Spirit Horse Equine Rescue

Risks of Breeding Horses

2012-02-10T16:04:00.000-08:00

The lovely mare on the left is a prime example of why we urge people to think very very carefully before breeding a mare.

Roxy has been the fantastic partner to well-known horse trainer, Stacy Westfall for many years. Just this month, Roxy had to be euthanized due to complications of being cast in a stall. She was 10 months pregnant. While no one can say for sure that Roxy's death was a result of pregnancy, it cannot be ruled out as a factor.

A lot of people think that breeding their beloved mare is such a romantic idea. While it is certainly lovely to think that the genetic traits of your horse could be carried on, the risks of pregnancy and birth should not be taken lightly.

I can speak to this with personal experience. Angel, a lovely mare I bought was pregnant. The person I bought her from had supposedly had her ultrasounded and there was only one foal. While no test is 100% accurate it does tend to give one a bit of confidence. I was told Angel had had many previous foals, and there had never been any problems. But each pregnancy and foaling is a completely different event and previous experiences have no influence over present circumstances.

Angel went past her due date, was very big and began lactating. I had a feeling something was wrong. I called the vet. After examining Angel, he indicated that she meet all the criteria for being ready to foal. The vet said we could take a "wait and see" approach or induce her. My gut said the first choice would be a bad one. Angel was induced.

After more than an hour in hard labor, the vet was able to pull out a tiny little palomino filly with a blaze and four socks. No one could ask for a lovlier foal. However, she was so weak and undersized we were suspicious. The vet did some exploratory palpation and found another foal in Angel's uterus. This one was all twisted up so the vet rearranged him and pulled the colt out. It was one of the saddest things I have ever witnessed. The little fellow, identical in color and markings to his sister, was alive, but a virtual skeleton. The vet said he had no chance for survival so I named him Handsome and cradled him in my lap until the light went out of his eye in about eight minutes.

We had to distract Angel with the filly so we could get the dead foal out of the stall without her going crazy. She had bonded with him while he was in my lap, licking him and nickering to him.

That was not the end of the troubles. The filly, named Lily, was too weak to get up. The vet milked Angel and we tube fed Lily until she was strong enough to stand and nurse on her own. The vet indicated that Lily was quite fragile and that the next few days would be critical.

Meanwhile, Angel's uterus had prolapsed. She had to have daily uterine flushes and have antibiotic injections multiple times a day. I had to monitor her temperature carefully and watch her for any signs of ill health. It was over two weeks before Angel was deemed "out of the woods".

While this story has a somewhat happy conclusion with Lily and Angel surviving, it certainly underscores just some of the dangers that can occur in an equine pregnancy.

We at Spirit Horse strongly advise that anyone wanting a new horse do a search to find one from the many fantastic horses that have already been born. While that horse may not have the genes of the favorite mare, doing so could save the life of that special mare and of the other horse with an uncertain future.

All Important Fund Raising

2012-02-06T12:30:00.000-08:00

As much as I'd rather be playing with horses or teaching students, fund raising is a very real and critical concern for our rescue. Unfortunately, memberships are down and giving in general is down. We're struggling right now in the financial area. So we have 4 (count 'em - four) fundraisers coming up within the next month or so.
I hope that as many of you as possibly can support us in these events. It's always nice to see friendly, supportive folks.

First...this Wednesday, February 8...Scoopie Night at Culver's in Janesville on Milton Avenue. Culver's gives us 10% of all receipts from 4 - 8 p.m. So, come on out and eat. They have great food ranging from salads to burgers to frozen custard.
Next is this Saturday, February 8...Sweet Meet at K & W Greenery in Janesville on E. Hwy 14. For this event you can enjoy the fabulous weather and flowers in the greenhouse while purchasing some sweet treats for Valentine's day! We'll have our ambassador pony, Diva there for folks to meet and for her to "grace you with her presence"!

The following week we have Valentine's Gopher Night at Gophers Restaurant on Hwy 26 in Milton. These great folks give us 10% of orders and let us keep ALL the tips! And Spirit Horse volunteers will be your fabulous waitresses.
Finally, on Saturday, March 10 we will be showing the recently released documentary "Buck". It is about the life and work of renowned horse whisperer Buck Brannaman. Abused as a child, Buck has taken the hardship he has known and turned it into being a kind of "Dr. Phil" for horse folks. His wry sense of humor and common sense advice should appeal to everyone...horse lover or not. We will be asking for a $5 donation to see the movie. There will be 2 showings: 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. We'll have popcorn and soda for sale.

Seating will be limited to 75 people per showing, so please plan ahead and come early for the best seat! This film is highly inspirational! Hope to see many of you at these events! Please stop and say "Hi".

