Past Due Duca Update~

Sorry folks, this is a little late! These photos are from 8/11/2010
The progress is SLOW!! I was hoping to see a bigger difference....but, then again, i see him every day too!

Alduca update.......

Well folks, I don't know about you but I think he looks better!

His backbone is 'beefing up', and his rump is as well.

His hair is coming back after only about 1 1/2 weeks of Shapley's M-T-G. LOVE that stuff! It's great!!!

He is a spoiled rotten brat, who gets a carrot in the am and 2 carrots with dinner in the pm. He nudges and sniffs around until he gets them too. He's one smart cookie! I made him 'work' for one last night, and he is still as flexible and agile as he was when we left Maryland in 2001. He can bring his nose to his hip, if not a bit further! Flexible guy! Can't wait to start getting him in shape so he can be ridden next year! :)

Evil Feed Bag!

SO, since his Saturday PM arrival I've noticed that Mr. Butthead can't keep his lips closed long enough to aviod dropping half his grain.
His teeth were checked by the vet that saw him and Florida and were deemed ok. I'm starting to question that!! He literally drops like 1/2 his grain.
He was almost out of his supplement when he got here, not leaving me enough time to order some. SO, I combed the area to see if any local feed store carried it. Viola! One in Victoria did! They closed at 5:30. I screamed outta the office 15 mins early and headed to town. Arrived just in time! I noticed they had some feed bags hanging on a display...BONUS! Supplement and feed bag in one place! YAY!

Ran a few other errands and played catch up with a friend for about 30 mins before heading home.
I'd phoned and told DH not to feed Duckie because I'd found a feed bag and would take care of him when I got there.

When I arrived home I found him standing in the front corner of his pen sulking! Poor boy! Everyone got dinner but him!
I raced inside and changed my footwear. Threw grain and supplement in the bag and headed his direction. As I rounded the corner of the shed I was greeted with nickers and whinnies of a hungry monster!
"oh yeah" I thought...just you wait! You won't be happy with me in a few minutes!
*duckie used to get fed in a feed bag when we were in Maryland* I stepped into his pen, and he started to walk to his bucket. "wrong answer, buddy!" He walked back to me and put his head in the bag. I adjusted it and put the strap over his ears.
After about 2.2 seconds he went to flipping and flopping and shaking his head around trying to get the bag off! Funny stuff! Didn't spill a drop though!!
He ate a bit....and shook a bit. Ate a bit...and shook some more.
I stood there with him, laughing at his antics and waited till he was done. I took it off his head and he began hunting for more!
"sorry bud, it's all gone".
He finally realized that it was gone and he settled in on hay munching!
Poor boy!!

I got up around 3 am this morning to let the dogs out and snuck a peek at his pen...he was laying down, sleeping!

Got up this morning and filled the feed bag and took it to him. Much less head shaking and attitude this am!!! Good boy! He catches on QUICK!
As soon as we can arrange it, we will get his teeth looked at. Coggins is due in October.....

Alduca

IN 2002 I left my horse in Florida, with a friend, at her barn. The plan was for me to get to Texas, get settled, and get my horse shipped/pick him up.

That never happened. He was 'given' to a 'great home' after about a month and with me being 1000 plus miles away there wasn't much I could do about it.

I put ads online, searching for him. I'd renew them, and post new ones in other places. I'd do a google search for him, under his name, sometimes and never really found much. Until a little over a month ago. I found links to an old add for him.....they were giving him away. I got in touch with the place where the ad was placed, and they got me the add info, as the ad had expired it was no longer online.

I called the number off and on all day, and finally got a hold of someone around 6pm. She informed me she'd given him away about a month before, but he went to a "Great Home" and said she was going to go over and check on him. I asked her to PLEASE pass along my information to this new person, in case anything were to ever happen and his new owner couldn't take care of him. She said she would.

Phone rings on the way home last night, strange number, so I didn't answer. They left a voicemail.

It was a nice lady named Aimee, asking about the ads I had online for a TB gelding named Alduca. She left her number. I immediately pulled over and caller her back.

She had just rescued him from a lady who wasn't and hadn't been feeding him for a while now. She said he was 300lbs under weight.

If you are feint of heart, please do not look at the photos below......I'd say more like 500 lbs under weight.

This horse raced, and won money on the track. He was a seasoned fox hunter, eventer, and was trained through 2nd level dressage and was started on lower 3rd.....he was a sweetheart of a horse, didn't have a mean bone in his body.

This is how he got repaid for his kindness........it makes me sick. His new owner has promised updated photos on a regular biases, and we've already exchanged numerous emails this morning. Her vet is headed out for an exam and possible teeth float.

Anyone who wishes to make a donation to Alduca's vet care can to so by calling 904-692-3935 and having the money put on account number 991198 and say it's for Alduca. I don't' usually ask for stuff like this.....but this once great, majestic horse needs some help.

How Skeletor came to us

Skeletor doesn't know much. He tolerates people and that's about it. When he was born I messed with him a lot. He loved people.
Then, he smacked his head on something and left a nasty owie on his face right about his right eye. This caused him to start being head shy. He was put on meds, and his head was dr'd every day.
At this point my ex and I split. Skelly was still 'on his momma' and my ex wanted his momma so Skelly stayed with him. At this point though, he wasn't named Skeletor...his name was Joker. He was always running around the pasture bouncing around the other horses. He reminded me of a court jester from medieval times....trying to make everyone laugh.....so...Joker it was.

A while later I learned he'd been sold to a mutual friend. I was happy about that. Friend was a good guy......

We learned a short time later he'd been 'sold' 2 more times.....the 'middle' guy starved him to death. the last people to own him before us tried to put weight back on him. As we all know it comes off much quicker than it goes on. We didn't know who he'd been sold to. One night at a friend's house we got talking about horses. They started talking about their paint colt. One thing lead to another and before I knew it, they were talking about Joker. They called him something else...but dun and white paints are not very common...and after putting 2 and 2 together....I figured out it was Joker. They told us where he was...and the next day we drove by to see him as it wasn't far from our house. They'd told us the person they got him from didn't feed him....but I wasn't prepared for how bad he really looked.....it was terrible. Every rib visible...hip bones sticking out like skyscrapers on a city skyline.....the eyes that once held a twinkle of mischief were dull and lifeless. I started crying.
The next day we went with truck and trailer over to the pasture where he was to catch him.
You can't catch him....they said. He's afraid of people.....they said.
A bucket of grain and 5 minutes was all it took to catch him.....imagine...
He won't get in a trailer....they said...we walked him over here.....
Again.....5 minutes, a bucket of grain and some horse savvy and he was in the trailer.
No stress...no chasing him...no smacking him on the butt with a lead rope or lunge whip. He took a cautious step up into the trailer.....waited 5 seconds...and leaped inside. He knew he was going to a better place.
They stood outside the trailer dumbfounded. Jaws on the ground. When DH closed the back gate they started clapping. They were amazed.
Like I was some kind of magician who waved a magic wand and made a halter appear on his head and them made him appear in the trailer.
It was strange.......
So that's how Skelly came to be at our house. And, it should be obvious to all why his name went from Joker to Skeletor.....that's all he was....a skeleton of a horse....it was terrible.