BREWSTER, NY
845-475-4314
"Frederic" 1998 TB Gelding.
Fred came to BLack Diamond Equine directly from a field. He had been retired for 6 months prior to coming to us. A hunter by previous profession for the majority of his life, he had seen many miles, many vet bills, injections, and expensive treatments just to maintain daily work. In 2011 he crumpled on the landing side of a fence sending the owner off, breaking her back. After her recovery, her husband asked her not to jump anymore, and switch to dressage so she would stay safer.
Here again Fred's chronically "bad feet" plagued his daily work. On again, off again lame, the owner eventually became frustrated and saddened by her horse's lack of comfort and progress. With the advice of her trainer, vet and farrier, she retired him in Sept. 2012. When Fred arrived to is in march 2013 he was shaggy and messy.
Retirement wasn't suiting him well. His owner suspected he was too bored and sought out a professional rehabilitation facility to give her 15 year old horse a real shot at success. We customized a work program, gave him proper shoeing for his conformation, and began to ride him. Through correct work and shoeing Fred began to thrive. In June he began the show season at training level with his AA owner Nancy Singer. Nancy and Fred qualified for Regional Championships in their first 2 shows with scores reaching 70%. At Regionals, Nancy and Fred culminated their year placing as Reserve Champion in the adult amateur training level division also qualifying them for the National Championships. From retired to Regional Reserve Champion with no drugs or injections. Fred is a wonderful example of the success we have at Black Diamond Equine.
"Red Neck Woman" 1999 Trakhener mare.
Gretchen came to us after a 2 year lay up in a field. After a career as a hunter, she was struggling to stay sound. Chronic suspensory issues flared up each time they tried to bring her back in to work. Intermittantly lame, and after many treatments and injections she was still considered unsound. Looking ahead, her owner made the only choice she thought she could, and turned Gretchen out for 2 years to rest. It was after these 2 years that she came to us in Aug. 2013. By patiently convincing Gretchen that there are different ways to travel with her body, we broke a perpetual cycle that kept her lame. By June of the following year she went to her first dressage show. The goal was to advertise her so that we could find a dressage person to lease her. At her first show ever, she scored mid 60's at 1st level even winning her class the second day. She is currently schooling everything from 3rd level including beautiful flying changes. We are very pleased to say that she is currently being fully leased by a lovely woman in Southbury, CT.
"Flutterbye" 2007 Oldenburg Mare. Phoebe came to Black Diamond Equine in June, 2013. She was bought by a mother and daughter as a future jumping prospect, ( a half sister to Meredith Michaels- Beerbaum's Olympic horse "Shutterfly") for the daughter as a yearling. Raised and backed on their gorgeous farm in Woodbury, CT. she became one of their family. She was sent to Florida as a newly backed 4 year old, and it was there that she began to exhibit major lameness. It wasn't long before the reason was found. She was diagnosed with a cyst in her left front coffin joint and a smaller one in the right fore. The vets determined that this was a career ending, and debilitating diagnosis. At this point the owners began to look in to options for Phoebe. The more likely course of action would be that she would be pasture sound and live out the rest of her days in a field at the owner's own farm. This was also met with the less likely option of a breakthrough surgery. The vets at Cornell proposed that they take stem cells out of her sternum and inject them directly into the cyst. The idea would be that the stem cells would then begin the process of filling in the cavity inside the cyst. At the time, only 2 other horses had had the surgery, and both remained at the same levels of pain. The outcome was unknown as to whether this would in fact help her. The owners opted to try the surgery anyway. The recovery was long and she spent many months in a stall. It was then many months of basic turnout and waiting before they would know if anything was beginning to work. Radiographs were taken regularly to watch the progress of the stem cells within the cyst. After much anticipation they began to see results. At this time Phoebe's vets agreed she could attempt working under saddle again. She arrived to Black Diamond in June 2013. Phoebe was quiet on the ground, but her behavior under saddle was much different. It was likely that because of the pain she endured during the inital phases of her training, she had developed some defensive tendencies. It took patience and clarity, but over the course of 2 years she has blossomed into a truly lovely riding horse. She is even able to be ridden by experienced amateurs. Once she realized that she could trust us and that things could be different now, she slowly began to let go of her defensive behavior. Through hard work and real imagination this mare went to her first recognized dressage show in June 2015, scoring in the 70's at Intro and mid 60's at Training Level. Every day is truly remarkable that Phoebe can work under saddle. From a horse that may have never walked sound ever again, to being an ambassador to horses and owners everywhere that think they are "done", she has proven the world wrong.