The Best Horses in the World
Haddasha
Haddasha (named after "Queen Esther") was given to us by Dana 9 years go, to use as long as we need and want her, when our beloved Cheyenne passed away. She is an Arab, and as gentle and willing as can be. She likes being in the middle of everything, and loves the attention. She is 28 years old. We love her, and look forward to her being here for many, many years.
Haddasha has "Kissing Spine", which means that her vertebrae are "kissing" on her back, from her back starting to sag and sway. We use a Pro Six therapeutic band on her and she has exercises that strengthen her muscles to keep her healthy and functioning.
Dillon
Dillon was at the feedlot (this is where the horses wait to be shipped for slaughter) in Zillah, WA, which was closing, and all the horses left were shipping to slaughter. Laughing Pony Rescue stepped in and was fundraising to save them, but with so little time and notice, they had nowhere to go while waiting for adoption. Until Jenna and Zak got involved.
Jenna picked up Dillon on September 5th, 2021, along with 7 other horses in that first trip to the feedlot. ( She ended up rescuing 25 horses with Dillon). Loading him onto the trailer was her first act as the Washington volunteer for Laughing Pony, and it led her to The Whole Horse Place.
We met Jenna when we arrived at her ranch on a late evening on September 29th after driving all day to get there. Two horses were in the running, Dillon and Steve McQueen. We picked their feet in the semi darkness, chatted, and agreed to meet again at her ranch in the morning. Jenna's husband, saint that he is, rode Dillon for us, showing that he is safe and could be ridden in a halter - a must for handsy children. The decision was made, and Dillon would be going home with us. Except, he refused to load on the trailer. He backed out like a rocket ship and ran over to Jenna. He put his face on hers, and just breathed. We stood like that for what felt like an eternity, but was probably three minutes in reality. Dillon let out one big, deep sigh, turned, and loaded himself onto the trailer. It was his way of saying thank you and goodbye.
A fun fact about Dillon- the kids were playing kissy lips with him, and discovered a lip tattoo. Race horses have a lip tatoo, and we were able to trace his history. His tattoo number is D19006. His name was "Take It Or Leave It", and his birthday is April 3, 2000. He is a Quarter Horse. He wasn't a very good racehorse or he wouldn't have ended up here. But isn't that something we can all relate to? Not being good enough for the wrong thing. Dillon is more than good enough here.
You will never meet a horse who is more grateful, and who tries so hard to know what you want of him. We are so thankful for him.
Luna
Luna is currently care leased here at the barn by a teenage girl and is unavailable for program use. She is still accepting treats and smoochies by anyone wanting to love her.
Hello My name is Sue and I am so pleased to be able to introduce you to my beautiful horse, Luna, and to be part of the Whole Horse Place in Port Orchard , Washington. Luna is an amazing horse with an amazing story of overcoming adversity with Grace. At the height of her dressage career, in 2009, I brought her to Washington for the summer to get out of the Las Vegas heat. On our first day in Washington, she rolled in her blanket , caught a leg in the blanket strap and rolled down a hill and was caught in a fence. unbeknownst, to me she fractured T18 during this accident. She allowed me to ride her with this fracture for four months until the workload increased and she started to show signs of stress. Once diagnosed , She recovered from the fracture and resumed her training. In 2011, we were preparing for a big dressage show when two days before the show , she became weak in her hind end, started stumbling and became neurological. After much testing, a veterinarian in California found that she had a cancerous melanoma that had metastasized to the same area of her fracture at the T18 vertebra . We treated this tumor with an immunotherapy drug, not chemotherapy, and I was advised to never ride her again!
She had 5 years off in a pasture in Sequim, Washington where she was a much loved pet, but I always felt that this was not her calling. She wanted to work! I started training her to drive a cart, lounged her but she wanted more, she wanted to ride. So In 2017, I moved her back to Nevada . During a routine vet check I was told to “see if she could make a comeback”. The veterinarian thought she too wanted more from life! We decided to put her back into full training to start her dressage training once again. She did beautifully, countercanter, half pass, Stunning! Unfortunately, as the pressure to perform increased, her body could not keep up. Then, one day after we all decided to formally retire her again, she stabbed her eye with a metal wire. The veterinarian advised that I remove the eye. Personally, I couldn't do it! I started treating her with ozone gas to stop the infection. She stood patiently, every day for 20 mins over a 4 week period with plastic over her eye and ozone gas blown into the eye. This saved the eye but still resulted in blindness.
The Whole Horse Place is her opportunity to start her next mission in life. To pass on her adversity with Grace to other children that have had adversity. Thank you Tina for your willingness to let her shine once more!
She is an amazing horse that has a lot to share with those that care to learn from her wisdom!
Huey
Huey belongs to Taylor, who grew up with him. Taylor brought him to our barn when Covid shut down the schools, and her friends were taking care of horses here, and she wanted to ride with them. He came for the weekend in March 2019, and has been here ever since! Huey is playful and a big clown, and loves people. We care lease Huey, and love having him here, along with Taylor.
D.J.
