This is the end.

The last time I posted I updated you on Floyd and his trip to Texas.  I’m sad to report that Floyd has gone on to greener pastures. He was found by his new owner Heidi in the morning lying down. His gums were pale and he was uninterested in eating his hay and most of his feed. Floyd has always been an over-eater so that was a major red flag for Heidi. She called a vet and stayed with Floyd petting his head until the vet arrived. When the vet got there, he found bruising and 2 puncture wounds on his bottom lip. They determined that it was possible Floyd had been bit by a snake and this was a reaction to the snake bite. Floyd was humanly euthanized as it was unlikely he would recover.  One of the neighbors told Heidi’s husband that one of their Chihuahua’s had been bitten by a copperhead snake and had neurological symptoms similar.

Obviously, I’m sad. However, I’m more sad for Heidi and her family who had fallen in love with Floyd. They have had him as part of their everyday. And that’s the thing; animals become part of our lives and our family. When they leave, they take a little part of us with them. Please share with me sending Heidi and her family good wishes and loving thoughts as this loss has been hard on them.

Forever Floyd RIP

Floyd moves out of Michigan!

For a little over a year now, Floyd has been living with his new family the Nowicki’s.  He’s bonded with one of their ponies and has been a great riding horse for Danny Nowicki and his son, Zach. This year, the Nowickis make a big move to the big state of Texas!! It was difficult to “cut the cord” for me.  Floyd was moving really far away and I freaked out when I heard. What if Floyd needed me?  How can I help him when he’s so far away??  Heidi Nowicki assured me that Floyd would be fine! She shipped him with a reputable shipper (very important!) and he would have plenty of love and care as he has been! It’s sad to see Floyd go so far away and I won’t be able to easily visit but, he’s happy with his forever family!  That’s all that one can hope for when rescuing a horse. 🙂

                    Floyd’s Texas chariot

Floyd has a snack for the road

Floyd on his ride with his little buddy

            Are we there yet?

Floyd’s new home in Texas!

Floyd hangs at his new TX house

             Texas sunshine!

         Texas open stalls

Floyd’s new Family

For the past two weeks, Floyd has been hanging at our farm eating and eating and eating some more.  He gained some of his weight back and started looking a bit more like the horse he was when he was at our farm last.  So with his ribs not quite as visible as they were just two weeks ago, he was ready for his new home.

It was harder this time around to re-home him and I’m not sure why. Perhaps because he hadn’t kicked me yet again?  Or maybe it was because it was more apparent that once he’s off our property there is risk for his health and safety.  Whatever the reason, I was extra sad to see Floyd leave our farm.

What made me feel better was knowing that I could seek out a home and situation that would work better for Floyd. I put a few ads up and had quite a bit of interest.  After asking a ton of questions and checking references, I found the best situation for this special horse!

I’m very happy to report that Floyd has an entire family as his new home.  Congratulations Heidi, Danny and family!!!  As long as Floyd behaves himself, he’ll have a home forever with them at their beautiful little farm which includes ducks, chickens, rabbits, kittens,  a few ponies and four of the cutest little kids.  We delivered Floyd yesterday and he seems very happy already.

 

Floyd – Heidi & Zackary

Floyd’s new Grandpa!

Cassi (Heidi’s sister) and Floyd

 

 

Horse’n Around at School

In the sixth grade I begged and pleaded for my school’s principal to please let me bring my horse to the school’s playground for my submission in the Talent Show.  I figured my big talent was that I could ride a horse.  And,  I was pretty sure I’d be able to jump the slide AND the teeter totter with ease.  I badgered him for a week straight until he finally said, “No.”  I don’t remember that principal’s name but I’m sure it sounded something like Mr.Dreamkiller. Had I been allowed to enter,  I would have easily won first place.

If Mr. Dreamkiller had only been as cool as this principal who pulled out all the stops for a reading day at his school.   See the story from Thomas Township, MI by clicking here

Floyd is not a pony!

We finally measured Floyd. Officially, he stands at 15.1 hands – which makes him just a short horse. However, standing next to our farm’s latest addition, he looks just like a pony.

Meet “Minnie”, an old (20+) Percheron mare who was in need of a home when her owner needed to focus on her own health issues.  We’ve taken her in and are looking forward to having her pull a cart at our wedding this fall among other fun horsey outings we have planned.  Both she and Floyd are becoming friends.

Floyd loves Kids!

This past weekend Floyd got a few young visitors. He seems to be very interested in kids and was very well behaved while he gave a little pony ride to a little girl (pictured but hidden by mom’s arm. – ha!)  He does seem to be just as his last owners have described him as being kid friendly.   He’s still looking for a home by the way!  Tell your friends!

