Tuesday morning the trailers were hooked up and ready for a big adventure that would take all day.
The rescue rigs were driving to Nevada to rescue 14 horses who were in prison on death row.
These horses were rounded by up the state of Nevada, not by the BLM. They were then brought to a prison that has a horse facility. If we didn’t rescue them, they would have been sent to death row, aka slaughter auction. These horses were not in any BLM training program, and were not in the BLM program at all. They were owned by the state of Nevada.
The prison does not allow any media or photos being taken on prison property, but after the horses were loaded and taken off the prison property we photographed them in the trailers. They were wide eyed, confused and frightened. Each one of them have a recent freeze brand, N, on their rumps.
Some of the horses had a look of hope and curiosity instead of fear. We tried to tell them everything was going to be OK, it was just going to be a bit of a drive before they could get out of the trailer again.
The rescue rigs finally arrived at the California Agriculture Inspection station near the border. We really wish the borders were patrolled this closely going out of California, it would really prevent a lot of horses getting slaughtered.
All our paperwork was in order: brand inspection, health certificates and coggins.
Inside the office each paper had to be stamped, then the rescue rigs headed on to the shelter.
Back at the shelter, Sugar was getting ready to get thorough documentation of her hooves and her first therapy trim. Poor little Sugar, it is so difficult for her to move with her extremely overgrown hooves.
They are so long and so uncomfortable for her.
Our farrier got to work trimming them and getting them better. Sugar was so good and stood so calmly for the farrier. She was probably thinking “Someone is finally caring for my poor sore hooves and legs!” We were somewhat surprised on how good Sugar was being for the farrier. We were told by her previous owner that the reason her hooves were so long is she is horrible for the farrier. Obviously, that was not reality.
Sugar even let our farrier use the grinder and stood there like a little saint.
At the end of her first therapy trim her eyes were soft and a look of hope had taken over her face, she realized she was finally going to get the care she so desperately needs.
The rescue rigs arrived safely at the shelter. The horses no doubt were curious about their new surroundings, and all the horse sounds and smells.
One by one they came out of the trailers.
They then headed into their quarantine holding pen where they will be able to calm down and relax for a few days, getting used to the humans at the shelter.
Russ checked on the horses after dark and they were all doing well. You can see their eyes glowing in the background.
We would like to thank everyone who donated to help rescue these 14 horses from death row in prison! We can’t possibly thank you enough. If you haven’t donated and would like to help, we could definitely still use some more help for the precious horses.
Please help!
Credit Card: www.horsehumane.org
PayPal Email: [email protected]
PayPal Link: http://bit.ly/1obncrM