Precious after 4 months

This is going to be a pretty short blog because I think the pictures speak a thousand words.  We rescued Precious on Feb. 21, 2012 from the Riverside Animal Shelter where she was scheduled to be put to sleep.

Not quite four months later and this is her today:

Precious 6-18-12

Below was Precious on her first day at Equine WellBeing Rescue notice her ribs, spine and bony hips:

Precious 2-21-12 first day at EqWBR

Now look how nice her hips look today:

Precious's nice booty

We are so thankful to those who have donated for her care and those who donate to help all the horses here.  Without you we could not make this possible and we are truly blessed to be able to help these horses regain their health and move on to happy lives.

Thank You!

Thank You!

Thank You!

If you would like to make a donation to help the horses here, just click the donate button!

If you would prefer to send a check to EqWBR, PO Box 324, Ramona, CA  92065

The generosity of so many caring people allows us to care for these horses in need.

Thank you all so much!

Christine
Founder & President

www.EquineWellBeing.org 

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

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

christine@EquineWellBeing.com

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

Click to see our Facebook page

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

A Birthday wish!

On April 10, 2012, I made the trek to Fallon, NV, to bring two horses to the safety of their new homes.   It's a 10 hour trip if you have no traffic or problems and can be tiring when doing it by yourself, as I was.  The weather forecast called for rain storms on the 11th so planning around that was important too.   The trip up took me on the east side of the Sierra's making an easternly turn at Mono Lake and then long stretches in the high desert.

Looking back at Mono Lake with the Sierra's in the background.

From here the trip is pretty boring and if you are tired, it's hard to not get sleepy.  I reached Fallon and settled into my room for the evening, too tired to even go get something to eat.  A good nights sleep and I would be find for the trip home.   Hoping that the weather wasn't too bad and I would make it without too many delays.

First thing in the morning on the 11th,  I got a call from the man that helps load the horses asking if I had room for a foal that was brought in with a trailer load of grown horses yesterday.  A BABY! Of course I would make room.  Yes, let's load her too.  He brings the horses in his trailer from the feedlot to the auction lot where we can load them easily and by the time we both arrived it was raining, looks like I wasn't going to be able to avoid bad weather.

It's pouring rain as we load the horses.

While many trailers have dividers installed to separate horses, our does not.  But it happens that on this trip, I had brought a pipe panel that could be used to divide horses if needed.  Having the pipe panel allowed me to load this baby without having to worry about her getting hurt in the trailer with two older horses that she didn't know.  Also she could be loose and move around on the long trip.  She would need that since she had spent the day before on a trailer too. From how far away, I did not know.

Baby on the right, gray pregnant mare next to her and large gelding  on the left.

Loaded safely, I took a few pictures on my phone so I could text them to each owner letting them know their horses were on their way home.  A hot road-cup of coffee waiting for me in the center counsel and I was ready to hit the road in the pouring rain.  I was concerned I may not be able to go back over the Sierra's because it might be snowing if the temperature is still too cold by the time I get there.  Guess we will see in a few hours.

Once I got out of Fallon and on the road, the rain drops ended and the sun began to shine.  By the time I reached Hawthorne, a small military town in the middle of nowhere and the turn off to take one of two routes back into California, the temperature was in the low 40's so I thought I wouldn't run into snow along the Sierras and going that way saves at least 30 minutes to the drive.  Another cup of coffee and back on the road.

It's an uphill climb from there to the turn off at Mono Lake and as we climbed the temperature dropped and between Mono Lake and Mammoth Mountain it was snowing from the high clouds next to the mountain yet the sun was out where I was driving.  I couldn't see the tops of the Sierra's and the sun was hitting the snow as it was falling making it glisten in prism colored reflections.  I was glad I had chosen this route because it was beautiful.  By the time I reached Bishop, the snow had stopped and the skies showed no sign of rain.

A brief stop to see Debra Hawk and Troy Kelly, the coordinators of the Fallon horse rescues that I have been working with over the last many months and now friends with the same calling to help horses,  they loaded me up with scones and a deli sandwich from the little bakery in town and another fresh and pipping hot cup of coffee and I was on the road again.

I know this stretch of road between Bishop and Ramona after many trips over the last few years for work and now hauling horses so it's easy to settle in for the drive and just cruise down the road.  Perfect opportunity for me to call my best friend and wish her happy birthday.  Hands free of course!

