Bud and Brandy Update

Bud and Brandy came to us on February 27th after being surrendered by their owner to King County Regional Animal Services.  While we cannot share any details of their situation as there is a case pending, we have been given permission by the county to begin releasing photos and updates on these two horses to our supporters.  While they are still in rehabilitation, they will be made available for adoption once they are in a healthy weight.   As these two have been together for over 15 years and are incredibly bonded, we would love to see them go to a retirement home together.  Currently, they are in a foster home in Sammamish where they are enjoying 5 acres of lush pasture to themselves, and they are also on a free-choice mush diet since neither of them can adequately chew hay anymore.  Due to their age they are past their riding years, but they are broke and would probably be fine for occasional leadline rides for children.

Bud, approx. 32, is an Arab/QH gelding.  As the update photos show, when he began shedding his winter coat this spring he did not immediately grow his summer coat in, and was bald in patches (we’ve seen this frequently in horses that have been neglected), and actually looked a bit worse for a while.  I can happily report that his summer coat has come in and he is looking much better.  He’s also gained a significant amount of weight since even these photos were taken.  Bud is a sweet old man, easy to catch and loves attention.  He is a little more high strung and nervous than Brandy, and prefers to be right at her side or following right behind her.  We tried putting a couple of other horses in with the two of them — Corona and Sinatra — but Bud is extremely possessive of Brandy and does not like to share her with other horses, so they do best just the two of them separately.  Bud has had his teeth (what is left of them) floated and had his tetanus.  Dr. Hannah does not recommend any other vaccines for either of them at this point due to their age.

Brandy, approx. 37 years old, is a QH mare.  Her winter coat was extremely heavy and thick and has taken a bit longer to shed out, but she does have a normal summer coat coming in underneath.  As you can see from the photos, the wound on her wither from her blanket that she came with has completely healed.  Brandy came to us with an infected tooth which Dr. Hannah was able to extract without sedation (as she was far too underweight to handle sedation).  She has since gained enough weight to have a normal dental float.  Brandy is much more laid back than Bud but also more standoffish.  She often doesn’t think that she wants to be caught (see photos of her running in the pasture before we were able to catch her), but once caught she is sweet and has very good ground manners.