Rainman
#229
Bay QH Gelding. This is a 6 yr. Old gelding that was in a
pasture with two very dominant mares (mother/daughter). The mares
were not kind to him and kept him from eating his fair share.
As a result, he is horribly thin. It was said by the previous
caretakers that "he's always been that way"!!
TIER is trying
to come up with the funds to pay this boy's ransom and transport
so that we can get some feed into him and have him seen by a vet
immediately! There may be medical reasons for him to be in such
poor shape also. We will keep you updated.
I
would like you to know that #229 aka: The Rainman arrived at TIER
about an hour ago. He is the sweetest, most gentle boy! He quietly
walked out of the trailer through 2 gates, past the spotted barking
dog and through the black, grey and red dogs, through another
gate, past an inquisitive (sometimes a bully) Rio and into his
new pen (which has mud, but a lot less mud than the feedlot!).
He immediately went to the grass hay which had been set out for
him. I gently nudged him to the other feeder where I had placed
pellets and some Evergreen Revive (we use this for very underweight
horses...just a handful or so). He dove right in and started munching.
I left him to his snacks and to get acquainted with his neighbors...Rio,
Kiwi, Shilo and Haven & Sassy (the two PMU babies). Last I
saw him he was touching noses with Rio and Kiwi while Shilo was
demonstrating his his tough guy act. Rainman was not the least
bit impressed with Shilo's antics, Rio thinks it's cool to
have a neighbor that's not a baby PMU and Kiwi thinks that Rainman
is her own special present and is therefore ignoring Shilo. HA!
Thank
you my friends. Because of the overwhelming generosity, we were
able to pay his ransom, bring him home and arrange for the vet
to come check him out. The Rainman is on the sunny side of the
street now. It may be cloudy and rainy, but this boy will have
sunshine in his heart because the people who cared enough about
him to give him a chance went the extra mile for him.
Proof
Positive: It's For The Horses!!
Just
a rough guesstimate on his condition, pending no medical problems
(I will update you after the vet has checked him out) is that
it will probably take close to a year for him to be fully fleshed
out and toned. For the next few months all he will do is eat,
rest and be turned out. His neck is pencil thin and his backbone
protrudes somewhat like Grace's did when she came to us starving.
His hips are but bones. His feet do not look to awful, but then
I am quite used to seeing bad feet at the feedlots, auctions.
We will know more in a week or so when he sees the farrier. Right
now, he just needs to acclimate before we start hitting him with
vaccinations, wormers, farriers, teeth floating. Right now he
is home. New pictures will be up soon.
Gail
Update
3-8-01- I put The Rainman in the pasture so I could get some
nice pictures of him eating grass and so that everyone could see
that he is gaining weight! Well, as you can see, he thought it
would be a better idea to stand at the end of the pasture with
all the mud in it! Of course, Kiwi was being flirtatious in the
roundpen, so of course he wanted to stay at the muddy end closer
to her! HA!
He is modeling
his beautiful Black and Gold halter that was a gift from an admirer
named Melissa V. Thank you Melissa! The halter looks great even
if he does need to gain a little weight for it to fit a little
better. He's getting there, it will just take time. He's such
a little Guy!
Although
his coat still looks oogy, I brushed some of the mud out to make
him presentable. Lot's of dead hair came off and he has several
bite/scrape marks on him that are tender. A really touchy spont
on his rear just above his tail caused him to kick a little. At
least he didn't kick at me! And of course, right before I took
the pictures, he decided to roll...in mud. Sigh.
The Rainman
had his feet done the other day and was a perfect gentleman. Such
a good boy!
Thank you
to all who have gone the extra mile for this boy! He now has a
chance!
Update
3/26/01 - The vet was out Thursday, 3/22/01, and said his
teeth don't look bad enough to worry about right now. He does
not want to float them until he has gained more weight/energy.
The sores on his back, sides, hips, neck are all from other horses
and some rainrot. He has a particularly bad one just above his
tail on up the spine about 3 inches that we are medicating.
