Ducky Weather We Are Having!

Yes, Just Ducky!

I have been waiting for a duck to come out way since one of our two ducks became ill and died. We have had one lonely duck for many months. I tried a Rubber Ducky but that didn't work. Guess it didn't Quack!

An email from Athens animal control saying they had a duck needing a home made my heart smile. We made a few calls and managed to get Ducky transportation to the rescue farm. Everything is looking like fun in the sun, fun in the rain, fun in the snow and fun in all kinds of weather. Yep, it's just Ducky now.

Bernice A Fast Friend, a Quick Loss.

http://dealwithitdaily.blogspot.com/

Elizabeth's Rescue Ramblings on her Blog features the mare we got at the Monday auction, free. She was going to cost time and money to bury her. She named her Bernice. Neither of us had the pleasure of meeting her but we were both involved in her life, and her death.

I was hoping we could bring her to the rescue for at least a day of love and carrots but she couldn't have made the trip. I know the volunteers would have loved her. Reagan called me after midnight and volunteered to take her to the vet so it would save the vet trip charges. That was very sweet of her. Reagan and Dr White told 'Bernice' wonderful stories about the Rainbow Bridge and she told them she was ready to go. Now she is happy and at least knows some humans are kind and caring.

I wish I had a better ending for this mare but it was the best we could give her, Peace. The other 4 horses we purchased at-re getting fed and are thinking they must have taken the 'right' turn somewhere. Grain and food every day! A warm place to get out of the cold, Life is Good. For them it is. They will be available for adoption in a few weeks, after the quarantine period. How many horses are not so lucky. They may be one a mile from you or I. Keep your eyes opened and get involved. Be the voice for the voiceless, Please. Their life depends on it.

Can You Help Our "Wounded Warrior" This Holiday Season?

I've written on this blog about our "Wounded Warrior", Ez Breeze and his struggles with his accident and then surgery. During this Holiday Season, can you find it in your heart to contribute towards this Warrior's struggle? Please just click on the "ChipIn" button above, it's through paypal so your transaction will be secure. Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Ellie has traveled from far out West being a Wild Horse to being caught and put into captivity. Many wild horses living freely on America's public lands have been captured and held in small pens for months while the taxpayers, you and I, pay millions to keep these American Icons waiting for a place to go. Some may never get a home, most will never see freedom again.

Ellie somehow ended up at animal control in NE Georgia. She is not only very frightened but she is very pregnant. She was branded by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) who was hired to 'watch over the herds' of Mustangs on public lands. Her brand is not legible and needs to be shaved to be able to read where she came from and when. The problem is Ellie is still a wild horse. She comes to humans for food but knows how to keep her distance so she can't be caught. Why should she trust us? Humans made her lose her freedom. Humans put her captive. Humans chased her. Humans made her leave her wild horse family that she grew up knowing the safety of. Now she is here with us. She is in a foster home at the GA Wild Horse and Mustang Rescue.

This will be a project horse to a very patient person. She needs a loving human who wants to help this horse learn to trust. Why should she ever trust a human? She is available for adoption to a new home. Soon she ill be the mother of a foal. Help us help Ellie stay safe until she finds her permanent loving home.

If you are interested in sponsoring her, donating to help pay her hay and feed bills or interested in giving her the special home, please contact me at Horseinc@aol.com

Warm and Toasty

Yep, I am warm and toasty but not all the horses across the street are. People donated some nice waterproof blankets. We really wanted to put a blanket on all the skinny horses but some of them just wouldn't stand for it, literally! Some stood and then turned and looked at the blanket hugging them...then they walked happily away. Some of the horses were just afraid to have any human get too close to them and refused out efforts to keep them warm and toasty.

The journey of these horses is not exactly known. There was a Craigslist ad that offered 60 horses, mostly Tennessee Walking Horses and a few Quarter horses FREE. There was an article in a TN newspaper and TV News station featuring some malnourished horses left in a pasture stating the owner was unknown. The photos matched some of these horses. They must have been loved when they were born but through no circumstances they had any control over, they ended up at an auction. These were some of the lucky horses that now have daily hay and feed and soon will have new homes. Many auction bought horses aren't so lucky.

Stay warm and toasty everyone and thank you for your support.

Sweet Scare

11:30 last night, Sweetie was happy to see me bring her the nightly hot mash. At 32 years old, she appreciates a good hot meal. I am happy to provide what she needs every night, every day. I always say 'Good Night' to her. I never know what tomorrow will bring.

