1-15-09

This was not mentioned in yesterdays blog as we were very unsure of the situation and the outcome. As Tawnee was driving home, less than 1 mile from the rescue she passed a previously vacant cow pasture that was now housing a bewildered looking horse. This area is where we find abandoned dogs, burning stolen cars, piles of garbage, and other things people dump. But this time, Tawnee found a horse standing behind a dilapidated gate with a very bewildered look on its face, apparently abandoned. Tawnee stopped to asses the situation, and it looked like someone stopped, opened their trailer, took this poor horse out, opened the gate and took off.

Tawnee immediately placed a call in to the neighbour who's property adjoins the cow pasture. Unfortunately no one answered so she left a message. Tawnee did make sure the horse got a good supper.

Early in the morning our neighbour called and told us that she had gone to see the horse, and it definitely looked like it had been dumped. The neighbours knows the owners of the cow pasture and there is no way they would dump a horse in the pasture. So, Jason and Tawnee scraped the ice off the windshield and headed out to save this poor abandoned horse.

Driving back, we found the poor horse standing in the exact same place that it had been standing at the night before after being dumped. This is what a lot of people do not understand about domesticated horses: they cannot survive well on their own. They will stand by the gate waiting for someone to come take care of them. So many people these days are just turning their horses loose, thinking they will head out and survive. Domesticated horses just turned loose on open lands can easily be hit by cars, killing both horse and people. Or the horse will stand waiting for someone to come feed and water it, until it is too weak to escape predators. Please, do not abandon your horse or any animal, it is just wrong!

The pain and bewilderment can be seen in abandoned animals eyes, it is so heart wrenching. They are so confused, wondering "What did I do wrong?" Tawnee gently approached the poor horse, who was more than happy to be haltered and loaded into the trailer.

It is such a sweet horse, its eyes went from sadness to bewilderment, and then excitement as it stepped out of the trailer and saw all of its new friends at the rescue.

Tawnee headed out to say the last goodbyes to the horses that came to the clinic yesterday. Giving them their last pat, their last handful of sweet feed, grateful that the last human contact the horses would have would be one of compassion and love. These clinics are extremely tearful for all of us, but we are keeping them off of slaughter trucks, keeping them off of the back roads abandoned, and keeping them from starving in someones back yard.

We have the huge order of hay that will be arriving at 7:00 am Friday morning, but the last trailer load of hay just didn't make it. So, another trailer load, another $1,000. As the truck was driving along, some of the hay decided to jump off the front of the trailer onto the bumpy dirt road. After some reloading it did all make it in the end! We are so excited to have the round bales coming, but its always good to have square bales on hand to feed to horses that need special feed.

The horses at the Gridley foster home needed to come back to the rescue so the grass can grow a little bit higher. Mariah was pasture exposed to a stallion, so we want to keep a close eye on her to see if she is pregnant or not. She's definitely enjoyed her time at the beautiful green pasture after leaving the junkyard she was rescued at. Click here for the junkyard rescue story.

Jason and Ron had the pleasant experience of seeing a bald eagle fly into one of our tall pines and rest awhile here at the rescue. It seemed to be eyeing Dottie and Macho Man, but they have been eating quite well and are a little plump to be carried away. Jason managed to video the beautiful eagle, and in the spirit of the new year and the new president, Jason made a special patriotic video for you to enjoy. Click here to see it! The ending is special, make sure you at least see the last 5 seconds...