Horses and Hope: Sunny’s Story

Part 5 in my Horses and Hope series, an uplifting look at how the equine community helps local horses in need.

No two horse rescue stories are the same. The story of Sunny is a story of matchmaking, and a story of how one of my favorite horses arrived at one of my favorite rescues, and was adopted by one of my favorite people.

Lisa Post of Helping Hearts Equine Rescue (HHER) remembers how Sunny, an American Mustang mare from the Twin Peaks herd in northern California, arrived at her New Jersey rescue:

“I first met Sunny as a fresh-from-the-BLM youngster. Her owner was a client who would trailer her over on occasion to get her out to see the world. When Sunny turned 3, she came to me to be started under saddle and thereafter for several years trailered in for weekly sessions with her owner and her friends. During the first year Helping Hearts was in existence, her owner contacted me asking for help placing Sunny. She’d been trying without success and was considering putting her down rather than sending her into questionable circumstances. There was no way I would let that happen. Sunny had always been a favorite ‘student’ of mine. Sunny was relinquished to Helping Hearts.”

I first learned about Sunny when she was added to Lisa’s list of HHER’s adoptable horses. Although Sunny was not the perfect match for her previous owners, she sounded like the ideal horse for my friend Kris. Kris and I have been friends since college, and she was looking for her first horse. For a few years, she took riding lessons and leased a mare, and was ready to look for a horse of her own. The stout Mustang mare with the cat-shaped star on her forehead turned out to be just what she was looking for.

The intelligence of the Mustang is celebrated by horsemen, and Sunny had a clever plan for sealing the adoption deal when Kris met her at the horse rescue:

“When I read Sunny’s adoption posting, I thought she was a good age, a good size, and had some good experience. I was intrigued by the fact that she was a Mustang, not a very common breed here in New Jersey. I tried not to be too excited, because this was the first horse I was going to see in my search for a horse of my own. My trainer and I went to meet Sunny, and we were both impressed, she had a beautiful trot and was generally pleasant to handle. As I stood next to Sunny discussing the adoption, she sealed the deal by putting her chin on my shoulder and licking my face. Clearly, this mare was coming home with me!”

Trainer Carole Davison (also the trainer of TDN Blog star Thewifedoesntknow) accompanied Kris when she evaluated Sunny and rode her for the first time. Although Carole’s clients usually ride Thoroughbreds and warmbloods, Carole liked Sunny right away:

“When Kris asked me to take a look at a Mustang that she was interested in adopting as her first horse, I was a bit hesitant. However, the first thing I noted was her kind eye. Although she wasn’t sure what was expected of her, she remained calm throughout the entire ride. Sunny is a very sweet mare, with a calm, confident demeanor. She is a comfortable ride with steady consistent gaits. Her canter has improved significantly. When Kris first brought her home she had a difficult time getting into as well as staying in the canter. She now steps into the canter easily, well balanced, and maintains a nice forward pace.”

Two times a week, every week, Kris and Sunny train with Carole. Through the lessons primarily focus on dressage, they also school for judged trail rides, and are beginning a little work with cavaletti and small jumps.

Their dedication and commitment was rewarded handsomely in 2012, when Kris and Sunny competed in their first two dressage shows, and scored in the high 60s (for those who are unfamiliar with dressage, those are great scores!). Sunny shows under the name Sunshine Daydream, as a nod to her California roots.

Kris is a true student of the horse, and always works hard to improve her communication with Sunny:

“Over the next year, I discovered that Sunny was all that I had hoped she would be – patient, smart, willing, and calm. She is tolerant of my rookie mistakes in the saddle and my occasional bouts of fear, gamely trying her best to decipher my sometimes murky aids. Sunny is helping me to become a more confident rider, and already we have tried our hand at intro-level dressage and a judged trail ride.”

A judged trail ride is a very different type of competition from a dressage show. A dressage show requires a horse to be intensely focused during a dressage test, which lasts less than ten minutes. A judged trail ride is a test of a horse’s willingness, bravery, and patience.

These rides can last over an hour, and horses are introduced to obstacles that they have never seen before, like the life-sized model horse pictured below. Sunny, in true Sunny fashion, tried to make friends with the “horse”.

Don’t let Sunny’s primitive wild bay coloring fool you- she is built to MOVE. Her lovely conformation enables her to collect like a dressage horse, and also run and corner like a barrel racer. Genetic markers in the Twin Peaks herd have been linked to Spanish ancestry, and perhaps this is why she can move with such agility and grace.