Well is was this morning that Tom called me when he arrived early to help feed, to tell me Sweetie was down. I got the tractor and grabbed the straps we use to make our sling-type rigging to get her up. When Sweetie falls or goes down, she cannot get up with out help so we have had plenty of experience. She has a stroke in February and was down over 7 hours. It took a crane and several firemen and volunteers to get her up.

We tried but Sweetie wouldn't help. Her legs were cold indicating she was down half the night. We rubbed and moved her legs but they were not holding her up this time. The tractor held her in a hanging position in the straps with out any fight to live on her part. I had to ask myself if this was the time I had to make that dreaded decision. Was Sweetie going to make it? Would this be her last try?

We lowered her and got warm blankets, covered her. We didn't know if Sweetie was ready to give up but we were not! We called Cherokee Fire Dept and asked for help. When they arrived, we all got into positions to hold her if we were able to get her to use her legs. "Come on, Sweetie" I shouted as I moved the bucket on the tractor she was strapped to up. All the firemen and volunteers grabbed her legs to steady her, rubbing her legs to get circulation going. She was standing! Yea! I felt like cheering. My arms were in the air! Yes, Sweetie made it another day.

Hard to Do

I think the Blog has been hard for me to do because of so many sad, scary and heart breaking things that have happened with the past few weeks. I want too write about happy things but I must write about sad things, too.

Look at the picture of MuffyDog. Everyone loves the Muff. She greeted everyone, especially children, with love and enthusiasm. She had 7 puppies when we found her in 1996. She must have been at least a year old then. She has loved happily amongst the others dogs, the horses, sheep, goats, pigs, duck, chickens and our Albert. Rarely a problem for Muffy. A perfect Farm Dog, a perfect Mutt. Never sick, never mean, never missed a meal.

Last week, she laid the the driveway near the barn. A bit older and longer to get up, she was hit by a car. Of course, by accident. They rushed her to Dr McGrueder in Cumming. I rushed to get there. Dr McGrueder had already xrayed her and told me she had 4 breaks in her pelvis and a huge herniated area on her stomach. Was surgery an option for my sweet old girl? When I went to see her, she was just taken off of the oxygen. She was grasping for air and wringing her body in pain. I had to let her go. She couldn't be in pain, poor MuffyDog. It was so Hard To Do.

Karen Sumlin sent me this lovely picture of Muffy. She was happy and healthy. I want to remember her that way always.

Last Weekend Catch Up.

EZ Breeze was slowly recovering from his tragic fall into the ravine. Lisa was coming daily to help with he swelling therapy. Alisa was coming when she wasn't at work to give him love and comfort and everyone shared time caring for his needs. By Sunday night, the swelling was down enough for Dr Amanda to get a good xray. It showed he had broken fragments in his jaw on the left side of his face. The best thing to do was to remove as much as we can as soon as we can. Tuesday was slated for the surgery.

While this was going on, Tiffany and Pam were tending to Obie aka ObamaMomma, our 3 yo injured TB mare that needed her wound cleaned and redressed.

Dr Duval has been helping diagnose our 3 y o TB mare, Social Diva's, leg injuries. Both front legs have had accidents but one seems problematic. She is not happy when you try and touch her shoulder. Monday morning, after examining Social Diva, Dr Duval suspects nerve damage called 'Sweeney' in her shoulder. Acupuncture was done. Now exercise is needed. Walking and stretching her as she walks over poles and moving more on a daily basis to make the shoulder recover . Miss Social Diva needs a human to walk her and record her progress as she improves weekly. It we have 7 people volunteers to work with her, that's one day a week. If you can do more days, please volunteer!

Weekly Blog?

I would have love to been keeping up with the blog but I have been keeping up with the rescue.

It was Thanksgiving when my phone rang. Kathy, a caring foster mom, was telling me Zeppelin was kicked by a mare in his pasture. Not wanting Zepp to be a lonely horse, a neighbor offered her mare as a companion to Zepp. They lived in peace for a week until Thanksgiving day. No one knows what happened but hearing the commotion outside, Kathy and her husband ran out to find the mare kicking Zepp over and over as he just stood without fighting back. They quickly jumped it and chased the mare far from the injured Zeppelin.

