We are delighted to finally introduce you to our first official blog from EWS! We hope to be able to bring you updates on all of the horses in our program as they go through the training process, as well as keep you up to date on educational opportunities that we will be offering in the future. Both myself, Kate Samuels, and our director, Erica Stevens, will be blogging from this platform, and will be sharing information and pictures from behind the scenes at EWS.
We had a banner adoption rate for 2016 and the beginning of 2017, and we’ve got a great group of horses in the program right now. I thought I would use this first blog to catch everyone up to speed on who we have currently in the barn and a little bit about their stories.
Danny is a lovely thoroughbred gelding who we got late last fall, and is currently the only horse we have available for adoption, as he has progressed through the training program and is ready to move to a new home. We acquired him through Race2Ring, a non-profit thoroughbred rescue in North Carolina that unfortunately lost their funding and had to close shop. We were happy to step in and give Danny a new home, and work to help him progress.
Danny raced 32 times, and was taken off the track by Race2Ring in 2012, and they did a great job teaching him how to be a sport horse and he was in fact adopted out in 2014. Unfortunately, his new owner was unable to properly care for him, and Danny was returned just a few weeks before we picked him up.
Danny is a big bodied 16.1 hands, and very comfy to ride. He has a soft mouth, and likes a well balanced rider. We took him out to a Hunter Pace a few weeks ago and he really seemed to enjoy it a lot! He is currently able to walk, trot, and canter in the ring and outside. He just adores going out on the trails and I think he would really like to have a relaxed lifestyle that focuses on that. He would make a great amateur mount for somebody looking to ride for pleasure and go on some hunter paces here and there.
Wilbur is next in line, and most likely the next available horse in the program. He is a 13-year-old Thoroughbred gelding that came to us through War Horses at Rose Bower, who pulled him from a slaughter auction in June of 2016, so he’s come a long way in a relatively short time!
Wilbur has the funniest little personality, and just feels like your best buddy when you’re working with him. I don’t think he enjoyed much training (or at least nothing good) after racing, but he’s willing to give anything a shot, so that has made my job easy. He loves to hang out, is super well behaved on the ground, and loves to work in the ring or out on the trails. He’s going to make a nice all around horse for somebody.
We’ve also been enjoying two additions from Days End Farm Horse Rescue up in Maryland. They have been collaborators with us from the beginning, and we’re delighted to have a good relationship with such a well renowned organization.
The first horse (pony) is Aztec, who is approximately 14-years-old, and a ridiculously adorable paint pony. He’s got a quiet demeanor and flashy colors, which will appeal to a lot of people. He is pretty green to ride though, as he was only started under saddle earlier this spring, so I’m spending some more time with him to make sure he has a good understanding of the basic training skill set before making him available for adoption.
Our second addition from DEFHR is “I’m Smokin’ Hot”, aka Lucy. She came to us right after completing her physical rehabilitation at Days End, as she was quite underweight when they rescued her. As such, I’ve been taking it slow with her so that she can really gain weight and build muscle appropriately.
As you can see, she filled out rather nicely! Lucy is a 7-year-old Thoroughbred mare. She’s a super smart mare, and very very athletic. I sat on her a few times, but then I went back and focused on lunging and voice cues. The lunging can help them build basic strength and balance on a circle so that when you get on, they’re a little better able to handle the demands of riding.
Romeo is our latest addition, and he came to us from the same racing program as Charlie, who graduated from our program and is now taking over the hunter/jumper world in a flurry of blue ribbons. Big Lick Racing Retirement does such a nice job with their horses, and we’re always so pleased to help them with the next step in their careers.
At only four years of age, Romeo is possibly the easiest horse I have ever ridden in my life. I don’t have any need for a 15.2 hand Thoroughbred, but every time I ride him, I fantasize about owning him because he’s just so darn pleasant! He is incredibly kind, sweet, and willing. He raced last in February, so we gave him some down time and we don’t ask much of him, but he’s just a total doll.
Hermione has been a work in progress since she came to us last fall. She’s an absolutely drop dead gorgeous 9-year-old quarter horse mare, and incredibly smart. Unfortunately, somebody in her past treated her in a way that has created a deep fear that lingers inside her, and it has been a slow process to gain her trust.
With a lot of these horses, it’s a matter of teaching them new skills and sending them on their way, but with plenty of other ones, it is about healing old wounds before anything else. Emotional wounds and mental trauma on a horse take an incredibly long time to fix, and sometimes as humans we want to expedite the process, which doesn’t always make sense to the horse. Hermione is going to be a slow project, but we believe she will be worth it in the end.
We also still have Ella, a 6-year-old arabian mare in the training program. We have had Ella for a year, but she came to us as a feral horse, so her progress into the working world has been a bit slower than some of the other members. She is incredibly smart and athletic, which sometimes means that training her is even more challenging! Ella is available for adoption, but only to a professional training program where she will be given the time that she deserves to flourish. She is very much a one-person horse, and will definitely benefit from a personal relationship going forward.
So that’s everyone! Thanks for reading our very first blog, and check back soon for more updates. You can also subscribe to our mailing list to get an email every so often that lets you know what’s going on at the farm, so you can follow your favorite horses!
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