UPDATE: Cindy Lou and Noelle

Our Christmas horses, Cindy Lou and Noelle, are continuing to improve! Cindy Lou is doing great and she was ridden again today for about 20 minutes around the neighborhood, and did so well that she will be up for adoption in a few weeks! We have discovered that Cindy Lou has had some abuse in the past and has a LOT of scar tissue in her mouth from abusive bits, but she does AWESOME in a bitless bridle. She does great following the lead horse, and usually does not want to lead, but this weekend she surprised everyone by taking the lead on their walk! That’s great progress and shows she’s becoming more confident. She has a very cute walk, trot and canter, and neck reins well. When we put her up for adoption we will give more information, but if you are interested in Cindy Lou, please fill out our horse inquiry form and we will make sure to contact you when her adoption page is official!

Noelle is also doing well, although her neglect was more intense and she’ll need some more time in her foster home before she will be available for adoption. That being said, she was ridden for the first time this weekend, and did great! We believe that she was used for reining or roping, but was improperly trained, and has scarring on her tendons from constantly stopping on her forehand. To exacerbate the issue, she had poor farrier care, and her feet were not trimmed correctly. We were able to get her sound at a walk, but she was having difficulty at the trot and was definitely not comfortable. This past weekend we put some corrective shoes on her feet to help her break over at the trot, and she is SO much happier! She seems so much more comfortable and is moving much better with her new shoes.

Noelle’s foster mom wasn’t sure if Noelle was ready to be ridden, but she was so happy in her new shoes that they were able to ride her out with Cindy Lou this weekend. She did great! She has a nicked tongue, meaning it has been cut, probably from a very severe bit, so they rode her in a sidepull (bitless bridle). She was a little uncertain and spooked a few times, but her spook is more of a freeze and a small side-step so nothing outrageous. With more experience out on the street she will become more confident. She will need a few months still before she will be ready for adoption- we need to make sure that the shoes will work long-term for her, and she still needs to build up some muscle and put on a bit more weight. Other than that, however, she is doing very well!

Thank you to everyone who has helped to sponsor or given money to help these two girls. We definitely could not have saved either of them without your help! To donate for the ongoing care of either of these two girls, please click here.