Little Miss

age: approx 15 years old
sex: mare
breed: Thoroughbred
color: dark bay with small star and two hind socks
height: 15hh

Surrendered by owner to King County Animal Control; awarded to SAFE on January 2, 2008

Status: AVAILABLE

Located in Monroe, WA
Adoption Fee: $600

Little Miss is one of three mares that were surrendered to King County Animal Control in a neglect case, and awarded to SAFE. She is a 15h dark bay mare, with a small star and two hind socks. She came to us in fairly decent shape despite the neglect she suffered. She was quite lame on her front feet upon rescue but has improved since then, and it appears that her issue was mainly sore feet. She does have strange callouses on her front fetlocks which could be from lying down on them for excessively long periods of time. Her lip tattoo is unreadable, but we were told she is possibly a sister to Cedar County Queen. She is very sweet, friendly, and easy to handle. Due to the burrs in her tail, her tail was cut off while she was with Animal Control.

Little Miss is somewhat green under saddle, and she is a bit unsure of leg aids and likes to lean on the bit like your typical OTTB. However, she is very willing, quiet and attentive when being ridden. She is short but fairly stocky for a TB, and might be well suited for hunters, dressage or trail riding. Perhaps even a polo pony?

Little Miss has blossomed into a very beautiful mare. She seems very sound on the grass and has improved even more with the front shoes that she now has on. She has one hind fetlock that clicks when she walks, but there is no sign of any lameness when she trots.

Foster Update 2/4/08:
Little Miss looks fantastic! She still could use just a touch more weight but not much, her butt is nice and round and she has a nice neck (unlike Cedar). Temperment-wise, she is a bit more nervous than Cedar. She will weave in her stall if Cedar is taken away from her but she is getting better about that. Both mares still have a bit of diarrhea but hopefully the Panacur I brought out will clear that up. Little Miss still has scratches on her hind legs and won't let us pick up her back feet, but for everything else she was a very good girl. She gave us a scare when we took her out of the stall as the first thing she did was slip on the cement floor and fall to the ground, and then thrash around for several seconds before she was able to get herself back up. She seemed to be just fine though, although we were all (her included) a bit shook up by the ordeal! After that though she stood nicely for her beauty treatment.

We took her into the round pen and took some photos and video of her. She is a very cute mover! Lots of hock action on her. After several minutes trotting around she started to look a little bit off on her right front so we stopped, and then decided to just put some tack on her and see how she handled that. Well, she stood like a statue, even looked a little bored with the tacking up process. She was easy to bridle as well and totally calm. Julie then worked her a little more with the flag and she was moving more sound again by that time. Allison decided to go ahead and mount her and she was completely unfazed with that as well. Julie led her around at the walk and then let her go. Because she was a bit outchy earlier all she did was walk but Little Miss was a superstar, totally quiet and relaxed, and also came rather naturally on the bit as well. Allison worked on just walking, halting, and turning and she did very well, typical for a track horse but completely at ease.

Update (4/19/08):
Little Miss is looking well. Her only physical issue is the condition of her feet. Our farrier, Daphne thinks they will need some time to develop a concave profile, and that work will actually help the side walls to strengthen and grow. Right now her flat soles bear more weight than they were designed to, and she was ouchy on the gravel of the round pen, so we moved her to the grass. On grass, the touchiness disappeared.

Little Miss is extremely sensitive to body language and quick to move off of pressure. Her foster mom has a nice touch with her, and Little Miss seems settled and happy, despite having taken on the leadership role in her small band of mares.

Under saddle, she is still a little rusty, however she did go where I asked without fuss, if not always elegance, following the cues of body weight better than those of the leg. We tried her in Janice's Western bridle with a brass snaffle with a french link, slobber straps and rope reins. The bit was a little large, or perhaps heavy for her. I trotted her for evaluation purposes - she seemed sound and willing. She was not tense or cranky under saddle at all and went where ever I asked her to. There was no buck or bolt in any of her responses - the biggest I got was when she did a little bounce when I urged her through a muddy spot she was beginning to balk at - about a 1 out of 10 though. As with any very sensitive horse, a secure seat and a light hand keep her relaxed.

For more information about Little Miss's rehabilitation, please click here.

Visit the Horsebytes blog at the Seattle P-I website for updates on Little Miss and the other two surrendered mares:
Big Miss and Little Miss (Jan 3, 2008)
Tractors are for Old People (Jan 4, 2008)
Mares' Teeth Tell Tales (Jan 20, 2008)
Doing Things the SAFE Way (Feb 4, 2008)
NEW! Little Miss' Big Promotion

If you are interested in sponsoring "Little Miss", click here to learn more about our sponsorship program.

Send email to adopt@safehorses.org if you are interested in adopting Little Miss.

Please read SAFE's adoption policies prior to submitting an adoption application for any SAFE horses listed on this site. SAFE Adoption Policies can be found HERE. SAFE has a strict no-breeding policy.