We got to chat for a while and catch up on a few things and she told me all the wonderful things she had gotten for her birthday.   Flowers, cards, cup cakes at work, well wishes from friends and all she gets from me is a phone call from the road.   Laughing, I told her I would get her a horse for her birthday.  While she is one of my biggest supporters, she is not a horse person so that makes the thought rather funny, especially since she has a small back yard with a pool in it.

As I get closer to the city I am ahead of schedule and realize that I can deliver each horse to their owner rather than go to one location and the owners transport from there.  While we put the baby on board and her 'bail' was graciously paid by Lisa Bone, she still had no definite place to go yet.  Of course had I told Debra and Lisa that she could come home with us if nothing else.  So when I reached San Diego county and had still heard nothing, I called Lary and asked him to make a stall for her in our quarantine area because we were adding one more to the group.

Baby on Board.

After delivering the pregnant mare and gelding each to their new homes, I pulled into our place about 7pm and there was still some remnants of daylight left.  One of the things that we noticed about this filly is that her left eye was two colors, brown with blue on the top. Unusual, but not totally uncommon and since it was still daylight it would give me a better chance to get a look at her eye and her right hind leg was also swollen when she was put on the trailer.  Having the pipe panel divider in the trailer made it much easier to look at both because she was confined to a smaller space.  It also allowed us to put a halter on her before letter her loose making it easier to catch her in her stall.

A close examination of the eye showed that it wasn't two colored at all, she had a corneal ulcer - an infection in her eye.  Because of the ulcer, she couldn't see well out of the eye and was afraid of movements on that side so we had to be very slow and gentle putting the halter on while trying not to scare her.  A sore leg and an ulcer on her eye.  Well, she came to the right place.  It was just last fall that SHALA came to us underweight, with parasites, cuts, a tooth that needed to be extracted and corneal ulcers in BOTH eyes.   Her recovery took monthss but she is in excellent health and a happy horse now.

The blueish white area is the infection (corneal ulcer).

Our hearts went out to this frightened little girl and while calmly stroking her to help her relax as we got the halter on her and I told her, "don't worry, you have ended up in the perfect place to fix your eye, after SHALA, eyes R us!".

She unloaded from the trailer into her new stall and settled in nicely.  She was exhausted after the long day in the trailer and who knows where she came from the day before.  Based on her teeth, I could see she was at least six months old and underweight in addition to the swollen leg and ulcerated eye.  Well she can rest and relax now.  She doesn't need to go anywhere until she's fully healed.

It's always a challenge to name the horses.  Some names come quickly because of the color, looks or personality, sometimes other people come up with the perfect name, sometimes it takes weeks to find the right name.  Thinking about the serendipitous nature of her getting added to the trailer load at the last minute and having no place else to go so she came home with us which is exactly where she needed to be to have her eye treated immediately, I can only think that God definitely had his hand in this one.  

She's so pretty, sweet and good natured and she deserves a special name.  Well I did promise my best friend I would get her a horse for her birthday and I can think of no better birthday present that naming this little bundle of joy who miraculously found her way on our trailer after my best friend.   So meet Miya.

Feedlot photo of filly #14 4-10-12 now named Miya.

Happy Birthday!

Home after a long haul. 2 days, 1100 miles, from sea level to 8,000 ft elevation, sun, wind, rain & snow. Two families with two new horses (and one on the way) and a four legged bundle that found her way in our trailer at the last minute and is now in the front stall next to Little Miss (Ari). Four lives saved and I am blessed to have played a small part in it all. LIFE is SO good!

They ARE just like dogs.......

I know you are used to me writing about horses as though that is all that keeps us busy here at the ranch and while they do take up much of our time, we are in the country and have a small assortment of animals.  I am not even sure if I have mentioned George, Gracie and Griffin before.

Here, I just ran outside and took a picture:

It's a beautiful morning and you can see the sun coming up through the trees in the back.  There is frost on the roof.  It's APRIL, why are we still having frost on the roof?   And you think San Diego as all warm and cozy...lol!

Now where was I?  We have had these three for a couple years now.   George and Gracie came to us from a rescue in Poway, CA.  They had been bottle raised together and though we got Gracie first, we went and got George after the first week so they could be together.   A few months later a friend of ours named Mark, showed up with a horse trailer and a sheep that needed a home because his owner was losing her house.  Mark told us he was already named Griffin, we didn't really believe him about the name until on day the prior owner called me and asked how Griffin was doing.

