The following horses are considered permanent residents at SAHR, as they are considered unadoptable due to advanced age or special health, soundness or behavioral issues. Of course, a few of them may be staying just because we like them so much, and want to keep them here as ambassadors and friends of the rescue. Wren is a feedlot rescue who appears to have been a broodmare for many years and has no training beyond being halter broke. She is a gorgeous, more modern-built Percheron that has a very Friesian-like about her. It is quite obvious that the poor girl has been abused at some point in her life, as she is utterly terrified of people most of the time. She tries her best to do what is being asked of her, but she trembles and sweats and literally hyperventilates the whole time, like she is expecting you to attack her at any moment. She has a lot of potential to be a great riding/driving horse someday, but she needs a lot of training and confidence building first. Update June 2009: Wren is slowly improving, but is still a very scared horse. When we first started working with her, it would take up to 40 minutes to catch her in a small pen using pressure-and-release methods, and very calm, controlled body movements so as not to scare her more. Now she can be approached and caught within 5 minutes of entering her pen, and she will cautiously accept treats from your hand. Currently we are working on being able to touch her body all over during grooming sessions, and so far can work with her head, neck, chest, and midway down her back. Everywhere else is still outside of her comfort zone, but we are making progress. Next up we will start trying to build her confidence with some round pen games.
Certain horses may be available for adoption to excellent homes that truly want them and are willing to take care of their special needs. Please feel free to inquire on their status.
970-218-6351
amberart@aol.com
Wren 
Black Percheron mare
Approx. 16.3+ hands
Estimated year of birth: 2002
Lukas
Black Percheron gelding
19.0+ hands
Estimated year of birth: 2003
This massive horse escaped slaughter by the hairs on his nose... When we found out about him, he was already loaded onto the slaughter truck and headed for Canada. As we have a special soft spot in our hearts for draft horses here at Shiloh Acres (especially the BIG ones) we managed to work a deal with the feedlot owner to have him returned to the feedlot instead of being delivered off the truck at the slaughter plant.
Lukas is an incredible example of the draft breed, and we are overjoyed to have saved him. By some bit of luck we were able to put together his history even though we knew absolutely nothing about him when we first got him. It turns out he has a very interesting past, and was even owned at one time by a large, nationally known company famous for its driving team of draft horses...
Lukas is well broke to drive and green broke ride, and we hope to do some of both with him in the future, but is no longer 100% sound due to some ring bone and side bone in his right front pastern. We are hoping that proper management will keep it from getting much worse... but it can be a struggle to treat this condition in a horse that is this big and carries this much weight on a relatively small leg and hoof.
John & Paul These distinguished, old gentlemen were surrendered to us by their owner. They are in very good health for their age, other than needing some farrier work and John having some arthritis and a benign tumor on his chest. John is a Belgian/Percheron cross with a pretty red roan coloring, while Paul is a flashy sorrel full Belgian. They had been a driving team many years ago, and sometimes used for giving rides to children. We may try evaluating Paul under saddle to see if he would have the potential for light pleasure or trail riding. Update June 2009: Paul is continuing to do very well for a draft horse of his age, aside from the fact that he still puts up a huge fight over having feet handled/trimmed. John, on the other hand, is struggling with his continually worsening arthritis, and we will be having to say goodbye to him soon. We will keep him comfortable for as long as we can so he can have a good last summer with us. However, it is probably not going to be long before we have to euthanize him. 
Belgian/Percheron and Belgian geldings
17+ hands
Estimated year of birth: 1981
Mia
Sorrel QH filly
Estimated year of birth: late 2006
We found Mia on a slaughter feedlot, where she had been abandoned with another filly because of their severe deformities. Her friend, Joslynn, had to be euthanized because her deformity was untreatable and causing her enormous amounts of pain. We thought we may have to euthanize Mia as well, but the initial signs of discomfort and lethargy were only the result of a bad case of strangles. After she recovered from the strangles, she didn't show any signs of pain and has been happy and playful like any other horse her age.
As seen somewhat in the photos, she was very severe deformities to her spine and rib cage, known as lordosis (accounting for the upwards hump to her spine and ribcage), and scoliosis (the sideways curve to her spine). She definitely does not have a future riding career, but she still moves out very nicely, so the vets think she could potentially be trained for driving at some point, as long as she stays pain-free.
Update: January 2010
SAHR is sad to report that we have had to say goodbye to 2 of our long term residents, Caden and Chessa, over the last few months. Both had health issues that we had been working with for several years, and those issues (combined with old age) finally caught up with them. They were definite favorites around the barn, and will be missed very much.
