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True Innocents Equine Rescue
Be kind to the animals for they are the True Innocents!
Mailing Address: 17130 Van Buren Blvd., #45, Riverside, CA, 92504
Phone: 951-943-0627

 
Jon
#67. Bay TB gelding. Appx. 15 yrs., 16.2 -3 hands. White around coronet bands on both front feet. Star. This horse is really broke to ride. Big, nice horse. His problem? He has cellulitis in one of his hind legs. This causes the leg to be much thicker than the others/swollen. It is my understanding (I am no vet!) that a good exercise program can keep the swelling down, but it will not go away. At present it is somewhat stiff when he first moves out, but after some moving around he limbers up quite well. Exercise would help the present stiffness. Light Riding. Intermediate rider.

Updates

12/23/2000

I have been trying to find the time to get pictures of the boys, but pretty weather and time off don't seem to want to match up this winter!

I am sure you remember Cappy and Jon. Well, they are doing great. Cappy is even getting a fat butt like the true Quarter Horse. Jon is such a classy yet sweet boy. He continues to be enamored with Kally, his big buckskin sweetheart. They make a lovely couple as she is almost as tall as he is.

Jon is finally getting the round look to his butt that Greg has been striving for. We have to feed him a mixture of sweetfeed and Strategy. He does not like any feed that is not sweet. He loves the sweetfeed. He will walk away from the Strategy by itself and won't touch Equine Senior. So, under the heading of you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink, Jon now gets sweetfeed mixed with his Strategy and some supplements to get him to gain weight. It seems to be working nicely. He is a gorgeous boy.

I hope you have a lovely holiday. You are a Christmas angel the year around.

Love,

Sandy & Greg

9/4/2000

I have been meaning to write and update you on Cappy and Jon. Basically, both boys have the difficult job of walking in from the pasture at feeding time, being petted on, and making lovely pasture ornaments. They are really good at all three. All of the horses have decided that it is too hot to frolic in to be fed. Unless it is really early, the temperature is already over 90 in the mornings. Our lows have been in the upper 80's. I can't wait to watch them when this heat wave snaps. They are going to be so full of themselves.

I still need to get some pictures to you of the boys. They have such beautiful color now that they have been eating well for a while. Cappy is a lovely golden sorrel and Jon is a rich, dark bay. Both are lovely horses.

11/2/1999

When I read that you are going into the hospital, I knew it was time to get some updates to you on Cappy and Jon. They are more awesome than ever. Their sweet personalities are sweeter than ever, yet both have developed a contented attitude along with a bit of that horsy sense of humor. I love seeing that because I know that it means they are doing well in their souls as well as their bodies.

Ray (Tressia's, the kind lady that received the boys, husband) gave Greg some basic riding lessons on Jon. Ray is a wonderful trainer who believes in true training with many more positives than negatives. He is the only one I know that may know as much as Jon!! Greg and Jon do wonderfully together. Now everyone wants to ride Jon, but Greg has become quite protective of his baby. I have permission to ride him once. No one else has permission to do anything but pet him and give him treats. I feel honored.

Jon is the type of intelligent, sweet horse that recognizes that he has an adoring admirer. He loves Greg and does things like trot along beside Greg out in the pasture. No halter or lead, just the two of them trotting along together. Horses are definitely food for the soul.

I forgot to tell you. We did bring them on home over a month ago. Greg put the finishing touches on the super job Tressia did of getting them started on the road to good health. Not only is their weight good, they are both considerably darker colors than they were. Amazing what a good feeding program will do!!

Speaking of good feeding programs, Greg is the sort that does his homework on anything he tackles. In researching what would be the best feed for the boys, he somehow ended up with his very own Purina horse nutritionist at no cost. The nutritionist wants to come out and see the boys after they have a chance to gain lots of weight and look really good. The Purina people are considering using them in a national ad campaign. Now wouldn't that be something?? We shall keep you informed as to how it goes. It would be this spring before they do anything.

I looked out the other day and saw Jon and Cappy standing under a tree, head to tail, dozing. They were the perfect picture of horsy contentment. Know that they are happy in their new home. Pat yourself on the back for your good work with these two beautiful horses. We knew they have beautiful souls, now their outside matches their inside!

9/9/1999

We all knew that Jon was/is gorgeous. As he puts on weight, he gets even better. Cappy is the true ugly duckling story. He is turning into one of the most beautiful horses I have ever seen. He is a deep golden sorrel, and it would be hard to beat his conformation. He is becoming as beautiful outside as he already was inside. We finally got around to a test ride. I meant to take pictures, but I just forgot. Here is why. Ray volunteered to test them for us as he is really good at detecting even the slightest discomfort, etc. We got Jon first. During the grooming process, he was a total gentleman except for proving he is a TB by setting back once. (Jennifer has a theory about that. She says that a lot of horses that are kept in big barns are used to being cross-tied. When they are tied straight for the first few times, seeing the rope in front of them is scary to them. In Jon's case, I would bet she is right. He was watching the rope, and he did settle right down. Something to watch for. You know how horses are about anything different. Different = BAD in the horse mind.) Ray petted on him and talked to him, and there was no more problem at all. He was his gentlemanly self. Now, keep in mind it was pretty hot that day, and Ray only intended to putty tutt around enough to test out soundness. First, we discovered that Jon has lunging down pat. When you say "whoa," he is a statue. Reverses are perfect. He moves great. Then Ray gets on. Jon stood perfectly still until Ray asked him to move off. Also, keep in mind that Ray would have one believe that he is a good-ol-boy cowboy, but he is one of the best English riders I have ever seen. He had a very light training snaffle on Jon, too. Jon moved off in the prettiest collected walk I have ever seen. Then, it got better. Jon side passes. He two tracks. He does a flying lead change that is perfect. His collection even at the canter would do him proud at the Olympics. We are sure he knows more about dressage than all of us except maybe Ray. The only thing that stopped Ray from going further was the heat and not wanting to stress the horse in any way. Jon is absolutely awesome!!! There is no telling how high a level he was in dressage, but there is no doubt that is what he did for a living. We were all totally blown away by the beautiful performance. He could easily walked away with a blue ribbon in a Training level class. There was a bit of humor in watching the ride. Ray was on his western saddle he uses for training and he was wearing his cowboy clothes. There the western stopped though. The riding was no doubt English!! Ray's guise of Mr. Cowboy was totally blown!!

8/1/1999

#67 has found a home with a lovely lady and her son in Texas. He will come to TIER until their own hauler can come to get him in a couple weeks. He will be a welcome addition! In fact, because TIER cannot afford to purchase any pipe corrals for the horses right now, this lady has offered to buy a pen to keep this beautiful gelding in! When the gelding goes home, she is donating the pen to TIER! Thank you so much Sandy for saving this wonderful horse and helping TIER to house another horse in the future! Who knows, maybe we will be able to bring Rio or Easter home!

Photos

8/16/1999 - Captain & Jon
8/16/1999 - Captain & Jon
8/16/1999 - Captain & Jon
 

True Innocents Equine Rescue (T.I.E.R)
17130 Van Buren Blvd., #45
Riverside, CA, 92504
Tel: 951-943-0627
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