Roy has gained a whopping 75 pounds since arriving at the rescue!!!!  He still has a ways go to, but he's looking and feeling much better.  He's much more alert and bright during the day, and he doesn't worry when people enter his pen to muck or clean his water trough.  (When they arrived, both horses were frightened and agitated by those sorts of activities).  It's amazing what a good diet and some TLC can do!  He's currently eating a large ration of complete and senior pellets, soaked in water with alfalfa pellets.  We ended up moving he and Bristol out of the geriatric pasture, because some of the current residents didn't get along with Roy.  They're living back in their old pen, and they seem happy and content.  Although Bristol's weight is at a healthy level, she has been having some pain issues in her hind legs.  Her pastern joints are showing signs of old age, and at this point their strength is very compromised.  With continued veterinary care, we hope to keep her comfortable so she can enjoy life with Roy.  We also look forward to Roy's continued recovery!
 

Bristol and Roy are continuing to improve, and we're happy to say that they have recently joined CHR's geriatric pasture!  They are enjoying the company of several new horse friends, although they still stick together 24/7.  They are both grained three times daily with large portions of beet pulp (a great fiber source), and Roy is lucky enough to have a 4th meal every day after regular operating hours.  They also have all of the grass/alfalfa mix hay they can eat.  The brand inspector recently visited CHR as well, so now each of these horses is officially in the rescue's name.  They have settled in nicely, and we look forward to their continued recovery.  Roy still has a good deal of weight to gain, so stay tuned for more updates!

Bristol and Roy have settled in nicely at CHR.  Bristol has gained a good deal of weight, and her body condition looks so much better!  Although Roy still has a little ways to go, he is gaining weight every day.  He has a thick, warm blanket that he wears whenever the weather gets cold so that he can focus all of his calories on weight gain (rather than keeping warm).  He is missing most of his teeth, as he is over 30 years old, so his diet consists of pelleted grain, soaked hay pellets, and beet pulp.  He's always ready for his next meal!  Photos are coming very soon, so please check back to see how Bristol and Roy look!

Meet Roy.  This special Morgan gelding came from a run-down private property where lack of resources left him emaciated, and in need of a new home.  He arrived with his best friend, Bristol: a very cute, gray, Arabian mare.  She is underweight as well, however she is in better shape than Roy.  Winter time can be the hardest season to rehabilitate horses, as they end up spending calories to keep themselves warm rather than build new muscle.  On the bright side, Bristol and Roy now enjoy winter blankets, shelter, and healthy rations of grain and beet pulp to help correct their weight issues.  CHR is very hopeful that they will both make full recoveries.  They have seemed very happy and at home here so far!  Check back with us soon - we'll have more photos and stories to share about their exciting transformations!

We are thrilled to report that Topaz has made an incredible transformation! She came in a few weeks ago suffering from a terrible case of sand colic, and was on medication and close watch for quite some time. Today Topaz is feeling so much better thanks to all of our efforts, and she is eating, as she should, like a horse! She is slowly gaining her weight back, as well as growing her tail and forelock back (she came in with them chopped off - we're not sure why), and her sweet, gentle personality is really shining through. Once she is fully recovered, we will assess her under saddle to see what she knows. We were told that she has had some training, so we are excited at the prospect of her becoming a potentially wonderful riding horse.

Meet beautiful Topaz. We went and picked her up along with her son Homer and Homer's dad Adagio about 2 weeks ago. Financial difficulties had prevented these three from getting the care that they needed, and they had been kept in 10 x 10 pens with not enough food and no farrier or veterinary care. Although Homer and Adagio were underweight, Topaz was in the worst shape, as she had developed a bad case of sand colic from having to forage for each last bite of food in sandy conditions. Sand colic is when a horse develops a large build-up of sand in their gut from ingesting it along with food. The sand doesn't move through their system, but rather sits in their gut and makes them very uncomfortable as well as creates blockages that lead to very serious complications. The best way to relieve the horse of the sand is to feed them psyillium, which creates a gelatinous substance in the gut and helps to move the sand through. However, this presented a problem with Topaz, because due to her discomfort, she wouldn't eat. Dr. Stacy Bluhm DVM, and staff members Rachel, Debra and Jenny tried many other methods of getting it into her system, but they faced difficulties due to the consistency of the substance, as it clogged the tube when they tried to get it into her via that method. Topaz was very uncomfortable during this time, and she was often seen lying down or looking agitated. Then Dr. Bluhm came up with a great solution - Metamucil! We were able to syringe this into her mouth without risking a messy situation with the pelleted type of psyllium. Thanks to the dedication of Dr. Bluhm and our patient staff and volunteers, Topaz is now feeling much better and eating "like a horse." We are hoping to get more weight on her and that her recovery progresses smoothly so that she will be able to get adopted out to a great new home.

