Jake Loves (and needs) Food

Jake has been with us 2 weeks. He is a 26 y o Arabian that the owners said always did well on pasture. I guess they didn't think to buy grain or call a vet. He weighted 742 pounds when we picked him up and brought him to SaveTheHorses Rescue farm. He gets Senior feed several times a day. He makes sure because he gets to walk around free rather than in a pasture and when he sees a human head toward the feed barn, he comes over and whinnies, 'Feed me, please!'. He is a sweet horse and has probably been taken care of most of his life until recently. I don't know what happened that he lost so much weight and it was just ignored but he surely suffered for it. He was starving. I doubt he would have lived much longer without grain or hay. He was on about a 2 acre pasture with green grass, lovely black board fencing in a very well to do neighborhood. 

We couldn't put shavings in his stall because he was so starved, he'd eat them. We let him just be staled on rubber mats and put food grade diaomaceous earth on it to absorb the smell. If he was in the stall and we took a shovel of shavings and put it on the urine pool to absorb it so we could shovel it out, so he could have a clean stall, he would start gobbling the shavings. He couldn't help himself he was so hungry. The other day, he walked into a few stalls that the horses who occupy them were turned out, he was looking in their feed buckets for left overs. Then he rolled in a stall and he was covered in shavings. It was a breakthrough, he is past the starving point. We realized he was ready for shavings in his own stall, to keep it clean and to keep him comfortable. It was a simple thing, shaving in his stall. It was joyous for everyone at the rescue farm. Jake had taken a step forward. 

The day he was brought to the farm, started out bad. He ate some grain in the 30 minute trailer ride from his home back to the farm. He  was so starved he gulped the food down. When the trailer door opened for him to get out to the safety of the rescue farm, food was coming out of his nose. He was choking. Dr Laura Duvall Mohoney came out quickly to get a tube down his throat and clear his choke. He is on antibiotics for any aspirating that easily happen]s when you wash water down a horses esophagus. 

He loves his new girlfriend, Lady Jane. They look like Jack Sprat (who could eat not fat) and his wife (who could eat not lean). You have to love their relationship. He loves her, she could care less. 
She actually love to tease little Humphrey, a miniature horse with a hump on his back. 

Drama sat the rescue farm! 

Thank you for your compassion and support! 

You save lives of horses like Jake, Lady Jane and Lil Humphrey everyday!  Thank you so much! 

Our Farm Inspector is a Goat!

Pebbles the Inspector!

Getting things ready around the farm makes some animals take notice. What was going on here? 


We were going to paint the picnic tables  so we turned them over to paint the underside hoping to make them last longer. Your donations are needed to buy food and hay and pay vet bills for the horses. We really don't want to spend any extra money on picnic tables so we try and make everything last as long as possible. One of the volunteers replaced some rotted wood so we were ready to start painting. 

Pebbles and Goliath

Along comes Pebbles, a very nosy goat who appointed herself  'Picnic Table Inspector'. She knew something was going on and she needed to make sure we 'humans' knew what we were doing. Right behind Pebbles, was Goliath, the Chihuahua, who Pebbles appointed 'Vice Inspector' of picnic tables. 


Pebbles didn't have a mother to teach her so I am guessing she was born a genius. She was found by some city folks who took her to a wildlife sanctuary in Stone Mountain, Georgia called AWARE.  The family thought they had found an abandoned baby deer. It was a good rescue on their part. They wanted to save this little innocent soul and got involved. AWARE called and told us the mistake, it is a baby goat not a fawn, and that they do not do farm animals. One of the AWARE volunteers brought Pebbles to SaveTheHorses Farm and she quickly became a favorite to all visitors. 


We 'humans' have an election coming up in  a little over a week. Zillions of dollars are spent on campaigns ads, truths are told, lies are told and we 'humans' have to make major decisions and pick our leaders. The world at the rescue farm is not like that. These animals take it upon themselves to 'get the job' done when they see a job needing help. No campaigning, no voting, no money spend. They just appoint themselves and take over.  They are leaders!  