Descendants of US Army Cavalry and historic ranch stock are also part of the herd’s genetic makeup, which might explain Sunny’s amenable disposition.

This spring, Sunny was diagnosed with Equine Cushing’s Disease, but with careful management and excellent veterinary care, it does not slow Sunny down at all. Kris and I board our horses at the same barn, and we’ve spent many, many hours enjoying trail rides together. I think Kris and Sunny are great riding buddies, and my horse Wizard agrees- he’s quite fond of Sunny.

To know Sunny is to love her. Lisa Post worked hard to find the perfect home for her, and she couldn’t be happier with Sunny’s partnership with Kris, “I always considered Sunny a great example of what Mustangs have to offer. Now, partnered with Kris, she has become a great success story- a wonderful representative of both rescue horses and the American Mustang.”

Kris is excited about a bright future with her lovely mare:

“Sunny is an excellent ambassador for her breed; she is eminently practical with a steady and even temperament. It amazes me every day that a horse born in the wild could be so accepting of all the things we ask of our domesticated horses. We are daily becoming a better team, and I can’t wait to find out what we will accomplish together over the years. I am eternally grateful to Lisa Post at Helping Hearts Equine Rescue for allowing me the chance to become Sunny’s rider and caretaker, and to Sarah Andrew for pointing out the adoption posting (and countless hours of advice giving, commiserating, and encouraging!).”

I’m sure Sunny agrees, Kris!

Click here to read Horses and Hope: Tristan’s Story

Click here to read Horses and Hope: Rosebud’s Story

Click here to read Horses and Hope: Georgia’s Story

Click here to read Horses and Hope: Mimi’s Story

IN OTHER NEWS

Horses and Hope 2013 Calendar

With the help of Gina Keesling of HoofPrints, my 2012 debut calendar contained over 100 photos of auction horses. Thanks to the support of horse lovers all over, it raised nearly $40,000 for One Horse At A Time, helping hundreds of horses in need directly, and untold others indirectly through increased public awareness. Now that we have one calendar’s worth of experience to draw upon, the 2013 version promises to be even more exciting, even more creative, and as always, inspirational and positive.

Please click here to order calendars- they make GREAT gifts!

Wizard Ride 366: You Jane

Sunday, 5/27/12

The weather has been hot and sticky for a few days now, but it gets mercifully cool in the evenings. After work, I met up with Kris and Christie for a walk in the Assunpink. During tackup, Wizard practically snoozed on his tie ring. All was right with the world since we were riding with Sunny, his paddock buddy, and Brigid, one of his favorite horsey neighbors. He stood like a perfect gentleman while I got in the saddle, and we rode in the middle of the group for most of the ride: a mare sandwich. Wizard usually prefers to be at the front of the pack, but being between two of his favorite mares changed his mind.

We rode a reverse path from the ride we did the day before, starting on the road, riding past the hunt club, through a hay field, down some trails, around the “roundabout” field, across the cinder road, over the ridge with the “bowling pin” (it’s some sort of radio tower thingy), and down to the ranger’s station. We saw some rabbits and a person riding an ATV. All the horses were relaxed and enjoyed our little adventure. We were out for a little over an hour.

I measured Wizard with the weight tape and he is about 990 pounds. He has gained give or take 15 pounds in about two weeks. He’s officially out 24/7 on the big paddock as of May 29, so I think that will make a big difference.

On Wednesday, May 30, the vet will look at Wizard’s leg. He feels totally fine on our trail rides, but we’re just walking and we’re not turning sharply at all. When I ask him to trot at liberty in the indoor arena, he is just as lame as he was a few weeks ago. Cross your fingers for a good diagnosis.

Wizard Rides 361 & 362: Paddling Out

On Monday, May 7, the farrier shod Wizard. We are trying leather rim pads on his front feet.

On Tuesday, May 15, I began Wizard’s 28-day treatment with UlcerGard. On May 16, I shot a few video clips of Wizard trotting on the longe. Bad news: he’s still losing weight. Good news: whatever unsoundness he was dealing with has shown improvement. I spoke with the barn owner, and we’re going to make a few changes and see what helps him. We bumped up his grain (short-term solution to him worrying off so many calories when Sunny is separated from him) and are slowly increasing his grass intake.

On Friday night, Wizard and Sunny were moved from their quarantine paddock to a small grass paddock. During the day, they are turned out on a two-acre grass paddock, and at night, they have grass in more limited amounts. We are still acclimating them to 24/7 pasture. Wizard’s cribbing has not stopped. On the 2-acre paddock, he cribs very infrequently, but in the smaller paddock, he still cribs with some regularity.