Goats and sheep are pretty easy to care for, just make sure you feed and water and check their hooves for trimming a couple times a year.  Griffin needs to be sheared once or twice too.  But other than that, easy keepers.

With the warm, cold, wet, dry winter and spring we have been having, the grass in the back yard has grown, but we haven't really wanted to get back there and mow it.   The side yard where these three clowns have been is nicely groomed like a golf course.

In addition to our 3G's, and don't get any ideas that we need 4G's like Verizon, we have 3 chihuahua's and a cattle dog who delight in barking at the 3G's through the fence from time to time.  Now they have all resided next to each other for two years and realizing this we thought, well the grass is really high in the back yard (you can't see the chihuahua's out there when they are running around), maybe we should let our weed wackers in the back yard to graze it down.  Worth a try!

Our biggest worry was what our cattle dog was going to do with them, but we found out quickly that when it came to herding, Gracie won hooves down.  It only took Tanqueray a few times to get head-butted by Gracie before she decided it wasn't worth the effort to contest who was in charge.  That settled, they all seem to be doing just fine in the back yard together.   Two goats, one sheep, 3 chihuahua's and a cattle dog.

I have to admit it is fun to see them walk up to the deck door while we are watching tv and quizzically look at us and wonder what we are doing or coming bouncing up to say "hi", if we step out back.  Always ready to have their head rubbed, just like any good dog.

But I didn't realize how strange it may look to an outsider until the other day when our son had some people over looking at a piece of equipment on the side yard and I had gone back there to meet them.   As introductions were being made the dogs came running to the fence line barking and the 3G's came running to the fence too.  

There they stood, all in a row.   Curious at the strangers and defending our house at the same time.   Oh, how I wished I had a camera at that moment.  But it will always live in my mind and make me ponder - they are just like dogs!

See, they look up at you to have their head rubbed or patted just like a dog!   Gosh, I hope they don't figure out the doggy door........

Grandma, Mama and baby!!!!

It has been a very busy new year so far.....    In January we assisted with the dispersal of the horses at the Liz Masters ranch.  When the call for help came in, there were 117 (approx) horses at the ranch and EqWBR supported the efforts by helping find homes (one is still here), quarantining horses here, fundraising for hay, transporting horses and continue to assist now that the horses are all off that property helping to obtain registration papers for those who purchased and/or took in horses.

In the midst of that we had 12 orphaned foals that had been quarantined in Bishop after being bailed off the Fallon Feedlot, brought down here where we found wonderful homes for each of them delivering as far away as Boulevard, Alpine, Lakeside and locally in Ramona.  Many families taking in more than one and all immensely enjoying the fun of having a young horse to love on.

During that same time, Bizzy was adopted by Ted in Escondido, Chance was adopted by Katherine, Nikia was adopted by Linda and her family and our sweet Diesel was adopted by Lois and Paul, all of Ramona.  We went from having a very full house to empty stalls.  Phew, time to breath.  

Then, last week, we got an email with this picture of a poor mare that had been abandoned and left to roam in Riverside and had been picked up by the Riverside Animal Control on Jan. 30th, and her time was up.  They had put her on the 'to be euthanized' list and was scheduled to be put down.  The email was a call for help from a small group of people who have made a world of difference for people in Ramona after the last major fire in 2007.   A call for help I just couldn't refuse.

So in the following days I drove up to Riverside and picked up the precious, skin and bones mare from the shelter. On the way home, she was vet checked by Dr. Ryan Heaton of West Coast Equine Medicine. Her vitals were good and her heart strong and lungs clear.  We figured her to be approx. 22 years old and in need of food, hoof trim, de-wormer, and more in depth check for pain and lameness.   She got her and settled right into her stall.   Meet Precious:

Within a day of her arrival Ilona (hoof trimmer) and Dawn Fletcher, Equine Chiropractor came over to help me assess her overall condition.   We found her left front pastern and fetlock fused so it won't bend and she has a large bony mass on her left knee.  As we were trying to trim her feet we found she could not support the weight on her back end when her feet were picked up and actually fell back on her butt one time.  It took us 3 hours over two days to get her feet trimmed.   Below is Ilona and Dawn working with her.

