Muffin Man Moves with some help.

First touch with halter and lead on. Taylor is using M&M and her senior project for school.

First time lead with halter.

This handsome guy is a captive born Mustang. His mother is in our care as well. Both came from animal control. They talked about euthanizing them because they were dangerous. We took a look and our first thoughts were these are not dangerous horses, just terrified horses, even traumatized. So they could be saved, we agreed to take them both. They trembled as they stood in the stall were animal control had them held. It was easy to get them in the trailer because they moved as far away from us as they could. Just put your arms toward them and they jumped in. Once at the farm, it was the same getting them out. I had to get a stick to use an an extension of my arm. I put it in the open area at the front of the trailer and they moved away as fast as they could to the barn and jumped out.





Having the stallion, 'Stud Muffin' gelded was more of an ordeal than we anticipated. It took 5 different drugs and two hours to sedate him so he could be safely gelded. Mustangs have a great survival instinct. I guess you can say they can 'hold their liquor'. Any domestic horse lets the drug take over. Mustangs need to survive and fight an effects of sedation. After 3 hours of work, he was gelded. We changed the name to Muffin Man (M&M) and started to work with him in the round pen. We can get him to go around and around and around. It seemed to only get to that point and no further progress was being made. He would turn left, right and stop and look at you but no touching was allowed by M&M.



We had to be a little more assertive, though I don't like doing it, but I felt we were at a stand still. Bobby and I cornered M&M and carefully and slowly managed to get a halter on him. We left the lead rope on the halter so he can stop on it with his own foot and realize he had to stop at the pressure. He is in a small area and we watch carefully so he didn't panic and hurt himself. He did quite good.

Fifteen minutes a day spent training, learning to lead, learning to whoa, turning...just small steps to accomplish bigger things.

Muffin Man is available for adoption. He is about 7 years old. Surely not too old to learn to trust and love humans. If you are a kind, patient person, he may be your dream horse.Come and meet this handsome horse.

Happy New Homes to the TN 30!

It took so much more time that anyone ever anticipated to take 30 horses bought from a Tennessee auction to go home, to their new homes. in November, my neighbor bought a group of horses from an auction and offered them for sale for $75. each. They are mostly young, untrained horses, most in need of groceries. Once the word got out, people came from everywhere offering help, picking the ones that they thought were the cutest, the most needy, or had that special look they wanted. A few horses left with the new owners the first week but Strangles, a very contagious horse virus, spread through the herd and they became quarantined until last Sat. February 19th. Finally!

There was a lot of quick lessons in haltering, leading, trailer loading, begging, pretty pleasing and fun. It was a long day and the last horse that left decided to take the challenge of being the slowest, hardest loader. He was just scared for his life. He must have been through a terrible ordeal to totally mistrust humans. He was lucky though, his new human said she will wait a year or two if that's what it takes to finally trust her. I think it will be sooner though. It all is going to be a good experience for these lucky horses.

There are still two young sorrel/chestnut colored mares. They may be 3-4 years old.

They are frightened but know who fills the feed buckets. They whinny as they see you coming to feed. They will be coming around to be great horses soon.

Helen Heading Home to NY

Miss, oh, Pardon me, I mean, Mrs Momma Helen left the Save The Horses barn tonight. She is heading to NY to enjoy a new home and settle in before she gives birth to her foal. She was so good and well behaved. She was a little afraid when she heard the noisy diesel truck and trailer backing toward the barn. Not being able to see, she backed up as it approached the barn door. When the engine was turned off, she stood quietly. She is trusting. I can only imagine what it is like to be blind.

The trailer doors opened and she lead right in without any hesitation. I was happy she was so comfortable. I would have cried if she was afraid. It is hard to reassure a frightened horse. It breaks your heart. She made me happy though. She's a survivor. She will be a good Momma as well. She's off to NY. She has a nice clean stall on the transport and some good alfalfa hay. Bye sweet girl,. I hope she calls and keeps me posted. I will call her new Mom, Shelly , and make she she gets her own phone!

Momma Helen Update

Momma Helen, blind and pregnant, is doing really well. If you go down the blog, a few posts, you'll find her first post story. We met Lori at Animal Control last Monday. Helen was rather hard to catch. You wouldn't think a blind horse could get away from someone that easily but we were trying to be very gentle. She was in a large paddock area with a stallion. We had no idea what she'd been through or how she ended up at animal control so we only wanted to show her kindness. We are very patient. One of the animal control workers came out after 10 or so minutes. I guess he thought we were taking too long, so he came in to 'help' and just jumped on Helen's neck and forced the halter on her. She was very skittish but kind. He said, 'She kicks, watch out.' The stallion with her was very thin. You could see his bones under the two blankets he had on. There was no shelter but a tree. There were traces of hay in a small pile. We all were concerned about his condition. We were told he is an abuse case and will there for a while longer. It is an under funded animal control that does what they can. Helen was calm when she came off the trailer. We put her in a stall and gave her an alfalfa/orchard grass hay and a small amount of grain. She is in fair condition but here in Georgia, we have fescue grass growing in fields. It can be harmful to pregnant mares. You can't tell it is infected or not. Fescue can cause abortion, thickened placenta, or lack of milk so we are happy to give her an expensive hay, it is worth the price. She's been here a week. She is friendly, simple to catch and trusts people now. It is nice to see the progress. She never offered to kick at all. I think it was the animal control man she wanted to kick. She likes everyone here. Kindness goes a long way.

