Equine Transformation: Jessie's Eye of the Storm and Sarah Pike

This article is from the February 2020 Horse Deals magazine.

Tell us about Stormy? Jessie’s Eye of the Storm (Stormy) is a perlino Quarter Horse.Stormy was approximately nine months old when we bought him. He is now eight and a bit years old and just over 14hh.

How and when did Stormy come into your life? I have loved horses all my life and my mum was looking to buy my sister and I a pony so that we could enjoy horses as much as she did growing up. We bought him in 2012 from a lovely lady who had rescued him from a farm somewhere out to the west of Queensland as a young foal. His mother had been attacked by dingoes and he was taken away from her so she could recover. This meant he had to feed himself at a very young age. To make matters worse he was kicked by another horse and broke many of his teeth in the back of his jaw. This inhibited his ability to feed himself and he was losing a lot of weight and really struggling.

What potential did you see in him? When I got to see him a few months after he was rescued, he was at least eating, but still very thin. He had the sweetest nature for a young colt. To be honest, he was so ugly and underweight that my mum bought him purely out of pity as she genuinely thought he would never find a home. He was sweet though and mum thought if this is how he is now – imagine how gorgeous and quiet he will be later for the kids to ride.

What was his condition, temperament and training like on arrival? Once we had bought him, the lady where we agisted asked that he be gelded as soon as possible. Unfortunately, he was so thin the vet refused to geld him until he had gained more condition, so we had to wait about a month before he was well enough to handle the procedure.

He could lead and have his front feet picked up (hind legs took a while) and he didn’t like being touched on his sides or under his stomach. He did like to be stroked on his face and neck and would close his eyes whilst you tickled him on his face.
What did you do with him in the first month? We just got to know him and he us. We fed him up slowly with very plain food, gradually adding more nutrients, minerals and proteins. We rugged him daily and ensured he had a fly mask to shield his blue eyes and sunscreen on his pink nose. We established a routine straight away. Morning feed and grooming, afternoon feed and grooming and some groundwork. We generally fussed over him and after a while, he was looking out for us every time the car pulled up and greeted us with a little neigh. It was the best reward! 

How did he progress over six months? He filled out amazingly well and put on a lot of condition. We had him gelded and did lots of groundwork with him. He didn’t mind being brushed or having his feet picked up any more. We had a good farrier who clipped his hooves regularly and despite his white feet – he had good strong hooves. He took a while to eat properly due to his broken teeth. Having no teeth at the back caused a condition known as quidding, where the chewed grass gets stored in a lump in the side of his cheek. This meant that every day we needed to reach in and remove the stored grass until his teeth grew back.

What was his first outing and how did he cope? We took it slowly and only broke him in slowly when he was 3 years old. He was so easy. His first outing was a trail ride to the nearby river. He was reluctant to enter the water, but after a few tries and seeing other horses going in, he stepped in and loved it.

Does he have confidence issues due to his traumatic past? How have you helped him through it? Storm loves his food and because of his past when he was literally starving, tends to get possessive over his food and grumpy if you are too close. We helped him by feeding him away from other horses and not hanging around during feed time.

How would you best describe his personality? Stormy is very docile and sweet. Definitely more whoa than go and happy to be very lazy. He is happy just plodding around on trail rides and enjoys rounding up the cows on the farm. (His breeding was from a cutting horse line – so this makes sense). He is eager to please but needs a firm hand. He will try his luck to take the easier option, so firmness is a must.

Does he have any special needs? Because Stormy is perlino, his nose is very pink with fine hair, therefore in summer sunscreen is a must or he ends up with a burnt muzzle. He acts just like a child when you put it on and you can actually see the disgust on his face as he wrinkles up his nose. We need to apply it on his nose, lips and above his eyes. We found a powder version of zinc which worked really well and he didn’t mind that as much as the liquid/cream versions. On advice from the Samford Vets, we also rug him all year so that his sheath doesn’t get sunburnt too.

What are your greatest achievements to date? The biggest achievement was when I broke him in. I was 10 years old at the time. All the hard work paid off and I got to ride him for the first time. The joy I felt was priceless. Eventually Stormy was walking, trotting and cantering on command in straight lines and circles and could jump a few jumps. He turned out to be a great allrounder pony that every little girl fell in love with. Our vet used to call him “The Unicorn.”

What’s been the biggest challenge with Stormy? A challenge we had when he was around two years old was to not overfeed him whilst he was still growing. As he is a Quarter Horse he is a heavier breed, so we just had to watch his weight and cut his food right back if he showed any signs of getting too chubby. This isn’t easy as he was so thin when we got him, the automatic reaction is to keep him fat and not let him get thinner.

What is Stormy up to today? He lives on a beautiful farm in Samford, Queensland and is used for pleasure riding. He has two friends to share a paddock with – including a miniature horse. He spends most of his day hanging out with his friends in the paddock and goes on trail rides on the weekends.

What was the key to Stormy’s transformation? Not giving up, having supportive people to give advice and a lot of patience. We slowly introduced nutritious food, made sure we had a good farrier, rugged him all year round and gave him lots of love and attention. There were times when he was so possessive over his food that I asked myself why am I doing this? But he was young, and knowing where he came from helped us to be more patent and just persevere.

What advice would you give to someone who is wanting to take on a horse with a traumatic past? Take it slow – they don’t transform overnight – get advice from those in-the-know. Sandra (the lady where we agisted) was a wealth of information and gave me good advice, and of course my mum who has had horses most of her life was always there to help me. It is also important to realise that on the outside they might have healed but just like humans, mentally they haven’t. They remember things from their past and you just need to be sympathetic towards that and take time building up the trust and working around the problem areas.

What are your goals with Stormy going forward? We never intended for him to be a competition horse, although we could show him in the dilutes classes if we had wanted to. So at this stage, we don’t have any major goals – just happy that he is happy being the allrounder he is.

Would you do it all again? Absolutely – in fact, we already have. We rescued a Thoroughbred mare who was very underweight last year and is doing really well now. The most amazing thing about her is that we saw her spirit come back — she was just so ‘dead’ inside and uninterested in everything when we got her. That’s the beauty about rescuing an animal – is that you can really make a difference to them and transform them both inside and out! 

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