About 2 years ago I bought from you a Chestnut and white pinto gelding Rust N Thunder. He was very timid and nervous but we have spent many hours retraining him and quietning him down, we have registered him with the Pinto Horse assoc of NSW and I thought I would send you these pics of him. My God daughter Jessica rides and cares for him fulltime and has begun showing him this season with great success. The pics I am sending are from the Pinto State Titles in Nov 08. Thanks to all you guys for helping us to find such a great little pony who we love dearly.

Rachelle Knight & Jessica Stuart

The Adoption
Rachelle & I went and saw Rusty on a warm sunny day over in Sydney. He was standing in the paddock and when his carer tried to catch him he ran away in fright. We waited by the fence until his carer caught him and led him towards us. He was very nervous and scared and started to shiver and move away from us. We patted him on the neck until he calmed down then led him around the paddock a little. After a while he let us put on the saddle and bridle and we rode him calmly around, the more time we spent talking to him and coaxing him gently the more he calmed down.
We decided we would take him and would come back in a few weeks time and visit him again and pick him up. Rachelle breeds Pintos and that's why she was so attracted to Rusty for me to have as a riding and show pony. A few very very slow weeks passed as I was so excited to go and pick him up. We caught him and put his new rug on we had bought him, loaded him on the float and took him home. He travelled home really well as it was a fair drive from Sydney as we live in the Southern Highlands.
Once we got him home we spent weeks just teaching him ground work like leading, patting, brushing, picking his feet up and just generally getting to know him. As he progressed and was not nervous around us we began riding him and training him for hacking. He was a quick learner and responded so well to our calm and friendly training techniques. I also learnt so much through training Rusty, which was nice cause we learnt together.
We registered him with the Pinto Horse Association of NSW and last year (2008) we started showing him and I took him to the Pinto State Titles at Cobbitty. He behaved so well, he went in led event and he won 3rd our of 5, we did a few hacking events and he behaved so well, then in the afternoon we competed in the sporting which he won numerous ribbons. I have also sent you some photos from this show with both of us looking very shmick if I do say so myself. Rusty is the most wonderful friend and companion I could ever ask for and we have both learnt so much from each other along the way. Thanks you DCH Rescue for allowing me to have the pony I always wanted and who I'll always love.
Jessica

Rusty in Foster Care March 2007

"he won about $76, 000 in prize money! His father was an American import named Azzaam - & out of all of Azzaam's offspring, Duke is always listed first when they say "sire of 103 runners & 39 winners." He raced 43 times and in fairly good ones at that - his father had Secretariat bloodlines. He raced against a couple of Gai Waterhouse's horses and won a fair few times, too"
Below is an email from his owner Hanna, who's kind enough to send us updates on how he's going, we love to see these horses who once had such an uncertain future doing so well!

Hey Amanda,
It's been a while since I wrote, so I thought I'd update you on Duke's progress since my last email! Dukey and I have been going trail-riding regularly now with my sister and her horse -- he's absolutely fantastic with cars/motorbikes/kids/trucks/scary horse-eating monsters. I'm able to open and close gates off him, walk over bridges, ride on the main road... The list is endless! He's just such a reliable horse, even when I go riding on my own.
I'm still waiting for my first fall off him! He's now comfortably jumping 50-60 cms and we're hoping to compete in a jumping show in June -- it'll be his first show. I originally planned to take him to a hack show on the 25th of April, but it felt a little too soon for him. I bet my bottom dollar he takes the show scene like a pro, though.
He's still very, very spoilt and loved by the whole family...my brother's new favourite thing! He's especially fond of pears and my leftover toast (or whatever he can get his mouth around...). His new favourite thing to do is get his whole body into the feed room (no joke) while I'm not looking, and then I have to squish under him to push him back out again -- still very much the cheeky man. :)
I just love him so much, I don't know what I'd do without his adorable face hanging over the fence, waiting for me when I get home from school. He's assured a forever home with me, you can rest easy! :) Have included a few photos so you can see what we've been getting up to...
Thanks so much, Hanna

Due to a change of circumstance Duke was re-surrendered to DCH in 2009; he was then re-adopted and given another chance at a wonderful life by Brenda and her family. In July 2009 Brenda writes:
Hi Amanda & Nadia, I’ve finally got the chance to let you know how Duke’s going & share some pics. First thing we did together was to go out on a trail ride with some friends. Duke was great, he was the best behaved horse and seemed to really enjoy himself. We went through some creeks, some bushy areas, past some roos & motorbikes and he was perfect for the entire ride. Our weekly lessons are also going really well. Duke is enjoying them and his fitness is slowly improving. My instructor had a mock-dressage day for students that wanted to be judged by a local dressage judge without the “who-ha” of things that go on with the real thing. It was only the 2nd time I had ridden him and we scored 60% in a preparatory test and I forgot the test half way through, so I was really chuffed with our result. We will keep our fingers crossed that we will get some nice weather soon so that we can enjoy some more rides out. Brenda