This is the favorite horse I every worked with. His name was Dr. Pepper. He was brought to our barn as a rescue who was bought for $300 from some big fat man who ride him with this HUGE western saddle that weighed like 50 lbs. We think he was in his early to mid teens, and he was an odd roan color, even after his coat shed out twice. I half leased him for something like a year before the barn decided to sell him. We started with feeding, supplements, and lots of grooming. He was then schooled in Dressage, which was what I rode at the time, which would also work for the therapeutic riding the barn did. He was a big sweetie, but too flighty at times to be used for therapy so he had to go. We took this the day his new owner came to pick him up. He made some little girl the perfect first horse. Its also one of the few times I'm not wearing a helmet :(
http://i16.tinypic.com/4pk118y.jpg

That is a great story. I love when people can save and fix up animals that truly need it. And that the story ends with a little girl getting her first horse, thats just awesome. If I had the space, I would have one here for my little girl - then again shes still under a year, so we have sometime to play around with. :)

Yeah that's great that you're taking care of him!! I'm happy for both of you.

But with the thread post earlier in another area - having a horse named the same as a product, it kind of hurts really - whomever named him - even if it was yourself, I kind of feel sorry for the horse. :(

Wow! That's a really pretty horse :) That girl will have fun with him. Now hopefully the horse is still doing good..And I agree with alexis, it's a really nice story, exspecially the ending! ;)

We weren't really into renaming him, as the therapy students liked his name. The little girl probably renamed him as she wanted to do some showing and it probably didn't fit much. The vet said he was a much darker color like Dr. Pepper as a youngster, which is how h got the name. The extreme roaning was from the malnutrition and was twice as white when we got him.

The extreme roaning was from the malnutrition and was twice as white when we got him.

Thank you for sharing again! I am sure many new people to the site were not aware of what causes that. I am working on a cause/effect type for horse care, if you would like to help let me know. :)

What a fine looking horse. Seems like you cared for him well. How old is this pic by the way?

Also is Dr. Pepper still alive? You used past tense a lot.

A really nice looking horse. Taking care of illtreated animals is great and it is something that we all should try to do. It is not easy though.

As Gizmo has said, this is a very good thing to be doing. Not only will you feel better about yourself, you will be doing the horse a huge favor. Hopefully you continue to do this in the future.

Are there any other causes of roaning except malnutrition? What did you feed Dr. Pepper for the cure of his roaning?

Its really nice to know that that horses ended up in your care purplefdu. I'm just wondering, is it just horses or other domestic animals as well, like cats or dogs that you rescue?