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10-1-10

2010-10-01T07:28:00.000-07:00

It's October and it's official: NorCal Equine Rescue is now Horse Plus Humane Society. We have been excitedly waiting this day ever since we knew the change would take place. Today it's official!

Many of you may have grown fond of the old website, but now it's redirects to the new website automatically. Although www.SaveTheHorse.com will take you to the new website, the base url is: http://horsehumane.org. Please make a note of this!

We know many of you may have questions. Why the change? Has NorCal become part of the Humane Society of the United States or affiliated with other humane societies? Who is running it now?

Rest assured, Jason and Tawnee Preisner, founders of NorCal Equine Rescue way back in 2004, are the driving force behind the change, and are still responsible for the day to day management of rescues and operations and oversee shelter operations. The day to day shelter operation are managed by Larry and April who are doing an A+ job. Jason and Tawnee will still be doing most of the hands on rescue work, and are working hard on becoming California Humane Officers to better serve animals in need. Jason and Tawnee are going nowhere! The focus and mission of H+ Humane Society remains the same as that of NorCal Equine Rescue.

The new blog site is: http://horsehumane.wordpress.com. Check it out, we think you will like the layout and look! The entire savethehorse.blogspot.com blog has been imported into the new blog, so you can read the archives to your hearts content. This blog post will be up for a week as an introduction to the new Humane Society, after that the blog will be written once a day again.

The new Facebook page, of which almost 550 people like it already, is: http://www.facebook.com/horsehumane. Please visit the Facebook page for updates during the first week of the launch. The Facebook stream can also be seen on the homepage of the website.

The shelter challenge hasn't change, we still need your votes every day! We are moving up the ranks, can't wait to be #1! Click here every day to vote. The name is still NorCal Equine Rescue, so please enter that to vote for us until further notice.

Welcome to the new Horse Plus Humane Society!

9-29-10

2010-09-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

We have some exciting news - we are in 40th place overall for all of the shelters, and 3rd in California. Thank you for your votes, it is really making a difference! Let's keep pushing to the top, click here. Remember the C has to be capitalized in NorCal Equine Rescue.

Today was a moving day. Moving the little original office from the old rescue location to new facility. Tawnee took down the "Welcome to NorCal Equine Rescue" sign off the post by the old office. The sign will have to go into our museum, it was the first sign ever made for NorCal.

Larry borrowed a wonderful flatbed trailer with a strong winch on the front. The office was carefully packed and readied to be moved, the big straps were put on, and they started winching.

Up up up it went, slowly but surely.

Finally it was up on the trailer and ready to go. By now it was 1:00 pm and everyone was hungry.

Tawnee made a nice vegan meal for everyone. It's amazing how excited people get to eat when they have a chance to eat yummy food. Someone recently asked if we were affiliated with PETA after a comment about eating vegan. No, we've not joined PETA or the Humane Society of the United States. Jason and Tawnee were both raised vegan and it's works out really good for them.

Colby had never had vegan mac 'n cheese before. He ate it all, but he didn't say he liked it either... Larry, on the other hand, loves it and ate like 4 plates.

Once the humans were done eating, Phoenix wandered over to check out the menu. First he sniffed the chips.

The chips were OK, but what was in this kettle?

Hmm, vegan mac 'n cheese. Horses are typically vegan, but this was definitely a step above hay!

Soon Phoenix had his own plate of mac 'n cheese, along with chips and nacho sauce. Napoleon had to come over to investigate...

Napoleon is Phoenix's buddy. Phoenix was more than willing to share, but Amee got Napoleon his own plate.

Napoleon really enjoyed the days menu.

He didn't care too much for the chips, but he really loved the mac 'n cheese.

His lips got all dirty. Napoleon, you need a napkin!

He didn't want a napkin, he wanted to lick his lips clean instead. What a nice lunch for everyone!

The office was ready to go so Jason started pulling out. April drove her truck in front with the flashers on while Larry drove his behind with the flashers on.

Down the driveway it went.

Up the horribly steep hill... We are so thankful the rescue has moved, the adopters do not have to slip and slide trying to drive their newly adopted horse up this hill. 2wd doesn't make it.

...and off down the road.

