We follow up with all the equines we adopt out and love seeing their new lives! If you know any horses that we’ve adopted out and aren’t listed here, or have any more recent photos or updates, let us know!
Iris came to HPL through auction, with her one month old foal, Daisy. She had never been handled before and was very wary of everyone. Iris’ new mom is one of our wranglers and now the HPL caretaker, so Iris still lives on the ranch. Her mom started working with her as a volunteer, spending long hours getting her comfortable with just being touched by people, and absolutely fell in love with her. Iris is still excelling in her training (and maybe getting more attention than she bargained for) and is even working towards being started under saddle!
Dear HPL,
It has been a while since Steffan and I have written, not sure where to start. We have all lived together for almost 2 years now. Our hoomans live in a box near our shed and they upgraded our run-in shed so we have better shelter from the rain, wind and snow; they even added a gutter – what ever that means. Our feets aren’t as yucky when the ground is muddy, and we have more room to hang out with fresh shavings when it’s cold.
Did you tell them about the cold Istvan? I was getting there Steffan, hold your horses. Geesh, yes it gets cold here, the hoomans say it’s because we are on the Palmer Divide, so we get lots of snow and it stays for a very long time. This year our first big snow was November 5th, and we still have snow from that storm. It was so high with drifts, our hoomans had fun playing in it, they said they were “working” to clear paths, but it looked like they were having fun. Don’t forget to tell about our blankets Istvan. Do you want to write this letter Steffan…. Yes, the hoomans said there is no need for us to be cold, so they put on our blankets on cold nights and there have been a few days they haven’t come off! They keep us nice a cozy, the lady hooman gets a little irritated when Steffan rolls in the “mud”, and she has to clean his blanket. Good thing he has more than one cause he loves to roll, maybe that’s why they call him Pig Pen.
In the winter, when it’s really cold we always know, because the humans bring us big platters of yummy mash with sweet feed and tasty bits, so we have more calories to burn. They also make sure our hay nets are filled to the brim with hay all day and night. We love hay – we shake it out on the ground, step on in, drag it around and the hoomans say we are wasting money. They obviously don’t know its called hay and it’s versatile as a foot warmer, sometimes we likes to eat it wet so we dunk it ooooh and its cozy like the shavings. We aren’t wasteful at all.
Have you mentioned our barn friend Istvan? Oh, you mean Scotch we found Scotch in Keenesburg when we had a short stay there before finding our new home. Scotch is what the hoomans call a ham, he gets all lovey when the people are around but that guy has some spunk. Hooman lady says it’s because he is an Appaloosa. I have to put him in his place on the regular because I’m King of our herd!
At the end of every day whether it is freezing cold or hot the hoomans come out before bed to give us carrots, look at the stars and check in on us one last time before we all sleep. We love carrots!
We are all very happy here with our hoomans. They say we keep them busy but we thinks it’s the other way around. We don’t see them run when doing round pen work!
We hope you are all doing good. Taking care of other horses that need to find their forever homes. We are thankful that you placed us with Mitzi and Ross.
Love,
Istvan & Steffan
Blu has been an amazing addition to our family. We are grateful for her everyday! Since we adopted her in April, Blu has been to horseback riding camp, on trail rides, at gymkhanas, at 4H rides, and just hung out with us around the barn. We try to get out and see her everyday, alternating between riding her, exercising her and working with her on getting used to “scary” things (like flags and yoga balls). Our hope is that we enrich her life as much as she enriches ours!
Miley joined the VNA Performance Horses family almost a year ago and is owned by their daughter Cheyenne. Miley competes in rodeo and gymkhana events with her and you can typically find them covered in pink! Cheyenne and Miley also enjoy trail rides, hand walks around the property, daily grooming sessions, and treats.
Stardust (she goes more by Dusty in her new barn) is doing amazing! We are currently at Hidden Lane Stable in Wheat Ridge, working with the best trainer, Sara! Stardust is coming along so well, we ride all the time now. She still has the biggest most amazing personality and is the best girl in the World, everyone in the barn loves her and comes by her stall to give her snuggles! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world that I am able to call her mine.
We were fortunate to welcome Pico into our family May 2024, our second adoption from HPL. He spends his time sleeping in the sand, playing zoomies with his sister, and being ponied on trail rides or obstacle courses. He enjoys watching visitors of all shapes and sizes. He is the sweetest boy ever, we love our Pico!
They are doing great! They’ve had to deal with probably more snow than they wanted at 9100 feet. But warmer weather is starting to show up and the girls are happier it’s warmer. The love being petted on! We are still working on leading to trailer…this summer, hoping we can get it down better!