DJ (registered name "Zippos Diamond Jim") came to us from a loving family who moved to Texas. DJ is 28 years old and would not have been able to travel so far to a new home. He LOVES people and smoochies and treats, and is a very easy going fellow. He knows his job is to just go and stop and love his people, which he is very good at. He has soft tender feet, nosebleeds, allergies, and can only eat mash, not hay. So of course he fits in perfectly and we are so thankful to have him here with us. Thank you Stephanie and Lilly for trusting us with your boy.
Cracker Jack
Cracker Jack is a pony or a miniature horse/pony combination, we're not sure exactly. We found him living in a chicken coop in Seattle, with a well meaning family who had purchased him for a cowboy themed birthday party for their kids, with the intention of selling him the next day. He was in pretty poor shape, although to be fair to the family who had him, he did not get that way in the short amount of time he was there. It took months to get him healthy again, and two visits to a dental specialist. He had a shattered jaw which healed improperly, and numerous teeth that had broken into sharp, cutting picks, which cut his mouth every bite he took. We thought Cracker was about 30 + years old, based on his teeth, but it turns out that when his jaw was shattered, the teeth grew in to fill the gaps, so there is no way to tell how old his is. The vet jokes that he is old enough to have voted for Kennedy! Cracker Jack is such a pleasant, happy boy, and a favorite. He loves to snuggle into you, and loves attention. He makes a wonderful dragon w and loves his job when we play dressup, making children happy. He is so willing, cheerful and happy, and we are so grateful for him. He's just a wonderful boy.
Kenya and Tarsin
Kenya and Tarsin were being rehomed because their owners moved to South Afrika. They have been with each other for 23 years, with the same owner, Mary. Mary was desperate to find them a home but no one wanted two older horses. Kenya is 26 and Tarsin is 31.
We were only going to get Kenya, because he was described as the slower of the pair, and we only had one stall. But, Kenya recently went blind in one eye, and Tarsin was going to be sent to heaven, and we realized that Kenya relied on Tarsin, and would be a lot better off with his best friend, so we got both of them. We figured that they had been together for so long that they could share the big stall we have. And it turns out that while Tarsin is fast, he is also very understanding of young riders and will barely move for them. We really got two great horses that day and we are so glad they are both here.
Kenya and Tarsin are both registered Morgans. Kenya is 26 and Tarsin is 31.
Kenya developed severe neurological problems after being here a year and a half, and was a danger to himself and everyone around him. Sadly, he was sent to heaven, and left a big hole in all of our hearts.
Kiki
Kiki is a 28 year old Arabian here on care lease from Mickey and Rob. She was a lesson horse extraordinaire for them; and they thought she would like it here with all the attention and love the kids have to offer. She is here as long as she likes!
Yogi
Yogi (nickname "Yogurt Man") came to us from a trail riding/lesson facility which had 87 horses. His job was to stand saddled and tied, waiting for a rider to need him. He was burned out, and defeated. The place that was selling him wanted him to go to a semi retired home where he cold have more individual attention and love, because he was unhappy doing that job. A lot of people had come to look at him, but no one wanted him because he wasn't interested- he was burned out. Done. There was no spark, nothing. When we saw Yogi, we couldn't pass him up.
Yogi has a lot of maintenance issues, starting with arthritis, even though he is only 18 years old. Just like people, what we do to our bodies in the past does catch up with us. Unlike people, Yogi didn't have a choice about what he was doing. We have Yogi on all kinds of joint supplements and our vet gave him joint injections in both hocks. He deserved a chance, and people to love him; and a person to love. He is worth it, and he is already very, very loved. His eyes are bright, he nickers at people-he is a delight.
Chico
Chico came to us from a newly retired gentleman, Randy, who purchased him from a less than ideal home, with plans to have a companion and riding partner. Randy had him at his home to begin with, but Chico soon made a muddy mess of his paddock and was standing in mud. Chico was also alone, and unhappy. So Randy moved him to a boarding barn, so he could be around other horses and not have to stand in mud.
Randy didn't have access to a horse trailer to venture out on trails, and they both soon bored of the arena at the boarding facility.
Then, Randy had some big unexpected expenses occur, and between that, and the expense of boarding his horse, he made the hard choice to give up Chico after only having him 3 months. Besides, Randy didn't think Chico really cared about him, one way or the other. (This was untrue.)
When we inquired about Chico, Randy already had a lot of interest in him, but he picked us, because of the attention Chico would get here, and he wanted that for him. When we met them both, it was clearly obvious to us that Chico loved this man. Chico's eyes never left him, he was 100% about Randy, his man. Chico was ALL in. We told Randy this, and offered to back out of it. Randy choked up, but decided it was best to let him go.
Chico did NOT understand why he was being sold. He was so confused, and sad, and the feeling we got from him was that he didn't understand what he did wrong.
Sometimes, things in life happen and we don't understand, even thought we tried our hardest. Chico understands this.
Chico is happy now. He has a deteriated navicular bone due to an old shoulder injury, but is completely rehabilitated thanks to Josh and Allie. His expenses were exponentially more than we could handle here, and we didn't know what to do- euthanasia was being suggested. At that same time, Josh, a veteran of Desert Storm, came to us and asked if we ever sold Chico, would we consider selling him to him. We gave him Chico on the spot, and Josh and Allie stepped in and took over his rehabiltation and other expenses, and Chico will remain here for us to love as long as he wants. We are so grateful that Josh and Allie saved Chico's life and let us care lease him.
