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Born at one of the wealthiest horse ranches in the United States,
Dutchman was sold as a young horse and abruptly yanked
from the pampered world to which he'd grown accustomed. Left only
with his aristocratic name and papers, he ended up in the possession
of a middleman for the slaughterhouse. You may wonder how
that couldhappen to a professionally trained horse. The answer?
One bad habit. One narrow area in which a horse is not educated
can disqualify that animal from the job market for horses and
doom him to a destiny at the stockyards. Though perfectly trained
for riding, Dutchman will crowd his handler when being led. In
the horse world, that alone can mean the death penalty. When found
at the stockyards, Dutchman was sick and emaciated.
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 Two
months later, Dutchman was restored to health and acting like
a prince again. It wasn't an instantaneous turnaround. Dutchman
needed penicillin twice a day for 21 days. For a while it was
a life and death battle against the equine distemper that he,
like so many others, had picked up at the stockyards. We also
healed a painful abscess, lancing it and relieving the pressure
so he would be more comfortable. Many of the horses at Equus need
considerable medical attention to restore their health. But thanks
to many caring and generous people, the horses who come to Equus
heal and learn to trust humans again.
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