Zeppelin is a rare horse. Beautiful and most, I really mean, most kind horse. He wasn't the type to kick or start a fight with a human or a horse. Dr Ken Marcella checked out Zepp to discover a horse in a lot of pain and swelling. He took some belly fluid but it didn't give any concise answers to how much internal damage might have been done. Zepp felt a little better with some pain relievers but he still needed more time to be able to better find out what was wrong. He was in shock and transporting him with internal damage, if there was any, was not a viable answer. The drive could kill him, so we waited. That evening, Zepp had eat a little grain and drank some water. At 7:30 everyone had a small sign of relief. Morning would bring better news.

I pulled up to the pasture about 9:30 pm. Walking with my flashlight, I looked for Zeppelin. It wasn't until I get close that I realized he wasn't lying down, he was dead. What a shock. My hand was trembling so bad I kept fumbling as I tried to call Dr Marcella. He was just as shocked as I was. I think he always knew it was a possibility but we were all very hopeful Zepp would be OK.

Friday was a real Black Friday for all the people at the rescue. We buried Zeppelin. Rest In Peace, Sweet, Sweet Zeppelin.

EZ Did It.

He is very sore,

very swollen and

very tired but he is a

very strong horse...

and proved it again!

http://www.11alive.com/interstitial/ad/ad.html?loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.11alive.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fstory.aspx%3Fstoryid%3D164753%26catid%3D3

Video of EZ Breeze's rescue.

Posted By - Jerry Carnes Last Updated On: 11/24/2010 6:35:13 PM

CANTON, GA -- Dozens of rescuers gathered in Cherokee County to save a horse that has cheated death more times than Houdini.

"I witnessed a miracle," said Jody Hanna, who was there when the retired race horse was lifted from a 12-foot creek bed. "It was insane. It was horrific."

At a time when he's supposed to be enjoying the halcyon days of retirement, 20-year-old EZ Breeze has lived a life has been far from a breeze. Since leaving the competition of the racetrack to relax at the equine retirement home called Save the Horses in Cherokee County, his life of repose has been interrupted by medical issues like the operation to repair intestinal problems. EZ Breeze barely survived that one.

"They recommended he be put down," said Bobby Fricks, a volunteer at Save the Horses. "The said he had a 2-percent chance of survival, but he's still here today."
Living on borrowed time, EZ Breeze was taking a leisurely stroll through the pasture on Monday when he slipped and took a 12-foot fall into the muddy creek bed.
Hi head caught beneath roots, EZ Breeze slipped and thrashed about in an effort to right himself, but he couldn't.

At least 30 people joined in the the effort to rescue the struggling retiree. The Cherokee Fire Department responded along with the city of Milton's Large Animal Rescue.
At one point, it appeared EZ Breeze was a goner.

"We could see his tongue turning blue, his eyes totally distant," said Cheryl Flanagan of Save the Horses. "We hated to do it, but we started yelling at him, 'EZ get up!!'"
He did.

The rescue took 5-hours. Emergency crews recruited a crane from a local tree company. EZ was eased into a harness, and lifted to freedom...
"He started flailing his legs and hit the ground and stood up like nothing was wrong," said Flanagan.

Now, EZ Breeze laughs at those neighborhood cats who brag about nine lives. He's the horse who floats high above death.

"We didn't think he was gone make it," said Fricks. "He did it. Live to fight another day."

EZ Does It!

EZ Breeze somehow, slipped over a hillside and ended up in a precarious position in a ditch about 12 feet down the hill. If he tried to get up, he'd hit his head on the roots of the trees hanging over him. It was a narrow space and he had no where to go but up. Up is not a position he could achieve alone.

It actually took several horse rescue volunteers, Cherokee County Fire Dept, Milton Large Animal Rescue, a tractor, a crane from Timber Tree Service, many trained rescuers, Dr Amanda from Foxdale Equine and about 5 hours of figuring out how to make it work. EZ had to be hooked up with the sling, hoisted up over the crevice. That meant being 'air-lifted'. We had to make sure the crane would not slip into the same crevice EZ was stuck in. Believe me, it was very tense for everyone, especially EZ. About 2 hours into the rescue, EZ laid too still, his tongue was starting to turn blue. Thoughts of losing him at that moment was on every one's mind. I yelled, 'EZ' as I did for the past year when he had a seizure or was in distress. EZ has some serious problems physically. He is an older gentleman horse but with a strong will to live. He heard me and opened his eyes and started to thrash around. The thrashing moved him into a different position and he had to be readjusted in the equipment again.

