Big horse adopted by family

"Um, Houston. We have a problem." When Chalisa the horse left Best Friends and reached her new home in Texas, there was one teensy little issue her new family had to work out. None of their horse equipment fit! She was too big. Not overweight or anything. Just plain big. But she’s always been a bit larger than life.

An expensive horse

Backing up a bit, Chalisa came into this world as quite the pampered lady. Her original family paid $15,000 for her. A tidy sum indeed, but of course Chalisa insists she was worth every penny. Horses sold for that kind of cash aren’t usually born out in the fields and left alone. They’re handled and worked with right from the start. So it should come as no surprise that Chalisa is a professional ham when it comes to getting attention. In fact, she almost appears double-jointed when you see just how far she’s willing to stretch her neck over the fence for a treat n’ scratch!

Horse adopted into new home

She came to Best Friends when her family moved and couldn’t keep her. Also, she had an old injury to her stifle (knee, basically) that needed some attention. After lots of TLC and therapy at Best Friends, Chalisa overcame that pesky old injury and began setting her sights to finding a brand new forever home. It didn’t take long. She hooked Seth and Judy Burgess of Alpine, Texas, when they were visiting the sanctuary with no notion in the world of adopting a horse. Chalisa’s just too easy to fall in love with…

When they brought Chalisa home and out of the trailer, though, their horse gear didn’t come up to snuff. That’s OK, though. Horses that could work as giraffe stunt doubles are few and far between. Her new stuff is in the mail! In the meantime, Chalisa is flirting with the rest of the herd and exploring her glorious new stomping grounds. A happy ending for a girl who knows darn good and well how to be spoiled.

Photos by Chalisa's family

Adopt a horse from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.