The Tale (cont'd), March 31, 2013 no regrowth of damaged vertebrae. "If it hasn't grown in by now, it's not going to," Jason Cousineau says. As it turns out, Soren has been missing his tail a good long time. The Cousineaus recently heard from a woman who used to know the horse about 10 years ago when he was working in a sheep business on property she owned in the Tremonton area. At that time, Soren — now named after an owl in the "Guardians of Ga'Hoole" book series — was known as "Stubby," due to his pitifully short tail. Lost and found Susan Douglas rediscovered the horse after seeing an article and photo about him that Jason Cousineau submitted last fall to Pets in the City magazine, a Salt Lake City-based publication. "I knew immediately that he was the horse that I used to know as Stubby," says Douglas, of Salt Lake City. "The last I saw Stubby, (a rancher) had left him on our property and somebody was going to come get him to be auctioned off.... And (then) I opened that magazine and there he was." Douglas says she was glad to find out the "red, gentle giant" she and her daughter, Lian, used to enjoy riding had been miraculously rescued. As for that missing tail, Douglas says, the horse's former owner told her that the person he bought Stubby from said the animal used to be a show horse. Once, when his tail was wrapped for a show, it got caught on a fence and was pulled off. "Whether or not that's true, I don't know," Douglas says. A problem associated with wrapping would be one of the most likely reasons a draft horses, so they won't get in the away of harnesses or carts, Gordon says. But she says even a docked tail is not as short as Soren's. The Top of Utah horse wasn't a victim of a tail shearing, like a "I just took one look at him and it didn't matter if he was ridable or noty he was coming home with us." — Brenda Gordon, president, Pack N Pounce LEFT: Soren (right) munches on some hay during feeding time at his Syracuse pasture. BECKY CAIRNS/Standard-Examiner horse could lose a tail, says David Price, director of the Utah State University Equine Education Center in Logan. Sometimes the binding is too tight and cuts off blood supply in the tail, like a tourniquet. Or veterinarian Taylor says complications may also arise in show circles when a horse is given a nerve block to prevent him from moving his tail for esthetic reasons. If an infection sets in, the tail could be permanently damaged, he says. Tails are intentionally docked in some working breeds of horses, like horse has torn his hindquarters up from rubbing on the fencing to try to get rid of the flies. The family also sees that Soren gets plenty of brushing and bathing to keep his rump clean,11^ Becky Cousineau says, since h$B.8.r' can't "swish" much after relieving all himself. When Soren was first taken in by the rescue group, he had no movement in his tail at all. Now, "he can kind of give it a little case reported earlier this month in Cousineau savs Southern Utah where investigators cousineau says. 173 are searching for a thief who cut two feet off a horse's tail, supposedly to sell it on the black market. Locally, Taylor says, "I've never heard of that happening." No fly swatter Whatever the circumstances, Soren has been without his tail for so long that Jason Cousineau says it doesn't seem to affect him much — except come fly season. Horses use their tails to swat away flies and bugs in the warm weather months, and since Soren cannot do that, the Cousineaus help him out by spraying him daily with bottles of fly repellent. "We go through those like Horse sense Taylor Cousineau, 16, says sher-nn thinks her tailless horse is cute: "It's just something that's unique and something that makes him him." Tail or no tail, Soren is a gentle and patient horse for a novice rider like himself, says Jason Cousineau, explaining, "He knows a lot more about being ridden than I know about riding." Becky Cousineau adds, "I lovei lo his personality. He's so calm, he'snr so sweet. He'll come over and put his head on your shoulder. He just loves affection." Since her family already owned a cocker spaniel with a short, stubby tail, Becky Cousineau says nothing, trying to keep the flies off Soren is "part of the family — he of him," Jason Cousineau says. At a half-bottle a day — and $15 to $30 a bottle — the repellent gets pricey, but Becky Cousineau says it's a responsibility they accepted when they adopted Soren. Sometimes when the couple and their four children visit Soren, the fit right in. "He's a rescue and the dog's eirj a rescue; the dog had no tail, the vVri horse had no tail," she explains.; trwrf "In some ways, my husband rescued me and I rescued him. We all need a little rescuing now and then."