Diesel has arrived!!! Thank you all so very much.

It was cold and the rain was pouring down last Wednesday, March 15, 2023, when Derek arrived to pick Diesel up. Heidi was out in the pouring rain and asked Derek if he could load Diesel for her....such a heartbreaking time for Heidi...having to say goodbye to her beloved horse and watch the trailer drive down the road. Too often doing the right thing for the horse, or any animal for that matter, is difficult and sorrowful. Diesel arrived late that evening a little later than planned because of the rains hitting both California and Arizona. Much care was taken the entire journey, especially through the mountains up to and over the Mollogon Rim. Diesel unloaded and settled in for a stormy night. He was tucked in a dry barn stall with Forest and Shooter across the walkway to keep him company.

Click here for more pictures of his rehab Going back to October 28, 2011, two foals arrived at the rescue and the gray one was extremely sick. His breathing was labored, you can see he is emaciated, was running a fever and more. Diesel, named that becasue of deep the noise he made breathing, needed vet care, IV fluids and almost died in my arms as the abscesses in his neck around his throat would not allow him to swallow so I was feeding him water with a dose syringe till the vet could get there. It was touch and go that sleepless night not knowing if he would pull through. That was Diesel's first day and the rescue and after 11 years he as returned.

Diesel running with glee in the big pasture. We are so excited to have Diesel back with us and at the same time saddened that life circumstances changed so quickly, in the blink of an eye ...a head-one collision...and his owner was no longer able to care for him when she herself was trying to recover from such a tragedy. Wanting him to have room to roam, and regular companionship of people and other equines we made plans to bring him to the rescue.

Many of you will no doubt remember Diesel, the orphaned foal and have followed his journey ever since. He even has his own Facebook Page (see below of read it). After the rains ceased we were finally able to let Diesel enjoy pasture time. We tried putting him with Sable and the mini donkeys, but all he wanted to do was follow the mini's around and big as he is, that scared them. We next tried Buddie and Rimson, but Diesel was more interested in the standard sized donkeys we have in our big 5 acre pasture. Buddie and Rimson, while curious, didn't seem to find a connection.

3-18-23 Diesel meets the donkeys Finally we tried our big pasture with the donkeys, Ceci, Rainee and Journey. It was funny to watch because he followed them, not really chasing them..but they didn't know that. A lot of movement all over the pasture and finally the donkeys stopped and so did Diesel. Ah! They figured it out, he just wanted to get to know them, sniff noses and be friends.

Today I called him from the barn, he stopped eating and turned to acknowledge my call. When we go out in the pasture he walks over to greet us and we are able to give him his medicines in a horse muffin. The mares seem to like him now as do the donkeys. Will he become a herd leader? It is possible. He is smart, sensitive and confident. The donkeys and the horses seem to like him. With 5 acres to roam and a bunch of new friends we see him settling in just fine.

We can't thank you all enough for your donations to help get him back to the rescue and to cover his health care needs and medicines for the next six month. We reached and exceeded our fundraising goal which covers his care for even longer. We are in contact with Heidi every day giving her updates on how he is doing. While such a tough decision, she is happy that he is happy. We wish her a complete recovery and have extended the invitation to come visit Diesel at any time. In the meantime, I will update her with pictures and stories of his antics. Working together, we all have made their lives better and kept a commitment we made the day we rescued him back in 2011.....he will always have a home to come back to if needed. You can follow Diesel's Facebook page by clicking the link below.

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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!!!!

Click for Diesel's Facebook Page

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After 12 years Diesel is returning, can you help get him here??

 

In the fall of 2011, we joined Debra Hawk and Troy Kelly, in their efforts to save dozen's of young horses whose mothers were shipped to Canada for slaughter. A wonderful lady named Lisa, sent us the funds to purchase the two foals in the picture above and get them shipped to the rescue for care. Both horses were exposed to the highly contagious disease called 'strangles' and the grey one you can see is very thin. .

Click here for more pictures of his rehab October 28, 2011, both foals arrived at the rescue and the gray one was extremely sick. His breathing was labored, you can see he is emaciated, was running a fever and more. Diesel, named that because of deep the noise he made breathing, needed vet care, IV fluids and almost died in my arms as the abscesses in his neck around his throat would not allow him to swallow so I was feeding him water with a dose syringe till the vet could get there. It was touch and go that sleepless night not knowing if he would pull through.

