Crosswinds Equine Rescue

ARRIVED	August 2009 -- healthy, needs shots/wormer/farrier care
ADOPTABILITY	Adoption in process! Estimated delivery date 4/19/2010
SPONSORSHIP: (Details below)	FEED: SPONSORED! Thanks Kate MEDICAL: needs a sponsor!
BREED/AGE	7-year old (2003 model) registered Belgian gelding (owner finding papers), approx 18hh/2200 lbs
Skills/Training "Report Card"
Overall Health: B	Valiant had an injury to his left hind several years ago which has a scar but otherwise no longer bothers Val. His hooves were in poor condition upon arrival. We are working on getting him trimmed and settled gradually over time. Val is well built and healthy. He has not needed any significant medical treatment since arriving at CWER. Nov09 update: Val was badly lame from an abscess in his right front hoof. We built stocks so we could safely clear and treat the abscess. February 1, 2010 update: VAL IS SOUND! He has had his first round pen training session, and made a great start. It's such a joy to see how great he moves now that his hooves are in reasonable condition.
Ground Manners: B-	Val has basic halter skills and leads relatively well. For the most part, he is patient, quiet, unflappable, can be obstinate but improving. Val is still nervous about having his hooves handled, and in Nov 09 we had to build a set of stocks to treat his abscess. As of February 2010, his hooves have now had good basic trims, without the stocks, but still with progress to go. Val is tolerant of worming. We have not yet had to give Val any shots to see how he manages needles.
Basic Riding Skills: NA	New addition. No riding training to date. We do not anticipate beginning riding training with Val before approximately 3/1/10. As of 2/2/10, we have just started round pen training for Val, the first steps toward his riding or driving career.
Ideal Career	New addition. Report card to follow.
Stall Manners B	New addition. No stall experience previously. At one week, Val walked into any stall in the pony barn requested, ducking his head and being careful with his feet as he steps through the door ways. He eats well while stalled, and remains calm while Xena is taken out to work. At that time, he did call for Xena or his new friend, Lexi -- he is no longer doing so -- and he doesn't pace or paw or otherwise get upset. After a month, Val has settled comfortably into our feeding routine, putting himself in a stall without needing help, eating calmly, waiting easily to go out and walking like a gentleman to the pasture. He is calm in the stall, and enjoys grooming and visiting with guests. He would not be ready to go to a stall boarding home without some additional practice.
Trailering Skills: D	New addition. Only traveled a few times in his life, doesn't panic, but needs trailer loading trainng. This is one of the many 'life skills' we will work on with Val over the winter of 09/10, before he is ready for riding training.
Companionship / Pasture Manners A	Relaxed and bowed leadership to Tessa immediately in the paddock, early on he stayed with Xena. No aggression. Clearly allows Xena to lead. Shortly after, he went off on his own, no longer 'glued' to Xena. He now has his own group he plays with and grazes. Since arriving, he has settled into the group easily. When Sasha came, he took her as his personal responsibility, and has taken great joy in being the babysitter of this young filly!!! He is simply adorable with her and takes exceptional care of her. He also looks after Ruthie, an older arab mare. As he has crawled out of his shell, he has become 'one of the boys', happily and playfully engaging in halter tag with Kelso and Pepper.
Manageability for Routine and Medical Care D	We were able to worm Val, but it was challenging. We will work on this skill at each 8 week treatment. Val still struggles with having his hooves handled. In October 09, he was allowing us to lift and hold his front hooves, and we'd been able to do some much needed "big strokes" toward cleaning up the flares and issues with his hind hooves, but he still had a long way to go. Please see the notes below regarding building stocks to manage his abscess in November 09. In Feb 2010, he got a full very basic trim all the way around, and has come out sound!!! See brief video.
Adoption Terms	new addition. not yet set.

Overview: Val is a big, healthy, gorgeous belgian gelding who has had an easy life. Due to emergency, long running medical issues, the owner could no longer care for him and she wanted to ensure he had a safe future, so she donated him to CWER.

February 2, 2010: Val is SOUND! We are so excited. We were able to trim all 4 hooves last week, outside of the stocks; his abscess has completely cleared, and he's done his first training session in the round pen. See a brief (low quality, sorry) video of his first round pen work, including the first time we ever asked him to use the circus stand. We've added a longer clip from a few days later as well.

Sponsorship: Val now has a feed sponsor! The feed sponsor donates to cover the cost of his feed monthly -- $50 per month at this time.

He also needs a medical sponsor. The initial vet intake in august cost approximately $125. He was later mildly sedated for a dental check and also to trim a bad tear in one hoof wall, costing $85.

We had a major construction project this fall, building stocks to be able to provide urgent hoof care to Val before he had learned to properly handle normal hoof work. The cost of this project was $315. As of 1/1/10, we had raised all the needed funds. THANK you to those who helped!

If you feel the work we do with horses like Val is important, please consider donating. Even a one-time donation of $5 helps.

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