Well it seems that these horses are just full of surprises, first the baby on the way and now... Bam-Bam has readily accepted and is carrying a rider! He's definitely new to the whole process, but is extremely quick to pick it up and willing to please. This is a super cute, young and athletic horse of a good size. If you have the money for a trainer or have a good deal of experience starting young horses yourself, get your application in now. This guy will go fast!

This lovely group of guys and gals were moved from the quarantine pens to the mini pasture today. Now they have more room to roam and all the exposure to people and activity at the front office is doing the desensitization for us! All of the horses got onto the scale for weighing and we were able to deworm 4 of the 6 by hand (the other two got theirs in some grain). Athena was probably the cutest about the scale. She did not want to go on it, but after she saw mom do it, she came around pretty quick. It is nice to be able to keep it in the family for the paint mares. They come along with new things a lot quicker. Everyone's settled in now and they are already enjoying the extra space and next door neighbors.

Great news! Dr. Stacy Bluhm just did an exam on Phoenix (pictured above), the oldest paint mare from the rescue a couple weeks ago, and found she was pregnant! The new baby is already kicking in its mom's belly. The expected due date is somewhere around May or June. As it gets closer we'll have a better guess. It's been a couple years since we've had a birth at the rescue, and we're all very excited. Start thinking of baby names now. You can comment to this post and make your suggestion, guess on the gender, or just share your well wishes!

CHR joined efforts with 3 other rescues from across the state last Friday to help 40 horses. A trail riding and horse breeding facility had no choice but to downsize because business had been declining. The main factor was that the neighboring state park had become a dog park not suitable for trail riding. Other factors for the downsize included the economy and unchecked breeding by the horses.

In total, CHR took in 6 horses, one of which is likely pregnant. The three geldings are a mix of colors, and the three mares are a mom and her two daughters. All were in need of grooming, hoof trims, and deworming upon arrival, but otherwise were in good health. They range in age from 1 to 9 years old and all are unstarted.

Training costs for 6 horses will add up fast at $20 per hour, but being trained to ride is what will get these painted ponies a home. Please donate today to help cover the costs of giving these lovely horses a fresh start.

Pictured above from right to left: Bam-Bam, Rain, and Nugget (the geldings)

Pictured here: Equine Facilities Director, Jenny Logan taking notes on the horses getting onto our trailer.

Pictured here from left to right: Pheonix, Athena, and Isis (the mares).

A quick update on Chili... She must have tweeked her lower back in the pasture recently and is on a couple weeks of vet-ordered pasture rest. She had the full chiropractic and acupuncture work-up two weeks ago and has another follow-up scheduled this week. Sometimes bringing these older horses back into work can be a challenge, especially when they get silly playing with their friends in the herd. She is well and comfortable in the pasture, the only question with her recovery is in regards to her riding career. We have her on a treatment plan and will keep you all posted as to her progress.

Just a quick update to let you all know that Chili is doing fantastic! We're still waiting for her perfect match of an adopter to come along, but in the meantime she's blossoming under our watch. It's so wonderful to see what a lovely riding horse she is. She has a good deal of energy and even seems to feel her oats a bit under saddle. It's so awesome to see this from a horse that just a year ago was on death's door. Congrats to Chili in her amazing transformation back into the lovely horse we always knew was there. This holiday we all have a home for Chili on our wish list.

We have fantastic news to report from Jason Patrick's visit at the end of October. Chili was the first horse of the weekend for evaluations, which started everything out perfectly. Jason worked with her in the roundpen before saddling Chili. Chili was nothing but calm and quiet and Jason was convinced early that this mare was well trained. He spent some time showing us his adjustable saddle as he changed around the pads to have it fit Chili perfectly. Then he rode her at a quiet walk for 15-20 minutes. He didn't take her up to faster gaits because he wanted to see her back muscled up more before she's ridden seriously. He recommended 30 days of exercise from the ground before taking her into carrying a rider. He was convinced that she was a gentle mare and will be a great riding horse, and we couldn't be happier! So, Chili has entered into an exercise program and we plan in a month or two to start riding her regularly.
 

Here's a photo of Rascal with his adopter Mary and his pasture pal Roscoe. Smiles all around!

As you may have already heard, we are hosting trainer Jason Patrick out here the weekend of the 23rd. Chili is on the list of horses that need riding evaluations, so she's on Jason's schedule. Since we know absolutely nothing about her past we've been waiting to have a trainer on hand to do a riding evaluation. That seemed the safest for her and the best way to set her up for success. In preparations for the big weekend, Chili has been seen once already by a vet for chiropractic and acupuncture work. I turns out we're glad we scheduled the appointment because she had a number of things out of place, especially in her neck. She has a follow-up appointment next week to check in and re-adjust anything that's shifted. We hope then that she'll be set to go for the evaluation. Thank you to Chili's continuing sponsors. We really appreciate your support.