Check out our new website!!!!

Like  Pin  +1  After many weeks of input and edits our new website is finally LIVE!!! This new design should make it easier for people to read our website both on their SmartPhone and desktop. Please take a moment to check it out and let us know what you think! Click to go to the new website Many, many thanks for all you do to help the rescue! Christine Donate Now! Thank you SO much.

A friend for Rimson

On 10-5-19 we welcomed a new member to the EqWBR family. Buddie arrived to be a friend for Rimson thanks to a donation by Gary Hackney, who was visiting all the way from Washington state to help with chores around the rescue. Finding out that we had wanted to get a companion for Rimson that was his size and age, he offered funds for our search so we asked him to name the new foal and he chose Buddie.

After looking at ads online for foals we purchased Buddie and he was transported to the rescue by his owner. We asked about the foals history but he had only had him 3 days so we don't really know his past. From his condition on arrival we knew he had been pulled from his mom and kept with other horses because he was thin from probably being chased off food and had bite marks all over his body.

Not only was Buddie underweight be we noticed his hind legs were not straight. They are both sickle hocked (not straight up and down under his body, more leaning forward) and cow hocked (like being knock kneed). The vets we consulted about the condition felt with good nutrition and exercise they should straighten out. We kept him quarantined and then introduced him to Rimson.

Buddie meeting Rimson. Rimson wasn't sure who this pint sized creature was and seemed frightened of him at the beginning. We realized that Rimson couldn't look in a mirror to see that he was the same size. It was rather cute.

Buddie started to feel a little punky when the cold weather set in so Dr Helzer came out and we drew blood finding he had signs of a slight infection so we started treating him with antibiotics. We already had him on Full Bucket Foal Probiotics to help his stomach absorb food better and closely watched his food, hay and water intake. Bloodwork also showed anemia and low protein so we added Vitamin B Complex. After several days the antibiotics gave Buddie diarrhea so we discontinued them, installed a catheter and started him on IV fluids to prevent dehydration. He did get enough antibiotics to treat his infection. His appetite remained good through the treatment and after 3 sessions with IV fluids and the vitamin B complex along with the other supplements he started to perk up. We also gave him BioSponge to help end the diarrhea. Here is Lary helping me with one session of IV fluids.

Once he was feeling good and starting to put on weight Kelli from Animal Krackers came out to do body work with him. After being picked on by other horses before he came to us, he needed several adjustments and stretching and clearly felt better when Kelli was done. In addition to his body work and good nutrition we have added Equine Leg Magic mineral supplement to his diet to help get his posture better. Thank you Equine Leg Magic for donating your supplement for Buddie.

We now take the boys out for walks together as physical therapy for Buddie and good exercise for them both. They have become good friends which is what we were hoping for to begin with and they share each others food and take naps together all the time. Rimson still gets time to be out with the older horses, but it isn't too long before he wants to be back with his new best friend.

With our temperatures dropping below freezing some nights we blanket them as needed so Buddie doesn't burn up his calories trying to stay warm and during the warm sunny days the blankets are off so he will grow his winter coat. These two spend so much time together and it is fun to watch their friendship grow.

It will take many weeks before he his muscle and fat do a better job of covering his bones and by winter he should be at a normal weight for his age. It has been too long since our last email to everyone but you can see we have been very busy. When we decided to purchase a friend for Rimson we had no idea we would get one with so many issues. When he arrived and we saw his condition we knew he landed in the right place so we could get him the care he truly needed. Another little blessing at the rescue.

Many, many thanks for all you do to help the rescue! Christine

Donate Now! Thank you SO much.

Week old foal attacked by cougar, saved by Equine WellBeing Rescue

Lary carrying the injured foal 7-7-19

Late in the day on Sunday, July 7th, we got a call from a family in Lakeside, AZ, 30+ miles south of us explaining that an injured foal was in their yard and they didn't know what to do with it. They didn't think it would live through the night. They had called the sheriff's department because the foal walked off the Apache reservation where the fencing was down, had crossed a gravel road (Rim road) and into their yard. After speaking with the authorities they contacted us for help.

