Friday, June 26, 2009

Vinnie the orphan colt



We started this rescue officially on the 3rd of June 2008, well that's the day we got notice of our 501(c)3 status. Many horses have passed through our rescue and all found great homes with wonderful people. We have a few here still that need training before they leave and we've had several babies born here this year. We dont breed here they came here infoal, we dont keep stallions on the property i dont need accidents happening.
Our first born here is a colt, his name is Vinnie a FriesianXArab he was born on Friday March 13 2009 at 1300 hours Vinnie came into this world. His mother had retained her placenta and the vet was called. It took several hours for Doctor Dennison to remove the placenta it did not want to come out. In the mean time here is poor Vinnie little guy was hungry. Milk was removed from mom Jo and Vinnie was tubed so he could get fed, plus he needed that thing only new mamas can share with their babies. Needless to say after all the work mom wanted nothing to do with Vinnie, we tried, I stayed up all night trying everything to get her to take her baby and nothing worked. Frustrated and tired I called the vet and she brought out milk replacement for Vinnie. We did have to have plasma flown in for Vinnie because the milk we did get from mom wasn't enough. I spent 2 grand in 5 days saving both mom and baby and they are both doing fine now.
I have to give a extremely huge thanks to my mother who helped me out with the feedings, orphans are fed every two hours...I took the 6pm to 6am and mother let me get a couple hours of sleep in the morning and she fed him throughout the day so i could work with the other horses.
Fast forward Vinnie is an awesome colt, feeding him was an an adventure...weaning him was easy and he made friends with an Arabian mare Zephyr, she is now teaching him how to be a horse. Vinnie is one special baby, i will truly miss this one when he leaves here.
I will be posting stories on the rest of the foals and other horses here soon...

A thank you and wee little vent

I want to thank Lynnette her girls and Kim at Painted Spirit Ranch for getting Bee A Tigress here, she has a sad story and is lucky they cared enough to save this mare from another local horse rescue. Its sad this mare was suppose to have sanctuary at the rescue but instead she had to be rescued from the person who rescued her, that just doesn't make sense. Lately rescues have been getting a bad reputation...Who's fault is this? A few bad apples they say is all it take and it give those of us who sacrifice our time, energy and funds to rescue these horses a harder time gaining the trust of the public. People there are still good rescues out there please give them a chance, there are many horses who can use your help...please check the people out prior to adopting. I don't care if your adopting from someone else if you need help or advise don't hesitate to ask me, i want horses to find homes thats the important part here, thats why i got into this. I just do not want these bad apples ruining the chance of a legit rescue finding great homes for these great horses...Be careful people and do your research, getting a horse should be pleasurable not a nightmare.
If this posts twice...sorry. I did try to edit the post below this and it didnt show, im new to this so bear with me. Too add to below Bee A Tigress arrived May 23, 2009....at midnight, you try moving a jet black horse in the middle of the night...it was an adventure.

Rescue Story Bee A Tigress





Our newest addition and jet black TB named Bee A Tigress/Sweets aka Beauty...She looks like Black Beauty so the kids here renamed her. Beauty came to us through people who cared enough to rescue this mare from another rescue. She was suppose to have sanctuary at this other rescue but i guess since she wasn't bring any money in and they were not about to lose money the horse had to go. It stated on their website they could not do her feet because she had to be tranquilized, my farrier had no problem doing her. Beauty does have a broken leg that has healed and is really only broodmare sound or companion horse only. Her feet were in such bad shape she was almost dragging this front leg around. My farrier has her upright and she now can get around like a normal horse. He figured she hasn't been done in a very, very long time. It stated on the website also that companion horses were not released until they had their feet and teeth done, either have been done on this horse. She was purchased at auction, they rode her in and i guess the rescue who bought her figured they could sell her right away, big mistake a blind person could have seen the problem with her front leg. The rescue wasn't into losing money on the horse and she was then rescued from the rescue so they wouldn't have her put down or resold at auction. This mare is amazing and beautiful I will be contact prior owners to see if i can get more information on the horse and how this injury happened. More on Beauty in the coming days...She has found a home here with us.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Rescue Story Shilo





This is Shilo arrived May 22nd 2009, we have a lot of work ahead of us. She is the sweetest mare, she is underweight, her hooves are bad, and her teeth are a mess. She is also covered in massive scars, what this little horse went through we will never know.She was abandoned in a pasture in Northern California, she was lucky the lady was kind enough to take her in and feed her till the hauler arrived to bring her here to us. This is a perfect example of what can happen if you turn your horse loose because you no long want or can afford to take care of them. They are unable to take care of themselves because they have been taking care of by humans their whole life, they are set free to die a slow death, this is how i see this. Shilo has a lot of love to give someone, she is starved for attention, the kids you can see in the photos pet her, i let them in with her and she is as calm as they come. Our mission now is to get her straightened out, get the weight on which will be a slow process but we will get there. I had to remove most of her mane, did that without a halter and even cut a bridle path and she just stood there.There will be more on Shilo in the days to come we have a battle ahead of us...one we intend on winning.

Intro

Everyday many people are losing there homes, everyday horses are being sold, abandoned, turned lose, or taken to auction. Gas is high which makes the food we eat and the food we feed our animals more than some can handle. We here at Golden Hills Ranch Equine Rescue and Rehabilitation, Inc along with countless other rescues state wide are being overwhelmed with horses owners can no longer afford. Its not the horses fault that the economy is bad, nor is it their owners who in a way are giving the horses they donate to the rescues hope for a second chance for their equine friend.

Our mission at Golden Hills Ranch Equine Rescue and Rehabilitation, Inc. is to improve the quality of life for all horses. We are a non profit 501(c)3 publicly funded horse rescue and our mission is to save as many horses as we can. We are committed to the rescue and rehabilitation of horse and equine suffering from abuse or neglect and to find homes for those best suited to be with someone else. We also aim to improve the public awareness and knowledge of the standards of care necessary to take care of the horse both financially and physically through educating the public on the proper care, responsible horse ownership and all related issues involving equines.

Each year countless numbers of equines are euthanized or sold at auction. There are those, who for unforeseen circumstances as owners, can no longer take care of their equine friends; or prior to buying a horse did not think of the expense, time and energy it took to care for these animals, and there are also those who buy more horses than they can handle at their level of riding ability. We would love for the chance to give these horses a second chance at life and to find them homes where they will be taken care of properly. We take every step humanly possible to insure the new homes our horses go to have the proper facilities, proper care, the understanding and knowledge it takes to care for a horse for the remainder of their life.