Making the decision to give an animal to a sanctuary can be a very hard one. Sometimes it is because you want them to have a safe home after a loss, sometimes you have to move and can’t take them with you, sometimes they have behavioural issues that you can’t handle on your own, and sometimes they need more specialized care than you know you are able to provide. Understanding what you can handle on your own and being willing to put the animal’s welfare above anything else is a vital part of owning animals. They put their trust in us, and we owe it to them to provide them the best possible care.
I first met Pancakes in the early part of 2019 when his owner called me to see if I could come trim the feet on her minis. It is not easy to find a farrier willing to trim mini horses, and especially foundered minis. My love of minis has led me in that direction, though, instead of away from it.
Pancakes was a sweetheart from the very beginning. His feet were sore, but he still tried his hardest to stand well for his trim. His owner put him on a frequent schedule so we could fix his feet, and we made great progress.
So when it came time to sell her minis, she contacted us first to ask if we would be willing to take Pancakes to the sanctuary where he could be cared for and his foot rehabilitation could continue. I jumped at the chance, since Pancakes was one of my favourite little clients (I know, I know … I say that about all of them …)
When Pancakes (or Caker, as we like to call him) first arrived, he was afraid to jump out of the trailer. He is our smallest mini at only 32” at the withers, and the others were somewhat intimidating. Horton is about the same size as him, but otherwise, the others are all larger. We put him in with his new friends, and there was some fighting. But before long, Pancakes, the smallest mini in the herd, was the boss. He walks into the herd, and everyone scatters, and they are very careful of his back end. He knows how to use it!
Caker is 32” full of attitude!
His best friend quickly became Pokie, mainly because Pokie refused to quit following him around and wasn’t scared of him. Their favourite activity is mutual grooming. Pancakes also loves to go over to the fence by the horse pen and hang around with Rainy, our 16 hand pinto horse. Rainy reaches over the fence to groom Caker’s shoulders, and Caker reaches through the fence to groom Rainy’s knee (which is about as high as he can reach).
Given his foundered feet, his owner made a wonderful choice for Pancake’s health. He is now able to lope around the pasture and has frequent trims to keep his feet healthy. He is also on supplements to help him put on a little weight and keep his feet and joints healthy. He is a wonderful addition to the pasture, and we love his deep whinny that comes from the big horse within, not the tiny horse on the outside.