Crosswinds Equine Rescue

ARRIVED	August 2009 -- healthy, needed shots/wormer/farrier care
ADOPTABILITY	ADOPTED!! Gone Home 12/21/2010!!!!
SPONSORSHIP: (Details below)	FEED: Sponsored! thanks Cecelia/Michel MEDICAL: needs a sponsor!
BREED/AGE	13-year old (1997 model) English Shire mare (CONFIRMED British registration), 17hh 1/2" - 2100 lbs Xena's DNA proved she actually is FV Bernadette!
Skills/Training "Report Card"
Overall Health: B	Xena is in excellent overall health, except that she is overweight. She is rather out of shape, and works up a lather rapidly under saddle. Regular exercise would bring her into fitness fairly quickly and be very good for her overall. Her hooves are making progress but need additional work. Fall 2010: Xena had a bacterial skin infection this summer, which slowed her riding training and added to her being out of shape currently. This is a bacterial form of scratches which is not contagious and would not be an issue at another home. She is now nearly healed and is back to riding and doing well; she needs to lose weight via exercise and regain her fitness.
Ground Manners: B	Xena can still be mildly pushy but is not at all aggressive or mean. Has completed basic ground school and is far more respectful and managable than at time of arrival. She is nearly always handled without a lead rope, and often managed by very inexperienced volunteers to go into and out of the barn and stalls for meals, so long as they are handling her for her normal routines. Rarely, but occasionally, Xena does still push past humans. Summer 2010 Xena learned to receive medical treatments standing in a set of farrier stocks. This approach was used because bathing, scrubbing, and treatment was required, NOT because Xena could not be treated without the stocks. Using the stocks made care consistent and safe for both Xena and volunteers assisting with treating her rash. It was also a good learning experience for Xena, as she came to realize that we were helping her to heal and easing her discomfort. As of fall 2010, Xena remains hesitant and cautiously protective of her hooves. Having had the skin rash on her lower legs all summer meant that handling her feet was uncomfortable for her physically, so we did not push this area of training during this time period.
Basic Riding Skills: B-	As of 9/25/10, Xena has completed the first phase of riding training. She has about 15 rides indoors and a ride outdoors. She is strong, poweful, and forward like a classic warhorse of old. She will require an experienced rider and will make a great one person horse able to do amazing things. She is walking and trotting with ease and will soon begin canter work. On 11/20/09, Xena had her 2nd outdoor ride and her first canter under saddle. DONT MISS THE VIDEO! As of 3/1/10, Xena has had roughly 30 rides. She loves to ride outdoors, and is powerful and forward with LOTS of energy. Our indoor round pen is small for a horse her size even for trot work and she doesn't like it. She tends to stand and pout, and just generally is unhappy working indoors. As spring thaws, we hope to get to do significantly more outdoor work safely, once the snow and ice are gone. 4/1/10: Xena has completed several significant trail rides, either with 2 inexperienced other horses, or out on her own. Xena is happy to lead, high energy and forward, and doesn't mind being alone or with other horses. She has handled steep banks, water crossings, strange horses approaching from either end. She has cantered easily on open trail with nothing ahead of her, and was very managable and easily stopped. 10/10/10: Xena did not ride this summer due to her skin rash, and did no riding until very recently. Xena easily picked up where she had left off. While she is out of shape, the underlying energy level still shows. She LIKES to go, particularly outdoors, but tires easily until she regains her fitness. Xen is comfortable at the walk and trot in our smallish indoor roundpen, and will walk/trot/canter outdoors, particularly happiest if doing trail work rather than riding in an enclosed space. Xena remains a strong, energetic, forward mare. She does not tolerate a forceful or arrogant rider, and she will take charge with a timid or unsure rider. With a confident intermediate and above, Xena is a joy to ride, with such grace and power beneath you!
Ideal Career	Xena will make an exceptional mount for lower level dressage, mounted orienteering, medieval reenactments, trail or competitive trail or ACTHA, or other thinking sports. She has great impulsion and nice action. Her energy level is high but not unmanagable. This is one fantastic mare who has a great future ahead of her.
Stall Manners B+	Xena has been stall kept previously, and has very good stall manners. She enters and exits well, very rarely being a bit hurried to exit her stall after meals to return to her 24/7 pasture time. She grooms easily in a stall but remains nervous about being fly sprayed or having her hooves handled inside a stall. She tacks easily, being particularly patient if tacked in a stall, or will tack easily after her warm up in the round pen. (We do not have cross ties.)
Trailering Skills: A-	Loaded easily to come to CWER, but very nervous about putting her head back in the trailer. Rode calmly, didn't sweat or get tense, ate her hay easily. Loaded wonderfully for a trail ride in November 2009. A little tentative about putting her head back into the trailer. Unloaded wonderfully, loaded well again at the park. GOOD GIRL! 10/10/10: Xena was mildly nervous to get back onto the trailer at first, not having done so in months. After a brief hesitation, she led easily onto the trailer, and backed off with confidence.
Companionship / Pasture Manners B	Xena has very good pasture manners. She is clearly an alpha type personality but not aggressive or abusive, and she is NOT in charge of our herd -- she is #3, behind our 2 clydes. She can be mildly pushy with the others when it is feeding time, to come in to eat. Most of the herd know to let the clydes go first, then Xena, then the others exit in their order within the herd's dominance. Xena knows not to push the humans to come in from pasture prior to being asked. She has not been mean with any of the horses, not even the youngsters as their playtime disturbs her.
Manageability for Routine and Medical Care C	Xena wormed reasonably well. She remains difficult for the farrier, but is making slow progress. We did not work on her hooves Xena does reasonably well for shots when held on a lead, and very well if shots are done while she is in the stocks, such as while she was having her rash treated. She remains very mildly cautious of the vet, but quickly accepts an easy introduction.
Adoption Terms	GONE HOME 12/21/2010!!! Please see our adoptionQnA pages for details of how to adopt.

