success stories 3

This is Cush's story. His registered name is One Eyed Knave. His old owner called him One Eyed Jack, or Jack. After he was rescued by Equine Rescue, Inc, his name was changed to Cush.

Cush arrived here in June 2003. He was transported by Bob Hubbard Horse Transport from New York to San Diego, California. On his trip, the drivers fell in love with Cush. Deformed, recently castrated, and acting more like a yearling than a 4 yr old he was a unique passenger. They were extremely patient with him while loading and unloading and leading him. The trip took a few days and when they pulled up with him at FalconRidge, one of the drivers expressed an interest in adopting Cush herself, she was so taken by him. He was home for life though, and Cush settled in well here. He didn't lead the best and had a habit of striking with his right front foot when he wanted. He would also swing his head around on his blind side which made it necessary to be careful around him or you might get knocked down. A few lessons in ground manners and he started behaving in two days.

We placed Cush in the first stall near the busiest part of the ranch so that he would get to interact with as many people as possible. We he was first turned out in the arena with other horses, it was obvious Cush had zero social skills. Due to his missing eye, he would not see the other horses asking him to move off and they would turn on him. Also, due to his deformity, alpha horses will drive away horses that are not perfect or have something wrong with them. So we found it better to put the most gentle horse at the ranch out with Cush to help him learn to socialize without having to worry about aggression. He slowly gained his confidence with the non-threatening horses and he learned to play and respond to equine body language correctly. As Cush got more bold, we would put more and more horses out with him in turnout to play with. He learned to enjoy being brushed, legs and feet touched and now leads like a gentleman and ties. His favorite pastime is playing with others now, and he has even become one of the more aggressive horses in play, nipping at the others instead of being nipped at like he used to. People enjoy seeing Cush and when they see one side of his face, the good side, they say how beautiful he is. When he turns around, they are surprised to see his missing eye socket, and the bulge of hay that sticks out from being stuck in his deformed jawline. Cush has learned to empty it himself and he also slightly cribs in order to be able to chew properly and eat. Cush learned how to accept a saddle pad and saddle a few times, but we haven't gone any further in his training than that. The vets claimed he would always be "off balance" due to his deformity and eye loss, thefore not able to be ridden safely. His balance has improved the last two years and he has gained weight. He is now stronger and more muscular. Cush is one of our most special horses here at FalconRidge and he blesses us with his presence every day.

I adopted Spotty a few years ago. He was badly abused, very scared of people and did not trust anyone. All he needed was to be loved and cared for. I was there every day at Equine Rescue for 6 months. It took me months just to earn enough trust to touch his ears. I needed to earn his trust. He needed to know that I was not going to hurt him. I was going to take him home, love him and let him be a horse. After many months he finally began to trust me.

He now lives out in pasture with 2 other horses from Equine Rescue. He plays hard every day with them. I see them in the field rearing, bucking and running. He is being a horse, something he could not do years ago.

Caroline is 6 years old and rides Spotty. She can trot him around the ring with no problem. He takes care of her. I will be leading him in from the field to tack him up or walking him around the farm and he watches carefully for Caroline. When he can not see her he gets very upset and stops dead and will not move until she talks to him or he sees her. He just needs to know that she is ok.

I can remember Spotty and Caroline playing tag. They would just walk around the yard and play. I trust him with her completely. Spotty is my life. He is the best thing that has happend to me.