Poppy
Poppy
We saw her ad on facebook, and were drawn to her immediately. We were the first to respond and left immediately for Sunnyside, where she was. While enroute, the seller raised her price because he had a lot of interest in her, which made us wary, and made everything he said suspect after that.
We were told that they bought her from a rodeo family whose teenager had used her for rodeo. The seller was selling her now, after a year and a half, because she was too slow for them. They were calling her “Bo”. The seller is a farrier (the person who trims their hooves and puts shoes on), which is of interest later in our story. She is missing most of her tail, which we were told was because the cows were nibbling on it. (We later learned that horses tails are frequently cut off when they arrive at the kill pen because the cut off tail signifies “slaughter only”…by the person who dropped them. )
Her personality is 100% purehearted, willing, tolerant, patient, and kind. She is everything a child could want in a horse and we fell in love immediately. She didn’t move well, but wasn’t lame…just “off", so I figured she was able to be healed, whatever was wrong, and worth it due to her personality.
We loved her, loaded her up, and headed home. The roads were AWFUL. “Bo” fell down in the trailer on the mountain pass when we hit a dip, but we couldn’t stop, and by the time we got off the pass she was back up. The next day, her legs were swollen the size of grapefruits. Our farrier and vet both got involved, and it was determined that “Bo” had an old injury, most likely a bowed tendon, but it did settle down, she was not lame, and we were cleared for light riding.
Bo was just LOVELY on the trail, and so careful and gentle with children!!! She got two rides in, short and slow, 20 minutes at the most, when her leg failed. The vet came and did an ultrasound, and sure enough, she did have a bowed tendon, an old injury that had not healed completely.
She is now on stall rest for 3 months, with 15 minute hand walking a couple of times a day. We will ultrasound her leg again at that time. UPDATE: after her ultrasound, she has to be on stall rest for 2 more months as it has not healed yet. We need volunteers to come walk her if you are interested!
In an attempt to get her history, we contacted her seller and asked him to fill in the holes he had been evasive about. He said once again that he didn’t remember her name and had already told me everything he knew, and made it very clear my questions were unwanted. So, we looked him up on the horse sites to see what we could find out about her, and it appears that he gets a lot of horses cheap, possibly from the kill pen there in Sunnyside and puts groceries on them, tunes them up and resells them. Good for him. Sometimes he offered people a lot less money for horses they were desperate to sell; and here’s hoping that he was able to find those horses good homes while he was making money flipping them. We don’t judge him for any of that; although he is misrepresented the horse he sold us. However, had we known this horse had a major and painful tendon injury, we wouldn't have looked at her. And she is worth everything to us.
To be completely honest, we went into this knowing the seller was not being truthful and we can't blame him for us buying her, because we are GLAD we have her. It just woud be easier had he been honest as it would have kept us from injuring her further, not knowing how badly she was hurt. It's a conundrum for sure, and sadly, it's the poor horse that pays the price.
Lollipop has extreme nutrition changes that left deep grooves in her hooves, about 5 months worth. Guess when the seller started listing her? Yep. 5 months ago, right when he got her because that is when nutrition changed. Best guess, he got her from the kill pen, where she was because of her bowed tendons, and whoever sent her there decided to get money for her death rather than send her to heaven themselves when they couldn't justify giving her the time it takes to let a tendon injury like that heal. He couldn't sell her (probably because her injury was obvious at that time) so they let her be in their pasture with the cows...which was the best thing they could have done, because she was able to mend a little; enough that it wasn't completely obvious.
The seller is a farrier, and farrier’s know what bowed tendons look like. And he probably called her “Bo” (derived from "Bowed Tendons") to identify her from the rest of the horses he was selling.
Next, we posted her on a few horse online sites asking for information about her and someone recognized her! It was a few years ago, but their cousin did rodeo on Lollipop when they were teenagers. The uncle’s health failed, and he gave the horses to good homes, because his fear was that they would end up at the kill pen. That teenager is 22 now, and we are tracking her down to confirm. The people who took Lollipop were the next owners, then who knows, but a few years down the road she ended up at the kill pen, and then with the man who sold her to us.
If this cousin was her owner, we can change her name to whatever it is. Unless Lollipop sticks! But I just couldn’t keep calling her Bo because a disablity does not define us. So, for now, please officially welcome Lollipop! Or, Poppy for short.
Nana
Nana's registered name is "Flirty Ryon", and she was a barrel racer until she was 9 years old. Then, because her lineage is so special, she was used as a brood mare for 10 years to improve someone's breeding program. Then, she was sold to a 4H family for their begining riders, where she was loved as much as a horse can be loved. They ended up getting a different horse to use for the kids for 4H who was a show horse, so they reluctantly sold her. We needed a horse that was ready to ride, be around kids immediately because our summer programs started in 3 days. Nana has lived up to here name and is everything we could have hoped for in a kid horse. We are so grateful for her.
Cats!
Harriet on the parallel bars!
