Victories Last Dance

Her name was Victory's Last Dance, because she was Victory's last foal before he was gelded. Victory was a running QH on the track at the time and a son of Go Man Go, he had another name and Dancer isn't papered and it's been so many yrs I forgot what his registered name was. Dancer's dam was a rescue off the track, an abuse thing and confiscated and went without papers, but she was a granddaughter of Native Dancer

Boy the deal I got into with her, I met her dam while her owner was in the mountains hunting and fell in love! The man wouldn't even consider letting me buy her, but told me she had a yrling filly back home that he'd let me have. That he hadn't done anything with her so he'd let her go cheap. Well I bought her sight unseen, just off of bloodlines and seeing her dam. When I got everything worked out to go get her we were off for a long distance run across country to pick up this yrling filly with no handling, sight unseen..

I was young and not real horse savvy back then, had a clue since I'd had horses as a child and spent every waking breath around horses as a child. Hadn't in a few yrs since I stepped away to raise my own kids, at that time twins that were 9 and a 3 yr old, boys. I left them with a babysitter and planned on the trip taking a full day, wrong! The trailer really slowed us down and we ended up taking a full day to get the 400 miles across state to pick her up.

It was just starting to get dark when we got to his house to get her, he walked out of his door and told me that she had put him in the hospital and she wasn't safe for anyone ever, and he was sending her to the killer, wasn't going to let me have her. Well you know how that went over, she was already my horse and he legally had no say in the issue and I made that very clear and told him that she was coming home with me..

He said fine, your not going to handle her on my property, cause he didn't want to pay any hospital bills if I got hurt. He then tried to run her into a squeeze chute that he'd made out of two gates tied together. Managed to get her in and he had her caught but got to aggressive and rough with it and cut her eye's open and she went up and over the gate, catching her back leg between the rails and hanging over the top, on the opposite side as her back leg and upside down.

He dropped everything and raced for the house for his gun, I grabbed her head and my hubby grabbed her foot and pushed and she came loose. We immediately pushed her into the trailer loose and shut the door and left.

We went about two miles down the rd, far enough to be away from that person and got out and checked her over. She had cut her back leg from the knee to the ankle in a 7 shape, nicked the tendon, just under the knee. We wrapped her leg with papertowls and duct tape and raced for a gas station, phone and vet. Got the leg wrapped up and her on a mild sedative and headed for home.

This right here is a perfect example of why it's soooooo important that you halter break your babies right away. Every horse when it's first born is born afraid of people, you have to teach it as a baby not to be afraid. That wasn't done for Dancer, then she was roughed up by that person, probably more than once and I'm betting that's why she put him in the hospital. Then she's hurt on top of it! Yep you get the idea, I had a nightmare to deal with.

She had to have her bandages changed every three days at first. We had to drug her everytime out completely stone cold dead to the world. She was a fear kicker, you pin her into a corner and she came out fighting. Then the vet got one wrap to tight and caused a bandage bow, minor and it's since healed fine but it did add to her stress. I kept her stalled at all times and just kept sitting on a barrel in her stall reading a book. It took about 6 months before she'd even think about coming near me or turn from the corner to look at me without her butt aimed. About a yr to get her gentled enough that she was safe to handle. She drug my farrier so many times it wasn't even funny and she had to be drugged at first for her feet to be done, she still managed to drag him when she was drugged.

Now she's the best horse I have, she's the one I grab first for the kids to ride and the one that I put all the people that don't know horses on. She's great and easy to handle and not at all a problem. She comes with me to pick up any new horses and she helps me keep them calm in the trailer and she takes the orphaned babies under wing and claims them as her own. She's an incredible mare and we love her dearly and our life wouldn't be complete without her.. I am so grateful that she didn't go to slaughter..

Peanut Jasmin Lacy Charley