Preparing our horses for their new homes

Our horses come to HNR with various levels of training and different histories. We always start by making sure our horses are healthy (this is the ‘rehab’ part of our mission), but once they are we start thinking more about their training. We work with our horses to ensure they are the best citizens possible, and to work through any past traumas they may have. We always begin working on basic groundwork and handling requirements for their health. When horses have all the skills to be trimmed, vetted and handled easily, they have achieved our courteous companion certificate, at which point they are listed for adoption. We then work with our horses to teach them as many skills as their health will allow to help them find the perfect forever home. See below for the required skills associated with each of our certificates. Our horses achieve each certification level when they have a basic mastery of each skill.

🏅 Courteous Companion

Easy to halter

Stands for farrier

Stands for vet

Takes dewormer

good for grooming

Leads well

🏅Barn Basics

Leading into and out of barn

cross tying and being groomed

Going into and out of stall

Tacking

🏅Groundwork Guru

yield to pressure

front end yield

back end yield

lunging (w/t/c)

Walking over poles

🏅Riding Readiness

Wearing tack (saddle, bridle, etc)

Standing at mounting block

Standing when mounting from ground

Understanding rein pressure with and w/o bit from ground

understanding rein and leg pressure from saddle

stop

walk/trot/canter

back

riding in pasture

riding in arena

trails with friends

trails without friends

Adoption ready horses

Maggie

🏅Courteous Companion Certificate | 🏅Barn Basics Certificate | 🏅Groundwork Guru Certificate |🏅 Riding Readiness

Price: $1,000
Breed: Connemara/Welsh Pony cross
Age: 18
Height: 13 hh
Maggie is a beautiful, stocky palomino pony. She came to Horse North simply due to a lack of time on the owner's part to be able to work with her, and her owner wanted to be sure that she found a good home. She is a sweet mare on the ground, and will get more and more cuddly as you spend quality time with her. She can handle basic horse skills well, though she can get pushy in situations where she becomes nervous. This is true both on the ground and under saddle. We suggest her for an immediate or advanced rider at this time. She did well for us, no buck or rear or major concerns, but she still seems a little green or inexperienced under saddle and with that pushy tendency when nervous, a confident rider who can stay calm and lead through those situations would be best for her.
Maggie is a strong girl in a herd, and tends to be higher up in the pecking order. She is also a typical pony - stays fat on air! She has slimmed down since she first arrived, but she is still overweight and that will be something that will be a consideration her whole life. She would do best either in a drylot situation or at least somewhere where she would be pulled from grass overnight. A lush, 24/7 pasture would make a difficult management situation for her.
Overall however, Maggie is a gorgeous little palomino, though built tough, and for someone who can put in a little time on her training and bonding on the front end, she will very quickly blossom into a phenomenal family member!
Cayenne

🏅 Courteous Companion Certificate
Price: $1,000 (Price to increase with training)
Breed: Spanish Mustang
Age: 13
Height: 13 hh
Likes:
Learning new things: this girl is smart and always keen to learn something new
What she can do:
Halters
Stands for farrier and vet
takes dewormer
happy to be cross tied, groomed, tacked
lines up at the mounting block
loads onto a trailer
Leads well and is confident on hand walks
What she is working on:
Barn Basics: she is improving every day with cross-tying and tacking
Starting under saddle: as far as we know this girl has not had a rider, but has done incredibly well with the early skills and is very willing to learn!
Her ideal home:
A home with experience training or willingness to continue her training through other venues.
Hunter

🏅Courteous Companion Certificate | 🏅Barn Basics
Hunter is available for adoption as a companion.
Price: $600 - Negotiable to the right home.
Breed: Quarter Horse
Age: 20
Height: 15.2 hh

Hunter is a gorgeous, healthy, 20 year old Quarter Horse gelding with a friendly, in your pocket personality. He is good for the vet and farrier, and loves attention. Overall he has an excellent head on his shoulders, is not spooky or nervous, and enjoys his time with people and learning new things.

As recommended by our vets, he is not suited to be ridden and is looking for a retirement home where he can live out his days with lots of cuddles and love to give his family.

Herd in rehab

not yet available for adoption

DIVA

Diva is a sweet, pretty, petite little Quarter Horse lady, 14 years old. She needs a little work on her hooves, but they are not in terrible shape and should clean up nicely. She will be heading into training and evaluated for temperament, and after that will be available for adoption.
Lilly

Lilly is a big, beautiful Quarter horse girl. She is 7 years old and needs care to rehabilitate her overgrown and neglected hooves and is also being treated for ulcers. Once she is physically back in shape and healthy again, she will start training under saddle and soon be ready for adoption.
Gemma

Sweet Gemma arrived at HNR at a body score of about 1.5, very starved and in desperate need of food and hoof care. She is a beautiful, 12 year old Quarter Horse mare. She will be with us for a while regaining weight and rehabbing her hooves!
Phoenix

This beautiful Arabian lady came to us through the efforts of a private intervention and rescue situation of a large herd of horses. Though she is a grade Arabian, she has very nice breeding and is built beautifully.

Phoenix was completely unhandled, however, prior to her arrival, and we are slowly gaining her trust. She has a healthy curiosity and once she is comfortable among humans, she will really excel in further training! Keep an eye on this gorgeous girl!

Our adoption process

ONE

Download and fill out the application, and mail it, along with a $25 application fee, to Horse North Rescue, P. O. Box 7143, Traverse City, MI 49696. If you wish to email your application after filling it out, you may send the $25 application fee via PayPal. (If you use PayPal, please make a note that the donation is for an adoption application fee.)

FOUR

After your references have been approved, we will call or text you to schedule a Meet & Greet session with the horse in which you are interested. During the meet & greet session, our trainer will ask you to catch, halter, saddle, and ride the horse to see if you and the horse are compatible. In the case of a pasture pet, you will catch and handle the animal.

Two

Either before or after your Meet & Greet session, we will schedule a site visit at your barn, to make sure it is safe and comfortable for one of our horses.

FIVE

Once your adoption application is approved and your facility passes the site inspection, your application is good for two years, and it is not horse-specific.

THREE

Please be sure to notify all of your references that someone from Horse North Rescue will be calling, especially your veterinarian, since they cannot give out any of your information without your permission. If you don’t currently own equines, please give us the name and contact information for your small animal veterinarian. Please note that you may use only one relative as a reference.

NOTE

The HNR contract will transfer to the new owner as these horses are on a contract for life. All HNR horses are adopted out on a “right to first refusal contract,” meaning if you cannot or should no longer wish to own the horse, HNR must be contacted prior to the horse being advertised or transferred to another home.