Lacey’s breeding date was on June 11, 2011. Contributions may be forwarded via Just Give or Network for Good.
Good Luck, Everyone!
Lacey
No sooner did I post about the kittens needing help one of our supporters called and said she’d take them – she’s on her way. She has a lot of experience with raising orphan kittens.
God does answer prayers. Thank you all. Now, I just need to get myself together. Dr. Ryan is coming to see Patty.
Thank you all for your prayers for Twilight. But right now I’d like to ask for prayers for strength for me. Twilight broke my heart – I’ll never forget her eyes, her frail body, the last breath. It hurts like hell. Sometimes I want to quit. Sometimes I want to run away. Like now. Some say God puts those that are to cross my path sometimes – so they know love and compassion for those last few hours or minutes. It’s hard and it takes a toll. Little Twilight was so frail. She held her head up only a couple of times, just barely off the ground, and looked at me as if to say “why?” And I could only whisper to her that God needed her more than we did and I told her many times she was loved.
And so we must move on – but we will never forget Twilight. For those that are sending funds to help with Twilight they will be applied to last night’s emergency vetting and towards her burial. God bless and thank you for caring and helping.
I just had 3 kittens dropped off – the mother was found dead. Is there anyone that can help with them? They barely have their eyes open. I’m allergic to cats – can anyone take them? Please??? I’m overwhelmed and any networking to find them homes would be greatly appreciated.
1 am update: The little filly that I named Twilight has crossed Rainbow Bridge – she was just too far gone. In her final hours she knew she was loved. She knew kind and caring hands. I’m so sorry we couldn’t help her – she was just a baby – likely just over a year old.
She had IV fluids and the vet did all he could. She gave it her best and we prayed hard – but God called her home. She was so thin with many sores on her. She broke my heart. She will be buried on Frosty’s Knoll tomorrow.
I’m sorry but I have nothing else to say tonight. I’m just tired, very tired and very sad. Incredibly sad. It just doesn’t seem fair. She was so young and innocent. She didn’t deserve so much suffering.
Run with the angels dear Twilight – you fly with perfect wings now. While I knew you for only a short time – I love you and always will.
Theresa
10:14 PM: Theresa got a call tonight from someone in the area we have never met, stating an unknown horse wandered onto his unfenced property. When the owners checked her, she was too weak to get up.
The horse is young, a one on the Henneke Scale, and a rack of bones.
Theresa is on-site now and has assessed the horse to the best of her ability.
The vet is administering fluids (with dextrose, electrolytes, etc.) and trying to stabilize her. We will try to get her on our horse trailer to BHFER for further care.
At this time we need prayers and pledges and/or donations for tonight’s emergency vet call and whatever tomorrow may bring.
The little mini mare arrived today while the podiatrists were here. Watching her try to back off the trailer was horrible. She got her left foot stuck between the floor and the ramp in that little drop down space you can see in the below picture just behind her back left foot. When her left foot got stuck, her right one went straight out to the side and two of us caught and supported her and helped her to move forward back into the trailer. It scared the bejimminies out of me! I asked that the divider be removed so she could turn around and walk out. That worked much better.
She seemed to study the ramp for a few seconds and then she moved forward and managed to make it down ok.
We got a much better look at her once at the barn. It was easy to see that she is a sweetheart. It was also easy to see that her backend has issues. We’re not sure what happened to her, or when it happened, but we were told that she sustained an injury when foaling some years ago. Her left back leg has little muscle, if any, and it is fused straight. She walks on it like a peg leg and it does appear shorter than the right leg. Her back toes were curled up and you can see in the picture below what she was having to walk on. It looked pretty uncomfortable.
We knew it was going to take some time and effort to get her back feet in such a way that it would help her to move around and that she’d have difficulty putting weight on either of her back legs for even a short amount of time for her trim. You can’t bend her back left leg at all – its fused in the straight position.
Sometimes, especially when going up an incline, her back end would get locked and it would take her a few seconds to get moving again. I have to give her a lot of credit – she is a very brave girl and she has learned to manage getting around.
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We wanted to give her some relief today – even if just a little – so we put the sling to work.
We didn’t want her in the sling any longer than necessary – Laura and Cindy each took a back foot and did some fantastic teamwork to get it done. Everyone did a great job!
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Then the front feet were done. All of her feet have infection in them and we’ll be treating them as best as we can.
While her left leg/foot still turns out – her hooficure has helped her to manage to get around better. It will take some time for her body to adjust and getting her as comfortable as possible make time quite a bit of time. But she has a lot of light in her eyes and I know she’s very grateful for what was done today.
After she was out of the sling she was ready to find the grass! It took a little while for her to get used to the changes in her feet from her hooficure but once she realized she could move those back feet without dragging them nearly as much she seemed very pleased – which made all of us happy! Although, the left one still appears shorter and just sort of hangs in the air when she stands for a period of time – depending on how she is standing. She has little muscle in her backend. She may have locking stifles, some other old injury, or both – we just don’t know.