Our vet said Helen is good to travel but must be treated very gently. The transporter assured me he would be extremely careful. I spoke with Shelly in New York who is taking her. She has foaling experience and has a blind 3 y o gelding. The delay has been the snow storm in the Midwest where the transporter is. He said late Tuesday or early Wednesday. Lori paid for the vet and health certificate and the $500. for transport. It has been our pleasure to keep her safe until she goes 'home'.

Now that skinny stallion stayed on my mind. On Tuesday, I sent a volunteer back to animal control with a large round bale of hay and some Safe Choice grain and fat supplements. my opinion is, he needs hay in front of him at all times. They said he is on a special diet and they will consult with the vet. I plan on calling the vet to see if we can help. We also told animal control we will furnish food for him anytime. Many Georgia animal controls are struggling. We have supplied dog and cat food to other animal controls in rural areas as well. We run Fido's Soup Kitchen, giving pet food to needy animals when owners are having problems. We also have a hay bank providing hay and grain for horse owners in financial trouble. The majority of people looking for help love their animals very much. Their pets eat before they do. I hope help can be found for any folks struggling with their pets needs. We are all in this together. All your help is appreciated very much!

Hail Marey, Hail Mary, Holy Spirit?

http://hailmarey.blogspot.com/ . So many people are praying for her, she was named Hail Marey. We will be updating as soon as new pictures come in. Keep those prayers and positive thoughts coming her way. I just want to say, she's not our first Hail Mary. I will tell you about our first Hail Mary very soon. She came to us in February on 2009. Isn't it amazing that another chestnut color, neglected, malnourished chestnut mare came to us in February again? I do not believe in coincidences. Could our now,gone Hail Mary have sent this girl our way? Her spirit lives on, gives us strength and shows us we are needed again. The picture is of our beloved first Hail Mary. More to come soon.

We couldn't say No!

Yes, it can be a problem but when we see a really needy horse, the one most people pass up, we instead, embrace the horse. So we did it again. We said no more Camelot auction horses because transport and expenses are so high, but we bought 576 this morning.

Our auction coordinator, Libby, just looked at the auction horses posted and this mare tugged at her heart. A big hearted person just can't look the other way. They said this mare is much worse that she looks and is actually staggering and nearly falling down. She can't go too far from the auction which is in New Jersey. Libby found a foster home to quarantine her and feed her slowly so she can get well enough and strong enough to travel.

As disheartening as it is that horse owners let this happn to their once beloved horses, it is so gratifying to know there are so many people willing to donate to help this horse, pay for her needs and send her good thoughts and prayers. Thank you!

Blind Mare Finds 2 Caring Rescue Organizations!

Animal Control in North Georgia called the local horse rescue, Sunkissed Acres, asking for help with a mare that is not only in foal but blind. They are full and busy with an abused filly who was fighting for her life. Offering help with the filly since we have lots of experienced downed horses, I found out this mare needed to get out of animal control ASAP.

Sunkissed was doing such a great job with the filly, she was starting to stand on her own. So our help went to the blind mare. We have 3 blind horses now and have had many over the years. Blind horses have a special place in the hearts of those lucky enough to get to know them.

Brooke and I drove 2 plus hours one way to pick her up. She was with a sweet little stallion that is being held on a court case. The blind mare, Momma Helen, was a little afraid to be haltered but she walked bravely to the trailer when asked to move. She had to walk up a hill, change terrain onto the asphalt then step up into the horse trailer. She did it all willingly, what a sweet girl.

Sunkissed Acres has already found a home for this mare in western New York. Hopefully, when the vet comes to do the health certificate for traveling, she will give up the OK for her to travel safely that long distance. She is in good weight and seems good health. Our transporter is very experienced and we are confident all will go well.

We are lucky to enjoy the company of Momma Helen until she leaves, which is scheduled for this Friday. I know the many volunteers at the rescue farm would love to have her stay and raise that baby here. We do have experience with blind mares foaling. There were many sleepless nights and many sad and happy tears but all turned out well with 24 hours volunteers for several months, that was Acey and Pumpkin. "Put a bell on the baby so Mom knows where he is," we were advised. It worked well until Pumpkin laid down. Then Acey panicked, stepped on Pumpkins legs. He ended up with 3 leg casts until we actually separated them except to nurse. We put up a half wall so Acey could smell Pumpkin. I could tell you some stories, believe me! So I am quite happy an experienced blind mare home was found.

