Aiden

Look who I ran into yesterday at the Donida schooling show! It’s Aiden! He competed in the hunter classes and did a terrific job.

Here’s a note we received from Aiden’s adoptive family: “Aiden has been here at our house for a couple of months now with his new buddy. He is continuing his training and we are getting ready for the upcoming show season. He has been doing lots of trail riding, jumping and his favorite, dressage. He has settled into his new home well and become fast friends with our new mare.”

Big thank you to former SAFE volunteer Chelsey B for sharing this photo of Aiden on SAFE’s Facebook page along with this cute message: “Look who we found?! Our one & only Happy Appy AIDEN!! Save A Forgotten Equine (S.A.F.E.) alumni is a happy boy, being good as usual! He was standing at the back of his stall when I realized who it was, “Aiden?!” his ears perked right up and he came over and stuck his nose through the bars so Charlee & I could kiss his nose! oh it was so good to see him!”

Here’s a terrific update about our good friend Aiden!!! Who knew, he’s a water pony!!!

Aiden is doing great and really enjoying life. He has done really well in 4H will Alia and Aubrey in both performance and dressage. We are lucky enough to have some friends that take us trail riding in the watershed and Aiden loves getting out in the woods.

Here is a photo of Aiden taken this summer at the river in Fall City. He went right in the water and laid down! I think he will be a swimmer one day like his buddy Jake!

SAFE is fortunate to have so many professionals as friends, who donate their time and talents to our rescue mission. One such person, photographer Justin Schmauser, has not only produced stunning images of some of the SAFE horses, he also supports SAFE as a monthly sponsor for both Sinatra and Strider, and as a frequent hands-on volunteer. Here is a small sample of Justin’s work, with our very own Aiden (and some of his closest friends) as the subject. Thank you, Justin, for everything you do for SAFE.

 

SAFE is aided by a number of amazing equine professionals who offer discounted and free services to our organization. Click here to learn more!

Aiden is such a good boy! His newest skill is walk/canter transitions and although he does not always give the right lead, the transitions themselves are getting more and more consistent. He is very responsive to seat and leg aids and is a very fun and steady ride. He is growing again and is just shy of 15.1! With his naturally calm temperament and willing attitude he is going to make a great all around horse.

Here’s video of Aiden and Allison in a lesson with Andrea Lucianna taken in July:

A few photos of Aiden at the SAFE show, more to come!

Aiden and Misty competed at the Hollywood Hills Saddle Club Dressage Show last weekend. Thank you to Allison for getting Aiden back in the show ring!!

Aiden and Allison have been taking lessons together while Aiden is at Fire Creek Stables in Monroe. Here are some videos of their work together:

1) Aiden working on canter departs to the right
Aiden has been a bit silly about his canter departs lately. In their lesson today, Andrea had Allison work with trot poles to help him with the depart. It really seemed to make a difference. Aiden is going so well these days! Thanks Allison, for keeping him going!

2) Aiden works on canter departs to the left
This is the same excercise, going the other direction. Aiden has been a bit fussy about the canter depart lately so Allison has been using trot poles to help him with the depart. Doesn’t he look great these days?

3) Aiden learns to jump!
Heather has been lunging Aiden over small jumps so Allison decided to give it a whirl under saddle. As you can see, he took his new task quite seriously and was trying very hard! What a good boy!

4) Aiden and Allison 6/20
Allison took Aiden for a little tack walk to cool off after their lesson. He is headed back towards the barn, over a bridge with running water under it, towards dinner. He is ho-hum about the whole thing. We love this boy!

I went up last weekend to visit Aiden and took some video and some photos.  If you missed the video clips I posted on Facebook last weekend, here they are:
  

Also, here are some photos.  You will see the lovely Delilah as his lead horse in several of the photos.  She looks amazing!  And Aiden, he’s such a good boy.  Since last weekend, he is no longer using a lead horse and is going in the indoor and outdoor arenas by himself.  He will finish up the month in training, during which he will hit the trails and see how he likes that, before he returns to SAFE.  He is ready for adoption now, and his adoption fee is $1000.  Aiden is a great 4H prospect or would be a great trail horse for a smaller adult.