He is more perky and really looks forward to feeding time. Worming....we
will wait a little longer. A bath is scheduled sometime next week
(we are having a fund raising clinic this weekend and won't be
able to give him a bubble bath until later on in the week).
The vet said it will take a long time to get him up to weight.
His system needs to re-learn how to process/distribute the food
again. He also said that he is stunted due to the long term shortage
of nutrition.
Other than that........the boy is doing great! He still has a
sweet personality, just more energy than before! Yes!
New
picture 4/23/01
Update
5/18/01 - Rainey (I kinda shorten his name when I'm talkin
to him) is doing much better now. I had the vet out on Sunday
(5/13/01) to give him an allergy shot. Seems he is extra sensitive
to flies and will break out in hives. The hives disappeared overnight
and I imagine he is much more comfortable! Flies are really bad
this time of year. I use SWAT around their eyes and fly masks
and use fly spray too. But they sweat the fly spray off, so it
only works for a little while. We have fly traps all over and
they get full pretty quick. Will need to buy another case soon.
He
is at a plateau with the weight gain. Guess his body is getting
in gear to distribute it to other areas besides his belly! HA!
When a horse has been starved over a long period of time, it has
been our experience that they usually gain weight in the belly
first. They look like baked potatoes with toothpicks for legs
for a long time. Eventually, the body starts moving the nutrients
around and they start to look better all over. It'll take a long
time, but he's on his way. Still sweet and comes right up to you
when you approach....probably looking for fruit pies or snacks!
HA!
Gail
Update
7/20/01 - The Rainmain is doing really well. For awhile there,
it looked like he stopped putting on weight. We think he was at
some sort of plateau where his system was figuring out processing
regular feeding. Due to his long term starvation, his growth (in
heighth and weight) is stunted. It is somewhat doubtful that he
will actuall round out over the hips and shoulders and will remain
somewhat angular. But we have noticed that he is distributing
weight a little more in those areas.
Rainman
is the sweetest boy and never a problem. Easy to catch, easy to
lead, curious. Soon we will begin working him a little in the
roundpen to help him develop muscle tone.
Update
8/7/01
- The Rainman is still putting on weight! YES! It is doubtful
that he will get rounded out in a QH way due to the long term
starvation, but the weight is distributing fairly evenly now.
Good Sign!!!! He is the sweetest, most polite little fella, but
he can be a little bossy with some of the other horses! HA! That's
good to see since he was the low man on the totem pole for so
long that his system was horribly compromised...as you can see
from the photo below of him before everyone got together to help
him.
Update
5/15/02 - The Rainmain has found a forever home!!! Leslie
(mother to Rachel who adopted Royal : http://www.tierrescue.org/Royal.htm
) fell in love with Rainy and the feeling is mutual! When Leslie
asked him if he wanted to come home with her, he stretched his
little head out and nuzzled her over her heart! Sounds like a
YES to me! Thank you Leslie for giving The Rainman the best home
possible with his old friend Royal!
Update
6/2/02 - I had my breakfast with Rainy this morning. Then
went back at 1:00 to put in Royal's new tack locket. While the
menfolk were working Rachael and I put Rainy and Royal the the
turnout together. They had a good time. Play a little then come
check out the work going on in the stall. I can't tell you how
darling that Rainy is. He's already so happy to see me. I even
got a nicker today. It's so wonderful to have those two together.
Such a terrific feeling when we show up. The two of them give
the best greeting. I just kiss all over Rainy and he lets me do
it.
Update
1/2/03 - Rainy is starting to look absolutly outstanding.
We get a LOT of Ooooo's and AAHHHh's from people that have never
seen him before. Not to mention he has a fan club of people that
have been watching his on going progress since he came home with
us. His ribs that used to show are completely gone. He is starting
to get a rather nice Quarter horse butt. *wink wink* and his little
tiny chest has turned into a couple of really cute bulges where
the muscles have toned from walking everyday and getting regular
round pin. He still doesn't have that high of stamina but going
slow is the name of the game with him. We don't wanna work off
all the extra weight we but on him Our vet is floored by his progress
and enjoys seeing Rainy when he is around to tape him and monitor
his weight. His ground manners are coming along VERY nicely. Before
he really didnt have any and now he is doing so well. Today is
actually the first time someone has ever been on his back since
we brought him home. We waited until he had some more "heft"
to him before sticken ANYTHING on his back. He was ready for it.
