Jingle All The Way to the Rescue!

Jingle arrived at the Rescue Farm Christmas Eve.

Jingle is a miniature horse who needed some special foot care. While many people were out Holiday shopping, Santa's elves, in the form of compassionate humans, came to her rescue with donations to purchase her from the breeder, with a foster home and transport to the foster, farrier work to correct her feet and to the rescue farm. Thank you to Elizabeth McPeek, Tammerly McDonald, Phil Yarbrough, Reagan Cochran, Lester Reese and others who came to the rescue of this little mare!

Thank you to Tom Scott, who transported her from North Georgia. 

We know there will be a happy ending for Jingle and a great loving life for her.

She needs some grooming and everyone will be happy to help!

Jingle bring s smiles to share with everyone!

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah

 and Happy Celebration to everyone! 

There are so many people and things to be thankful for this Holiday Season and everyday. Things at the Rescue Farm never stop to long because things always need to be done. Thank you to everyone who is spending some of their time to care for the horses today and everyday! You are all such an important part of SaveTheHorses!






















Thank you to everyone who is spending their time to feed and care for the horses during this busy time. 

Yes Bugg Us!

Happy Home for Bugg!

Bugg was a young Quarter Horse type colt who was literally on death's door. He was already in a state of starvation when he was left in a pasture on a very hot humid July day. He couldn't find the creek to hydrate himself and was at the staggering point when we brought him to the rescue farm that evening. 

Bugg was dehydrated, covered with rain rot and nearly dead. 

To read where he came from and what happened, click here.
http://dailynewsatsavethehorses.blogspot.com/2014_07_01_archive.html

Bugg gets love from all the volunteers at the rescue farm. 

Look where this lucky Bugg is living today. 

Bugg is living so splendidly now!

His new Mom, Lisa, loves him so much! He will now enjoy life and never go without food, water, good acre or love.

Bugg looking out his gossip door talking to his neighbor, a cute little miniature horse.

Bugg  was gelded by Dr Kerrie Porter last week and he is recovering from that surgery very well. He has good nutrition now so he can grow to his full capacity and be the best trail horse and best friend forever. He is a very lucky guy. 

Thank you to everyone involved in his recovery and care.

Bugg won the Love Lottery for sure!

We are Rescue! Thank you for your continued support, prayers and time you all dedicate to the horses! 

Happy Days Ahead for Horses and Humans!

SaveTheHorses has always claimed to have the Best volunteers! It is very true. Three families who have volunteered, adopted and sponsored horses and helped with all kinds of things here at the farm just gave us some exciting news! The Bradley family, the Lee family and the Pate family started a non profit corporation as a fundraising organization, A Stable Solution, to help the Horse Rescue and the Barn Buddy Program. This partnership will help these programs flourish and grow to help many more horses and foster/adopted children find peace through horses. We are looking forward to a long and prosperous relationship and change the part of the world we can together. Thank you all for your kindness. 

The Lee's and The Bradley's loving their newly adopted horses!

Rachel and friend

The Horse Rescue, Relief and Retirement Fund (SaveTheHorses.org) has struggled for 15 years (established in 1998) but has always managed to survive, thanks to your generosity and Cherokee Feed who lets us run up an enormous bill and pay it continually, to our hay source, Curtis Farm, and to our vets, Equine Medical Associates, Georgia Equine Veterinary Services, KLMarcella and FoxDale Equine who also give us great service and patiently wait for us to pay. Thank you all. 

The future now will to provide a better service to Horses and humans. We are a Horse Rescue, People Rescue. 

Sweetie on IV's.

We have wonderful volunteers who put in over 20,000+ hours each year to do the dirty work, the fun  work, the sometimes sad work and the rewarding work to save the horses. Rain or shine, they come to give of themselves and their precious time. 

Volunteer of all ages come and help.

 Our Barn Buddy Program is off and running and will grow faster than we dreamed, thanks to Rebecca Miller who is running the program. The Barn Buddy Program is a unique program that partners foster/adopted children with attachment and trust issues with horses who have been neglected and abused. 

Memories made.

The volunteers are Super Heroes too!

Love shared!

We also have a Pink Horse Shoe Fund for horses with cancer.

Trudy getting love from John Michael after cancer took her eye.

and a Go Green Fund to make the farm more efficient and save energy, water and the Earth. 

Keeping the farm green.

 Happy days are coming. Maybe we can get some financial help with the Pink Horse Shoe and Go Green Programs. 

