Shepherdsville - former Prospect Horse "Shep"
March 6, 2007
Sheppard is a great boy
- included a couple of pictures proving he is up on his peppermint
quota! He is now going out in the pasture with buddies and
thinks it is great. Did not have to give him any drugs - we
had turned him out in the arena and he had his fun in there.
We then quietly opened up the gate into the pasture and he
walked on out. Our perimeter fence does have electric fence
on the inside of the fence to really keep them away from the
road (its a country road but still...). I witnessed some of
his speed when he met the electric fence for the first time!
He high tailed it back to the barn and thought there were bad
monsters out there! Fortunately, his buddies convinced him
it was ok to venture back out... just not that close to the
fence.
Robina
March 4, 2007
Promise you won't get weekly updates but had to fill you in on
Sheparderville's first weekend in GA. I can not get over how
bold, brave, and intelligent Shepard is:- he has not spooked
at anything - cows, tractors, cars, kids, even a shot gun blast
from several farms down the road didn't faze him.
We have lunged
him three times - no real bitting up but just going around at
the walk, trot, and emphasizing the word whoa! First time to
the left it took quite a bit of convincing that was really what
I wanted but he now knows the drill. Thinks it is sort of silly
but is moving forward and beginning to cue off the voice commands
and my body position.
Shepherdsville's new
Georgia family welcomed him with his with his favorite treat -
peppermints!
He does indeed love his peppermints but
those nicker makers and other horse cookies are for the birds,
thank you very much! I did turn him out in our arena both Saturday
and Sunday after our lunge work. The first day was truly comical.
He really did not know what to do - he sort of followed us
around until the light bulb went off that he was free. He then
zoomed around the arena like it was a track with much smaller
corners. He would stop, check in with us, then around the arena
he would fly. Took him several tries until he actually got his
hind end underneath him.
The next day, he had much more fun.
He rolled, bucked a little, trotted over some poles on the ground,
flying lead changes as he changed directions, zigging, zagging,
and generally got very muddy.. A good hose off solved that problem.
The only real problem that I am having is how attached he is
to the other horses. So far, I have not turned him out with any
of the others and they have only "talked" to each other
across stall walls. When I am turning out the other horses, he
gets so mad - paws, paces, nickers, etc. He settles after a period
of time but goodness, what an angry horse! When I am out working
him, he needs to know where they are and what they are doing. He
is just really needy in this respect. I am getting his racing plates
taken off today and am planning on introducing him to pasture mates
next weekend (with the ace you recommended) and hope that will
make it better. I just hope it doesn't get worse!
Anyways, just wanted you to know that we love him and he is settling
in well. Thanks again.
Robina
February 22, 2007
Kim and Elizabeth,
Shepardsville is finally home!!! It was a long time in coming...
he didn't arrive until 9:30 last night (hence no phone calls
last night). Evidently there was a tractor trailer that turned
over on I 81, they spent 2+ hours waiting on the interstate then
was diverted over the mountain which blew their transmission.
They ended up in Roanoke for the overnight and sent for another
truck from Raleigh. Long story short, Shepardsville was very
happy to be off the trailer and home.
Tim Grant (the hauler) couldn't say enough good things about Shepardsville.
He was a gentleman throughout the trip, ate, drank, stood like
a rock, loaded, unloaded, all without qualm. When we finally unloaded
him, the walk to the barn was fairly dark but Sheppard didn't blink
an eye. He was greeted by the other horses, walked into his stall,
stretched out and let out a long stream of urination. First good
sign! After getting his jamies on we left him to settle in for
the night.
I checked on him around 11:30 and he was bedded down
snoozing. When we came in this morning he was still laying down
and was not in a rush to get up. He had finished all of his water,
half of his hay, the sweet feed (but left the oats), and had pooped
three times. More great signs! We took him out of his stall and
took him for a walk while his stall was cleaned and refreshed.
He was very interested in the cows across the road, dogs and cats
that appeared but never spooked!! Later he was upset
that the other horses got to go out without him but I reassured
him that he would get to get out soon enough. When I left for work
he was busy working on his hay. Can't wait to get home!!
Thank
you both for all that you have done for Sheppard and me (not
to mention my daughter who is already laying her claims on him
as we speak). I'll send you photos and more updates soon.
Robina
Congratulations to Robina Gallagher of Rome, Georgia
Shepherdsville was a Prospect Horse For
Sale in February 2007.
Click here to see his Prospect Horse For
Sale photos.
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