Quick update on Aiden, who has now been in training for one month.  He is progressing well, albeit a bit slowly at first.  He got kicked by another horse right after he arrived so he got a delayed start while that healed, and then he turned out to be a bit of a bronc with the saddle.  For two weeks, every time they saddled him up and put him on the lunge line, he would buck like a rodeo horse for several minutes.  He never did it with a rider, but they went slow with him and did a lot of ground driving in the first few weeks.  He has finally turned a corner in his training and decided the saddle isn’t a predator, after all, and is now walking and trotting with a rider in the big arena, off the lungeline.  The trainer reports he remains very sweet and adorable on the ground, but does have a little bit of that Appy stubbornness in him that is gradually lessening.  She also said that Aiden is very brave and confident, and she expects that he will be cantering next week.  I am hoping to get up there next weekend and get some photos and video.

We picked up Aiden today in anticipation of him going to training tomorrow, and Nadia’s return (if you hadn’t heard, she is already pending adoption).  Here’s a picture of him hanging out in our pasture.  He’s still only about 14h, but stocky and absolutely a sweetheart.  Went out tonight to put his sheet on him and he just laid his head on my shoulder and nuzzled my ponytail.  Sigh. 

Aiden update!! Thanks Peggy!!

Just letting you know baby Aiden is doing great, the “herd” has let him back in and he cuddles the mare all the time.. he did not know what to do when she was in heat, I looked out one day and he had her tail in his mouth and was pulling her backwards, it was really funny to watch him try to figure out what she needed him to do. He did not have a clue, but he kept trying to figure it out, cracked me up!

His foot healed amazingly and Hannah did an awesome job, you would never know he had hurt it!

I am Aiden’s current foster mom and I just looked at all of the pictures from when he was brought to SAFE and I need to say, I am amazed at the transformation, all who were involved in his rescue have done an amazing job! He is still such a sweet baby, but has really come out of his shell being where he has lots of room to run and play. He keeps Hawk, his elderly friend moving around far more than Hawk would like to, which is good for Hawk, and since Hawk is mostly deaf now, he has taught Aiden to to worry about loud noises, and even the 4th of July was not a big deal for him!

He got here I think in May, or early June and has really blossomed as far as his conformation, he is really going to have great conformation and a beautiful head, but his best feature is his loving personality! He will come running from wherever he is when I call, and still wants to cuddle, which was really cute when he got here, but now that he is getting bigger we are working on staying out of my space unless I invite him in. He is not pushy, just wants to be loved on, and he learns really quickly. Amy did a great job of enforcing the basics, and he remembers them really quickly with little reminders. I am not as consistent about working with him, but it just takes a few minutes of working him and it all comes back. 

He also has beautiful movement and I think he will be able to go English or western and look adorable doing either one. 

I don’t know if you can tell in the pictures, but his blanket of spots has really come in and for a while this summer I felt like he was getting lighter everyday. He is so adorable, everyone that meets him falls in love. He loves little kids,(Amy had a little girl) and is super gentle with them. He also wants to be friends with my 1 year old puppy, and will touch noses with him, and then they run up and down on opposite sides of the fence, having a great time.

He got a cut on his foot and has been at Dr. Hannah’s new facility for a few weeks for stall rest, and I miss him and can’t wait to have him back. I am hoping maybe this week. The cut needed compression bandages and Dr. Hannah thought is would be best if she could do those for a few weeks, but I think he will be back this week. Dr. Hannah did am amazing job of sewing him up, it was on the top of his foot, and just a gash, should heal up and really just a flesh wound, but it was easier to have him where she could bandage w/o having to come to Carnation. Thanks Dr. Hannah!

It’s been too long since we posted an Aiden update. We moved Aiden to a foster home in Carnation this summer and he has been romping in 10 acres of pasture with his buddy, a 33 year old gelding named Hawk. I hadn’t seen Aiden in some time but last night I stopped by to bring some new blankets for him — he has grown from a size 60 to a size 70 since last winter! He looks fabulous…looks like around 14–14.2h now and quite stout with a lovely head and neck. Gone is the timid, cautious baby I remember, Aiden is now very outgoing and affectionate and wants to be right where you are. He comes running when you call him and absolutely loves people. He’s quite spunky and energetic and when he can’t coerce his aged buddy into play, will just settle for running circles around him.

Bad news today from Aiden’s foster home. He somehow managed to cut himself in the pasture just above his coronet band requiring 6 stitches. It’s in a bad area and will require two weeks of stall rest and bandaging changing, so tomorrow we are moving him to NWESC’s new Rehab Center in Monroe while he recovers. Much thanks to Dr. Evergreen and NWESC for taking him on as a project (all vet work provided at cost!).

