2008 Love Your Horse Senior Horse Photo Contest Winners

I was so excited, I just bought a house, or a horse. Wait a minute I just bought a house with two (2) horses. The house was intentional, the horses were not. We told the sellers that they could keep the horses at our house, which was their old house, and all of a sudden the husband said I could have Dixie. While that wasn’t my plan, since I know older horses (and houses) usually entail a significant amount of money. Anyway, I couldn’t say no (because they are really nice people), so I had now become an owner of a horse that was thirty 30+ years old. A short time later the wife said that she really loved her horse, but she didn’t have time for her and that she was giving her to me. Again a horse well into her 20s.

But this short essay is really about Dixie, a 35 to 40 year old quarter horse mare (who has the cutest ears possible). We are not positive about her age, but she is at least 35 but may be 40. We have been told she had previously been driven under harness, and was actually being ridden at the time she came into our lives. She had foundered a number of years prior to our possession, but appeared sound. She had some neurological problems early into our relationship and in fact we didn’t think she was going to make it, so we put her into semi-retirement. On occasion we will put a small child on her back and walk her around. She seems to love it and so do the children.

While it is true that older horses can run into money just to keep weight on them, she has been worth every penny. She has been the head of the herd since we’ve owned her. Initially it was just her and her friend Misty Blue, but of course we had to acquire a few other friends. Like potato chips, you can’t just have one...or two. We now have a total of seven horses on the farm. She is still the boss of the four horses she is pastured with. She just stomps a foot and everyone listens.

I am enclosing a picture of Dixie and her best buddy Ranger, an 18 hands black Percheron gelding. It is very humorous to watch them together. For the past year or so, you hardly ever find them apart. They even lean on each other while dozing in the sun.

So yes, older horses can be costly, but I for one say they are worth every penny. I love “Miss Dixie” dearly and have learned so much from her about horses and life in general. I think we all know patience, confidence, commitment and trust are important in our daily lives and in our lives with horses.