Polo Pony Rescue

12/10/2024

I’m glad someone is happy about how freaking cold it is in the morning. I assure you it is not me!

12/08/2024

Saying goodbye today to our horse Duke, who enjoyed the last almost seven years with Alice at her fabulous farm in Kentucky. He was a great polo pony and I'm so happy we were able to hook him up with such a nice retirement! Like U2, he had a couple of girlfriends over there and he was just living his best life. He might have been 25 or he might have been older - it's tough to ever know if the age they come with in polo is the real age, if they don't have a racing tattoo.

I wish they all got this kind of adopter. They all deserve it!

12/06/2024

We were talking about barrel racing in the comments the other day. Look at how quiet this extremely successful run is. There is no flying all over the horse or flapping. She bumps her with the leg a little coming home and that’s it. This is the kind of run that says someone did their homework and took their time to train their horse correctly. This horse just knows the job and is confident in what she is doing. The rider stays quiet and balanced around the turns and doesn’t interfere.

Horses only get this way from many hours of slow and consistent training at home. You can see immediately who put the time in like they should, and who is just out there yeehawing around like a moron. Your horse will tell on you every time, for better or for worse.

12/04/2024

OMG who remembers Monk, who came with Perry back in fall 2020?

He was at least 35 then and had been sitting in a stall at a sanctuary that was closing in Bakersfield. I know people thought I was a nut for sending him 2000 miles to Georgia at his age, but I knew he'd do just fine and here he is, four years later! Amazing!

Thank you Sunkissed Acres for being the best home this little guy has ever had.

12/04/2024

Random thought of the day...the horse world is just like politics, where so many of us don't fit nicely into either box.

I was on a thread yesterday watching people defend the use of chain leads to the death, and argue with the people who point out (correctly, like, this is literally a simple fact that can be observed with the naked eye) that the stiff rope halters with pressure points are a better form of restraint because they release immediately when the horse stops pulling, unlike chains that tend to get stuck pulled tight. The chain lovers simply could not back down a smidgen on the issue. No one was saying your horse should run over top of you and kick you in the head and get loose. A few of us were simply trying to say, hey, there's a better tool now. But just like politics - no one can budge a millimeter on their position. It's all or nothing! As a result, I feel like so many of us don't know which side of the aisle to sit on. We're totally confused where we belong in the 2024 horse world.

There are some issues where I think the R+ leaning folks (I honestly don't know what to call them, but you know what I mean - the people who never smack a horse ever) are correct. I think chain leads and chain twitches are outdated methods that we have better replacements for now. If your horse can go in a bitless bridle and you're not in a discipline that requires a bridle, why not try it? What's the reason? I'd rather work without metal in my mouth - that seems like common sense. I've worked many polo ponies in a hackamore and they only wore a bridle for games. I'm fine with polo bridles for games though - in polo, you need to be able to stop instantly or you and/or your horse can actually die. It's not like you're in a lesson in the arena.

I think that we need to always ask ourselves why a horse is doing something. For example, I have a horse here right now who bites and kicks when blanketed. Old school thinking would have been to just punish her and restrain her by any means necessary. Now, I have her on ulcer meds and I'm going to take her up to the hospital to have her spine x rayed because it's clearly the blanket pulling at all on her neck/withers that she's afraid of, and that tells me it hurts. In the meantime, I've decided she can go without a blanket since she's hairy. If it rains and I have to do it, I'll be the one to do it since I have figured out the method that pi**es her off the least, and I'm good enough on the ground to avoid getting kicked or bitten. I'll growl at her but I'm not going to physically discipline a horse for what is so clearly a pain response. If you don't understand things like biting when being cinched up being a pain response, I think you're an ignorant Neanderthal whose equine knowledge is stuck in 1972.

Conversely, Hell will freeze over the day I "trust" a horse so much that I sit on the ground with a horse's head in my lap or "play" with them by having them chase me. (Every time I see this crap on a reel, my eyes roll so far back in my head I'm worried they'll get stuck there). Horses are spooky prey animals, who might kick you in the head if they see a squirrel, and if you don't understand how teaching them to treat you like another 1,000 lb. horse can go horribly wrong, I can't help you. I absolutely want a horse to have respect for my personal space and I don't think there's anything unfair at all about a horse having a job just like we do. I think we should be good employers who offer sick time and medical care, but expecting a horse to work when he's healthy and sound is fine with me.