Pebbles watching over Roy

When our retired Carriage horse, Roy, was having some physical problems, Pebbles was there to make sure he was safe. 

We 'humans' learn a lot from the animals here are the farm everyday. 

SaveTheHorses.org is a all volunteer, non profit organization that cares for unwanted horses and farm animals. A no-kill shelter located in Cumming GA.

A Horses Destiny is Our Choice

Destiny, a Craigslist find

Craigslist posts has free and inexpensive horses needing new homes everyday. Some horse owners are willing to dump their horses to the first person with a horse transport trailer who shows up. Where is the horse going? Some people don't care, just take it away and they are free of their responsibly. A horses fate is in our hands if we are willing to help. There are people who can walk away from an animal in danger. There are those who find a way to help. 


One local family was looking for a horse when they came across this big mare. Destiny is a Percheron mare that a family saved from Craigslist. She was very thin, had bad feet but she was not the horse they needed for their little 6 year old. They couldn't leave her behind. They didn't feel she was safe where she was but they didn't feel they were knowledgeable enough to make her healthy. Instead of walking away, they found a solution. They brought Destiny home and called SaveTheHorses.org and asked for help. 

Destiny loves carrots. Sandra is enjoying feeding her treats. 

 We have gotten many malnourished many horses and changed their lives. It was a 'yes' we will come and get her when this family called. Destiny was a handful, hard to handle and pushy on the ground  She is big and strong, surely not a 6 year old child's horse. Destiny needs to gain a few hundred pounds to fill on each rib and get strong enough to carry a rider and become healthy. After a month of good nutrition, plus good farrier work by Mele Miller, we moved her to our 100 acre grass pasture in Chickamuaga Georgia. She can gain weight and get her body exercised and build muscle on that big pasture.  

Destiny getting love at Chickamauga

This family still wants a perfect horse for their 6 year old. We have a 'yes' to that too. Caraway is a 20 something Appaloosa mare.

Caraway

 She came to us through animal control a few years ago. It didn't take us long to find her a home. She was adopted to a 10 year old boy named Wiley. She was a perfect, gentle horse for Wiley because he was fragile from the brain cancer that was he was fighting at the time. It was in remission and Wiley spent many hours with Caraway. They were both gentle souls and loved one another. Within 2 years, the cancer overtook Wiley and he passed away. It was so heartbreaking to be involved in this. How can this happen to a child? Life is so unfair. I am so grateful that SaveTheHorses could make Wiley's life happy even for such a short time. Partnering a special boy with a special horse is such an honor. 

After Wiley's was laid to rest. his family knew Caraway could give another child the love she gave Wiley. They were right. Caraway is now the constant companion of that little 6 year old , Meg, and she is making another child smile everyday. 

Caraway and Meg

Rescue is many things. Rescue is everything. It is a fragile circle that rescuers live within. You all know and join in that circle even though we know it can bring heartache and pain at anytime but the moments of joy make it all worth the efforts. 

There is a home for every horse. It takes time and effort and compassionate people like you to keep a rescue running and helping more and more horses. 

SaveTheHorses.org 

This Piggy Needs a Piggy Bank!

When I pulled up at animal control, they were already closed. It was Saturday after 5. They had called and asked SaveTheHorses.org to please take a young potbellied pig. I understand employees want to go home but I hoped someone was around. I walked around toward the back of the building and saw an Officer I recently picked up two neglected horses with. He opened the door and one of the ladies was holding this cute little piggy in her arms.  

He quietly sat in the basket all the way back to the farm. He was in instant hit with all volunteers and visitors. 

