This is not how I’d hoped our time together would end….
Sandy has been pulled from the Florida Extreme Mustang Makeover competition.
When I first got Sandy, he was obviously very tense anytime I was around. A few weeks into his training, when he started to really relax around me, I noticed something odd in his lower jaw. I couldn’t see it earlier, as he was always very tight-lipped, but the more he relaxed his jaw the more I could see what looked like a tooth exposed. He was still very guarded about me looking in his mouth so it took me a few days to be able to actually open his mouth. When I was able to really get a good look I saw that his lower jaw appeared broken.
We called Dr. Easley who came out that same day to do an exam and he confirmed that his lower jaw was broken. This is not something that happened here, it happened roughly 6-8 months ago while he was in holding. Sandy will be fine in the long run but he does need surgery to fix it. We had hoped that maybe the surgery could wait until after the competition but I’m already picking up on small indications from Sandy that he’s uncomfortable with much pressure on his head at all and it’s getting worse the more I do with him.
I will NEVER train a horse through pain, so that pretty much solidified the decision to pull him from the competition. Sandy will now go to the nearest TIP trainer (Trainer Incentive Program through the Mustang Heritage Foundation) once we get transportation details worked out. Once there, he will receive all the medical care he needs. After he’s healed up he will continue training there and be adopted out eventually.
I know that many of you have encouraged me to keep him myself, and while I understand why, keeping him was never in the cards. I have too many of my own that never get worked and adding him to the “list of my personal horses that never get worked” is not fair. The Mustang Heritage Foundation will make sure he gets both the care he needs and a secure future.
I was so excited for the journey with this sweet boy, as I know many of you were. It has been so encouraging hearing how much you all loved following along with his progress. Thank you all for your support and for believing in how far the two of us were going to go. I’m sorry it didn’t end the way we had hoped. ❤️
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