People think they know what a rescue horse is, but they don’t know Grande. At Red Bucket, we don’t use the word rescue to describe our horses because we’ve found there is a mental distortion of what that means. People believe that there must be something fundamentally wrong or broken with a rescue horse. However, Red Bucket horses (and many rescue horses in general) don’t fit that stereotype. People walk past Red Bucket stalls and mistake Red Bucket for a show barn. And it’s true that Red Bucket has cared for some horses that have been worth half a million dollars. The bottom line is that the term “rescue horse” is not an indicator of quality or character but often of incredible horses who have been the victim of horrible circumstance. In the case of Grande, he would be more aptly described as beautiful, well-trained, and affectionate.

Grande is a 21-year-old Oldenburg that was imported from Germany. He was a highly- valued show horse in his younger days and received extraordinary training in dressage and Grand Prix jumping. Nevertheless, when Red Bucket discovered this once-prized show horse, he was 350 pounds underweight, his feet were horribly overgrown, and his coat had become coarse, brown, and drab. He had been left starving in a round pen, exposed to the elements with no shelter or proper care. The calluses that had formed inside his mouth from a lack of dental care prevented him from chewing naturally and absorbing any nutrients. Despite years of experience and a love for performance, Grande was abandoned.
What happened to Grande is unfortunately not uncommon. Worse, this everyday tragedy goes largely unnoticed. A horse grows older after years of hard work and loyal service, and the owner replaces him with a newer, flashier model. Grande’s only imperfection was his failure to meet an impossible demand: never grow old.

At Red Bucket, however, Grande found a safe place where he could once again thrive. His initial symptoms of depression, which are common among horses that experience neglect, soon faded as Grande began to recognize the kindness in his new home. He gained 400 pounds and his coat became once again beautiful and shiny.

It was three months after his arrival that Red Bucket experienced the true breakthrough with Grande. While taking him out to exercise, Susan wrapped his legs with white polos, which are traditionally used to exercise show horses. The moment they were out in the arena, Grande confidently lifted his head and began to strut, as if to say, “I know what I’m doing, and I’m not done yet!” He arched his neck and pointed his toes, every inch of him a proud show horse.

“Grande humbled me by how much he knew,” Susan states. She began to condition him in the months following and was amazed by the level of training he displayed. He knew what she wanted, and he was more than happy to oblige—as long as she asked using the correct commands. Often, she would try to teach him something new, only to discover Grande was already leagues ahead of her.

In the meantime, Brianna, the daughter of Susan’s close personal friend, had been looking for a horse to adopt from Red Bucket. Susan felt a tremendous responsibility to find the right horse, not only because of her close relationship with the family, but also because of the huge personal commitment that comes with every adoption. Red Bucket commits itself to supporting its adopters, ensuring that the horse is going to stay in the home. Adoption doesn’t happen overnight, and Susan warned Brianna that it might take up to a year to find the best match.

Susan knew Brianna was looking for a special horse, one with the right amount of willingness to move forward without being too strong to handle, and one who preferably also had some previous dressage training. The more Susan worked with Grande, the more convinced she became that Grande was the one. She asked Brianna if she would be willing to come visit, and the next weekend, Brianna flew in from Maryland to meet him.

The first time Brianna rode Grande, she was amazed. “You could just feel how much he knew,” she explains. She knew almost immediately that this was the horse she had been looking for. In June of 2013, Brianna signed the papers. Before long, Grande was on his way to his new home in Maryland.
Every adoption is emotional, but Grande’s adoption was particularly bittersweet for Susan. “When a horse is adopted,” Susan notes, “there is always some feeling of loss, even though it’s a happy occasion.” However, there was also the excitement and anticipation of this change for Brianna, which in some ways would define the rest of her life based on the relationship she would form with this marvelous champion. “Grande is a remarkable horse, and adoptions require equally remarkable people.”
Grande has settled in well to his new home, with its pattern of lessons and seasons, and Brianna says that he is constantly teaching her something new. Grande is the first horse she has ever ridden that already knows everything she asks him. He knows it so well that he will wait patiently as she learns to give him the correct cues. They are a team, a partnership, and Brianna spends as much time as she can at the barn between her work and university classes.

“My life wouldn’t be nearly as lively if I hadn’t adopted Grande,” Brianna says. Often she will arrive at the barn and be greeted by a good-humored “Guess what your horse did this time?”
Grande is bright and full of personality, and always, always, enthusiastic when it comes to treats. He will inhale whole carrots without hesitation. “There have been many times when I have a peppermint in my hand and he’ll take my whole hand in his mouth and then slowly work the peppermint away from it,” Brianna says, laughing.

She describes Grande as sensitive, smart, happy, and social, and is in love with his ridiculously huge ears and feet. Nothing fazes him, and his only dislike is being confined in his stall, which possibly stems from his earlier confinement in a round pen. He also gets very offended if you try to give him a bath, unless you do it outside where he can eat grass at the same time.
“Grande loves grass, possibly more than anything else in the world,” Brianna says. “He loves being outside, and he loves snow, even when there’s a foot and a half on the ground.” Grande hated being in his stall so much that he refused to eat indoors, and so the barn gradually transitioned him permanently to the field where he lives now. Grande has everything he could ever want in his little acre of heaven: grass, shade, and friends.

In fact, Grande has made many new friends since his adoption. Robbie, a horse that couldn’t get along with any other horse at the barn, is one of Grande’s new best friends and will nicker every time Grande passes by. Tom, Brianna’s dressage trainer, also works with Grande three times a week and continues to be impressed by how extensively Grande has been trained.“Watching someone like Tom ride him, you can see Grande change,” Brianna reports. “You can see how happy he is to be working and doing what he knows how to do. It’s amazing to watch.”

This month saw the anniversary of Brianna and Grande’s first year together, and the two of them couldn’t be happier. Grande is a dressage horse at heart, and Brianna has been riding dressage since she was 13. “At the barn, everyone is always like ‘Oh, he’s so beautiful, where did you get him?’” Brianna declares. “No one ever expects to hear that he was a rescue horse.”

© Story written by Andrea Sanders June, 2014