February makes us think of Valentine's Day, and all our rescues would be great to "Be Your Valentine", if you can manage to pick just one (I can't!). Micky Drafthorse is a BIG sweetheart of a horse, so a very big Valentine! His gentle personality has inspired a lot of people across his life to help him. Love seems to surround him.
He started his life in 2002 as a very unusual foal. His mother was on a Premarin farm, here in the US, or perhaps Canada.. “PREgnant MARes' urINe” is captured to make Premarin for menopausal women (it has been used for hormone replacement therapy for postmenopausal women in the USA since 1942. Now, most women can use Cenestin made from soybeans and yams but there are still some declining Premarin farms). Urine is collected while the mare is pregnant, then sadly the foal is discarded at birth and the mare is impregnated again to restart the cycle. Someone really loved lucky Micky when he was born, and rescued him from going to a livestock auction.
We don’t know too much about his younger life, but he is well known among riders in the local area. Micky is an American Cream Draft Horse crossed with Appaloosa and you will definitely notice his amazing long cream tail and lovely white dots on his rear. He was well loved at a local training barn when we first met him in 2018 and he needed placement when the barn was closing. With our efforts at networking, Micky was able to go to live with someone who knew him from the past, and he was loved again.
In October 2021, we had a unique circumstance: Micky needed a new permanent home, and advanced side-bone disability rendering him un-rideable, limiting his options. Unity had just lost our Arab mare Amber to a neurological degenerative disease. And Sunny the Pony-Horse welcomed a friendly companion close to his size. Guardian angels were looking out for Micky, because that conjunction of events enabled us to bring him to a forever home here at the Sanctuary.
Micky has another special attribute! He wears a fly mask all year-round. His full show name was “Micky Blue Eyes”. He has very pale blue eyes vulnerable to the sunlight and the debilitating disease of uveitis. The fly mask equals... his sunglasses!
When you visit us at the Sanctuary, Micky and Sunny are the first horses you see after parking here. Micky will usually walk over and say hello, his soft velvety muzzle reaching out to you. Serendipity brought him to us, and we are so glad we can be his family.