I tried another jogging video on Friday morning, this time down the pea gravel driveway. He looked pretty good. I think it’s a combination of the time off and him doing less of a freakout when Sunny is separated from him.

Saturday, 5/19/12

I should have seen this coming, but I didn’t. The move from the quarantine paddock to the new grass paddock basically put Wizard back to Square One with his stress level. He was just as bad as he was when he arrived at the farm a month ago. I tacked him up in the outdoor tackup area, and he paced and whinnied each time Sunny called to him. Sunny must have also been stressed, because she did not stop calling for him for my whole ride.

Our ride was one of the worst rides in my 3 1/2 year history with Wizard. It took 15 minutes just to get him quiet enough to get in the saddle. I did not want to longe him because I was afraid to twist or strain whatever is wrong with his leg. I’m treading a delicate balance between wanting to keep him focused/working and resting whatever soundness/stiffness/arthritis issue he is having.

The moment I settled into the saddle, Wizard was cantering in place, snorting, sweating, champing on the bit. My plan of quietly walking the short sides and trotting the long sides was thrown out the window. The only way I could keep him under control was to work him. We kept the ride to walking and trotting, but it went longer than I wanted, and we did more turns than I wanted. He never truly settled. Every time Sunny called to him, his entire body tensed. He threw a few tantrums when we rode away from her, and I could feel the gravitational pull when we rode toward her. He was so amped up that I could not tell if he was sound or not. I can say, though, that he did not feel lame, for the few stutter steps that I could count out a tempo and feel straightness.

When I untacked him, he fought his tie. He was “checked out”, mentally. When a bug landed on him, he threw several bucks in place. When the lead draped over his head, he reared up a little. I am still using the Blocker Tie Ring, so hopefully if he really gets himself in trouble, it will release as needed.

I hosed him off, gave him his ulcer meds, and put him back in his paddock. My arms were sore, my arms were bruised, and my hands were blistered.

Sunday, 5/20/12

The TDN fates were on my side on Sunday, and I slipped out of work well before dark and headed to the barn. I had two human/equine pairs for my ride this time: Cathy/Miss Tuesday and Kris/Sunny. We all tacked up in the indoor arena since there was a chance of showers. Wizard was very anxious from the very beginning, pacing nervously when he was tied, swinging his hind end from one side to another and swiveling his entire body. He could see Sunny, but he was still stressed. He was worse than he was when we first moved to the new barn.

I let him swing around for a few minutes, for my own safety. Cathy suggested longeing him, but I was trying to avoid stressing whatever issues he has with soundness. As he got more and more worked up, I relented and asked him to trot a few rotations on the longe in each direction. His lameness is subtle, but I definitely saw it more on Sunday than on Saturday. His head dips just a bit each time his left front foot hits the ground. Despite my misgivings about the physical strain, the longeing helped him mentally. He was able to stand reasonably quietly while I tacked him up.

He stood WAY better when I got in the saddle than he did on Saturday, and walked off much more quietly than his performance the day before. But with Sunny in the arena, he began to throw little tantrums when she was out of his sight or passed him in the opposite direction. He does not outright buck or rear, but he leaps around, cantering in place and jumping imaginary jumps. Now that I know him, I can sit his antics reasonably comfortably. If they got worse, who knows ;^)

It took about 15 minutes for him to settle and focus on me. By the end of the ride, he was actually pretty good, seeking contact with the bit and responding well to my leg. His canter was NICE. His trot was pretty good, too. I tried to avoid tight twists and turns and do some of our original plan of walking the short sides and trotting the long sides.

After our arena work, we all decided to take a quick walk into the Assunpink. I hand walked him, since he has a freakishly fast walk. If I had ridden him, I would have had to circle him around or stand a lot while the horses caught up with him, and that would have rattled his fragile brain. Wizard surprised me with his calm demeanor in the park. He strided out confidently, and nothing spooked him at all. The waist-plus-high grass had me wishing I had ridden him after all! He had one mental blip, and that was when he lost track of where Sunny was for a moment.

When we returned to the barn, it was just about dark. Wizard was able to stand quietly while he was tied, resting one hind leg, with one eye always on Sunny. We untacked in the indoor arena and I put Wizard out in the paddock before Sunny went out. He circled at a frantic trot and canter, calling and snorting until Sunny was back in the paddock with him.

