Blaze
HOMED
*You may click on images to enlarge.
21.05.07
Our new boy arrived today. I'd like to thank Paul from Network Horse Transport for getting him here, and taking the job on after another transport company were not able to follow through on the job. I'd especially like to thank Paul for spending an hour and a half in the driving rain trying to catch the boy. Many would not have persevered. He arrived safe and sound, but the sorry sight that we expected.
We are told that this boy's scenario is that he was left on someones property over a year ago, and the owners were never to be seen again. The owners of the property are not horse people, and paid little heed to the horse in the paddock. Ultimately the RSPCA became involved, and the owner of the property was given a notice to take certain actions. They opted to seek out someone to whom they could surrender the horse.
He has a severe wound which has been caused by a leg strap on an ill fitted and unchecked rug. Its seems to be healing at this point, and is far less raw than the photo's which were taken by the RSPCA Inspector not long ago. On initial inspection today he has a very loud 'clicking' sound which seems to be coming from his hock, a very bizarre looking wither, and of course, is extremely malnourished. He was very hard to catch once let go in the small paddock, and very threatening whenever I reached for him, pinning his ears and warning me off. I was careful, as Paul had warned us that he had come close to making contact with his kicks while Paul was trying to catch him.
We took the leg straps off a rug, and spent a good half hour getting it on him. He was understandably very worried about the potential pain of the leg straps, and very defensive, threatening to kick in no uncertain terms. When we eventually had the rug on, the poor boy did not want to move off, and was obviously worried about moving the leg where the leg strap had previously embedded itself. The rug seems to be staying put quite well with just the belly straps done up quite snugly.
He is having trouble getting the feed down, and was having little gags with some mouthfuls. I have a gut feeling that this boy is quite ill and has some problems, but I'd like to be wrong on that one. We know absolutely nothing about this poor boy. The property owners say they know nothing about him, and despite exhaustive searching, the original owners cannot be traced. We have no idea of his age at this point, or whether he is even broken in, (Jaimee has volunteered to sus that one out for us later on down the track! ), but he definitely deserves the benefit of the doubt, and a chance.
He has a very pretty head, and a kind eye. He has a very unusual wide blaze which travels down over his nose, and underneath his chin. I know for a fact that he is not the evil man that he is trying to convince us that he is. It is obvious that he has just had some very bad handling. He stinks, as they all seem to for some reason when they are so poor in condition, I don't know what that is. It is VERY cold right now, so unfortunately we won't be able to bath him and make him feel fresher. I'll have a better guess tomorrow, but he is quite a decent size, maybe around 16 hands.
I took pictures today of his arrival, but have now found out that my camera is not compatible with my new computer, so will have pics tomorrow I hope. We will be looking for name suggestions when we have his pictures up, as the only name he has is one that the property owner had given him, and we feel he needs a new name to kick start his new life.
22.05.07
The handsome man was good today. We changed his rug, and the boy would like to thank 'Coco', whoever Coco is, for the gift of the rug! (We received a kind donation of some rugs and halters yesterday, so a big thank you to Lyn & co. for that ). The rug he has on is a 6ft., but it looks like he's really needing a 6' 3", or larger. He's a long boy! Anyhow, it's doing great and certainly is keeping the wind and rain off him. He's eating well, and was not quite as difficult to catch today. Although he is now wearing a rug which has 'Coco' printed in large letters down the side, we still think he needs his own special name, so bring on the suggestions and we'll have a vote on them!
24.05.07
A hoof trim and a worming for our boy today.
25.02.07
Wow! A huge THANK YOU to Judy and 'Horseland' (Bendigo). Beautiful Blaze now has himself a fabulous new rug, which he sorely needed.He now has his 6'3", and it is an amazing rug. Due to Judy's good heart and generosity, we were able to afford this special rug for the man. Judy heavily discounted the rug for Blaze, and he is now officially the best dressed horse on the place! It is a new WeatherBeeta 'Taka', with their new contour fit. It is also very light weight for such a warm rug, so will not rub the horses on their hip bones etc., which is a constant concern with the horses who are low in condition. They have many pressure points, and very few rugs do not, sooner or later, end up rubbing holes in the coat in these spots. It is also the first rug that I have seen in Australia which is designed to meet under the belly, so no cold drafts up the tum anymore! These gorgeous rugs also come with a free Polar Fleece rug with belly straps, which is so handy, as we cannot use leg straps on Blaze as yet.
