|
 Let
Thunder, the Ambassador of the HERD for HorseSisters introduce everyone!
I
was born May 20, 1994 in Bremen, Indiana and purchased at the Topeka
Draft Auction 10 months later and came to Ocala. I
was registered with the Percheron Association as O. LA-JO'S SILVER ROCKET.
They called me Rocky as a foal. Did you know that all Percherons
are born black but that only twenty percent stay black, the rest turn
silver dappled? Somewhere, Rocky
became Thunder. I really like it when the children call me "FUNDER"
because they all seem to have so much fun with me.
Three years later I learned to drive and became a
carriage horse in Brevard County's historic Cocoa Village. For some
reason, those folks that had me had an awful time with me, I was bossy
and pushy and as slow as molasses. My Peppermint Mommie Clairese
acquired me in January of 2000 and from what Mom says, she is keeping me
forever, which suits me just fine as I love her so much. I do hop
right into the trailer when or my Peppermint Daddy Ron comes for me. I
love to pull the carriages, our new hand made surrey, thank you "Doc
Cross" of Plainview, Texas and our hay wagons and make people smile.
Folks just love to take my picture too, I was even in Southern Living
two years ago. In fact, this March, we are doing our first movie.
Yes, we go all over the state of Florida, doing parades,
festivals, carriage and driving events, shows and private parties and
weddings, but my favorite thing to do is love the children. You
can find me giving rides at local parks, the MDA camps, foster care
parties and in October I love doing the Down Syndrome Society's Buddy
Walk and other disability related events. No telling WHO has treats for
me...
One
of the ways Mom and I bonded was when she climbed on my back. At
home when I think I should be resting, Mom has me doing Dressage with that tiny
little black saddle and takes me to horse shows in Western duds, and
rides me on the Florida trails and the pristine beaches. Folks seem to
love me and that is great with me because I love everyone !
There's my Mom Clairese's loving hand on my nose...my very favorite spot to be
touched. As you can see, we have quite a special bond with each other and she and I
trust and love each other. She is great at teaching her calm and
kind ways with horses to all the volunteers.
NOW LET
ME INTRODUCE YOU TO ALL MY BUDDIES...
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HorseSister's first rescue was Nick, the 18.2 hand Clydesdale, in 1998.
Nick was born in 1988 and spent his life as a 6 or
8 up hitch horse for many national Clydesdale barns. At one time,
he was in a horrible hitch accident and would not go back in harness, no
matter how many beatings, electric shocks, or having his ear chained he endured at the hands of
so called
"trainers". We found a starving, timid, scared,
and untrusting horse who was passed around
and on his way to an auction when we purchased him.
Clairese's son Drake was 12 when Nick was 12 and the two of them joined
4-H together and Drake taught Nick to ride English and Western. They
even did the barrels together at 48 seconds and gathered many ribbons at
many OPEN Quarter horse and draft horse shows.
Nick is
the horse most people are drawn to at the Common Sense Ranch and he will
stand for hours and let anyone groom him. He is used for
life skills therapies, especially touch and self
esteem therapy and some volunteers are not frightened at all and climb aboard his fine back for a
smooth ride. You can ride me yourself at our event "Ride A Clyde",
which we have been doing since 2003.
With love
and trust and special kind care from his boy Drake, son of our Mom
Clairese, Nick wins many ribbons in English and Western riding classes
like here at the Ocala Draft Horse Show
Our Mom
Clairese even helped Nick go back in harness safely and sometimes he
drags the pastures
In
this picture at 18 months old, in harness for the first time, here is my
future carriage partner, Percheron filly Raven. I had to help
bring her up, as she came to the ranch scared and untouched by
humans.
as the cruel by product of the production of the hormone
replacement drug Premarin, which stands for Pregnant Mare's
Urine from Manitoba. Raven and Raydar were donated by Niki Lynn of
Daytona's Frog radio. Niki took a semi up to Canada and rescued 75 PMU
foals, the first ever in Florida. Mom got Raven in the fall of 1999 when she was only four months
old.
And now
look at her! Had her own filly, baby Delta, SIRED BY RAYDAR, on March
10, 2003 and is under harness and saddle and had her second foal with
Raydar in March of 2005.
