Mickey
HOMED
* You can click on images to enlarge.
Our Vice President, (who is also our Vet/Farrier), came across Mickey in her travels on a Veterinary call out. Following Jude's initial examination and assessment, the decision by Mickey's owner was to euthanase him, due to the degree of Laminitis that Mickey is diagnosed as suffering.
Mickey has been living a solitary life for the past 10 years since his owner passed on. He has been completely untouched for that period. The property was ultimately sold, and Mickey remained on the property with the new owners. Although extremely well-meaning, the new owners are not horse people, and have done their best to befriend Mickey to the point where he could be handled, but it has been a slow and fairly fruitless process for them. Mickey has been extremely obese for some time, and has been suffering from Laminits for years. We are told that Mickey was broken to cart as a 2 year old, but he has been untouched since then. He is now 12 years old.
Mickey's surrendering owners do care for him, however, the long term and involved process of attempting to resolve Mickey's Laminitis and pain was a very daunting one for people unused to handling horses. Mickey is also a big fella, who is not easy to handle at this point. Jude has seen something special in this boy, and we offered Mickey's owners the option of surrender, which was gratefully accepted.
Mickey remained at his owner's property for a couple of weeks before collection, where Jude instigated an appropriate diet regime for him, and did some very basic initial work on Mickey's feet in order to get him to a point where he could walk and travel to our care facility. The big fella is here now, and was certainly very happy to see other horses for the first time in years!
We hope to bring Mickey back to a point where he is comfortable and pain free. He is a lovely boy, at a good age, who we hope will eventually have some prospect of leading a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life.
14.09.10
3.11.10
Mickey is doing well. He has settled into his new environment, and is enjoying having the company of other horses around him for the first time in ten years. He has revealed himself to be an extremely intelligent horse, but still holds some very firm beliefs around the level of trust and respect us humans should be afforded. Mickey's first reaction to confusion or doubt at the moment is fight, not flight, and great care must be taken when working around him. He does not kid around when he has a go. I have no doubt however that in time, and with work, this will turn around. His base nature is actually very soft and gentle. He's a very complicated horse right now.
We have carefully dropped a lot of weight off him, and he is actually looking 'worse' rather than 'better' at the moment, but his drop in body weight has helped him with his critical laminitis. He is now showing no laminitic pain, and it's time to very slowly introduce him to more of a maintenance diet and bring him to a healthy weight and condition.
He is improving in every area of handling. Still needs to be worked down and allowed to 'catch us', rather than us catching him. During his last trim he was only very lightly sedated, and had improved out of sight from the horse that initially needed to be drugged to the point where he was only just able to stand, and still fought and grunted the whole way.
Mickey would like to thank his kind sponsors for having faith in him, and for taking such an interest in his future well being. He would like you to know that he is trying his very best :)
11.12.10
Another trim for our Mick, and the first one he's had without sedation. He did really well considering where he started with this.
You can get a fair idea from the photos below of the damge done by the laminitis and lack of hoof care over an extended period of time. Despite appearances however, he's doing really well, and it's simply a matter of time and appropriate hoof care.
1.03.11
Well Mickey is really making some progress emotionally of late, I'm so proud of him! Where before he would sometimes kick out sideways at head height at me when I walked past his yard, he now follows me around very tentatively. No sedation needed for his most recent trim, and his feet are beginning to resemble the hooves they should be. He is the pussycat that I knew he was, and he has recently, very bravely, made a conscious decision to give us humans another go. All he needed was to be shown consistency and fairness. He now stands to be caught in an open paddock, and comes when called. Doesn't sound like much, but he was initially an extremely dangerous and fearful horse. Baby steps though, and I'm not taking him for granted. There is no 'deadline' set by which time he must be good to go. It will take as long as it takes. Good on you Mick!
4.03.11
Mickey's feet are coming along :)
Off fore & Near fore.
Off hind & Near hind.
