Meet Ollie

Ollie is a 16 yr old Dutch Warmblood, towering at 18.2 hands! That’s about 6ft at the withers! This gentle giant was imported from Holland as a colt - a son or grandson of Donnerhall, we were told. At 8 yrs old, he competed in the Medal Classes of the Indio Circuit, taking home a Gold in jumping competition and a Silver in Equitation classes. His owner at the time wanted to sell him, but he could not be vetted sound for jumping. From there, Ollie was used as a school horse at an elite private school in Los Angeles - for jumping. Finally, when he could barely walk, he was donated to a rescue org to continue as a schooling horse in Arizona. That person no longer had a need for schooling horses and gave him to a person Oregon to be used on trails. Ollie was severely crippled at the time and was finally donated to Second Chance Ranch.

When Ollie arrived, he fell out of the trailer, barely able to stand. He was in tremendous pain. His hind fetlocks swollen like cantaloupes, he had been shod club-footed on the left front foot, but the shoes had long been removed but not trimmed. His feet were grossly long, severely cracked and broken down to the cornet band. He was walking on the bulb of his hooves. He had severe string-halts (muscle spasms) and arthritis in his hocks (which had been injected several times during his jumping career. He was over 400 lbs underweight. Ollie had once certainly been a site to behold-now he stood shivering, confused, depressed and in his eyes he had lost hope.

We went to work on Ollie immediately. Ice and heat treatments on his legs, specially crafted shoes, an excellent diet with many supplements and weekly shots of Glucosamine. X-rays showed that the coffin bone in both front hooves had been fractured long ago, and there was evidence that he had possibly been still jumping with fractures. He had a ligament wrapped around the lower bone, causing a lot of pain. Special pads and shoes were made to keep him fairly comfortable. He benefited from massage and chiropractic work. Still, we knew we could do better for Ollie. In the fall of 2003 he had a double neurectomy and a procedure on his ligament (left, front). A special thanks to Dr. Bryant at Pilchuck Animal Hospital, who performed the operation with 100% success. Dr. Bryant takes exceptional care of all our horses!

Most imperative to Ollie’s recovery is that he knows he is greatly loved and safe with us. He is a new horse. He moves with ease and confidence. He embraces each day with a happy and content heart. Ollie will never jump again, and may never be ridden again, but he is finally comfortable and happy. Ollie is not considered highly adoptable because of the cost to keep a horse of this size, who may never be ridden. For that reason, he will have a safe and wonderful life with us at Second Chance Ranch!