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RAVEN, PERCHERON MARE, & CLAIRESE |
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1999 PMU RESCUE FROM MANITOBA |
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Here's a
good shot in 2001 of me babysitting again, this time it's the colt Raydar.
We sure did our share of wrestling...and it got worse with us after he
realized he didn't want my handsome self around his girls. Mom got him
with the PMU filly Raven in 1999 when he was just a scared five month old
colt. Raydar began providing HorseSisters with healthy foals for
our riding programs, then gelded in 2007
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Our Shetland Smokey was donated in 2000 by the Thaxton
family. Smokey has been around for years, even working a pony wheel at
local flea markets and has seen and done it all. He really loves to
take our precious little riders all about dressed in English and Western
wear. Smokey's riders have Cerebral Palsy, Autism, brain disorders,
heart surgeries, and emotional problems from divorce, abuse, neglect and
trauma.
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Here is
cute little Appaloosa Denali Snowflake. Cathy Delph gave us Denali in
2001 as a 10 month old tiny filly. Great, great, great
granddaughter of Three Bars, she gets
more Appaloosa spots every time I look at her. and all the little
girls all fight over who gets to ride her. Denali had
Raydar's filly, Mystic on May 23, 2004 and she now belongs to Jodi Brown.
Next they had colt Apollo, which belongs to volunteer Alex and then colt
Titian was born August 14, 2007
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Now this
chunky fella is Starbuck. He was an SPCA rescue in 2001. Starbuck was
born in 1995 and is a Haflinger (draft pony from Austria) and Paso Fino
cross. He carries riders of all sizes and abilities and loves to run
real fast when he can. He is the favorite mount of Special Olympian
Cheryl.
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Thoroughbred Sargon, born in 1988, came to us as a gift from Linda Olsen in 2002. A gentle soul, he
is perfect for teaching the trot. His favorite volunteers set up the
jumps and put him over 3 foot fences with ease and he knows a Dressage
test well. Sargon can be adopted for $1,000.00
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And this
little guy is Stealth...named after the famous plane that no one knows
is coming...because no one knew he was coming either. Born February 8,
2002 Stealth flew in under a sneak attack by Raydar, his father and Gold
Moon, his dam. A feisty fella, full of fun, he follows me all over the
pasture, heck, it is kind of cute.
HERE IS STEALTH IN 2006 WITH OUR FAVORITE LOCAL
TRAINER, RONNIE FORD,
AS HE GETS HIM READY FOR HIS FIRST RIDE
AND HE GOES SO EASY IN JUST HIS HALTER FOR VOLUNTEER
ALEX
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Now this
snappy Tobiano paint mare is Cacica, which is Spanish for "female chief" and boy, does
she live up to her name. Most of us have had to duck and run or stand
and fight, poor girl, she loves to try and boss us around. She was born
in 1997 and a gift from Norma Torres. Cacica is coming along nicely
as a therapy horse,
taking our 2003 Special Olympic rider Kevin to the Gold in the Barrels
and Silver in Western Pleasure at the State-wide Special Olympic Games.
Cacica delivered Raydar's 5th foal, little bay filly Charmer, who now
lives in Texas and owned by our volunteers, the Schermerhorn family
This is
baby Delta, born March 10, 2003, yep, you guessed it, the day the Delta
rocket took off from Cape Canaveral. This was her first trip to a
secluded, privately owned beach. Dam Raven and Sire Raydar should be so
proud of her. Now she is learning about the round pen, a saddle
blanket and saddle and a bit and doing very well as she learns to take
on riders and to drive. Here she is today...
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One of
our latest donated horses, thanks to the Jacobson family, is a NSH
or National
Show Horse- MAX. Born in 1991, this wonderful gelding with a great
personality and just 14.2 hands, is a shiny sorrel with four flashy
white socks and a white blaze and so far is the perfect size therapy
horse. Max is trained in Dressage and is quite fond of jumping painted
fences with pretty flowers near them. Our Special Olympians and
volunteers
riding him find him a dream. In 2004, he and his rider Kevin
scored medals all in dressage and pole bending and he is wonderful
in dressage
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