By Maggie Beamguard
Insider Editor
When Casper, the friendly horse, retired from Seven Lakes Equestrian Center in August, he wasn’t just put out to pasture.
The 14-year old Appaloosa remains in his prime. But the onset of blindness from uveitis, a degenerative disease common to the breed, meant he was no longer suited to the work at the center.
Stable Manager Crystal Fravel researched blind horses and determined Casper could thrive in the right environment.
“A lot of people assume that when a horse is blind, he’s either just gonna be a pasture pet or you need to put him down,” she said. “But he can be ridden. And he’s actually very lovely to ride. He enjoys it because he gets to run without worrying about running into something because he’s got his rider to tell him it’s gonna be there.”
Even though Casper remains rideable, Fravel determined the center could not meet his needs.
“So many of our riders are not experienced riders, so they don’t always give clear signals to the horse,” she said, “and they can’t be trusted to remember that their horse can’t see where he is going.”
Fravel was tickled to find a local family willing to ride him and be his seeing-eye people. Still, Casper will be missed at the stables.
“Casper is very people friendly,” she said. “He loves attention, and he’s very sweet. He’s just really calm and gentle.”
He is also a ladies man and took a shine to Dixie, one of the mares. “He was her number one boyfriend. They were always together,” said Fravel. “But she won’t be too heartbroken. She is a little bit of a flirt.”
With Casper moving on to greener pastures, a search is underway or a new horse to fill his vacancy. The Seven Lakes Landowners Association, which owns the Equestrian Center, approved the forthcoming expenditure at its August meeting.
Fravel is intent on finding just the right horse to join their other seven horses and two ponies. “I would love to find a horse who has already been doing lessons and some sort of equestrian program. I’ll be looking for a horse with a very calm temperament who is pretty people friendly because we have a lot of people in and out.” With so many beginner riders, she is also looking for a horse with “more slow than go.”
The Equestrian Center runs a lesson program from September through May, including beginning rider lessons, trail rides and pony rides. The ponies typically make an appearance at the community-sponsored Easter party. Summer camps are offered each year.
The ridership is primarily composed of residents of Seven Lakes North and South who have free use of the stables. Guests of residents can use the facilities for a fee if there is space available. Between January and July of this year, the Equestrian Center offered 1600 rides.
Contact Maggie Beamguard at maggie@thepilot.com.
