RIP Max we will miss you so much!

I cry for our loss because I didn’t get to hug Max enough,

I cry for our loss because we loved Max so much. 

He was  ours and it was fine that God entrusted us till the end of his time.

Max was a gift but never ours to keep. He has closed his eyes forever to sleep.

Look up into Heaven to see Max above with the horses we lost the horses we loved.

Don’t cry for the horses now in God’s hands as they dance

and prance to a heavenly band. 

Do you hear that soft nicker close to your ear? 

Don’t cry for the horses, love the ones that are here…

Sadly we had to let Max go last night to release him from any pain. It was determined he had liver insufficiency and the side effect of his liver failing was the dehydration and colic the vet and I had been treating all day. He had lost some weight which we had been dealing with these last few weeks. He was such a fighter but this battle was not his to win. Our hearts are breaking.

Max came to us in January of 2013 after spending a few months with Jen at Baker Ranch Equine Rescue, who saved him from the Riverside County Animal Services where he was impounded and totally emaciated.  I transported Max to Jen's and he was so thin, I was worried about the 2 hour trip to get him there and if he would even make it.   

9-25-12 arrival at Baker Ranch Equine Rescue

After a few months with Jen's TLC he stabilized, gained weight and was transferred to us to retire.  Thought to be 30+ years old, this TWH had the sweetest personality and was easy to care for even with his moon blindness.  We never know the extent of organ damage when a horse has been so emaciated, so there is always concern and we kept a very watchful eye on him.  

Max last month

I am thankful for my vet tech training and ability to nurse till the vet arrives.   We tried all we could and he kept fighting back, but there is no way to fight a failing liver.  

Thank so much to all those who answered our call for help and have donated to help with his medical and burial expenses including Joan P, Nancy M, Stef L, Jennifer W, Margaret T, Maritza S, Robin P, Chris M, Wini B, Lois Paul & Diesel, Rose M, Kris M, Michaela L, Susan W, Donna M and Baker Ranch Equine Rescue – Jen Baker who initially rescued him.

Thanks also to Dr. Tammy Helzer who was here for over 3 hours the first time and came back for two more hours last evening working to help him for over 5 hours.   Your compassion and caring for Max is appreciated more than you will know.  Dee Corcoran our outstanding volunteer came to help and stayed to say her goodbyes to Max.  He was buried this morning right next to Daisy, very close to Maverick who is buried next to Tucker. 

Though none of this is easy, one of the hardest parts was listening to our other rescued TWH Gwen, whinny long into the night by the fence looking for her handsome man Max. 

Max, it was our honor and pleasure to love and care for you.   We will miss you very much!

Our sweet old man

Christine

Christine Griffin
Founder & President
760-703-4860

If you would like to make a donation to help EqWBR continue its mission to care for horses in need you can do so by clicking the donate button or mailing a check to PO Box 2722, Snowflake, AZ  85937.   We are a 501c3 Public Charity #45-2835562.   Your donations are tax deductible and greatly appreciated.  

We will take your horse if: Please Read!

We are a rescue, please understand that does not mean we have limitless funds, nor does it mean we have staff that provides all the care and maintenance needed with horses.   

Donations graciously given by our supporters pay for feed, hay, medicines, vet care, euthanasia, burial, farrier, horse supplies, some barn supplies (buckets, feeders, manure forks, etc.), legal or corporate fees, holiday cards, calendars and stamps, transportation cost when hauling horses and small amount for labor if we need to hire someone to help with the horses needs. 

Volunteers are few and far between, but those few we have a very greatly appreciated for the time the freely give to help these sweet horses.  

We have limited space, no free grazing so hay and/or feed and supplements must be fed to every horse and in this rural part of the state hay is not cheap.

We donate our personal time and property to care for horses that were in urgent need of help or rehabilitative care.  We feed, water, scoop poop, clean feeders, water buckets, put fly masks on and off, in the winter blankets on & off, put fly spray on, pick hooves, deworm, vaccinate, provide wound care, administer meds, massage therapy,  make and attend appointments with the farrier or vet,  be sure we or someone is here daily to oversee the health of each horse, we provide the space, barn, fencing, stalls, water, tractor, truck & horse trailer, vehicle to get supplies, office space, computer, phone, printer, file cabinets, pens, tape, paper clips, etc., camera, storage and more out of our own pocket.

I spend my personal time on the phone and computer responding to peoples requests for help, networking horses in need, fundraising, seeking and applying for grants or other opportunities to pay for the horses needs, doing all the administrative paperwork and reporting to be corporations in two states, a 501c3 non-profit with the IRS, on Guidestar and other important sites, maintain our memberships in various support organization and the ongoing reporting they need to maintain that membership, daily social media posts, regular blog posts, updating medical/health care records on horse, bookkeeping, and much more.  

I do it willingly at no charge to the rescue. I do not get a salary or any sort of wage and it is more than a full time job.  My husband gets no wage or salary either. He has a full time job so we can pay for this ranch, so the work he does for the rescue and its horses is all done during his free time.  

