Flynn

Adopter Kirsten shared an update on Flynn:

A few pictures of Flynn. We recently had a “Painting with the Ponies” event at the barn and he was a popular pony. I think Flynn was very impressed.

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Flynn is doing well! In his late 20s now, he is retired from riding and living with seven other horses. He was in a kid’s program but would lie down when ridden! Now he is happy just teaching kids how to groom, etc.

Flynn is doing great in his new home and obviously has adoring fans. Every time we see a photo of him and one of his fans, we screech with delight because of the cuteness.

Cute photo of Flynn and a lesson student enjoying the warmer weather!

Flynn patiently waiting in a halter

Kirsten had this to say about Flynn:

“Flynn loves being adored by all the kiddos who come to our farm. I’ve noticed as his confidence has improved as a 1 eyed horse he has helped build the confidence of the more timid kiddo riders! He truly is a special pony with the sweetest heart filled with so much love! Thank you for letting this special gelding be apart of our herd!”

Flynn meets Olivia for the first time

When Flynn’s new family first visited Flynn at SAFE, he walked right over to their daughter, Olivia, and nuzzled her. On their second visit, Olivia and Flynn played Simon Says and Red Light, Green Light. She even made up her own colors for turning and trotting. He was so good with her and didn’t mind anything she did while in the saddle. Olivia then brushed him and put him away in his stall all by herself. Our hearts melted and we knew we had found the right home.

Flynn headed to his new home last month and is doing great. The whole family absolutely adores him and is head over heels in love. He fit in right away, giving bedtime kisses at night just like all their other horses! They told us it feels like he’s been part of the herd forever.

Flynn also enjoys playing over the fence with their gelding, Chulo, who boards there. They share a stall wall and run along the fence line at night playing gelding games. He’s been turned out with another mare, Maxi and shares a fence line with two other mares that he loves socializing with. When Flynn first arrived at SAFE, he was excited to be near other horses. He would call out and look over longingly at the horses in their paddocks. It was hard to keep him alone in a separate stall while his eye was healing. We are happy he is surrounded with horse friends at his new home and can’t wait to hear about Olivia and Flynn’s next adventures.

Enjoying the sunshine at his new home

Lunchtime!

This was the first time we saddled Flynn, bumped him up to the fence, and mounted him for a ride. He did extremely well and felt like a “been there done that” pony! We have only had him at SAFE for 2 months and most of the time has been spent recovering from his eye surgery, so there hasn’t been much time to introduce him to groundwork. But Flynn has clearly been ridden in the past.

About six weeks ago, Flynn was trimmed for the first time at SAFE. Since then, his hooves have been pretty tender. We are treating his hooves to help them harden up but he may be a candidate for riding boots or shoes. It takes 10 to 12 months for a horse to grow out a new hoof, so we have just started him on this road to recovery. He is available now to meet his future family. This little gem will not be here long!

Last week was a great one for Flynn! We got the results of his histology test from Pilchuck Report and they found zero cancer cells! We were all concerned that the mass in his eye might be malignant, but the vets have concluded that it was likely a large ulcer caused by a past injury. This is great news because now we don’t have to worry about a future re-occurrence.

Flynn’s healing has gone so well that we are now able to turn him out during the day. As you’ll see in this video, he is thrilled about this! There’s still a few things we need to take care of for Flynn: he’ll need his teeth floated in a few weeks, and we’re still treating his high worm load, but our pony pal is on the road to a full recovery and a bright future!

Errol Flynn returned home to SAFE yesterday afternoon after a successful surgery to remove his eye and the tumors that were growing there. Pilchuck Vet Hospital reports that they got a good look at the tissue surrounding the mass, and were able to remove it cleanly. They also said he “jumped right up” from the anesthesia. All good news!

Back home, he seems comfortable and very receptive to being cuddled and loved on. He even looks cute in his bandages!

Errol Flynn is a POA pony in his mid-20s who was surrendered to Animal Control by his owner who could no longer care for him. Flynn’s right eye is badly infected, and vascular mass is growing over his cornea. Unfortunately, this has gone untreated for the past year. Dr. Renner from Rainland Farm Equine did an assessment of Flynn just after his arrival. He examined Flynn’s eye and assessed his pain levels, and his conclusion is that the eye should be removed.

So, Flynn will be heading to Pilchuck Veterinarian Hospital tomorrow. He will be examined and prepped for surgery, which will take place on Wednesday. If all goes well, he will be back home at SAFE on Thursday. 

We are very hopeful that the surgery will make him feel 1000% better and that he will have an easy and uncomplicated recovery but no matter what happens, Flynn seems to understand that he’s in a good place where people can take care of him.

Terry visited with him this afternoon, and cleaned his eye and all the discharge off his face. She says that when she was finished, he laid his head her in hands, closed his eyes, and sighed deeply. Almost as if to say he is already thankful for the kindness he’s seen from SAFE.  Since his arrival, he’s been very interested in the other horses he has seen from afar, but Terry says that this afternoon, he was very sweet and affectionate, and really seemed to want her company.