Adopted Horses
Horses who have found their forever person
Joey
Guiseppe
1993 Oldenburg Gelding
When Joey arrived at Project ComeBack he wasn’t able to eat much hay, his teeth were worn from age so his hay was balled up and spit back out (this is called quidding and is common in old horses). Our veterinarian came out to work on Joey's teeth, to the best of her ability, which seemed to help him eat a little better...but he still wasn’t able to swallow much hay. Our team tried lots of different things, from switching the type of hay, to feeding out of nets so he could take smaller bites and swallow, to finding the softest hay around.
Joey did pretty good the first month or so of his rescue, he connected with a sweet little girl who does hippotherapy lessons with us, but as time went on he stopped being interested in food and eating. Joey seemed to be going up and down, for a little while he’d eat everything we put in front of him and gain weight, then he’d go through what we can only describe as depression and stop eating all together.
Unfortunately for us the old proverb of “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink” was true for Joey in regards to food. Luckily, this all changed when one of his old owners, Diane, stopped by to visit him. When Joey was reunited with Diane he was instantly different. He was noticeably brighter, happier, and most importantly willing to try and eat with her. We made the decision to have Diane adopt him and give him the love he was desperately craving from an old friend.
It is our understanding that Joey has been bounced around and has had many homes, we are so happy to help him land back in the loving arms of an old friend of his. In the best interest of this sweet old boy we sent him home with Diane. At 29 years old we know this healing process is slow, but we owe it to Joey to give him the best fighting chance. We need him to TRY, and he wanted to try again for Diane.
Joey has been adopted by Diane St. Onge
Chance
Worth A Chance
2001 Quarter Horse Gelding
Chance was rescued from a kill lot in Oklahoma in June of 2019. His kill lot bail video was sent to us from his now forever mom Besty. She knew he was "worth a chance" and helped sponsor his rescue, quarantine, and transport.
Chance arrived at Project ComeBack extremely underweight and had hair missing from all over his body. He fell in love with Betsy right away, clearly wanting to have a person of his own to love him and nurse him back to health. He now follows her all around the farm and calls out to her anytime she walks by. They have been together ever since, and Chance's body and spirit are healing more and more each day with her patience and unconditional love.
Chance has been adopted by Betsy Andon.
Maverick
2003 Quarter Horse Gelding
Maverick came to us in desperate need of his own person. He bounced around so much that his trust in people was almost non existent. It started when he was abandoned by his first owner, who he worked long days on the farm with helping with tasks like trimming limbs off trees.
Maverick became sick one day and instead of taking care of his horse, the owner abandoned and left him at the farm he was at. Two women at that farm took him in, nursed him back to health, and started to look for someone to give this sweet guy a forever home. He met many people, but was not ready to trust any of them. When he came to us he was instantly and strongly bonded to Chance, who happened to live in the paddock next door to him.
His bond with Chance grew and he started to trust the people he saw Chance could trust. Chance must have told Maverick how Betsy saved him and gave him a second chance, because Maverick decided he was ready to trust Betsy. They made a beautiful strong bond and now all three are a happy family and the best of friends.
Maverick has been adopted by Betsy Andon.
Thomas
Sir Thomas
1997 Canadian Warmblood Gelding
Sir Thomas also had quite the impressive career we have been told. He spent his days in the show ring and teaching countless people to ride and what it meant to love a horse.
He was an owner surrender to our rescue in his old age and at a very hard time in his life. His heart condition was affecting his ability to continue giving lessons, he was on a hunger strike, thin and losing weight by the day. He was refusing to eat and extremely depressed. We tried every type of food, hay, and combination. The only thing that made a difference was when he started to share a paddock with a sweet pony named Wesley. With his new little buddy the light came back to his eyes, and he started to eat on his own. If Wesley was eating so was Tommy, if Wesley was drinking a lot of water..so was Tommy! These two old men enjoyed retirement together side by side in our 10 acre field with a whole herd of horses to run and play with.
Unfortunately, Wesley got very sick one day. Despite our best efforts he did not make it. Thomas was heartbroken, and we watched him slowly start to slip back into the horse he was when he was surrendered to our rescue. As the weeks passed and we watched to see if Tommy would make a new friend and get his light back, we were not seeing positive progress.
We decided Thomas' best quality of life moving forward would be with another old friend of his, a woman who used to own him when she was just a girl. She would visit Thomas twice a week at our rescue and we noticed those visits were when he seemed happy again. Now Thomas lives at a beautiful retirement farm in RI, and Devon helps him feel important again, like he’s the most special horse in the herd when she comes just to see him. Instead of being over an hour away, now he is just 10 minutes down the road from her house.
A note from Devon: Thomas was my horse for a number of years when I was in high school and college. We competed in the equitation and were extremely successful at horse shows across New England. When I sold him to a well known show barn in 2012 I never imagined I would one day find him surrendered to a rescue, severely malnourished and underweight. I cannot thank Project Comeback enough for taking him in and giving him the care and attention he needed to get back on his feet. I am so excited to have my heart horse back after all these years and very grateful to be his last and forever home.
Thomas has been adopted by Devon Poeta