Support your local horse rescue, they are there to help horses like Momma Helen. No one was lining up at Animal Control to take this sweet blind mare except Sunkissed Acres and Save The Horses.

You Never Know What A Day Will Bring!

Cindy owned Waddle since Waddle was 3 years old. She is now 36! What great love and care she gave this mare. Waddle was in fabulous condition. No one could tell her age. Cindy feed the best Western alfalfa available while she ate meagerly herself. She gave more to her horses than herself.

It was the first time I met Cindy. She called looking for a way to get her mare up. We answered the call and ran to help. Cindy Rodeo Steedle was at the farm with her son, Roger came out to volunteer and I grabbed my 15 year old grandson and off we went. No one had this planned in their day, especially me. I planned a nice quiet day in our sunny break in the weather.

Late Saturday night, I did my usual ritual of giving Sweetie, my beloved 33 year old mare, her hot nightly mash. When I got to the door of the barn, I glanced in and saw Sweetie down in the shavings. When she gets down, she can't get up without humans, a tractor and a make shift sling. My heart sank. It was after 11PM. What was I going to do? I can't get her up myself! So I called Bobby, who is very experienced at getting her up. Thank God, he answered the phone and said he was on his way. I gathered all the sling materials, the straps, the hooks, the pads and put it all in the bucket of the tractor and drive it into the barn. After I looked toward Sweetie again, I realized it wasn't Sweetie laying in the shavings, it was another crippled, old mare, Eatie. Sweetie was standing near her favorite youngster's stall, up and happy. I was relieved that I didn't need help. Eatie could get up on her own. I called Bobby trying to let him know he didn't need to make the 40 minute ride at midnight. He was more than half way here but was happy Sweetie was OK. All night, my Chihuahua was sick and vomiting ...in my bed. I changed the sheets, gave him some medicine and hoped to get at least a little sleep. I woke up tired. I was ready for a quiet Sunday at the farm. I should know better....Never plan a day, things can change and they did. Off we went.

When we arrived at Cindy's, she was sitting on the ground beside Waddle. You could see the love and devotion for her horse. We took out our equipment, set it up on the mare and tried to encourage her to get up. We sure tried but soon we realized we needed more help. Soon Cherokee County Firemen showed up. Our group effort almost got Waddle up. It seemed hopeful for a while. Then we witnessed a few seizures as Waddled lay in the grass. Dr Marcella was called, the Milton Large Animal Fire Rescue Unit was called and everyone best efforts couldn't get Waddle up. It was now dark. It was getting cold and Cindy and Dr Marcella decided the more loving thing to do was to let Waddle leave our earth for the Rainbow Bridge. It is a heart breaking decision but letting an animal suffer is not an option for people who truly love an animal. Waddle went very peacefully. Cindy has a big empty place in her heart. We all know she made the right decision but it is the hardest decision anyone who loves an animal has to make.

Waddle has a 19 year old son who will be trying to adjust to not having his Mom around. Say a prayer for him and Cindy. It'll be a hard few days ahead.

BOARing!

I don't want to bore you but this is not horse related but it is rescue related. Michele, my sister, and I were driving down East Cherokee Road during the heavy rain last night. It was dusk and I was driving carefully with the wind shied wipers doing their dance to keep my windows clear so I could see. At the same moment, we both saw this black dog running along side the road. He looked like he had good weight but we couldn't tell what kind of dog he was. There was a driveway about 500 feet ahead so I pulled in to sort of head him off. The dog was still running toward us. We got out of the truck and realized he wasn't a dog, it was a pig, actually a wild BOAR! Well, that didn't stop us from helping.

Michele got the birdseed bag I just purchased and started to make a trail of birdseeds for the boar to follow. I stood behind the truck on the roadside to stop him from going into the road. It was rush hour and people were speeding past us. It was pouring rain, we were drenched. The boar stopped to eat the seeds. If you look closely at the picture, you can see him eating the seeds. (the light colored circles are birdseeds). He was kind of cute for a wild hog. Black with white sox. He had missing hair patches in several spots on his body. He snorted a lot too.

He wasn't afraid of us all all. When the birdseed bag was empty, Michele headed back toward the truck. Just then, Mr Boar ran into the road. Cars were coming from one direction and an 18 wheeler from the other. I ran into the road yelling. 'STOP', as I was waving my hands to stop the traffic. The boar must have thought I was yelling at him . His hackles raised, he snorted and came running toward me. I ran and jumped on the back of the truck! I was proud of myself. I did good for an old girl. Then I saw canned dog food with pop tops and handed them to Michele. She opened a few cans and tossed the smelly dog food deeper into the trail and the boar followed.

We felt he was safe and left for our original destination. I drove back an hour later and there was no sign of Mr Boar. I felt good. I hope you don't consider this a BOARing rescue!