HAVERHILL — The nonprofit caring for a 22-year-old stallion rescued last month from a farm in New York has narrowed down a list of potential new names for the horse from hundreds to four.
After soliciting suggestions from supporters online, Tomten Farm and Sanctuary’s seven-member board of directors selected the four finalists: Noah NotForgotten, Benjamin BeginAgain, Stanton Steadfast and Montgomery Muchloved.
On Sunday, the board is slated to tally the votes from the nonprofit’s Facebook followers for the final name. The deadline for voters to weigh in is Saturday.
“It’s really important that our supporters have a say in this process because these rescued animals wouldn’t be here without them,” said Jenifer Vickery, who founded Tomten in 2014 in Bolton, Mass., before moving the sanctuary for unwanted, unadoptable and unaffordable animals to Haverhill in 2016.
Tomten relies on donations to support its work. The average cost per day for the stallion’s startup care of multiple medications and a specialized feeding program is running around $75, Vickery said.
When the stallion first arrived after spending two weeks receiving treatment at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., he received a body condition score of 2 out of 9 on the Henneke Body Condition Scoring Test.
The score reflects a veterinary evaluation of a horse’s weight ranked from 1, emaciated, to 9, overweight. Since his rescue, he’s gained 100 pounds.
“I’m feeling really positive about him right now,” she said. “He’s showing a lot of interest in his new environment.”
For the first couple weeks at Tomten, she said, all he did was eat and sleep. Now, he’s becoming a horse again.
“He’s started doing just simple horse behaviors,” she said. “Snaking his neck or doing a little hop, skip and a jump.”
It’s a long, expensive road to recovery, she said, “but there’s no rush.”
“I feel that he is steadily putting on weight every single day,” she said. “I suspect that you’re gonna see another 50 to 100 pounds come on this horse in the next two to three months.”
Tomten initially posted a call for name submissions on its Facebook page on Jan. 15, a couple days after the stallion arrived. The post for name submissions received over 700 comments.
Vickery said it took hours for the board to narrow the names down each time, from over 700 to 30, then to 18 a couple weeks later, now the final four.
Voting is now open for a favorite of the final four names on Tomten’s Facebook page.
