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        Buddy   

SUMMARY: Buddy used to be a pony ride pony, then foundered.  A caring family purchased him, then donated him to CWER. We were thrilled to adopt him to a new home as a nanny for an injured foal. Sadly, a series of family emergencies have made it so that his family are unable to keep him. After spending the winter at CWER, buddy's adoptive family have donated him back to CWER and asked us to find him a new family to love.

Buddy is absolutely fabulous as a leadline pony, reminding him of his former life. His feet need proper farrier care to deal with his founder, but when cared for and when the ground isn't horribly rough or frozen, he walks comfortably and enjoys life. His vision is limited, so it is important that an adoptive family's children have good horse sense and dont, for example, come running at him like a predator trying to grab a hind leg, or he may react. He has NEVER struck at anyone while at CWER nor with his adoptive family and their 2 small boys, but did so with the family who gave him to us. 

Buddy is a rare find...an older fellow who is a relatively easy keeper, who has a fabulous personality, and who will, literally, carry child after child on his back in lead line rides all day long at our annual events, without so much as a complaint. he does not ride off a lead, and at his age we would never ask him to try it now! He isn't so tiny that only toddlers can be lead on him, nor big enough to be intimidating. He is also a FANTASTIC babysitter/nanny, particularly with foals. He has done this job for us twice now, and was nothing short of perfect in each case.  Buddy has settled fabulously as a partner to Megans Pride, a similarly older founder case mare who has a wonderful life. We get to see Buddy regularly as Mike continues as his farrier, and he is healthy, happy, and incredibly well loved.

HISTORY: Buddy used to be a pony ride pony, prior to foundering some time in 2003. He was purchased by a loving family near Decatur, who unfortunately were lied to regarding his age, his health, his ridability, and many more issues. Buddy came to them horribly underweight with hooves that had curled up from founder and lack of care. They've provided Buddy a loving home and care for the last year, and his hooves are now in reasonable, but not great, condition and his weight is good, but still about 50 lbs underweight. However, he will not likely ever be sound, and even on Bute they indicated he was too hot for their granddaughter to handle, so they have asked us to please find him a new home. He came to Crosswinds  with the intention of having Rick Burten check his hooves to see if anything additional can be done; however, we did not anticipate Buddy ever being ridable again. We anticipated he would be a pasture companion/retirement boy for the rest of his life.

We were told that Buddy does kick sometimes. However, in the months he's been at Crosswinds and then at his new family's, he has NEVER even threatened to kick someone. He is gentle and sweet to groom, and LOVES people, but does require his handler to pay attention to him.

11/11/04 update: Buddy is going to go to a local private rescue to be a "nanny" (or would that be a "pappy"?) an orphaned foal. If he and the foal attach to one another as companions, Buddy will likely be adopted there permanently. Best of luck with him! We hope its a perfect match!

11/23/04 update: The baby, "Mabel", and Buddy are doing great, and are nearly inseparable. Left photo is pre-surgery; center and right are just before Mabel met Buddy and came home. Thanks to Buddy, Mabel now eats not only hay, but her pelleted milk replacer feed as well.  It looks like Buddy has a forever home!

12/12/04 update: Buddy is doing fantastic as a "nanny" to Mabel. Also, thanks to the exceptional farrier work at U of I, Buddy appears to be coming sound as well. His feet look so very much better, and he no longer walks like he's on eggshells. He has been giving leadline pony rides to his family's boys, and seems to be truly enjoying it. We hope that Buddy has found a forever home with them.

12/28/04 update: Mabel's legs continue to heal, and she stands stronger and better every day! Buddy is a huge factor in her healing and her future, and we are so proud of him!

Buddy's farrier has done a wonderful job of cleaning up all but the last visible marks of Buddy's founder. Shown here 4 weeks after his trim and nearly ready for another, Buddy looks a thousand times better than at his arrival! He no longer moves in a 'tender-footed' manner. 

Sponsorship note: Buddy has required quite a bit of care as we have worked toward bringing him back to health -- special farrier care, extensive dental work, large quantities of Senior Feed, etc. As his family have such extensive bills to care for Mabel, a sponsor for Buddy would be a huge help. Candace McMaster has been kind enough to sponsor Buddy several months of 2005, and Pam E. (Ginger's sponsor) has also helped with medical expenses as well. (Candace and Steve also assisted with Mabel's medical bills.) Thank you, all!!

Fall 2005 -- Buddy provides pony rides at the 2005 CWER open house, and at the Prairieland Feeds Pet Fair! GO BUDDY! Buddy is wintering at CWER to help his family through a bit of a rough time. Hope you'll stop by to see the little fellow!

Spring 06: Sadly, his famly is unable to afford to keep buddy any longer, due to a series of family emergencies, and they have donated him back to CWER. We are looking to find him a new forever home.

Fall 2006: Buddy is now companion to an older founder case mare, Megans Pride, and doing fabulously. He could not be happier than with his adoptive family, and we sincerely hope he has a home for life.

Janury 07: Buddy was adopted by megan's family! CONGRATS BUDDY!!