Tamahome is one of our permanent residents at Hanaeleh. He is cared for and loved by our president and founder, Elizabeth, who rescued him from a situation of neglect and abuse. He has been with her for the past 12 years, and is currently 21 years old.
Tamahome is one of Hanaeleh’s ambassadors- he loves greeting everyone and showing off his tricks for people. Since we haven’t had any open houses or in-person fundraisers since March because of Covid-19, he has been somewhat lonely, so he practices his charismatic antics on our volunteers, who give him plenty of treats. We actually had to put him on a diet for a few months as he was getting too chunky, but now he’s at a good weight again. He and Sapphire live in a paddock together with the sheep, who will often “help” Tama and Sapphire eat their dinner.
Tama goes out on trail regularly with Elizabeth, usually with Gypsy in tow- she is his “emotional support horse” as he sometimes has PTSD episodes when he is out on trail due to his previous abuse. When Gypsy is along, however, he stays calm and comfortable, probably because he doesn’t want to look bad in front of her!
Tamahome’s favorite volunteer (besides whoever has food) is Dee, who has been grooming him every week for the past 10 years! He and Dee help train most of the new volunteers.
This year we’ve seen age start to creep up on Tama, and he tripped a few weeks ago while running around in the arena and scraped his knee. He healed up just fine, and we put him on a stronger medication for his arthritis, and he feels like a young colt again- he enjoys running and bucking around the arena, and is now much more sure-footed. We look forward to watching this goofy boy be his silly self for a long time to come!