Also, I think physical discipline is sometimes appropriate. I've had a handful of horses over the years that charged people. I mean, ran right at you with their ears back or reared and struck at you. When you're at that point, the only way to save that horse's life - because it's going to have to be euthanized otherwise - is to make it extremely unpleasant to get into your space. It gets into my space, it gets nailed with a whip or whatever's handy. I never back down. I will never change my mind on this because it works and because it works those horses can get fixed and go on to live good lives. Same goes for breaking up a kicking fight between two horses. You're not going to accomplish it with positive reinforcement.

I'll also stand by the very controversial old school opinion that it's your duty as a rider to ride well enough not to irritate your horse. It's not okay to just keep sucking - bouncing on their back, hands all over, jumping when you're catching them in the mouth. Either work hard at getting better or show halter horses. I don't care how many cookies you feed them, it doesn't make up for riding as horribly as I see a zillion people ride on Reels.

(Speaking of food rewards, they're not allowed here except when we're training a horse who's had terrible experiences with humans and wants to avoid them at all costs. I think providing neck scritches is a better reward and doesn't create monsters who nose all over you and follow you around in the field.)

But flipping back to the other side of the equation, if a horse did a job for you for years and you don't take care of it when it's old and lame, I wish horrible things upon you and I'm tired of hearing your du***ss excuses. I'm vehemently anti-slaughter, no exceptions, no excuses. Bullets are cheap if you're broke. At least do that, rather than sending them to a death worthy of a serial killer.

I hate methods like tying a horse up so he can "think about what he's done. Again, it's a horse, not your six year old that you put in time out. He just think he's tired of being tied up and he's probably thirsty. He has no damn recollection of what he did under saddle 20 minutes ago. You're anthopomorphizing.

So what box do I belong in? I watch the online wars rage between the two sides and I guess I'll just sit over here with my popcorn wishing there was a common sense school of thought where we're just FAIR to horses without projecting human abilities and thoughts and emotions upon them?

And you know, once in a while consider that the other side might make a valuable point or two. (This is a good idea in other areas of life as well.)

I owe you all a Giving Tuesday post and it is coming later. :)

12/03/2024

It's Giving Tuesday again, and everybody's asking you to give! But what, exactly, does it mean? Well, here are some things you, our donors, gave in 2024.

You gave Pi***la a safe haven to come back to when her luck ran out and her adopter neglected her. Without your help, we wouldn't have still been here, four years later, to bring her back to being shiny, fat and healthy.

You gave Orca, Michelada, Chiquita and Cassie a great last part of their lives, and a kind vet to send them quickly over to the other side when that time came for them. They never had to deteriorate in a field somewhere, or find themselves in an auction ring. They had safety, security, trimmed feet, compatible buddies, and plenty of food until their very last days.

You gave Daphne and Charlotte, who went unhandled for over ten years through no fault of their own, another year where they were allowed to just live and enjoy life and pets and scritches and rolls in the dirt even though neither one will ever be conventionally useful to human beings.

You gave grumpy old Andy, who we used to feed at polo because he was always so thin and we felt sorry for him, another year of his very best life -- 30 years old with five girlfriends, sassy as heck and hard to catch until I walk out there and tell him he'd better stop running around like a crackhead or I'm going to put him in a can. He always stops for me. He knows I don't mean it but he stops. I suspect his back hurts all the time, like mine does, but you gave him the luxury of no one ever sitting on it again, and the meds that make him less creaky overall.

You gave Heaven, who is well and truly trashed, one of the unlucky ones whose racing injuries were so significant that she was unsound by age four, another year of hanging out with her bff Jerri, in her shoes and pads that make her more comfortable, eating her medicated cookie from Irene every afternoon. Heaven is the sweetest mare in the world and I don't know how long we'll be able to keep her comfortable but thanks to you, she still gallops and rears and spins and acts like the young horse that she is.

