Rusty and Olivia (who saved up and paid for his adoption fee herself!) found each other and now Rusty is living his best life out on the Olympic Peninsula! What a great story. We're thrilled for both of them.
You can read a little about Rusty's history with us below.
We can't get enough of this sweet and kindly older gentleman! Rusty is a lovely 27-year old palomino Quarter Horse type pony gelding standing at 14 hands. He has a great temperament, despite having gone without the attentive care a horse of his age deserves. He may be a golden oldie, but definitely is not a rust-bucket! Rusty could be a fun horse for an intermediate, confident child (light-weight), or could be a leadline pony for a confident younger child just learning to ride -- details in our assessment notes below. Don't forget to watch the videos!
He came to us from Skagit County Animal Control in January 2021 with a 2-3/9 body condition score. His feet were in poor condition, chipped and cracked, with thrush throughout due to poor diet and the extreme muddy conditions he had been in.
But Rusty's life is looking up! We're happy to report that he is now at a healthy weight, enjoying his soaked senior grain and alfalfa cubes or pellets, in addition to pasture and the occasional nibble of hay. We're super happy that his feet are on the mend, and so is Rusty.
We recently put Rusty through his paces under saddle and he seems to be doing really well with smaller, light riders. You know...we mean kids. :-). Here's our assessment of this adorable love:
Started him off with a less experienced 12-year-old and she was able to handle him but he really wanted to go. He was good with a 5-year-old boy on the ground and under saddle, but he tends to walk out and get ahead of his handler. The 12-year old ponied him with her horse, and he did fine with that.
We also had a very experienced 13-year-old girl put him through his paces, followed by her 9-year-old twin sisters. Results: good steering, good brakes, and lots of gas in the tank. May have been a gamer in the past but tends to drift around barrels, especially the last one. Walks out and wants to go faster, but can be ridden on a loose rein at the walk once he understands that is what he is being asked for. Has a “comfy” rocking horse lope. May have been trained for neck reining, doesn’t move off the leg (tends to think that means go), but with regular work may figure it out. Could just be a bit rusty (ha, ha!) on his cues.