Winter on the other hand? Floyd isn’t a fan and neither am I.  Please go away winter.

Floyd comes back and redecorates. Ugh.

It’s been about a week now since Floyd has come back to our farm.

Floyd returns a little less fat and a little lighter of his….ahem….load. You know, now that he’s been gelded. If you remember an earlier post, he had the family jewels removed and had a few complications.  It took him a bit to recover and he’s still getting his weight back. He looks a bit different than when he left my farm a year or so ago.

But, how wonderful that he’s free of all that testosterone!  He does seem to be a much calmer and sweeter horse.   He has returned free of his testicles but he’s gained some other attributes.  He has a longer, more picturesque mane and tail and he’s gained some exterior design skills.

Within this week he’s managed to “re-decorate” to suit his needs better. He’s taken down a few fences and has completely restructured his giant round bail which he was supposed to be eating for the next two weeks.  Floyd isn’t short on….how should I put it?   Personality.

We’re going to ride him and do a video this weekend so I can again rehome him in what will be his Forever Home.  There is still a vet bill from getting him gelded so I’m asking for only the new owner to please donate money payable directly to the vet who preformed the surgery.  I’ll update again soon!

GELDING AVAILABLE.

Remember Floyd? Well, he’s in need of a home again! He’s coming back to me at no fault of his own. Floyd is a GELDING – who is lazy and likes to go slow. He’s been great with kids on his back and is a good boy. You can read all about his journey for the time I had him at foreverfloyd.wordpress.com He’s been in great hands for the past year+ and has proven himself terrible at barrel racing and great as a trail horse. Please email me at hollyhutton@hotmail.com for info – goes with a contract and rehoming fee in form of donation to his vet.

R.I.P Testosterone

It’s been a while since I’ve updated about Floyd (the horse that looked like a cow and had legs like a chicken).

Last weekend, Floyd underwent the de-stallion-izing (a word I just made up) surgery. Horse people know this procedure as “to geld” or “gelding”. Kaliah, Floyd’s new home, felt as I did before; that Floyd would be happier if he was able to put his testosterone to rest.

Those of you who either have testosterone may understand best. If Floyd was a human, he would be picking fights in bars and then taking three girls at a time home with him. As a horse, this means he is a danger to other horses. So, at his new home he waits near he gate or whatever fence line is closest to a horse just to catch a glimpse of another horse. In addition to fighting and doing “it”; he wants a friend to have a beer with (or a hay eating buddy in this case).

So Floyd and Kaliah said goodbye and a prayer to life with testosterone and called the vet for a surgical appointment.

Floyd’s surgery didn’t go as well as planned. He had some complications that were concerns with doing the surgery so late in his life. Just after they finished the surgery, Floyd began bleeding – like, a lot. They had some issues getting the bleeding under control and was not sure he would make it through the night much less through the weekend. However, have faith in Floyd! He is a fighter!!! He pulled through the weekend with Kaliah sleeping by his side at night and regular visits and care by their vet from Veterinary Standard in Manchester.

Today, Floyd is doing fine! Still recovering! Below are pictures of his…well, where his nuggets used to be.

While Kaliah was prepared for the inital vet bill, she wasn’t prepared for the emergency vet bills that piled up in one weekend. If anyone would like to help, you can contact her via her website found http://caronscrazycorral.webs.com/

PS – I wasn’t there for the surgery so the details above are as they were told to me. I hope I understood it all correctly!

Happy Floyd.

Today I spoke with Kaliah, Floyd’s new owner and I am so happy to report that Floyd is doing fine!

She calls him “Mr.King Floyd” which I love! If you remember, his name when I got him was King (which at the time didn’t fit him).  But Mr. King Floyd sure is a fitting name now!

Kaliah reports that once a day for a few hours the herd of horses makes their way over to where Floyd is for a visit.  Floyd has become friends with one of Kaliah’s geldings and seems keen on another mare (a love interest perhaps!?) Today, the sun was out and the weather was mild and Kaliah took him for a ride. Even with the mares nearby, Floyd was a gentleman and behaved properly with her on his back.  Yay! She said after putting him back in his pasture, he ran around and bucked, returned for a pat and then went back to his hay.

 

I think it’s safe to say Floyd is happy!

 

Kaliah is really excited about the possibilities which may even include a horse show in the near future! Who wants to cheer Floyd at a show!?  It’s not typical show etiquette but, we can make some posters with his name on them and bring pom-poms!

 

Give me an F….L….O….Y….D!!!!  yaaaaay FLOYD!!!!