Upon arrival we realized he was a new born foal, perhaps a week old. They told us a cougar had attacked the small herd of wild horses and chased them away. The colt was miraculously alive and left behind, no one saw what his mother looked like. Twice he was standing in the road and others put his inured little body back on the tribal side yet he found the strength to walk across the road and into their yard. He was carried into our trailer and when we got to the rescue Lary carried him into a stall. En-route we contacted Dr. Helzer and determined he would die if hauled hours away to an equine hospital so we bottle fed him mares milk-replacer, gently cared for his deep wounds and let him rest, keeping a close eye on him till the Dr. Helzer, Tammy, arrived.

From what we were told it had been 24 hours prior to our picking him up since he had been attacked by the cougar. Then he wandered around without any way to nurse because the herd did not return to the area. He was so weak that during the surgery to clean and repair his wounds no sedative was needed, just lidocaine to numb the wounds. He had a very deep wound over the jugular area of his neck and it was a miracle the cougar missed his veins and arteries. In addition to all the neck wounds, he had some scratches on his body and a very deep puncture on his right hind leg in the thigh area.

Lary assisting with IV fluids Repairs were made, a catheter placed and IV fluids administered. Detailed instructions were given to us as I continued his round the clock care. We were relieved to find out he could drink the milk replacer out of a bucket and with IV fluids we administered 4 times a day he quickly started to perk up. He was also getting pain meds, 2 kinds of antibiotics, probiotics and ulcer meds for his stomach and several supplements in addition to cleaning and dressing his wounds several times throughout the day and night.

His neck wounds made drinking difficult even while healing. We immediately posted his needs on Facebook and I have tried so hard to get an email and blog post done, but the few hours I have had not caring for him or the other equine I really needed to just catch my breath. Much of the time at first it was eat, get his treatments and sleep, needed rest to heal. David and Ruth, having a colt of their own, sent our foal a large teddy bear to keep him company. As he got stronger his wounds started to heal, he gained weight and grew taller. So many neck wounds he had trouble swallowing for quite a while.

Thank you David & Ruth for the big teddy bear.

Thanks to our friend Raymond Patterson at www.SoxForHorse.com, (long time supporter of the rescue) we were send a set of Silver Whinnys that were modified to fit his neck and with the silver woven throughout help with the healing process and help protect his wounds from any flies.

Getting bigger and stronger Steadily each week he has gained weight and gotten stronger. With the use of Dr. Helzer's dog scale we were able to measure his weight gain every other day till we were sure his gain was stable. By August 5th, he was 101.9 pounds. He had gained over 50 pounds since his arrival and had grown 2 inches in height. The only big issue was the puncture in his right hind leg was causing him to not be able to carry his weight for long periods of time. We kept watching closely for issues related to the puncture.

Abscess site post surgery Last week he was running and bucking on one of our daily walks and was truly full of piss and vinegar but by night time his leg was swollen and the next morning I contacted the vet because it felt like a large abscess directly in front of the puncture site. That was on Friday, August 9th and sure enough when aspirated it was an abscess, probably brewing for many weeks and broken to the surface by his bucking. More surgery. We lanced it, flushed the incision site, treated and installed a drain tube to help any residual infection come out.

Learning to walk with a halter and lead line We continue our walks 2-3 times a day and dress the surgery site and neck wounds at the same time and they all seem to be healing. He is on antibiotics again but no more pain meds or other medicines. He has been getting great supplements, probiotics, colloidal silver and is now eating hay, foal feed and we can see his growth continue. In the past week he has gained 14 pounds and grown another inch and he can put weight on his hind leg. Thankfully we can now feed every six hours and that seems to work well....I can get a little sleep. We have named him Rimson because he crossed Rim Road to Dennis and Gail's house and this is considered Rim Country. Meet Rimson, "Son of the Rim Country".