You gave Addie her perfect gymkhana horse and Linda her perfect trail/open show horse and Evelyn her sensitive and silly best friend of a gelding and Erin the perfect super sweet beginner horse she was seeking. Most recently, you gave Mila back her heart horse, who she's going to snuggle forever and teach her daughter to ride on one day.

You gave the farm improvements like a full-sized hay barn that's in the works so that we can put up a semi load of hay at a time, more shelters to protect horses from sun, rain and wind, and a golf cart for us to whiz around on, saving so much time on chores like pulling blankets in the morning.

Most of all, you give us the ability to do what we love - take the best care we can of these mostly old, mostly ex-polo horses, who deserve this so much. We're so grateful to be able to do that!

I put up the Facebook thingy but we get your donations a lot faster if you use Venmo ( - scroll down and ignore the last 4 of the phone number thing) or Zelle ([email protected]) or Paypal (same email).

11/30/2024

Sometimes they have trouble adapting to a new easier job after polo. This is not one of those times. 🤣. Chicky thinks this is awesome!

11/29/2024

It’s Black Mare Friday again!

Before you spend every dime on Amazon, remember that black mares (and bay and chestnut ones and silly geldings too) gotta eat and we would REALLY appreciate a donation to our hungry hungry hippos and their endless hay buffet!

www.paypal.com/poloponyrescue
Or Zelle to [email protected]
Or Venmo
❤️🐴❤️🐴❤️

11/28/2024

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today (but also the other 364 days of the year) we are incredibly thankful for you, our supporters and donors. You're the reason this old lame mare is enjoying breakfast in a clean, safe sanctuary that she'll never have to leave. The hay will keep showing up and so will the farrier and the vet - because you choose to support us and you believe in our mission of keeping these old polo ponies safe for the rest of their lives.

Thank you, and enjoy the day!

11/28/2024

Doing the walk of shame out of Tractor Supply at 8:27 pm on Thanksgiving Eve with all the other horse people who suddenly realized with horror that tomorrow is a holiday and the feed stores will be closed 🤣

11/25/2024

When your mom and her friend visit you in your retirement home and you get major snuggles.

11/23/2024

So the craziest thing has happened! The ringbone on one of Brandy’s legs has finally started to fuse. This is incredibly good news for this sweet guy, who has been in a wonderful foster home for years. If he comes sound, it will be one of the biggest miracles I’ve ever seen in horses. Send him your prayers and positive thoughts please!

11/21/2024

The holidays are coming and, with them, extra days off of work for many of us. You could rot in bed watching Netflix and overeating, but taking some time to tackle the stuff you never have time to do is a better choice! What else would you add to this list? (And yes, it's absolutely a reminder to ME!)

11/20/2024

I’m sorry but this is amazing hahahahahaha!!!

For 9.95 I will drop this trailer of burdock at a farm that disrespected you...

11/16/2024

Yet another episode in the ongoing saga of "I need a specific kind of horse with no major issues so NATURALLY I bought one from a killpen that I couldn't ride or vet check first."

And you know, I didn't pay "cheep" prices for him so I need to get my money back out of him, too!

*sigh* He reminds me of Fezz. I hope someone on the East coast who is good with this kind of traumatized horse steps up to help him and that the seller will prioritize the good home they say they want for him over getting their money back, whatever it was.

The kill pens and their scammer broker fake rescue friends harm far more horses than they help, and I'll die on that hill forever.

Sharing in the hope that one of our east coast readers decides to help him. Screen capped in case they dirty delete.

11/12/2024

Thank you to our trainer, Monica Whitmer, who attended the HIDHA Banquet this weekend and picked up our prizes!

Ashleigh Dunne and Fenna won this halter for Reserve Champion Novice Showmanship. They also won a blue tote bag for 3rd place in Halter Mares.

Catie Dunne and Michelada won a blue tote bag for 3rd place in Showmanship 12 & Under.

horse Dulzura (fka Scrat) was the Champion Novice English Equitation and Champion Novice English Pleasure with her mom Linda.