We finally managed to get him up out of the deep hole that held him captive but he wouldn't stand when he landed on the ground. It took many more tries to get him up but finally success! Everyone gasped with joy. EZ was standing. YES! EZ does it!

A Rodeo Kiss!

When you think of the word Rodeo,

you may think of a wild event with daring cowboys riding bulls not gentle kisses, right! This is a sweet Rodeo, Cindy Rodeo Steedle. She adopted a foal born here from a rescued abused mare, Indigo. The foal, named Patience, is now 3 months old. She and her son brought a birthday cake to celebrate! How sweet is that!

Rodeo is our new spokesperson for the Rescue. She is inspirational and is truly a horse lover.

The picture is a bit dark but Patience is a black bay. She is tall enough to look over the stall. She is just 3 months old but a very large filly.

Camelot it is Not!

Every week horses are sold at an auction, called Camelot. It is located in Cranbury NJ. This is Lancelot with his little buddy. He is an 18 hand Belgium that we saved from the Camelot NJ auction Nov. 10th. He is at a quarantine farm in NJ and will soon join us here. He will be available for adoption soon. We had our other three horses, a Belgium, a Percheron and a pony or a yearling (not sure yet) coming available for adoption as well. Keep checking.

Life Does Go On...

Little Miss Pony's fuzzy winter coat is painted with squiggles and kind words painted by the owners grandchildren. Being with Miss Pony is always a fun time. Seeing her with the cast on her back leg makes you think her injury is going to get better soon. Dr Amanda saw the leg a few days ago. The break was so bad, it punctured through the skin.

This is one of the times we wish fairy tales would come true. Miss Pony's leg was getting worse. Sometimes we can't fix things, no matter how hard we try, no matter how much we want it, it can't be done. It surely was not for without trying.

The photo of the owner of Miss Pony looking into her eye, begging to for a sign it is the right decision is so close to my heart. At the rescue farm, we have had to make that decision for suffering animals too many times. Each time it is the same heart wrenching decision, never any easier.

Once the decision was made to help Miss Pony cross the Rainbow Bridge, another problem became apparent. The rented property Miss Pony and her humans lived on was no permanent resting place for the beloved pony. When asked if she could be buried at the rescue, we gladly said 'yes'. We assisted with the financial burden of the veterinarian visits, the euthanasia, the burial costs but most importantly, there was enough sadness for this loving family, they needed the peace the rescue farm could give to them.

Life

What a precious little pony. Every little girls dream, a beautiful pony. Then it gets shattered, literally. Little Miss Pony is well loved in the community. She knows all the kids in the neighborhood. They all know her. Everything was good until she escaped into the pasture with the big horses and she was kicked by a full size horse. Her rear leg was badly fractured above the hock.

The owner has had a very sad year. She lost everything in a house fire earlier this year, along with her pets who died in the fire. Then the flood in September, this mini's mate drowned. Now Miss Pony 's life was on the line. Is the break too bad to even be repaired? She couldn't afford to call a vet. Finances are very bad for the pony owner. Insurance hasn't paid for the loss in the fire yet. A neighbor suggested to call SavetheHorses. Hearing this sad desperate story, we called out Dr Amanda and asked to put the bill on our account. Was there hope for this little pony?

Forgive me but

I am lagging behind the Daily part of this blog. Here is one of my excuses. Sweetie.

On Tuesday, Sweetie, my 32 year old mare went down twice in the pasture. She had a stroke earlier this year, she has anhydrousis, Cushing's and her eyes are not as good as they used to be. She is doing really well considering all that, right? She has gained over 75 pounds this year. She was very thin after the stroke.

Luckily, by some weird chance, we found 9 horses destined for slaughter in North GA and Christine stepped in and saved them. Three were pregnant and Sweetie is the ultimate surrogate Mom, well surrogate Granny.

The babies have brought her back to life. About 6 years ago, we brought in several orphaned foals. She wanted one so bad. We finally let her have one and in a few weeks she was producing milk. That is a mother's love. She had never had a foal. PAX-TV did a story about her because it was such a happy tale.

When she falls down, or loses her balance and can't recover, she waits for human assistance. I got out the tractor, our make-shift sling equipment and we got her up easily the first time. The second time she fell in a ditch and it was down hill from every angle. I didn't want the tractor to

fall on her thinking there is no way we could get it off of her. Some great ideas were implemented as we figured out what to do, how to move her and where to put the straps. It was quite stressful, believe me. We, all of the wonderful volunteers, helped get her up. What a great feeling!