They're a great new team in at Horseland Bendigo, and the store is looking great. If you happen to be in the store, please say hi to Judy, and thank her for her kindness Thank you so much Judy from all of us, and especially from Blaze. He has had a great day...a new name, and a new outfit !
30.05.07
6.06.07
Blaze had the inevitable visit from the Dentist today. Russell says that Blaze is around 14/15 yrs old.
Pretty much the only thing that we were told about Blaze when he arrived was that he has a real problem with men. I had completely forgotten about this until today, when Russell approached the boy. Russell went up to him to say g'day without his tools at first, and Blaze immediately became very tense, and tried to scoot off backwards away from him. He was immediately very 'snorty', and his eyes were darting here, there, and everywhere with worry. Thankfully, after Russell spent some time chatting with Blaze, he calmed down, but he remained a tad apprehensive of Russell's every move. He pretty much reverted to the behaviours that he displayed when he first arrived here. Anyhow, he was brave enough to allow Russell to do his teeth. Russell showed me where his teeth had been rasped at some point in the past, so at some point someone has cared for his teeth. There was no way of knowing how long ago that work had been done though.
I am so intrigued as to what Blaze's past did hold, but it is becoming more and more apparent that at some point Blaze has had a fair amount of work with humans. He is now allowing us to just throw his rug on as we would any other horse, and he is a doll to lead or do anything with....as long as you're not male. He is such an eye-catching horse, I would not be surprised if he has done some competition in his past. He's becoming quite the sook!
Anyhow, here are Russell and Blaze, having agreed upon a truce.
11.06.07
Please contact me should you be interested in possibly offering Blaze a long term home. He is free, but his home is of the utmost importance. Blaze is not to go to a home where the plan is to 'get him going' and sell him on. I am certain that he is broken in, but have no idea at this point how he goes under saddle. It would be quite some time since he has been ridden.
Blaze needs to go to a home who are happy simply to offer him a safe and secure life, because that's the mentality that I would hope for in his new owner/s. If he should become a riding horse, that should be seen as a bonus. Blaze will not go to a beginner home, as it is our policy to not home any of the horses who pass through our care with beginners.
Blaze has a long way to go yet in his recovery and gaining of condition, but has no issues aside from this. He needs to go to a home who have an understanding of where he is coming from, in that he needs a confident handler who can give him the security of consistency and setting boundaries. He has very obviously been handled by twits in the past at some point, but has rapidly regained his respect for the human race since he has been in our care. Not through discipline, simply through always being 'fair' and clear with him in what we expect. He is a sook at heart, and wants to befriend his carers, but still has an element of distrust. He has been maltreated in the past, and in the wrong hands, I think he could revert to his defensive behaviours which come through insecurity. He could easily be a horse who could find himself at the sales through absolutely no fault of his own. Under no circumstances do we want this to happen.
Blaze is a lamb with other horses, and would make a great paddock companion, and will eventually be a super stunning paddock ornament He is not a 'hooner', and looks at the other horses like they are crazy if they get it in their heads to have a run and a play. Pretty much nothing fazes him. He still has a few minor splits in a couple of his hooves, but nothing that a few more trims won't remedy. He is much better to catch these days, and usually just puts his head in the halter now. Dream for the farrier, to worm, float, etc. etc. Just an easy going guy who wants, and certainly deserves, nothing more than a peaceful life.
We would want to stay in touch with Blaze's new home, and to be notified should circumstances mean that he is going to be sold on. He always has a home here to go to, and is welcome here for as long as it takes to find the boy the right home.
25.06.07
I just realised that Blazey has been with us for four weeks now! Here are some four week anniversary pics.
