Little Appy Mare

At one point in time, me and my mother owned 3 horses. It was when we were both highly active in 4h, I was the club president, and my mother ran it. We had a friend that wanted to lease a horse, and my mother was giving her lessons. At that point I didn't need the money, so it wasn't worth my time to teach beginners. We thought that we could buy a third horse, lease it to two different people that would ride twice a week, and show. We even decided that one would have to show walk trot, the other would show gymkhana so they wouldn't have to share the horse at shows. Then we would use the horse for lessons.

 Coincidentally a friend of ours was selling the cutest little leopard appy mare. She was in her young teens, mellow, and so darn flashy. The price was right, so we went to check her out, and we noticed a little limp in her hind left. It was more stiff then anything. Her confirmation was great and she was just so cute, we figured she would be ok and took her home. After all, our friend wouldn't sell us a lame mare right? The little mare jumped right into our trailer, and we took her to our ranch. My mother and I picked out a nice stall near our other mares, Roxy and Dolly. We went out the next day to check on her, and to ride our other mares. 

 And there she was in her stall, waiting for us to come get her. She was just too sweet, and so darn cute. We pulled her out of her stall, tied her to the post, and started to groom her. I have never in my life seen a horse in such obvious pain. The pain was all the way in her hip. What we thought was just a stiff leg, was actually a severely damaged hip. When we test rode her, it was very light, but I think she was lounged incredibly hard before we saw her. It was almost inhumane how much pain this horse was in. The little mare was so sweet, she shivered in pain, but didn't try to kick or bite, just put her ears back, and flinched from even the lightest amount of pressure. It was so awful to see such a tender hearted mare so uncomfortable.

Myself and my mother didn't have the funds to support a potentially chronically lame horse, knowing that so it would have been unwise for us to try and keep her. So we called our friend up, and told her that the mare was not going to work out for us. She came down and picked the mare up and took her home. Where she continued to try to sell her, and her brother.

Last I heard, the mare's brother (also a leopard appy) was given to our friend's sister and used as a trick horse. The mare had some chiropractic work done to her, and found a home. I only hope that this sweet, sweet mare found a owner that will love, cherish, and care for her as she deserved.

Any memorable horses that almost made their way into your life?