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Volunteers
and Walmart collaborate to build a shelter for a rescued horse
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By Merri Taylor Special to the Independent
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Aug 2, 2023 White Mountain Independent Newspaper
Equine WellBeing Rescue recently received a $1,000 grant from
the Walmart Foundation and the Taylor Walmart store. The funds were used to buy
many of the materials needed to construct a shelter for a blind orphaned colt
that was found wandering alone in the Petrified Forest last year.
Petrified Forest
employees contacted Christine Griffin, founder of Equine WellBeing Rescue, for
help. Griffin jumped into action.
“He was emaciated and
extremely dehydrated,” she said. “That’s why he was wobbling around so much. He
probably would have perished, especially if he hadn’t shown up at the machine
shop there; he would have just died out in the out in the wild.” The colt,
named Forest, is nearly a year old now and is thriving at the Rescue, east of
Snowflake.
“We did a DNA test on Forest and he turns
out to be half quarter horse, half Rocky Mountain horse mix, which could mean
that somebody probably dumped him,” Griffin said. “There aren’t really herds of
this DNA in the Petrified Forest; once in a while other horses may come in. We
consider him an orphan because he wasn’t with his mother or the herd may have
culled him because of his health condition, or he just couldn’t keep up, we’ll
never know.”
On July 25, volunteers
gathered to build a shelter for Forest and his new companion, Shooter.
“We couldn’t put
Forest in with our herd because of his blindness, so we ended up purchasing a
colt that was close to the same age as him and already had training,” Griffin
said. “He was of a gentle demeanor and his feet could be trimmed and things of
that nature. We went to Colorado and got him in February.
“Then we made an enclosure that’s a
little over 30 feet wide by 280 feet long, so that they both have room to run.
Even with his limited eyesight, Forest has really good perception of his
surroundings, so he does run and play like a typical colt his age.
“We were so excited to
work side-by-side with the volunteers on this project. We thought that we
really should build a shelter for Shooter and Forest. That way, if we’re not
here, or a storm comes up, the monsoons come up, at least they can get into the
shelter or if we can’t get them into the barn.”
Griffin explained that one of their volunteers, who works at
Walmart, found out about the Volunteerism Always Pays program, which provides
grants to eligible organizations when Walmart or Sam’s Club associates
volunteer. The program encourages full and part-time employees to volunteer
their time to various non-profits in their local communities.
“Her supervisor at
Walmart knew that she volunteered here, so they said let’s do a volunteer
program out there. So when they contacted us, it had just coincided with a
grant request that we had made separate from that. It kind of all happened at
the same time,” Griffin said.
Forest does fairly well despite having
essentially no vision, Griffin said. “He actually was paying attention to the
noises going on during the construction; some of it was really noisy, they were
using drills and things. By the time we put it together, he could smell the new
wood. So he walked right over to where the new smell was.
“The first thing we noticed was him
walking over sniffing the wood, so he went inside and sniffed the wood all the
way around inside and out. That’s how he learns where something new is. Also,
he realized he was in shade, because of the difference in the temperature.”
Considering the size of a horse’s ears,
it’s no surprise hearing is important to Forest’s understanding of his world
and his new shelter. “The shelter has a tin roof, so the first time it rained,
it was different because it was noisy,” Griffin said. “Even though Shooter was
inside, he wasn’t sure about going inside with the noise. The barn also has a
tin roof, so once he gets used to that, then it won’t matter at all. I do see
him going in for the shade. They do have a juniper tree and he loves to stand
in the shade of the juniper tree.”
Walmart also sent the rescue a $75 gift card to purchase flowers and soil for their Memory Garden. “Walmart volunteers, along with our volunteers, cleaned up that whole area and planted the new flowers,” Griffin said. “They did an awesome job. We really appreciate the support from the Taylor Walmart. Justin Johnson is the manager there and we appreciate him and his employees and their support of the rescue.”
Griffin added that there were 22 hours of
preparation time for the shelter build, with a total of 69 volunteer hours. She
said, “We have a lot of really wonderful volunteers. I always want to give them
credit, because they do come here and volunteer their time and its much
appreciated.”
Forest with Shooter behind, taking shelter from the rain.
To learn more about
the rescue or to make a donation, visit equinewellbeing.org,
call (760) 703-4860, or email christine@equinewellbeing.com.
To learn more about Walmart’s Volunteerism Always Pays program, go to walmart.org/how-we-give/volunteerism-always-pays.
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In the summer of 2020, we helped a fellow rescuer, Cathy Ritlaw of Journeys End Ranch Animal Sanctuary, in Kingman, AZ, by making room for six of her horses and two of her donkeys. The six mustangs, all 18 years or older, had been with Cathy for years. Sadly Cathy's health made it so she could no longer take care of their daily needs and she asked if they could come to us. I have know Cathy for years and we wanted to help any way we could. |
Cathy was a animal advocate for decades and sadly passed in May after many years struggling with her health. We last saw her when we drove to her rescue to pick up Poco and Teddy in June of 2020, the first of her 8 equines to move to EqWBR. Cathy was using a scooter to get around at that time and since then spent some time in the hospital, a rehab nursing home, before going back to the ranch where she died at home. |
Cheyenne was the oldest of what we called the Six Pack, the six mustangs from JERAS, and was the oldest at 23 years old on her arrival. Abused in her younger years she had been at JERAS for many years and was very bonded with Scout and unhandleable except for once in a while taking a treat. On the morning of June 8th, we thought she was sleeping but on closer view, it was clear she had passed away overnight. There was no sign of struggle and no indication of what caused her death. She died in peace in her sleep, we should all be so lucky. |
This week we were saddened to discover that Scout had cancer with a tumor so large that surgery was not an option. He had recently shown some weight loss but otherwise looked fine so he was getting Senior feed to help him gain back some weight. The tumor was causing him much pain and the heart breaking decsion to humanely euthanize him was made and yesterday he joined Cheyenne and Cathy. Quality of life is so important to us. Knowing he could not recover and the pain would only get worse we let him go though our hearts weren't yet ready. |
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Today the remaining four horses, Bayron, Kola, Rene' and Windy, are banded together no doubt missing their pasturemates. To have lost Cathy in May, Cheyenne in June and now Scout has been really difficult for me to process and hard for our volunteers who lovingly cared for them, but I keep thinking they are together and that is good. May they run throught the green pastures of heaven to meet Cathy at the pasture's gate, while she waits with treats for each and gets to love on them again after all these years. We have been honored and blessed with her friendship and glad her horses are living out their lives as she wanted. Run In Paradise (RIP). |
Equine WellBeing Rescue is a 501c3 public charity which is 100% volunteer run and managed. There is no paid staff or employees so funds donated goto the care of the equine at the rescue and others in need that we can help. Our volunteers are loving, caring and the best ever!!!! There are lots of wonderful charities to support and we are honored and humbled by the support we get from you and your friends. We want you to know YOU ARE APPRECIATED!!!! |