Cruetly in Traditional Horsemanship

2012-02-02T15:20:00.000-08:00

WARNING: THIS POST HAS GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS

As this horrific photo illustrates, equines endure many abuses by those who follow "traditional" horsemanship. Most of these actions are not even illegal, as the majority of people (in the horse world and the public in general) accept it as just the way it has to be with horses, mules and their relatives.

One of the goals of the Educational arm of Spirit Horse is to help people become aware of these abuses. Awareness is the first step toward ending the tortures equines endure at the hands of so-called professional trainers and owners. The ultimate torture occurs when equines are sold to slaughter.

The injuries to this horse's tongue were no doubt caused by an extreme bit. A visit to any tack store will allow you to see the walls of shame that display the devices that have been invented to control a horse by causing pain to his mouth. When a person has problems getting an equine to stop, slow or turn, the advice often given by traditionalists is to "get a bigger bit".

The world of traditional horsemanship has many devices that use pain or discomfort to "train" or control an equine. Tie downs, spurs, nosebands, martingales, side reins, draw reins, etc. can force an equine to do what is desired.

Just about any object, in the wrong hands can be used to force or restrain. A small piece of cloth is used to tie down the tongue of almost all thoroughbred race horses these days. Instead of teaching the horse to accept the bit and accept being ridden in a race, it is common practice to do this, with the excuse being that the horse could "choke on his own tongue". Honestly? Has their ever, in the history of horses running free, been a case of this occurring? It is how humans have interacted with the horse that causes the problem...so the easiest trick is to just tie their tongues down.

A commonly recommended solution to rearing is to break an egg between the animal's ears. This makes the horse panic, thinking it is bleeding. While a horse may actually stop rearing, even greater and more dangerous behavior problems can occur because the prey animal is afraid for its life. In any event, getting a horse to stop rearing by causing fear in abusive. Another "training technique" to stop rearing is to hit the horse between the ears with a two-by-four.

In the world of saddlebred horses, the wild-eyed, scared look is considered desirable. During training, to keep the horses in a constant state of anxiety, the animals are subjected to surprise attacks with everything from fireworks to plastic bats full of stones to fire extinguishers. These people who supposedly love their horses even take some of the frightening objects to shows, so they can get the horse "up" just before he goes into the ring! While tied in their stalls, these horses are trussed up like Thanksgiving turkeys. Their noses are tied into their chests and their tails tied up for hours on end to force the horse into the "proper position". Chains are put on the horses' feet so they learn to move with a high-stepping gait so they can avoid the discomfort of the chain clanking on the sensitive coronary band.

Folks in the world of Tennessee Walking Horses also use leg chains as a training device. The horses even have "soring" compounds rubbed on their coronary bands to increase the pain and lead to better results. Fortunately, in many places soring is illegal and the punishment is significant. However, the risk may be worth the consequences for many individuals because it is difficult to police such matters.

In the realm of the western pleasure show circuit a very relaxed look is desirable, with the head carried down and the tail flat against the hindquarters. This position in no more natural to a horse than is the upright position desired in the saddlebreds. So, again, in training, horses' heads are tied into position for hours. Sometimes the tailheads are injected with alcohol to block the nerves temporarily so the horse does not raise its tail up while in the show ring.

SO, you may ask, what are YOU to do about these things? Information sharing is the key. The more people who know what is going on the better. Lots of uninformed horse owners send their horses to "trainers" who make all kinds of claims. We want horse owners to know what questions to ask before entrusting their equine to another. Owners need to observe what's going on at a training facility. They need to insist on observing more than one training session before committing to a trainer. If a trainer will not go along with that, that person should be immediately stricken from the list. Professional predators (traditional trainers) are savvy enough now to use buzzwords like natural, gentle and partnership. That is why it is so important to observe and then observe some more. While this post deals with the physical damage that can be caused to equines, the mental and emotional well-being of a horse are also in danger with some of these people. I will address those aspects in subsequent posts. Meanwhile, share, share, share this information with everyone you know, horse people or not. These matters may come down to legislation and we need an informed public!

War Horse - New Flyer

2012-01-31T08:55:00.000-08:00

I loved the move War Horse...yes, there were indeed sad parts, but as a whole it was positive. It showed the wonderful relationship a human can have with a horse and it clearly depicted one of the roles horses have had in our history. We owe our equine friends such a debt of gratitude for how well they have served us (even behaving contrary to their own nature) in the past and how they continue to enrich our lives today.

