Ollie has been at Hanaeleh a little over six months now, and he is doing very well! Ollie will be 15 years old this year, and is an Irish Sport Horse. He is retired at Hanaeleh because he has torn suspensory tendons and navicular (permanently injured legs for our non-horse people).
We had some issues with him a few months ago because he kept pulling his shoes off, and for a time he had to wear boots while his feet grew out. It took a while, but we realized that he might be stepping on the inside of his shoes, which was causing the shoes to pull off a little. We bought him some bell boots, which he promptly destroyed. So we bought him another pair, and he destroyed those as well. So we searched and searched and finally found some no-turn ballistic hoof boots and so far he hasn’t destroyed those. He does have to “live” in them, but we haven’t seen any discomfort or sores, so for now that seems to be working.
We were also concerned that the stall he was in could also be part of the issue, as the bedding was very deep, so we moved him to the covered stall at the top of the hill. We had to move horses around because Ollie is kind of a huge jerk to other horses, and it took us a while to find a horse who would be confident enough to live next to him. Thankfully Sierra pretty much just ignores Ollie, so there is no drama between them, which is absolutely perfect!
Ollie had gotten pretty fleshy (chonky?) at Hanaeleh, especially after being laid up as we were trying to figure out how to keep his shoes on, but now he’s able to get out everyday. Ollie now enjoys his time in the arena, and he loves to canter and run around! His favorite thing to do, however, is to eat, and he gets four meals a day to make sure he doesn’t feel hungry!
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Read the touching story of Ulysses, who was rescued just in time! Learn how his rescue saved another horse & how he's transformed with proper food and lots of love.
