Lucky Rissy, to have YOU as her person!
3 Likes
This makes me so happy. Congratulations on your new horse. She looks lovely, with a kind eye.
3 Likes
Hooray! Rissy is beautiful. May you have miles and miles of happy trails ahead of you. Congrats!
3 Likes
She’s gorgeous!! Believe it or not, I’ve been wondering how your horse search was coming along.
Please tell us more about Rissy. How did you find her? What attracted you to her? How is she settling in to her new home? We need details!!!
6 Likes
She looks LOVELY! So glad you found one to heal your heart.
4 Likes
No expert here but I did lose a horse to polyneuritis a 3 years ago. His MRI and necropsy later showed cranial nerve damage that presented as facial problems (eye, vision loss, chewing, sensation loss) as well as hind end neuro issues. I know it can present as only hind end so it could be possible but I would have thought there would be signs of lesions along the spinal cord.
2 Likes
I am so happy for you! Congratulations on finding a lovely new equine partner!
3 Likes
I am so happy for you TXKing99. She is gorgeous. Just get ready for lots of grooming. They like to try camouflage
.
Susan
13 Likes
Congratulations, she’s beautiful!
Now you’ll have to invest in a whole new grooming kit, just for grays. I speak as the owner of a gray mare. While some grays may be trying to camouflage themselves, mine is definitely going for the all-over, spa-at-home, mud-pack skin treatment.
Try to find the thread on Haas brushes (in Horse Care) which has a full run-down on various brushes and what they’re good for. As an owner of a gray, it is easy to become obsessed with brushes.
5 Likes
I have two grays. One is a pig pen, the other not a problem ex the sand in his coat. I am a fan of curry tools . But living in the south I’m a bigger fan of the hose - on a pretty strong setting. I rarely soap ex the white mane and tail. Also I’m an iberian fan and you will be hopefully very happy with her.
3 Likes
So glad you found one who spoke to you!! I would also love to hear the details of how you found Rissy and what your plans are now.
Welcome to the horse of a constantly different color club! 
8 Likes
Thank you! And thanks for your brush recommendation. I will definitely look into Haas brushes. 
3 Likes
A few have asked how I came to find Rissy.
It was a journey. I started looking last fall. I think she was the 12th horse that I went and tried (there were lot more that I considered but didn’t try). I tried a lot of different breeds: QH, QH X, Rocky Mountain, OTTB, Appaloosa, Morgan, Morgan X. I became focused on finding a Morgan because they have a good reputation for being healthy and loving people. I found it difficult to find one in Texas and in the age range I was looking for. There were a lot of younger, un-started or recently started Morgans available, but that wasn’t what I was looking for.
I talked to my vet and he recommended an Andalusian or Azteca - so I redirected my search. I came across Rissy in a FB group. She was in Texas, but 5 hours from me. Talked to the owner and liked her story. Got some videos and reviewed them with my trainer. She thought she would be worth checking out, so off I went. She was just as the owner described. People loving, sweet, kind, smart and lots of personality. I loved her build. She hadn’t been used regularly (owner had 11 horses) but had a lot of trail experience, great ground manners, understanding of leg pressure, has been taken to different areas for trail riding and ridden by people with different levels of experience.
I had a PPE done the following week and picked her up after that.
I am working on getting her into shape gradually. She wasn’t use to working much, but she is agreeable. I am riding her a couple times a week in the arena and we do ground work, or just hang out the other days.
She is on a forage diet as Andalusians (like Morgans) can be prone to metabolic issues. Trying to stay ahead of that.
She has adjusted to the new herd remarkably well. No drama, bite marks or issues yet.
I try not to compare her to Jasper, but he is all I have to compare to. I will just say that they are completely different in almost every way. She has been SO easy thus far and I am excited to see our relationship develop.
It’s funny because I really wanted a gelding, preferably a bay or something dark…and I end up with a grey mare.
To think I almost gave up on doing this again. Just i the first 2 weeks of ownership, she has been a dream and I think she kind of likes me. Sappy as it sounds, I really want that one of kind relationship with a horse and I think Rissy and I will get there. I see so much potential for us.
Thank you all for your ongoing support, concern, recommendations, kind words, and inspiration. Whenever I tell someone about Jasper’s story, I always say (usually with tears in my eyes) that I found the most remarkable community of horse loving people on a Chronicle of the Horse forum. They literally go me through a very difficult time and will probably never fully know how much their support helped and meant to me.
64 Likes
Congrats on finding Rissy! She’s gorgeous!
As the owner of a grey, the best advice that I can give is that it’s easier to just accept the grass and manure stains and take advantage of any stain free days for photo ops 
4 Likes
Great advice! Trying not to stress about keeping her “clean” ---- so far she hasn’t come in caked in mud but I wont’ be surprised if she does.
1 Like
I just love her head and eye. Congrats again!
2 Likes
Congratulations on finding your lovely mare. Welcome to the Andalusian club. My gelding is bay, so he hides the dirt. 
Enjoy your journey. Each of our horses teach us something different. Thank you for sharing Jasper’s story with us.
3 Likes
Another welcome to the club after that long hard road. You are in for a real treat. She has a really lovely eye!
greys
2 Likes
On grays, I rarely used soap so the natural oils from the coat would help keep the urine and manure stains from really soaking in. I groomed a lot. I would get a rubber curry and rub the teeth on concrete or brick until they were rounded so I could really get after the stain. A damp towel was also very handy. I picked stalls a lot.
She is lovely lovely.
3 Likes
Congratulations! I hope you two share a wonderful partnership for many years to come! <3
1 Like