I designed this poster as a tribute to the movie and to showcase how we are helping these magnificent creatures at Spirit Horse. The background is a photo of a sunset I took at my house and the horse is a photo of one of our thoroughbreds, Jet Star, taken by supporter Jessica Clapper. For the rest I just tried to channel the power in the War Horse movie poster by using a similar format and similar fonts.

I hope people can print this off and use it as a flyer wherever they think it might make a difference. If you cannot print from here, there is a jpeg on our facebook page you could easily use. Please share!

Special thanks to Steven Spielberg for making this movie and to Michael Morpurgo for writing the book.

Making the Most of Winter

2012-01-29T15:59:00.000-08:00

Those of you who know me know that I am not a big fan of winter. I don't have an indoor arena, and am always really disappointed in not being able to do much horsemanship for 3 + months. Often it is more of a question of footing than anything else. Well, maybe it's also because I hate being out in the bitter cold any longer than chores take.

In any event, I've decided to try to make the most of it and do what I can in my little barn. To that end, I had a great session with both Hope (the paint) and Luna (the buckskin) this past week.

Both of these girls (Hope is probably 4, Luna just 2) came from a huge (116 horses) rescue in Arkansas. When I was helping out down there about a year ago, these two had real issues with people being in their space and with haltering. They both had a history of striking as well as of spinning and kicking. Luna was kept in her stall with a halter and a catch rope, so she could be managed while going outside for some fresh air and exercise. For Hope, the volunteers just opened her stall gate and allowed her to make her way outside into one of the paddocks. She was just too dangerous for the volunteers to deal with. In a situation like they were in, safety had to be the #1 priority. With new volunteers coming in each week (through HSUS and ASPCA), many of whom had little or no equine experience, it was a matter of getting the animals healthy, fed and in clean surroundings. It was an enormous undertaking that worked as well as could possibly be expected.

After the court case against the owner of the equines was settled, these girls came here in the fall, along with 3 others I'll be blogging about in the future. The transport driver warned me that Hope (he called her a different name) was going to be nothing but trouble and was a real mean creature. All I'd observed from her was fear...and fight when she felt trapped.

I've been letting them settle in and get used to the routine as well as me coming and going and just being in their space in an undemanding way. They have been improving a great deal and I had intended to have a session with just Luna, but Hope wanted to participate too, so I recalibrated my "plan".

Luna has been letting me scratch her in zones 2 - 5 with my stick and string and my hands, so I looped the string over her neck and encouraged her to follow the feel. She did!!! We took about ten steps, then stopped to be friendly and repeated until we were in the barn. Hope had followed and was really curious about this "barn business", so I opened the gate and she came in too.

I'd opened several of the stall doors and set up a pen of alpaca panels at the east end of the barn in the sun and out of the wind. I'd placed bits of grain and a variety of treats in many places in the aisle, the pen and the stalls to encourage them to explore and have a tasty surprise for their curiosity and bravery. I sat in a chair in the sun to observe and be undemanding.

Luna was by far the braver. Hope was actually quivering in fear and practically glued to the younger horse's hip. Eventually both were quite confidently checking out every bucket and pan to see what morsels they could find. Hope is such a combination of curious and frightened. Once she's braver, she will be one fun partner! The north stall was a bit scary, so I ended up driving Hope in there, making sure I didn't push her too far out of her comfort zone as we played the game. Fairly soon she was inside and calm enough for me to close the stall door and her to enjoy the alfalfa cubes I'd put in the corner feeder.

I went back to Luna in the aisle and little pen area and used a good deal of approach and retreat with the halter and lead rope. Her initial reaction was to leave me, but after my "passive persistence in the proper position", ended up standing calmly while I rubbed her with the halter and lead on her body in all the zones except 1 and delicate. Those areas and the legs will be for another time.

Next I went to Hope in the stall. I stayed outside the stall and began by rhythmically moving the stick and string just over the stall wall, which is at the height of my chest. At first she whirled around, a lot of white in her eyes. As soon as she showed the slightest bit of calm, I stopped. I ended the session standing in the open doorway of the stall tossing the string over her back with her standing still and relatively calmly.

In all it was a fabulous session, with much progress made and none of my body parts frozen.

With an unseasonably warm week predicted, I hope to get out and play some more. I just need to keep my imagination working so I can continue to help these 2 become confident and accepting.

Wild Horse Taming Naturally Part 2

2012-01-25T08:54:00.000-08:00

Attending this event allowed me to see that what I've been doing with our wild equines is what these guys did! Seeeing the same process, eight times over by different people was very validating and helped me feel confident to continue my work. One thing Pat said left a VERY strong impression (it was a feeling I had, but to be validated by PP was priceless)....You may have the attitude, knowledge, time, tools, techniques and imagination to help the horse accept the rope, the human, the saddle, etc., but it is the HORSE who sets the timeline. And each of the BLM mustangs (especially the bay one [crowd laughs]) had their own timeline.

