About Orion

Orion is a 15.2hh Quarter Horse who originally came to us in 2018 from a local livestock auction. We guess based on his teeth he is somewhere around 16 years old. He had originally been a working ranch horse, helping move cattle along, but when he started going blind his people decided they couldn't use him anymore and brought him to the auction. There, they tied him to a post and walked away, telling the auction people to mail them a check. As soon as we saw him come through the ring and be bid on by a kill buyer, we knew we had to help him. He was obviously terrified and had no idea what was going on. When the kill buyer saw that we were also bidding, they took pity on him and stopped bidding against us so we could take him home. When he first came to us, Orion was a very anxious horse. He was still learning to navigate the world without his sight and everything was very scary. Where he used to be able to see clearly, his world was now just shadows and vague shapes, monsters in every corner. He was with us for about a year before he was first adopted. During that year, we worked hard at gaining his trust and figuring out the best ways to help him be happy and content. His adoptive family loved him, but they moved down to Florida and weren't able to take him with him, so he came back to us. Since he's been back with us, we've been working to relearn who Orion is and to find out what type of home would make him happiest. And it turns out he absolutely loves to go out on trails! Our staff has been teaching him verbal cues (such as 'step up' when there's something he needs to step higher for) in order to help him safely go on adventures. He does best with a rider he truly trusts and an equine buddy to go along with him, but he does well when he's out on his own as long as he knows where he is. We've also gotten him more used to ring work and does great at a walk and trot in our indoor. We think that if we had a larger indoor, he would also be able to canter in there with no problems. He is a bit more of a complicated ride, just because his rider has to be more aware of their surroundings in order to give him the proper cues if the terrain changes, but once he trusts you, you'll have a lifelong friend and adventure buddy! If you are interested in learning more about Orion, please reach out to us at waywardranch.org!

Ulster County
Kerhonkson, New York 12446