American Mustang story: How Padre came East Part IV

This is part IV of the story of Padre -- Patti's account of how she got Padre. I'm interspersing the story with pix taken of Padre's foray into different disciplines. 

In Patti's words...
Padre was adopted through the Palomino Valley, Nevada BLM facility by Dr. Rick Redden of the International Equine Podiatry Center in Versailles, Kentucky. You can check out his website for information on the Wild Horse hoof study he was doing with the BLM, it is really interesting.

Doc acquired Padre' as part of his hoof research. He bred Padre to domestic horses with hoof abnormalities to find out if Padre's good genetics could help the foals to have better hoof quality. I took a few horses to Doc's place who had navicular disease and Doc would let us go see the Mustangs. I had seen them in the wild as a child but had never been as close to them as we could get. They were amazing being still wild but they were also kind having always been treated well by Doc.

I use to joke with Doc that if he ever decided he didn't have time or wanted to see what they could really do that I would love the chance to work with one. A couple of months went by after my last visit and his assistant called me to ask if I wanted Padre'. I immediately said yes and have been thrilled ever since.

I know how lucky I am and stopped through to see Doc on the way home from Devon. He knew what we had been up to since I send him e-mails and videos every couple of months. He told me he was glad Padre' found the perfect home and that we had "done good". It meant a lot to me to take Padre' back to see Doc and to know he is proud of what we are doing together.

Stacey's note
While Padre has been primarily a dressage horse, he has done some stints in other disciplines as you can see from the photos. Patti mentions buying the cowboy hat for the western show, right. I just love Padre's face in the photo. What a wonderful find he is.