2-18-09

This morning was a beautiful morning. The bright blue sky was a welcome sight for the rain drenched rescue. Today was the euthanasia clinic. Tawnee took Pluto and Conner, who needed his leg checked, out to the vet this morning. When she opened the trailer door there was Pluto, wide eyed and happy as could be. That was, until Tawnee whispered in his ear why he was at the vet.

His excitement turned to utter disgust and horror. But, he was a good boy and went along with the program. He was certainly none too happy about it however.

Folks that had been scheduled for the euthanasia clinic started arriving at the vet. The clinics are always extremely hard, a lot of tears are shed, as the goodbyes are told and the last hugs given. It is really hard seeing some of the horses come out of the trailers, when you see them, you think "Wow, why are they here?" But then you see them move. Each step brings agony to their face and a limp to their legs. Such as the pony below, she has a lot of lamanitis, is somewhat blind, and is in her 30's. Her owner knew it was time to say goodbye.

Attending the clinic was a UC Davis journalism student who did an extensive multi-hour interview with Tawnee. Tawnee learned today that doing an interview while trying to eat lunch doesn't work out very well. Talk chew, chew talk, neither one seemed to go as well as it could. The journalist was a great sport and hopefully the story gets right in between the chews. She will make a great journalist after college.

These two beautiful horses have been living together for over 20 years in the same home. It was extremely hard for their owner to say "Goodbye" to them, unfortunately despite the best of care, their bodies are falling apart and they are in constant pain. Medication is no longer helping. It is sad, but at the same time it is wonderful to meet senior horses in such beautiful condition. If only their bodies could keep up with their looks.

Of all the horses that came to the clinic today, only one was qualified to come into our rescue and be available for adoption. She was not in pain, and her quality of life is still good. She only has 1 eye, but other than that she is doing good. She is 19 years old, and we are told she's a good kids horse.

Back at the rescue Jessie and James came out to volunteer. They got right to work trimming hooves. Peanut got another trim, they also got a lot of other horses trimmed up at the rescue. We greatly appreciate you guys and all your help and comfort you bring to the horses here at the rescue.

Back at the vet, Pluto was just walking out of the surgery room. He was quite wobbly, he had just undergone a successful gelding operation.

Now it was Conner's turn to get checked out by the vet. You see, he had this weird proud flesh old wound on his leg, and we were concerned about it. Any time it was messed with it would bleed.

Dr Weaver checked it out, and told us that she believes it could be successfully removed and with the proper aftercare he would be as good as new.

When Conner saw the needle he just couldn't stay silent about that! Click the play button below to see Conner's reaction to the needle coming out. He is quite a talkative boy, we are hoping to get a lot of cute stories out of him.

After the sedation, he finally shut up and let the Doctor do her work. His leg was shaved and he was readied for surgery.

They got to work and soon it was successfully removed.

His leg was bandaged up and his ordeal was over.

After he came out of surgery he was still quiet, and his lower lip hung loosely for once. Once the sedation wears off he'll be back to talking up a storm no doubt.

Most of the horses that came to the clinic today are settled in for the night and are happily eating. But there was a recently blinded mare that came to the clinic today. She was frightened, confused, and had other medical conditions. We all felt it best to allow her to fall asleep peacefully this evening. She was not adjusting well to being blind, and especially in new surroundings. A lot of horses can do well even when completely blind, unfortunately she could not. We would like to share the following video with you, it shows how truly peaceful humane euthanasia really is. It is a far better way to pass on than the horrific slaughter transport photo's we shared yesterday. Please note: the video is not graphic in any way, she merely lays down peacefully. We have a lot of people ask us what it is like when a horse is euthanised. This video shows how truly peacful it is, and how the horses pass away with love and dignity.

After saying "Goodbye" to Sugar, Tawnee loaded up Conner and the one eye mare, we believe her name is Daisy, and headed back to the rescue.

Back at the rescue we got Conner settled in. We have to keep his leg wrapped and bandaged for awhile so his leg can heal properly. He has been moved to rehab and is not currently available for adoption.

Daisy (we hope we're getting her name right) got settled in for her first night at the rescue . She's a big beautiful girl, and is a real sweetheart.

Claire was not able to come in today so emails and phone calls are on the schedule tomorrow.

The mouse from yesterday, people are wondering what happened to it, Tawnee isn't sure, she was taking pictures and it disapeared.