The Retirees- Sheldon

 

More snow. More wind. That's the winter in a nutshell. Despite the cold, windy conditions and the icy roads, our intrepid vet, Dr. Allen Landes, made it to The Homestead for health papers on a weanling filly that is going to a new home. He is an important staple in our operation, always ready to take care of the horses, brainstorm solutions for unusual issues, and serve as advisor for their care. We are lucky to have him visit every week, other than when really bad weather happens.

As a side note before introducing another retiree, the horses still won't eat the hay very well. They're doing better about eating, but we cannot say that they gorge themselves.

Returning to the retirees, we need to introduce the one and only Fidelito, better known as Uncle Sheldon around the barn. Sheldon came to us a few years ago as a stallion. He had trained on the track but never raced. He sired four horses. He is a son of Pioneerof the Nile, the sire of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Sheldon is out of a Danehill Dancer (IRE) mare. We liked the fact that Sheldon had a reputation as having a great disposition, pretty movement and put together well.

When his trainer got him back, he had become a stressed out guy. Somewhere along the line he had started cribbing. His trainer put work into him before shipping him our direction. When he arrived, he was aloof and uncertain but a sweet boy. He cribbed a lot, to the point of wearing his incisors down, and broke out in hives from head to tail. They weren't cute little bumps either but big oozing hives. We tried giving him goats as companions, which he enjoyed, but he ended up being allergic to them. After months of steroids and allergy meds and allergy testing, we decided that stress likely played a role in his cribbing and in his hives. The best answer was to geld him and give him friends and a normal horsey life.

His castration went just fine, even though he was a mature stallion, but he woke up from anesthesia poorly. He skinned both knees, which we then treated until those healed. He healed and eventually moved in with the weanlings after slowly introducing him to companions. We started with a weanling living in the stall next to him. Then, we took them for walks together. Then, we turned them out in the arena together and then into a pasture. Finally, we introduced one baby at a time. He took to the role of Uncle Sheldon very well and his hives went away on their own. The hives came back for a little while when he moved into a foster home. They went away once he settled in. He did not develop the hives when he eventually came back.

Because Sheldon is so sensitive, we decided that an adoption home was not a good option for him. So, Sheldon is retired with CRR. But, he is also too nice, too safe under saddle, and too pleasant to ride to leave him in a field doing nothing. Therefore, he's a lesson horse for beginner children! He could not be a more forgiving, solid lesson horse. Nothing bothers him. Not wind, snow, or rider errors. Plus, he's a smooth, plush ride.

Uncle Sheldon is worth far more than his weight in gold. Horses like him don't come along very often.