Sunday, May 27, 2012

Miya the feedlot filly....RIP sweet girl!

Filly left at the Fallon Feedlot 4-10-12

Miya was a last minute package on a load coming back from the feedlot in Fallon, NV.  On my way to pick up two mature horses and return them to the San Diego area, I got a last minute call asking if I could put a baby on board too.   Her bail had been paid by Lisa Bone of Toby's Legacy Equine Rescue and Debra and her network were working on placement for her during our trip southbound.


Loaded in the safety of our trailer 

No immediate takers, so we made room for her at our place and when I was putting a halter on her before unloading her from the trailer I noticed she had a corneal ulcer, something we were very familiar with because SHALA came to us in September 2011, with corneal ulcers in each eye. 

Based on her teeth we figured her to be about 6-8 months old and not know how long she had been moved around before getting to the feed lot, she was underweight.  Usually that is accompanied by a parasite load that needs to be treated right away and sometimes anemia.  We started treatment right away to deal with all these issues. 

A few days later, mid-April, we got hit with some unusually hot days and unlike a normal horse sheds their winter coat, her hair was coming off right down to the hide.  The excessive heat and mal-nutrition probably played a roll in that, but I had never seen hair shed down to the hide before.  Over the next several days she lost half her body hair.  Though she has dark skin that wasn’t likely to burn, we kept her where she would get shade during the hottest part of the day.  Sunscreen irritated her skin.   We also gave her a medicated bath to deal with any fungus or bacterial that may have exasperated the hair loss.
Loss of hair to her face and neck

Loss of hair on her neck



Loss of hair on her hind legs and thighs

Not knowing her history, we can only assume that she was pretty much unhandled when we got her.  Having put a halter on her before she got out of the trailer made working with her so much easier, she quickly found out she enjoyed being brushed a couple times a day and though she was not fond of getting ointment in her eye, she stood very still for me to do it.  She even allowed fly spray without much fussing.   At her age a lot of young ones fear they spraying part of the fly protection so her calmness was a blessing and definitely allowed us to provide the care she needed.

Sadly when Dr. Heaton came out to visit the ranch we determined that she has permanent scaring to her left eye leaving her little visibility.  Ryan felt she already had some scarring when she arrived, but the treatment was able to stop the rest of it.   Her overall health prior to her rescue probably was much of the cause for it scaring rather than healing.  He felt she compensated for her sight loss well, so it may have been going on for a few months already.

The white is the scarred area to her left eye

Her hair has started to grow back in, she has had complete parasite treatment, we got her feet trimmed and now her eye treatment was finished.   We continue to feed her supplements and feed in addition to hay to get her good and strong and have put her in the pasture with SHALA and Cinnabon.

Keeping a close eye on her while she made her adjustment to being with the girls and also in a large enclosure with fencing we wanted to be sure she didn’t injure herself or the girls push her around too much.   It has been joyful watching her run, kicking up her heals with gay abandon in her new found freedom.

She loves people and will approach the fence for attention and if we go in the pasture she walks over. .  She is a little easy to startle from her left side if you don’t talk to her while approaching and I try to touch her left shoulder rather than approach her face first and that seems to help her.   But her adjustment is amazing.   

I took her halter off when we moved her into the pasture so she would get hung up on anything and the girls wouldn’t grab it with their mouth and try to pull it off or pull her around in it.  

Horses will do that.   If only one is wearing a halter, the rest feel like they are obligated to harass and pick on the horse.  We see it all the time with the geldings.  Fly masks are also a fun target for their playfulness.  I am pretty sure that more fly masks have been ruined from other horses trying to remove it from the one wearing it that any other reason.  Just like kids picking on each other. 


Miya's hair finally growing back in and she's enjoying pasture life

Miya seems to have settled in.  She is the youngest of the three, but won’t let herself get picked on.  One morning last week it was almost chilly out and the girls were full of their Wheaties, running and bucking back and forth across the pasture.  They decided to chase after Miya and showing her wisdom at a young age she put a stop to it by running and standing behind me.  I had to laugh because SHALA and Cinnabon put the brakes on looking at me and she stuck her head around from behind me and I am pretty sure she had her tongue sticking out at them.  Neener, neener, neener!   


She runs like the wind, has confidence and enjoys human interaction and handling.  We have found her such a fast learner.  I guess she has had to be with what she has been through in her short life so far.   We need your help!  We are not a long term facility and try to rehab and rehome the horses into loving families.
Miya & Cinnabon
She is healthy enough to go to a new home where she can settle in, stay and build a relationship with people for years to come.  Her ability to compensate for her limited sight on her left leads me to believe she will be rideable and her ‘can do’ attitude is not seen in all horses. 

If you can give her a home, or know someone who can give her a home, please contact us about adoption.   In the meantime we need to raise funds for her food and other needs while she is here, so if you can help us get the word out, help with donations and help us to provide for her needs she will continue to grow strong and healthy, even with her sight deficit. 

