Yesterday Ken Graves of the US Forest Service (the guy in the cowboy hat) dropped off Jerry, our new DreamPower horse, and he met for a time with DreamPower staff and volunteers to tell them about Jerrys story and about Leave No Trace/Gentle Use principles that Ken teaches with the US Forest Service and the Backcountry Horsemen of California. Here is a little more about Jerry: Ken bought Jerry in 2006 for the US Forest Service pack string he runs in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Jerry has packed people and supplies into at least 6 (maybe 8) national forests from 2006-2013. Jerry was supposed to retire and come to DreamPower last summer, but a different forest needed an extra horse so Jerry spent one more summer on loan to a different Forest Service pack string. Ken decided to retire Jerry because he got injured when a mountain lion scared him and he ran into some barbed wire. Jerry got hung up in the barbed wire and was stuck in the wire in a 600 acre pasture for 1-2 days before Ken found him. His leg was scraped bare with only a couple of tendons and a vein holding it together. When Ken found him, a barb from the wire was pressing into the blood vessel. Ken said if Jerry had moved at all he would have ripped open the blood vessel and died. Ken had to leave him in the pasture in the barbed wire and go back to the barn to get wire cutters. He said he expected to come back and find a dead horse. Instead, he came back and found Jerry standing exactly where he had left him, stuck in the barbed wire. Ken cut his leg free and took him to the barn, where he doctored the leg. Jerrys leg took six weeks to heal. It has healed completely although you can see the scar from the wire. Jerry is sound to walk, trot and canter and go on trail rides and camping. The calm mind that helped Jerry stay still when he got in trouble (instead of panicking as most horses would) is why we think Jerry will make an excellent therapy horse. He has been used extensively to gather cattle all day in steep mountains. Ken said Jerry was his go to horse for parades, guest riders, and if a guest wanted a good horse to ride. Ken said he is so excited that Jerry will have a second career as a therapy horse at DreamPower. Jerry is now looking for a sponsor. DreamPower horse sponsors cover the basic costs of feed, stall rental, and routine veterinary and farrier costs for the horse for one year ($5000 for 12 months). If you interested in sponsoring Jerry, please speak with Martha McNiel or Garry Stauber. And the next time you are at DreamPower, please stop by his stall and tell Jerry welcome!
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 05:34:14 +0000
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