I will tell you about what happened in the past few days, next time.

Big Boy Belgium

Camelot dreaming, he was named Lancelot. He is at a wonderful, loving foster home in NJ. He will get to GA soon but we want to make sure he is healthy and ready to travel. He wasn't eating well but had no temperature. He is under the watchful eye of Lauren, a horse lover.

We are in need to reasonably priced transport for him. We are also in need of funds for the transport. We have a few donations already, thank you! We paid to have him transported to Lauren's so he didn't have to stay at the auction. Lancelot is a really big boy, like over 18 hands!

If your dream horse is big, this may be your dream horse. Guaranteed to make your butt look small! He may be a walk, slow trot horse but he is bigger than most horses. He will be available for adoption.

Hip #333 Is Home in GA

This Belgium mare arrived today, finally. It was a long ride from NJ. Especially since a stop to pick up another horse slowed the transport down. Originally, the new mom, Theresa, was told #333 would be 'home' during the wee hours of Tuesday. At 11 AM, not exactly wee hours, the trailer pulled up at the barn. This mare was not in good shape. She was lucky so many people helped with her rescue. She is thin and in need of love and care. She will get plenty of that now. She is now called Guinevere from Camelot. Not the Camelot we want to imagine. The Camelot auction where horses are always in danger of going to slaughter.

Belgium Horses Everywhere

Our first mare from Camelot went to a wonderful home in SC. That was Hip #227., now lovely called Queenie. She big and beautiful but she was so sad. Once she got home to SC, it was discovered she must have recently had her foal taken from her. She still has milk. How awful to be seperated from your baby then sent to an auction, just thrown away. Her new family is willing to help an orphaned foal if anyone knows of one in need. Remember she is qiote big so a regular size foal isgoing to need a ladder to reach her milk!

Wind Blows away Tack Seekers!

We went to the Tack Sale in Canton, GA today. We sold about $50. worth of tack. Buckets, halters and an old saddle. It was so cold and windy, it make it uncomfortable for buyers and sellers. We did meet some great people.

Cindy Rodeo Steedle was at the barn, along with her sister and her son, to help feed and turn in the horses. The regular volunteers came out, as well, to make sure everything was done, each horse was fed and tucked in for the night. It was a good day at the rescue. Isn't everyday great here?

Another Belgium Mare saved from Slaughter

Thank you to all who helped us save this mare. She is thinner than last weeks mare.

We saved another Belgium mare last weekend because of generous donations from you, the horse lovers. You came through again for this girl. Another mare, much thinner, is in the same situation. We had enough in donations to save her now we are trying to find a transporter to GA. It can be several hundred dollars unless we find someone going this way. Her destination is Powder Springs at a foster home. Any and all help is appreciated.

Our Muffin Man

Remember our Stud Muffin from Hall Co Animal Control ? It took many drugs to sedate him but the gelding went well. He has had some serious looking swelling but medication did help that a lot.

He is doing well and adjusting to closer human contact. He needs to learn to let us put a halter on him. Sounds like an easy chore with most horses, doesn't it? Put on a halter. This guy has fear you are out to hurt him. You are putting your hands near his face, your hands are going towards his ears, oh, he is so frightened. I know he will progress but it will not be fast. He needs a really patient caring human to foster or adopt him. Come and meet this Muffin.

Getting Behind but...

I have a good reason. The cute little puppy I am fostering had a fever of 105.5. He was sick! He has one very swolen gland. many scary thought went through my head all night. The Vet saw him this morning. He had an abscess and is now on medication. He is much better tonight.

Not for the Squemish!

Look at this sweet mare. She is nearly 17 hands at 3 years old. She raced as a two year old and won her race. She was full of potential of becoming a real winner. After the race, a bone chip was found in her knee. It is easily removed and her racing career may have been resumed but she contacted Mersa during her hospital stay and will never race again. He knee is enlarged. The owner decided to breed her since she was such a fast mare and so well bred. That didn't work either.

She came up from Florida just a happy, quiet mare. We didn't have much room (as usual) so we put her on a beautiful board fenced pasture donated for use for rescue horses. After a week or so, she found a broken board or she is the one that broke it. It torn her leg opened to the joint. The vet comes out every 10 days to do a recheck and to cut away the granulation tissue. Once the joint is closed, there is a chance of infection. It is a time consuming wound needing hydrating, topically dressing, wrapped and re wrapped. She is on oral antibiotics now but we started with an IV to get her a good dose of prevention.

