Hip Tag 74

Yesterday a friend called me up and asked me if I wanted to go with her to the local auction, I had planned a lazy weekend but who can resist watching someone sell used halters one at a time?  We arrived at 4pm and expected to stay until 7ish.

I always like to look at the horses and tonight I noticed a special one.  He was big and bay and very obviously an OTTB.  He was hip tag 74.

 I decided to go ahead and post him on my Facebook page to see if anyone was interested. I didn't really expect anyone to jump at the chance to drive in the dark and snow to pick up a possibly lame TB with an unknown history and future.

When I took my friend back to look at him he was down in his stall.  He had slipped somehow and couldn't get up.  With aluminum shoes and a smooth concrete floor it wasn't a surprise.  He struggled for several minutes and I thought we were watching the end right there but eventually he righted himself.  I felt even more sorry for him.

I had a flury of people posting on my thread, networking to try to save him, and was quite surprised when someone from Friends of Ferdinand started posting.  First they were going to get him, then they couldn't afford it, finally they said damn it all and pull the horse, we'll figure it out later.  I got a little misty eyed.  

Then I had to drag a friend of mine out of bed to come with her trailer as we had obviously not planned on buying a horse.  She got out of her warm bed and into her cold truck and drove 45 minutes out of her way to pick up a horse she had never met before.  I think I owe her lots of chocolate.  At 10pm the horses ran through and hip tag 74 was first.  There was nobody to speak for him, he had been dropped off and left with no reserve.  The kill buyer bid first at $50.  Then we bid $75. Then the kill buyer bid $100.  We bid $110 and the gavel slammed down.  He was ours.  I got a little misty eyed again but maybe that was due to being at the salebarn for 6 hours.

He trailered well and as soon as he was home started to hoover his hay.

He was very thirsty, he probably hadn't had access to water in almost 24 hours

He got a blanket for the night

In the morning I came back out to access what we had done.  He stands 15.2 and 1/2 hands high.  He's a three year old and his registered name is Maybe My Way.  He's just 3 years old.  He's been to Florida, New York, Ohio, and Indiana

You can tell he has something going on with his right hip.  There is some muscle atrophy and an old injury or bedsore.

I took videos to record his current movement, soundness issues, etc.  You can tell he has an issue when he decides to canter and almost falls behind.

I decided to name him Malcolm, after one of my favorite TV shows Firefly.

So what's next for Malcolm?

In a few days he will be picked up and taken to a local vet clinic and they will conduct a full work up to determine his future.  Does he need rest and rehab?  Does he need a quick release instead of a slow truck to Canada?  We will know soon.  After that he will rehab and then eventually go into a foster program and go up for adoption.

Malcolm would love to have people donate to his name and help out a great organization.  If you feel like it, please donate money to Friends Of Ferdinand.  You can input his name so the funds go toward his care or just allow them to help out in general.