Shiloh

Our first official rescue horse, and the inspiration for all that has followed.  Read more about Shiloh's time with us on the "Shiloh's Story" page.

 

 

 

 

Moose ~ July 2005

 

Moose was a very handsome, distinguished looking older Percheron who was bought by a kill buyer at a local sale barn in July of 2004.  He had endured a long journey from New York, from auction to auction making his way towards slaughter, because he had suffered a severe hip injury while working as a city carriage horse.  I saw him at the sale barn as he was being picked up by the kill buyer, and after looking in his eyes I could not let him go to the fate he was headed towards.  I convinced the kill buyer to sell him to me, and with a combination of medical treatment and acupuncture, he lived out the last year of his life mostly free of pain as a very much loved "pasture potato".  When his condition worsened and his quality of life become questionable, we had him humanely euthanized on July 1st of 2005.  Moose was one of the most amazing animals I have ever known, and I will miss him terribly.

 

 

 

 

Kassia ~ August 2005

 

 

Kassia came from a kill auction in August of 2005.  She was a beautiful little bay registered yearling Quarter Horse filly.  Sadly, her front legs were so twisted that she already had severe arthritis, and some of the tendons under stress in her fetlocks were starting to tear.  After confirming with the vet that there was nothing we could do to improve her quality of life, we had her humanely euthanized. 

 

 

 

Chenoa ~ October 2005

This poor mare went through the auction on October 19, 2005, and to date is still one of the saddest cases I have ever seen.  She was so crippled and in so much pain that the thought of her living any longer like that, let alone make the arduous journey to the slaughterhouse she was destined for, was enough to make one cry.

This mare was unfortunate enough to have been born with deformities to her front limbs (which, according to the vet that euthanized her, might have been improved with prompt medical attention at a young age) and she was left to suffer her condition for 3 long years.  Photos alone do not show how awful her legs were, nor how she struggled simply to walk the shortest of distances.  In addition to having a severely twisted, arthritic right front limb and a twisted and "clubbed" left front, she also had contracted tendons in her back legs, which left her walking on the toes of her hind hooves and struggling to maintain balance.  While her short life has ended and she is no longer in pain, she should never have been allowed to get to that point of suffering in the first place.

 

 

Champ ~ February 2006

This little sorrel stud colt went through a local auction on February 8th in absolutely deplorable condition.  He had such severe contraction of the digital flexor tendons in his front legs that he spent half of the time trying to balance on the toes of his hooves, and the other half actually rolled over and walking on the front of his hooves and pasterns.  The poor little baby could barely manage to walk a few feet.  This was most likely a birth defect, or a condition that developed early on in his life, and with prompt medical attention he might have been saved... But nothing was done to help him, and his previous owners left him in this painful condition for way too long before disposing of him at auction where he most certainly would be bought for slaughter.  He was humanely euthanized by our vet since it was too late to do anything to help him. 

 

 

 

Henry ~ June, 2006

Henry was a handsome old boy who was very hard to say goodbye to because he was just so sweet.  He was very badly foundered, as well as arthritic and suffering from old leg injuries that hadn't healed right.

 

 

 

3 Unnamed Geldings ~ 6/8/06

We suspect these 3 geldings, who had supposedly come from Mexico and were on their way to slaughter in Illinois, had been used for horse tripping in rodeos, as all three had broken and/or dislocated legs and numerous infected cuts and gashes all over their bodies (particulary on their legs).  The first gelding even appeared to have suffered from a stroke or some sort of head trauma, as his face was partially paralyzed and his tongue was drooping out of his mouth.  They were suffering so much that the kindest thing we could do was put them down.

 

Gelding 1:

Gelding 2:

 
Gelding 3:

 

 

This old gelding was a "downer", and couldn't be loaded on the truck for slaughter because he was simply too weak and in too much pain to stay on his feet. 

 

 

Courage ~ 6/25/06

 

This precious little baby was born on a feedlot to a very wild mare before she shipped to slaughter.  The mare ended up rejecting this little foal and refusing to let him nurse.  The feedlot owner was kind enough to just give him to us since it was obvious that he was doing very poorly, but it was too late to save him.  He had gotten very little (if any) colostrum (the first antibody-rich milk that a mare produces for her foal) from his mom, and therefore bacteria had invaded his body that he was not strong enough to fight off.  He became septic very quickly, and we had the vet out to humanely euthanize him.  For the short time that we did have him, he was a loving baby who sought out the attention from us that his mother didn't give him.  When he was put to sleep, he was surrounded by people who truly loved him. 
Thank you to Jackie and Marty for their support and help with this little baby throughout it all.

 

 

 

Sage  

Sage was a confounding loss, as she wasn't that old and seemed to be doing well and regaining her health after we pulled her from the slaughter feedlot.  We found her dead one afternoon after we had had her for a few months, with no apparent signs of illness or struggle.  A necropsy was inconclusive, so we really have no idea as to why she passed away.  She was a very neat horse, and we wish she would have survived to find a loving home.

 

 

Bella ~ 5/24/06      

Older Clydesdale mare with very advanced respiratory disease, caused by what had obvious been a very long struggle with heaves.

