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Annie is a 13 year old Quarter Horse mare who was seized with six other horses in a neglect case in Scott County, Kentucky. Annie was in the worst shape out of her group, suffering from an extremely low body condition score and severe skin conditions. Under the care of Scott County Animal Care and Control, Annie was successfully treated, refed, and brought back to health, but Annie and the horses in her group were mostly unhandled for a year while their case was under investigation. Annie has a large, healed scar across her chest; the cause of the scar is unknown.
Since arriving at Willow Hope Farm, Annie has been a favorite of staff and volunteers. After loading and unloading like a pro, Annie started behavioral assessments and has been quiet, calm, willing, and very friendly despite her history. So far, Annie has been extremely safe for even beginner handlers and has been excellent for the farrier (in crossties), the veterinarian, volunteers, staff, and for tours at the farm. Annie has even been turned out with a feral horse who is in the process of gentling and has been a steady, reassuring, and calm presence in the barn. She has excellent ground manners, yields her shoulders and haunches, bathes, clips, stands quietly tied and in crossties, lunges (though only at the walk due to soundness), and thoroughly enjoys extra attention like having her mane braided.
During evaluations, Annie was noted to have frontend lameness issues and underwent a full lameness evaluation. Results came back that Annie has moderate navicular syndrome in both front feet and some osteoarthritic changes in her hocks. While Annie underwent a very short riding assessment (mount/dismount, and minimal walk only due to soundness) and demonstrated that she seems to be extremely well educated, results from veterinary evaluations have determined that Annie is only sound as a companion animal. So far, Annie has been unflappable and has been very useful in educational sessions that are low-impact; Annie would likely do well in a therapy program in a non-riding job.
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