We are celebrating the remarkable rescue horse in the month of May on YourDressage!
Did you know that dressage riders who choose a rescue horse as their dressage partner are eligible for special awards through the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Awards program, as the International Rescue Horse Registry is a participating organization?
Here, a rider from Region 6 tells us about the special mare she saved from a feedlot, and the many challenges they’ve overcome together.
By Michaela Lee
Phoenix is my sixteen-year-old draft-cross mare, and I’m Michaela, an ICU nurse by night, part-time jumper and dressage trainer with the rest of my “free” time, and mom to a wonderful tiny human.
In the fall of 2015, I was recovering from the heartbreak of losing my one-in-a-million heart horse over a year prior. I steadfastly told everyone that I was not getting another horse, but kept myself in the horse world by riding client horses and teaching lessons.
That’s when Phoenix slid into my DMs. A mentor of mine knew that I was horse-less and sent me a post from a feed-lot holding facility for horses who would be shipping to Canada for slaughter. She simply said, “This mare looks like your type.” There wasn’t a lot of information on the mare. Age and breed: unknown, 16.1 hands, halter broke. She looked in fairly decent shape. And indeed, she was my type – a drafty, gray mare with a little spice. In 24 hours, she would be shipped.
I closed the ad and tried to put her out of my mind. I did NOT need an unstarted young horse with an unknown history. However, the next morning, I PayPal-ed her bail money and drove five hours across the state to pick her up. My mom came up with her new name, Phoenix Rising – rising from the ashes and starting anew.
When we got back home and I tried to tuck her into her cozy new stall, she promptly barreled me over, ran out the door, and took a tour of the property. Quarantine wasn’t starting well. Over the next few weeks, we experienced all kinds of firsts together… a trim by the farrier, a few baths (she is gray, after all), lunging in the round pen, getting used to tack, hand walking on the trails, and a visit from the vet who estimated her age at approximately six years old.
She was very unsure of new people, herd-bound to her barn-mates, and spooky at most everything. She clearly had some trauma from her past and seemed shut down from bonding and forming relationships. I spent lots of time sitting with her in the barn, hand walking, and letting her graze, keeping it very simple to try and show her that I was her person. I had to build a foundation with her, keeping her environment consistent and reducing anxiety as much as possible. We slowly began to build trust, and a few months later, I started her under saddle.
The first few years were a roller coaster of progress. At first, she was so easy, and we were walk/trot/cantering within a few weeks, and trotting over poles. She was sensitive, smart, and talented. But my first fall off her was quickly followed by my second – and a broken tailbone. She was definitely quirky and had a bolt when spooked and a rear when she was overwhelmed. At shows, she would refuse to walk into the arena and often try to spin and make a break for the outgate.
On a solo ride on the trails behind my barn, we passed horses headed the opposite direction, and she exploded – bucking, bolting, and rearing. When I was able to get her stopped, I quickly dismounted. But as I swung my leg over, she leapt in the air, and I landed on my feet – hard. My left knee dislocated and hung at an awkward angle. My ACL and meniscus were torn, and I wouldn’t ride again for months. Many told me to cut my losses and sell her. But I couldn’t give up on her.
She received a clean bill of health from the vet, and all of her reactivity issues seemed to stem from her late start, her uncertainty of trusting humans, her anxiety, or a combination of all. After some turn-out time for her and a new ACL for me, we came back to work with a new game plan. I started riding with my trainer, Christian, around this time. Training without tension was our complete focus. Phoenix internalized most of her anxiety, and occasionally it would boil over into the explosions that caused our accidents. I became very in tune with her cues and tells that indicated she was feeling stressed, and we were able to explore the triggers.
We focused on the basics of rhythm and track to solidify her confidence before advancing our work. We spent countless lessons on lengthening her neck to lengthen her stride and allow her to use herself more correctly. This directly translated into less anxiety. We did a lot of breath work to help me silently communicate with her and reduce the fight-or-flight response. I continued to spend as much time as I could with her outside of the saddle. She was becoming so much more personable, affectionate, and engaged. Our training sessions were good ride after good ride. She was truly blossoming. We were successfully showing on the jumper circuit and confidently showing First Level, moving up to Second Level. We enjoyed several seasons of the new and improved Phoenix while incorporating other adventures, like mountain trail courses and off-property trail rides with confidence.
In December 2023, Phoenix had an accident overnight in her paddock, resulting in a torn cruciate ligament and a broken tibia. We struggled to get her pain under control, and she colicked twice. We also worried about supporting limb laminitis. It was touch and go for the first week, and I was coming to terms with the fact that I may lose her.
But she was the perfect patient on stall rest. We finally got her pain regimen locked in, and she started eating and drinking normally. She laid down often and rested her body. I truly felt like she was fighting to be here with me.
Phoenix spent six months on stall rest. We often walked ten steps outside of her paddock to eat some grass and sit together. Then, we could go on tiny hand walks, and she graduated to having a small paddock attached to her stall. The vets were blown away by her progress. Her original prognosis was pasture sound. At her six-month check-up, she was trotting nearly sound. In August of 2024, I was able to begin rehab walks under saddle, and I have never been happier to swing my leg over a horse in my entire life.
Phoenix is now living her best semi-retired life. We go for trail rides with friends, take leisurely bareback strolls, and she teaches my 5-year-old son the joys of riding and horsemanship. She is always happy to come out every day and go to work, even though that looks a little different now. Those who have known her from the beginning are always shocked at her transformation, and the calm, gentle spirit that she’s become.
Over our 10+ year relationship, we have overcome so much, and she has taught me to be a softer and kinder person, to always keep learning and searching for answers, and to always keep the horse at the forefront of it all. I love this horse more than the sport. And most of all, she showed me that it’s possible to have more than one heart horse in this lifetime.