Equine WellBeing Rescue's Mission Statement:

EqWBR strives to help horses in times of emergency, natural disaster, personal illness or other unforeseen circumstances where placement of the horses may be necessary to prevent starvation, neglect, abuse or anything detrimental to the well-being of the animal.

To help horses that have been abandoned, abused, neglected, unwanted, starved or in danger by providing placement, foster care, housing, medical care, proper nutrition and other services needed to maintain their well-being.

Educate the public about proper care of horses, including nutrition, husbandry, training, health care needs and issues pertaining to the well-being of the horse through special events, educational materials, various media sources or individual consultation.

To engage in other activities related to educating the public about the well-being of horses and equine related issues.

So if you are in need of finding a new home for your horse(s), please consider all of the above and how you can help us if we can help you with your horse(s).  

Have you advertised your horse on social media, Craigslist or horse ads to try and find someone to purchase or take your horse (s) yourself?  If so we will be glad to share your listing and have those interested contact you directly.  We will help you network your horse(s) so you can chose its future owner and keep in touch with them and your horse over the years.   A donation to the horses here for our time and efforts to help you is always greatly appreciated.  

If you are wanting your horse to come here, can you provide for the horse's ongoing feed and health care needs?   If not, will your friends and family donate to us to help support your horse?  For the rest of its life?  Can you raise funds for us to provide for your horse in other ways?   Do you have an asset or items you can sell to raise such funds, or donate to us so that we can sell it to raise those funds?

If your horse is untrained or unhandleable?  I hope you realize we are not a training facility, nor can we risk getting hurt by a horse and be unable to work ourselves or do the work to care for the horses already here, but we will be glad to share your information on our social media if you provide us with a complete post with picture, details about the horse and your contact information.   A donation for our efforts is greatly appreciated. 

If you don't want your horse because it is lame, disabled, in poor health, or elderly and at best can truly only be a companion horse, have you considered humane euthanasia?  By asking us to take your horse you are asking us to decide when it should be put down. Passing that decision on to us is very unfair and heart wrenchingly difficult for us.  Vet care is not readily available and when the time comes to put a horse down one of us has to hold the horse while the other pulls the trigger on the gun, then we must bury the body on our land since there is no disposal service.  I cry for days when we have to do that! But we do it out of love for the horse when it is needed with prayer to God for the strength, forgiveness and peace.    

Do not tell me that you don't want your horse to go to auction and that is why you are contacting us.   What that tells me is that you are willing to take your horse to auction or you are using that as leverage so that we will jump in to save the horse.  I find that very dishonest and it makes me mad and less willing to help. If you take your horse to auction and a killbuyer purchases it, that is on you, not me!  

The well-being of horses in our care is our number one priority.  They are loved and if not adoptable will live out their days here.  That is a huge responsibility and one we don't take lightly.  We will not put those presently in our care at risk by taking on more horses than we are able to realistically provide for, nor will we adopt out without great scrutiny just to move a horse along so we can take in more.  

I get calls, emails and messages almost daily for horses in need, I wish we could help them all, but we simply can't.  That weighs very heavy on my heart and can be overwhelming at times.    I wish we had an endless stream of donations coming in, but we don't.   We have wonderful supporters who believe in our mission and donate to help us help and care for horses and we respect their hard earned donations and deeply appreciate ALL SUPPORT we receive.  

Please, if you need to find a new home for your horse consider what you are asking of a rescue and if you get told 'no' or 'we can't help', understand that those words are just as painful for us to say as they are for your to hear!

If it is an emergency or urgent need that falls within our mission statement please contact me and we will do our very best to help.

Thank you!

Christine Griffin,

Founder & President

Equine WellBeing Rescue Inc.
760-703-4860

email: Christine@EquineWellBeing.com

Click to donate:

Checks can be mailed to PO Box 2722, Snowflake, AZ  85937
We are a 501c3 Public Charity IRS $#45-2835562

Website:  Equine WellBeing Rescue Website

Purina donates 10 free bags of feed.

This is SO COOL, I just had to share.....

This is the second year that Equine WellBeing Rescue has applied for and been approved to be a member of the A Home For Every Horse program and we are pleased to let everyone know that through a generous donation from Purina Horse Feeds, all participating equine rescues received 10 coupons for a free bag of Equine Senior or Strategy feeds.   

With the our oldsters, Autumn, Danny, Fancy, Gwen, Max and Ruby, it is essential to their health to get feed in addition to hay.  At their ages they have few teeth left to truly grind hay and need nutrients provided from feed and supplements.  Hay is fed to keep them busy and help prevent colic, but they simply don't get 100% of their daily nutritional needs from it.  Babee and Liam have different dietary needs.  

We can't thank Purina Horse Feeds and A Home For Every Horse enough for allowing us to participate and supporting horses in need.  

The letter included said, "In appreciation of the tireless work you do"....."We understand that caring and finding homes for horses in need is a large undertaking, and we have the deepest respect for your ambition, dedication and generous heart.  Together, we can work toward achieving our mission of giving every horse the loving care it deserves." Signed by Brant Gilbert of Purina Animal Nutrition and Dagmar Caramello of Unwanted Horse Coalition.

Nice to be recognized by large organizations like theirs in addition to your wonderful support!

