He came to us 10/21/2021.  Seeing his condition broke our hearts.  He was so thin and had horrendous sores on both hips from lying down.  The last few years he had not received the care this awesome boy so richly deserved.

He was hugely personable!  Always glad to see you and willing to help you while you scrubbed water buckets, cleaned the pen, nuzzled the farrier when he got his feet done.  Quite the gentleman with a "Hi There!" look in his eye.  

He had gone down once in the first month he was here and it was a bit difficult to get him back up, but we did.  At the end of November we had his teeth done by our Equine Dentist, Dr. Johnson of Mohave River Equine Veterinary and found out that he was most likely 30 yrs. old.  What a surprise that was because he acted younger.

On 1/3/2022 we found him down in his corral when we went to feed.  He was given some Banamine and we tried for most of the day to get him up to no avail.  He ate and drank from a lying down position.  Eventually we used straps and the tractor to move him onto a pile of shavings so that he would be more comfortable.  The heat that the shavings would generate just might help him?  

He was given more Banamine that evening and again in the morning.  He wanted to get up and tried, but he just couldn't get his hind legs under him.  We felt that if we got him up, it would not be long before he was down again.  The sores head we he arrived were pretty much healed, but it wouldn't be long before they reappeared from being down so long.  We made the decision to let him go so he would not have to go through this anymore.

Bodacious, thank you for allowing us the opportunity to have you in our lives.  You were such a nice, nice horse.  I really wish you could have stayed longer.

Bodacious arrived and it was hard to keep from crying.  We have rescued horses in worse shape, but this guy had so many angles…protruding hips, backbone, shoulder blades, knobby knees, no fat on him anywhere.  To top it off, he had large sores on his hips and flanks from lying down.  The need for feed and care was obvious.

Bodacious is an awesomely personable horse.  So kind, friendly and hungry.  When you walk into the stall to clean it or scrub his water barrel/feed bins, he is right there in the middle of it all.  He loves attention and he is BIG.

His feet have been trimmed by our farrier.  He was the ultimate gentleman and even nuzzled the farrier’s head a few times.  Because he is black and trying to get a winter coat, it is hard to see how boney he is.  But you can sure feel it!

He was at the top of the list for Dr. Johnson of Mohave River Equine Veterinary to do his teeth.  We had been told that he was in his twenties, but Dr. Johnson said he was around 30 yrs…….or older!!!!  His teeth were in fair shape for his age, no need for any extractions.  YAY!!!

Sedation to do his teeth was a bit frightening for me, but Dr. Johnson expected it.  Bodacious had his feet splayed out every which way and his head was almost dragging in the dirt.  It would have if Christel hadn’t been holding that huge head up.  He was given a light dose, but you would have thought he’d been given a double dose!!  After administering the sedative, we waited for quite some time before Dr. Johnson felt it was okay to start working on his teeth.  Afterward, we let him recover in the arena and it took a long time before he was alert enough to go back to his stall next to Hattie.