Lucy

Lucy will be participating in the 2024 Dakota Showdown Horse Trainer Challenge and available for adoption through a bidding process to approved adopters on August 25, 2024. Learn more at dakotashowdown.com Lucy came to GSH as a rescue trainer as a potential Dakota Showdown horse in 2023. This big mare was described as "spoiled" and basically minimally handled, and had some panic aggression at the previous rescue. We rapidly realized she had some sort of separation trauma, as she would be easy to handle unless you messed with or took a friend away, then she would panic and attempt to protect them, even if it meant kicking or biting. We decided to let Lucy live in our big herd and let them help her learn how to relax and be a sane horse, while also showing that humans are friends, and horses can leave and come back. She steadily showed progress and after a year is one of the friendliest horses in pasture. She still has some anxiety but has not shown aggression in quite some time and has learned to make several friends, so if one leaves, she can turn to another ... or even better, a human. Lucy has been matched with Kaylee Peel of Lazy K Equine, the 2023 Dakota Showdown Grand Champion, who is very aware of her issues and prepared to work with her. Kaylee's training business is thriving and she's been asked to work with challenging horses, so the Showdown and Lucy will give her the chance to see what she is comfortable working with before taking on client horses with issues, and also give Lucy a fabulous opportunity to continue her growth and maybe even find the perfect home.