There are animal abusers in every state, but it seems lately Louisiana has a huge problem with starving and abused horses. It has been an ongoing problem, but it’s been on social media a lot recently. Last November we began researching the possibilities of doing a 1-Day Open Door Shelter for horses in Louisiana. Toney Wade of the Southern Animal Justice had seized over 120 horses from January through November of 2016 from abusive situations. Dr Drip brought the attention of animal abuse in Louisiana to the national media’s attention. If you missed that news story, click here.
Social media has exploded with starving, abused horses in Louisiana since Dr Drip brought the spotlight on that state. People are stepping up and sharing what they are seeing in their neighborhood. It seems overwhelming and something needs to be done. We know holding a 1-Day Open Door Shelter in Louisiana would help immensely, but we are running into some obstacles. The animal rescuers in Louisiana are so swamped that we have been unable to find a local coordinator to help us with logistics. We need an organization or knowledgeable person in Louisiana that can help with coordinating the event locally and spreading the word. We have not been able to find any adoption partners in Louisiana either, but we could transport the adoptable horses to our TN shelter, which is a 1 day drive. There are rescues in surrounding states that are also a day drive away that could be adoption partners. If you would like to help in this, please contact us: [email protected].
Our TN shelter has been busy while the 1 day shelters have been happening. The remainder of this blog is about Tuesday, but we wanted to feature some of our recent adoptions.
Buddy was adopted. His new dad is so excited, and Buddy is happy too. They will be going on many trail rides together. We rescued Buddy last August from an auction. We are so happy this beautiful horse was saved from the slaughter pipeline and now has a wonderful home.
Stella and her baby were adopted to a very nice family who wanted to add a couple donkeys to their farm. Their goat enjoyed meeting the newest additions. Baby Draco hid behind his mom and looked the other way, trying his best to ignore the funny looking critter with a big beard. Both Stella and Draco came to us through the 1-Day Open Door Shelter in TN.
Tuesday morning was wet and drizzling, but it was farrier day. The weather forecast didn’t call for rain, but in TN it can change anytime. Baby and Sunny were not impressed while they waited their turn to get their trimming done.
Baby came to us with her hooves needing trimming, and she acts like she hasn’t had much farrier work done before. She was a good girl and tried her best to please.
Dream, who was rescued from the same auction as Buddy, got his feet trimmed when the rain had stopped. He just hung out in his shelter the whole time and was nice and dry for his turn. Dream is the horse we rescued from auction that had open wounds from soring and was still wearing his stacks. You can read more about his rescue by clicking here.
When Kristen came to work with the horses, the rain storm was gone. The farrier was still working and got a whole lot of horses done. Baby got some more work done in the round pen. She is such a fast learner.
Baby is doing so well under saddle! Everything Kristen shows her, she tries her best to do. She is going to make an awesome horse for someone.
A potential adopter came out and looked at horses. She really liked Tess and put an adoption hold on her but ultimately there were too many to choose from. She is going to come back and make her decision later.
Kristen evaluated different horses through the day, but when she got to Sunny she discovered he has a lot of secrets he’s been hiding. He was very nice to ride!
The more she rode him, the more his secret started coming out. Kristen, who has done barrel racing before, thought the way he was turning indicated he had done barrels before. She asked some of the volunteers to set up the barrels.
Sure enough, Sunny knows barrels! He came alive in the arena and absolutely loved running the barrels. At 18-years-young he still loves doing it. We have no idea how long it has been since he has done barrels, but he certainly enjoyed it. Kristen posted the picture of him doing barrels on her Facebook page, and was quickly flooded with people wanting to adopt him. We are sure he will be adopted very quickly.
We have lots of horses at our shelter that are needing homes. Please visit our adoptable page to see if any are a good match for you! Click here. Kristen will be happy to talk with you about the different horses and help you find your Right Horse.
Thank you for your support, both financial and emotional. It makes our rescuing and sheltering work possible.