I think she just grew too fast and isn't aware of how big she is. She seems so accident prone right now. She has nicks, she's skinned here and there. Could she just be a klutz or could she be cursed? Her name is ObamaMomma. I think by the time she is 4, she will be coordinated just fine.

Hip # 227

Hip 227 may not mean much to you or to most people but it means a lot to the horse wearing that tag, #227. It is an auction tag. No name, no information, just a number, another number waiting to go to slaughter.

A volunteer and horse lover, Elizabeth, called and asked if I could help. Help was needed for Hip #227. I didn't want to look at the page with all the horses destined to be killed for human consumption. These horses were at a holding lot in NJ called Camelot. Horses are put in large trailers and shipped to Canada on Sunday. It's they last ride, a sad ride. It is the end.

Once I did look at Hip #227, there was no turning back. We both made calls and inquiries, made a plan and dove in head first! The story is that she belonged to Amish people who used her to drive. She was teamed up with a Percheron gelding. He was saved by another rescued but they didn't have the money to take them both. Hip#227 was left alone and unhappy in the kill pen.

If you ever lose faith in humanity, think about real horse lovers. We posted for help to save Hip #227, the response was overwhelming...heartwarming. Calls and emails flooded my desk, donation were coming is every few minutes. Another volunteer and horse lover, Christine, called Camelot and closed the sale to us. We collected enough money to save her, get her transported to SC to a loving home, and save the last horse that had no bids. He went to a farm that works with children in PA.

Horse lovers care deeply. They do more than talk about what is happening to a horse, they react and do something good. Thank you all!

Pony Comes Home

It has been 3 years since this handsome little pony was adopted to a wonderful family. He had a forever home. At least that was the plan.

Everything went well for a while but life changes. Sometimes we do not foresee our future, no matter how well planned. The family ended in divorce, found homes for the other horses and this little guy came 'home' to the rescue. He is a sweet boy. He will need some training to learn to ride but he is very happy around people.

He will be available for adoption.

We did get another 'old friend' horse back today. I'll tell you about it tomorrow.

The Mustang mare, Ellie, we picked up from Animal Control, is pregnant. It will be waiting game to see when she will foal because we really can't examine her. She can hardly be touched, though we are making some progress. We have test strips that will tell within 18 hours of foaling but you need to have some milk from the mare to test it.

We don't need a vet injured, or anyone else in danger so we are just waiting. I know there are safe drugs that can be used to sedate a pregnant mare but she is a Mustang. She is one step out of the Wild. They just do not work against the strong survival instinct of nature.

We will continue to treat her kind, win her trust and see how far we can get becoming her good human friend. If anyone has any ideas, please let us know.

Keeping Up with the Daily News

Trying to keep up with FB, Yahoogroups, Twitter, web, tiring! I am going to make another attempt at keep this daily new up to date. Some of you who know me may want to take bets on whether or not I will keep it it. I will try!

Last week we took in 2 horses from Animal Control. A very undernourished, pregnant mare. We call her Ellie. She has a BLM brand but it is hard to read. Shaving the hair would help but she is terrified when you touch her face or neck. We are slowly working to make her trusting of humans.

Questions like, 'Why would someone breed a mare with bad conformation?', 'Why would anyone breed a horse when horse value is so low?', 'Why would anyone breed a horse that is terrified of people?', " Why would you let a pregnant mare starve and endanger both mare and foal?'. We will never know the answers but we will do all we can to help this mare now. She is getting special feed, special hay and nutritional supplements so we know she is getting all we can give her, all that she was missing. Is it too late? It's too soon to tell. The vet can't examine her because she is too terrified of humans.

Do you want to help? Donate a bag of Mare and Foal feed or a bale of hay or some funds to help her and her foal. There will be occurring veterinary bills soon, as well. This is just the beginning. If you are interested in fostering or adopting this mare, please let me know.

Strawberry Mare

A beautiful, healthy Medicine Hat Paint mare is unwanted in FL. She was bought to become the daughter's horse. She was left at a farm and supposed to be taken care of by the family who owned her, or at least by the daughter. Time passed, no one ever came back. Strawberry just lived in a pasture with out much attention.