Kressa loves Junior

We have a wonderful white pig who came from Fulton County Animal services several years ago. He is aging and is having a harder time getting up to eat. Sometimes, we have to help him up. His name is Arnold Swartzenhogger. Everyone wants to know what we will call this new little guy. I think in honor of old Arnold, we should call him Junior, Arnold Swartezhogger , Jr. People come and Junior oinks at them, especially when you have Cheerios. He is like a little vacuum cleaner. You put Cheerios in your hand and his little snout wiggles and poof, they are gone that fast. He was doing well until one of the little visitors didn't close his gate and he thought he's go on a farm adventure and disappeared. He was lost. When the volunteers discovered him missing, we organized a search party! After searching in the barn, for what seemed like hours,  he was found burrowed in the shavings in a back stall. Most of the horses were out in the pastures enjoying the great weather so we didn't think they hurt him. He walked fine. He seemed very frightened and just trembled when we put him back in his piggy area. We left him alone so he could relax again. Later he ate a little fresh food and seemed to drink extra water but nothing too much to worry about. The next morning he still wasn't his Cheerio loving self. Everyone came and held him gently, cuddling him like the baby his is. He seems to enjoy the attention but still was acting lethargic. It was now Sunday so any veterinarian charge was going to be an emergency call but he needed some help.   After examining him, the vet said his temperature was low. He gave him some antibiotics and anti inflammatory medicines and told me to keep him warm tonight. No real answer but he slept comfortably. 

Dr Kim Parker and Junior

After making an appointment with a Roswell veterinarian, I took him to  Dr Kim Parker, who, after an hour of examining him,  discovered he had a broken jaw. She made an appointment for yet another veterinarian who is more familiar with pigs and will do surgery today, Oct. 16th. She said it would be a two hour surgery. From examining him, it looks like two fractures but she didn't want to sedate him unnecessarily so she will xray him before she the surgery. Of course, sedating any pig is dangerous. Please she a prayer for our little guy.

Since the surgeon is 20 miles away, they said I could leave him but I decided to bring him home. I wanted to love on him last night and make sure he had some nutrition and strength for the surgery  We need to give him every chance. 
I have him some oral vitamins along with soaked Cheerios with bananas. He slowly ate it out of my hand. His little jaw will feel much better after today. 

We don't have the answer as to how he broke his jaw. Only a few horses were in the barn. Could it have been a donkey or one of the goats? It could have or he could have gotten caught under a stall or or something. At least we know the problem and it is solvable. Costly, yes. Three vets and a surgery. He needs a big piggy bank, literally! 

If you can help fill this Piggy's piggy bank to pay the vet bills, please help.
Thank you. 

Horses, Horses, Horses in Need!

Jake ~ Arabian horse weighting 752 pound

I take a deep breath, turn on the computer and get ready for a conflict. Not a day goes by that that phone calls and emails come in begging for help to save a horse. The conflict is how I can help without actually taking the horse myself. I read on...This horse is at animal control and will be euthanized if rescue not found. Another horse has nowhere to go because owner lost farm and will be foreclosed on in 5 days. Oh, how I wish this owner planned for their horse welfare before it got this close to the eviction. Then a young  untrained horse is placed on Craigslist. The owner just doesn't care about the horse any more and  is giving away to the first person who shows up. That could mean kill buyer. Free horses can be sold for a per pound price for meat. How many colts, healthy and unhandled because they have not been gelded are being given away every day. A person acquires an ungelded horse, hoping they can make money with a stud by breeding. The horse is not quality breeding stock, nor does this owner have experience with a stud horse because it is nature who makes this horse react badly. It is a stallion. The owner realizes he can't profit so the horse is placed Free. That means a certain danger of slaughter. This free horse will cost $200-300. just to have him gelded. Then training starts.  More money! Instead he is sold per pound for meat for human consumption. 

Some of these horses are out of state. Many are at big auctions where they are brought in and caring horse lovers bid to save them.  They surely are in danger of slaughter. That is really another costly problem. Gas prices are skyrocketing, that means transport costs and health certificates across state lines are an added expense  Getting the lowest bid to transport could actually cost the horse to become ill or even die because an inexperienced hauler may not stop to rest or give the horse adequate care along the route. There are starving, needy horses in my area. It is just heartbreaking to read these stories day in and day out.

SaveTheHorses if full! We have 'time-share' stalls now. With winter coming, more horses will need to be in stalls. I will help the next horse by blasting out the information and finding a home or at least foster home. 

