her somehow, please know that there are lots of vet records and the farrier who worked on her the whole time would be happy to talk to you about her.
This nasty spiteful rhetoric is the crappy part about horses and horse people...