However, I did get a few more "arrows" for my quiver", that mostly involved ropes and roping....gulp. I have tried to learn to rope a few times with little success. It's weird that I can be proficient with the stick and string and 22 foot line all at the same time, but when I go to throw a lariat I'm pretty pathetic. It is a priority now for me to learn to be a proficient roper...I will contact my roping friends and beg them for the opportunity to be taught. I will be able to pay them in an endless number of laughs and funny stories to tell to their other roping friends.

So, you wonder, how did the Parelli team use ropes and roping? Well, after moving the mustangs around in the arena as directed by Pat, each member of the team chose a horse he or she wanted to work with. It took a while, but eventually we were able to tell the differences in these look-alikes. The coat shades were somewhat different in a few, there were variations in mane and tail shade and length, a few had a sock or facial marking. The one I would have picked for myself was the "goldest" and turned out to be the one Pat picked for himself. Did that prove I was a glutton for punishment or a good judge of horse flesh?

Then the horses were driven into one of 3 round pens, seeming to be about 60 feet in diameter. One pen had 3 horses, the others had just two. The humans entered the round pens. Pat wanted each of the horses to be roped with a lariat (the 45 foot line, I think). He explained that some feral horses get real good at not being touched (who knows how long these fellas were kept in BLM holding pens, seeing people every day, but avoiding touch), so to have a connection with them through the rope could help the process go a little faster without harming the horse. Seemed to make sense to me as the "join up" at liberty with some of our ferals has been illustrating this very point.

But 3 horses, 3 humans and 3 long ropes proved a challenge even for these top students in the first pen. The horses were flying around, completely right brain. The students had varying success with roping, but as soon as one was roped, it introduced another frightening element...the rope was now "chasing" the horses around. After roping his or her horse, the student let it go, there was no point in going dirt skiing around in that melee. And the panicked horses did get the ropes around their legs, so to be hanging onto it at that time would increase the possibility of a horse being tripped. I've worked with 2 wild horses at one time before (like Chisholm and Cimmaron and The Captain and Blaze), one being on line and it can get pretty hairy - this was quite a spectacle! ....to be continued......

Wild Horse Taming Naturally

2012-01-20T14:00:00.000-08:00

I had the dinstinct pleasure to attend a fantastic presentation this past summer in Reno, Nevada. The event was called "Wild Horse Taming Naturally" and was put on by Parelli Natural Horsemanship.

The 3 day drive to Reno was not so fantastic, with a flat tire and some awful storms to drive through, but the event itself made the journey worthwhile.

The photos here illustrate 3 distinct parts of the process that I observed. In the first photo, you see the 8 BLM mustangs flying out of their trailer into the arena. Pat and his top students then had an easy time selecting the horse each wanted to play with, because they were all bay! Later on, Pat revealed to the audience that was the case because at the BLM holding sites, a great percentage of the horses are bay. Turns out bays are one of the most difficult colors to adopt out. Hmmm.

In the second photo, 2 of Pat's students have roped their horses...wow, that was quite a spectacle, and required Pat to dip into his "savvy vault" a number of times to reapproach the situation....and are attempting to make their acquaintance and allow the horses to accept them.

The third photo shows the master himself, playing with one of the more challenging horses, after the student's groundwork was not having the desired result. It was a particularly interesting turn of events, because that particular horse had been one of the most timid to start with, but then became agressive after first accepting the human. Linda had offered a good deal of effective advice on the previous day, but Pat determined that playing with the horse while on horseback might lead to more success. This fellow was a tough "nut to crack".

.....to be continued.......

BRAVEHEART

2012-01-16T15:32:00.000-08:00

After a long absence, I'm finally renewing my commitment to this blog. So much has happened since my last post, I really didn't know where to begin, so I thought I would start with something fun!

This fabulous pony, who has been known as Blaze since he came to Spirit Horse in the surrender of 32 mainly feral horses back in the fall of 2008. At the time he was a stallion and was one of the top 2 stallions out of 12 - he had been competing with The Captain for mares. From the looks of the offspring, Blaze had been the lead stallion for a few years, but in '08, The Captain had a herd of 14 and Blaze's herd was down to 4.

It took a lot of time and savvy to get Blaze to even tolerate the presence of a human. Anna and I spent plenty of time playing the radio and dancing around in the barn aisle to get him used to us. Eventually he accepted the halter and learned to follow a feel (what traditional people call "halter broke" and "broke to lead")

We were then able to have Blaze gelded and turn him out with other newly gelded boys [no mares around to fight over]. He responded well and became an amiable herd member.

