We rescued Quixote about four years ago. He had been purchased by a family who did not have the ability to work with a horse of his temperament, and quickly became fearful of him. The more difficult he became, the more they left him in his stall. When Hanaeleh took Quixote, he had spent the better part of two years stuck in a small stall. He acted more like a wild horse than a horse who had, only a few years prior, been a three-day event horse and offered for sale at $15,000.
It took a while to get Quixote back to what we now consider normal, but with a lot of boundaries and even more love and his playful personality began to emerge. His favorite activity is to harrass the volunteers as they clean his stall- he will pick up the buckets by the handle and begin swinging them around. Sometimes the buckets are full, and he will flip a full bucket upside down, tossing manure all over the paddock. It’s great fun- for him. He also likes to pick up his lead rope and whip it around in circles.
This year we noticed that Quixote was coming up a bit short in his left stifle. He has a little arthritis there, but he is on a joint supplement, and as long as he gets worked regularly, he is comfortable. We do make sure to run him around before he gets his feet trimmed, however, as he is much more comfortable holding his leg after he has a short workout.
We also seem to have finally found a diet that works for Quixote! When we rescued him, he was emaciated and had no muscle tone. We were able to get some weight on him, but he is what we call a hard keeper, and any change in the weather, or exercise, or just because it was Tuesday- he would lose weight. This year, however, he has put weight on and kept it on. He now has a little hay belly!
