You have to love stories with happy endings. Stories about the abused/neglected/abandoned finding their "forever homes". The story of one of Super Weight Gain's cover horses is one such story.
This is Phantom. In the Spring of 2009, he and four other horses were rescued from a shed where they had been held without food for who knows how long. One of the sheriffs' deputies who rescued them called them "five of the most emaciated horses he had ever seen."
Equine Outreach, a nonprofit horse rescue in Bend, OR, agreed to take them and the process of nursing them physically and emotionally back to health began.
One of Equine Outreach's long-time volunteers, Annette, instantly fell for Phantom. Through the course of his rehabilitation, the two became famous friends and Annette decided he was the horse for her.
Annette, being so smitten by the guy, took a ton of pictures of his recovery and was thoughtful enough to send them to Horse Guard as a testimonial of the power of love and the power of Super Weight Gain and Phantom became one of Super Weight Gain's "cover horses".
Unfortunately, just as Phantom's rehabilitation at Equine Outreach was completing, circumstances in Annette's life radically changed and it became impossible for her to adopt him as she hoped.
"I just knew he was a special horse and needed a special home. That was when Green Acres Beach and Trail Rides approached Equine Outreach about taking a few of the horses for further training and evaluation and I was so happy that Phantom was one of the ones who got to go."
Gary Fromm of Green Acres says "In the winter when our trail riding operations slow down, we try to help rescued horses by bringing them here and having our 4-H kids work with them. Often times, we'll find forever homes for them but if the horse is exceptionally great with children, we'll add them to our herd."
"Phantom was that gentle with children and the kids just loved him to pieces. We simply couldn't part with him" Gary said.
It wasn't long after that Gary saw his new horse's photo on the cover of Super Weight Gain and called us to introduce himself and give us an update on Phantom's fate. He told us all about how all the horses in their herd are fed Super Weight Gain during the summer since beach riding requires a lot of energy and how much they rely on that product. He also said that Phantom turned out to be a natural trail horse and had settled in nicely to his new life.
As one Trip Advisor reviewer stated: "My husband and I came to Lincoln City on our honeymoon and this was by far one of the best things we did! The trail leaders were awesome, the views were beautiful, and the horses we great. I road Charlie and my husband rode Phantom and we had a blast! I totally recommend!"
So here we are six years after his rescue and Phantom continues to thrive as part of the Green Acres herd. Gary says "Phantom is doing great... he's one of our best horses and he just loves the kids and the beach. You'd never know the horror he's survived. It is ironic that of all the guys that need to weight gain in the summer, Phantom isn't one of them".
Like I said, you gotta love those happy endings! To meet Phantom, just go to Green Acres website and book a ride! You'll find him at www.beach-rides.com and their beach riding operation is on the gorgeous white sand beach near Pacific City, Oregon.
More information about the amazing and very busy group of rescuers who were up to the challenge of rehabilitating Phantom and the others can be found at www.equineoutreach.com.
Both organizations have Facebook pages and would appreciate your thumbs up.
A more in-depth story about Phantom and his rehabilitation using Super Gain which was originally published in 2012 can be found at.... The story in the words of Green Acres can be found at https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/12OTfOQryEOM4y8BrttOz9mp8NL-SZHM2iAknVgP-kUk/edit?usp=sharing
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