QUEST EQUINE WELFARE INC.

HOMED

8 yr old Shetland Gelding

16.08.06

18.08.06

Well I spent some time with Pepper today. He is friendly and curious by nature, but it is very obvious that someone has seriously shattered the trust that Pepper has in people.

He was very difficult to catch, and was trembling when I put the halter on him. He leads well, because he's too scared not to. He does not know what a brush is! While I was brushing him he was flinching, and he was nervously trying to watch what I was doing. At one point, when I went to brush his mane, he thought I was going to hit him and panicked.

Initially I had been going to do some washing, but I decided not to overwhelm him too much, and just do 'nice' things for him on his first day. He had relaxed some by the time I had finished, but this little man is a fine example of how much damage can be done to a sensitive animal like a horse. We had a short and gentle session, and left it at that. I had a look at his teeth, and I'd take a guess that Pepper is between 6-8 years old.

20.08.06

Well...Pepper is coming ahead in leaps and bounds, purely because he is a friendly little man by nature, and wants to be a part of everything. Yesterday Sally and her girls came to visit, and although they played with Merlin all the time, Pepper was there in the background, sneaking closer and closer. While Jem was riding Merlin, he followed along faithfully. His catching has improved out of site already, and he is becoming less and less apprehensive.

We couldn't let today go by without bathing him, as it was a lovely day. He was very nervous about it all, but the worst he did was shift around here and there a bit. He showed no signs of kicking when we were working around his back end, even though he was very unhappy and nervous about it. We just took it all very slowly and gently, reassuring him all the time, and he tried his best to be brave. After his bath Tony took him down the road for a walk and a pick of the grass. He's a brave little man, just goes along with whatever you ask of him.

Show Pony

27.08.06

The girls took Pepper, Merlin and Grubby to the local Gymkhana and had a lovely day!

29.08.06

Dentist Day for little Pepper. I was worried about how he'd handle it, because I've just got to the point with him where he's trusting people so much more....but I needn't have worried, he was a real little trooper. He behaved beautifully! I had been looking forward to Russell having a look at the odd bite that Pepper has..He says that it's not causing him any problems, and I guess that's evident in Pepper's fat tum! Russell confirmed that Pepper is around 8 yrs old.

30.08.06

Well Pepper is the envy of all here these days...he is spending his days in the garden, as I'm not sure the little shortie will stay in the paddocks. I don't have bottom wires in my fences, and judging by the ease with which the neighbours ponies ran INTO my place, I'm guessing that Pepper could just as easily run OUT. Here's Pepper in the garden, pretending that he's not heading for the garden beds the minute I go back inside.

31.08.06

Well there's a down side to living in the garden...When dinner time comes around, you wish you weren't stuck in there after all. Here's Pepper wishing he was on the other side of the fence, out where the wheelbarrow load of feed bins went!

When I was waaay down the back tonight, feeding up, I notice a commotion in the garden, Pepper was galloping around and around. I bolted up to the house because I assumed that the dogs were chasing him...my blood boiling. What I found was Pepper chasing the dogs! He was having a ball....I think the dogs were too

3.09.06

Well I'm glad that I got pictures of Pepper when he was clean, because that's a thing of the past now. We had rain last night, and he's been loving grovelling in the dirt this morning...ahh well, boys will be boys!

15.09.06

Best mates.

17.09.06

Here we have 'Short' & 'Sweet'

21.09.06

14.10.06

Well little Pepper has been taken to the Sanctuary a few days ago. I paid a visit to the little man today, and it was great to see him. I really miss the little champ around here. He's such an unassuming little quiet achiever.

He's sticking to Merlin like glue, as it is quite intimidating, being introduced to a large group of unknown horses. He has a good ally in Merlin, who is doing a great job of fighting Pepper's little battles for him! They are hovering on the outskirts of the group for the time being, but I'm sure will be integrated in no time at all.

Pepper was busting to come up and say hi to me, but was continually chased off by other braver horses who had to check... and double check that I had no food on me. Every time I turned around he'd be a few metres away, just looking for a break in the throng of horses to get up to me. We did manage to sneak a scratch, and it was wonderful that the little pony who would nearly run up the walls of the round yard to get away from me when he first arrived, was now determinedly trying to approach me in a 70 acre paddock.

I'm sure that Pepper's happy to be running in a huge paddock, with other horses, and all the feed he could want...but I can't help feeling that he is one of those few horses who is just as happy dawdling around your backyard, and having human company, which is an unexpected trait for a pony who was so severely frightened of humans. He just struck me as feeling a little 'lost' out there. Maybe he will settle to it, we'll see.

15.12.06

24.01.07

3.03.07

Pepper has been re-homed and is enjoying life with a Donkey and a Thoroughbred gelding as roomies.