A story of a rescued husband horse

Submitted by Lisa Rodriguez Clement

You may or may not have heard the term Husband Horse before. That’s what American Quarter Horse Leo’s Keep Sparkling was brought home to be. It started when my vet, Dr. Janice Posnikoff , called to tell me of a good horse needing rescue. She had watched as I rehabilitated one after the other of the rescues all these years, then got them good homes. She had known this horse before the owner died of a fast moving cancer. The Owner’s friends did their best to place the horse but despite everyone’s best effort it hadn’t worked out.

It was raining the day my partner and I pulled up with the trailer to have a look. Rainy day rescues had a way of being lucky for us. We smiled upon seeing the flashy chestnut quarter horse standing inside the barn door. His confirmation was real sharp; all his body angles were perfect, but only from the knees up! And what the heck had happened to his feet? All four feet were nubs, as brittle and chipped as eggshells and the fore feet were as flat as pancakes. He was skinny and dull-coated too, a signal of bad nutrition, however that could be resolved. But those feet! It seems they had just fallen to pieces on the ranch’s irrigated pastures and no shoe would stay attached for long. His fronts were so tender he would buckle in pain should he chance to step on a rock.

They called the horse Reno. He was tacked up and led to an outdoor arena in the gentle steady rain. I followed, hanging back to watch his foot falls and how those crooked forelegs worked. Surprisingly he walked perfectly straight. I asked them to ride him out for me so as to watch his way of going. When I finally called out a polite request that they show him at the canter, they stopped. In the year they had him the canter hadn’t been tried. The gal that normally rode him wasn’t present, but it was said that she felt he was so quick and his walk and trot were so fast, that the canter would be more than she could control. That might explain why they were riding him in a tie down and a huge bit.

Okay, I told them, I would give him a try. I checked my cinch, stepped aboard and he stood. As we walked off I explained to him that we were going to keep it simple and short. It was raining after all. He was quick, that was for sure. He was scared too. He really wanted to get away from that huge bit. He had a case of nerves but steadied up when he realized I wasn’t going to grab him in the mouth with my reins. I liked him, we all agreed and we hauled our rain soaked bodies home.

I wondered out loud to him what we would name him as we already had a horse called Reno. Meanwhile, this horse that was pretty sure we were going to bar-b-que him for dinner him any minute. Every time I went to catch him in the big turnout pen he would run into an open corral, stand in the corner with his head straight up in the air and get all googol eyed. Oh, you could put a rope around his neck, but he would be busy blowing and snorting. After you haltered him he would attempt to out walk you to where ever you were leading him. We had some work to do to settle him down as he acted fearful of everything. I thought about a name like Goofball or the such. He had quirks, but was sure was fun to ride, as someone had put some time and training on him. His right shoulder held a brand reading EZ and a heart shape.

It took some doing but I tracked down all the old owners and requested AQHA registration transfers. The day his registration paper from AQHA arrived I learned his true name is Leo’s Keep Sparkling. I also learned that oddly his last owner had the same last name as me. It’s true he is the image of the stallion Leo’s blood line, short of the crooked lower legs and funny feet. That day I went to the pen to get him and had an idea for a name that he might like. He was standing close to the gate as I approached and I called out to him, “Sparky, Sparky.” He stood in place as I entered and closed the gate behind me. Well that’s the first time he hadn’t run off I thought. “Sparky, is your name Sparky?” I questioned him.

The most amazing thing happened next. He walked the few feet over to me and put his head against my chest. I didn’t move or reach out to touch him, just took a deep breath. “You are Sparky aren’t you,” I asked him and he gave a deep sigh. I told him he was okay now, he was home. He was a changed horse after that day.

The Husband horse likes to work with a partner. He takes good care of his partner no matter their riding ability. He husbands them. You’ve heard of animal husbandry well this is the reverse, human husbandry by a horse.