The Life Of Psy
From Rescue To All Around Horse PA R T I by Catherine Cole
BEFORE
H
orse lovers love to look at good horses and trainer Kim Christy is no exception. From finding a future national champion on the side of a mountain pasture to home grown breeding, Kim is always on the lookout for the next great Arabian horse. One early morning, while scrolling through Facebook, Kim came upon a sale ad for a good-looking sevenyear-old black purebred Arabian gelding. Psyon SMA certainly had ‘the goods’ being the grandget of three of the breed’s great stallions: Desperado V, Padrons Psyche, and Ali Jamaal. Psyon SMA (“Psy”) was currently a local Southern California horse being advertised for sale by a private owner. Intrigued by the pedigree and price ($4,000), Kim called the owner and made an appointment to see the handsome black gelding. Kim recollects her first live view of Psy, “The photo accompanying Psy’s ad was when he was two; he looked healthy and happy. Arriving at Psy’s current home, my partner and I made it to the end of a dirt road. There, we saw two small box stall size pens, each housing a horse frantically pacing and clearly searching for feed. Both 82 | ARABIAN HORSE TIMES
AFTER
horses were literally about half their ideal weight; it was amazing that they could even stand given their starved condition, much less summon the energy to wear down their feet in a relentless search for food. I felt sick to my stomach. We quickly figured out which horse was Psy as his black coat had miraculously retained an ebony sheen. But that was the only sign of health on him. My partner (large animal veterinarian M. “Wayne” McNeel) estimated his weight at 450 pounds. Psy had gaping summer sores on his left jaw and feet, and his back had ‘rain rot’—open sores front to back. Still, it was obvious this was a quality horse who had met a terrible, terrible fate.” The other horse was in equally bad shape. Fate was about to turn tide for both. Kim quickly telephoned a friend who was involved in a local horse rescue. Kim was able to take on the rescue of Psy, but couldn’t and wouldn’t leave the other horse behind. With the rescue horse trailer on the way, Kim firmly negotiated the acquisition of Psy. Kim remembers, “I told the owner we would take both horses off their hands as it was glaringly obvious they