Anna Horse Thoroughbred Willard, MO

Anna (named after the princess from Frozen, for her adorable cartoon personality and fluffy red mane!) is an intelligent, sensitive, and athletic mare looking for her forever home! She is full of personality and we look forward to helping her find a forever home where she can feel safe, comfortable, and happy.



ANNA’S BACKGROUND

Anna is a registered & tattooed OTTB mare, foaled in 2015, making her 8 years old. She was impressively slow on the track - earning a near-impossibly slow Speed Index of 2!! She retired sound off the track to an R+ home, where she was placed at Via Nova training center & trained with Shawna Karrasch.

She stayed in New Mexico until COVID shutdowns hindered her owner’s ability to provide her with good care. She was sold to a lesson facility in Texas, where she unfortunately did not receive holistic care and gentle/R+ handling, leading her to develop anxiety, fear, and frustration with people.

Anna’s anxiety made her unsuitable for a traditional lesson program, so she was listed for sale again. In the summer of 2021, Anna was sponsored by one of SKE’s clients, who paid for her transportation to SKE & all of her costs of care until adoption. In the summer of 2022, Anna was adopted to an amazing home. Unfortunately, through no fault of her own, Anna had to be surrendered back to SKE in the Spring of 2023.

Anna is currently being fostered in Kalamazoo, Michigan with an R+ equine trainer & former SKE intern while SKE's facility is full.



ANNA’S TRAINING

Anna was trained at Via Nova using their “Priority to Positive” approach. During her time there, she was trained by Shawna Karrasch. During this time, she learned basic target skills and some reverse roundpen behaviors. She also did a variety of handling behaviors and some riding foundations (tacking/mounting block) using blended “cherry on top” approach (traditional/R- cues with R+ added in).

During her time at SKE, Anna received a full restart using 100% R+, force-free training. This training was continued during a stay with Abigail Greenwalt of Greenwalt Equestrian (KC, MO) and is ongoing in her current foster home. Her learned behaviors list includes the following...

Basic Foundations:

- Haltering
- Leading (with halter, using a target, or using body language at liberty)
- Nose targeting (target stick & hand targets)
- Stationary targeting (at a cone, mat, or bucket)
- Body handling (for brushes, petting, vet, farrier, etc.)

- Reverse roundpen (walk with speed adjustments, trot with speed adjustments, some canter)
- "Go mat" (to a floor mat, with fronts, backs, or all four hooves)
- "Go around" (a barrel or weave pole)
- "Go jump" (over a jump obstacle)
- "Go touch" (to a cone station or other target)

Cooperative Care/"Life Skills":

- Veterinary handling (checking eyes, ears, nose, teeth/mouth, teats, etc.)
- Farrier/hoof handling (held & on the stand; pulled forward & from the bottom of the hoof, using consent cues & selection criteria to indicate which hoof she wants done & which way she wants us to lift it)
- Cooperative injections (IV & IM)
- Cooperative oral medications (via syringe, though she will also eat medications in food)
- Cooperative eye drops/ointments
- Cooperative aerosol spray (like aluminum spray / aluspray)
- Cooperative fly spray (though she’s not a fan & much prefers wipe-on fly control)

Riding Behaviors:
(beginning only, not solidified)

- Placing the saddle pad on her back
- Lining up at the mounting block
- Accepting weight on her back
- Basic walk skills (steering, etc.)

Anna is familiar with consent cues & start/stop buttons. She can be timid with new people and is nervous about having her boundaries crossed, but if you respect her boundaries then she is willing, kind, and bold.

Anna did lessons while she was at SKE, which helped her open up to new handlers. She participated in The Equine Clicker Show (TECS) with some of SKE’s youth students and earned her kiddos ribbons in a variety of liberty foundation classes.

She would make a wonderful competitive or casual equine partner. She will gladly match your competitive passions or relax into a casual home setting. She loves consistency & builds meaningful relationships with those around her.

Anna can be loaded on a trailer & hauled as needed, but is not a huge fan of travel. She would likely do best in a home where she doesn't have to see a trailer outside of emergencies, but could certainly warm up to the concept of frequent hauls with an experienced & dedicated R+ trainer.

Anna is barefoot & sound with great hoof quality. She stands beautifully for kind, gentle farriers with plenty of reinforcement feed during trims, but has refused to cooperate with more rough/aggressive/traditional farriers.

View videos of Anna, including demonstrations of the behaviors listed, on her YouTube playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHTLjXzz3Q5OD04FXJw_IAcTj12hRR0hJ



ANNA’S HEALTH HISTORY

Anna is a relatively easy keeper**
**For an OTTB! She does require quality forage and a good mineral balancer, but does not need additional fats/grains/other high-calorie supplementation. She did great on SKE’s feed program (free-choice alfalfa hay with buffet-style trace minerals) and is currently thriving on decent-quality grass pasture with supplemental grass hay a daily mineral balancer in her foster home.

Anna has never had any serious veterinary nor soundness concerns. She does not have any physical/athletic limitations. She is barefoot and has solid, healthy feet. She had an extensive PPE in 2021 and SKE is happy to share vet records & x-rays with potential adopters, and a new PPE is also welcome.



HOW TO ADOPT ANNA

SKE seeks adopters who have good intentions & good core values to direct them on their horsemanship journey - plus the knowledge and resources to provide a great life to their adopted equine. If you feel that describes you, we would love for you to provide Anna with an amazing home!

Anna is available for adoption through SKE for $2500. Anna has some tack & equipment that can be purchased to go with her to her new home.

She is located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA, and delivery is available in the US & Canada.

Start the application process by filling the adoption application at skequine.com/adopt

Contact SKE with any questions or concerns:
adopt@skequine.com

Thank you so much for considering this truly amazing mare! She is absolutely wonderful & will certainly make someone very, very happy!