Monday was a very sad day as we had to say “Goodbye” to two of the auction horses. Tawnee spent a lot of time with Granny, she was such a sweet horse. It is so sad that someone used her up, then when she was no longer useful to them due to her old age and chronic pain, they dumped her at the auction.
Broken Heart was also given the Last Act of Kindness. His poor hip was so damaged and deformed from his injury. He couldn’t walk right and he was breaking down. It is really sad, but we are so thankful that we are an open door shelter, and will rescue horses like Granny and Broken Heart, just to give them love, compassion and to say goodbye, saving them from the horrors of the slaughter pipeline. It’s never easy, but someone has to do the right thing for horses like these. Many years ago, like most rescues, we would only rescue horses we felt we could find homes for. We would shake our heads in sorrow at horses like Granny and Broken Heart, knowing we would never be able to find them a home, and knowing that we would soon be full if we rescued horses like them. In 2008 we decided enough was enough with watching horses like these load onto killer trucks. Just because they need rescuing and prompt humane euthanasia to relieve their chronic suffering does not mean we should turn a blind eye to them at auctions.
After saying “Goodbye” to Granny and Broken Heart, the team got busy vaccinating, tagging, microchipping and deworming the youngsters from the auction.
They also got their ages and hoof care done all at the same time. It took a long time, but everyone was glad to get the first group done.
Tuesday Kirsty started evaluating the adult auction horses. Breezy was the first to be evaluated.
She is trained to ride and is a really beautiful girl.
Classy was also worked with. It was determined that she is a brood mare who never had any training. She is such a beautiful horse, it is so sad that no one took the time to train her.
Hope was also evaluated. She is a young mare and it seems like someone had worked with her in the past.
It is hard to know exactly what her story is, but she has scars all over her body.
We had a potential adopter come out and look at the goats. He has 5 acres with lots of brush, and wants a few rescued goats to join their family and help make his job easier.
We had a very cute little adopter come out and see Ginger.
She wasn’t quite sure if she wanted to ride Ginger, so she had her big brother ride Ginger while she watched to see how Ginger did.
Then she posed for the cutest adoption photo we’ve had in a very long time.
Then Ginger followed her right into the trailer. It was really cute and we are so thankful that Ginger has gone from a poor little pony dumped on someones property, to a spoiled pony, no doubt winning ribbon after ribbon.
Meanwhile Jason was on the road to pick up 4 abandoned horses. It really amazing how many calls we are getting for abandoned horses. When he arrived he found 4 pretty Arab cross mares munching on some hay. The horses were abandoned after the owner asked if she could keep them in a very nice guy’s pasture. She would come out, ride them, take care of them, but then just disappeared. After serving due notice and months later, the owner of the pasture contacted us for our help. Most people in situations like this try to do the least they have to, but he took great care of the horses, and even had his farrier give them hoof care right before we came to get them, what a great guy!
Before too long they were loaded up and headed to the shelter.
At the shelter they unloaded safely into waiting stalls.
They are really pretty mares and we are told that they were trained to ride. Our trainer will be evaluating them soon.
Thank you for all your support!