Photo by Leslie Brucker Photography People have been sending well wishes from all over the world, France, England, Australia, Canada and across America. If you would like to send Rimson a card the address is: Rimson c/o Equine WellBeing Rescue, 8369 Buckskin Trail, Snowflake, AZ 85937. He has quite a few followers with our daily posts on Facebook and he wants to tell everyone how much he appreciates your prayers, all the volunteers and practitioners stepping in to help, donations, the wonderful gifts and cards. Many have come to visit, some from out of state. In fact, so many have wanted to visit that there is no time remaining in the day so we have decided to host an open house on Saturday, August 31st, from 10am - 2pm. Just a short and simple event so you can have the opportunity to see the rescue, meet Rimson and the other 24 horses and donkeys, and learn a little more about our mission to help equine in need. More details to come on that very soon. Rimson is not out of the woods yet. He has another week of meds and a few weeks for his latest surgery to heal, but we can now say we anticipate a full recovery. We keep a constant eye on him and he is up to it he meets the horses and donkeys over the fence and knows he is not alone. He has sure touched many hearts, especially ours. If you would like to help Rimson and the others here at the rescue with a donation there is a button below to click. With 24 horses and donkeys in our care every dollar is appreciated so very much and you know they are put to very good use.

Photo by Leslie Brucker Photography

I would like to give a huge thank you to my friend Leslie Brucker for the beautiful and charming pictures of Rimson which tell his story so well.

Many, many thanks to all of you for all you do to help the rescue! Christine

Donate Now! Thank you SO much.

Celebrating Sydney's first birthday!!!!!

It has been a year since we rescued this little foal and her mom, and brought water and troughs to this small herd of horses in desperate need during last years exceptional drought. Steve and Leslie Brucker saw this small band of horses on the White Mountain Apache tribal side of the fence line along the national forest, where the wild horses in the Lakeside Ranger district had been receiving trucked in water by us for a few weeks. They contacted us and together we went in to action to save this little herd.

Priority number one was to bring them all water and then to rescue this sweet foal and her very sick mother. This is Sydney watching over her mother who was too exhausted at that point to stand. With great effort a small group of us were able to load both Syndey and her mother into a horse trailer and bring them to the rescue. Sadly Momma's body was already shutting down and there was nothing we could do to save her. At least Sydney was not left in the forest at just a few weeks of age without her mother and trying to survive on her own.

This is a recent picture of Sydney growing up happy and healthy at the rescue. We chose the anniversary of her rescue to be her birthday...the start of a new life filled with love and lots of TLC. To help us celebrate and in an effort to help us provide for all the equine at the rescue, An anonymous donor has offered $500 in matching funds for donations to the rescue. We can't thank everyone enough who already sent us a donation for the four neglected horses we rescued this month and the Feller's donation was offered with this challenge to hopefully double their donation and help defray the medical expenses of the four neglected horses and feed and care for the rest here at the rescue. Update on Rocky the stallion...he was castrated on 6/21/19 and is recovering well at our fellow rescue Healing Hearts Animal Rescue in Cave Creek (who we work closely with on many rescues. They are providing the space and hands-on help and we are paying all expenses till he is recovered from his surgery and can be moved to the rescue. Kix has started Microcurrent therapy by Rebecca at Simply Equine Co and he will be getting treatments twice a week in addition to the massage therapy I am doing daily. Jenna at Hope Botanicals has sent us 16 day supply of CDB horse pellets to see if that will also help . We are hoping, praying that we may see some positive change for him in the next few weeks.

If you would like to help us celebrate Sydney's first birthday and raise funds to help with all the equine by making a donation to meet the Feller's matching funds challenge, just click the button below and meet their challenge. We appreciate all you do to help in so many ways. Happy, Happy birthday sweet girl!!!!

Donate Now! Thank you SO much.

Many, many thanks for all you do to help the rescue! Christine