Boots the Mini Horse: From Kill Pen Inmate to Prisoner of Love

Here's a herd story a year in the making. We met Boots the miniature horse and his owner Victoria in October 2023, just before Halloween. It was a little bit late to share the featured photo of him below in his costume, so we held on to it. All dressed up as the most adorable jailbird you can imagine, Boots's get-up is both a poignant reminder of his desperate origins and a celebration of the life he's made for himself.

Grazing muzzles help transition between pastures

When we met Boots about a year ago, he was enjoying the good life in Oregon with Victoria and her family. Victoria reached out to tell us how much of a difference his GreenGuard Grazing Muzzle was making. When you think of a grazing muzzle, the first thing you might think of is an overweight horse who could stand to lose some weight. Fair, but did you know that muzzles can ease a horse’s transition from one quality of forage to another?

Case in point, Victoria told us that Boots "came from Texas to Oregon as part of a rescue." You don’t need any special wisdom to appreciate that there is a vast difference in climate and grass between those two states. The dry heat of Texas produces a dramatically different quality of pasture to the more temperate, rainier conditions that prevail in Oregon.

Boots the miniature horse, wearing a blue GreenGuard Grazing Muzzle

 

As Victoria says, "getting a pudgy Texas pony acclimated to Oregon pastures was a challenge." This is where the GreenGuard muzzle comes in handy. Restricting the amount of grass Boots could eat meant that the mini, already somewhat prone to carrying a few extra pounds, wouldn't swell up like a tick from his new-found access to the richer grasses of the Pacific Northwest.

Boots faced many trials on his Oregon Trail

Ready access to abundant forage and being adopted by a loving family is a happy ending for sure, but how did Boots the mini horse get from Texas to Oregon? We mentioned that he came "as part of a rescue," but that is only a hasty summary. His full story may never be known, but his route to a life full of love took him down some very dark and uncertain paths.

Victoria says that "he was the only mini in a group of horses in a kill pen in Texas. Someone in Oregon organized a GoFundMe campaign to rescue them. Boots's rescuer, a lovely, kind-hearted person, purchased him through the GoFundMe campaign, but did not have experience with horses or a place to keep him."  

Boots the mini horse was rescued from a kill pen by a crowdfunding campaign

 

Unable to stay in his new home long, the tides of fortune brought Boots to the care of Victoria’s trainer. There could not have been a safer or more appropriate harbor for our little mini. The trainer helped Boots manage some of the traumas he had already undergone. Victoria says "he was especially afraid to have his feet handled" during those early days. 

A new home and a new life for Boots

At length, Boots was settled enough to move on, and Victoria came to the trainer's mind as a possibility for a permanent home. Victoria's "small home farm" was already home to "three full-sized horses," including two geldings and a mare. Boots came to live there, joining the herd in the Spring of 2023, and "settled in very well."

That brings us full circle, to a vision of Boots happily grazing on rich Oregon grass, settled and secure in a loving home with Victoria and her family. Victoria says that Boots "loves hanging out with his two gelding buddies! And his joyful pony spirit is a wonderful addition to our barn."  

Nevermind the Halloween costume, Boots is a free man of leisure now!
The only activity where Boots is restricted now is grazing!

 

Rescued through a well-meaning crowdfunding campaign, Boots took a circuitous, meandering, and uncertain route to his forever home. Through a lot of good luck, he found his way from impending doom to a life full of love and possibility. So much depended on the kindness of the crowdfunder and the skills of Victoria's trainer to bridge the gap between kill pen and the life Boots enjoys today.

Now the greatest danger Boots faces is overdoing it on pasture grass. Minis like Boots are prone to weight gain and all the attendant health risks that come along with carrying extra pounds. We’re grateful that Victoria chose a GreenGuard muzzle to ensure that Boots has many healthy and happy years ahead of him! 

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Our thanks to Victoria M. for sharing Boots's story and photos with us.
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