Love that video- he is feeling good!
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I’ve been grooming him every day and his coat and overall health is visibly improving. He’s also ventured out from his comfortable corner and now approaches the front gate. He’s eating well and seems mostly in chill mode.
I got as close as he’d let me with the measuring tape and he is about 14.3. Perfect!
Him and neighbor donkey enjoying the salt lick.
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This probably brings back memories of the days when he was pampered…and, oh my that throatlatch 
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Aww thanks for the tag, Angela_Freda! My jumping days are mostly behind me, i’m a bonafide DQ now but still will only ever have a Saddlebred as my personal horse. 
@atomicfriday Your guy is adorable and you will have so much fun with him - Saddlebreds are much more like dogs in their personality and demeanor than most other horses. They’re busybodies that thrive on mental stimulation and are very curious and alert.
Before you sit on him, get that topline built up. Lots of groundwork, stretching, and good feed with at least 13-14% protein will help. You will see that “bump” go away once his topline muscles up. 
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@ASBJumper thank you very much, and yes I see what you are saying. He is very much “into everything”, I think I will get him a jolly ball as I believe he would actually play with it. Riding is still a distance in the future, as I want his groundwork and manners to be flawless along with his overall condition before moving on. Right now I’m just letting him acclimate to the area and also to myself, and I’ve been speaking to the barn owner about moving him into a pasture with other horses. I believe he sticks to the back of his paddock because of the neighboring horse on the other side, I think his happiness would definitely improve with a herd to interact with.
IMG_2585
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Two week update, he’s almost done shedding and seems to gain weight by the day. I got him a jolly ball that he showed interest in. I’ve been doing basic grooming including picking hooves, taking the halter on and off, simple moving off pressure. He gets his hooves trimmed Monday and I will start doing more groundwork. Overall happy with how he is improving.
Oh, I submitted a DNA sample and am hoping to hear results sometime next week. Even if it’s a no, at least I’ll know!
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He’s so shiny! Looking really good and glad he’s doing well!
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Looking like a fine harness horse to me. I wonder if he drives?
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Love his face and ears! He looks great for coming from an auction.
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He looks terrific. Three cheers for his staff!
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What a change, after only two months! He looks wonderful.
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Thank you all for the kind comments. I have no idea if he drives, nor do I have the know how or equipment to test it out. The farrier that was supposed to trim him today was a joke. He didn’t want to do the job, simply put. He told me that he shouldn’t gain any more more weight or I couldn’t ride him because he’d be too hot. What? He eats mostly hay and his feed has very little sugar/high energy protein. Felix picked his front hoof up right away, the farrier asked me to pick up his hinds because he was scared of being kicked which I did in about twenty seconds without issue… he still declined. He also told me to take direction from another boarder to “‘make him more more quiet” which nothing against her but I thought he WAS pretty quiet and considering he traveled a thousand miles two weeks ago from a neglected situation I didn’t think I was doing too bad. He was easy to halter and lead away from his feed and stood quietly, if not aware, but I just couldn’t believe he wouldn’t even try. Just looking for excuses to not trim him. Anywho another farrier is coming out Friday and agreed to trim him, he couldn’t possibly be worse so I’m having good hopes.
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Oh dear, you found one of the anti-saddlebred farriers. Glad he didn’t get aggressive with your big due to fear - that happened with one of mine and it took a long time to recover from.
Sorry that happened, totally sucks, hope the next one has less breed-bias! Your horse sounds lovely!
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You could try long lining him to see if he bats an eye. But you might also find a driving instructor in your area who could check him out for you. If he does drive, that would be a great skill to keep up.
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Sounds like you dodged a bullet. That doesn’t sound like someone I’d let touch my horse anyway!
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I have found that if they long line and don’t bat an eye at the crupper, it’s a pretty good indication, although I have one that didn’t bat an eye at the crupper who I don’t think ever did drive based on how he behaved when hooked (he didn’t really understand how to put his weight into the pull).
BUT you’ll want to get some know-how before you drive. Take some lessons with an experienced driving trainer 
if you are interested in doing so. Many saddlebreds, even the non-amished ones, drive as part of their education and training. But not all of them do, and not all of them prefer it.
I line all of my saddlebreds and I ground drive all of my horses. I’ve started to line (double longe style) my other horses as well.
Those are both great skills to develop and I think give them confidence that transfers to the saddle. And the only “special equipment” needed are good surcingle, lines, a whip (i like a shorter driving whip for lining but you can use a longe whip) and gloves. No cart required.
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We have found a Really cheap place to purchase harness is the local horse rescues that are real 501 charities.
The amount of donated tack exceeds their needs/desires, the ones around here sell off unwanted tack.
We have purchased three sets of harness from one rescue who had no need for the donated harness. The one set that caught our interest was a new set that we wanted for Socrates, we had priced that very set out from suppliers at just over $2500. The rescue was going to sell that set to us for $200, it was nearly new in prefect condition We gave then $700 for the set, they said well do you want these two other sets also? Sure how much? They are free with the purchase of the other set,
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If horse has driven prior it was probably in a work harness with no breaching and a super light jog cart.
First long line, then use pvc poles attached to side tugs and then add dragging a tire. Also make sure horses reaction isn’t to kick out or buck if spooked.
You are probably going to train him to accept breaching and pulling something heavier than a jog cart, so find a trainer. Driving is dangerous as hell.
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I’ll be honest, I really have no desire to drive. It would be interesting if he was trained to, but based off his reactions to normal every day things I would say his education has been limited. And I mean I had to masterfully maneuver a fly mask on him today, a basic aspect of horse care you’d think he’d be accustomed to. I don’t think he’ll be a problem any more but it took me a solid half an hour to convince him it wasn’t something to worry about. I also don’t have any aspirations to show, my goal is to be an avid trail rider and hopefully some endurance racing, even if limited distance. Not to say if someone who was an experienced driver wanted to test him I wouldn’t be about it, but as someone who has zero experience and has been in a cart a total of one time in their life I don’t feel entirely comfortable purchasing equipment and then using it unguided.
Small wins at a time, today it was the fly mask.
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Or, he just does not like fly masks.
I have a horse that has worn a fly mask every day all summer for her whole life, and many mornings it is like she has never seen a fly mask before and she is sure it is going to eat her face off.
Horses can be weird about things, even things they know.
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