6-2-10

Lucky the stallion is going to be Lucky the gelding soon thanks to your generosity! There is still $180 left to raise, let's all pull together to get it done.

This morning Jason loaded up more panels from the old rescue location to be moved out to Phoenix Fields. It's amazing how many panels have been moved out, and yet when the trailer was full, there is still 1 more load at the old rescue location. We certainly don't have too many panels, but we do have a lot.

At Phoenix Fields it took almost no time at all to unload the panels.

Tawnee spent the morning on the phone finding potential sponsors and pledges for the stallion that was locked in the trailer for 3 years. Kristen, Lori, Suzanne, Roberta, Paula and Jennifer all pledged to help him. We cannot thank them enough for stepping forward to give him the chance of life. Jennifer pledged a $500 matching fund for his gelding surgery. Jason led him to the waiting trailer to be taken to the vet for his quality of life assessment.

He was an amazingly good boy and did what he could to get his battered legs up and into the trailer. He was so willing to please and so gentle. You could see in his face the expression "This had better not be for another 3 years."

In the trailer he waited patiently for his ride to be over. Having lived in a horse trailer for 3 years, it probably felt like home to him.

Soon Tawnee headed out to the vet with the precious boy.

The drive to the vet was completely uneventful.

Jason meanwhile was seeing if he could operate the 2 person post hole digger by himself. He reports that it is possible in soft dirt, but when it hits a rock it is pretty tough to hang onto.

The med room was also given another coat of white paint today. It is starting to look really great in there!

After painting and working the post hole digger, Jason got some more posts set into the ground. It seems that the job of setting posts will never be over.

When Tawnee and the boy arrived at the vet he was looking out of the window. No doubt he was wondering where he was.

Soon it was time for his examination. He got out of the trailer like such a good boy.

His examination started. He was aged at about 11 years old, it was found that he had a hole in the front of his head from a degenerated tooth that literally rotted away a good portion of his skull.

He was such a good boy for his examination, you could tell he knew that they were trying to help him. They got some sedation out of the vets med room, xraying a stallion can be a tricky business, but this boy was so kind and gentle that they didn't need sedation.

His outside condition looked so bad, but we were still hoping for the best on the inside. The xrays would tell all.

His hooves were in such terrible condition. The vet detected an old injury above his hoof.

The bottom of his hooves were in no better condition than the top.

It is so sad, he is such a beautiful boy. The xrays headed off to be developed.

The xrays spoke loud and clear: this boy was indeed living in constant pain, trying to be brave, but each day, each hour, each minute, every step was living agony. His xray is on the left, a normal horse xray is on the right for comparison.

Sadly there was nothing that could be done medically to help his pain. Due to the old fractures and other multiple complications, he was doomed to a life of pain with no possible improvement. The decision was easy, yet still very sad: humane euthanasia was the only solution for relieving his pain and agony. We don't know exactly his history, but here is one scenerio that could have happened.

When the people purchase him, they put him in a pen next to a mare. He was trying to get over the fence to get to her, and got really injured in the fencing. They had no money for a vet to have him gelded, and the easiest solution they could think of was to put him in a horse trailer where he couldn't get to any mares and injure himself. Time stretched on and soon 3 years had passed of living in terrible pain and agony inside the horse trailer, where the summer weather can reach 120. It's truly sad, but we are greatful that we were able to let him know he was loved and let him pass on gently. He has no more pain forever, but will be in our hearts.

We have some new arrivals that will be coming soon. Two of them were able to come today. Our first baby of the year was one of them! Her mommy came along with her too.

This adorable baby was born at the beginning of April after her mommy was rescued off a railroad track by Animal Control. The owner had a horse that had been killed on the tracks previously this year, and Animal Control wanted to get her to safety as quickly as possible. A few days later she gave birth prematurely to this adorable little filly at the vet. The vet sent us a picture of this little girl, and Jason saw a whale in her markings. When Tawnee saw it too, she thought this little horse needs to have a name that means whale. Even though she didn't belong to the rescue, Tawnee had a name picked out for her: Ballena, just in case she came to the rescue at some point in time.

Well today was her lucky day to come to the rescue. Animal Control signed them over, and they are going to be available for adoption soon. There are several other horses that are being signed over, so keep your eye out for them too.

On the way back Tawnee stopped to get the mail. We would like to thank those that send in donations in the envelopes that we send with the thank-you cards. Thank you so much Susan!

Ballena and her mom are settled in comfortably at the old facility. They are heading to Phoenix Fields soon. They would have gone today, but Tawnee's leg was hurting to much to get them out there today.

Ballena means whale in Spanish. She actually has a whale on both sides of her face! Do you see the whale on this side?

This is the other side of her face, can you see the whale here?

If you still don't see it, this should help you visualize her markings. She is SO cute! The whale in her marking has the biggest cartoon eye ever.

We had to say "Goodbye" to one horse, but we welcome this new little life at the rescue, and will do all that we can to ensure that her life never leads her to be locked in a horse trailer for 3 years.

Many thanks to Susan, Sheri B., Roberta A., Delilah L., Cindy R., for their generous donations today! We couldn't do it without you!