Ronan

Foaled in 2000 (approx.)
14 hand American Sulfur Mustang gelding 
Arrived 2006;
Passed away 2023

 
Ronan (left) in Aug 2010

Darling little Ronan, yes, seems too young to be at TGC.  His misfortunes revolve around a terrible handicap in the horse industry, simple inexperience.  Ronan was rescued as a wild 2 year old, by a woman who has a deep love of horses in theory, but no real experience with them.  She trusted three trainers in a row, who fumbled seriously the training of this spooky young horse. 
Ronan watches to see if Star gets the carrots he's waiting for....

Terri, his former owner, did some great ground work with Ronan, and he continues to be a sweetheart to handle at least partly due to that. She sent him to the first trainer for training to be ridden. This trainer probably accomplished some work with Ronan before an injury to Ronan’s right knee. 
 

X-rays showed a bone chip. It’s not usually a problem, but too much hard work definitely causes swelling.  The second trainer simply warehoused him, I think hoping sometime off might re-boot him to the earlier good work. But when he began to ride Ronan, he thought using an oversized western saddle with a broken tree was a good idea. Of course, it was not and Ronan learned to buck. 
 
Ronan never tried to buck Jill Phillips, Stacey Kaplan, or me  – having a proper saddle on his back – that is, NOT hurting him – made all the difference. This summer, 2008, I’m going to start serious ground work with him again to get some fat off his barrel, and then I’ll be starting to ride him.  This young man needs a job!
 
   
 
Ronan (above left) in December 2009, pic taken by DeeAnn Bradley
...And here's Ronan (above right) begging for treats with a recent visitor! He has NO shame!
 
Ronan finally has his own part-sponsor, Marsha Schauer! Thank you Marsha for stepping up for our beautiful boy! Anyone else want to join with Marsha to help Ronan?