More About Junior

So, you want to know more about Junior?

I was contacted awhile back about taking in an older horse who needs permanent retirement (Junior). His owner wanted to do right by him and was searching for someone who could provide a quiet retirement.

Here's what I know about him:

• He was originally sold to his owner as a seven year old gelding. But when she took him to her vet, they discovered that he was probably in his twenties.
• The owner had him for four years and did almost anything on him. So that would make him closer to 25 right now (so that'll be his age).
• The owner was told he was a race horse but as far as I know, there's no tattoo and no papers. Which means he was not raced but could have been a track pony.
• His owner used him as a lesson horse for young children to learn how to ride but he developed an issue with his back end and now needed retirement from all work. He was taken to a chiropractor and the chiropractor couldn't find anything wrong with him.
• His owner used him in ranch rodeos, playdays, and trail riding.
• For some reason I want to say that he was used at a youth camp but I can't verify that information.

So that's the information that I got from his owner.  Here's what I know about him just in being around him for less than 24 hours:

• I'm thinking that he's going to be a hard keeper. The weight that he has on him now is what he's looked like for his owner for the past four years.
• He's very passive and will get pushed around. If a horse looks at him wrong, he'll move away. So I have to make sure that there are multiple piles of hay for him to eat so that if a horse looks at him wrong, he'll have another pile of hay to eat.
• He is a touch-me-not. He doesn't feel comfortable being touched (even his owner said that and wondered if he'd been abused in a previous home).
• But he does come right up to the gate to watch what I am doing. So he's trying really hard to be friendly and wants to please.
• He loves his grain.
• He doesn't like apples but liked licking my gloves that had apple juice (from the apples).
• He may potentially be hard to catch but we'll win him over with daily grain (and lack of doing anything but being a pasture puff).
• He has two brands on him. One looks like a spade on his right shoulder and another looks like a partial sun on his right cheek (the one on his cheek doesn't show right now with his winter hair). Those brands make me think that he was a ranch horse.

And here's what we need:

• I took him in on good faith that we would be able to raise the final $65 to purchase his winter supply of hay. We are one bale short (the $65). We raised $260 to purchase four bales. Thank you Keith Letson, Heather McLay, and Barb Simon for donating to purchase four bales of hay! Junior will be happy!
• I would really like Junior to have his very own blanket. We have a few spare blankets that don't yet need repairs but I don't know if they will fit him. I need to measure to see what size he is. But it would be nice to wrap him up in a warm blanket this winter to ward off this awful below zero wind chills. I don't care what brand or color. As long as it's a medium weight blanket, that's all that matters.
• If anyone has access to brands, I would love to track down who owns his brand. I doubt I'll be able to get the brand on his cheek until spring but the brand on his shoulder is included in the pictures in the previous post. Any bit of information would be greatly appreciated.
• Grain to feed Junior. I want to start him on the same grain ration that I have Bo on, which is Nutrena Senior, Sweet Feed, and Calf Manna. I'll be introducing beet pulp shortly but wanted to get him adjusted to his new grain ration before beet pulp since beet pulp is an acquired taste. Nutrena Senior is $20 per page, Sweet Feed is $10-12 per bag, and Calf Manna is $30 per bag. Beet pulp is about $13-14 per bag.
• Donations to help offset the cost of grain. Any amount is greatly appreciated. $5 or $50, it'll all be very much appreciated by me and Junior!

I will keep everyone updated on Junior's progress. All I have to do is look into those liquid brown eyes and my heart melts. He is the reason why we are here. He is the reason why I feel so strongly about providing a retirement home to senior horses. There is something about Junior that I can't describe. My heart melts when I see him.