Horse of the Month - Dude

June's horse of the month is Dude, also known as My Blazing Skip (or at least that's what his registered name is). Dad renamed him Dude when because he looked like a "surfer dude". And that's how he got his barn name.

 

Dude was originally a personal horse to replace our very first horse, Tiny Dictator, after we retired him. We bought Dude from a someone who'd put 30 days on Dude. Dude had then cut his front leg (the scar is still there to prove it.) We bought Dude in January 2002. Dude was to be Dad's permanent riding horse. We tried a number of times and spent a few years trying to work out a few kinks. We would notice that he would squeal and then let out one big buck and Dad would go sailing. We didn't know what was wrong but in the end, I permanently retired him in the fall of 2006. I just couldn't trust Dude. We should have done a full vet exam before buying Dude but I'm glad that we have him. Come to find out that Dude has "hunters bump" or at least that's the unofficial term for it. I'm not sure what the official term is. You can read about it but in a nut shell, it's all chronic condition that is very hard to diagnose. When Dude stands square, his hips are lopsided. You can also see it by the way he stands. This condition actually affects his front as well because he's trying to relieve the pressure from the rear end. As Dude gets older, the hunters bump is becoming more and more prominent (probably because I know what to look for). Unfortunately, there is no cure and if we were to continue riding him, we would have to do cortisone shots. I opted to retire him and turn him into a Sanctuary horse. So you could consider him a personal horse but if we were to have sold him, he would have hurt someone and in the end would have run through a loose horse auction. I have no doubt in my mind that if we would have gotten rid of him, he would have ended up on a dinner plate.

Dude is the lead horse in the gelding band. I don't think he really wants to be the leader but he's such a bossy horse that no one wants to get in his way. Feeding time he's the worst. He'll stomp his feet and push everyone else out of the way. And everyone has come to the understanding that Dude is the boss and that they have to back down. No one usually challenges him, except for maybe Chaos. But there's really no challenging. Dude doesn't push anyone, he just walks up and expects everyone else to move out of his way.

Dude and I have had a few issues that we have worked out. He understands that when I walk in the pen, *I* am the boss. If I stop, he stops. If I move, he moves. If I move left, he moves left. If I move right, he moves right. It's pretty neat to see. I would love to do some halter classes, but we would never win any points because of his injury/condition.

I do believe that Dude enjoys being permanently retired. I haven't seen him squeal and buck in pain in a very long time. I do keep a close eye on him to make sure that in the winter time he doesn't fall and injure the hip even more. He occasionally comes up lame in the back end during the winter months but I think that's when we have more ice than snow and he slips. I will always have to keep a close eye on Dude to make sure that his comfort level is ok. If the condition progresses and he's uncomfortable or in pain, we will have to look at the alternative. But for now, he'll happily be the herd boss
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Dude is only 17 years old so I expect we'll have him at the Sanctuary for another ten years or so. At least he and I have an understanding. As we both grow older, we both have grown to have an understanding between each other. Dude continues to mellow out and I continue to respect him and let him be boss of the other horses.