Woo Hoo!!!

Christine

Founder & President

Equine WellBeing Rescue Inc. 

760-703-4860

Update on Babee - Almost put down 4/17/14

The last six weeks we have seen such remarkable changes in Babee.   For those of you who don't know her story, we took her in on April 17, 2014, because her founder (pain and rotation of the bones in her feet) was so bad her owner had resigned himself to putting her down.  When Dr. Kari Christianson of North Country Veterinary Clinic and I visited them, Babee was simply unable to walk and barely able to stand.

After doing xrays and consultation with our farrier we asked the owner if we could take her rather than her being put down and try to rehabilitate her.  He agreed and we drove the 140 mile round trip to get our horse trailer, the vet waited for our return because we needed to give her nerve blocks in her feet just to load her on the trailer. This seven year old mare was in such pain and so dejected she couldn't even hold her head up.

We added six loads of sand to her stall outside, bags of shavings and bales of straw to the inside to give her a soft place to move and lay down, immediately changed her diet and stopped the alfalfa and molasses based feed that was causing her to founder, changed her pain medication and started treating her ulcers twice a day with meds, released the abscess on her foot and put special shoes with pad and then put sugardyne on twice a day, I researched and applied essential oils to her hooves and pasterns and also did therapeutic massage to help all the muscles stressed from having to stand unnaturally to get her weight off her feet.

4-19-14 taking a load off her sore feet

The first few days she almost refused to eat the grass hay and low starch feed, but eventually decided it was better than the straw in her stall and her appetite kicked in. Within two weeks she had already started to drop weight and move around more comfortably in her stall. On April 30th, I snapped this picture of her in a moment of glee realizing her pain was going away.

4-30-14 Babee's got moves!

The following week she got her first chance to go out in the pasture for a limited time to socialize with the other horses and start to get a little exercise.  We didn't want to leave her out too long at first because the ground is hard and rocky in many spots and made her feet tender again, but she loved getting the opportunity to move around more.

5-5-14 first day out for a short time in pasture.

Over this past month we increased the amount of time she stayed out in pasture and watched as she continued to lose the unneeded fat that exasperates her condition.  She was 300 pounds overweight when she we rescued her and has now lost about 200 pounds.

On 5-22-14, we did the blood tests needed to determine if there has been any long term damage to her system and to see if her metabolism is such that she cannot process sugars and will forever need a restrictive diet or risk further founder.  We were looking for insulin resistance or Equine Metabolic Syndrome similar to diabetes in humans. On the 28th we got the results back and her glucose insulin ratio is high or compensated, she is a 9.5 and compensated falls between 4.5 to 10 and that means her pancreas is compensating for this issues of her prior diet.  She still needs to lose more fat and will need to avoid alfalfa, molasses and any feeds but those with a starch content under 11 for the rest of her life, but we can still get the chronic laminitis under control and she is in otherwise good health.

5-30-14 Babee meets Leroy in the big pasture

With that good news we have been able to stop the ulcer meds and decided to put her out in the large pasture with the other younger horses where she can get more exercise and movement.   Her and Leroy immediately hit if off and we were overjoyed to watch them run together through out the entire pasture kicking up their heels, bucking, snorting and running with gay abandon.  I wish I had gotten a picture of that, but didn't have the camera with me then.   But here is a picture of her yesterday.

6-3-14 running in the pasture

This Friday our farrier is coming to remove her pads and shoes and we will be replacing them with a product called Hoof Cinch   http://www.hoofcinch.com/ , which are designed to encourage the coffin bone to return to its normal angle and help with the rehabilitation of her founder.  Her feet will no doubt be a little sensitive for the first few days and her hooves will toughen up and we are all praying that with continued rehabilitation she may be able to be ridden once again.

I really can't express how deeply happy I am that she has made such great strides in her recovery.  I truly thought we may have had to have put her down.  She is a remarkable horse. I have my moments where I am very angry that the prior owner wouldn't take the steps that we have and instead let her suffer in such pain and then resigned himself to put her down, but I let those pass quickly and am thankful that Dr. Christianson asked us to intercede on Babee's behalf.

I am so glad that with your support we have been able to save and change the life of this horse.   In the last week, I have been asked to by four different people with tough situations if we could take in 23 horses needing homes, 15 of them in San Diego. Through our Facebook page and a lot of behind the scenes networking we are trying to help them all find homes.

If you would like to help Babee, our other horses or help us help more horses, please consider making a donation.  This time of year funds get low as kids get out of school, people head out of vacations, funds are spent for summer activities and we understand that, but if you can find a little extra you can spare, please think about sending some to us so we can continue to provide for these beautiful animals and help others in need.

To make a donation you can click the donate button or if you would rather send a check you can mail it to our address at 8369 Buckskin Trail, Snowflake, AZ 85937.   We are a 501c3 Public Charity so donations can be deducted from your taxes.

You have helped make Babee's recovery possible with your support.   Thank you so very much for giving her a change at life!   Autumn, Babee, Danny, Fancy, Gwen, Liam, Max and Ruby all thank you for your support!

Christine
Founder & President
Equine WellBeing Rescue Inc.
760-703-4860