Bugsy Horse Grade Willard, MO

Bugsy is the sweetest, most in-your-pocket gelding you'll ever meet! He is so happy to greet everyone who comes by, loves kids and adults, and is super keen to stand and snuggle or run around and play!

He is ready to find his forever home and truly deserves a great one!

BUGSY'S BACKGROUND

In August of 2019, he was rescued by the CARE Animal Sanctuary along with 21 other horses. Read about the rescue here: https://www.carefarmsanctuary.org/22-horse-rescue

Bugsy began his rehabilitation at the CARE sanctuary, including a careful refeeding process due to starvation. Though he didn’t appear to have any handling experience before his rescue, he did very well with people and was naturally curious and bold. In December of 2019, Bugsy went to a foster home, where he got lots of attention from the family & their kids. Unfortunately, through no fault of his own, he ended up back at the rescue in 2020. In August of 2021, he came to Steph K Equestrian in hopes of gaining some more training & life skills to help him find a great forever home!

Bugsy has learned a lot since his arrival! His education has been 100% R+ (clicker training, fear-free). His list of behaviors includes:

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

- Reverse roundpen (walk and trot with speed adjustments, canter)
- "Go around" (a barrel or pole)
- "Go jump" (over a ground pole or low jump between standards)

- Veterinary handling (checking eyes, ears, nose, teeth/mouth, teats, etc.)
- Cooperative injections (IV & IM)
- Cooperative oral medications (via syringe, though he will also take meds in food)
- Cooperative eye drops/ointments
- Cooperative hoof handling (for barefoot trimming)
- Trailer loading (both ramp & step up; turning to walk off & backing off)

- Saddling & tacking
- Lining up at the mounting block + leaning/accepting weight on his back
- Basic "pony ride" style riding
- Taking food reinforcement from the saddle

Bugsy is very fun to work with during training sessions - he is so enthusiastic and eager to please! He is very good at regulating himself, so he can stay calm and stationary when asked, but unlike a lot of “energy conservers” he is also very happy to trot off or canter for high energy work!

BUGSY'S HEALTH HISTORY

Bugsy was estimated to be 8 years old when he was first rescued, making him around 12 now. Bugsy has not had any notable health/soundness issues as long as we have known him.

Bugsy is approx, 14.2-14.3 hh and an easy keeper! He doesn’t require any extra feed, just plain grass hay or pasture and a mineral balancer. He gets along well with mares and geldings, is well socialized, and is easygoing in a herd group.

Bugsy has easy-to-keep barefoot hooves, which do “self trim” if given access to varied terrain, but ideally need a rasp at least every 8-10 weeks (or more often if there is not ample terrain). Even when his hooves have been long, he has never had any footsoreness. He stands nicely for Steph to trim him at liberty, using R+ and consent cues. He will be most successful with someone who can help continue this with a kind, patient farrier and/or an owner-trimmer situation. It’s important to note that SKE does not train restraint-based farrier care, and so Bugsy has not been trained to respond to any forceful or restraint-based handling, hoof care included.

VIDEOS OF BUGSY

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHTLjXzz3Q5PtAzx5Vptj0VhhZu_DGQql

HOW TO ADOPT BUGSY

Bugsy is available for adoption through the CARE Animal Sanctuary for only $600 (an amazing deal! If he were adopted directly through SKE, he would be $2500+)

Contact Steph with any questions or concerns:
stephkequestrian@gmail.com

Thank you so much for considering this loveable little gelding! He is certainly a special dude and will make someone a wonderful equine partner & best friend!