Abandoned Grey Mare

The following is not a made up story out of my head. It is the very real and very true story of how I got my grey mare. Nothing in this story is exaggerated.




It's January 19th 2009. I'm hanging around watching TV and all of a sudden I get the weirdest feeling in the pit of my stomach. I ignore it. Then about 30 seconds later the phone rings. I pick it up because my mom was busy doing the dishes.


"Hello?"

"Hi. It's me Twan." Says the voice on the other end of the line. He is a good family friend who lives about 6 hours away and owns a quest ranch.

"Oh, hi! How are you?" I asked. I was completely surprised because he hardly ever calls.

"I'm good. Hey, umm do you want a horse?" Said Twan with a completely serious tone to his voice.

"Ummm....." My mind went completely blank and my mom said my face went beet red, I gave her the phone.

They started talking and my mom just said "yes" and "no" and every once in a while she would say "Oh really?".

My heart started beating faster and I could hardly breathe. I have only owned one horse in my life and that was a very long time ago. Unfortunately she died while I was on vacation so I never really got to say goodbye. For years after that my parents never had the money nor the room to get me another horse so I had to ride my friends horses. Even when I couldn't ride I would just find a nearby field of horses and watch them for hours. I would read anything and everything I could get my hands on about horses.

Finally my mom was finished on the phone. I asked her if it was a yes or a no and she said I would have to wait and see. Then she explained to me what the situation was exactly with this horse......








Well this is the first part of my grey mare's story. As you can see it is a lot to write so please patiently wait until Part 2....

Your poor little mare! How awful for her to be there when her friend was burned! Im looking forward to reading more and seeing how her life changed for the better...

My mom was busy on the phone for the rest of the week. She had finally told me that she had said yes and we are picking her up this weekend. She had organized her to stay at the town stables and we were going to borrow someones trailer. She also had bought some hay and a big water trough.

Friday evening I was packing my bag. I didn't know what to bring so I just took an extra pair of pants and a shirt. I was so excited. I just couldn't believe that I was finally getting a horse. She might be unwanted by the people that left her behind but I know that I really want her.

With a restless night of sleep it was finally time to get up at 5 in the morning. We were going to leave at 6 but you know how that works out. It was about 20 after 6 by the time we stepped out the door. It was the longest 6 hour drive I had ever made in my life. I was restless the whole way and couldn't catch a wink. I know I was 17 but I was constantly asking the question "Are we there yet?". My parents were getting frustrated with me by the time we got there. But before we could see the mare we visited Twan and his family. I was good friends with his daughter.

Finally after my parents had finished telling them their life story again we left to go see her. I opened the door when we got there while the car wasn't even stopped. We weren't prepared to drive all night so we decided to leave the next morning.

When I saw the mare she was the most prettiest thing I had ever seen. I just couldn't understand why she was left behind. Her coat was dapple grey and she had a long beautiful mane mane and forelock. Her tail unfortunately had and huge mat in it. That was going to take some time to get it out. Twan gave her some hay and he was finally able to pet her. I slowly walked up to her but she backed away because she didn't trust me yet. We watched her for a bit and then we decided to leave.

The next morning we came back with the trailer. We put it close to the big doors at the front of the barn and put fencing around it as a funnel. I grabbed the halter I had brought but that was too small so Twan found a big piece of rope and turned it into a makeshift halter. It tooks us in the end about 4 people and 1 hour to finally get her in there. In the process she had flipped over backwards because she didn't want to get in. We decided to let her loose inside because we didn't know if she could tie and it made her feel a little more free.

Then we were on our way. Everytime we stopped to get gas or food I would feed her a bunch of Alfalfa cubes that I brought with me. She really loved them and it kept her calm while everyone else did there thing. We also bought a bigger sized halter that fit her properly. We made it eventually without any problems.

At the stables we unloaded her and put her in her pen. She ran around wildly calling other horses but there was no reply because they just ignored her. Then we filled up her water bucket and gave her some hay. She finally calmed down enough and I was able to pet her. Then we brought the trailer away and went home. It was a very long weekend and we were eager to get some rest. I was very excited to see her the next morning and test to see what she knew as far as her training went. She was about 4 so had probably seen a saddle already.....

Part 3 will be coming soon!

Poor mare, I really like the story :)

Great story! Would love to see pictures as well when you are done with the story :)

Great story :) please post some pics too! Looking foward to more

This is really good, its very heartwarming. I would also love to see pictures.

Part 3

Day one with Sugar was very interesting. My mom and dad came with me to see what Sugar was going to do. As I led her from her pen to go into the barn she started getting a little spooky and was constantly eyeing whoever was behind her. I told my mom to place a hand on her rump and to just pet her there for a bit while we were walking. She shied away a few times but eventually just kept walking though I could tell she wasn't completely happy about it. Then when we got to the door she didn't want to go inside. I just kept the pressure on her head and everytime she moved forward I would release the pressure. She got the idea pretty fast and we were finally inside the barn. It was kind of dark because the lights didn't work very well.

I led her towards the inside arena as my parents grabbed brushes, tack and a few treats. She walked willingly into the big open space. First I took my thumb and wiggled it around in her mouth. Then I gave her a treat. She didn't really mind that so I put the bridle on and she took the bit quite well. I gave her another treat. I took the bridle off and we decided to try the saddle. Her nostrils flared up and she quickly moved away from it. I held it there until she calmed down a littleand then I put it just outside the arena doors. Then I let her loose so she could run around. I chased her a bit so she could get a work out and then we left her to put the rest of the tack away.

We got back to a dirty brown horse. Clearly she had rolled somewhere and I was pretty happy with that because it meant that she was comfortable. I put the halter back on and gave her a good brush. Again my mom walked beside her rump as we put her in her stall. Then we gave her some hay and water and left her for the night. I knew that I had some work ahead of me.

I called up one of my friends who also had some horses and asked her if she knew of any remedy to help me get the knots out of her tail. She told me to put some WD-40 on it and to let that soak in a little. Then you can start pulling the knots out. I was very glad to hear that I probably won't have to cut it off because it would take forever to grow back.

That night I thought a lot about what has happened these past few days. If training Sugar goes well this summer then I might be able to ride her in Pony Club next spring. I was really excited to show off my pretty girl and couldn't wait. Everything was starting to click together and I finally found the puzzle piece that was missing from my life.

Part 4 coming soon!

Sugar The first time I saw her. She was eating haha


Meet my dog Roxy :)


Sugar in the indoor arena.

Awwww, she's a stunner! What a pretty girl. Im pleased she rolled, and Im glad you took it slow. Can't wait to read more