LAZAR
Background
A horse called Seeis Lamont was advertised for sale.
What caught me about the ad, was the incredibly sad expression in the horse's eyes. After trying to ignore the advertisement for many months, I decided to contact the owner, even if just to assure myself that he had been sold. It was not like I was looking for a horse, after all...
To my surprise, I learnt that he was in fact still on the market. I started making plans to go view and ride him, but I could only go in two months' time. Before the end of the two months, I cancelled the trip and gave up on the idea. In the end it was through one of his previous owners' persistance that I went to meet him, after rescheduling the trip.
The horse I met was half the horse I imagined. He looked lean, dirty and depressed, with the same sadness in his eye, as when he was advertised. The top of his tail was rubbed off and he was "anti-people".
I learnt that he was turned out in a sand lunge arena on his own, or stabled during the day. I was told that he doesn't socialize well and becomes aggressive towards other horses. He had had various owners and came with a reputation of being difficult to catch, spooky under saddle, with quite a bad buck and very big strides to ride. It was not easy getting a bridle on him as he was head shy and did not allow his ears to be touched at all.
Saying hello to him in the stable proved tricky, as he permanently stood with his head in the corner of his dark stable, and tried to avoid any interaction with humans. After introducing myself, I worked him on the lunge a little, and then rode him.
It was a pity that I had to ride, as he started interacting with me from the ground, and the moment I got on his back, he "shut down" again. He was terrible to ride, to say the least! Totally non-responsive to leg and rein aids. I was not surprised that he had not been sold.
I decided to put in an offer on him and if accepted, to try rehabilitate him - to give him a new life.
My offer was accepted, and I decided to call him LAZAR - A new name for his new life!
Arrival
Lazar could not move to Cape Town, due to AHS restrictions. I had him moved to a friend's yard, where he had to wait 2 and a half months before he was allowed to travel. During this time, he attempted jumping a fence while wearing a rug, and cut both his hind legs on the fence.
His legs were not fully recovered at the time of arrival. He needed to put on weight and muscle. He was shod at the time, and his feet were badly imbalanced. His teeth needed attention and he needed some body work as his muscles were stiff and tight. His tail needed attention, where he had been rubbing it. Last, but not least, we needed to build trust and a relationship.
I started socializing him immediately and found a good companion for him, in one of my mares. This made turnout possible, which he enjoys thoroughly. His tail is growing out at the top, where he was rubbing. The shoes came off in July in order to rebalance his feet and we started building some trust through ground work.
None of my saddles fitted him the way I would've liked and I had to buy a saddle for him. Riding commenced and with that, reschooling from scratch!
I'm happy with his progress in suppling up and building muscle. We're building a good relationship and he has gained some weight.
Under saddle, he is less spooky and much more reponsive to the leg. He needs more education to the bit, which will come. He is more trusting when I bridle him and is generally looking happy and content.
I enjoy every moment of working Lazar and find him to be one of my easiest horses, despite the reputation he came with!
Daily Life & Diet
Lazar is stabled at night, and since his arrival at Xenophon Equus Centre, turned out during the day with company. He is on Equus 15% as well as teff and lucern for roughage
