Maraki
HOMED
16 hh Grey Thoroughbred gelding.
Maraki has come to us from his owner who, due to her circumstances, can sadly no longer spend the time and care for him as she'd like to. He is 18 yrs old, and a lovely natured horse who is sound, willing, and able to give a lot more. Maraki has only ever had the best of care and handling.
Maz has done quite a bit of everything, initially some Pony Club, and more recently he was evented to Pre Novice level. He is an educated horse, who, we're told, can still have the spark of a 6 yr old at times, and for this reason he is seeking a rider with sound experience.
There will be one proviso that goes with Maz, and that is that his new owner be happy to have their contact details be passed on to Maz's past owner, as she would like to stay in touch with his new home. He is much loved, and this hard decision has been reached purely through concern for Maz's best interests.
I can see this boy making some lucky person a fabulous HRCAV mount, maybe an excellent mount for an ambitious and capable Pony Clubber, or even a gentleman of a pleasure mount and friend.
Maraki will be seeking a home when we have spent some time with him. We would like to get to know Maz prior to placing him in his new home to enable us to best match him to his new owner. We will post regular pictures and news of how we find him, and anyone who feels that they may be interested in this special boy is welcome to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any queries.
27.7.06
The truck driver commented that he was a sweetheart, as compared to the load of racehorses that were also on the truck, and yes...he definitely seems to be. He unloaded like a gentleman, had a casual look around, and then started picking the grass. It's been a looong day for him, and he does look tired, but that's not stopping him from going at the hay with much enthusiasm! He is fairly heavily rugged because he has been clipped, so we took his rugs off for a look and let him have some big rolls in the sand.
28.07.06
Well Maraki has had his ride, his bath, his rugs washed, he was wormed, and he feels pretty good about himself!
This horse is an ABSOLUTE gem. A true gentleman to handle, and obviously thoroughly enjoys the company of us humans. He is quite talkative, and has a greeting for me every time I go down to the paddocks. He does appear to have some soreness in his back, and we will look into that.
A true gentleman of a horse, very people friendly, absolute breeze to handle, and a pleasure to be around. He truly deserves a brilliant home with someone who will appreciate not only his education, but his wonderful nature.
29.07.06
Well there's not a lot we can do riding wise with Maraki until we have his feet done due to his loose shoe,
but he's enjoying himself, he's right at home, and eating well!
31.07.06
Well looking at these pictures you'd probably be expecting a glowing account of Maz's work today. Unfortunately not, a very disappointing day.
Maz worked fine until his canter work...if I'd had some presence of mind I would have got some pics of what happened there...but I was too busy feeling helpless as I watched Maz put in a good display of some true bucking. I don't know how, but Amy managed to sit it out, but it was close, she'd reached the point where she'd thrown away her stirrups, ready to be pelted. Geez this girl can ride...thank god.
Amy persevered, and it was no one-off. He has a routine where he reefs his head up, to get some rein, and then down goes the head for the buck. Initially he just fluffed around, enough to get many of us off, but when it became apparent to him that Amy was staying with him, then he got serious.
We then changed his gear, put a saddle on that Amy can get more purchase with, some rings, breast plate etc. Amy was hoping that we could just get him through it, to the point where he thought it was futile to bother. She took him in the round yard and same again..asked him to canter and he was into it. At that point I told her to get off, as she has a young baby, and it was just not worth her getting hurt. At that point I realised that we would not be attempting to re-home Maz as a riding horse, so no point in Amy pushing it.
This is very disappointing for Maz, as he is the sweetest thing on the ground, both of us have grown very fond of him already. It does not matter why the boy was behaving like this...whether he's sore, fresh, whatever. (Although it looked to us that it's just a learned avoidance habit). The fact is that he can buck, and we cannot in good conscience, sell a horse on when we know that it is capable of this dangerous behaviour. Amy could continue to work him, and probably get through this with him, but who's to know whether, if we should re-home him as a riding horse, one day when he is put under some pressure he might revert to his little bag of tricks again. At his age his only real prospect of finding a good home is to be sold as a 'schoolmaster' type, and he does not fit the bill for this at all, despite his education and experience.
If he were my horse, I would have all possible causes eliminated (soreness etc.) before giving up, because he has got a wonderful temperament. But he's not, and from what he's shown us, we couldn't possibly have prospective new owners come here and ride him. Unfortunately it does come down to the $$, as there are many horses out there who are deserving of this opportunity, and we do not have the funds to support the horses that we cannot re-home as quiet and reliable horses. I wish we did, because it's usually not the horses who have been at fault in these scenarios.