Soon they were at the new facility and wondering where to put it.

Once the location was decided, it was time to slide it off the trailer. The ropes and straps were placed just right, Jason drove forward, and...

...soon it was sitting on the ground. Then the hard work of leveling the office commenced, hours later Jason and Colby finally announced it done. Sadly, there are no pictures of it sitting level for the blog yet.

Little Bear was surrendered to us Wednesday. She was originally turned over to our organization in a seizure case in Plumas County in October of 2008.

She was a bedraggled little baby. An individual, not knowing the horses were seized in place, went to try and help them. They offered to buy the baby, which the abusive owner was more than happy to sell, even though she had no right to do so. This was the only picture the county had taken of Little Bear that we had. The person in the county assured us that the baby would have a great home. To see the others that were rescued from the place (the Lucky 7 group) where Little Bear came from, click here. You really should read it, it's a great blog entry.

We are thankful that Little Bear did make it to a very loving home where she was cared for. Sadly, they are moving out of state and were not able to take Little Bear with them.

In the previous blog we said there were 3 surrenders Tuesday, we were wrong, there were actually 4. There was also a very friendly goat surrendered, Buttercup.

Buttercup is a cute goat who loves attention and loves following people around. He thinks he is a dog, not a goat. He wants a forever home, maybe yours?

Today's eBay Giving Works item is a child's XS chaps by Dublin. They are only $9.99 and 25% of the sale price goes to help the horses!

Many thanks to anonymous for their generous monthly support!

9-28-10

2010-09-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

We are almost in the top 50, currently 64th, for all of the Unites States in the voting contest that is going on! That is really great, please keep voting every day! Click here, select "NorCal Equine Rescue" in Oroville, CA and press vote. Make sure the C in NorCal is capitalized. The system is being updated, so hopefully soon it switches over to Horse Plus Humane Society, but for now, keep entering NorCal Equine Rescue. Click here.

Jason, Larry and Colby headed out to get hay. We have been having it delivered, but a great deal popped up on Craigslist, and it's only 4 miles from the rescue! $6 a bale for grassy alfalfa, can't really beat that price. First Jason hopped up on the hay pile and threw the hay down for Colby to load.

Colby worked extremely energetically loading the hay.

One by one the bales went into the trailer.

But, eventually his stacking muscles got fatigued so Jason and Colby switched spots. It is so much easier to throw the hay down then to load it.

Finally both trailers were loaded, 108 bales of hay. This load of hay cost $708, saving over $200 from having it delivered, and will last about a week. Please help pay for this load of hay, click here, Even $6 to buy a bale of hay helps a lot!

Back at the rescue, the girls volunteered to unload the hay. They got right to work and soon the trailer was unloaded. Hay prices have dropped so much, $6 for nice heavy bales of hay. A couple years ago you couldn't touch hay like this for less than $12 a bale. Hay prices are no longer an excuse for starving your horse.

While the volunteers where hard at work, the horses were taking it easy. This funny horse believes that it's good to drink and eat at the same time. How cute!

We had 3 surrenders come in, two of which are seen below, one of which was camera shy somehow and should be in the next blog. This is another horse that came into the euthanasia clinic. It seems that horses just keep coming in, it is definitely the busiest clinic we have had in a very long time. Thank you for making it possible, enabling us to help horses in desperate need.

This poor guy has been in unmanageable pain for quite awhile. He has body sores from laying down, trying to relieve his pain, ultimately making more pain.

He was bit by a snake, which got into the tendon sheeth, and with a lot of other complications, it refuses to heal. It causes him continuous excruciating pain.

We also had a henny surrendered. He is a wildy little critter that is not halter trained. He is about 9 years old. He was too much for his previous owner, who called up pleading for us to take him. They were extremely grateful that we were available.

Our flock of chickens keeps getting smaller as we find them homes. We are getting less and less hens and more and more roosters. Everyone seems to want to have hens. One thing for sure, the horses will know when it's morning at the rescue!

Today's eBay Giving Works item is two sets of "raised braid" English reigns in excellent condition. They are only $8.99 and 25% of the sale price goes to help the horses! Click here.

Many thanks to Faryn K. and Gail G. for their generous donations!