 

 

 

Neveah    

Beautiful Percheron mare with the longest set of dreadlocks ever seen on a horse (all the way down to her knees!) and hooves that were badly overgrown.  We rescued her off the feedlot and were looking forward to getting her back into shape after her obvious years of neglect, but she suddenly and unexpectedly passed away the second night at the rescue with no warning whatsoever.  A necropsy was inconclusive but showed that she may have had a case of salmonella.

 

 

Kodi ~ 2006

 Absolutely stunning, red dun paint mare who was saved from the feedlot and placed in a wonderful home where she should have lived happily ever after...  Sadly, she suffered a very severe colic several months later and had to be euthanized.  Even sadder was the fact that she had been confirmed in foal after getting bred by a stud out at the slaughter feedlot.  Our deepest condolences go out to her owner, Amber.  We hope everyone can take comfort in the fact that Kodi was VERY well loved during what ended up being the last months of her life.

 

 

Foundered Morgan Mare ~ 9/13/06

This poor little mare was on a slaughter feedlot in absolute agony from a bad case of founder.  We suspected all along that there was nothing that could be done to save her, and thanks to the generous donations from some very caring individuals, we were able to pull her from the feedlot and have her euthanized.  Afterward, the vet did a quick exam on her and confirmed our worst fear: her coffin bones had begun to sink right out the bottom of her soles.  The amount of pain she was in is unimaginable.  Thankfully we were able to help end her suffering

 

 

 

Red Dun Filly ~ 9/16/06

This filly was pulled from a feedlot, and was suffering from pneumonia.  The vets gave her a poor prognosis, but we decided to try and treat her anyway with heavy duty antibiotics back at the rescue.  She seemed to improve and feel much better over the next few days... but unfortunately she passed away quietly during the third night.

 

 

 

Stella    

(no photo available)
Stella was an older bay mare off the slaughter feedlot, euthanized because she had a badly broken hind leg. 

 

 

Kelly

(no photo available)
Kelly was an older Buckskin mare awaiting slaughter on a local feedlot, where she became trapped in a mud bog for several days.  When the feedlot owner finally discovered her and pulled her out with a tractor, she was in very poor shape.  We pulled her from the feedlot hoping she could be saved, but she was too far gone and we had to have her euthanized. 

 

 

Hoss ~ 6/8/07

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Hoss was given to us off a slaughter feedlot, and was completely blind.  Normally we would be able to deal with that (as we have had other blind or mostly blind horses that get along just fine), but Hoss had unfortunately had a hard run in with a fence while out at the feedlot and had shattered several of the bones in his face, including his cheek and eye socket.  The vet didn't think we could fix him up again, so we unfortunately had to euthanize the poor old guy.

 

 

 

Joslyn ~ 6/9/07

Joslyn was dumped off at a slaughter feedlot (along with Mia, on our "Permanent Residents" page) because she was deformed and therefor considered "worthless".  Sadly, her leg deformity was so severe (and untreatable) that it caused her quite a bit of pain which would only get worse as she continued to grow.  She got to spend the night at our rescue in a nice clean stall with her friend Mia, and get brushed, babied, and fed all sorts of yummy treats.  She was very skinny as well, and you could tell she really enjoyed the night of good food.  We said our goodbyes to her the next morning, and had her humanely euthanized.

 

 

 

Honey ~ 9/17/07

Yearling filly

We pulled Honey and Sarge (below) from a slaughter feedlot to spare them the suffering of being shipped to slaughter in their horrible conditions.  Fortunately, the feedlot owner was kind enough to give them to us as it was obvious they were in pain and would most likely not even survive the trip to Mexico...

Honey had several different issues, the worst of which was a very severe wound in her left flank that was badly infected and went all the way into her stomach cavity.  It pained her so much that she could barely manage to stumble around, and every step she took caused fluids from her intestines and stomach to ooze from the wound.  She also had neurologic damage and paralyzed facial nerves that left half of her face droopy and unresponsive.  She didn't appear to be very tame, but allowed us to get a halter on her and give her some comfort in her last moments at the vet's office. 

 

 

 

Sarge ~ 9/17/07

Sarge was housed on a slaughter feedlot, where he was one of the few horses set aside to resell at auction because he was such a good riding horse.  He was never supposed to go to slaughter, but after he broke his leg while at the feedlot, that became his fate.  We came upon him after he had been at the feedlot for several days and was in very bad shape.  We had no idea how we would be able to get him onto the trailer and to the vet's, as his leg was so swollen, infected and painful that he could no longer bear weight on it.  We got the trailer as close to him as we could, and he surprised us all when he actually PULLED me to the trailer and hopped on, all without any prodding.  He seemed to want nothing more than to leave the feedlot right away.

There was obviously no saving his leg, as it had a bad compound fracture and a large splinter of bone was protruding from the skin.  He was so sweet and brave despite his pain, and the fact that he had shoes on and had obviously been well cared for in the past made it all the more sad that his life ended so horribly.