We have a constant Need List, now it's time to write our Wish list! 

Horse Rescue, Relief and Retirement Fund, Inc. 

EIN # 58-2479748

1768 Newt Green Rd

Cumming, GA 

30028

www.SaveTheHorses.org

Sheep in your yard? What do you do?

What do you do if a sheep shows up at your door? You take care of him. After a few weeks, the sheep becomes friendly and gets love from the family who does their best to keep him safe. With winter coming, they know food source for Coyotes will get scarce and they are afraid the sheep may be in danger. The family decided to call SaveTheHorses.org. We happily accepted another sheep. We have been waiting for a sheep in need of a home since Rambo, our Gwinnett County Animal Control sheep, was humanely euthanized in June of 2012. We don't buy animals, we take those needing homes. 

Buddy on left.

'Buddy' was happy to see another sheep, a goat and 3 pigs. Buddy is young and playful. He brought some new energy to the petting animal group. 

The family who found Buddy came out and visited him this weekend. They miss him terribly. Tears were falling but they were happy he is safe here. They may fence an area at their home and build Buddy a safe shelter. If they do, we will bring him back to their home. Either way, we will enjoy and care for Buddy while he is here. 

Though we are a horse rescue, we are wiling to help any animal in need the best we can. We know we are a People Rescue as well. 

Taking yourself away and being with rescued animals , helping them recover mentally and physically is rewarding and you learn so many things about yourself. Come to an Orientation on the second Saturday of each month at 9 am and/or to an Open House 1-4 pm the Second Sunday of each month and learn about SaveTheHorses and other animals. Learn about our Barn Buddy Program for foster and adopted children and our Pink Horse Shoe Fund for horses with cancer. 

Horse Rescue, Relief and Retirement Fund, Inc 

IRS EIN # 58-2479748 non profit charity.

website www.SaveTheHorses.org 

Love For Lobo

The Gwinnett Animal Control officers went out on an animal abuse call and found several malnourished dogs and one malnourished horse, that was August of 2011. SaveTheHorses was asked to take Lobo after the county was awarded custody. We happily agreed. 

Lobo August of 2011

Lobo was estimated to be about 28 years old. He was thin but good quality food several times a day made a big difference. Our original plan was to get him healthy and find him a home but he has a bladder problem. He dribbles his urine on his legs. At first we thought it was because of age but Dr Leah Patipa suspected it was Sebaceous bladder. Lobo soon had his first treatment of cleaning out his bladder. It takes two veterinarians for the procedure. We have had it done regularly in the past 3 years.His bladder went from the size of a basketball to the size of a near normal bladder. 

Dr Murray and Dr Walker work on cleaning Lobo's bladder.

We didn't have any calls  for an older, non ride able horse who needs a costly procedure so Lobo has been here since he arrived. He does have people who love him.

Logo is Madeline's best friend and confidant! 

Monday morning Lobo wouldn't eat his grain or soaked hay cubes. Lucky for Lobo Dr Gail Daley, animal Chiropractor came out and made Lobo feel much better. He happily ate his food and went out to play and eat grass, back to normal.

Lobo enjoying the grass

Lobo has many volunteers who love him and enjoy his company. Many thanks to Stephanie Emhoff and the Pate Family for helping with Lobo's care and medical needs and every volunteer who gives their love and time to help horses like Lobo. 

Is A Miracle On Its Way For Dixie Kitten?

Welcome to the Dixie Kitten ride! It seems like we are riding a roller coaster of emotions. Dixie does well, walks around then seems to be in pain and lays down more than she is up. We have tried many things to stop her feet from abscessing and we felt we were losing the battle. We surely do not want her living in unbearable pain. 

The farrier comes and does her feet regularly but she can't always hold her one foot up for more than 20 seconds. It makes is hard to trim enough in the short sessions. The farrier would trim, put her foot down and give her a break, then pick it up and trim for 20 seconds and it could go on for an hour for one foot. Last week we had the veterinarian and farrier out together.The vet gave her injections to block the pain so the farrier could be more aggressive with trimming her feet. What a difference! Dixie has improved and has been walking around much more. We had some great suggestions sent by caring people who have used different products and methods to help horses feet.  

When Dixie does lay down, Volunteers like Kathy, make sure she is comfortable by cooling her off with a shower. 

We are also still seeing if the Vetrixinc product could be injected and help her heal. One consideration of using it is it has been used on acute problems. What we have with Dixie has been going on along time. She came to us 11 months ago and had already foundered possibly 6 months before she even came here. 

