Starting to fill in!

Prince is starting to fill out slowly.... very slowly, but we all know we can't rush things. Katie spends anywhere from 20 minutes to two hours a day...depends on what I get done... (Stalls...setting out feed..prepping for night duty....) and he's recognized that she's HIS person... much to the annoyance of Stinky Pony who thinks Katie belongs to HIM.... Such drama on the farm. Since his coming.. Katie has earned close to 20 hours for meritorious service hours at school... the majority of them coming on weekends when she can hang at the barn and dote on him , and groom him and show him Katie Love! The farrier comes this weekend to trim his footies and get them nice and pretty!

10 days in...

Ten days in!~ Already starting to look better and gain weight.

Update on Prince

Prince is becoming more active... and gaining weight. Mom and I rewormed him following what Doc Jane said to do. We also started incrreasing his grain, and mom got some alfalfa hay which I feed at night when he is in his stall and not outside. He's starting to look better, and in the first ten days, I logged 16 hours taking care of him for my school meritorius hours. Mom is helping me keep track. She bought me a notebook and I log what i do in it. I do a lot of hours on wekeends when I'm not in school. Mom is mucking the stall during the day, but I bed , water and grain. And also bring in the horses and feed them all. Some will trot to their stalls, but a few like to go in and check them out first. Mom spent time rearranging the back stall so my washstall is available to groom before races. I am happy dad put heat in the barn two years ago. It makes it nice when I need to groom before a race or a show.

Me and Bay Prince

Uhmmm....when I first saw him when he arrived I thought he was really nice looking and like a fit thoroughbred. And I fell in love. He got sick and skinny over the winter and now he looks like a piece of poop.... BUT...I will get him looking nice and fit with lots of love and work. Because he could have a nice career as a junior field master chase horse... or a jumper.... or a foxhunter to help keep him fit.
I love him because he's a sweet nice horse who likes attention. I hope that he'll come back as strong as he was when I first saw him. I know he will.
~Katie

The Beginning (Foreword)

It all started when I had a trainer come and ask if he could rent the front field. I called and checked references and all seemed well. Next thing I knew we had six OTTB's from the track being wintered and the check cleared! Success!
Over the winter...the feedings slowed down, the visits slowed... after complaining, blankets appeared on the horses... but it was too late. Under them, his poor horses were starving and getting rain rot from the sad blankets he had placed upon them. But hay was there ever few days, and water was fresh... so....
Spring came close and a blanket was twisted. About that time, the checks started drying up, and one bounced.... three times. The SCPA was getting calls, and since I work with them from time to time, I called. And then, the truth came out. He was so far behind, the horses being wintered were the last to be fed. Covered in rain rot, almost abandoned, the SPCA sprung into work, and Katie began lobbying for Bay Prince, a 2005 Canadian bred who we found out when we got his papers was Breeder's Cup Nominated. But I digress. Finally... I made a call to the owner, and agreed to get him to sign the horse over to us. The SPCA is working to get the rest with my help. A friend came and photographed them for the SPCA to use in their case. Our vet came and he was a 2 on the Heinke scale. We set forth the game plan, and Katie got permission to use him as a Meritorious Service Project at her middle school with our vet and I overseeing and signing off on her paper work.
This is his and her story. Their journey to wholeness, and a whole new career.