I put her body condition score on a scale of 1-10 (10 being obese) at a 1.  Basically skin and bones.  Not even enough muscle mass to help her hind end support herself while trimming her feet.  She has some scar tissue on each eye making her eye lids a little droopy and I suspect her teeth are in bad shape.  But I want her to settle in a little before I do her teeth.  We have started her on a pelleted food, supplements, fat product and hay, so she will be eating well while we are waiting for her health to get a little better to do her teeth.  

This weekend we put her out in the pasture with SHALA (before pictures - when she arrived here below),

She had cuts (large on her front leg above the knee), abrasions a huge parasite load and anemia.

Shala had melting ulcers on both eyes requiring drops 4 times a day for  6 weeks.

And this is SHALA after two months at of our TLC and thanks to so many who donated funds for her to get all her blood tests, medicine, supplies and food to bring her back to health.  Remarkable being she was being thrown away and sent to slaughter when we bought her off the feedlot and brought her here.   

SHALA on 11-13-2011 given a clean bill of health from Dr. Garfinkel

In the same trailer load that SHALA came with also came a young filly that we called Cinnabon. She had been adopted, but that didn't work out and after about a month she came back to live with us again.   We also bought Cinnabon off the slaughter lot and once back here have just been letter her be a horse.  

Cinnabon in December 2011 approx 6-8 months old

Though she recently got sedated by Dr. Garfinkel using a blow dart (Blog Post) , we put another halter on her and had her feet trimmed.  I am still working with her getting her used to the halter and using a lead line, being handled, brushed and learning to have us pick up her feet.  She is still timid, but does love being rubbed.  

This last weekend we finally put all three in the same pasture and they seem to be getting along just fine.  I have to admit I like geldings better than mares or fillies, but these three have touched our hearts deeply.  They were unwanted, abandoned, and then almost killed because people who, for whatever circumstances could no longer keep them.  

I go out to the pasture and they all approach me for treats.  Sometimes I have them, sometimes I don't (i really don't want to create cookie monsters by always having treats) so they always have to sniff my pockets and my hands and stand around thinking if they wait, maybe treats will appear.   They are all sweet and tough at the same time...they were tough enough to survive what they have been through- the pain, starvation, fear and mishandling.  Strong women...gotta love and respect that!

And tonight, which was warm after a day in the 80's in March - unseasonably warm - tonight was like a fine summer evening and as they were gathered around me I realized there was about 10 years between them each.  Cinnabon is not quite a year yet, SHALA is approximately 12 and Precious is about 22 years old.   

Generations apart..they certainly could be a grandmother, mother and baby.   What a wonderful opportunity for all three to find comfort with each other and not compete because they are all the same age.   I really don't see them picking on each other.  Maybe a gentle correction when bounds are crossed, setting an example of things a young one doesn't need to be afraid of, and overall a realization that they are all safe and will have their needs meet, including much needed love and affection from humans.

Precious has a long way to go to recover her health and some injuries are permanent like her leg and eyes, but she has vigor and a will to live that sustained her while roaming the rural areas of Riverside to fend for herself. In no way has she given up just because others gave up on her.  What an example of strength when the chips are down.   I learn so much from these horses.    I think we all do.   The granny in her late 80's or 90's that is still running till she drops.

SHALA and Cinnabon have regained their health and now need training before they can move on to good adoptive homes.   After injuring both my ankles last fall and still having pain from that when I spend too much time on my feet, I will need to bring in a trainer to work with both of them so they will get used to being handled by others and both will stand to have their feet done.   Right now, they are both still fearful of having their feet done.  So funds will be used to provide that training and I will be able to oversee their training by having the trainer come here.   In a month or two, they should both be able to safely go to adoptive homes.  

In the meantime, I will truly enjoy have the three generation of females in the pasture together and watching them in their own little herd.  

Tomorrow Tristan, one of the horses we rescued from Borrego Springs last year will be going to a new home and we are also training Colonel Hogan, who came to us from the Liz Masters horses and soon will be training time for beautiful Prince William.  When I get a little free time I will summarize our total numbers of 2011, but right now it looks like we assisted in the rescue and rehoming of around 80 horses and this year has already been over 15 and then the LM horses.  

We can't thank you all enough for your support because with out the financial donations of so many wonderful people, we - you - could not have helped as many horses who are now safe, in good homes and those here, getting the much needed care and/or training that they need to continue living a good live and have well-being!

A little late, but Happy New Year!!!!

Christine Griffin,  Founder & President

EquineWellBeing.org

PO Box 324

Ramona, CA  92065

Tax ID #45-2835562