14.03.11
Great news for Mickey, (and Chance) 
Mickey has now been re-homed with a wonderful family, along with his mate, Chance!
We are all so excited for Mickey and Chance. Their new adoptive owners are experienced horse people, and are keen to spend a lot of time with them both, continuing to work with Mickey to re-establish his trust and confidence, and, depending upon his progress, eventually have him started under saddle.
We are certain that Mickey will continue to make good progress, especially with the security of having Chance with him. He has come such a long way during his rehabilitation in the care of Quest, and now it is time for him to continue to extend himself bravely in a new and permanent home. We are confident that he will find the kindness and gentleness he deserves with his new family.
If things don't go as well for Mickey in his new home that we expect they will, his new family know that he is welcome back here at any time.
Love ya Mick, we take our hats off to you for the bravery you have shown in giving us humans a second chance. We will all be sending positive vibes your way, and wish you soooo much luck in your new life with your new permanent family. Keep the faith mate, we look forward to hearing news of you with your new family of your very own.
THANK YOU so much to Che, Mandy, and family for making this new start possible for the special man.
Mickey and Chance leave Quest for their new home:
Mickey and Chance settle in:
19.03.11
One frightened and confused boy.
I wanted to share the above photo with you, as we have received some lovely update photos from Mickey's new mum since he left. which show a trusting, relaxed, and willing boy. I'll post them after this one. This particular photo shows Mickey's state of mind on arrival with us. He was extremely frightened, and consistently used his 'fight' response, rather than his 'flight' response in those early days whenever he felt threatened. Feeling threatened could be something as simple as me walking past the round yard he was in. This often resulted in well aimed head-high kicks at me from the other side of the rails.
We had to sedate him for all hoof care, and often when being handled, he would actually grunt with fear, which was a new one on me. He was a worry, because he was in a frame of mind where he was so apprehensive that he was dangerous, and a dangerous horse cannot be re-homed. However, he always had the kindest, and most intelligent eye, so we decided to give him time.
Here we are down the track, and the boy has come through for us. Not only that, but fate has given him the perfect new 'mum'. When discussing the possibility of Mandy offering Mickey a home, I explained what I understood about the 'why's' of Mickey's past behaviour, and I have have to admit, I was nervous about how he would handle the move. He was doing great here, but I felt that it would not take a lot to regenerate that fear in Mick. Anyhow, it felt right, and we went with it. (The offer being made by us that Mickey was of course welcome back at any time if there were any concerns).
Mickey has absolutely blossomed in his new home. His new mum Mandy spends a lot of time with him, and totally understands the delicacy of his rehabilitation. She is a knowledgeable horsewoman, who also possess' all the patience and understanding in the world. We are thrilled to bits with this partnership, and hope that you enjoy the following photos of this special man with his new special person all of his very own.
Our heartfelt THANKS to Mandy and family, for taking on a horse with so many needs, and offering him a chance at a happy future in a loving environment.
26.03.11
26.02.12
WONDERFUL to receive a lovely update photo of the boys today!
They are both looking so well, and very content. Thank you to Mandy, Che and family for taking such great care of the boys :)
19.03.12
Well, it's with very heavy hearts that we share the news of Mickey's passing. Almost a year to the day since Mickey arrived in his wonderful new home, he was very unluckily bitten by a snake. Sadly there was no saving him, and his family had no option but to make the heart-wrenching decision to have Mickey euthanased.
We would all like to pass on our sincerest condolences to Mickey's loving adoptive family. We would also like to thank Che, Mandy, and family for, undoubtedly, giving Mickey the best 12 months of his unfortunate life. It takes special people to make a life-long commitment to a horse who comes with emotional baggage, and who may well not ever even be suitable as a ridden prospect. Che and Mandy took Mickey on regardless of his special needs and issues, and loved and cared for him as he never had been. Thank you so much for this ladies, from all who came to know and love this precious big boy through his time with us.
Our love to Chance also, who we hear is taking the loss of his best buddy very hard.
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