We apologize for the delay in getting this auction blog out. The auction happened right before the Wisconsin 1-Day Open Door Shelter, and Tawnee didn’t have time to get the blog together before heading out.
When we arrived at the auction yard the morning after the auction, the horses were all wide-eyed, and curious about who we were.
One horse, in particular, was taller than the rest. He towered above the other horses in his pen.
Lightning Bolt is a 6-year-old, 17 hand off-the-track Thoroughbred. He came up to TN from Florida to be sold at the auction. He definitely needs some groceries. It’s hard to tell from this picture how tall he is.
But you can get a pretty good idea how tall Lightning Bolt is with people next to him. He is a big, gentle giant.
This is Cricket. She is an 18-year-old QH mare. She is sweet and halter trained. We haven’t evaluated her for riding yet.
Dallas is a 16-year-old QH gelding. He is really beautiful!
Ravyn is a 2-year-old Arabian cross mare. She’s young and full of life, but very sweet and halter trained. You can tell she’s been loved by someone before she was dumped at the auction.
Lakota is a 7-year-old 15.3 hand gelding. He has an injury that is healing on his left hind leg.
Rida is a 6-year-old Arabian mare. She is Ravyn’s mother. Her mane and forelock are covered in stickers.
Copper is a 4-year-old gelding. He is halter trained and seemed to be very confused at the auction. He is a sweet boy.
This cute girls’ name is Autumn. She is a 3-year-old Appaloosa POA. She has a cute Appy frosting on her back. She is a beautiful, young, 14-hand, pony.
Diamond is a very sweet 18-year-old Arabian gelding. You can tell he has been someone’s pet for a very long time. They would probably be heartbroken if they found out he had been sent to a slaughter auction.
Sterling is a 7-year-old Tennessee Walker who was sold as a gelding, but he ended up being a stallion. You can never trust what auctions say.
Freckles is a 16-year-old, 14.1 hand, Paint mare. She is the mother of Lakota.
Mystic is a 13-year-old, 14.3 hand, QH mare. She is a beautiful black girl.
Brandy made the trip from Florida to be sold at the auction. She is a 20-year-old, 14.1 hand QH mare. We believe she may have been used as a surrogate. At our shelter our vet found she is pregnant.
Shasta is a 14-year-old, 13.3 hand Paint mare. She is a looker! She does have some swelling in her back, it doesn’t seem to be causing her issues, but we are keeping our eyes on it.
Sunshine is about 6 months old and is a cute 12.2 hand filly. She also came up from Florida. She is a very big baby, almost the size of her mother.
Clementine is the mother of Sunshine. She is 7-years-old, 14 hands tall. She made the trip up from Florida with Sunshine. We know they are from Florida because of their Coggins paperwork.
Aurora is an 18-month-old Thoroughbred from Florida. She had aluminum racing shoes but does not have a tattoo. She must have been in training but wasn’t fast enough.
Ichabod is a 16-year-old, 13.2 hand gelding. He is a cute little horse, we’re not exactly sure of his breeding. When he saw Tawnee at the auction when she was going through to find the horses we purchased, he whinnied as if to say “I’m right here!”
Buttercup was a 20-year-old QH mare. Whoever took her to the auction sadly put new shoes on her to make her look like a sound riding horse and drugged her to mask her constant pain. Once the drugs wore off, she was completely lame and in a lot of pain. She had a lot of pain in her hips and hind legs. We did everything we could for her, but in the end the veterinarian said the kindest thing we could do is say goodbye and relieve her suffering forever. It is so sad when people take horses to auctions and drug them, just to make a few extra dollars on them. We are thankful we are the ones that purchased Buttercup and did the right thing for her, even though it was so hard to say goodbye.
Willow is a 20-year-old, 12 hand Hackney pony. She is quite adorable and on a lead rope will follow you just about anywhere.
Once all the horses were accounted for and photos taken, they were loaded onto our waiting trailers. Diamond had a look of excitement in his eyes.
Freckles looked a little worried, but we assured her that everything was going to be OK.
It takes a lot of fuel to move all the horses we rescued to the shelter.
At the gas station, the horses peered out with curiosity and no doubt wondered what the strange smells were.
Once on the road again, a turbo line on Darin’s truck came off the intercooler. Quick work by Darin and Jason got them back on the road again.
Autumn, and the other horses, were patient while the truck was being worked on.
Down the road again and it came off again.
It was close enough to the shelter that Jason and Tawnee decided to take their trailer of horses to the shelter to start the intake process and come get the others if needed.
At the shelter the horses were happy to unload off the trailer. Everyone was relieved when Darin’s truck pulled into the shelter.
The intake process took a few hours. All the horses were scanned for microchips. We haven’t found a horse at auction yet that had a microchip, but we know one day we will, and when we do, we can track down the original owner.
All the horses were started on anti-biotics, vaccinated, dewormed, given pro-biotics, and dusted with lice powder. Many horses that come from auctions are infested with lice and other parasites.
Then they were let out into the quarantine pens. They were very happy to be able to run free.
When evening came they were all settled in, munching food and relaxing.
After our 1-Day Shelter team got back from Wisconsin, the vet was scheduled to come examine all the horses. Rida had a strange lump in her nostril area that ended up being an abscess. She was sedated, it was shaved down, and the vet took care of it. When we rescued Rida her forelock was full of nasty stickers. Some volunteers spent a long time grooming her, and it’s so beautiful being sticker free!
Rida got lots of love after her abscess was taken care of.
Stirling, the “gelding” who ended up being a stallion, was gelded. The vet believes someone removed one of his testicles because it looks like there is a scar, leaving one behind. The vet decided the best plan of action was remove the remaining testicle, we documented which testicle the vet removed, and we are hoping that he really is a gelding now.
All the horses that came from the auction were seen by the vet, and most of them have gotten sick from the auction, which is common. Coughs and runny noses run their course and when they recover they will be out of quarantine. Auctions have just about every disease that horses can pick up, and horses coming from auctions most likely will get sick, despite immediately starting them on antibiotics and giving them the best possible chance of staying healthy.
Lightning Bolt was a good boy for his examination. The vet really liked him and was impressed how tall he is.
He, along with almost every other horse, needed his teeth done. It was a little difficult because he is so tall.
It was nearly dark when the two vets, their assistant, and our staff were done with the vet day. We couldn’t have a great shelter without a great vet staff, seeing that every horse is given the best care it deserves.
Our farrier fell in love with and adopted Aurora. It’s dangerous being a farrier at a shelter, you never know when you’ll fall in love and add another horse to your family. He has been looking for a Thoroughbred for a couple years now, and this little girl stole his heart. We know that she will have a wonderful home with the best hoof care around. We are thankful that Quint has the ability at his ranch to quarantine her and was willing to give her a wonderful home.
We would like to thank each and every person who donated to make the auction rescue possible. These horses would most likely already be slaughtered in Mexico or Canada. The slaughter pipeline is absolutely horrible, and we will do everything we can to prevent as many horses from suffering from that horrific fate as we can.
