One complicating issue was that Tobey had been left for some time wearing a getup fabricated by a by a lariat, a leadrope and a halter. The the leadrope dragline had somehow gotten caught (or Tobey was physically abused by the trainer) which resulted in a deep rope burn sore across his crest near his poll. Unfortunately he stepped on the drag line a number of times causing the rope to dig in even deeper into the sore to which the fibers of the rope had now stuck to. This situation had to be extremely uncomfortable and had to be corrected.

When we first learned about Tobey, Cathy Pettey, his adopter, was struggling with how to get Tobey settled down and the rope safely removed. She managed to cut his drag line but removing the embedded rope was a nightmarish puzzle.

Veterinarians and even a zookeeper were consulted as to how to best confine or sedate the horse in order to remove the leadrope which was now becoming embedded in the angry sore. No one had a solution so the Wild Horse Mentors went to work.

We contacted Robert Denlinger in Kentucky whose greatest delight and talent is working with mishandled mustangs. He agreed to work with Tobey. Kyn Kamer agreed to provide transport. Art Degrazia approved the plan. Tobey headed down to Kentucky.

Robert immediately set to work doing his magic and within the first day was able to apply some ointment to Tobey's wound. Over the next couple of days he "softened" the rope burn with medication until he could quietly remove the embedded rope.

The activities which followed included adjusting Tobey to proper human handling and getting him past his human induced fears. In the days which followed Tobey became well adjusted to human contact and progressed through his training, not just becoming a gentled horse who could be touched and remain unafraid, but a horse who could actually serve a useful purpose.