ROMEO'S STORY
Romeo arrived at Trinity Rescue in September 2020 along with two other mini stallions. They were all emaciated, with overgrown hooves and hardly handled at all. Romeo was the smallest of the three, and because of his aggressive behavior towards the other stallions, he was kept segregated from the miniature horse herd and was pastured with goats instead. He was incredibly antisocial, regularly pinned his ears and tried to bite and kick his handlers. He was so underweight, we had to put weight on him before he would be healthy enough for gelding surgery. Finally, after a few months, he had gained enough weight for surgery and was successfully gelded.
We kept him separated from our mini mares for 8 weeks to ensure that there was no possibility of breeding and then introduced him to Tinkerbell. This was their first experience having a full-time herd mate, and neither of them knew how to have a positive relationship with other horses since they had both been solo for their entire lives. It took quite a while for them to understand how to be a good friend, and not just chase, bite and kick at each other. Romeo learned how to share his hay, without fear of where his next meal would come from. As his relationship with Tinkerbell improved, so did his relationship with humans. He found grooming sessions to be enjoyable and occasionally he even liked the various treats being offered. Although, he didn’t really understand what treats/cookies were and often would turn his nose up at them.
Romeo joined the Pine Hill Farm herd in Rome alongside Tinkerbell in December 2021 when the Winding Creek Farm location was sold. He was beside himself having four more minis to chase and play with. Initially he was incredibly protective of Tinkerbell, but soon learned that four new friends gave him 4x the number of horses to chase and play with. He started nearly all the pasture play and was instrumental in helping Boober get more fit with all the running and bucking they did together. Romeo has gotten much sweeter over time, although he is still known to bite and kick when he is feeling anxious or scared. We are looking forward to training him in a new job this Spring, where he will learn to drive and pull a cart, as we believe having a job will give him an excellent outlet to release his boundless energy.
