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History:  

We received a nervous phone call in December 2007. A woman called, saying her husband had purchased 3 horses from a 'bad situation' some time before. One horse had been easy to manage and they had rehomed her with a friend. The other 2 were still in his care. The husband had some horse experience but not extensive. The wife had none and was intimidated, particularly by the larger mare, Mia. Then, the husband injured his shoulder at work, and was off work for weeks. He struggled to care for Mia and Sally, and the wife was trying to find the 2 mares new homes. When none could be found, they started calling rescues.

At the time, CWER was full and unable to take the mares in, but we posted them to various lists for her, and soon heard that another facility was going to take them in.

Then, some weeks later, a panicked phone call. The other facility hadn't taken the horses after all; the husband has had surgery on the shoulder and is still trying to care for the horses. The wife is at work, 45 minutes away; Mia has hit the husband's shoulder with a gate and is running panicked in her yard as he let go and sunk to the ground in pain.

As soon as possible, we picked up the 2 mares and brought them to CWER. Lee was so grateful that we were able to bring them in to our facility and help this family before someone got really hurt...including the horses. Lee explained that both mares had been ridden before he took them in, but he didn't know much about the female rider's skill, or about their level of training. He cautioned that Mia could be pushy at times.

March 2008: Mia is a smart alpha horse, and temporarily had taken the herd away from Tess. Tess is back in control now, having shown Mia who really IS boss, but Mia continues to 'pick' at Tess in the pasture. Mia showed similar behavior with her human alphas in the round pen -- acting submissive until the alpha turns his/her back, then is pinning ears, snaking her head, and otherwise acting aggressive. With 2 of us to work together, it was easy to catch and scold this behavior, and Mia's actions with all humans got better almost immediately.

Shown here is Mia working her first day in the round pen...first with Mike working and AM as a second set of eyes; then with AM working with her, first with saddle pad and other horse care items, and then with the circus stand. Mia did surprisingly well with this task...notice the soft, proud look on her face!

GRAIN: Mia now has a grain sponsor! Twilight's mom, Kelly M, is now sponsoring Mia. Thanks, Kelly!

MED: Mia also needs a med sponsor -- someone who agrees to pay any medical bills she encounters. As of March 08, Mia's expenses thus far have only been worming and transportation to CWER ($175). Soon we will be doing spring shots and dental work.