Sunny
Sunny's way home
This is Sunny, he's a Tennesse Walker and my new horse. I really wasn't wanting to get a new horse but my horse, Goldie developed a neurological disorder that leaves her unstable to ride. She could have a seizure at any moment which is not safe for either of us. So out of not know what else to do I started looking on Facebook at other horses not really trying to find one. This guy's picture came up and his name was Ghost at the time. I asked the owner how much and was told too much for what I wanted to spend. I told the guy I liked him but couldn't afford him. That was 2 months prior to getting a text from the guy asking how much would I be willing to pay for him. Out of the blue I get this text. Now when those things happen to me I take notice because I know there's someone upstairs looking out for me. So I called the guy and asked more questions about him.
The reason the man, Ron was selling him was that Sunny/Ghost was scared to death of him. He would go to the back of his stall and just tremble. Ron has a good friend and trainer who agreed to keep him for him so he took the horse to her house to help the horse feel better. He said it was the saddest thing he'd ever seen and he never had a horse not like him before. He had just got him a couple of months back and he still acted very scared of him. He would tremble every time he came around. With this information, thinking I would have to give this horse some serious help, I told the man what I was willing to pay and he agreed.
Before I ever go see a horse, I tune into him to see if we're a match. I did that with Goldie and she and I are a very well-matched pair. She reads my mind. So I did the same thing with Sunny. He came into my room very timid and scared. We looked at each other for quite a while sizing each other up. Pretty soon he walked over to me and I stroked him and asked if we could talk. (He still does that in the round pen, He'll stand by himself and just look at me as if trying to figure out what I'm going to do next). As I stroked him all over, he liked it and seemed to relax a lot around me. So I asked him why he was so scared of his new owner. He flashed a picture of a tall, slender old cowboy with spurs on making him do things. Giving him no choice and very strict with his training. (as old-time cowboys still do-they think the horse is a robot and have no feelings at all and are suppose to bend at will-NOT). I told him that this man was a new owner and probably not the guy who had done the abusive things to him. But by now he just didn't like the guy.
I continued to make contact with Sunny every day before my friend and I drove the 7 hours to get him. By now I knew we would get along great. I had also talked to the trainer where he was staying and she informed me that when she first got him he was scared of everyone. (That's why she named him Ghost). To help him, she made all of her boarders go in and love on him everyday. Which helped a lot. She told me he was a lot of fun to ride and her 16 year old daughter loved riding him. I think he just like women to be honest.
She also said how strange it was that every time Ron would show up at her house to ride Sunny, he would tremble. It was so sad and very weird she said. I told her of the conversation I had with Sunny about the trainer abusing him. She asked what the trainer looked like and I told her of the picture Sunny showed me. She fell silent for a minute and said, "You just described Ron, his new owner. That's exactly what he looks like." Apparently, this man reminded Sunny of the man who did the awful training on him. (I had never seen Ron before meeting him, by the way.)
By the time I got to Ron's place and met Sunny, he had his high head over the stall looking for me. I went right up to him, said, "Hi, I'm Kathy, we've been talking." I put on his halter and led him out of his stall. Ron was looking on in amazement because Sunny had been very antsy and pacing his stall because he had picked up Sunny at the trainers earlier that day to bring him to his house for me. I led him to the trailer, saddled him up and we all took off on a trail ride. There was no apprehension, a few nerves but it was like we had been together forever. I rode him that night and again the next morning and he just felt right.
I brought him home and we are dealing with a few scardy cat issues -like he jumps at the slightest noise- but he seems to really trust me and has not shown me any reason not to trust him. I have been very blessed with this new guy. I changed his name to Sunny because Ghost is like saying your nothing. He's a lot of fun to ride.