 

 

 

 Sister ~ 2007   

18 year old Shire mare

Sister came to us from Texas, and had the worst case of scratches (a bacterial and fungal infection that commonly afflicts the legs of horses with heavy leg feathering) that both we and our vets had ever seen...  It was obviously a chronic condition that had been going on for many years, as she had layers and folds of scar tissue and fibrosis on her legs (especially in the hind end) that severely limited her joint mobility.  Despite keeping her feathers shaved off, her legs clean, dry and medicated, as well as being on antibiotics for months at a time, the sores would never heal because there was just so much scar tissue and the folding of the skin didn't allow for any airflow or circulation.  We worked very hard on her, and she just never got any better.  She was thin when we got her as well, and we could never get her to put on weight because of the stress her body was going through to constantly try and fight the infections.

We finally made the decision to euthanize her as she was in constant pain, and the vet agreed that she would probably never improve.  The vet also suspected that she might have an underlying disorder that affected her immune system and made it hard for her body to fight off the infections in the first place. 

 

 

Serafine ~ 1/16/08

5 year old grulla Spanish Mustang mare

Serafine came from a local auction in June 2007, where we outbid the kill buyers for her.  She was a stunningly beautiful mare, who unfortunately was very badly foundered.  We worked with vets and farriers for many months to try and bring her back from it, but after some initial improvements, she plateaued and it became clear that she would never get to a point where she could live at a manageable pain level.  We sadly had to euthanize this wonderful horse in January 2008.

 

 

 Athens
 


Millie ~ 1/08/08

30+ year old Appaloosa mare

Millie, to this day, is still one of the skinniest horses we have ever come across.  We rescued her at auction in June 2006, where she weighed in at 660 pounds for a 15.2 hands horse.  She was still spry and energetic, and the only problem was that she didn't have many teeth left so she couldn't really eat hay any longer.  After a few months on senior and pelleted feed, she was back to a normal weight, and amazingly didn't seem to have suffered any real damage from her near-starvation.  Even more amazing, we were able to ride her!  Mostly, though, she just hung out in the pasture and enjoyed retirement with her friends.

We don't know for sure what happened, but we suspect she had either a stroke or a heart attack the evening of January 8th, as she was up and eating from her feeder one minute, and the next flat out on the ground and fading fast.  We attempted to get her back to her feet, but she just couldn't do it...so we called the vet out to euthanize her.  We were stunned by the unexpected loss of one of the most colorful personalities here at our barn.   She will be greatly missed.

 

 

 

 Maverick ~ 6/18/09

Maverick's unexpected loss stunned us.  He suffered from an impaction colic in June, which required him to be hospitalized for almost a week.  He seemed to recover amazingly well, and he was sent home from the hospital with an optimisitic prognosis... so we were quite shocked to find him on the ground one morning about a week later, already going into shock and fading fast from an apparent relapse over night.  By the time the vet arrived, he was pretty much gone, so there was nothing left to do but euthanize him.  We were very upset at the rather unexpected loss of this gorgeous, sweet horse.


 

Pete



John



Lucian



Caden




Emmit ~ December 2010
Gigantic (approx. 19 hands!), skinny, elderly Belgian gelding rescued from slaughter in December 2010.  He was an extremely sweet gentleman of a horse, and we lost him to complications from his advanced age (kidney failure) after just a few weeks.  He seemed to be quite happy during that short time though, and was gaining weight and enjoying all the positive attention he was receiving.  Fortunately, his teammate Jake, who was rescued at the same time, is continuing to thrive and is on his way to being placed up for adoption soon.




Honey ~ January 2011

Honey was a nice older QH mare (with a very endearing habit of sticking her tongue out at you when she wanted food or treats) that came to us suffering from pretty severe, chronic laminitis during the summer of 2010.  She did very well with special farrier work and a special diet for many months, despite the fact that she would get mini flare-ups of laminitis in her feet over just about any little change in her hormones or the weather.  We made the decision to euthanize her in early January '11 after she had numerous, more severe flare-ups and was not coming back 'out' of them like she had before.  She had reached the point where she was in near constant pain that no amount of pain killers seemed to help.  The damage to her coffin bones was too severe to ever really make her comfortable again.




Paul ~ February 27th, 2011

This ancient Belgian gelding, who was estimated to be about 30 years old, had been a permanent resident at the farm for several years.  He peacefully passed away from old age during the early hours of February 27th, and we found him at morning feeding time, laying down as if he were napping.  He will be missed by us humans and his other Belgian buddies here at the rescue.





Carrie ~ February 28th, 2011


Rescued from slaughter in 2010, this big, beautiful Percheron mare had suffered a traumatic injury that left her with torn extensor tendons in her right hind leg.  She could get around well enough, and the vets assured us she could live just fine without those particular tendons in that leg... but that there was always the chance that leg could break down further at some point in the future.  She was pasture sound and happy for quite some time, until her leg suddenly started to deteriorate within the space of a few months.  It quickly got to the point where we couldn't effectively manage her pain level anymore, she was having difficulty walking, and her quality of life was suffering.  We made the decision to euthanize her on February 28th, and it was an especially tough goodbye because we had just unexpectedly lost another horse to old age (Paul, above) just the morning before.  It's definitely been a sad week around here, as we miss 2 of our gentle giants.