Well pull through he did with round-the-clock care, good nutrition and lots of love. It took several months and Diesel was finally well enough to go to an adoptive home. A wonderful family came forward and with clean bill of health from the veterinarian, we approved his adoption to the Niven family. It was a bittersweet day when he went to his new home, but he deserved to have a loving family to call his own.

Click to see Diesel's Facebook Page Many of you will no doubt remember Diesel, the orphaned foal and have followed his journey ever since. He even has his own Facebook Page (see below to read it). I know some of our followers only know us from recent foal rescues like Sydney, Rimson, Buddie, Maisie and now Forest and Shooter, but our history of rescuing foals in need goes back to 2007 when the wild fires of San Diego county left a skinny, pregnant mare without a home, and shortly after a cute little foal named Quinn was born. Our first rescued foal. We have helped dozen's more since that time.

2018 Diesel Diesel grew up and was trained undersaddle. He was shown a little and even won a ribbon or two. He wasn't all that fond of working in the arena but he liked being out on trail. Circumstances changed and Diesel got a new mom named, Heidi who loves him dearly too. Unfortunately Diesel's mom was involved in a horrible head-on auto accident and her recovery has been slow and finances extremely tight. She told us about Diesel and her situation and we let her know we have a life-long return policy and he could come back to the rescue if she wanted.

It has been a most difficult decision, but putting his needs before hers, she decided Equine WellBeing Rescue would be best for him. We have helped with some medical bills for Diesel, he was recently diagnosed with Cushing's Disease and xrays have shown an injury that was probably sustained as a foal has caused some arthritis in his spinal area which is very painful if ridden. The recommondation was to retire him so it is time for Diesel to come home to EqWBR. We are reaching out to you to help us raise funds for the medical care we have provided already, $405 for diagnostics of Cushing's Disease, $382.70 for transportation exam, blood work and documents to travel, $625 for the cost of transport to the rescue and $547.50 to cover six months of medicine for pain managment and Cushing's Disease. Our total fundraising goal is $1960.20 and we have a matching donation for the first $500 in donations made. When we rescued Diesel 12 years ago, we made a committment to him, as we have to all others, to be there for him throughout his life and open our doors if he needed to come back. He needs us now and we want to be there for him again. He will be picked up on March 15th in CA and should arrive here late in the day. If you can help with a donation of any amount, just click the donate button below and thank you so very much for helping us fulfill a life-long committement to this very sweet and beloved horse.

Click to Donate

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!!!!

Click for Diesel's Facebook Page

Click for Diesel's Blog Post

Shooter has arrived. Thank you so very much!!!

 

We arrived in New Castle, Colorado by 8am on Monday, February 27th, after being on the road for an hour already having spent the night in a hotel about 50 miles away. The wind was blowing and the snow got heavier the higher in elevation we climbed. By the time we got to Shooter's home the snow was coming down really hard. Luckily we knew once we left, we would drive away from the snow and and get back onto dry highways. Knowing there was a good chance we would be in the snow, Lary installed two sheets of plywood, one on each side to the horse trailer to cover the open slats where there are no windows. What a difference those panels made in wind reduction and keeping the trailer warmer.

Seeing Shooter for the first time we realized he was taller than we thought and would be much bigger than Forest, even through they are close to the same age. His demeaner was very sweet and he came right over to the fence to great us. Karen had been practicing trailer loading with Shooter but with the snow coming down, wind whipping and icy footing, we really took our time loading. You can see the plywood panels in this picture. It took a few minutes, a bowl of feed and a little push from behind and he climbed in the trailer.

We let Shooter loose in the trailer so he could balance himself and look out the back sides of the trailer to see what was going on. In the front of the trailer we had two hay nets for him to eat from when he got hungry. The back door was secured from the outside so he was snug in his big box stall for his first trailer ride. We also have a camera in the trailer right above where he was standing so we could observe how he was doing the entire trip. At first he was very active looking out the windows. After many hours on the road, he was comfortable just standing or munching on his hay. We stopped hourly for a short break and halfway through the trip home, a late lunch break for us so we could eat. It was after 7pm by the time we got home and he got out of the trailer like a champ and into the strange barn to spend his first night in his new home.

Tuesday morning we went out to feed and saw that Shooter was comfortable enough to lay down and get some much needed rest. Monday's trip was 11 hours and very tiring for all of us. We put Shooter in the adjoining stall to Trudee and Forest so they could meet each other over the fence and we could gauge their reactions to each other. Though tired, he was also curious about this new home and all the horses and donkeys around here. Many of them curiously coming up near his stall to see the new guy.

