ANGEL'S PROGRESS As of March 25, 2002 (click on any of the photos for a larger view)

Angel is an 18 year old TB mare.  She came to us in October 2001 with a bone chip in her right front knee.  Our vet recommended 6-8 months rest, and a cortizone shot as potential assistance for her.  She has been on solid rest for 5 months and has shown enormous improvement, although she does have some issues on very cold days.  Since our first time trying Angel out under saddle on February 21, 2002, we have found her to be a most wonderful girl.  She most recently went out on a trail ride with an intermediate rider and is just bomb proof... over wooden bridges, past moving cars, through the streams, nothing spooked her.  It was her first trail ride in over a year and I feel she was exceptional.  We have deemed her capable of carrying a 130 lb or lighter rider comfortably and for most disciplines... but no jumping.  Additionally, we have tried her in both english and western disciplines, and she knows both, but is rather green neck-reigning.  Also... she side passes beautifully and I feel she has had some dressage training.  SEE HER PROGRESS AND PHOTOS BELOW!

February 21, 2002. Angel at a Trot and a walk with my 9 year old daughter.  Her size was intimidating, however, my daughter did wonderfully on her and Angel responded to her fabulously.

February 20, 2002. Angel at a canter and at a trot during a free lunge in the ring.  She is a pretty mover.  She responds well on the lunge line and knows voice commands of walk, trot and canter.

February 19, 2002. Angel in our new barn with my daughter, and with Katrina (one of our volunteers) at grooming time.  She still isn't a "hard keeper" as we had been told.  She doesnt like to be in the barn "alone" but who the heck would?  Even when she has been, she has not been hard to control whatsoever.  She is an absolute doll.

November 2001. Angel at our old farm after being with us for a month.  She had already shown a visible weight improvement.  She was described as a "hard keeper" but we have not seen that at all.

July 2001. Angel before she came to us.  Her name at the time was "Bones".   She obviously needed some help.

February 2002. Just a few new pics of Angel!

Photo as of March 7, 2002

March 07, 2002. Angel loves apple treats! She'll sneak them out of your pocket if your not careful! One of our volunteers, Debra, has been exercising and grooming Angel for us.  Debra prefers riding with a bareback pad, but we've tried Angel out under english and western saddle and she does best in english but does know a little about neck reigning.  Debra took her out on a trail ride with me today and I can't say enough good things about Angel... she passed every test I could have put in front of her with flying colors.  The trails we took were of varying terrain (i.e., hills, fields, woods, streams, bridges).. we are lucky to back up to park property!  She was just fantastic and we rode for over an hour!  Here are some photos below from before we left for our ride!

March 23, 2002. Today a Theraputic Riding Center came out to look at Angel.  She passed all of their tests with flying colors, including having bubbles blown in her face, frisbees tossed on her ears, tamborines shakin all around her and even balls bopped on her head.  She was a dream.  Unfortunately, it was a shivery, windy day out, and as stated previoulsy, on very cold days she does not do well on her knee because her joints get a little stiff..

March 24, 2002. Well, I think Angel must be playing some sort of game to stay with us! Today we took her out to check her soundness for a trail ride and she was fine.  It was in the high 50's so a few degrees must make a big difference to her.  My daughter rode her for over an hour and she did fabulous showing no signs of problems on the ride or when we returned.