Now there is an ad on Craigslist for a nice mare. One problem is she is missing an eye. No one came to take a horse in need of veterinary care. Pattie, a SaveTheHorses foster home in Florida called the local Florida rescue but they were full, no help from them for Strawberry.

Pattie asked if we could help. Yes, money is tight for us, but how can we not help? This mare would end up slaughtered. Pattie agreed to keep her at her farm until we figured out what to do. She would be safe. That was most important. We made an appointment to take Strawberry to the vet. Pattie sent me pictures with a close up of the mares eye. We have had 4 horses with cancer in their eyes. Would this be another? There was no eye and is was draining a yellow fluid. We had to euthanize two or the four horses Squamous Cell Carcinoma horse because it is an aggressive cancer. Would Strawberry be one also?

Pattie told me how sweet this mare was. She had obviously been blind for a while because she wasn't spooky or jumpy on her blind side. She was comfortable.

Meet Buttermilk or?!

So far we have called her Buttermilk, Buttercup and Ms Trigger. We'll see what sticks. This week, I brought in a sweet 3 y o Palomino mare that was scared to death of the man who had her. She just trembled when I moved a finger. She has come around very well in a few days. She needs some ground work. She enjoys being groomed and is learning that humans can be nice.

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How we found Hail Mary!

We got a frantic call late afternoon of February 18th, 2009 A lady was driving by a pasture where she saw a skinny horse a week before. She called the Dept of Ag last week to report what she saw. The lady was actually a state equine inspector a few years back. Yesterday when she went by, the horse was down (lying down) and the weather was getting bad. Another lady driving by saw the horse down and the distressed looking lady over the horse she too stopped. They both made phone calls looking for help, someone called me and the ball started rolling. I called Animal Control, the Marshall and then got a call from the Department of Ag asking if I could help. I told her we were on our way. She asked if we had a sling. I said 'no' but I have people. My volunteers have made make shift slings with lead ropes, girths, saddle pads or whatever we have around and we, together, are a good team. We have gotten horses that are down up more times then I can count! Some older horses just need a boost then they can walk. Sometimes it is just old age with wear and tear, sometimes it is injured, sometimes it is weakness but no matter the reason, we can do it. The very experienced volunteers did what we had to do. We arrived just before dark. There were several people on the scene. Lights flashing, passers-by curiously watching. Someone said they just heard over their police radio that a tornado may be forming in the part of Cherokee county. The wind was blowing, hail was coming down and the tornado sirens were blowing right across the road, loud and clear.
Someone told us we could leave if we don't want to get her because the owner was willing to shoot her right there. We were there to save this horse, not let her die like that.
My team was focused on getting the horse, not any weather problems. We were going to get this horse or die trying. We really believe that doing good will come back to us so none of us was worried at all about any tornado or being pelted by hail. We cared about the horse. We got our ropes and equipment. Then we gathered and put everything in place around the horses body. After a few tries, getting the horse in the right position, we all pulled at 1-2-3! Yea, the horse was up, everyone stayed beside her weak trembling body and slowly walked her toward the gate. It was locked. No one had a key so we hammered the gate chain and open her way to the trailer. She walked right on and three of the volunteers stayed in the trailer in case she went down. It was about 15 miles and the trip went well. She knew how to back off but she was trembling, mostly from being cold and being down so long. We got a stall ready, Put a heat lamp in the stall and towel drying her, she was a happy tired mare. She had some warm mash, good hay and then we took care of ourselves. We were soaked and cold from head to toe. It was really funny seeing us all walk like penguins because our pants were so cold and wet. I think we will call this mare, HAIL MARY! She made it on a prayer, many prayers!

Hail Mary was wet and cold but by morning the sun warmed her malnourished body.

She hung her head and seemed depressed so everyone spent extra time loving on her. She was depressed and hug her head. She began to eat and enjoy walking around more and more every day. She still would go down and we needed to get her up again. Once up, she stayed up for a few days or more.

She was walking down the driveway a bit fast, she was feeling too good. She lost her balance and fell face first. She struggled to get up but couldn't with out our help. We gathered out ropes, the tractor and some man and woman power and up she went but we all slowly walked her back down to a nice flat area of grass.

It was one step at a time for all of us.

Hail Mary improved but still had trouble getting up but she went down much less frequently. She became the favorite of a very lovely couple, Steve and Linda. They planned to move from their home and buy a farm with a nice barn. They adopted Hail Mary. Our dear Hail Mary passed away before they moved but she died in loving arms.

