Duke is a  roan Belgian gelding.  He belonged to some competitive horse pullers who found out that he really wasn't cut out for the task.  He would become nervous and upset in a pulling situation.  It was felt that he would be better off doing something less stressful, so he was sold to an Amish farmer as a work horse.  

Duke's "problem," though, seems to have been that he was sensitive and didn't understand everything that was being asked of him.  His worrying caused him to suffer greatly, and he lost lots of weight, which didn't make things any easier on him.  Only a few months later, his former owner stopped by to see how he was doing.  She was shocked at Duke's condition and offered to buy him back.  The Amish farmer, convinced that Duke would never be a good farm horse either, gladly accepted. 

The only problem was that there really wasn't room for Duke at his owner's farm.  Other horses had moved in when he had left.  He regained his weight, but his trust was gone.   That's when his owner turned to Blue Star for help.  She had read about how we had helped another competitive pulling horse, Tom Too, and wondered if we could help Duke, as we clearly had the patience to take as long as Duke needed.  

When Duke arrived, he was as big and beautiful as Pepper or Tom Too or any of our Belgians, but it was clear that he was emotionally withdrawn.  He was sometimes hard to catch, and whereas the other horses' reaction is to come to any person who approaches them, Duke remained very wary. Soon, though, with regular handling and attention (all Blue Star horses are handled AT LEAST twice a day), Duke began to relax around people.  With friendly scratching and grooming, he REALLY began to come around - Duke LOVES having the inside of his back legs scratched!  (This is probably because of his shivers and stringhalt... his hind legs are often very tight and he enjoys massages on his back end, too.)  

Duke has been hooked up some with Tom Too, and he clearly enjoys working, though he gets a bit hyper and worked up (thankfully Tom Too serves as a calming influence).  Duke also suffers from both shivers (EPSM) and stringhalt, muscular disorders of the hind limbs that draft horses are particularly prone to.  He can have spasms if asked to back up awkwardly, and his spasms are also sometimes triggered by dietary changes (he had a bad episode earlier this spring as we gradually over two months shifted to a new feed company (Poulin).  Thankfully, with his new diet he is getting better.

Now Duke is the welcoming committee!  He loves attention and being worked with, and is often the first one at the gate or at the fence.  Light exercise is good for his condition.  He's a big, sweet horse who just needed life in the Herd and a lot of love!

Duke has special dietary needs and veterinary treatments for his EPSM.  Consider sponsoring Duke to help him out!