Update from Lori Grubb who adopted Joey, a thoroughbred who came into Horses Without Humans with a broken hock.
Good Morning. I wanted to give everyone an update on Joey. Joey arrived at HWH with a hock that had been broken in three places and left to fuse on its own. He was placed in a loving foster home where he had all the individual attention he needed to gain weight, take his meds, and get stronger. I came to HWH just to visit, having no intention of adopting anyone, but Joey stole my heart that day. Little did I know what a blessing he would turn out to be to me and to my 28 year old blind Appaloosa, Trooper. Although I had tried several horses with Trooper as a pasture companion he never seemed comfortable or relaxed sharing his space with anyone else after he went blind almost 9 years ago. After a few days getting Joey settled in, I left Joey in his stall and brought Trooper into the paddock and up to Joey’s stall door where he had complete free choice to interact with him or walk away. What happened next was a blessing to have witnessed firsthand and to top it all off I caught it on video. After touching noses, Joey literally made his way to the front of Trooper’s fly mask and started licking the eye area. Trooper had all the freedom in the world to walk away but chose to stay there. I believe with all my heart that in that moment Joey realized Trooper was blind and from that day forward has taken it as his mission to protect him. His stall is right next to Trooper and if he is not in the pasture with Trooper he pitches a fit if he is not in his sight. I fall more in love with this gorgeous boy every single day and am forever grateful for HWH and everyone who stepped up to rescue him from the situation he was in, to love and take care care of him along the way and to lead him to his forever home with his best friend Trooper.