UPDATE: In October of 2012 Miya, SHALA and Dixie all went to a sanctuary in central California to leisurely live out their days with 400 acres of land to roam.  Sadly on 2-1-13 Miya hadn't come in with the rest of the horses and when they found her she was distressed.  Returning with a halter to bring her into the ranch they found she had passed and suspected perhaps she had run into a tree or hit her head on something as the herd was coming in.    RIP sweet Miya.   Your days were few, but filled with love. 

Donations can be made through PayPal using email address  Donate@EquineWellBeing.org , checks can be mailed to EqWBR at PO Box 324, Ramona, CA  92065.  

No donation is too small to help feed and care for the horses here and all are appreciated so very much.   Please help us help her. 

Thanks so much,

Christine Griffin, President
Equine Well Being Rescue Inc.
760-703-4860

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Entertain Yourselves (Rescued Amusement Park Horses)

Free at last, Free at last and yes, the grass is greener on the other side.


Meet the three geldings that came home with us on Saturday to enjoy a new life of leisure after years of pulling around and entertaining tourists.  Two others are at a friends rescue in Imperial Beach after a very difficult time loading in the trailer. The poor horses were so nervous about the trailer and their surroundings she had to call in a vet to sedate the horses.  Once unloaded though at their new destination and safe, they relaxed and quickly got acquainted with their stable mates. 

The donations we received were enough to pay the "bail" on all five horses and cover our fuel to go up into Orange county to get them.  Thank the Lord!  Here I thought they would be easy to handle, dead broke horses, and we got big and bulky boys who were jumpy at any noise or movement.  Clearly they were not happy with their circumstances.  

Sheriff (not his real name) the one in the center in the above picture stands 68 inches at the shoulder.  I am only 64 inches to the top of my head.  So just picture this guy scooting to me to save him from some strange sound or movement.  I bet he weighs 1200 pounds if he weight 10.  Well these three loaded good and stood for sometime while we tried to help load the others, but not wanting them to stand too long with a long ride home yet to be made, we chose to get on the road.   We arrived home about 3pm, the other trailer arrived at home about 8pm.   But they all arrived safe and sound with no new injuries.

So let me introduce you to the three that are here till adoptive homes can be found:

Meet Marshall

This big bay was one of the lead harness horses, I am guessing this because Sheriff runs behind him in the pasture.  He stands 16.0 hand high (64" at the shoulder) - my height and probably weighs 1200-1300 pounds.  He still has shoes on and his feet should have been done a few weeks ago so his hooves are too long.   There was so much dirt and manure in the bottoms of his feet, collected by the shoes, that he couldn't put his feet flat on the ground.  We cleaned it out this morning and he has a severe case of thrush (bacterial infection on the bottom of their feet that causes the tissue to die off and smell foul), especially in his left front hoof, that I think that may be contributing to his difficulty walking (he looks sore when he walks). 

I think they are unaccustomed to water troughs because they were very timid in their approach and started splashing the water inside around with their faces.  As you can see from the picture above, he felt the need to play with the hose.  Fun to watch them explore their new surroundings.

Below is Piston (we called him Deputy at first, but Pistol fits him better) the smallest of the horses at 15.2 hands high (62 inches at the shoulder) and he probably only weighs about 1100 pounds, only!!!  He is chestnut in color with a small star on his forehead and his is the easiest to approach of the three right now and other than his color is a carbon copy of Manzanita. Both him and the bay above look to be Quarter horses based on their big chests and hind ends.  Beefy boys.  He is in the best shape of all.  Though he still has his shoes on and had mud and manure packed in, it was not bad and there was very little thrush.  He really doesn't have many scars, a few here and there typical for a horse his age 12-15 years old.  He does seem a little sore at the walk, but that could be from the trailering and his long hooves that also need to be trimmed.

Meet Deputy

Below is the big red horse we called Marshall.  He was in the center in the very first picture so you could get a perspective of how tall he is in comparison to the others.   I think this guy is a Thoroughbred (TB) or a TB cross with a Quarter horse which is called an Appendix.  He stands 17 hands high (68" at the shoulders).  He doesn't have a tatoo on his inner lip so we know he was never raced on the TB tracks.   He follows the bay around like they were still harnessed to a buggy. 


Meet the Sheriff

When we unloaded them into their stalls it was clear that they were not used to wide open spaces.  They spent much of their time standing along the fence closest to the pasture just looking out over our little valley.  Things like the tarps moving in the breeze and the goats made them nervous.  I wonder if they have ever seen a goat or sheep?  They let us handle them pretty well this morning and I was able to put new halters on each of them. 

