Rylee is an 18 year-old Peruvian Paso mare we rescued at the beginning of this year. Her previous owner had been in a bad car accident and Rylee needed a soft place to land ASAP.
Rylee began settling in quickly. She wasn’t underweight like many of our rescues, but she always seemed hungry, so we put her on a diet that included a lot of forage so she could eat more.
Rylee hadn’t been worked or ridden because she has DSLD (degenerative suspensory ligament disease). DSLD is a disease wherein the suspensory tendons in the horse’s legs stretch, which is often painful. There is no cure for DSLD, but proper hoof trims and medication help a lot to alleviate the symptoms, and she’s been receiving both. It is important for horses with DSLD to get some exercise, but not so much that it strains the tendons.
When she arrived, we put Rylee in a stall and turned her out regularly, but she soon moved into a paddock so she could walk around all day. The pain medication alleviates her discomfort, and she seems to have no problem ambling around the paddock or our property.
After a few months, we realized that Rylee was partial to another horse at the ranch, Garnet, and now they live together in a paddock! They are BFFs and are completely joined at the hip- if one horse leaves, the other horse is constantly calling out for her! Rylee, however, for some reason, does not like LadyBug (who lived next to her at first) and barely tolerates Tillie (who lived next to her after LadyBug).
A few weeks ago, we moved Rylee and Garnet to a different paddock that is flatter and better for her legs, but we were concerned that Rylee would be upset because the paddock borders LadyBug’s stall. Thankfully, LadyBug is often at the far side of her own stall pestering Gypsy, so their long-standing feud seems to be at an end for now.
Besides having LadyBug as a nemesis, Rylee HATES to stand at the tie rail! She ground ties with no problem- but the minute she gets to the rail, she moves around from one side to the other… back and forth, back and forth. Eventually, she settles down and will stand quietly, but patience is required at the beginning of each “training session!”
Rylee is a permanent resident of Hanaeleh. She is still a bit stand-offish with people, but it’s only been 6 months. We believe that as she gets to know us more, she’ll begin to open up, and we’ll see more of her personality blossom!
Rylee’s pain medicine is $50/month. You can help us defray that cost by sponsoring Rylee. For as little as $10/month, you’ll be giving Rylee the pain-free life she deserves. Every sponsorship dollar goes to Rylee’s care. CLICK HERE to join our Sponsor a Horse Club today!