Fast forward to this past summer. Blaze, The Captain and Casper formed a great little herd at Alissa's and Jen's foster site. All was grazing and playing and naps in the sun.

Come late summer, we wanted to add Romeo, a big, easy-going 16 hand horse to the herd. Despite an initial friendly introduction in adjoining paddocks, when Romeo was put in with the other three, Blaze took an immediate and intense dislike to him. Despite being less than half Romeo's size, Blaze continuously charged the big fellow. Romeo was amazingly patient with Blaze's behavior, he turned the other cheek time after time, but Blaze was relentless. He was determined to drive Romeo away fromt he rest of his herd. I couldn't help but call him Braveheart, after the famous Scottish hero who painted his face blue before going into battle against the far larger English military.

The photo has been enhanced by the paint program....and Romeo has been removed to a separate paddock for his own protection!

Sweet Meet

2011-02-07T20:56:00.000-08:00

Board member Jeannie Welsh and I have already made some pretty tempting Valentine Gift ideas. They're safely wrapped tight in cellophane and are guaranteed to be a whole lot fresher than that candy you can buy in a box. I can't think of a single woman who wouldn't love one of these (2 lb.) Ghirardelli chocolate houses loaded with lots of valentine candies. They may look too good to eat, but they're not! Enjoy looking and then get out the meat mallet and bash the roof in! Might be good for the stress level all this snow and cold Mother Nature has been heaping on us here in Southern Wisconsin.

Many of our members are busy this week; baking up fabulous goodies for our "Sweet Meet" on Saturday. It's called "Sweet" because of the delicious offerings and "Meet" because we'll have a rescue or two at K & W Greenery for folks to become acquainted with. It's going to be so cold these next few days that I don't even mind (too much) being in the kitchen and not playing with horses. Having the oven on will help keep the house warm too!

I hope to see many of you there on Saturday 9 - 3 but come early for best selections. People were getting a little competivie about some of the candy and fudge at our sale before Christmas. It's all for a good cause!!!!!!

Diamond Part 2

2011-02-01T06:29:00.000-08:00

By the time the hour and a half session was over, Diamond was turning to face me and coming up to take a treat (as a reward, not a bribe) and be gently touched on the neck and face. He could tolerate having me stand in his zone 1 and 2, but no further back.

He has such kind eyes and a bit of curiosity started to show itself when the fear subsided. I recommended Kammey hang a milk jug in his stall so he could have something to play with and increase his confidence. It was such a reward to see. Kammey watched all of this intently, asked questions and let me know when she understood.

Although I would dearly loved to have removed his halter, which had been on since who knows when, but it would have been too much for him....and I was freezing!!! Weather in the teens does not allow for long sessions for this woman.

I felt confident that Kammey could follow up, repeating what I did and then she could remove the halter in a subsequent session. She was the ideal student...she cared enough to become the person she needed to be for Diamond!

All in all, this is the very best kind of rescue. Diamond has a wonderful home and Kammey is learning the skills to make her a better human for any horse she may someday be the custodian for.

Kammey has been playing with Diamond as much as the Wisconsin weather will permit and he is making great progress! In fact, I needed to teach her a little about blocks for when he was acting a little too confident around her. That is typical of frightened, yet secretly left-brained extroverted (copyright Parelli) equines. When the fear subsides the "little stinker" comes out. I love it when that happens.

On a subsequent visit, I tried to get a cute photo of Diamond's face, but he kept drawing toward me, so this photo is as good as I could get. You can just barely make out the white mark on his forehead that inspired his name. What a problem to have with a frightened pony who'd been recommended to die!

Diamond Part 1

2011-01-30T17:42:00.000-08:00

This is what Diamond showed me when I first met him...his lovely little white hind end....His owner had called me earlier in the week, with the intent of turning him over to us because he was too difficult to handle. He was, as you see, sticking his nose in the corner when you entered his stall. Sometimes he'd even kick at her if she tried to enter the stall. She had asked everyone she knew for advice, even called a "Humane Society". The recommendation had been to put him down.

Kammey could not do that. She felt inside this little guy was a sweet mini, but she didn't know how to bring that out and she didn't want to get hurt. I told her it didn't really sound like she wanted to be "rid of him", but would like to find a way to safely work with him. She agreed that is what she ultimately wanted. She'd only had the 5 year old for a few days. Seems he'd "failed" with a number of previous owners and was getting near the end of the line. He had more of a past than a future.

