At A Glance
Gender: Gelding
Height: 16 hh
Breed: Quarter Horse
Age: 7
Handlers Experience: Intermediate to Experienced
Riders Experience: Not applicable
Ideal Home: Companion only home with someone experienced in green horses
Phoenix is a 7-year old Quarter horse gelding owned by our friends at the Dorset Equine Rescue in Vermont. Phoenix’s story began in the world of rodeo where he didn’t make the cut as a bucking horse. The rodeo company that owned him sent him along with an entire herd of their horses to auction. Most of these horses were feral including Phoenix, and awaited their fate in the hands of kill buyers. Luckily, several organizations worked together to rescue the entire herd. Phoenix was fortunate enough to end up with the kind and caring folks at The Dorset Equine Rescue, where he spent the next two years learning to trust humans again.When he joined our program in October of 2025, the intention was to continue his training and build towards getting him started under saddle. We noticed rather quickly a slight unevenness on his front left foot and with the increase in movement and workload it seemed to get worse. We had our vet out to take a closer look and discovered that Phoenix was born with a bi-partite navicular bone. What this means is that his navicular is in two pieces and therefore does not offer the solid base of support that it should. This is likely the reason that he never made it through the training phase of becoming a bucking horse. Phoenix is quite comfortable on 1 tab of Equioxx daily and enjoys being turned out with his friends.
Along with his home rescue, we have decided that it is in Phoenix’s best interest to live life as a companion horse. That being said he loves attention and enjoys doing things in hand at the walk. As he has gained confidence his personality continues to develop and he is very much a farm favorite. He is kind and quiet but has a bit of cheekiness that makes us all laugh. If you are looking for a 1000 lb puppy dog, Phoenix might be your guy. Phoenix is seeking a quiet home with someone who will take the time to build his trust and handle him regularly. Though he can still get nervous at times, he works through these moments quickly when handled with patience and kindness. If you are interested in learning more about Phoenix, please contact us.
