This is Chance. He is 31 years old. He is owner/trainer Nina Fisher’s very first horse she has ever owned and has been with her for 22 years and counting:) He is more dear to her than words could express written down or said aloud. He has been there for her, with her, through thick and thin, good and bad, laughter and tears, teaching many of life’s lessons to her through the eyes of the horse, a window to their soul and what a gentle, sweet soul he is. He loves human interaction and is always looking for it:) Being the caring special person Nina is, she took him in as a rescue off the racetrack. He entered into a new life of being a lesson and show horse for many years, while today is now happily enjoying his retirement, while of course being loved on and pampered, and boy does he know it haha! You will never see him apart from his sidekick and best friend, “Blue”.

Here is his story of how one day almost ended his life in tragedy and how his WILL to FIGHT and LIVE and how the LOVE and CARE he received, saved his life….
One day Chance unfortunately got bit by another horse while caught up in the midst of normal horse instinct and herd behavior. Being an older horse, his skin like our own as we age, is thinner so when he was bit, a huge piece of skin was also torn and ripped off, exposing tissue and muscle!!  He was rushed to the UF Veterinary Hospital in Gainesville where he was treated and given the ok to head home that same evening. Months went by where day and night Nina fought back tears and heartache as she and SSF students nursed, cared, and tended to his wound, doing things they never dreamed of doing! It was rough for awhile and a roller coaster of emotions as he had good days, and bad days. After nearly losing him to infection and weakness, he fought his hardest and pulled through!!!! Today he is now on the road to recovery!!!! His wound has shrunk half the size and is getting smaller and smaller everyday, the hair is growing back and the tissue and muscle are healing! Our Chancey boy is a fighter…his soul was not ready to go. He is proof of what LOVE can do, from both the touch of a human and the bonding felt from another animal:) We all love him so much, including his companion, “Blue”, who never left his side!

So we here at SSF are not JUST a lesson barn, we are all a FAMILY. We don’t just ride, we CARE with our whole heart, in every way, for the LOVE of the HORSE is our PASSION. He is a huge part of Nina’s being, and holds a special piece in everyone’s heart who know him, interact and care for him here at SSF!!! A student even threw him a special birthday party to celebrate his life and all he fought for! What a great way to have brought our barn family together and to honor Chance for the amazing, strong, and loving horse he is. WE LOVE YOU CHANCE!!!