The folks at Indiana Horse Rescue asked me to send them a yearly update on Abby when I adopted her. Since she and I just celebrated our first year together, I just sent them my first update. See below.
(The pictures I sent them of Abby getting her chest scritched, in the snow with me at the hayrack, and the photo Vanessa took of her walking and swishing her tail are already posted in this blog so I will not repeat them here.)
Hello, Melanie!
Hard to believe it has been a year since my sister, Leslie, and I took home Sassy (now known as Abby) and Coco. You'd asked for an update each year, and since Abby and I just celebrated our one year anniversary together, here you go.
She and I are very happy together, and she has herd mates to keep her company (Diablo, Dolly, Trouble, Hokey, Mason, and Persuasion.) She's out full time on fifteen acres, but has a barn she can go in and out if need be. I have had a saddle on her but have not ridden her yet. That flare she had when you rescued her has caused her to limp, and I did not want to aggravate it, choosing instead to be patient and let it heal. I have not seen her limp at a trot or canter for almost a month (good news!) but I still intend to wait and watch. I am in no rush to ride her.
Abby knows my car and comes to see me when I arrive at the barn, nickering as she does. She is very fond of carrots, apples, pears, and as we discovered quite by accident at Christmas, CANDY CANES. Unfortunately, my stash is all gone; next December I will lay in a couple of boxes of the mini ones and parcel them out over the year so she can have her favorite treat year round. :D
(A funny story. I am a teacher, and word got out in the teachers' lounge that I had a horse who likes apples and pears. Several teachers now share their lunch pears and apples with Abby, leaving them on my desk or in my school mailbox to take out to her after school!)
Her health is good and her disposition is wonderful. As you know, she has her sassy side, but I see that very rarely. She likes to hang out with me, sometimes just standing next to me while I talk to her. (As you can tell from the one picture, she loves to have her chest scritched!)
My kids and grandchildren have fallen in love with her. In fact, I am going to Florida to visit my son and his family in June. I was talking to my five year old grandson on the phone about what we would do while I was there and he said, "Grammy? Will you bring your horse?" I still smile at that, but it also shows how good she is with people. (I have a movie of Abby following my nine year old granddaughter around the pasture that is very dear to my heart.)
So, it seems as though Abby and I are a match made in heaven. I love her dearly, and feel blessed to have her. When I consider I only came down to your facility on a whim to help my sister find a horse for herself, I shiver that I might have missed out on such a wonderful animal.
Thanks for all the hard work you and the staff do on behalf of neglected horses. I am grateful to be a recipient of one of those wonderful rescues!
Best wishes!
Lynn