He is getting rather board with doing the same old same old ground
manners stuff. So to make things more exciting for him we decided
to check him out today. I was the one that started him. I laid
across his back for a matter of time and he was a perfect gentleman.
I worked with him more and the next thing I know I have my leg
swung over his back and he is continuing to be a total gentleman.
We didn't do much other than just standing. I let him get the
feel of what its like to have a human on his back again. After
that we walked together for about 20 feet, gave him a carrot and
I got off. We ended on a very good note and we will continue moving
towards riding. He still needs a saddle, and thats something that
we'll have to be very careful with. His back is still a tad thin
and his hips are almost gone, and covered by a nice thick layer
of fat and muscle growth. So we worked with a very thick bareback
pad today and he didn't mind it at all. I am so proud of him.
He has come so far in 6 months. He has the funniest personality
and he's great to work with. When he's ready to work he SQUEELS!!
The jumps to take off in the direction you asked him to go. We
call it "pealing out". LOL! He always has to do that,
it really is too funny. Rainy is rather easy going and almost
push button on some things. We all still have a lot to learn about
one another and we always seem to learn something new everyday.
Ah the pleasures of being a horse owner. I thought I should share
that bit of progress with everyone. Rainy is a total love and
is a great horse. He's well now, but I can't wait till we get
him to the same level Royal is at. Both those horses are going
to be awesome together. They love each other very much. If one
is out of the others sight they cry for one another. It really
is a sad state of affairs. LOL They play hard together and love
it. They rear they buck, fart, run, eat leaves and groom each
other. If we arent there they still play "grab butt"
thru the poles of their stalls. You can see bite marks and dried
spit from them playing. They really are a couple of clowns.
Update
5/1/04 -
(Rainy's
Mom)
Just
off the press. Up to date pictures of Rainy and Royal!
Rachael
and I loved talking with you last week as always. You are such
a special person in our lives. I'm so honored and deeply touched
that you allowed me to adopt this wonderful little spirit. He
means everything to me. Isn't he beautiful?
Most importantly he is healthy, happy and uh hem....a real character.
He makes me laugh all the time. The picture of Rainy's nose is
most appropriate. Curious and into everything in a wink of an
eye!
June
1st. will make two years that Rainy has been with me!! Hooray!!
Can you believe it? We've been riding since last September and
in just the rope halter you see in the pictures. His favorite
snack is red grapes and watermelon. Loves his fly sheet, blanket
and flymask with ears. We walk together all the time and after
our walks we decide what we want to do next. Ride, play, graze,
a turnout with Royal or a bath. Turnouts are most enjoyable to
watch. Royal and Rainy can get so silly that Rachael and I are
laughing till our sides ache. What fun they have.
(Rachael)
Yep,
its true... We finally got some new pictures of the boys. And
don't they look good?! :) It was long over due, but we had taken
some and it seems like they would never make it off the digital
camera. So here are a few. This weekend we would like to take
some more. As you can see the boys have really come a long way.
I was able to get some pictures of Royal and I showing what we
are currently working on together. Its taken some time to get
him this confident with a rider but it was worth every minute
of it. (Yep he's bridle-less) He is so incredibly smart and such
a quick learner that it really spurs me on to keep introducing
new things to him. Rainy too is doing very well with being ridden
now. We are slowly teaching him how to pick up proper leads while
in a canter. Let me tell you, when he gets into his nice lope
he is a fuuuuuuun ride! Very smooth and you can just relax. Rainy
doesn't go anywhere in a real hurry. We have so much fun with
these guys. We hope you all enjoy the pictures and we will try
to be better at getting up to date pictures more often. Thank
you again for our special boys.
Now
we'll let the pictures do the talken ;)
Update
2/26/05
-
Rainman's page - http://www.geocities.com/savvytyme/rainman.html
Photos - http://www.geocities.com/savvytyme/pictures.html
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