Thursday, May 28, 2009

Your Rescue: Mercy (and company!)

Back on May 10th, I received this wonderful story about a pony that was picked up at auction:

"I have three paint mares. We were looking at buying a well trained pony for my younger sisters, who are 8 and 10. They outgrew their little Shetland pony a year ago, so she got a new home.

I was looking all winter, but even with the bad economy, well trained ponies still sell for more than we could afford-even though we were just looking for a trail riding and walk trot pony. I checked a few auctions out, nothing grabbed me or went for over our price limit.

Then the beginning of April, I want to a pony and riding horse auction. There were a lot of well trained, shiny ponies for sale. Then a pony caught my eye in the catalog-just a bit before she was to be sold. (She was 10 in a lineup of over 150 horses and ponies.)

White pony mare, 12 years old, kid broke to ride, easy to catch.

So, I finally found the little girl. She was pretty pitiful looking. Huge, fat, wormy belly, yet very ribby with her backbone and hips protruding, and hooves that needed a trim. Dirty and dusty coat - a far cry from most of the ponies with gleaming coats and ribbons in their manes.

They had two kids on her bareback to ride her in. She took it without complaint, and when they trotted her, I saw that she was sound. I won the bid at $50.

She was mine! I called my dad, who was a bit surprised since he didn't even know I was at an auction, but he brought the trailer and we took her home.

She's since gotten a hoof trim, lots of grooming, and a bath that made her coat a lot better. She gets hay and a pasture with all the grass she can eat. And several small meals of grain and beet pulp a day. And, I started deworming her slowly-with just half doses at a time. She has some welsh pony in her for sure. My farrier loved her when he did her feet. She may be a bit older than 12, but can't be over 15-16...

She's gained enough weight to be ridden now. She's proved to be a very safe kids pony-they can do virtually anything with her, and though she has a bit of a pony attitude, she's never tried to bite, kick, buck or any of the sort. For several weeks the girls had to feed her three times a day and handwalk and handgraze her twice a day, and that helped them to bond.

She's just what we was looking for in a pony. Though she hasn't trail ridden, she is so quiet I know she'll be fine. The girls want to do contesting with her, so I set up some barrels and she walked the pattern today like she's been doing it her whole life. She was a barrel pony at some point in her life.

In another month or two nobody will even reconize her that saw her at first. I bet I could easily sell her for $800 or so. But she's not going anywhere!

Her name? It was "Snowy"-but with a new beginning, she needed a new name, so we decided to call her "Mercy"."


But wait, the story doesn't end there! This is the email I received a few days ago...

"I emailed you my rescue story of Mercy, the little white pony I got at an auction about two months again. Well, Mercy had a big surprise! She gave birth to a little colt Saturday night. About a week prior she started bagging, then waxing. Turns out her potbelly was NOT just from worms and malnutrition. Mom and baby are doing fine, though Mercy us still thin and eats three-four times that of our 15.2 hh paint. So I rescued not just one pony, but two. Colt is still nameless! Looks like he'll be gray.

They're doing fine. Mom is still skinny, but eating like crazy so there's not a whole lot else we can do. She gets free choice hay and pasture and a grain mash three times a day that I'm still increasing slowly. She seems to still be gaining weight everyday. But now with producing milk, it's gonna take more. This is why she was so thin in the first place. The colt is perfect. He's a little rebel and is one naughty little baby. Mercy has a good milk flow and is an excellent mother so there's no worries there."

Mercy's colt is currently nameless. Can anyone help his owner think of a cute name for the little guy? Post your ideas in the comments section!


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18 comments:

  1. How about naming him "Surprise!"

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  2. I have two suggestions:

    It looks like he has a Hamsa on his forehead. A Hamsa is a sacred object that protects you from the "evil eye." Since this colt was obviously protected by something, "Hamsa" seems like a cool name. Plus, I promise that no other horse will have a name like that!
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamsa

    The other suggestion is "Loki", who is the Norse Trickster God. Since this little guy is naughty and a big surprize, I would say that Loki is also appropriate. :-)

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  3. Maybe "Lucky" or "Chance"? Or, the obvious, "Zane", because he's gray?

    What an amazing story! And what beautiful horses!

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  4. How about Mercy's Rebel

    I have to say I have all ways liked the name Loki.

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  5. Bet you don't realize it but you named him yourself in the body of your story...Rebel.

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  6. I love the name Hamsa! And I love, love, love this story!

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  7. I like 'Loki' as well. All good suggestions, though. What a cutie! Here's to Mercy growing fat and happy and winning lots of ribbons for two very lucky young ladies.

    How is Faith's lameness? Is today a good day or a bad one? Also, how are the rest of your crew healing up from their accidents? Everybody surviving and healing?

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  8. I agree with Hamsa. It's a beautiful and fitting name. :D

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  9. When my pony mare had a little booger of a colt we named him Punk...

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  10. What a gorgeous, and lucky, little mare!

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  11. I love the pony mare. She is a beauty and will only get more lovely. And her colt looks like a character. I like the name Hamsa.
    Lovely story

    oldmorgans.blogspot.com
    sagebeasties.blogspot.com

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  12. All the best to Mercy and her little boy. Bless you for taking her in and your sisters are the winners with a gal like her in their lives. She's loo9ks like a sweetheart and the baby is a doll!!

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  13. Savior, Hallajuah, Second Chance, thats all I can think of right now.

    Best of luck with both new additions.

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  14. This is a great story! Mercy looks like a sweet pony and is so pretty. I had a friend with a similar situation; he purchased a large pony mare for his daughter with the help of the owner of the small barn his 13 year old daughter had been learning to ride at. They got her from a guy that had picked her up at along the way with him travelling with some rodeo circuit (or so the story goes...) and they named the little red roan mare Strawberry Shortcake. She is one of those perfect babysitter horses for a first-time owner.

    He kept mentioning to me that her butt was huge and since he had told me she was part QH that didn't sound out of the ordinary. Well on a Sunday 6 months after they brought her home she dropped a filly! The vet check had missed it as had the barn owner and trainer. They named their two-fer "Sundae Surprise" in keeping with the dessert theme and the day she was born, and love her and her mom to pieces.

    Sorry, had to share-I love happy endings. :)

    So far as a name for Mercy's baby-I like Loki and Hamsa (though I feel like I am mispronouncing "hamster" when I say the latter. I'm a dork). Another idea could be Mercy's Mischief and calling him Chief around the barn.

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  15. What an amazing story, and what different pictures!! I'm so glad that she was rescued and given a good life!! She is beautiful now! Great job with her, and congrats on the baby!

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  16. Any word on what name they chose?

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  17. oh try,
    Tamwyn
    Excaliber
    Raven
    Dakota (i like this one)
    good luck!!! with mercy (and faith ;)

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