The Lower Connecticut
J
. . Valley Educational
Riding Association,
Inc.
L.C.V .E.R.A. Hadlyme, Ct.
06439
Vol.
2 No.
Nonprofit. tax exempt organization
December
4
his name, ori~inally "Gringo", had become "Leroy - Big Bad Lerer Brown. How to turn this troub e maker into an appropriate mount for handicapped riders? He could not be caught, could not be trusted around other horses - but he had once been the beloved back yard horse of a Lyme family with three children and had carried a Downs Syndrome teenager over many miles of trails. It seemed worth a try. And it worked! After six months of rehabilitation, Santa became a LCVERA horse. The redeeming regimen included hand grazing, daily grooming, lots of fiuman company and being ridden in the company of one other horse who finally became his pasture mate. Once it was safe to allow him time out in a pasture. he was caught, rewarded and rel~ased without being ridden until he learned, or relearned, to trust the approaching human. And now Santa Claus is one of our most versatile and popular horses. His almost human expression of curious interest has drawn the most fearful close enough to touch him. His own trust in the people who handle him has made it possible to put two full grown adults on his back one with Multiple Sclerosis, and 1our side walkers alongside. Santa remains calm while others fall apart, but throws himself with coltish enthusiasm into relay races. And on a hot summer day 1 Santa can be found carrying multi-handicapped preschoolers around the paddock at Brazillai Farm where just a few years ago he was such a bad actor. All offers to appear in beer commercials have been turned down. Merry Christmas,
THEREYESI~ VIRGINIA ~ A SANTA CLAUS ••• AS every LCVERA rider knows, there truly 1s a Santa Claus and, although he does not come sliding down through soot and creosote to leave longed-for toys beneath the Christmas Tree, he does ~ive sacks full of gifts, and year ·round. Our Santa Claus is a horse - an elderly but spritely Morgan Percheron cross whose fuzzy body and twinkling eyes have gained the trust ~nd d~vot10~ of everyone who sees himj rides him or leads him. Santa came to Lyme via the city streets of New York where he ser~ed his term as a New York City police horse. All NYPD horses are Bay Geldings and come to the force through donations or from auctions or from a dealer in Oklahoma. Be c ause . of a b~and, an inverted heart with a line through it, on his right shoulder, Santa probably f~lls into the last category. From h~s Morgan ancestors he inherits his deep barrel, big heart and from the Percheron, first used as a war horse by the Moors about 730 A.O., he takes his massive neck, s~or~ st~ong legs and the distinctive long bones of his face. . W~at is the appeal of this big animal with flowing mane and tail, feathered fetlocks and a coat like a Persian lamb? There a~e ~hos~ who feel sure he is a ~istinguished psychiatrist dressed in a horse s ~ it. One day he'll take that suit off and share with us his warm. understanding insights into human nature. But this adorable docile creature was not always this best of all possible therapists. a d;sa~led rider's best friend. When first donated to the program he had lived without other horses for too long and apparently had forgotten his herd manners. Usually a new horse introduced into an establ~shed herd will , aft~r . the requ~site gesturing, s ~riking ~he air, squeeling and b~ting, find his place in the hie~achy. Not Santa; he agitated ponies , horses 1 mares and geldin~s. keeping the whole herd in a stale of confusion and fear. After jumping two four foot paddock fences to rejoin his adversaries, he was confined to a time stall 24 hours a da y . By this
1983
Santa
Claus!