8-9-09

We have some very exciting news! American horses will no longer be slaughtered and then shipped to Europe for human consumption starting April 2010. This is very exciting news, a wonderful surprise, and you can read about it by clicking here. This is one step closer to a safer world for horses.

This morning Jason headed out to the auction. Some of the volunteers were sick so our staff was definitely stretched thin. There had not been a fundraiser for this months auction as Jason and Tawnee were on the road, but thanks to a generous donor it made it possible to rescue horses at the auction anyway. Thank you so much Nancy P! Your donation really saved lives today.

At the rescue, an adoption was taking place. Karma was snuggling up with her new daddy. She was really relaxed with him and he just doted all over her.

Back at Karma's new home, Tuxedo Paint, now named Mikoda, was waiting patiently for his new companion. Tuxedo was adopted from us last year, and was rescued from the same auction as Karma. He is looking great these days and they will certainly have some stories to share together.

Karma loaded right up into the trailer and was definitely thrilled to be heading off on a new adventure.

Next an older boy came in for the euthanasia clinic. He is pushing 30 years old and his health is failing. His owners were running out of options and certainly did not want to take him to auction. They are very appreciative that we offer a free clinic for folks in their situation.

Meanwhile Jason was finally walking out of the auction ring to find the horses that were saved. All together 4 horses were saved today thanks to Nancy's donation and the donation at the auction.

This old guy was purchased by some other people and given to NorCal. They felt so sorry for the old boy but did not have the resources to care for him.

He has very arthritic knees and he can't put much weight on this knee.

And he's blind in one eye. It always breaks our hearts when we see horses like this at auctions. Their time came when they needed assistance passing on peacefully, and instead of their owner being responsible and having their horse humanely euthanized, they dumped him at auction with no thought to their horses future. They just wanted their "problem" to disappear.

This is an older, they said 17 years old, TB mare. She is really sweet and was ridden through the auction.

This is an older dark brown gelding.

This is a 3 or 4 year old Appy Stallion. When the auctioneer just kept going on and on about how he always throws color and is such a great breeding prospect, well, Jason just couldn't sit on his hands. He is super sweet and should be gelded soon.

Soon Jason had the horses all rounded up and was leading them to the trailer one by one.

Before too long the horses were all loaded up and ready to head back to the rescue.

Back at the rescue the Appy was first to come out. He is very sweet and well behaved. If anyone can help with his gelding expense ($125) it would be greatly appreciated. Generally we raise money for the rescue and care for the auction horses, but this entire rescue was done with only $300, so any donation, great or small, will help a lot. Click here!

The poor old mare followed Tawnee out of the trailer, wondering what would happen next. We always wish we could tell them that everything will be OK. Horses don't choose the people in their lives, for them it is all chance.

Tawnee led the poor crippled guy to a waiting pen. Every step brought pain to his eyes.

The black gelding and bay mare were put in the round pen because they needed medical attention. They walked around the round pen and then started rolling...

...and rolling.

The black gelding had an extremely tight vet-wrap bandage around his leg. It was cutting off his circulation and his leg was swelling.

Tawnee got to work and started removing the bandage.

Once the bandage was removed you could easily see how it had been wrapped far to tightly.

Tawnee washed the leg down and put ointment on it. If you are going to use vet wrap, put cotton around the leg first so it does not restrict blood flow.

Finally the gelding was good to go to his pen, and the bay TB mare got her attention. She has an infection on her leg that needed some work, so Tawnee started the whole ointment and bandaging procedure again.

The mare is definitely getting up there in years, but seems very bright and alert. She has an old tattoo on her lip, but it is far too faded to read, so her identity is a mystery.

Finally she was all ready to join her friends in their pen with good food and water. They're all relaxed and enjoying their first night at the rescue.

We will get the list of donors while Jason and Tawnee were out tomorrow. Once again thank you all for your support, it is greatly appreciated and the horses are greatly appreciative too!