Overview: Xena, previously known as "Bernie or Bernadette" is a big, healthy, gorgeous shire mare who has had an easy life. Due to emergency, long running medical issues, the owner could no longer care for her and she wanted to ensure she had a safe future, so she donated her to CWER.

Winter 2009: Xena got to go on several trail rides with Pepper and Dazzle this winter, with Xena definitely the 'lead' horse. Xena lead up and down steep banks, through thick mud, water crossings, and more, and did it all like a trooper! She will also ride off alone without any difficulty, and seemed to really enjoy going exploring. She has cantered on open trail easily and was easy to slow and halt.

Spring 20109: Xena spent parts of winter and now early spring under saddle. She has done several long trail rides, normally as the lead horse with younger, less confident horses following. Xena rides through fast water, up steep hills, and more. She is mildly overweight and needs to get more in shape.

Summer 2010: Xena is being treated for a rash on her lower legs similar to scratches but bacterial. Xena is being exceptionally good about allowing us to bathe these large itchy areas on her lower legs, literally scrubbing with a heavy brush, then covering with antibacterial creams. While it doesn't affect her soundness or ability to ride -- she's just itchy like poison ivy -- it is unpleasant for her to ride in the dusty arena, and we have given her most of the summer off. It does affect how she is about handling her hind hooves, because you have to hold and rub across sore areas to hold her hoof.

Fall 2010: Xena's legs are much better but not 100% healed. This skin infection is common to sheep, and our primary pasture was sheep land for a very long time. If we had known the infection was bacterial and not scratches in early spring (scratches is primarily fungal), we would've been able to catch it early and she would've healed nicely. Since the infection got a good hold before we took the right approach, and then we had an unusually wet and muddy summer which just added to the problem, we were never able to completely heal her legs until fall.

Xena is back riding again as of 10/10/10. Xena still prefers to ride outdoors over our small indoor roundpen. She is significantly out of shape from a lazy summer. Her trust and comfort level improved significantly over the summer as she learned that we were making her skin feel better and helping her heal. She loads easily into the stocks, and is calm and relaxed as her legs were treated. (She was not in the stocks due to any bad behavior; we used the stocks to allow us to wash, scrub, and treat all areas of all 4 legs consistently and safely.) Xena is now beginning a slow but steady exercise program which will help take off her excess weight and return her fitness.

DEC 2010: Xena is going home!!! She has been adopted by an experienced draft rider in southern Illinois, and will be boarded with her NEW 'brother' -- a huge belgian gelding who looks incredibly like Valiant the 'brother' she arrived with -- and DAZZLE! CONGRATS XENA!!

WE ALSO CONFIRMED Xena's DNA! She IS F.V. Bernadette, and we're pleased to confirm her genetics and help her adopter recover her lost papers.

Sponsorship: She now needs a feed sponsor! The feed sponsor donates to cover the cost of her feed monthly -- $50 per month at this time. Thanks Cecelia/Michel for supporting Xena for April/May/June 2010!

She also needs a medical sponsor. The initial vet intake cost approximately $125. Her spring 2010 vet care cost approximately $75 for vaccinations, coggins test, dental checkup assuming she does not need significant dental care. Her summer medical care for her rash cost a total of approximately $185.

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