Welcome to the Equine Comeback Challenge Mare

This afternoon my Equine Comeback Challenge horse finally arrived!  A huge thank you to Mountain Valley Horse Rescue for hauling her here from Eagle, CO, which is up in the mountains past Vail.  The mare seemed to travel well, her only objection to the trip seemed to be some stomping around in the trailer when they stopped for gas, but all of us humans object to the price of gas, too, so we can't blame her.

She unloaded quietly from the trailer and walked in a mannerly fashion to her run and stall.  I have her with the other mares, but in her own paddock until they all get used to each other.  She is somewhat reserved, especially compared to the comedic geldings who were showing off in the arena when she arrived.  Apparently she was not used to a stall prior to arriving at the rescue, and it took her a week or so to go into her stall there.  No such problems here, once she had a few minutes to settle she marched right in to discover the all night buffet in a bag.

Her body condition is very heavy, and so some feed restriction is necessary for her fitness.  It's dangerous to attempt too much conditioning in the mere 45 days I have her, especially because it's important to make these changes slowly for the horse's mental and physical health.  But her weight needs to be addressed, so she will be eating out of small mesh hay nets to keep her busy as well as keep saliva flowing to temper any acid in her stomach.  These nets have very small openings, 2"x2", so the horse can essentially pick one stem of hay out at a time, eat that stem, and then go back for another stem.  I love the small mesh hay nets for many reasons, but this is a great example of how a horse who needs some calorie restriction can still be eating constantly (as the horse's digestive system is designed to do), but not consuming so much food. 

Assessing body condition and temperament is all I do on the first day, since she already had a long trailer ride to get here and I like a new horse to have a little time to settle in, meet the herd-mates, and generally see the routine here before going to work.  I did have a short photo shoot for her soon to be adoring fans.  These will be her "before" photos on her promotional materials for Horse Expo. 

Soon to come will be bathing (on a warm day), clipping, and working in the round pen.  She is definitely wooly enough to be comfortable at high altitude in ski country!  I also need to get her measurements for a blanket, and her exact height.  Introducing tack and saddle fitting is also on the agenda.

She has the very typical Percheron "apple butt", which I love!

Miles introducing himself

The rescue generously gave me a few gifts as thanks for taking the mare, including a lovely calendar

And a SWEET cap that says, "Just GELD' EM" 

I particularly love the hat because it fits so well with my own personal philosophies of "good stallions make great geldings" and "don't mess with me, I castrated everything on this place"