In this picture you can see that her back left leg still hangs in the air. If you look closely you can see it is about 2” off the ground. It doesn’t do this all of the time – just depends on how she is standing. This afternoon I’ve seen her actually stand on her peg leg and rest her right quite a bit.
Thank all of you for caring about this little girl – her name is Patty. She is said to be about 16 years young. Dr. Bess will be here tomorrow so we’ll see how her teeth are and Dr. Ryan will be by in the next couple of days to examine her and likely do x-rays. I’m not sure that whatever is wrong with her back leg can be fixed but we will figure it all out and make her as comfortable as possible.
And to those that are donating to help make us helping her possible – thank you! I’ll try to post two videos of her on the website later tonight. One was taken before the hooficure and one was taken after. Patty is going to need monthly sponsors for awhile. If you’d like to help with her care expenses please contact us – no amount is too small!
We hope everyone had a really nice weekend. It was very busy here but a lot got done. We had a few extra helping hands which helped a lot!
Narissa has put a little weight on but right now we’d be happy for her to just maintain until we can get her feet more healthy. She had her feet worked on again by Laura, one of our equine podiatrists. Narissa seems comfy and very content in her stall during the day and out around the barn at night with her slippers on her front feet. She gets a lot of attention and seems to really appreciate it!
Lacey had a hooficure too – we really don’t want her putting on anymore weight either! She’s got another 6 weeks to go.
Ruby also had a hooficure. She’s as sweet as ever.
We enjoyed meeting and spending time with members of a church youth group that spent a couple of days with us – we hope they will come back again soon. It gave a perfect opportunity for some of the horses to get a good bath and then body clipped. The temps have been in the mid 80’s and we have a few horses that don’t shed out their winter coats very well and appreciate our help with this. Little Lily is one of them – I think she decided she likes the windblown look!
Lily and her mom, Ebony, sharing some grooming time after Lily’s clip.
Frodo, Bouie, and Kami also got body clipped. They really needed it – they were fur balls. They are all getting hooficures tomorrow.
It’s always great to see others interacting with the horses – and having fun and learning about proper care of the horses.
Bouie managed to “escape” when the boys went to put him back into his paddock after his clip. It was a really nice couple of days of work and fun with a lot getting accomplished with the much appreciated extra hands helping!
I made time to give Beauty a bath a few days ago. Of course, as soon as she was dry and turned back out – she rolled. J
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More hooficures were done at the Paso farm this weekend and the vet was out to do more coggins and vaccinations.
We still have many mares that need to find homes ASAP. If anyone is interested please contact us via email at unica77. These mares are some of 34 horses that were abandoned in Marion County a few weeks ago. We’ve worked hard to care for, and place, these horses – to those that have donated to help with their care – thank you. And to the volunteers that have been diligently helping to care for them – thank you! We need to continue to feed and care for them until all of them are placed – we can’t let the momentum down. The remaining mares are living in stalls at the Paso farm – if we turn them back out we won’t be able to easily catch them for viewing when a potential adopter comes to meet them. They lived as feral horses for 2.5+ years, without human intervention and now, to be living in stalls, well they don’t like it and it makes me feel terrible. Please help us to find them good homes.
This is Briosa, mare #4. She is young (4 yrs old) and very unsure of people. She will need someone willing to take the time it will take to help her learn to trust humans. We don’t believe she has any training at all. She was one of the ones that was starved the most. She’s put on some much needed weight and is ready for her own human and home.
This is Princessa, mare #20. She is a liver chestnut and is another young mare (4 yrs old) that will need a human to help her learn to trust. I love them all but this mare is one of my favorites. A look in her eyes kind of reminds me of my Arabian mare, Beauty, when I first met her years ago.
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I’m happy to report that Gentleman appears to be doing better on his new medication. The three “kids” – Baby Girl, Indy, and Morning Star are all doing well. Baby Girl, as sad as we will be to see her go, is ready for her own human and home. She’s a very special girl that will make her own human very happy. Ghost, a 15 yr old Paso Fino, is still looking for a forever home. Nikole is doing ok – she also got body clipped. She has Cushings which leaves her with a thick coat year around. Haley and Kami are doing great – they are also looking for a forever home (together).
The last thing we need to do ask for help, again. This afternoon someone emailed me about a mini mare that is listed on CraigsList for free to see if we could help her. The mare is approximately 15 years old and one leg is shorter than the others. We would like to help this little girl but we need approximately $300 in contributions to cover her initial vetting, x-rays, coggins, dental needs, and initial assessment by one of our equine podiatrists. We are hoping to raise the funds ASAP because the podiatrist will be here tomorrow until about 3 pm and the dentist will be here on Tuesday. This little girl is in our area and we would like to get her here in time for the podiatrist to evaluate her tomorrow and possibly make her a little more comfortable until x-rays can be done. Here is the little mare. The back feet appear overgrown and the left hip looks turned out. Can’t see the front very well.
We hope everyone has a very happy and blessed week. I’ll update when I can – no later than tomorrow night at least about the mini mare if we are able to help her. Please consider helping us to help this girl. All donations are tax deductible and greatly appreciated. No donation amount is ever too small. God bless and thank you all for your continued support!
