12-31-09

This morning the rescue rig was still hooked up, ready to go. It was a little dirtier than the day before. It seems like every day it is driven somewhere helping horses in need.

We had gotten a call from Animal Control asking if we would take a stray horse that needed placement. Tawnee headed out to go evaluate the horse.

The horse is an Appy mare, about 10 years old, 15.3 hands, trained to ride, neck reigns, lifts up all 4 feet easily and loads / ties great. She has come into our adoption program so hopefully a home can be found for her soon. She is a really sweet girl just waiting for that perfect home. All adoptive families inquiring must be outside of Butte county.

Lassie arrived safely at the shelter and took in her surroundings.

She settled in nicely and is quite calm in her new surroundings, even with so many horses to meet. She really is a jewel.

As soon as Jewel was settled, Tawnee noticed that Dottie was laying down and had made herself quite dirty by rolling. Oh no, colic? Poor Dottie has never had colic before that we know of and wasn't very happy with her situation. Tawnee got on the phone to call the vet. Of course after hours on new years eve isn't the best time to get in touch with anyone, but we have always been able to get in touch with our vet office.

After being given some medication Dottie was soon in the trailer to be examined and given more medication.

Her heart rate is normal, there are a few gut sounds but not the normal amount. She does have a low fever too. She was loaded up with medications and she was brought back to the rescue for monitoring through the night.

Spanky, the miniature donkey who hasn't been seen on the blog, has been at the vet to get gelded. He came in Christmas eve and was taken directly to the vet for his brain surgery. Many of you may remember Eeyore, this is Eeyore's daddy. He has been gelded and will be coming to the shelter as soon as he feels better.

It was long after dark when Tawnee and Dottie were heading back to the rescue.

Dottie was happy to get out of the trailer and seemed to feel a little better.

As our vet always says, colic is a journey. A new years eve journey for Jason and Tawnee is spent with Dottie, making sure she is ok through the night.

Remember the Wild Horse Road Apples t-shirts for sale? We do understand that wearing a t-shirt with an expired website can be a drag, when someone asks about the website, you have to explain that it doesn't exist anymore. Today the website (www.WildHorseRoadApples.com) was linked over to our website thanks to Bandit Blue donating the funds. By wearing these shirts you will actually be advertising the rescue in a weird sort of way. Remember, 100% of the funds goes to help the horses! Click here.

Many thanks to Suzanne F., Jean S for donating to both the Euthanasia clinic and the auction fund, and Catherine G for their generous donations today! We will start working on year end tax receipts this week and hopefully they will be emailed / sent out next week.

Happy New Year!

12-30-09

We got a wonderful update from Travis' mommy today. Along with the many wonderful pictures, they wrote: "Travis is wonderful! We love him dearly, he is such a great boy!" Thank you for sending so many wonderful pictures and for giving him such a great home.

After the chores were done and a business meeting, the rescue rig once again was on the road.

My Little Pony was going to her forever home today. She is such an adorable little horse, and so willing. When she first came to the rescue she was so shy of people, but thankfully she calmed right down and is such a lovely girl.

Since My Little Pony and Hope were being adopted into the same great home, we put them in a large pen together to get used to each other. That is all it took, and now they are inseparable best friends.

Their new home has lovely green grass, a large pasture, and a big family to give them lots of love. Hope loved to look around, soaking all the scenery in. You could easily tell she loved being at her new home.

Their new dad is just thrilled with the new additions to his family.

From Hope and My Little Pony's new home it was on the road again to head to the next stop. This week has really been a traveling week!

Pistil was coming back to the rescue. She had an incredibly loving home, but she recently became unappreciative of her home. When her adopter first came to us, she was looking for a companion for her beautiful gelding. She adopted Pistil from us, who recently started attacking her boy! We will be evaluating Pistil to hopefully figure out what is going on. She may need a 1 horse home. Her adopter loved her dearly and was really sad to see her go.

Pistil made it back to the rescue without incident and unloaded into a waiting pen.

