Solid, Pocohontas

THE DANVILLE DAMS-PATIENCE PAYS OFF
Hillary Clark

In January 2008, HAHS welcomed a group of ten mares and a sickly little colt onto the farm (see Spring 2008 Hoofprints).  It quickly became apparent that we were going to be in for more than we bargained for with this group.  The mares ranged in age from 1 to 20 and were terrified of any human contact.  Then, there was little Buffalo Bill; A frightened colt with more health problems than can be listed. 

Sadly, Bill's ailments got the best of him and he passed away in the spring of 2009.  Meanwhile, we still had 10 mares that were nearly impossible to handle safely without sedation.  Since HAHS lacked the facilities to work with horses like these the decision was finally made to send eight of them away for training.  

Now at Chasing the Sun Equestrian Center (chasingthesunstables.com), the eight mares are flourishing.  Though the six older mares still want little to do with people, they allow us to touch them and vet them when necessary.  Solid and Pocahontas, the younger mares of the group are excelling in their training.  Amazingly, Solid has been started under saddle and Pocahontas should soon follow suit. 

Bayou and Bay Tufts, the youngest of the group remain at the HAHS farm where they are making progress of their own.  These two now thrive on the attention that they get from visitors to the farm.  We anticipate starting them both under saddle this summer.