Monty
Birth date: March 17, 1999
His full name is Montana’s Strollin’ Joe; and it’s the PERFECT name for this horse. He is confident without being aggressive; he is handsome and he knows it; he is a tad lazy and looks for fun rather than work – a real roaring twenties Storllin’ Joe kind of a guy. His friendly, easing going nature make him everybody’s – and we do mean every BODY, as in humans and horses – “go to” horse.
The Dunrovin staff will quickly pick him out to serve as their trail guide; and when the herd smells trouble, Monty is frequently the guy who will take the lead to investigate their cause for concern. Monty has that laid back California kind of personality. He has, in fact, been referred to as Dunrovin’s “surfer dude” or “the equine equivalent of a golden retriever” or simply Gentleman Monty. He will happily wear a costume and prance in a parade, pull a toboggan with nothing but a rope, carry a load of gas and a chain saw for clearing trails, serve as Dunrovin’s parking lot attendant showing drivers where to park, or take very special care of a child on the trail. He LOVES to snuggle and we all joking say that if allowed, he would join us on the couch for TV along with a bowl of popcorn (just like a golden retriever!).
Monty has some very “special” characteristics. He thinks that he should be a yoga instructor as he does his down dog stretches while tied up at the rail – much to the amusement and concern of the guests who are about to get on him for a ride. He taught himself how to open his stall gate and let himself and his friends out to search for greener grass or piles of hay. He is the reason that we have had to install bungie cord locks on all the stalls.
Dunrovin is very lucky to have Monty among us – and lucky because Monty’s history with us includes two really serious health issues that could have killed him. First, SuzAnne took him to a horsemanship clinic with other horses and mules to learn how to serve as a pack animal. He did great, of course. The trouble was that he came home with a very contagious and deadly form of the herpes virus. SuzAnne had to isolate him from the herd for six months and nurse him back to health. He nearly died and he could have passed his sickness on the entire herd.
Secondly, once while he and SuzAnne were galloping along in the woods, he tripped and when he tried to catch himself from falling, his foot hit a tree and both he and SuzAnne flipped 360 degrees, leaving Monty piled up against the tree. SuzAnne thought the worst – that he had been killed. But luck was with them both. He was completely knocked out and it took several minutes for him to wake up. While he failed to get up at first, after a few more minutes he rose, shook himself, and stood looking at SuzAnne. She walked him out to the trail head and loaded him for home. He showed absolutely no signs of damage, so all SuzAnne did was keep a very close eye on him.
Then, almost one year to the day, at the same place on the same trail during the same time of year, SuzAnne was riding him along when she realized that they were at the sport where their accident had occurred – and Monty fainted. All four legs went down at once and SuzAnne simply stepped off. She waited for a couple of minutes, he awoke, got up, shook, and she got back on and rode him back to the trailer. However, she did contact a number of vets and horse trainers to discuss the incident and everyone agreed that Monty has suffered from Post Traumatic Syndrome. Horses are almost never knocked unconscious; it is akin to dying. All the stimuli of the same trail, smells, time of year, etc. simply overwhelmed him for a moment.
Dunrovin is, indeed, very lucky to have Monty among its herd. He has faced some serious challenges, and come through them with no apparent physical or emotional scars. These two serious incidents only forged a strong bond between SuzAnne and Monty. He will always be one of the “go to” horses at Dunrovin for his courage and his wonderful personality. What a horse!