An introduction...Wyatt

I thought I would share pictures and info on my four legged children. As most of my friends and fmaily know, I'm a thoroughbred nut. Especially thoroughbreds from the racetrack. I've made it my second "career" to find nice horses retiring from racing and reselling them to show homes. I've done my best to help rehome horses that are injured or have old injuries and keep them off the meat man's truck headed for slaughter. So in doing that I've built some really good working relationships with trainers as well as with buyers. I've also been fortunate enough to get my hands on some nice horses for myself in the past.

So currently I own three horses. All are thoroughbreds. Two have raced in their past lives and one did not.

First is Wyatt. His racing name was "Lord Hansel." Wyatt is a 1995 model gelding who stands at 16 hands tall. I bought Wyatt off the internet. He came form GA but actually spent his racing days in OH. Traveling between River Downs and Thistledown as well as Mountaineer. He was a dud on the track. Unlike his sire Hansel. Wyatt was sold for $70k as a yearling but made just over $13k racing. He somehow ended up in GA with a young girl who attemped to train him herself. She pretty much fried his little brain and didn't not keep up woth regular joint maintanence and dental care that he really needed. He was the most ptiful thing I'd laid my eyes on when he first arrived here. Thepictures they sent me of him are here:

Everything they told me about him was a lie. From what he'd been doing to what he was capable of. I later tracked down the woman who gave the kid lessons. She sugar coated everything and made it seem like she was so happy that Wyatt (formally named Whiskey) had a good home. Later on when I asked if she could put me in contact with the kid (I bought him through a 3rd party) this trainer flipped out and told me that Wyatt was nuts and made the kid cry everyday. That he was labeled "crazy" and everyone around her area knew him as such. Hmmmmm.....interesting.

So this is what walked off the trailer the night he arrived:

He was underweight, wormy, dehydrated and weak. His coat was orange from sunbleaching but it was also thick and wirey form malnutrition. He had a horrible crack in his foot and enough sole that it had been at least a year since anyone had trimmed him. I had the dentist out right away for him. He said it was the worst mouth he'd ever seen. He'd only been eating on one side of his mouth because his teeth were so sharp he had gashes and sores up and down the insides of his cheeks. He was supprised the horse could even grazt because his incisors were at such a slant from uneven wear that they didn't touch each other.

It took nearly 6 months to get him to a healthy weight and nearly a year to gain his trust under saddle. I also found out through mutiple vet visits and x-rays that his hocks were a complete mess and littered with arthritis. No wonder his previous owner had trouble with him. I don't think I'd want to treat her too well either if I were him.

So here is Wyatt today:

He's what I like to call an "Air Fern" because he's so fat he looks pregnant and all he gets to eat right now is lush grass and clean water. Wow, who would have ever thought of that?

Wyatt is hanging out at a friend's house in MD right now. She's giving him a try for herself. If he's a good boy he'll be owned by such a great rider and have many more oppotunities to strut his stuff than he ever did here with me.