We picked Louie up 2 weeks ago today. He is a 3 year old TB gelding who was starved so badly that he is the size of a yearling.
When we picked him up, I compared him to an autistic child. All he knew his entire life was abuse, neglect and starvation. He would not look at you and if you looked at him, he would turn away. Well, we finally got a halter on him 3 days ago. He is now being stalled during the heat and rain of the day. He likes having a stall! He has discovered treats and really loves the apple wafers. He is in the first stall of the barn and will now greet us with his head over the door when we walk in! Thankfully, there is a gate off the run of his stall into the pasture, as he is afraid to come out of the door into the aisleway, so I am leading him out through the gate and back into the barn...he has not figured out the connection between walking into the stall from the aisle and walking out into the aisle! He is afraid of flyspray but was ok with his first hose rinsing, though I only did his legs and chest, I didn't want to push my luck! He loves to be curried and brushed and the rain rot is starting to clear. He loves to watch the other horses being ridden and I think he is one who will learn alot just from watching what the other horses are doing. He loves to be turned out with the boys..Tucker, my big draftx, and Bates, another TB. They play and gallop, which is good for him. I think he probably didn't have a normal "childhood" of play since they were all too starved to do anything (he was one of about 13 three year olds).
While he is not quite ready to adopt out, I hope to start the screening process. While I would like to keep him around until Calvin Borel comes for a visit in December and I have him be the first to ride him, I think it would be best to find him a loving home soon so he can bond with his new owner. Ideal home? To a petite woman who is experienced with TB's and is into natural horsemanship. He will excel as a sporthorse, has a floating trot. Have not really seen him canter too much except while tearing around in play with the boys. Looks nice. I see him as a dressage version of Theodore O'Connor! He should probably wait a while to be ridden due to the lack of nutrition and his size. So a good NH home where he can play and bond would be good.