As a rescue AND education center, I felt this was the perfect opportunity to use the latter to avoid the former. I made an appointment with Kammey and drove the hour up to meet Diamond....at least his tail end.

This fellow was terrified of humans! He was being completely defensive in his positioning. While he had his nose in the corner, his body was shaking...just waiting to feel the strike of the whip, or whatever someone before Kammey had hit him with.

The only option for working with Diamond was in his rather small stall, so it that part was a bit of a challenge. I wanted to be able to approach and retreat, but his threshold was bigger than his stall! So I stood in the stall doorway and turned my back and started talking to Kammey. Soon Diamond was turning his head to look at me, then turned around and approached me, sniffing at my coat. My approach and retreat consisted of turning my head to look at him, followed by turning back away from him.

To be continued.......

Catching Up

2010-12-06T21:23:00.000-08:00

It's been too long since I've posted to this blog. I apologize. My excuses are many: my husband had surgery, my son got married, I went to South Dakota for a horse fair and two of the equines I take care of passed. I will write about those last two events in future postings

Meanwhile, we're having a much-needed fundraiser this Saturday. It's a Holiday Bake Sale at K & W Greenery in Janesville. We'll also have two of my ponies there, acting as Spirit Horse embassadors and looking awful cute as Santa Pony and Reindeer Pony.

And I haven't been obsessing about the potential success of our upcoming bake sale much. I had a dream the other night that Barbra Streisand and Martina Navratilova turned up to promote our event. Some psychologist could probably make something out of that!

Danny

2010-10-12T18:27:00.000-07:00

Here's our newest addition to Spirit Horse. He's a Freisan - Tennessee Walker cross. An owner release, Danny was ridden on trails and was a hunter/jumper prospect who didn't much like to jump.

As you can see from his photo, Danny's a couple of hundred pounds underweight and he he's had nothing much done in the way of grooming for a very long time. The second photo shows the enormous "club" of a mat he had in his tail. I stood it up in the doorway so people could reference the size of the tangled mess he had to lug around and smack himself with in futile attempts to use it to swish flies away. Fortunately, he is kind and calm, so I was able to get it taken care of in a short time. He also lost a lot of hair from his mane, which had major tangles in it. Today he had a bath and is settling in nicely.

He will be in rehab for a while to put on some weight, and work through the beginning stages of Natural Horsemanship.

New Arrival Maizie

2010-09-25T09:03:00.000-07:00

Maize has come to us due to economic difficulties of her owner/breeder.

She is a 4 year old Appaloosa mare. Her coloring is quite unique. She's mainly grey (white) colored with small dark spots visible beneath the light hair. She has sorrel coloring on her ears and lower front legs, but that will likely grey out.

Maizie is extremely friendly, some would say "over friendly", as she is not terribly respectful of your space unless you demand it. She loves to cuddle, and 1300 pounds of cuddle can be a bit dangerous. With some groundwork, she will improve dramatically.

She is a classic Left Brain Extrovert (Parelli).....curious, charismatic, friendly, charming..... with some claustrophbia issues and a lack of confidence in new environments.....we'll be working on those areas.

As you can see from her photo, Maizie is well muscled. She is about 15'2 hands.

We welcome Maizie to Spirit Horse and hope someone will fall in love with her and make her their forever horse.

Another Adoption!

2010-09-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

I'm proud to announce that Jasper has been adopted! Tomorrow will mark his 1 week anniversary in his new home.

This match is a great one, his adoptive family does Natural Horsemanship, so Jasper will be able to continue the journey we'd begun with him. He'll get to go trail riding and be shown in 4- H by a fine young man.

Sad News

2010-09-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

It's a sad day for Spirit Horse. Our oldest equine, Sheik, passed away during the night. He was lying peacefully in his stall this morning, with no signs of struggle or pain. I can imagine him now galloping across a lush field of grass with his band of mares and foals.....young and pain-free forever.

Sheik was one of the 30 horses, ponies, burros and mules we rescued from Lima Center back in fall of '08. So Sheik was with us for two years. He was an elderly (over 30) miniature stallion, gaunt from lack of food and badly scarred from other stallions beating him up. Before we were able to remove the equines from the property, some of our volunteers actually saw other stallions pounding him with their hooves while he was lying on the ground! Thankfully they chased the others away. Later that day we were able to make a pen inside a small shed for Sheik and he lived in peace from then on, first at our kindly DeWitt's and then at the home of Ron and Denise Graves.