I'm not sure where we'll go from here. We'll chat with his last owner, and have a think.
5.08.06
Well Amy & I have discussed the boy, and we have decided that between us we will keep him for the time being. We both love him to bits, he is one in a million, so we will explore all avenues re his soreness and get him right. He has spent today out of his paddock. Of all the horses on the place, he is the one I most trust to let out to have a pick around the yards, lane-ways etc. He never runs around hooning, and he doesn't eat, or step on my baby trees! He's as sensible as they come. So Maz stays with us for now. At some point I'm sure that the right home will come along for the boy.
7.08.06
Just some shots of the boy kicking back, relaxing. He's made a little 'nest' under this tree, and spends a lot of time there.
Maz has had a great day, and all the other horses are very envious as he has had the run of the place, and has been picking all the juicy grass that no one else can reach. No work, as we will leave him until we have had his soreness sorted. The Vet will take a look at him tomorrow, and I have a Veterinary Chiropractor booked to come on Thursday.
8.08.06
Great news for Maz... he has a new mum and special friend! Maz's new mum will be keeping him here for a while on agistment, so how perfect is that... I still get to spend time with the boy, and he will be brilliantly cared for by his new owner. Rhonda's bringing pressies for her new boy tomorrow so I will get some photo's of them together. Rhonda is a lovely soft rider with a lot of experience. She ensures that all of her horse's needs are met, and she is exceptionally caring... Maz is a lucky boy. We will continue top explore Maraki's issues together. Congratulations to both Rhonda and Maraki! I look forward to seeing you get to know each other. Thank you Rhonda for happily making a commitment to this special boy.
9.08.06
Mazy had his teeth done today, and his new mum came to give him some moral support. Unfortunately it was the most disgusting windy day, so she wasn't able to play with him much. It was too cold to get the boy's layers off, considering that he's clipped at the moment. Maz was an angel for the dentist, and his teeth were in fairly good order. Dummy here stood there chatting while the boy had his teeth done, with the camera in my pocket, so no 'teeth' shots of Maz today.
10.08.06
Maraki had his date with Heidi, (Veterinary Chiropractor), today. Heidi has given Rhonda has some exercises to do with Maz,
and Heidi will be back in couple of weeks to give Maz some further treatment.
11.08.06
20.08.06
Well lucky Maz had a visit from his mum today, just for some general maintenance and some smooching. He is finally showing some improvement in his condition and is beginning to look a lot better within himself. Maz still has a long way to go, but at least we know that we're on the right track.
Rhonda is applying Copper Sulphate (Blue Stone) to his wither as advised by the Vet. She is also using it on a scar he has on his leg. At the time of healing, whenever that was, no attention was paid to the proud flesh forming as a result of the injury, and Maz consequently has some ugly raised flesh. We'll see how much improvement can be made to this.
22.08.06
24.08.06
New shoes for Maz.
16.09.06
17.09.06
Maz had a visitor today, Rhonda's daughter Jaimee.. and lucky boy got the 'treatment'! Roll in the sand, lunge, groom, bath, and clean rugs.
As you can see, Maz is slowly improving in condition but still has some way to go. He has a big chest on him, and judging by that, he is going to fill out quite a lot more yet. The more improvement that I see in Maz, the more I realise just what a poor condition he was in. Jaimee did her usual sterling job on making the boy glow with cleanliness today, and a good job lunging him. If she can keep a little bit of work up to him he will take shape a lot more quickly, and in all the right places.
21.09.06
Jaimee & Maraki today.
31.10.06
5.11.06
Mazy seems to have done something to his pelvis, probably caused by a slip in the paddock while he was hooning or the like. Very possible, as the day it rained he was quite spooky, seeing invisible boogie men all day and having the odd hoon.
The Vet has recommended that Maz will need, (at the very least), 3 months rest, with as little activity as possible. So.. Maz gets to continue his life of leisure. Let's hope that the cure is as simple as that. He was in quite a lot of pain but the bute seems to be kicking in now, and he is much more relaxed..poor man.
Here's Mazy today, taking his doctors orders very seriously, and following them to the letter.
8.02.07
Maz's mum moved the boy to agistment closer to her home a little while ago, and judging by the update pic, he continues to do very well :)
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