a new horse makes 3!

[mayS]

Monday I went to the big horse auction to look around. I ended up buying one! :eek: I came home with a cute quarterhorse gelding, 5 yrs old, seems pretty well trained, and moves well under saddle. My farrier / horse-trainer looked him over and give me a tenative OK on him, though she hasn't had time to ride him herself yet.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c370/funchy/NewHorse.jpg
(sorry for bad pic. he kept following me around and wouldn't stand still for the camera. He doesn't have a white spot on his hind end, BTW... it's a bit of the auction sticker that didn't come off easily)

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c370/funchy/DSC07649w.jpg
(it snowed here last night!!!)

Ever buy a horse and then, for a brief moment, get cold-feet as you realise the enormity of what you've done? :)

The vet comes tomorrow to look him over and give him shots. Yes, I know I'm crazy for not doing a prepurchase vetting, but that wasn't really an option at the sale. This auction house is known as a big slaughter-buyers source, so I was hoping to do a rescue... though he seems too nice to be sent to the killers?! There were ALOT of nice horses at that sale.

Of course the first question is what should I name him? :) His paperwork says "Rex" but he doesn't seem at all like a rex.

He's well trained but he doesn't seem like he was handled one-on-one much. He knows his job but he doesn't seem trust any people (does that make sense?). He came from a big place down in the south along with 20+ other QHs, so my guess is that he was trained to do work and he was an extra or didn't work out for doing the kind of ranch work they needed.

My hope is to make him into a trail horse for me or for a guest when I'm riding Chester. I'm in my 30s, so my only worry is that he'll be way to fast for me. I know I can resell him easily but I'd hate to part with him once I get to know him.

He also wasn't given treats before. I tried apples, carrots, all sorts of things... and he looks at me like I am trying to posion him. Any ideas on how to get him to give carrots a try? Or are there really a few horses out there who hate apples and carrots?

He will be introduced to my other two horses in awhile, once the vet sees him and once he's been quarantined awhile. My other two horses are a really slow, arthritic QH mare (age 20) and my main riding horse, a cute-but-huge belgian gelding (late teens). I hope they all get along well together.

Anyway, I just had to share the good news! Thanks for listening to me rambling on.

[Pink's lady]

You did what? :eek: ;)

Actually, he looks lovely :) Just make sure he get a full vet check

Some horses, especially working horse, have never been offered treats by hand, ever, and so don't understand. if you do want to egt him used to carrots etc, just put them in his feed bowl to begin with. He'll soon get the idea ;)

Does he know his name? If so, you don't really wanna change it too much. How about Red or something. Apart from that, I'm rubbish at names. :rolleyes:

Hope it all works out for you :)

[Wobblydeb]

Monday I went to the big horse auction to look around. I ended up buying one! Oooops! Well.... if you will go to auctions, what do you expect? ;)

Well done you - he looks a bit phazed at the moment, bless him. Fingers crossed that the vet visit goes well and you got a good'un :)

You'll definitely have to keep us updated as to how he progresses! :D

[Little Dolphins]

Fabulous! Mad but exciting. How did you stop at one? It must be hard at an auction, esp. knowing they are going to a sad end, some of them!

If he hasn't been offered treats, then perhaps they didn't use his name much either; you may be able to change it without too much confusion. It's better to begin with a name you can warm to, I think. Out two dogs have proper names but get called by lots of different nicknames, and they come to call with all of them!
How about Rudy? That alludes to someone red, so does Rufus.

Hope the vetting turns out well:)

[domane]

Ever buy a horse and then, for a brief moment, get cold-feet as you realise the enormity of what you've done?

I bought Cherry a fortnight ago and had cold feet for about 48 hours!!! :eek: Just about the enormity of the decision, the financial implications and all the work involved vs time with my family!!

Two weeks on, we are progressing well into a sort-of routine - family are proving great help and interested and I wouldn't be without Chez now.....

I'm glad you mentioned that, I would NEVER have admitted it to anyone but seeing as you did........:rolleyes:

[Alle]

Oh my! But it would be hard NOT to buy at an auction I think. I know it would be hard for me.

He's really sweet looking! Here's hoping he passes his vetting. Enjoy and congrats!

[mayS]

Thanks for your replies. It's really nice I can share my wonderful news with someone. :D

Vet didn't do a full lameness workup, but she did look him over briefly. I've seen him move and I don't think he has any soundness issues.

He's got a small cold which is understandable coming halfway cross country, the stressful day at auction, coming home jere in the pouring rain, and then the weather here changed and it's freezing temps every day. His cold is mainly just a little bit of boogers, an occasional cough, and swelling in the glands under the chin... but it's not getting worse and no high fever, so with the nice weather we're due in a few days he should be feeling better soon.

He got his shots and he was very well behaved for the vet. He was also super about letting me take his temp.

He still is distrustful of people sometimes. He hates anything that moves towards him... for example he doesn't stand still when I put his rug on. Also a bit hard to catch, but once his halter is on he stands and ties perfectly.

The first few weeks of owning a new horse are exciting for me. Each horse has their own personality, and as time goes on I get to see what the horse likes, fears, wants, and avoids. :)

We STILL don't have a permanent name for him. LOL

Farrier should be coming tomorrow (weather permitting) to do his feet.

I can't wait to see how he does under saddle! I don't want to rush him, especially if he's getting over a cold, so I'm going to wait awhile.

I also can't wait to see how he gets along with my other two. It'll be nice to turn him out into the much bigger field. He looks bored in his tiny paddock alone (do you think horses get bored?)

So excited about him! :D :D :D

The more I think about him and that deplorable auction he & Chester came from, the more I'm thinking I'd like to start a horse rescue for my area. Too many horses around here (nice horses!) are dumped off at that auction and go for a few hundred dollars (meat prices) because there are just too many for the number of buyers. It would be nice if I could get a few with potential who'd go to slaughter otherwise, buy them cheap, rehab them, and place them into good homes. If anyone is directly involved with horse rescues/shelters and wants to share any tips with me, please drop me a line. :) To learn, I've already tried finding a nearby horse rescue to volunteer at (none local) and the ones farther away aren't set up well to take on volunteers... so if I do it, I'm on my own.

[shirley]

Good for you for wanting to set up rescue home for unwanted horses, this is something I could never do as I would not want to part with any of them. So would defeat the object really.
Why not think about a down to earth name such as Lucky. Lucky to be alive, lucky to have you and lucky for all the good in life he is about to receive and find out about.
With taking treats, does he allow you to feed him from your hand? If so add some carrot grated up and apple as well, just little bits and then more bit sizes as well. Build up to whole peices. He will soon get the hang of it and taste for them as well.
Good luck with him and as you say those first few weeks and monthes are all about finding out about each other.

[No_Angel]

i went to a horse action for a look around and ended up comming home with one:D
mines chestnut aswell.:D
he looks lovely, hope you pick a name for him

[Dummer&Drummer]

he looks lovely, love chestnuts :)