Some people may think it was a waste of time. We know it was a time of love and care, hope and dreams.

Our Lump of a Horse

Lump was not like most horses. He liked every person that came to visit. He had no fear of humans. He was a school horse in Roswell for many years but he must have enjoyed every minute of it. He was very settled and grounded. Lump lived with us about 10 years. His age was estimated at 40-something!

We have some horses that just walk freely around the farm, Lump was one of them. He sought out humans like ants seek sugar. If there was a crowd of two people or ten people, Lump would quickly work his way to the middle separating the people so they would have to touch him. People would have to look over him or around him because he had to be in the middle. We just got used to resting our arms on his back to have a conversation with the person on Lump's other side. We referred to him as 'the NAT' because you couldn't shoo him away. Lump became the Social Director of the farm. He was also the Greeter and the Drooler. OK at his age, it was easily forgiven when you parked too close to the barn and Lump left his drool of food and water across the hood of your car.

One morning I walked into the barn and saw Lump looking out over the shaving trailer. He had walked up into it then realized it was unstable and he froze in place. He whinnied to me for help. Like a turtle, I slowly moved Lump around to exit to safe ground as Roy watched to make sure his buddy was safe.

We lost Lump on March 22. He fell in his stall and injured his neck on Saturday night. We helped him up but he was in shock for about an hour. With the help of Lori, Brigitte and many loving volunteers, we helped Lump get stabilized. I conferred with Dr Marcella and he gave me a dosage of drugs to help Lump through the night. By Sunday morning his neck was painful and swollen. He needed special help to eat. We held his bucket up higher so he could finish his grain and drink water. We gave him the drugs the vet recommend and used the laser on his injury. By Sunday night he was getting more unsteady on his feet, losing his balance. He now was struggling with each breath. He was in pain. Dr Duval said she would come in the morning and do an ultrasound and xray to look for an answer. If she came Sunday night, I think I would have asked her to euthanize him right them. Watching him struggle to breath, knowing he was in pain, it was heartbreaking. Dr Duval asked me to check a few things on Lump then told me what to medications to administer. In 10 minutes, Lump was now more relaxed for the night. I felt better and was very hopeful we would have some answers in the morning.

Early Monday morning, I placed Lump's bucket of food on top of a tack trunk so he wouldn't have to bend his swollen neck to far to reach the grain. He was more unsteady then ever. Amy helped as we walked him into the hallway. He took about 10 steps and collapsed to the ground. While waiting for the vet, Bobby, Brigitte and other volunteers arrived. We made several attempts to get him up on his feet but we failed each time. Dr Duval came and gave Lump some injections to ease the pain and again our attempts to get him up were in vain. The ultrasound and xrays didn't answer many questions. Dr Marcella also came to look for a way to help Lump. Both vets, several volunteers and the tractor still couldn't get him up. Lump was loosing feeling in his mouth. Lumps tongue was hanging out of his mouth. I gently squeezed his tongue with no response until I was about 5 inches into his mouth. The vets were checking his spinal responses and they were also gone. Lump had a spinal cord injury. That explains why he got worst over the 3 days we tried to help. We great heartache, we made the decision to let Lump leave us forever and he was very humanely euthanized. He was surrounded by humans who loved him dearly. He left us with 10 years of happy memories that will stay forever in our hearts. Rest In Peace, old man. We love you Lump!

So Many Horses!

Life at the farm can be rewarding. It can be heartbreaking. It can be emotional. It can be challenging. It can be so many different emotions. Come and join us.

The picture on the right is from Oct. but it gives you an example of what we do. This is Snuffy arriving at he rescue farm. He was neglected to the point of near death. He has injuries that make him lame but he has a wonderful sweet personality. He is forgiving of humans for all the abuse he suffered. He gentle whinny melts your heart.

Yesterday started out nice and quiet. The sun came out for the first time in days. The warmth warmed every 2 legged and 4 legged being out here. The chickens chattered among themselves. The donkeys brayed and the roosters call out it was a great day. One of our elder residents, Sweetie, a wonderful 32 year old Appaloosa mare, came out to enjoy the sun. She had a stroke a month ago but is recovering well. She also has Anhydrosis and Cushings. She never complains about any of it. She's happy. Every day is a treasure. You really learn that life is precious when you rescue animals. I am sure the many volunteers and the visitors to the rescue agree they feel a circle of emotions and a sense of peace.