Thursday Tawnee was on the road once again with a load of horses. This time she wasn’t heading to the vet, she was doing something different.
She was heading out with a group of people and horses to go for a trail ride at the Lake Oroville Equestrian center. One thing we may not have conveyed in the last blog was that the Horse Plus Horse Camp would be a fundraising event. We would want to host fun and games so everyone can have a great time and help the horses and other animals at the shelter, all at the same time.
All of the horses were rescue horses, most of which have already been adopted and are in their homes, but Serenity Joy (seen below) had not been adopted and was eager to go show how good she is on the trails with an 8 year old rider.
Tawnee brought her adopted horse and they all had a great time.
After the ride it was great to have the wash racks. Tawnee’s horse Boaz enjoyed getting all bright and white. A little history on Boaz, he was rescued from the Fallon Feedlot and was only days away from being slaughtered.
Everyone enjoyed the ride. If you live in the Oroville area and haven’t been there, you should. We are thinking it is not the place to have the camp, everyone indicated they really liked the idea of a river to play in.
Serenity Joy soon found herself back at the shelter. She enjoyed the ride and was an incredibly good girl.
It was then time to load up some other horses for the more traditional trailer ride: taking horses to their new home. Gizmo was very excited that he was being adopted, as was everyone else at the shelter.
Gizmo’s buddy Alfie is going to be staying with Gizmo as a lifelong companion. On April 14th they were rescued together. Alfie acted very much like a stallion, and after bloodwork it was determined that he is the worst possible cryptorchid. The surgery to geld him would be around $2,500. We do not adopt out stallions, and his placement looked hopeless. In the last couple months we have worked hard to find a solution for Alfie, we hated thinking about the alternative, and finally today Alfie and Gizmo were going to be adopted to Home at Last Sanctuary where they can live their days out in peace, mare free.
They both loaded up and wondered what their new adventure would hold. Alfie is blind in the left eye if you’re wondering why it looks strange in the picture.
Another horse that was going to Home at Last was Anna Belle. She had been adopted out previously, but the adoption didn’t work out so she came back to the shelter. Home at Last agreed to take her as well.
Everyone got loaded up and off the rescue rig went.
Up the road they went.
When they came around the corner and could see Lake Oroville Tawnee’s jaw dropped. The lake was the fullest she remembers ever seeing it, and she has lived in the area off and on since she was 4. What a beautiful sight. After years of being low, the lake is finally full. Tawnee went onto the lake website to see how full it actually is, and it is less than 2 feet from being completely full. Even though she rode at the Lake Oroville Equestrian Center, she couldn’t see the lake from any of the trails.
Anna Belle was so happy to be at her forever retirement home.
She settled right in and got to know her new friends. One of her pasture mates is a 41 year old mule.
Home at Last wasn’t going to have Alfie at their facility with all the mares running around, but they found a great foster home for him to go to.
After a short drive the adoption photo was taken of Gizmo and Alfie. They are so cute!
Gizmo was very excited to check out his pen. He has his very own big barn to share with Alfie and lots of yummy grass.
Soon they were settled into their lovely pen. They have beautiful views and no mares near their pen.
On the other side of the property the foster mom has absolutely stunning Gypsy Vanners. They are so well loved and cared for. The neat thing is Alfie looks like a mini Gypsy Vanner so he will fit right in.
Alfie and Gizmo’s foster mom does artwork and writes childrens books. She showed one of her books about one of her Gypsy Vanner’s, it looks like it will be very adorable and will be a great kids book when it is out on the market.
Thank you so much for your support, both large and small. We really appreciate it!
PS – A huge “Thank you!” for everyone who donate for the 3 horses from the Animal Control. All the funds have been donate and they are safely at our vet. Their story will be in the next blog.