Friendly with people, Sheik was given his name by my son Josh. The long curled front hooves of this little fellow reminded Josh of one of his favorite wrestler's shoes. Back in the day, The Iron Shiek wore the fancy shoes of Arabian Nights fame. The name means the "leader of an Arab family" and "a romantically alluring man". Those both fit as he certainly felt he was the boss, and I'm sure at one time was quite the herd leader. As for romantic, he once jumped through a barn window at his foster home and bred their pony mare! The fosters had to have their mare receive shots so she did not become pregnant.

Speaking of fosters, Denise and Ron have been tireless in their care of the old fellow. They got him plumped up and his coat, mane and tail looked glossy from the good food and grooming he received. He's required senior feed as well as various medications for some breathing issues. They spent lots of time with him, since he couldn't be out with the other horses and he was just to elderly to have him gelded. Sheik really missed Ron when his work took him out of state. Fortunately Ron was home this weekend and got to see him yesterday.

Many thanks go to our farrier, Stacy, who worked so hard to get Sheik's feet back into shape. She did it, without a whole lot of co-operation from the old guy. We had a few wrestling matches with him and the old guy gave me a few trips to the massage therapist over that issue. But I still loved him, it wasn't his fault he was neglected for so long and found this procedure to be unappealing to him in his advanced age. Whenever we could, we'd take him out to graze on some fresh grass and that would distract him somewhat and Stacy could do what she does best!

I was never able to get a good photo of Sheik outside his pen because he'd just follow me. He was a gregarious character and he will be much missed. We believe that he lives on through his sons, The Captain and Scout, and surely through his grandson, Hobbs, who looks remarkably like him.

RIP old friend.

Copper & Kittens!

2010-08-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

Change of plan for this weekend. Vision turned out to be not quite ready for such a big weekend at the Madison International Horse Show....so I'm bringing Copper instead. He's a darling little mini/pony...blogspot won't let me upload a photo right now, but you can see him on our website. Just click on the big Spirit Horse on this blog spot and it will take you there!

I'm happy (and tired) to announce that the pregnant abandoned cat I took in had a successful labor and delivery last night/this morning. By 1 a.m. it looked like all was over and Ventana (Window in Spanish is her name...she was always lying in the broken out barn window at the farm she came from) was doing well. 2 lovely kittens, nearly identical silvery-looking tabbies.

Special thanks to Amy Miller for talking with me and reassuring me all was well in the wee hours.

Off to the show!

This Weekend!

2010-08-10T21:57:00.000-07:00

On this Friday, Saturday and Sunday...August 13 -15.... we will be at the Madison Invitational Horse Show. This is a HUGE show and has something for everyone from carriage classes to English equitation to western pleasure.

The lucky thing is that these fine folks have chosen us to be the charity for the show! They will donate a portion of their profits to us!

The show is so big, it is held at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison.

If you're looking for some good family, horsin' around fun....please come and support them and us. Look for our informational booth and meet Vision, the saddlebred we're taking along to represent Spirit Horse. He's a real charmer!

Rock Star Adopted!

2010-08-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Day! Our gorgeous, used to be stallion, now gelding, Rock Star went to his new home! Special thanks go out to Craig and Cheryl for providing him with a fantastic place to continue to grow in confidence and happiness.

When I think back to the early days when he would try to scale the round pen if I even stepped foot in there with him, I am exceedingly proud of how far he has come. Craig and Cheryl have the patience and understanding that it will take to keep him progressing.

Our handsome one traveled well, but being the introvert he is, was a little shy and skeptical about meeting Craig in the new environment.

After about 15 minutes of Craig working his savvy with Rock Star, they had the beginnings of a great relationship.

Soon Molly, a previous blog star, will be returning home from her training barn and will share a pasture with Rock Star. I'm sure it won't take any time at all for Molly to let Rock Star know who the boss of the outfit is going to be. Any guesses?

These are the days that are the second best for me. I love having them go to forever homes, but the happiness is tinged with regret that I won't be seeing them regularly any more.

My favorite days are the days the rescued ones begin their lives with us. My heart swells with the joy of getting them to a safe place and to know that they are in a place of physical, mental and emotional wellness. I'm so happy to know that they will be watched over for the rest of their lives. It's also exciting to begin my relationship with the all the newcomers and know that they will progress into happier horses....or merrier mules....or delighted donkeys...

Mustang Progress

2010-08-05T09:01:00.000-07:00

We had a great learning session yesterday! Anna and I played with the mustangs....she took Chisholm (the extrovert) and I took Cimarron (the introvert) and started getting them to "join up" with us. It was a challenge because they are so bonded to one another, but we persisted in a calm maner and it happened. By session's end, both boys were accepting the halter! Fortunately our rope halters do not touch the damaged parts of their faces so we are not causing undo pressure in what must be an exceedingly sensitive place. Anna was able to progress faster with the less skeptical Chisholm. She was able to get him to back up and come forward...his draw is good! Anna even had him yielding his hindquarters without any fuss whatsoever. I had to go slower and be much more repetitive with the sensitive Cimarron. I worked mainly on his draw, since he's more eager to leave than stay when something scary happens.

