Monday, March 11, 2013

Faith In A Horse's Life

Faith getting some love from volunteer, Jeff
The Equine Veterinarian left at 2 am. The little filly was still down but she seemed a little bit stronger. She had been down since 6 PM the night before and road in the horse trailer lying down for the one and a half hour trip. 

Faith's body score is in the minus range. 

One year old and nearly starved to death
When the trailer pulled up at the SaveTheHorses rescue farm, we literally carried her to a make shift stall. The rescue farm is full, actually over full but this was a life and death situation so we found a way to squeeze her in. It was cold and rainy, animal control confiscated the horses and only had a field to keep them in, no shelter and no veterinarian available to euthanize this little filly. She barely had a 10% chance of survival. Lori Yonts, who runs Sunkissed Acres Rescue in Summerville GA got the call from animal control. Lori is 3 hours away so she called SaveTheHorses. She was willing to make the 6 hour round trip but we were closer and it was very very critical. Three volunteers from SaveTheHorses, Judy, Sam and Natalie, made the trip to Chatsworth and with the help of animal control officers, carried the nearly lifeless body onto the trailer. They also loaded up a buckskin mare who rode the standing up all the way. The buckskin mare had been down earlier in the day, she was critical as well. Judy took the buckskin mare to her farm, just around the corner from the rescue. She had to make room as well but the buckskin seemed more physically stable.


Cynthia Heaton, along with Josh, came out to help, as well. Cynthia runs Trinity Horse Rescue in Acworth. About the same time, vet arrived about midnight. She gave the little filly 2 bags of fluids. The filly's eyes were swollen and shut with dirt and debris. We washed them with saline several times and applied an antibiotic ointment. Though she didn't have the strength to pick up her head, she was happy to open her eyes a little. She would look at Cynthia every time she spoke. She would kick her legs violently like she wanted to get up. It was good to see the fight in her. It is the kind of hope we hold on to when in such a grave situation. We turned her over to the other side so she could be comfortable. In the morning, we gather several people and we were able to get her to her feet. We slowly walked her to help her get some circulation and strength. She went down two more time that day.  She went down on day 10. Our hearts sank, we wondered if she was loosing her battle. She got up on her own a short time later. Everyone cheered! It does our hearts good to know we are helping her survive another day. 


It has been two weeks now. Her very swollen legs are almost normal. He eyes are clear but all the fur around her eyes is sluffing off as well as skin and fur on other parts of her body. She has a long way to go but she is making progress. Blood work is nearly normal. 
Thank you to everyone who donated to help with her care, her vet bills, her hay and feet. We still have a long road ahead but it looks like we are on the road to recovery.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Meet The Knee High Gang Again

Meet the Knee High Gang!


Saucy just sitting around!

We did it last month and had so much fun,
 we are doing it again. 

Open House at SaveTheHorses Rescue Farm  
Sunday March 10th from 1-4 PM



Come out, bring the kids and the adults. We had kids of all ages last month and everyone just had to smile. 
Our Knee High Gang are miniature horses but they are very special because besides being Miniature horses they are dwarfs. They are Special Needs horses. They have different deformities which makes them more fragile them other horses but they think they are just like every horse and enjoy life. Most weigh about 100 pounds. 
You have to see them to believe it!



SaveTheHorses Rescue Farm
1768 Newt Green Road
Cumming GA 30028
770 886 5419

Horseinc@aol.com

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Used Up, Thrown Away Percheron Mare


Poor Destiny. From PMU mare to Free Craigslist ad. 
She was used to make a menopause drug called 'PreMarin' for years. Then somehow, after being used up, was discarded. Please consider becoming one of her sponsors so we can continue to keep her healthy. She is on medication for a lung infection right now. 

Destiny loves carrots!
Did you know PRE is for Pregnant, MAR is for mare, IN if for Urine. Pregnant Mare Urine is Premarin. It is now called Hormone Replacement Therapy or HRT.
Destiny is a 30 something year old  Percheron mare

Destiny needs you now. 

Food coming out of her nostril
This Percheron mare was offered FREE on Craigslist. She was saved by a family who didn't want to see her go to slaughter. Because of her age and condition, they felt Destiny needed more experienced caretakers than themselves. The called SaveTheHorses and we gladly said YES. 

She has been a challenge gaining weight and keeping her healthy. Destiny is most likely over 30 years old. She needs a dentist visit soon to see if she needs her teeth balanced because she continues to choke on her food. Sometimes she can clear it herself, other times she needs a veterinarian to tube the blockage. She is an a Senior feed with breaks up easily and has extra fat which she needs. Last week Destiny seemed a bit depressed. We want her happy and that means keeping her healthy. The vet was out to see her Friday, March 1st. An ultra sound discovered she has a lung infection. She is being treated for that. On Saturday, March 2nd, she choked and  needed the vet to tube her throat to clear the blockage. When a horse chokes, their food comes back out of their nostrils because the throat is blocked. They give up eating and serious consequences can occur. 

Destiny is due for her feet to be trimmed soon as well. Keeping her healthy is our goal. 

Is spending money on an older horse a waste of money? We think she is worth the price. She has been used up by people who discarded her. Our mission is to improve the quality of life for all horses. 

With your pledge of as little as $5.00 a month, you can be one of Destiny's sponsors and assure her destiny in life stays healthy.
Free Horses are not Free, not if you care about their quality of life. 

We Are Rescue!