Major is a gorgeous Cremello Palomino Tennessee Walking Horse. He was being kept in a junkyard (literally) in South Fulton County by his previous owner. When the State intervened, he was skin and bones and had a large untreated wound on his left hindquarter, which left a nasty scar. The state rehabilitated him, but it took quite some time for him to heal from his injuries and illnesses. Finally, in 2015, his rescuers decided that he was ready for a permanent home. Ruth happened to be at the GDA auction that day with a client interested in a horse; one look and she was in love! With the help of her friends Ann and Rick (since she had not brought much money intending to bid on another horse for herself!) she won the bid and brought this big beautiful boy home! He has bonded 100% with Ruth, and he is the calmest, quietest parade horse we have ever seen. He's a heart horse for sure!

Scooby has been twice rescued! Originally he was in a kill pen in Louisiana. (A kill pen is where horses who have been purchased by the pound wait to be hauled to Mexico to be slaughtered and made into dog food.) A lovely family in Missouri saw him on a rescue page and adopted him. About a year later, as the lady's older mare was undergoing expensive cancer treatment, they discovered that Scooby needed an operation. Her vet could not perform the necessary surgery and referred her to the University of Missouri Vet School. UM quoted her a price that was just not feasible at the time. Desperately she reached out to a rescue organization, and somehow his story found us. We had experience with the type of operation Scooby needed, since one of our horses had the same thing done. Our WONDERFUL veterinarians at Piedmont Equine Associates quoted a much more reasonable price for the operation. The rescue group raised $1,000 to have Scooby shipped from Missouri to Georgia, and some friends of the farm helped pay for the surgery.

When Scooby came to us, he was a timid little thing. Emilee came to visit and brought him some homemade horse treats, and he was DONE!! You could almost hear the romantic music swelling in the background when those two laid eyes on each other for the first time! Emilee quickly became Scooby's person, and he became her pet project to spoil! They have been parade partners ever since. On Emilee's 15th birthday, we chose to make official what Scooby had decided a long time ago, and we gave him to her as her birthday gift. The "dynamic duo" are essential to our lesson program here at Echo Hill!