We were able to rub some fly repellant on their faces, chests and front legs with our hands, so they got some relief from the relentless pests. When we left them they were standing quietly just swishing their tails instead of stomping their feet and shaking their heads constantly.

Have I ever mentioned that I love this job!

Training Casper

2010-08-03T12:08:00.000-07:00

This is what we call spending "Undemanding Time" with our horse!

I named him Casper because he was white and because I love Pat Parelli's stallion, Casper (though he's black, which I don't get). Anyway, I didn't know he was going to be so incredibly spooooky! I could approach and retreat with him for hours and not be able to have him catch me.

So, thinking laterally, I turned him out in my backyard and was lounging on the hammock with one of my cats, paying absolutely no attention to the little fellow, and he catches me! Fortunately my husband saw this and snapped a pic. It was a happy moment indeed.

Busy Busy!

2010-08-02T10:02:00.000-07:00

Sorry to be so absent! Last week we were scrambling to complete an application for a grant for vaccinations. The company moved the deadline up by ONE MONTH to August 1. It was crazy, but it got done. Now we've got to hope they choose us.

Remember the mustangs? Well, the people who had them were foreclosed upon and they moved out leaving about a dozen cats behind....some sick with upper respiratory infections....all terrifically underweight....an assortment of unaltered males, females and kittens. All were shy about people, some downright frightened. Well, for the last 3 weeks I've been going over to the farm (with permission from the real estate agent) every day to feed them and get them to accept humans. I'm happy to say that as of last night I now have 10 of them in big dog crates in my barn, being treated for infections, fleas & whatever else I find. I've worked with local small animal rescue Friends of Noah on this and we're negotiating with various other groups to get these kitties altered.

Sometimes equine rescue leads to other things! I'll try to get some pics of these great critters soon. They will be ready for adoption after their surgeries.

Cimarron and Chisholm the BLM Mustangs

2010-07-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

These are our new BLM mustangs, Cimarron (l) and Chisholm (r). We've had them for almost 3 weeks and they're coming along nicely. Chisholm accepts the halter and Cimarron is at least sniffing it now.

At 14 years old, they've had little handling and have some bone deformation on their faces from having had halters on 24/7 for years and years!

Today when I played with them I was able to apply fly repellent to their faces with my hand. It was good to see them stop shaking their heads from the barrage of flies that pester them. I'm sure they still have a lot of cow manure "stank" on them from where they were kept. The other horses don't have such a fly problem. I can't wait until the day I can give these guys a proper bath.

I'm hoping my Parelli friends, Becky, Ken and Hannah come back soon to help bring these guys along.

Molly's Cinderella Story

2010-07-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

This first photo is of the two year old Molly as we found her in fall 2008. She'd been living in this dog kennel with the llama for a year!

The manure and hay was so thick we had to use the pitch fork to dig our way to open the door. Once the door was open, Molly was afraid to come out! We had to drive her out using our sticks. Once in the temporary pen we had set up it only took about 15 minutes to be able to halter her. She had such a willing spirit.

Molly came along quickly with our Natural Horsemanship program and was soon adopted by Craig and Cheryl who are shown in the photo with Molly and Lilly.

Fast forward to July 2010. Molly was shown by 10 year old Lilly at the Jefferson County Fair. Though the two hadn't been working together long, they placed a 3rd in Showmanship and a 1st in Obstacle Driving!! It's clear the two girls have a great relationship going! Congratulations and thanks to all for turning Molly into a real Cinderella and still just a four year old....check out that halter!

Mukwonago Tractor Supply Demo with Grace

2010-07-15T21:38:00.000-07:00

This photo is from last Saturday, July 10, 2010.

Here's our beautiful, formerly unconfident, Grace with her new toys. It was her first "outing" for Spirit Horse. She was magnificent.

Anna and I had only had a few play sessions with her when we knew she was going to be a star! She loves to learn and was not intimidated by the new environment, the other horses there, the traffic (which included motorcycles) or any of the new stuff.

Thanks to Tractor Supply for sponsoring their event: Horses Out There. They've got another one coming up in October....stay tuned!

Welcome to our new Blog Spot!

2010-07-14T23:48:00.000-07:00

Hopefully you can visit this spot frequently to see what we're up to at Spirit Horse Equine Rescue and Education Center. Hope to see you soon!