2008 Love Your Horse Senior Horse Photo Contest Winners

I am writing to tell you about my senior horse, Jamie. He is such a goofy character with a bountiful personality. I have owned him for 3 years, fulfilling a lifelong dream of being a horse owner.

Jamie was “about 20 or so” when I bought him. His experience is amazing and you can tell he has a good heart and head as you look into his ever so kind eyes. Through networking in our horse community, I found out that Jamie was a rescue. He had been in a pasture, getting thinner and thinner by the day when along came a girl, who had the courage to stop at the house and offer to take him off their hands. He stands 16.3 hands, a big, noble thoroughbred gelding. She took him to a local stable where they pampered him, putting on much needed weight. They could see his potential, even then. He ended up being a very honest jumper who taught many people the basics of riding. They took a personal liking to him with all of his character, trying everything and nothing fazed him. He loved to fox hunt and he had a successful hunter jumper career which included competing in the Stuart Horse Trials, where he placed eighth!!!

A lady that I happened to meet after I bought him in casual conversation figured out that she used to ride him. The first words out of her mouth were, “You know he can jump a 4 foot fence don’t you?” While I imagine he still would if I asked him to, I couldn’t ask that of him at his age. We still do jump, nothing more than a foot or so high. We do just about anything we want, trail rides, jumping, gymkhana games for fun. My nine year old niece rides him in summer day camp. He is ever so patient with her and other young riders. There isn’t anything he wouldn’t do.

I did a search of his tattoo and found out his true age which is now 26 years old. I love him with all of my heart. He has been a great teacher to me and so many others before me. I can’t remember what life was like before him, he has had such an impact on me. While it was not easy to keep weight on Jamie, Blue Seal Senior Feed certainly made a difference for us. Jamie gets 5 coffee cans full of Blue Seal Senior Feed twice a day and now holds his weight quite steadily, weighing in at 1150 pounds!

In this picture, you will see just how goofy Jamie is. I love him so much!