Jake when he arrived

Then, I read another email about an Arabian that was losing weight. The email said he was 6 years old and was ride able. I told myself, we will help find him a home. He is 6 years old, we can surely find someone who would love a young Arabian gelding who just needs some weight on him. He is sound. When the next email came with pictures, I thought  the words 'losing weight' was far from what was wrong. He was going to die soon if I didn't bring him here now. He needs several small feedings a day to get him up to weight and health. I made arrangements to pick him up and met with the owner. He told me Jake has always been fat on grass in the past. They had a beautiful home, beautiful pasture and a skinny horse. Then he told me Jake is 26 years old. 

Very underweight

Now the story made a little more sense. Jake needs grain. He can't eat grass, his teeth are bad. He can't even eat hay unless it is chopped hay. I don't know why the owner waited until Jake was so thin. They said they dewormed him. I was also given a bag of Triple Crown Senior just purchased to give Jake. Jake loved it so we put some in a bucket for the trailer ride back to the rescue. It was a 30 minute ride. I parked and walked back to the trailer to open the door and get Jake out. He was peering out looking at where he was. He gobbled the Senior food so fast he choked. His food was coming through his nose. He could not get the food down. It was stuck in his throat. Dr Duvall Mohoney was at the barn in a short time. Two hours later, and a mess all over the ground, it was nearly cleared up but it was time to stop and not stress him any more. She had to slowly insert a tube into his nose and slowly work it down to the blockage. He had a quiet night. Dr Duvall Mohoney came back in the morning and the tube went all the way down to his stomach. That meant it was cleared, no more choking. Now we are careful to give him small portions of wet food and chopped hay. Jake really needs a sponsor until we find a him a permanent home. We are not a sanctuary (though we hope to have a sanctuary some day) but we keep horses as long as we have to. We do not euthanize for space. We are totally funded by donations, no government funding. We use the space wisely and do everything we have to to keep the horses healthy and safe. 

Jake with Todd

It seems we have more questions than answers. Why didn't Jake's owners call a veterinarian or ask someone who may have horses for suggestions, I don't know. It does not matter now but it made me come to the conclusion that horse owner need more education. 

We are planning on classes for horse owners and non owners, anyone interested.  Please let us know your ideas, interests, what you think is needed most. You all have supported Save The Horses in every way. Please help us again as the horse lovers you are and let's make more horse owners more knowledgeable. We need to hear from you. 

Adopt~Foster~Volunteer~Donate 

www.SaveTheHorses.org

All Volunteer   Come Join Us.

A Lil' Hump Of Love!

'Eh, Why don't you put that horse down?', someone said to me in disdain.'

Why? I answered. 


Most visitors to the Save The Horses rescue farm see beyond the disabilities, They look into the heart and souls of our horses.

The lady asking me about the little horse was referring to Lil Humphrey. 

This Miniature horse came to the rescue a few years ago as a 4 year old. He came from a local breeder. I guess the breeder thought he shouldn't breed Lil Humphrey because he may breed that hump into another horse. Good thinking! At 4 years old, his hump was still growing. It looks like Kyphosis or Scoliosis that humans get. It was worrisome watching his hump get bigger and bigger. We surely didn't want it to cripple him. Finally when he turned 5, it stopped where it is. The vet said we should not have him gelded because his organs at being pulled in different directions internally and Anesthesia could be fatal. I sure do not want stallions here but he is an exception. I would never forgive myself if we decided to geld him and he died during the anesthetic. I didn't want to have to isolate him but I couldn't have a stallion causing havoc either.

Right about that time, we took in, Rowdy, a little mini gelding with some dwarfism. He was sent down from an auction in Pennsylvania. Lil Hump and Rowdy became best buddies. They both love to play and run. 

They look as though they are playing rough but they never hurt one another. They are both favorites of many who come to the farm. Horses do not judge another horse by how they look. These guys prove that everyday. 

Humans can learn so much about relationships from horses. Horses 
keep you honest. I tried to add this video 4 times .. unsuccessfully so please click here and ENJOY! I think you will agree, he is not aware of any disability. 
 https://www.dropbox.com/s/5v33pzxsispaagb/2012-09-13%2020.19.36.mp4

www.SaveTheHorses.org