Saturday night found Tawnee and others of the TN Rescue Team at an auction in the heart of Amish country.
One of the workers at the auction guessed that they were with a rescue group and came up to talk to them. Tawnee, fearing the worst after being threatened and kicked out of so many auctions over the years by auction staff trying to protect their kill buyer clients, feared the worst. She didn’t tell the lady right off that she was with Horse Plus, and the lady began to say “I hope you’re with a rescue, these horses need to be saved. So many are going to kill buyers, it is horrible. We need a rescue to come here and help these horses.”
Tawnee was very surprised, it’s the first time an auction worker has been positive about rescue. The lady was so excited when she found out that they were Horse Plus. Tawnee gave her a business card. She took the business card to the office to tell the owner’s wife and the other workers the exciting news. An auction regular pointed out who the 2 kill buyers were.
There were only 6 horses and a mini there. It was one of the smallest auctions they have had in a long time. The mini came into the ring and was sold to a family. When the horses started coming through, it was quickly apparent that only 3 people were interested in buying horses: the 2 kill buyers and Tawnee. Tawnee won the bid on every single horse. The kill buyers kept looking around in bewilderment trying to figure out who was bidding, especially on the older lame unhandled broodmare with a cloudy eye.
After the horses were sold, locals came up and thanked our rescue team for saving the horses. They said it has been horrible watching the horses get sold to the kill buyers every month. One man gave a $20 donation on the spot. Another lady said we were an answer to her prayers. It was the most amazing auction Tawnee has ever been to. The workers and the auction regulars were so thankful.
Meet the horses – Kichi is a 6 month old filly. Her mom was a registered Quarterhorse and her sire is a registered Paint. Her owners never sent the paperwork in. She was owned by the Amish.
Godiva is a 5 year old pony who is trained to ride. Her coggins papers were from another auction last August, so this is the 2nd auction she has been through in 6 months.
Two Socks is a bay gelding with a terrible injury to his leg.
Tawnee touched some of the oozing fluid and it appears to be tendon sheath fluid, which makes it a very serious injury.
Annie is a sweet horse, wanting to get as close as she can to people.
She is a QH mare in her teens we believe.
Calamity Jane is the older lame broodmare with a cloudy eye the kill buyers couldn’t believe anyone would want. She hasn’t been handled in years and is virtually untouchable.
Lady is a very sweet mare who is trained to ride. We were told anyone can ride her. We are so happy that she, with the other horses, did not get on the slaughter truck. It was such a nice feeling watching the huge slaughter trailers pulling away with nothing in them.
A lady at the auction posted such a sweet message on her Facebook, asking people to like our page. To read it, click the picture. It is really neat to be at an auction where the workers are concerned about the well being of the horses. In TN it is legal for horses to be sold and shipped for slaughter, so there is nothing they can do to keep kill buyers from bidding. All we can do is outbid them and save precious lives, with your support.
The next day the horses were settling in quite well. This is Annie, she is such a pretty girl and loves attention.
Tawnee spent a lot of time with Calamity Jane. She was finally able to get a halter and catch rope on her. One of her hooves is deformed from an old injury and is likely causing her problems. We are so thankful that the kill buyers did not buy her. When we rescued her we knew she was not adoptable, but she will be given love and attention and then the Last Act of Kindness.
Lady is such a sweet mare. We believe a home is already lined up for her.
This Godiva, she is hard to catch but once she is caught, she is a very willing pony and will follow you anywhere you ask her. She was rode through the auction.
We think that if someone spends a lot of time with her one on one and shows her that you are her friend she will become easy to catch and be a wonderful little pony.
Two Socks, the horse with the injury, needed to get his leg cleaned up. He had other ideas. At the auction he tried to run one of the rescue staff over when he was getting loaded and once arriving at the shelter we found his ground manners are horrible. Tawnee tried to lead him to the barn to clean his leg but he was not interested in behaving at all.
Tawnee led him back to the horse trailer a few feet from his friends and tied him to the trailer. He instantly began pawing and thrashing at the trailer. It became quite clear how he got his injury. He was probably tied up somewhere, and since his will was crossed and he didn’t want to be tied, he pawed and thrashed, injuring himself.
They were hoping that he would calm down, but since pawing wasn’t getting him anywhere, he began rearing.
There was nothing to be done but put him away before he hurt himself again and wait for the vet to come out the following day. It is no wonder he ended up at the auction with this kind of behavior. Thankfully we were able to rescue him instead of the kill buyer sending him to slaughter. No matter what behavior a horse exhibits, they never deserve getting shipped to slaughter.
Kichi is such an adorable little baby. The Amish really did an amazing job training her. She has wonderful ground manners, picks up her hooves and ties beautifully. She isn’t afraid of people in the least. She is going to be an awesome horse for someone.
She has such an adorable little face! She says “Thank you for rescuing me Horse Plus, and thank you reader for donating to save me and my friends!”
Thank you all for your donations that made this rescue possible!