There is a really wonderful Ebay Giving Works item right now. 100% of the proceeds goes to the rescue! The t-shirts are in multiple sizes, about 50 are available. Great barn / working shirts! Click here to visit the listing. Great way to donate and get a free shirt.

Many thanks to Laurie for putting Chief into adoption pending. Hopefully he can go home soon!

12-29-09

This morning right after the chores were done Jason and Tawnee were on the road once again. The first stop was the gas station to get some much needed diesel.

The rest of the horses at the Clint Ritchie estate were scheduled to be picked up today. Yesterday they emailed Kathleen asking if there was any snow. The response was "You're in luck, there's no snow." Sure enough, not a single flake of snow could be found anywhere. The drive was a lot more pleasant, and safe, with no snow on the ground.

Soon they were pulling into the ranch. The fields of green grass were a very welcoming sight. The first time Jason and Tawnee went to the ranch, everything was green and beautiful, with horses in each pasture. Now there were only 3 horses, and they would soon be gone, leaving the ranch with no horses to enjoy the pastures.

Ace, Dun Deal and Little Red were waiting patiently in a large pen to be picked up.

First things first, the long backing job down the alleyway to the loading chute. It was a lot easier without snow, and with practice makes perfect, before long...

...all three were in the trailer...

...and the trailer was being pulled out. They were very good horses and hopped right into the trailer without a single fuss. As you can see in the picture, the truck and trailer are quite dirty. Washing the vehicles in the winter is an exercise in frustration, the very first time you drive out the dirt road when it's wet, your vehicle looks like this.

Jason and Tawnee were then on the road to their next destination.

Two horses were being surrendered into the euthanasia clinic by their owner who was unable to care for them any longer. Their names are Noodle and Black Jack. They are both in their mid to late 20's. Noodle was xrayed and diagnosed with navicular and Black Jack has stringhalt.

After Noodle and Black Jack were loaded, it was off to Chief's adoptive home. Chief's adopter really loved him, but he is just too big of a horse for her. She feels that he would really shine with a more advanced rider and that it is not fair to him to just sit in a pasture and not be used to his full potential.

Chief was a good boy and got right into the trailer too. He is a really nice boy and if you are looking for a big riding gelding, he might just be a good match for you! We always re-evaluate the horses when they come back to the rescue and will be updating you on his riding abilities soon.

After Chief was settled into the trailer it was time for the long drive back to the rescue. It started sprinkling rain on the way back, but everyone was so thankful it was not snow!

It was about dark time when the rescue rig finally pulled up.

The horses were so happy in their waiting stalls and pens and they're all anxious to see what tomorrow will bring.

A huge thank you to Diane C, on behalf of Blossom, Willy and Justin, for her generous donation today to the general operating fund! We would also like to thank Anonymous and Gail G for their faithful monthly support. It is greatly appreciated.

12-28-09

With all the new pens that have been put up recently, our water troughs were getting to be in short supply. This morning after all the horses were fed, watered, and all the other chores were done, Jason headed in to town to do some banking and get some much needed supplies. Home Depot no doubt always loves seeing the rescue come to town.

Soon 9 new sparkling water troughs were purchased and loaded up. We are hoping these will last longer and not crack unlike the bright blue round water troughs we bought awhile ago. These feel tough and have a 750 lb weight rating.

Then Jason stopped at Tractor Supply to purchase some salt blocks. The horses always seem to love licking them right up.

Some previous adopters came out to visit Prince and Miss Bea today. Miss Bea was so happy to have someone visiting her she could hardly contain her enthusiasm.

Miss Bea and Prince were put into the round pen together. Prince just loved to hang out with Miss Bea, he followed her all around.

It really was love at first sight. Soon the adoption papers were signed and Prince and Miss Bea have a forever home!

Prince has a new best friend, it is so wonderful that the handsome Prince finally has a castle to call his own. Miss Bea was transported to her home today and transportation arrangements are being made for Prince.

After Prince and Miss Bea's adoptive family left, Jason got right to work replacing the big feed buckets that had been used to hold water with the new water troughs. The horses really couldn't care less what their water trough color is, as long as it has water in it!