Here is Aiden settling in at NWESC, giving me a wary eye as I just finished syringing his medications down his throat (note he is wearing some of it):

I’m Aiden’s foster mom, and the cutie is doing well. He always tries hard, even if he could still use more confidence. It seems like he’ll have a great work ethic without being hot. I think once he finds his “person” his confidence will flourish and he’ll be totally fabulous. He’s now about 13.2 hh at the withers, and almost 14hh at the hip.

I’m Aiden’s current foster mom, and he is doing quite well. I’ve been working with him a 2–3 days a week, and what a quick study he is! He now tolerates plastic bags whipping around him, accepts a bridle path clip with my cordless clippers, yields hind and forequarters nicely, and just today learned to trot on the lead in about 5 minutes (and I did it by myself). He may be initially more fearful than Whisper and Benny were, but he is improving rapidly and his ease to train certainly makes up for it. He can be a real cuddlebug too. 

Aiden moved to Duvall this weekend to be fostered with Amy who previously fostered Whisper and Benny. He is such a sweet little boy, fine to catch now and very mellow and laid back. He walked right in the trailer, hauled like a pro, stepped off the trailer and walked calm as a cucumber up the driveway to his new foster home. Settled right in and started eating his hay.

From Amy:
“Aiden is doing well. Had a little walk to the mailbox and a little getting acquainted today. He’s currently 13 hands even. Nice and cute boy — just what I ordered.  ”

Here’s some photos she sent me:

Aiden’s healing up very nicely, the swelling is gone, no more forced exercise. After the first few days he started to STINK really bad, and I had to get in there and clean everything out several times, during which I pulled out a huge chunk of rotting nasty yuck…not only did he stand and let me clean it, but he even let me stick my finger up in his incisions and clean all the gunk out. The most he ever did was hold a leg up in the air like “ouch, that hurts”…but never once even thought about kicking or dancing away from me. He just has the BEST temperment, I love this little guy! He’s all better now (no more stink!) and did not even end up needing to be put on antibiotics, cleaning it out a few times did the trick.

Aiden got gelded today and everything went perfectly. He went down easily, got up easily, a very smooth castration.

Aiden has turned out so beautiful! He is almost all shedded out and his head is really very refined for an Appaloosa. I am beginning to wonder if he is purebred — he also has a lot of mane and tail compared to the rest of the Appaloosas he was with who were all foundation appys with very little tail. Whatever he is, he is sure cute! And very sweet! A little more timid than Lola, but very sweet and not pushy or mouthy at all, even though he hasn’t been gelded yet (Scotti needs to take some lessons from him on how a REAL gentleman horse should behave!).

Dr Hanna came out yesterday to give Aiden his shots and do his gelding. But Aiden had other ideas…one of his testacles hasn’t dropped. So he just got shots and an adjustment on his neck. We will make an other plan of attack in a few weeks. He was a very good boy. The weather was cold, snowy and awful. Better to wait for warmer weather anyway.

Update from foster mom Merle:
Aiden is now 357 pounds and a sweetie. He is on the power pak worming and got debugged yesterday too. He loves being petted. The rainrot patches are growing new hair and he is shedding. I think there’s going to be spots under there. Can’t wait to see what he looks like slick and healthy. He is too cute!

Aiden got his first hoof trimming today. He was so good! He was a little unsure about it and jumped a couple of times but didn’t try very hard and by the time we got to the last two feet he was standing there like a perfect angel. His sister Lola (not sure if they are at all related, but I call them siblings) is VERY protective of him and will try to put herself between you and him with her little ears pinned whenever she can. She’s not mean at all, just very concerned about protecting her brother.

Allison and I also took tons of rain rot scabs off him tonight…he has it so bad! Huge chunks are coming off of him…poor guy. 

Aiden was surrendered by his owner to SAFE with encouragement from Animal Control. He is about 8 months old, chestnut with a blanket (I think — need to recheck) and a star, Appaloosa colt. He’s in extremely poor condition, with a BCS of about a 1.5–2.0, and is covered with rain rot. He’s sweet but not halter broke, although he got a crash course today as he was caught and led to the trailer and out of the trailer into a stall. Currently located at the main facility in Monroe.

He came with the name Devil and that name simply won’t do, so we’ll be renaming him.