6-21-10

This morning Olive's mommy came out to spend more time with her. Olive almost fell asleep she was so relaxed with her. It was really touching.

Tawnee had a vet appointment for Pewee (the colt with the bad leg) and Bella (the blind mare) to be checked out. Tawnee had been scratching Pewee last night and he really enjoyed the attention. Today her heart was broken when she put a halter on this baby and found that he was halter trained. Someone, somewhere, had spent the time with him to teach him to lead, but something had gone drastically wrong in his life. He was at some point someones baby, he knew what love was.

Bella, the blind mare, was going to be evaluated at the vet as well. Home at Last Sanctuary had offered to give her a forever home if she was not in untreatable pain and her quality of life was good.

Bella was very willing but was having a hard time getting around. When she came off the KB trailer we didn't want to make her walk around so we brought food and water to her, but today moving around we could tell something might be seriously wrong on the inside.

She was such a sweet girl and got into the trailer so trustingly.

Out at the vet she was examined. It was determined that she likely had EPM along with other medical problems. Her eye sockets were constantly dripping, and she was in continuous pain, and very old. The vet told us that we should give her the last gift of kindness, so we had to say "Goodbye" to sweet Bella. She knew she was loved and got to enjoy her last bucket of sweet senior feed before drifting off.

Next it was Pewee's turn to be examined. Just look at that poor leg! We knew there was no hope, but we wanted to document his leg with an x-ray to confirm the visual diagnosis.

What was going on inside was certainly no better than what was happening on the outside. Poor baby, breaking his leg and then having to let it heal in this terrible position. We said "Goodbye" to Peewee as well. It was so sad, but at least he knew love once again and his last thought of humans is not the horrors of the slaughter industry, but love, kindness and gentle words.

The colts were still at the vet. Dipper had been gelded but had not been given his hoof care yet, they were not as severe as the others.

He was wide eyed and wondered what this new adventure would be.

His hooves were not as long because they had been broken off at one point. We don't know his whole story, but he might have been let out of his stall and moved around more than the other two.

The farrier got right to work.

Dipper was sedated, but you could still see in his face that he wasn't quite sure that he was enjoying this.

When he was done he loaded right up into the trailer with his waiting buddy Flipper, who had already been loaded.

If anyone does not remember who these colts are, they came to us from the same killer buyer who brought us the last group. They came in on May 31st.

These poor babies would have gone on to Mexico if we did not purchase them for $100 each.

Their hooves were in terrible condition.

But they knew that their life was looking up and waited to see what the future held.

The future definitely got a lot brighter for them. Today they are such beautiful horses, geldings now thanks to your generosity, so young and full of life.

Lucky was also at the vet waiting to come back to the rescue. He recovered just fine from his cryptorchid operation, and is now a beautiful gelding pony. He is waiting to find that wonderful, forever loving home.

Lucky was a good boy and got into the trailer without too much fuss. He must have been happy to come back to the rescue.

At the rescue, Lucky looked around to see the familiar faces of his horse friends. He was hoping they had all found their forever homes while he was gone, but he was glad to see a few had gone home!

Dipper looked out at the rescue with amazement. He couldn't believe he was back.

Flipper also looked wide eyed around as Tawnee looked down at his cute little hooves. When he left the rescue his hooves were long, but now he is so much better thanks to you!

When everything had settled down at the rescue, Macho Man, Dottie, Parcy and Mr T were all loaded up to go to a kids summer camp for the evening.

It was a good place for the staff to unwind for a little bit and just hang out after the last few hard days. We are giving our staff the 22nd off as they need some time to prevent compassion fatigue. It is always important after a really hard rescue to be able to get away from it for a little bit and deal with it emotionally. The next blog will be on Thursday, keep an eye on Facebook as most likely there will be a few posts on there before the next blog.

We would like to thank you all so much for donating to the Dano Fund and to help care for the new group of poor horses from the killer buyer. Enough funds have been donated for their purchase and initial care, thank you so much!

Thank you Mary G. - Kathleen T. - Sue T. - Ruthann C. - Barbara B. - Joni M. - Adrian D. - Stacey S. - Betsy B. - Carla G. - Flying Pig Antiques and Collectibles - Anna S. - Pamela N. -

Lori S. - Stacie L. - Dianna S. - Donna A. - Sarah E. - Scott D. - Cynthia S. - Glennis R. - Fran B. - Lisa W. - Janice M. - Cynthia B. - Sheree D. - Melissa G. - Ann H. - Natalie K. - Anna G. - Betsy B. - Suzanne F. - Kerrith V. - Becky H. - Iris L. for donating, your donations are greatly appreciated!