3.07.07
10.07.07
We thought we'd clip a lunge rein on today, and see whether or not Blaze knew what it was. Well he certainly did. As soon as I asked him to 'walk on', he did. I asked him to 'trot', he did......and his favourite was the 'whoa'. For a horse with no muscle, he just moves absolutely beautifully. He's a pleasure to watch. We'll continue to give him a little bit of exercise on fine days, to help distribute into the right places some of the mountains of feed that he's putting away. He really seemed happy to have a 'job'.
He is still absolutely putrid, and his back is pretty much covered in rain scald. We're just busting for a day warm enough to bath him. We've noticed that where we are brushing out the scald, lovely new coat is coming through a really dark and rich chestnut colour. Blaze has had many frequent hoof trims, and we are slowly getting him off his heels and 'standing up' better on his front feet. We are staying on top of the cracks he had, and they are not going to create any problems.
Me raking..Blaze spreading!
23.07.07
Good news for Blaze!! Blaze has been offered a fabulous home near Benalla in Victoria. Blaze's new mum Natalie is a very experienced horse person, and she, with her family, have a large property, and horses of their own. Natalie had no hesitation in confirming her willingness to take Blaze in, and from what I have gathered from our conversations, he is one lucky boy. I know that he is going to the right person because, among other things, when I thanked Natalie, and commented that Blaze was a lucky boy, her response was "Actually, I think that I am the lucky one".
Blaze is a bit of a special case as far as his re-homing goes, as he has character traits which are a hang over from his previous treatment. Natalie understands this, and I am confident will work with him on this very patiently. Blaze still has some way to go before he reaches a state of physical and emotional stability. As I've said before, without the generous offers of homes for these horses, I would not be in a position to take them in and provide them with that opportunity. These are the special people, those who make a commitment to these horses for the long term. Some of the horses leave with special needs, some of them have behavioural aspects which need to be understood and worked around, and many of them will never even be ridden. My hat goes off to the new owners of all the horses who have been through our care for providing these horses the lives they have a right to lead, and expecting nothing of them in return.
Natalie plans to give Blaze a lot of time, as much as he needs, to settle in and for them to get to know each other. When Blaze is well and happy, Natalie will start working with Blaze slowly, and see where it takes them both. We have been promised lots of photo's, and I hope to be able to take up Natalie's invitation to visit Blaze some time.
Thank you so much Natalie, from all of us who care so much that this boy is given an opportunity. We're really looking forward to news of his progress, can't wait for those Spring pictures when he gets himself a new and healthy coat !
Many thanks to the following people who contributed to the support of Blaze
through a $5 per week sponsorship program:
Tara & Brandon Matthews, Clies Russell, Margaret Emmett, Sue deKaste.
Thank you so much for joining us in getting behind this boy in endeavouring to secure him a good future.
26.08.07
Thanks Nat for this wonderful picture.
It's actually the most content that I think I've seen him look. Well done, and thank you!
4.10.07
5.10.07
6.10.07
7.10.07
From Nat:
"Blaze is the most amazing and trusting horse, he is trusting Alysha with everything that he has got in him. Everyday he is less stressed he is starting to totally relax, for example, she was cleaning his feet and he had his head almost on the ground it just hung there he was so relaxed. It just amazes me that he was neglected in such a big way, I don't no how they could of done that to him. He is just too beautiful for that."
THANK YOU Nat & Alysha. In my wildest dreams I honestly didn't expect to ever see this boy so relaxed and happy. You have both done an amazing job.
8.10.07
From Nat:
"This is Blaze and Alysha's goofy jump he did make it over but neither him or her had it right, Alysha hadn't ridden him for a couple of days as well everyone deserves a weekend or some time off anyway she found that he went backwards quite a bit, but she is getting there. He is starting to slow down his canter, he is not just flat out now which is rather nice. As a mum I do get scared, and as well, he is a complete unknown, but I am trusting him as he hasn't done anything wrong. When she jumps at times I can't watch, as I had an accident jumping when I was young, and I have to try not to put my fears into her if that makes sense. But on the other hand, I love watching them as they are both so good for one another, and this is her first year she has ever jumped. He is truly a nice horse though.His feet are all pretty again and he was just fantastic for my Farrier. He was closing his eyes and was going to sleep. He has become so gentle".
22.01.08
21.01.08
1.04.08
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