Tuesday, November 23, 2010

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!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

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.

Friday, November 19, 2010

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.

Monday, November 15, 2010

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.

Friday, November 12, 2010

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?

Thursday, November 11, 2010

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.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

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.