Good morning everyone! It’s a beautiful day here in Florida! There is a church youth group spending today and tomorrow here at the rescue. They will be helping, learning, and we will be making new friends! Hooficures will be done today and tomorrow – would anyone like to help cover the expense for one? There will be at least 8 being done between today and tomorrow. Hopefully some of the horses will get much needed baths.
Remember Nick – one of the “Junkyard 8”? He’s little Cloud Dancer’s daddy. Nick is doing great and loving life with his best friend, Ladybug.
And Ladybug is as beautiful as ever! She came to us a few years ago with a mangled ear and multiple wounds over her body. It is thought that she was attacked by a wild animal.
And Lacey is bigger yet! She looks like she’s going to pop!
Has anyone got any ideas for a guess the delivery date fundraiser? Lacey came to us pregnant with a 3 month old on her side. She is 23 years old and I promised her that this is her last baby – she’s had quite a few. I do know her breeding date.
Narissa is maintaining – she’s no worse and is still comfortable. She loves to munch on her hay all day under her fan. Please keep her and Gentleman in your prayers. Gentleman does seem to be doing a little better. He’s a big teddy bear! Hopefully, he will be body clipped in the next couple of days along with Nikole, Montana, and the mini’s.
We still have 8 Paso Fino mares that need to find homes ASAP. They are very nice girls and all deserve a loving home of their own. This is one of my favorites – I love them all but this one just touches my heart a bit more than the others. If anyone is interested please contact us. If anyone would like to donate to help with their hay expense we would greatly appreciate it. Their grain has generously been donated by Seminole! Yesterday we started trying to raise the needed $550 to purchase a ton of hay for the mares for next week. We have received $50 towards this as of this morning. All donations are tax deductible and no amount is too small. All donations are greatly appreciated!
I hope to get a lot of paperwork done in the office over the next couple of days – I’m behind on lots of things. If you’ve emailed and I haven’t responded, I’m sorry – all emails are important to me – I’m trying to get caught up but it’s difficult to make time in the office.
We hope everyone has a wonderful day that is filled with many blessings!
I had a really nice birthday today! I did work all day but the weather was perfect and I worked outside with the horses – not at my computer so I loved it! I wanted to ride for a few minutes but the day was over before I knew it. Our kids came home late this evening for dinner and cake. I went on Facebook tonight and couldn’t believe all of the “Happy Birthday” posts! And the emails and e-cards! Thank all of you – they mean a lot to me – a whole lot! I don’t get on the computer much to “converse” with anyone anymore but I know everyone knows I’m very busy with the horses and that I’m always only a phone call away. Volunteers are going to take me out to lunch or dinner one day next week. And – it was on the front page of our local newspaper today (Williston Pioneer Sun News) that I have been nominated “Pioneer of the Year!” The winner will be chosen at the end of the year but this nomination was a total surprise – what an honor!
Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday and today…
Dr. Ryan says Narissa is close to 30 years young. She enjoys being able to come and go in and out of her stall. She stands in the breeze of the aisle way a lot.
Ghost and a little braid in his forelock – he got a much needed bath this week. Ghost is a sweetheart and is looking for a forever home. He is a 15 yr young Paso Fino gelding. Katie, our daughter, had a blast riding him.
Nikole is doing well – she’s waiting for her turn to get body clipped. She really is a sweet mare. She is looking for a forever home. She has Cushings but it is managed with a compounded version of Pergolide. We’ve not had any issues with her – just a wooly coat.
Gentleman is next in line for body clipping. If anyone in this area can do this please call me!
Narissa napping..
I am totally beat and am going to get to bed a bit early. I will be up early to go to the Paso farm for the day. We need to find homes for the remaining mares.
Please keep Gentleman and Narissa in your prayers. Have a blessed weekend everyone and thank you for your continued friendship and support!
I’ve been putting this update off since this afternoon. I’m sorry to have to share bad news. Narissa’s right front has rotated and she is a sinker. We don’t know how long she’s been this way. She’s 25+ years old and certainly has a love for life – she’s a survivor, IMO. We will try to keep her comfortable and when we can’t we will love her enough to help her cross. But until then she will get lots of TLC. She has the run of the barn and seems to be content. Although, she spends quite a bit of her time in her stall. She got her mane braided today – everyone showers her with attention. She knows she is loved.
Some more upsetting news Gentleman has had high ring bone for awhile. We kept him comfortable throughout the cold season and thought we’d see an improvement with the warmer weather but we haven’t. He’s been getting supplements that were helping but lately he seemed to be getting worse. I had x-rays done today and the condition has worsened. He has been getting bute after morning feed these past few days and UGuard. We will be starting him on a different medication in hopes that it will help. He does not tolerate bute well. If the medication doesn’t help we can have the joint injected but that may be a bit challenging and poses risks in itself. You can bet that we will do all we can to keep him comfortable. GMan has lots of light in his eyes. We love him, very much. I can’t imagine Beauty’s Haven without him here. He’s approaching 30 years young but we pray for many more years with him.
Please pray for Gentleman and Narissa. I will try to post pictures tomorrow. I’m just too beat tonight. Thank you.