Update on emaciated mares, Rimson and Buddie

We can't thank you all enough for helping us help the three beautiful, but emaciated mares that arrived on 4/25/20. Shortly after our last email went out we were contacted by the Hovden family who wanted to cover the entire cost of the digital livestock scale. We ordered it right away and by Friday Lary and Dennis were assembling it for us. Quite heavy itself (500lbs) it took all their strength to get the two pieces assembled and leveled so the readings would be accurate. With several volunteers here we took advantage of all the help and started weighing the mares. Willow was the first, she weighed in at 645 pounds, the weight tape we had used on her 13 days prior gave us an approximate weight of 590-600 pounds. While I don't think she gained 45 pounds in that time (though she has been eating non-stop) 20-25 pound increase would not be uncommon. "Rain" Dancer is the tallest of the three at 15 hands high or 60" at the whithers. She should weigh around 1100-1200 pounds for her big boned frame so she is approximately 300 pounds underweight as she weighed in at 839 pounds. We kno she had already put on some weight since arrival. Sable is by far the skinniest of the three with little visible fat or muscle anywhere. She is just an 1.5 inches shorter than Rain, but weighed in at 117 pounds less. As a big boned horse standing 14.2 1/2 hands (58.5 inches) tall she should weight between 1050 - 1150 pounds. Amy, who is almost the same height weighed in at 1117 pounds yesterday. Sable needs to gain 350+ pounds and we know she has already gained a little in the last 13 days. Tomorrow we will reweigh all three. While they are getting better, the blood work showed both Rain and Sable anemic, their lower legs are swollen and all three horses have areas of dermatitis on their bodies. We got a wonderful donation from Marty Bowers, who sent some Equiderma lotions and Neem oil to help them, she also contacted the Equiderma company who will be sending us an assortment of their products for all the horses as a donation to the rescue. We are so very excited to have these products to help heal the girls and others. The other thing that is notable about Sable and Willow is the loss of their coat. As the nutrition is kicking in their undercoat is letting go of the long winter fur and a shiny new coat is growing. It is very thin, but soon they will have shed all their old coat and I hope the bad memories go with it. Thanks to a donation by the Wallis family we have ordered each of them UV protection light weight sheets to wear so we can keep dirt off while their skin issues heal. We are patiently waiting for those to arrive. So many of you answered our call for help and opened your hearts to these special mares. I promised them they will never go hungry again and together we will be sure they are always fed. Yesterday Willow got her feet trimmed along with Peaches, Peanut, Amy and donkeys Ricci and Ramey. In the past the donkeys have been a challenge but yesterday they were as good as gold. Willow was not a happy camper having her feet picked up so we suspect she has rarely had her feet trimmed. Rain and Sable are not stable enough to have them stand on 3 legs while a hoof gets trimmed. It all takes time and I am so glad we are heading into summer and not winter as they recover. The corporate office of Tractor Supply Company, one of the sponsors of the A Home For Every Horse program we are members of sent us a $100 gift certificate which we used to purchase each of the mares their own grooming brushes, combs and supplies which will help their skin issues clear faster and they love the grooming too. Huge thanks to TSC. On 4-27-20 our vet was out to castrate Rimson, Buddie and Willie, and they are all doing well in there recovery. Unfortunately we had some very hot days which is very unusual for this time of year and with the spring winds blowing silty dust in their incision areas we followed up their surgery with antibiotics and some anti-inflammatory pain meds. While not fully healed they are doing much better than last week. They are all showing some spunk and their appetites are as good as ever. They too have been getting a lot of attention from our volunteers. We are currently at 23 horses, donkeys and mini donkeys and continue to get calls daily for people looking for homes for their horses. Sadly at this time I am having to say no because the mares need all of our attention and caring for each of them daily adds an extra one and a half hours to the morning chores, many days more time than that. Volunteers to help with grooming and other small tasks would be very welcome. Our emergency food fund is available for those in need of hay or feed assistance during these uncertain times with Covid-19. While many places are starting to loosen up Stay at Home requirements, many will struggle financially for the months to come and your donations have given us the ability to help those horses, donkeys and minis stay at home with some short- term feed assistance. So far we have granted over $2500 in assistance during this crisis. We hope that you and your family are all well and we know that many had serious health issues prior to all this and are going through various needed treatments and therapies. We are keeping each and everyone of you in our prayers and will continue to do so. You have blessed us so richly by supporting our mission which has allowed us to help many horses, donkeys and minins in need. Our volunteers work so hard to help with the care and feeding of those at the rescue and help in many, many other ways too. We appreciate each of you SO VERY MUCH. You all make a difference in many lives. Thank you, Thank you!!! One final note, we have tentatively schedule our Open House for Saturday, June 27th in hopes that more people will be able to safely attend. It will be a very special day because we will be celebrating Sydney, Rimson and Buddie's birthdays. A wonderful day of celebration. We will keep you updated on the recovery of the mares and plans for the open house so we will be talking to you soon. Have a great day and wonderful upcoming weekend. Wishing you good health and many blessings. Christine Your support is so greatly appreciated, we simply can't thank you enough! Donate Now! Thank you SO much.