Thank you Lisa H, who sent halters to us (small ones for Diesel and the babies and 3 large one for whoever) before we new these guys would need them.  I think I picked the perfect colored one for each horse.    Then we cleaned their feet and measured their height.  They were all nervous about the height stick so I didn't even try using the weight tape.  We can do that tomorrow.  

A quick look at the dried blood trail on the Sheriff's left hind leg showed it was just a little nick that is healing nicely and doesn't look like we need to worry about infection or anything like that.  He does have a nasty scrape on his back and white hairs on this stomach on his left side, the type of hairs that grow out after an injury, but there is no scar under the white hairs that we can see.  Not sure what scraped his back, but it is healing OK and will just take a while for hair to grow back in and that too will probably grow in white.  

We decided to put them out in the pasture for a few hours and let them eat real grasses.  You need to start them on real grasses slowly so it doesn't affect their metabolic system.  It didn't take long before they realized they could move around freely.  Mostly trotting, but an occasional canter.  They were having FUN. 

Heads up, tails up, flashy movement to their feet.....FREEDOM!!!!   What a sight to see.   They checked out the trees, the round pen, the goats, the other horses and had no interest in the grass what so ever.  Our horses practically knock each other down to get to the real grass and these guys didn't know how to eat it out of the ground.  Well guess we don't have to worry much about their over eating.  They had to sneak up on the water trough too and it took quite a while before they actually put their mouth in and tried drinking.  

I can't tell you how awesome it is to sit and watch them in their new found freedom.  My husband and I pulled up chairs under the big fruitless mulberry tree in the front yard, grabbed a beverage and just watched them go.  Little power plays across the fence with our horse, but no more than touching noses and squealing.   Leroy, my big (what I think is big 15.3hands high) Tennessee Walking Horse, ran along the fence line with the chestnut, back and forth, back and forth, for a good fifteen minutes.  Lots of horse talk followed over the fence after that.   Then they saw the girls across the drive way and all stopped.   I just happened to catch that in the video below.  Are they having fun or what??   



We still have a lot of work ahead of us with these guys.  Getting their feet trimmed, treating the thrush, they will each need a bath and general grooming to get the filth from the place they were at off of them, they will get dewormed, vaccinated, complete dentistry done and a check with the chiropractor.  Mini Me needs some additional weight so we will probably put him on some pellets and then we will need to find them each homes.  

Additional donations to help cover those expenses are still needed and also for the hay.  At a bale a day between the three of them, that's $600 for a month over and above everything else.  We appreciate your spreading the word and helping support the cause.  The two young fillies, Miya and Little Miss are still recovering.  Miya has a corneal ulcer requiring drops and ointment twice a day and severe alopecia (she has lost over half of her body hair) and Little Miss was bitten by a snake or spider a month ago and has a wound still healing on her neck.  So all help is greatly appreciated.

I placed an urgent call for help two days ago and so many people sent in donations to pay to help these guys.  We can't thank you enough.  They can't thank you enough.  These guys put in years of service giving tourists the enjoyment of a horse drawn ride and they deserve the kind and easy going years ahead we hope to find for them.  You all have such big hearts it truly brings tears to my  eyes the support we see helping horses in need.  You gave these guys a future and the gift of life.  

If you would like to stop by and visit them or the fillies, please give me a call or send me an email.  We love to let people meet the horses they are helping and we love to meet you ourselves.    

Blessing to you all.

Christine
President
Equine WellBeing Rescue Inc.
PO Box 324
Ramona, CA  92065


Click to donate via PayPal  use email address:  Donate@EquineWellBeing.org  Use the 'Personal' tab and click 'gift'.  They won't charge a fee if it's a gift.   Credit Cards are also accepted via PayPal






Friday, May 4, 2012

Amusement Park Horses Need Help NOW!

I got an urgent call for help today.  Five horses from an amusement park are being replaced for younger versions.  I was told the broker who has them is going to take them to the auction, but is giving a few of us a chance to buy them first, if we can do it by tomorrow night, which is when the auction is.    This is last minute and I HATE the way they do this, but we need help.   

A fellow rescue is buying two and providing quarantine for those two and I have room for the other three and am asking for donations to help pay to "bail" them out.   They are $400 per horse (cash) and I have to go about 300 miles round trip to get them, then I have to feed them and deal with any lameness issues when they get here.   I am trying to raise $2000 to cover their bail, fuel for transport, food and funds to get them vet checked.    

Please share my blog in hopes that the word can get out and we can get the funds covered.  I was told that one of these 5 was trampled during the show when he fell down and the other horses pulling the carriage couldn't stop before running over him.   These beautiful horses need our help.    I know money is tight and I promise that EVERY dime that comes in will go to help these horses.  So ANY help we can get is greatly appreciated.  






















Thank you all for your help.   Please send this blog to other in hopes that we can raise the needed funds.  If you are interested in adopting one, they are totally broke for harness work and I believe riding too.

Christine
President
EqWBR
760-703-4860