Just to hold you over...and make you laugh!

I have to wait to get the pictures that were taken at the Gala Dinner last night, so it will probably be the end of the week before I can post the story of that night. And, what a night! It was a good time!

So, to keep people entertained while they wait, I thought I would post this dressage demonstration, with Brian O'Connor and his wonder horse, Sydney. Stick with it at least until 3:15, it just gets funnier.

Chance, the movie star

Took Chance outside to have a snack today. He's much livelier than he was when he first arrived--he actually pulled on the leadshank today! Good for you Chance!

The vet was out to see him, and corrected my estimate of his body score. He believes Chance scores a 1 on the Henneke scale. He also believes that Chance is in his 20's, although it's hard to tell once they get past a certain age. Chance is going to have his teeth floated in a couple of weeks, to see if that fixes anything. (We can't do it any sooner, in case the stress causes his heart to give out). Until then, he's getting hay pellets soaked, mixed with a bit of grain and some mineral to correct the mineral imbalances that occur during starvation.

Regardless of age, he seems sharp and lively (considering...). His legs are clean and his feet are good. He goes for apples with the intensity of an Olympic volleyballer setting up to spike the ball. Watch this video of him out snacking on the last of the green grass this afternoon. Please ignore the noise--it was windy out and I'm just using the video option on the digital camera.

Not too shabby for a skinny old guy, eh?

OK, group hug for Chance! Go!

Meet Chance

Well, I promised information on the new pony that arrived Tuesday. We've decided to call him Chance, because if chance ever played a role in a pony's life, it was in this one. Chance is also french for luck, which this pony has had a lot of, both good and bad.

A trailer arrived in the yard on Tuesday afternoon, dropping off this young gentleman...

As you can see, he's missed a few meals, and not just recently. We can't at the moment say too much about where he came from, but we can say that a concerned citizen saw him someplace, bought him, and dropped him off to us. Bless your heart! It's cases like this when you realise that we need tougher legislation around the standard of care issue. There needs to be more than food and water on the property, the animals also need access and need to be physcally capable of eating it!

He appears to be a Newfoundland pony, which breaks my heart, because if there's anything out there that's tougher than a Newfoundlander (whether human or equine) I have yet to see it. What it would take to bring a pony bred to thrive in Newfoundland to this condition boggles my mind. Horses are often rated for weight on the Henneke scale, which runs from 0 (dead of starvation) to 9 (going to die of morbid obesity). Chance ranks at about a 1.5.

This kind of thing really pushes my buttons, because with most ponies, the problem is keeping the weight OFF them. My welsh-shetland cross gained enough weight this summer on a half-acre paddock that we had to start letting her girth out (hmmm....seems we both suffer from the same problem....). The vast majority of ponies are like air ferns--all you have to do is wave the hay at them and they gain weight. So, what went wrong for poor Chance?

The vet is coming out to check him over today, we hope. We suspect his teeth may need to be floated (filed down to remove sharp points that make eating difficult and uncomfortable). He probably has worms, though he doesn't have the big worm belly, so he may not be too bad. We're hoping that he hasn't suffered too much damage to his heart and digestive system, which is how we lost Sadie in the end. He seems a nice boy, though he will swing his head away as you enter the stall. And, like most Newfoundland ponies, it will take more than this to get him down. He is the most determined little survivor.

Please keep Chance in your thoughts. If you would like to donate to support his rehabilitation, we are still sorting out the Paypal issue, but you can drop it off in any of our donation jars around PEI. We expect anything between 2-3 months to 10-12 months of rehab, depending on what medical issues crop up during his convalescence. And please consider buying a ticket to our dinner fundraiser on October 23. This is our major fundraiser and is our main source of revenue, for cases like Chance.

I think I need a hug. Where's my pony?

We were on Compass!

Yay! If you missed the story, shown on October 12, you can visit this link.

And, just a heads up, stay tuned for information on a pony that was dropped off just today--you will not believe the pictures when you see them! I should be able to get out to take pictures on Saturday, by which time he will hopefully be a bit more stable and we will be able to take him out for a bit of a walk around.