General Mayhem
#250
Chestnut TB Gelding. Blaze. Appx. 7-8 yrs. old. Appx. 16
hands. Looks like he might be a Running Quarter? This horse
also drives (as you can see from the light colored spot on his
mane where an ill fitting collar was!) A nice young horse with
potential. He would require an experienced rider.
5/5/2001
- He has a home, a new name and a new mom! His new name is The
Red Baron. Annie, his new mom, will be escorting this lovely
horse to his new home with plenty of friends and plenty of pasture.
Thank you Annie for reaching out to this beautifuly guy in his
time of need! We are looking forward to updates and pictures
in the future.
Update
5/8/01 - Well, I am emailing you to let you know that after
a VERY long drive, we got our boy home. 9 and a half hours there,
about 20 minutes exchanging cash and putting on the shipping
boots, and a 10 hour drive home....phew! I am
TIRED!
He
did great - hopped right in the trailer, whinnied and whinnied
almost all the way home because the big dummy wanted to go BACK,
and hopped out at the other end to the light of the full moon
and a deserted stable yard at 1.30am. He trotted up lame on
his right front, but he'd pulled off a shoe before we got him,
so Joe the farrier took the rest off next day. Everyone's congratulatory
about finding such a GORGEOUS guy. WHAT could be wrong with
him? He's a big, athletic, kind guy.
Next
day he had a bath, and a walk round the farm. Of course I couldn't
resist it, so when we were fitting him for a saddle, I just
had to hop on and have a feel for the new "driver's seat"
while Laurie held him. He took it in stride, but there were
a few bouncy bumps that made me get off pretty quick: we're
going to go back to lungeing and the basics in a week or so,
when he's settled in. He's a lot of horse :) I renamed him too:
General Mayhem, (or "The General"). It fits his regal
and yet bouncy air ;)
And
what a butt! I think I may make a jumper out of this one if
he likes poles!
Today the vet came out to see him and gave him a strangles vaccine,
a Coggins test, told us he is more likely 6 years old, and congratulated
us on a great horse. The General was quite sore on all his feet
today, so he got a shot of bute, and we'll get his shoes back
on as soon as possible. Then he's going to be quarantined for
3 weeks. Then we're going to start lungeing!
OK,
got to go: thanks again Gail - I feel very very lucky: he's
a WONDERFUL horse and I don't mean "for a rescue"!
Annie
Update
5/11/01 - So The General is doing great: he has 4 shiny
new shoes now and hopefully should feel less tender on those
poor feet. Today I bought a nice new saddle on ebay.com so hopefully
it fits him! Then I am picking up a bridle and I ordered some
boots for him because next week, depending on how his feet are,
we are going to start lungeing! It looks like at the young age
of 6 he has been lacking 2 things in life: proper foot care
and LOVE, but we are making up for it as quickly as possible.
I'm
going to treat him as if he'd never been ridden and go slow.
I can't wait to get on him! I am so proud of my brave handsome
boy - he's a delight to be around and everyone loves him to
bits. The farrier was even very complimentary, and this man
doesn't mince his words!
I
am so happy Gail - this is the horse I've been waiting for for
so long: who knew I'd find him in a feedlot and pick him up
one day before he was due for that long, fateful one-way trip.
I am so excited I can hardly sleep at night, and my friends
are all bored to tears with my non-stop horse talk - but then
they all know I've been waiting so long for this one special
horse. Laurie and I are looking forward to a long summer of
fun with him. Thank you again :D
Annie
Update
5/19/01 - He's doing fantastically: we are learning more
and more every day about each other (like: he's scared of the
smell of hoof oil, he's a sensitive little petal who doesn't
like rough brushes, only baby-soft ones - haha).
We
have been lungeing 2 days on, one day off. He's great! We walked
in hand over poles, then lunged over them - no problems at all.
I also met a trainer who'll be with me when I back him, but
I just know he'll fly though it all ;) I put his training diary
up on his site at http://www.xanthoria.com/The%20General/thegeneral.htm
too ;)
His
feet feel much better, and he was turned out yesterday for the
first time with Sailor - they're great pals! It was really heartwarming
:) He'll go out in the big pasture to stretch his legs on monday
after the 2nd vet visit - I know he want's to meet all the others
badly - he whinnies and whinnies to them!
cheers ;)
Annie
New
photo 10/16/01
Update
5/16/02 - Just wanted to update you on General Mayhem's
progress, since it is almost a year since I got him.
We
just went to our hunter pace together and came 4th - I am SO
PROUD. I adore this guy, and so does everyone else who meets
him.
So,
now he has a stable name and a nice big ribbon, and we're going
to another show in June for some more ;) I've enclosed 2 pics
from the hunter trial.
Update
1/1/03 - He's a star - we're going to do some hunter paces
and little events this year, his dressage is coming on in leaps
and bounds, sometimes literally ;) and my trainer loves him
too! He has absolutely made me so happy in the last (almost)
2 years.
Update
6/11/04 - Just a quick update on General Mayhem, previously
known as #250 at the feedlots.
Last
month he won the Dick Collins Perpetual Trophy for first place
at the Los Altos Hounds Point To Point! (The attached pics show
him crossing the finish line, plus his ribbon.) He blistered
around the 2 mile course (jumps around 3'3") in 4 minutes
27 seconds!
He's
also been galloping on the beach about once a week, improving
his dressage, enjoying the trails and just being a total love
to be around. We even located his half brother, Barron, out
in Maryland!