aslan

Aslan's story as it appeared in the May 2020 newsletter.  I was working on starting to set up the May newsletter with the stories we presently had written when the phone rang. It was one of the officers of Rowan County Animal Shelter. He told me they were picking up two horses that had been released by the owner, and I suggested they bring the horses on to HPS rather than stress the horses by moving them twice.  

The first one off the stock trailer was maybe a dusty Palomino or a Cremello or a really dirty white/gray. Until he has some good feed and a bath, it is impossible to tell. The belly is too fat and usually that indicates a heavy parasite load.  

The mare has some issues that were noticeable right away. Animal control officers were unloading the horses, and she slipped. It cause a small nick on the side of her pastern. She looks like a sorrel with a black mane and tail. Good nutrition may bring out some black on her legs, and then she would be called a bay. The horses colors almost always change once they are being fed correctly and they shed the old coat. One of her front knees is the size of a lemon and she has a strange growth about an inch long and ¾ inch wide growing out of the front of the right hock. I have never seen anything quite like this before.  

Both horses need to gain weight, the mare is thinner at about a low 3 on the Henneke Body scoring. The two horses are reported to be Quarter Horses and 10 to 12 years old.