For the Hercules fans!
Mar 02 2010
How SUPER cool is this?
Gorgeous original painting of Hercules for sale
I am truly blown away by this. What a beautiful painting of one of our favorite boys! This is an original and there’s only one to be had, but I’m going to ask the artist what she thinks about putting this on t-shirts for Herc’s many fans. As I’ve noted before, Second Chance Ranch does great work and helps so many Thoroughbreds in need in the Pacific Northwest, a truly scary place for Thoroughbreds as typically they work their way up the west coast, running for less and less money every time, until the day when they are free for the taking. Many of them wind up at the game farm as lion food or in Canada’s slaughterhouses.  These horses need all the help they can get, and even small donations are extremely welcome. Remember, a bale of hay feeds a hungry horse for 3-4 days and you can buy that for $10 – what many of us will spend on lunch today.
I’ll have another blog entry coming soon but I had to share this ’cause it’s just too cool! What beautiful work.
For his part, the Herc man is still relaxing and rehabbing. He’s been packing on weight and I really will get new pictures on my next visit, but he’s looking good. He wasn’t quite sound enough to ride yet the last time I went to see him so we’re hoping for this month. He does have some quirks and naughty personal space issues when he’s loose in the arena, but we know he’s been round-penned (a 17 hand TB, good grief) to excess in his past life, so that does not really surprise me. He feels better all the time and really puts on a show during playtime – this guy can buck and fart like a 2 year old! The feet are looking so much better. If you missed this update, it turned out he never had white line disease. He had a keratoma that was removed. This is actually good news as it is not a chronic condition, so his chances are good that the hoof will be 100% healthy again.
Anyway – if you’re interested in having Herc on your home or office wall – go for it! And thank you to Studio Callidora for this wonderful donation!
And if you haven’t yet become a fan of Herc on Facebook, here is the link: Become a fan of Hercules
24 comments to “For the Hercules fans!”
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I think those gorgeous paintings should be auction/raffled off. I’m sure one could get a good bidding war to ensue over Herc, and therefore more money donated. Just a thought…
I wonder what the cost would be to have prints (framed or unframed) made from this picture. That would be another way to make money, and be something besides a T-shirt. (Would last longer, too ;o)
It’s always good to make a friend, and it sounds like Mr. Hercules has friends he doesn’t even know about. He’s a lucky duck, for sure.
Great update! Thanks for the good news.
I had the same thought. I can’t afford to buy the original, but I bet I could afford a small print!
What a shame it’s gone already– what a beautiful picture! I like your print and t-shirt idea, and just think: maybe someone could send one to Wendy Hsue to remember her horse by.
That is all fantastic news!
Just a side note though, white line disease isn’t a chronic condition. It is usually a result of an incorrect diet causing weakening of the lamina which allow the bacteria to invade, or in some cases, unbalanced hooves with flares, or just poor hoof care and living conditions, but all those things CAN be changed and the white line disease can be grown out successfully.
Good point. I guess by chronic condition, I meant that I know it is a bitch to get rid of because I’ve had a mare with it in the past!
I was probably not using the veterinary definition of chronic.
My mare did, after a major resection, grow out healthy hoof – and lived to be 29!
If it were put on the back of a director’s chair I’d happily haul that around at shows all summer!
Let me see what I can do. I’m waiting to hear back from the artist. I just think it’s beautiful work!
“Many of them wind up at the game farm as lion food”-
Wow, that is the first time I have heard of that! I guess I shouldn’t be suprised, with everything else that happens. It just seems pretty callous to take a horse who has worked its ass of for its entire, short life making money for its humans and sell it to someone who will chop it up and feed it to a wild animal after there is no more money to be made from it. But so does tossing it in a kill pen for a double-decker ride Canada or Mexico and that happens all the time. I guess I just never put much thought into where the fresh meat comes from to feed all the large cats in captivity.
Glad Hercules avoided that fate, what a cutie! Also glad he dodged a bullet with the white line disease, one of our older geldings has it and we have really struggled to maintain his quality of life at times.
From what I’ve heard (and no, I don’t have sources, this is a vague memory), some large cat sanctuaries are really pretty humane about it. The owner hauls the horse to the site, it’s put down instantly with a bullet, and the corpse is butchered and eventually fed to the cats. If it’s done right, it’s the same experience as being put down by a vet. The only difference is the disposal of the body. I can see why it would bother some people and I totally don’t blame you, but I’m a big fan of recycling bodies. Myself included – cremate me, then mix me into the compost pile!
It definitely beats slaughter, but do I think it’s not fair that so many horses never get a chance at a second career after the track and are just dumped there.
But as for recycling bodies – no problem here. Feel free to feed me to the tigers after I’m gone.
“Remember, a bale of hay feeds a hungry horse for 3-4 days and you can buy that for $10 – what many of us will spend on lunch today.”
Lol, this ALMOST makes me wish I didn’t own a draft horse.
LOL! OK, I meant it would feed a Thoroughbred. We also get big bales in WA – over 100 lbs.
My barn owner raises minis, and I get SO jealous that 1 bale of hay lasts one mini almost a whole month! Those things eat next to nothing and STILL get fat!
A little help on this one….I recently purchased a Paint gelding who is 10. He was gelded around 8 years old. He was purchased from ignorant bottom feeders who let him be a dog. THEY LET HIM COME IN THE HOUSE!!!!! We’re going to have to have many “come to Jesus” meetings in the future.
I was leading him and my 3 year old filly together yesterday and he jumped on her and, for all intents and purposes, bred her. Since I know he’s a gelding I let them both loose in the pasture alone to see if it was a fluke. He completly ignored her “come and get me” behavior. I’m very confused and worried about this. Anyone got any tips on retraining?
First of all, have the vet check and make sure he’s not a cryptorchid. It is possible for a properly gelded horse to still breed mares but personally I’ve only seen one that did it.
My big concern here is that you were leading him. He lacks respect. This goes along with his being treated like a dog. I would definitely not try to lead him with another horse until you’ve fixed the ground manners!
I’ve heard that geldings can still “perform,” just not very well. I personally have seen it, and to my knowledge the horse was properly gelded. The mare was flirting with him, so he mounted her and went at it. He didn’t do a very good job of it, but he sure tried!
Also, my gelding has been known to get… er… visibly excited around a mare that he likes. He’s never tried to mount one, but he clearly knows there is something he’s missing out on!
Totally agree on the lack of respect thing, though.
Today I left him tied for a couple of hours after I rode him and groomed him real good. While I was at it I checked the hardware. I didn’t see any “left overs” but he has what looks like a large hernia. It’s still pink but not wet. Is it a hernia or something different?
Wow, that’s lovely! Glad to hear how the bugger’s doing.
I would definitely buy that on a shirt! But the blue version, please – what’s up with that nasty orange?
I love the orange one!! It looks like he has a sunset reflecting off of him
Looks like it was taken under normal inside lighting, without the white-balance being corrected.
Great news!! Didn’t have White Line after all? Miss Fancy Pants should get a different vet.
Well, that wasn’t her. That was our first guess when we saw a major hoof resection.