Magical Unicorn with Special Needs
Anastasia will only go to the applicant who can demonstrate why they can provide a perfect home for an amazing horse
- Registered Missouri Fox Trotter
- Foal Date 2003 (per registration)
- More than 15 hands
- Broke to ride
- Calm, level-headed and smart
- Stands for farrier, vet, grooming or whatever else you ask
- Personality plus
- Easy to catch, halter and tack
- Very easy keeper - can't free-graze, must have low-starch grain
- Previous founder, but will fully recover
- Up to date on vaccines, dental
- Adopter must provide proof of experience, proof of financial ability to provide special care, proof of prior long-term horse ownership and vet references (vet references sufficient to prove ownership).
Imagine the thrill and excitement some lucky owner felt when they saw this amazing creature step off the trailer and into their lives. Imagine how pampered she must have been, groomed and shined up like a flawless diamond. Most owners would kill for her luscious, flowing blond mane and tail. Looking into her crystalline eyes is like looking at a coral reef from 10,000 feet – one moment like a shallow blue tide breaking over white sand, the next like a deep green waves crashing into rocks. (One of our volunteers describes looking into her eyes as, “looking at the world.”)
But somewhere along the way, this amazing, registered Missouri Fox Trotter that was once someone’s prized possession, lost her luster and was discarded like yesterday’s trash. Who knows why someone throws away such a precious soul, but one person’s trash is definitely another person’s treasure, and we’re thrilled Ani landed at Swingin’ D Horse Rescue.
Beauty Comes With a Price
We named her Anastasia, which means “resurrection,” “rebirth” or “a new beginning”, because that’s what we’re giving her.
Like something from the pages of a fairy tale, Ani (AW-nee) is a fantastical creature that takes your breath away when you see her in person. Her beauty will attract interest from all kinds of people who just have to have her – just like whoever just had to have her but abandoned her on a kill lot.
No matter how much someone just has to have Ani, she will only go to her Soul Human – the person who connects with Ani and can financially provide the required property, feed, supplements, veterinary and hoof care, and the one who has a proven record of responsible horse ownership. If you do not meet all adoption requirements, please do not inquire, no matter how much you want her. Until we find the right human for Ani, she’s perfectly happy, safe and healthy here with us.
Ani is on her way to full recovery from past founder, but she will always be susceptible without careful attention. Ani’s hooves will require regular picking. She’s had no pain since she arrived here in March, and the vet and farrier say the slight rotation of her front coffin bones is offset by thick, healthy soles. She’s currently barefoot but will likely need shoes if she’s going out on trails, gravel or concrete.
Prospective adopters must agree to feeding Ani a diet of low-starch and low-sugar, high-quality grains, hays and grasses with low nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs). They must agree to limit Ani’s grazing to times when grass sugar content is lowest. They must understand that Ani is no longer in her prime, and that it’s possible she can’t be used like a regular, healthy horse. They must understand that if Ani cannot be used at the level the adopter desires, she cannot be discarded like trash.
Ani will only go to a home for life. She may not be traded or sold.
Horses are a huge responsibility. When you adopt a horse, or any animal, you take the life of another living creature into your hands. Whoever adopts Ani will understand that. We don’t want any disappointments or surprises. No one will ever betray Ani again.
The Perfect Angel...With Sass
Ani loves to be the center of attention. The penultimate girlfriend, she’s always chattering and nickering when you’re working around her, just to make sure you know she’s there. She loves to be pet and rubbed, and she’ll follow you around and stay in your space as long as you’ll let her. We thought about naming her Chatty Cathy, because she’s constantly communicating. She knows what she wants (she usually wants food), she’s not afraid to ask for it, and she’s pretty hard to deny.
Ani is so social, she sometimes forgets she’s a horse. She bonds quickly and deeply, and once she’s found her human, she prefers their company to anything else (except eating). Because of what she’s been through, she tends toward separation anxiety, whining and screaming if you’re not fully focused on her. If you try to pet another horse, she squeezes up between you to get back to the center of attention.
Ani tends to be an alpha mare; though she’s not aggressive or mean to other horses. She has a way of persuading without getting nasty. She’s currently in a pen with two other horses and they get along well. Ani loves to socialize with the horses in the surrounding pastures.
Once she figures out your patterns – like picking and medicating hooves, grooming, or washing her face and ears – she’ll put up a fuss and make you work for it. She can have an attitude and get pushy, but she recognizes her leader and does what’s expected of her.
Ani's Feeding Regimen Through QT
Here’s what we fed Ani in quarantine. Whoever adopts her will commit to a similar level of care.
- Timothy hay, orchard grass and alfalfa, soaked for 20 minutes and drained prior to feeding to reduce carbohydrates and sugar
- Beet pulp pellets and Timothy pellets, soaked for 20 minutes, drained and rinsed prior to feeding to reduce sugars and NSC
- Purina Senior Feed (due to its high level of alfalfa, soy bean hulls, rice bran and dried beet pulp – all of which are low-NSC nutrition sources) in small servings, 4-5 times per day (frequent feedings are better for horses that are sensitive to sugars
- Equinety amino acid supplements
- Biotin supplements for hooves
- Through quarantine, Ani is receiving glucosamine, MSM, hyaluronic acid and collagen supplementation
Here's what happens when an owner loses interest in a magical creature
Ani came to us with the worst-looking feet we’ve ever seen. Her history of founder was obvious in the deep rings around her dry, cracked hooves. Her front frogs were eaten up with thrush and she could barely walk because of the pain from human neglect. She is recovering, but it will take a lot of time, money, patience and faith to get her back to 100 percent. We’ll get Ani through her recovery, and whoever adopts her will have to demonstrate why they understand her condition and can provide the care she needs.
Keep watching this section for updates as Ani’s feet progress.
Ani's journey back to happy feet
"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."
- 1 Peter 1:23
Pouty princess holds a grudge
Ani loves to be the center of her human’s attention – following you around like an eager puppy, forcing you to pet her, chattering at you if you’re not fully focused on her; so, when she turned her back on me and went to the corner to pout, I knew she was deeply hurt.
My camera was running out of juice and I had no flash, but from the light of my headlamp, you can see Ani holding a grudge. I bought her some expensive new boots to soak her feet, and she was not a fan. At first, she tried to convince me to take them off, but when she realized I wouldn’t budge, she high-stepped to the corner to pout. Even after her soak was finished and I pulled off the boots, she wouldn’t talk to me for 20 minutes!
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