All I could imagine was him twisting an already strained leg. I don’t have any diagnosis on what his problem is yet. All I know is that it’s subtle and consistent. It seems to get a little better with rest. It does not bother him at all- he’s very forward and responsive under saddle. I need to try to get a better video of it so the vet can see it. Normally, I’d have the vet out right away to look at something like this, but I just shelled out big bucks for our ulcer scoping, Lyme Disease treatment, etc etc etc, so I’m monitoring it for the moment and will talk with the vet and see what she thinks. I’m happy to rest it if that is what he needs.

This separation anxiety with Sunny has me getting pretty anxious myself. At the old barn, Wizard was the OPPOSITE of a typical herd-bound horse. He could be the only one in the barn, the only one outside, ridden alone in the arenas, ridden alone on trails, without a peep. He was turned out with geldings and they played quite a bit. The last month that he was at the old barn, he was turned out by himself, and was surrounded by mares. I heard from the people who had to work with him that he was a bit of a handful. I’m wondering if he might need to be out with geldings only. I don’t have a lot of evidence, but it seems like mares cause him to lose his mind. I have a particular distaste and lack of tolerance for herd bound horses, so this needs to be nipped in the bud. I can put up with a lot of quirks, but we need to fix this one.

For now, we’re keeping him with Sunny and slowly introducing him to other pasture buddies. So far, it’s a non-event. Cisco was in the same paddock, and they barely even looked at each other after they were introduced. The barn owner is hoping that once he’s in a small herd (4 horses), he will not look to Sunny so much for everything. Since the move to the new barn, she turned into his security blanket. We used to ride all over with Sunny at the old barn and there was zero attachment. This all started with the move a month ago.

My training plans are vague. Balancing a physical issue with a training issue is very difficult. Wizard does well with more work and handling, but the work that he needs involves circles and transitions. Quiet walking is not in his vocabulary right now. I really would like to get a diagnosis on what is bothering his leg so I could figure out how much work we can do. If I leave him alone to hang around with Sunny, he will just get worse, I fear. He had last weekend off while I went away for a quick trip, and he was pretty anxious when I worked with him after I returned. It’s a delicate balance, and we’re working hard to find it.

Wizard Ride 272: Swap Meet

Tuesday, 8/30/11

These days just keep getting shorter and shorter. By the time I got to the barn after work, we only ad time to ride the short trail loop again. Our of curiosity, I checked the time. The short loop is 40 minutes, which actually is a reallllly nice warmup before a ride. We rode on the trails with Sunny and Lily, and Sunny led the way on the trail back to the barn. Wizard was really easy-going about being in the middle.

When we got back to the barn, we did some work in the arena. It was a pretty easy ride, walking and trotting, working on circles and looping around the jumps. We did our best to impersonate Lily’s western pleasure jog, but Wizard’s slowest trot cannot compare to her well-trained Quarter Horse gaits.

For fun, Rachel and I swapped horses. It was really neat to see her ride Wizard- I only have trusted a handful of people to ride him. They got along very well. After a few minutes of figuring out the saddle, steering, gas, and brakes, I started to get the hang of Lily, too! At first, I felt like a little kid who was just learning to ride. When I realized that it was basically like riding Wizard but in a western saddle, I did a lot better, ha ha.

The air was so cool and dry that I did not have to hose Wizard after our ride. His coat is getting a very slight plushy feel to it. Fuzzy coats are just around the corner…

Wizard Ride 268: Mustang Sally

Tuesday, 8/23/11

While Tuesday will be remembered by most as the day of the Virginia Earthquake (mild swaying and shaking was felt here in Jersey), I’ll remember it as the day my friend Kris officially got her first horse, Sunny.

Sunny is an 11-year-old Mustang mare, and Kris adopted her from Helping Hearts Equine Rescue. I’m so happy for them both, and wish them many years of happiness and fabulous rides together.

In the morning, I rode Wizard before work. The weather was STUNNINGLY beautiful- crisp but still warm. We rode in the outdoor arena, which was damp but packed down enough that it was not boggy.

Before my ride, I turned him loose in the arena. The combination of a chiropractic adjustment, a set of new shoes, and a few days off turned him into a racehorse! It always makes my heart sing to watch him run for the fun of it. He ran several laps, punctuated by a few playful leaps.

Our ride was good. Wizard was a little wobbly and chompy, but he felt very powerful and was responsive. We worked almost exclusively at the trot after warming up, doing shallow serpentines, shoulder-in, and leg yield work. Toward the end of the ride, I trotted him over a few cross rails and let him canter out. If he anticipated, we went back to complicated arena work and then tried the cross rail again. We got a few good efforts, in which he focused and did not get too eager.

With Hurricane Irene on the horizon, I’m hoping to get a few more rides done outdoors before we are banished to the indoor arena.