August and Ethan, who up until yesterday have lived their entire lives on a pasture, are a little disappointed they are separated by a fence. They still rub noses and play through the panels, but it is definitely a time in their life when they need to get more used to people too.

We would like to thank the horse heroes who donated today: Jon & Carla G., Pamela N., Pamela J., Susan S. Thank you so much!

12-27-09

We love every single face here at the rescue, each one so beautiful, so perfect, so lovable. Each one has their own special story, each one truly a gift.

This morning we had a new face at the rescue. Over the Holidays, sadly a local family was being evicted from their house (due to their landlord being foreclosed on) and could not take their miniatures with them. They had a miniature jenny, a miniature jack, and a miniature horse. The Jack was taken directly to the vet to be gelded. Some pre-approved adopters were interested in a miniature donkey, and as soon as they met Dottie (the miniature jenny) they fell in love and adopted her the very same day. Unfortunately the pictures are missing in action from the holidays, we will have pictures of the jenny and jack very soon!

While Jason and Tawnee were doing the morning chores...

...Miss Bea decided to be a helpful girl and spread the shavings too! Thanks for your help, it was greatly appreciated. Who knew that horses could volunteer too?

Some potential adopters came out to visit Spirit today. During the course of the visit he just had to lay down and roll around. Her farrier discovered that he may have had laminitis in the past which we will have checked out.

Brave Larry came out to the rescue today for the first time since his surgery. Jack, the ever watchful dog, immediately noticed that Larry could use some cheering up and put his head in his lap ever so gently. No Larry is not paralyzed. He will be up and walking very soon we hope.

Larry worked hard in the office all day, writing emails and answering phone messages. It is so amazing how much work he can get done! He is truly the most dedicated volunteer we have ever had. We always knew he was dedicated, but after writing emails in the hospital bed and answering phone messages in his power chair, wow!

Today was a very big day for the mares out on the pasture. First things first, the little trailer had to be unhooked. Then the big trailer was hooked up and Tawnee and April were off to the pasture.

It had been arranged to meet Mocha and Emily's potential adopters, who had seen them last Sunday, out in the pasture.

It was their big day to be adopted and head off to their new home. Their new family absolutely loves them.

After Emily and Mocha were on their way to their home, Nutaka, Candy, and Amber, along with their babies, were led into a waiting pen.

Then, they were gently loaded into the great big trailer. The mommy's were loaded first and then the babies were loaded into a separate compartment behind them. They have had a wonderful time in the pasture, but now it is time for education, the boys to visit the vet for their all important brain surgery, and to hopefully find loving homes soon.

Back at the rescue they were temporarily unloaded into the round pen to stretch their legs. The three little horses just were not sure about the new situation.

Some other visitors came to see the horses today as well. They really liked Tacoma, they really liked his sweet, loving personality.

After messing with him in the round pen, they liked him even more, but they are now faced with the decision of bringing a young horse into their family. So many people want horses that are already trained to ride, they often pass by the younger ones that so desperately need homes. We really appreciate people who take the time to at least consider adopting a horse that still needs some work.

After all the visitors were gone, it was time to build even more pens. This time they were built to house the mares and foals.

The babies followed right along as their moms were led to the pens. The babies really enjoy their pens, although no doubt they are missing the 10 acres. They are really adorable, that is a face that not just a mommy can love.

We've been working hard on getting all the horses out of the mud, but now the mud needed some help. A good layer of grass seed was spread about and hopefully it will turn into lovely green grass soon.

By the time Tawnee was done spreading the grass seed, it was very dark. Once Tawnee starts on a project, she just doesn't like to stop.

There is some very troubling information regarding the BLM's "management" of the wild horses and burros. The Animal Law Coalition has a great article on what is happening, click here to read it. Truly, it will be devastating on a international level if the American Mustang no longer roams freely in the wild.

Many thanks to Dan S., Constance W., Susan S. for their extremely generous donations over the Holiday Season. There are only 4 more days to donate to claim your donation on your 2009 taxes!