Dixie's bit of improvement gave us hope to try a few more things. We love to see her happy and if she continues to move around without intolerable pain, we will continue to do everything we can to help her. 

Some new products are on their way here. Let's hope one is the miracle we have been looking for. 

WE are Rescue!

After Surgery UpDate on Buddy!

Buddy was getting prepared for surgery by Dr Christine Murray and Dr Bill Walker so everything would go well for Buddy's eye to be removed.  It took about an hour but all went well. 

Buddy was sedated and relaxed now.

Now Buddy looks like a wounded war horse! 

Poor Baby!

He still seems to be having some pain but we are hoping it will all get better in a day or two. Hos bandages should come off in a few days.the stitches will be taken out in 2 weeks.

He looks so pitiful!

We put a hay bag in the stall so his head will stay up and eat hay It is unnatural for a horse to eat like this but eating lower could cause bleeding though the eye socket. Buddy walked up to the hay bag and sniffed it. It has alfalfa orchard hay in it. He didn't take any. He stepped back. I pulled a little hay from the bag and offered it to him. He took it and ate it but still didn't go toward the bag. I pulled some hay part way out of the bag, then he walked forward and started nibbling on it. He may never have seen a hay bag before, He figured it out! Tonight he is resting comfortably in the stall. 

We still have a few concerns. Is his eye the only damage his did to his head? We hope it all subsides in a day or two. If not, we may have to look into a deeper injury. We are hoping not and keeping out fingers crossed. Keep your thoughts and prayers coming!

   Thank you all. WE are Rescue! YOU are Rescue, too!

Buddy Update!

Buddy needs his eye removed. 

Dr Murray and Dr Walker are a team. Sadly, eye removals are becoming more common. Buddy has been here at SaveTheHorses less than 24 horse and he must think we are the meanest people trying to look and clean his eye. I hope he knows we are trying to help him. Everyone is giving him lots of love. 

He can not open his eye. It is painful and he stands uncomfortable. His eye will be removed Friday, August 29 at 3 pm. 
His eye is not repairable and he will feel so much better when it is not in pain. He is being given anti pain medications to keep him as comfortable as possible.

We will post after the surgery. Say a prayer for him.
Thank you for your thoughts and good wishes.

WE are Rescue! Thanks to YOU!

Help Our New Buddy!

This guy is in serious pain.

When he arrived yesterday, he was stressed. It was hard to tell if it was from pain or from traveling and being in a new place. He slowly circled in his stall and put his lip up and over to the side with the bad eye. We gave him some anti inflammatory medication. It did help a bit. He nibbled at the hay and grain we tried to offer as comfort to him. He even refused treats. 

He somehow injured his eye. The owner had veterinarians at Southern Crescent Equine in Newnan GA had been trying to save his eye. SaveTheHorses has worked with Southern Crescent veterinarians before of critical cases so again they suggested to the owner to call us. I offered to help with the cost of removing the eye which was quoted at $700.00. I asked the owner how much they could come up with and explained we could help raise money to help. We would rather help people keep their horses. It is always a first choice. So I was surprised the declined and said they didn't want Buddy any more. Maybe dealing with the eye was just too hard. Our first thought is he will end up on Craigslist, not treated and slaughtered. 

We planned on cleaning his eye out but just touching near the eye makes Buddy tense. Our veterinarian should be here later today to see what is under that mess. Sedating him will make it much easier on him and on all of us. 

 Thank you for your compassion and generosity.
 WE are Rescue!
It does take all of us to help these needy horses! 

Jon Michael give love to Dixie Kitten. 

It has been 11 months since we agreed to bring in Thoroughbred Dixie Kitten, a former race horse and long time brood mare. She didn't have any value to most people because she was in poor shape nutritionally and had severe founder. Her owner was paying board to keep her at a local farm but he moved out of state for his job. The local farm told him of Dixie's condition and wanted to have her euthanized. After all, she was used up. She had a 3 year old baby at her side and had lost a baby not long before we were called. 

She is a very sweet mare. She is one of everyone's favorites. She is also a heart breaker. We have worked so hard trying to keep her comfortable. There are days when she is down more than she is up. There are days when she walks around and seems like we are helping her get better, then she lays down and seems like it is hopeless. 

You can see the crack where frequent abscesses break out

Same on this foot, asbcesses often.

