Atlas – Adopted to His Forever Home!!

Atlas is an 19-year-old Standardbred Gelding that stands at 15.6 hands. Atlas was named after the Greek God of the Sky. Atlas’s U.S. Trotting name is “Proud Air Request” as he performed 8 starts earning $600. His racing career didn’t last for long as he possibly got hurt. Once his racing career was over, he found himself in Kill Pen located in Pennsylvania. He was saved in a nick of time as he was about to be loaded to head to Mexico. He was skinny being a 2 on the body scale. He arrived at the rescue on June 30, 2021, along with Trumpet a Standardbred Gelding we bailed from the Kill Pen. Since they were quarantined together on the other side of our property, they created a strong bond together making them want to do everything together. They were both scared and nervous upon arrival as they did not want to receive any human touch. It took them a while to realize we only wanted to show them what love, and good food is! He started to come around more often as our volunteers would spend time with him and Trumpet. Once he was fully rehabilitated, he received a riding evaluation which was great! He took the bit and saddle every well and responded well with leg commands. He does need some work with his manners in the ring. He has a smooth trot. He does not respond to neck reining. He did have a little separation anxiety when leaving Trumpet for his riding evaluation but that is something we will work on. We will work on giving him a little refresher, he will only benefit from it. He does need a smaller built rider that weighs no more than 140lbs. He needs someone who will take the time to gain his trust and give him time to adjust to his new environment. Once he trusts you it is definitely worth it! In the video it shows that it takes times for Atlas to make new friends but he has learned to make friends easier now! Atlas caught the eyes of Steven and Kathryn when they came to adopt Demi. They went through adopting Demi but sadly Demi didn’t click with their other horse. For the sake of either horses getting hurt we decided to bring Demi back and let them decide on another companion. Without any hesitation they said Atlas as he is sweet and mellow. One of our regular volunteer stayed a little while at Atlas’ new home to make sure everyone was okay with each other. They did great as they were almost immediate buddies! We wish Atlas, Steven, and Kathryn the best on making new memories!