It didn't take long before we saw Shooter, Forest and Trudee eating from the same hay net. They seemed to like each others company and that gave us a very good feeling. Yesterday, Wednesday we had a storm come through which was supposed to bring 3 inches of snow, but other than high winds and dropping tempuratures, we only got a sprinkling of snow early in this morning. Boy were we happy about that.

After Shooter being penned up for a couple days, and Forest and Trudee being penned up since last Thursday, we knew it was time to let them out so they could stretch their legs and run off some of their energy. Boy did Shooter have energy! We put him in the pasture first and it was magical watching him explore, run, kick up his heels and amazingly I got a picture of him gleefully rearing. After he wore off that energy and investigated the entire pasture, we let Forest join him. There was a little bit of running, more kicking up their heels, then they settled in to just being around each other. Trudee went out in the pasture with the mini donkeys so the boys could get to know each other without her in the middle.

We have checked several times and it is heartwarming to see the two of them eating from the same hay net. We think they will turn out to be friends like Buddie and Rimson. This could not have been possible with out the donations we received and we can't thank you all enough. You have changed the lives of both of these horses for the better and we appreciate all you have done so very much. We want to extend a special thanks to Fleet of Angels and Elaine Nash who provided the rescue with $250 matching funds from their grant program for Bonded Pairs, this was a very nice grant from a fellow organization that does wonderful things to help equines around the world. We also want to say a special thanks to Gary, who many of you may remember donated the funds for us to purchase and transport Buddie to the rescue to be a friend for Rimson when they were both about six months old. He donated funds on behalf of Rimson and Buddie to help Forest get a new best freind. Thank you Gary. Lastly, Forest would like to thank you all. He has had a very tough beginning to his life and since being rescued he has found love and safety. Now you have made his life richer by helping us bring him a much needed friend and companion. What a blessing!!!!

Click to Donate

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!!!!

Funds needed to get Shooter.

 

Remember we said we might have some exciting news coming. Well things have come together and we are excited to announce that we have found a pasturemate for our mostly blind, orphaned foal, Forest. Trudee has been a good companion for Forest, but we noticed that at his age, almost 9 months old, he now wants to play and he is very rough with Trudee the donkey. We went on a search to find an appropriate companion for Forest. We reached out to 500 rescues who are part of The Homes For Horses Coalition, looked at the ads from rescues nationwide via A Home For Every Horses' posts on Equine.com and even checked local Craigslists and Facebook sales ads. We found a few weanlings around the same age as Forest and after interviews to discuss their demeanor, level of training, probable size when grown and more, we chose Shooter because of his mellow personality and that he has been in training for months. He leads, ties, stands for the farrier, works of a lunge line and has followed his mother when she was being ridden on numerous trail rides. We feel that he is the perfect choice both for Forest with his blindness and the safety of our volunteers with his level of training.

Foaled June 17, 2022, Shooter has the same birthday as Buddie....what a fabulous coincidence as Buddie was purchased to be a companion for Rimson. A very special birthdate indeed. Based on Forest's age when we rescued him, approximately two-three months old, that would put his foal date sometime in July 2022 making Shooter and he very similar in age.

I am sure you see the snow in the pictures and that is because Shooter is located in New Castle, CO, much closer than some of the other foals located in the midwest and east coast. We are headed to pick him up this coming weekend. Dr Amy Daley, went to examine Shooter for us on the 14th and found him to be easy to handle and in good condition. He will need his feet trimmed when he arrives, booster vaccines, castration (which can be done with Forest at the same time) and other normal health care for a colt his age. She also did a coggins test and health certificate for travel to Arizona. Her invoice was $275. Round trip is approximately 1100 miles, if there are no detours for weather, and will require an overnight stay as it is a full day up and a full day back, with our appointment to pick him up being Monday morning. Transportation costs will be approximately $700 and needed health care after arrival approximately $500. Our fundraising goal for Shooter is $2000 to cover transport, vet care, needed health care, food and hay, etc. If you can help with a donation of any amount it will be so appreciated. We know times are tough for many so we don't want to strain anyone's budget in our request for donations. Forest, being mostly blind, needs a companion he can play and grow up with and we know from our expirience with Rimson and Buddie, it is SO good for their mental health and esteem. For Forest to succeed with his sight limitiations, he needs to learn to be a horse and there is no better way than to have a companion the same age. To make a donation you can click the button below that will take you to our website which has many payment options as you scroll down the Donation page. Please feel free to share this email with your friends who may also want to help Forest and Shooter. Thank you all so very much!!!!!!

Click to Donate

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!!!!