We had a few sets of radio graphs done to compare if our time and efforts, along with very tender loving care, have helped. Dr Ken Marcella, Dr Kerri Porter and Dr Christine Murray have seen her, blocked her feet and made great suggestions as to how to help Dixie. Farrier John Stikes and barefoot trimmer Jan Hester have trimmed Dixie's feet. We have wrapped her feet, soaked them, cleaned them, picked them and put on numerous products to help.
She gets well, or at least seems better then gets such terrible abscesses she goes down again. 

Are we making her suffer? Do we value life so much that we block seeing the suffering? It is such a hard decision to make. We want the best for Dixie. Want her comfortable. Believe me, this is a serious discussion at the barn and a serious discussion with myself at 3 am when I lay there weighing the options. Euthanasia is a serious choice, no turning back. 

After 11 months, we had hoped for more progress. We are not giving up yet. We have spoken with the Vetrixinc company, provider of extracellular matrix (ECM) technologies about injection Dixie's feet with the matrix. They helped SaveTheHorses rescue horse, Chevelle, who we brought in from Louisianna after he was hot by a car and was at animal control in need of help. The Vetrix people are consulting with veterinarians and we are hoping she may be a good candidate and that is provides us the miracle we are hoping for! Say a Prayer for Dixie.

Bugg Update is Great!

Our little Bugg an is doing well. It really was tough and go. Every morning as I went into the barn, I held my breath hoping I'd find a happy pony,not one on the groups struggling for his life. Your prayers and good wishes worked. 

He is slowly gaining weight but his hydration was the most concerning and that is now at normal, which is excellent.

He is getting lots of love from the volunteers. He loves every human and animal he comes in contact with. 

Just a golly good pony! 

Thank you for caring! 

No! No! No! We Have No Room For Another Horse!

That is what I said, NO! And I meant it!

Honestly, we have no room for another horse. Period! 

I was actually sending an email telling someone telling them, I can't take their horses right now, because we have no room, but that I would be happy to help in any way I can. I  answered the knock at the door and that changed everything.

Then as my friends told me about a small, frail horse just moved to the pasture they lease, about 4 days ago, I had to find a place for him. It had to be immediately. I honestly think he would have died today sometime. Yes he was malnourished when he got to the 35 acre pasture. He was able to at least eat grass but the water is at a creek at the edge of the property. It seems he didn't make it there at all. He was extremely dehydrated, extremely weak. My friends have been giving him a little feed and they did last night, too. Then went around and feed their own horses. By the time all horses were fed, they came back to check on him and he had the grain stuck in his mouth. There wasn't enough moisture in his saliva to move the grain down his throat. They literally had to put their hand in his mouth and remove it. It make me want to cry. It made me say 'Yes'. 

You can see how dehydrated he is here. 

The land owner called the owner of this horse and gave us permission to take him. I really should have it all in writing but it couldn't wait. We can really get in trouble for doing it all orally but we couldn't leave him there. Today, paperwork will be signed.

no muscle, not fat, no energy

So just before dark, we hooked up the trailer and road up to Jasper. We found him standing in the clearing, head down, but happy to see us. I think he knew we were there to help. We slowly and steadily helped him down the hill to the gate. He wasn't able to walk in a straight line at all. He was that weak. He was covered with rain rot on his skin and has a sunburned nose. Once we got him to the trailer we dosed him with electrolytes to give him a much needed boost. 
 

He was an emergency. He would have died.

One the way home, I spoke with Dr Hugh Worsham from Foxdale Equine, about the condition of this guy. He was on call in case we needed him to come during the night if he wasn't hydrating.
 

Covered in rain rot.

He road well as we slowly made the trip back to the farm. He was happy to see horses when he arrived. He's really sweet. We gave him a nice cool hosing in the wash rack to get his body temperature down. He had lice, too. The poor guy had no nutrition to fight anything. We put him in a stall with some nice alfalfa hay and a big bowl of alfalfa soup with minerals.  He loved slurping on it.  

This has to be painful.

He is doing good this morning, bright eyed and whinnying. More soupy mix, more minerals, salts, vitamins and he will slowly recover unless his organs took a toll from the dehydration. The next few weeks will be touch and go. All we can do it our best and offering everything to overcome his poor condition. I am not sure the owner will give him up. Hopefully she will let us at least keep him until he is healthy and get a new start on life. We are time-sharing a stall for him, yes, imagine, Time-share stalls. Hey, it works!