2010-09-28T08:48:00.000-07:00

We are slowly moving up the ranks, we are now #4 in California for the Animal Rescue Site's $100,000 shelter challenge. We are at #77 overall. Keep up the good voting and tell your friends to vote too, vote now - click here.

Jason and a volunteer hooked up the trailer and hit the road. There was a horse that needed to be surrendered, they wanted to bring him to the clinic but had no way to transport him. We also had an older cushings horse come in this morning for the clinic. What a busy clinic! We are thankful that this clinic was made possible to keep horses out of the slaughter pipeline and to give desperate owners a humane solution.

Quanta is a sweet 28 year old blind Appy. He recently became blind and was not adjusting well at all to his new situation. He had injured himself in his pen and his owners, who had him for 8 years, knew it was time to say "Goodbye" as they were no longer able to properly care for him with his blindness.

They lived in a residential area on a busy street, Jason was hoping that Quanta would be able to get into the trailer without too much fuss.

While bystanders blocked traffic, Quanta was slowly given direction on how to get into the trailer. First one leg, then the other. He wasn't too keen on getting in, but with time and patience...

...he hopped in the trailer and was ready to go. It's odd how almost all horses prefer to ride backwards in a trailer, even blind horses.

Then the long trip back to the rescue.

Back at the rescue, Quanta unloaded without too much fuss.

He was gently led to the waiting pen, where he was shown his food and water. It is free of obstacles and is the safest place for him.

We are going to evaluate him for quality of life, ideally we would love to see him go to Home at Last. They have taken a lot of other blind horses from us, and have had wonderful results in helping them adjust to their vision impairment and finding them the right guide horse. They require $150 month sponsorship for horses, and it would be wonderful if Quanta would be able to go there, if he has a good quality of life after being evaluated by our vet and staff. Home at Last Sanctuary recently had a TV interview with Channel 12. You can watch it, click here. Wouldn't it be great if someone would step forward and give Quanta a lifetime sponsorship?

Today's eBay Giving Works item is 2 pair of Children's boy or girl riding pants size 6. They are only $9.99 and 25% goes to help the horses! Click here.

Speaking of eBay Giving Works, it has now been updated and changed to Horse Plus Humane Society. A lot of the listings currently say "Funds go to help NorCal Equine Rescue." We are one and the same, bid with confidence! On the updated information it says "Formerly NorCal Equine Rescue" to clear up any confusion on these items. Just remember this is a great way to help the shelter, we have raised over $850 through this program. Simply list your items and click what percentage you want to go help the horses, it really does help and it all adds up.

Many thanks to Vicci B. for their generous donation today!

2010-09-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

On Friday, Darlin was brought into the rescue by one of our previous adopters, Christina, who found her being neglected in someones back yard. Apparently, that person thought she was doing just fine. Our vet will be evaluating her, but we do know that she has bad arthritis in her knees and probably cushings. She is a sweet little girl, it is so sad to see any emaciated horse, but especially a pony. They don't need much food!

Christina also brought in this mare, Dancer. She is an older mare who's owner was no longer able to keep her, so Christina brought her too. She has a bad hip problem, and Christina was quite fearful for her future. It's always great when our previous adopters become more alert to equines in need and do what they can to help.

Sunday morning was an exciting morning. Buckeye was ready to come to the rescue to find his home! He is doing so much better it is unbelievable. We would like to thank each and every one of you who made his surgery possible.

At the vet, Tawnee stopped in to say "Hi" to Betty. She too is doing absolutely amazing, she is actually able to walk on her little leg now and was happy to have some company.

We hope that soon she too will be able to come to the rescue to find her forever home. She is a little sweetheart and loves attention.

Back in the trailer, Buckeye was saying "Goodbye" to his friends at the vet. Soon he realized he had a new friend in the trailer, Lady. Lady was one of the kb horses that came to us August 12th. She had a runny nose when she came, but now it has cleared up and she was ready to head to the rescue to find her home too. Due to the length of this blog, we will have more pictures of Buckeye in a future blog.

Lady posed for a quick snapshot. She is such a cute girl. She has TB looking legs on her, but any guesses on what her head might look like? We are having a hard time guessing her breed.

