Paphos Life

How Metro saved his life by learning to paint - the story of an ex-racehorse after suffering injuries:

Metro had months of rehab and medication. Special horse shoes helped for a time, but in 2012 X-rays revealed his knee joints were closing up. A vet said they would lock up within two years, at which point Ron and Wendy would have to put their horse down.
"I didn't just want to put him out to pasture and forget about him. I was thinking about how we could spend time together," Ron says.
He had noticed that his spirited horse liked to bob his head to get attention and pick things up in his mouth. A professional artist himself, Ron wondered if he could convince Metro to hold a paintbrush.



Full article and video through the link below:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39628629#

Jules

What a lovely story - thank you so much for posting it complete with video brought a tear to the eye. He is a remarkable fellow and I do so hope he goes on for many more years.

Rita

Thanks Rita, I have a number of "horsey" friends who are appreciating that little story.

It's always a bad time when racing animals come to the end of their careers....

A very good friend of mine used to help out with supporting greyhound rescue in UK.
One lady she knew whose home we visited with her on several occasions had 14 greyhounds living with her that had literally been thrown out and abandoned when they were too old to race. They all had lovely lives right up to the end and that lady is still continuing her path! We've watched her go to the greyhound tracks and bathe the dogs feet to help get the sand out because the owners weren't bothering to do it themselves....

So to see a story like this today was extremely heartwarming

It's not so surprising really! Horses, like many animals learn to do tricks for titbits! In this case this clever horse gets a reward from a nosebag every time he makes a brush stroke on the canvas!
I am very glad that this animal is paying his way and enjoying his life after his racing days are over.

Dee

Agree Dee, these horses deserve a good retirement after a lifetimes work, and if painting's his thing, then why not! His work looks as good to me as stuff I've seen in many galleries over the years!!!

Yes, the daughter has two of her own and looks after ten more, not really a horse lover, two big with large metal feet.

None paint though.

Here she is on Troy.

Nice photo, Jim.
Yes, racehorses usually have a relatively short but hard racing life, so it's great when some of them are lucky to find caring and loving new owners.
We've re'homed a couple of these horses ourselves when we were younger. Had many years of fun with them, having first re schooled them! Lovely, intelligent horses, but not novice rides!

Dee