The volunteers already all agreed his name should be Bugg. He has great big, sweet soft eyes that beg for love! He is getting lots of love today!

It is what we do. WE are Rescue! 

(That is a collective WE, including you!)

Thank you for your constant help, support, prayers and good thoughts. They keep us going, they keep us strong.

Boston Marathon and Buggs

Last year, while we were all mourning the Boston Marathon bombing with the rest of the county, here in our horse community, we had our own sadness. 

We took in a mare from animal control hoping to find her a good home. Tracy Hunter agreed to foster her. She was very thin and in need of good nutrition. As time passed, the mare gained weight and Tracy had a suspicion that Bugsy was in foal. After a vet check, an ultrasound showed no foal. Bugsy continued to gain weight and became uncomfortable. Tracy called the vet again and this time confirmed the pregnancy. Bugsy was not a happy horse. She was getting everything she needed but seems unhappy. 

Feb 2013 and 2 months to go, Bugsy was growing bigger.

Tracy watched Bugsy gain weight at a rapid speed. After another vet check a few months later, it was confirmed Tracy was right, Bugsy was in foal. Once you know a horse is in foal, you look at her everyday, wondering if today may be the day. Bugsy seemed to be uncomfortable every day. Tracy gave her hugs and kisses but it couldn't take away the uneasy feeling something was wrong. The more miserable Bugsy was, the more Tracy was concerned. It became daily posts about Bugsy until the day came Bugsy was really in labor. Tracy, her daughter, Maddie and Jackie, who are all horse savvy were there to help. It wasn't going well. Bugsy was having a hard time, she was in obvious distress. Humans hands were there to tenderly help the foal be delivered. Another panic moment when the umbilical cord broke and the newborn foal was hemorrhaging. Humans hands again there to help. Many horses are left alone to have their babies but Tracy had the instinct to keep a close watch on this one, thankfully so. 

Bugsy was also bleeding. It was hard to tell if it was just from the birth or was she hemorrhaging as well. She surely was not a normal mare because she was not acknowledging her newborn as her instincts would call her to do. As she stood a few feet from her foal, her eyes were glazed. Her body trembling and her heart rate and respiration rising along with her temperature. The vet was on her way but it would be a while before she arrived. She told us what medication to give her to help make Bugsy comfortable but it didn't ease any pain for sweet Bugsy. Our hearts were aching for her. To stand their helplessly and watch was painful. All we could do it try and be gentle, stroke her and reassure her it would be better soon. 

Bugsy  quietly looked down at her new baby and gave her a quiet tender whinny but she didn't have the strength to do more than that. Not knowing if Bugsy would survive, Tracy started milking Bugsy to get the needed colostrum Baby Buggs would need to survive. A baby bottle was given to the baby and momma was milked again. 
Bugsy was suffering. The closest large animal hospital was 3 hours away and there is no way Bugsy would survive the trip. One the vet arrived, she knew the only way to relieve her suffering was to let her go peacefully. Now Baby Buggs was an orphan and her survival was up to us. Colostrum is so important the first 12 hours after birth, we had to put out a call for colostrum, fresh or frozen, because we felt that we didn't get enough into the foal even though Bugsy gave us 30 ounces, it was not enough. 

 Horse lovers sent out the word and we soon found 80 ounces of frozen colostrum nearby. Tracy set up a mattress in the stall and Maddie cuddled up with baby Buggs to keep her warm and give her a bottle every hour. To raise an orphan, you have to be dedicated,,,Sleepless nights!

Buggs sleeping in his bed. 

No Momma but still needs milk!

The next morning Baby Buggs' bloodwork was good, one less worry but we had to organize to get 24 hour humans to take the place of the mare. Baby Buggs was transported to the SaveTheHorses farm. Everyone volunteered to spend time with this little cutie. 

Everyone's heart was captivated by this little orphan.

She was happy to get all the attention she was being showered with. Everyone couldn't get enough of her cuteness! She is thriving on human love and good care giving.

 Our biggest problem is that she thinks she is human. She has no interest in horses. Why should she? They did nothing for her. It was the humans that gave her milk, gave her attention and loved on her. We hoped teaching her to lead may give her the idea that she was a horse.

Natalie asked her to take a walk.

Look at Buggs today... 

Beautiful young mare Buggs

As we still weep for Bugsy, we are happy that our little miracle is thriving in a good home. But every year, when we memorialize the Boston Bombings, We will also remember the sweet mare, Bugsy, and offer a silent prayer for her also.