We would like to send a huge "Thank you!" to each and every one of you that helped fund the euthanasia clinic this month. All of the needed funds were raised thanks only to you. As we expected, with winter coming on, it was a very busy clinic. We even had to start directing traffic because trailers were getting piled up at the rescue! We wanted to share a few of the stories of some of the horses that came to the clinic.

We almost fell over when we heard this guys age: 45 years old! His owners had him for a very long time, they had gotten him when he was in his 30's. They figured they would have him for a few years. A few years kept stretching on out. The last few months his health has started failing him and he has started rapidly losing weight. His owners knew it was time to say "Goodbye." What an amazing horse!

This beautiful horse was 34 years old. She was owned by her owner since she was a 2 year old. That's 32 years in the same home, the way it is supposed to be. It was a hard "Goodbye" but she didn't want to put her horse through another long winter. Her health was starting to fail and it was time.

Sassy didn't come into our euthanasia clinic, but was surrendered into our adoption program. Her owner could no longer keep her. She is really a cutey!

We posted this picture on our Facebook with some information about her. Shortly after posting her, one of our previous adopters put her in adoption pending.

She can't wait to go home! We hope that the potential home works out, they are an A+ adoptive family. Every horse that can live at their house is a lucky horse indeed.

Today was a hard enough day, euthanasia clinic surrenders are always tough, but then to make matters worse, volunteer Connie came over and drove her tractor away. It was a wonderful tractor and it only blew 1 hydraulic line while at the rescue. She says she'll bring it back when we need it.

There were so many trailers coming into the rescue it was mind boggling at times. We are so thankful they were there, we are so thankful that each and every horse that came to the clinic will never know the horrors of the slaughter house.

This horse was over 20 years old, and owned most of her life by the same family. Sadly she was sold, and the people that bought her foundered her, so the original owners bought her back and tried to make her comfortable. But now they knew it was time, her feet just couldn't hold her up comfortably anymore.

We had a potential adopter looking at Scarlett. She had come out to look at her last Sunday, and wanted to come spend more time with her today. Tawnee explained to her that it was our clinic surrender day and that things would be very busy. Finally Tawnee got a moment to show Scarlett's riding ability. Tawnee says she feels like she is riding on an elephant when she is up there.

Then the potential adopter rode her and is absolutely in love with Scarlett. She is going to go out to the vet for a pre-adoption / lameness exam. We are excited with high hopes that soon Scarlett will be heading home.

One of the last horses surrendered into the clinic was very hard for the family to say "Goodbye." The horse had been in their family for years. He had been passed down through their family for awhile, he is the oldest horse we have ever had at the rescue that we know of. He is 47 years old!!!

He is a registered Pony of America, and was registered about 9 years after the POA registry actually started. It is amazing to see such an old guy with such a shiny coat. Imagine all the rides he has given and all the smiles he has made.

Sadly, the poor guy has cancer in his sheath area which causes him a lot of pain, bleeding and problems urinating. He is such a sweet guy, we are thankful that we are able to have this clinic to provide the last gift of kindness for horses like him. This is what this clinic is all about, giving horses like him a peaceful ending to their magnificent lives. We heard the words "If it wasn't for this clinic, I would have had to my horse to a sale."

It was break time for some of the volunteers. Crow, the original chicken at the rescue, has become a begging chicken. We all seen dogs begging for food, but now we have a begging chicken who won't stop begging until he gets something yummy.

He is perfecting his begging art and no one can refuse his pleading looks.

His begging got really rewarded when he managed to get some soda from volunteer Amee. He got really energetic after that. We're not sure how many chickens beg and drink soda, but Crow is definitely something else.

Once everything settled down, there was a big project that needed to be done. The office / feed room needed to be moved in preparation for winter to a better location. Everyone looked at Jason and said "Can your truck do it?"

Jason, Larry, Colby, Amee, Tawnee and April all pitched in it make sure it was done right. It was the biggest load Jason's truck has ever pulled, but it did it like a champ. It was amazing to see such a small looking truck moving such a big looking trailer.

It only needed to be moved 100' , and soon it was right where it belonged.

Once it was all set up, Crow came by to see if anyone was taking a snack break. He didn't find anymore food, but he did give his stamp of approval to the new location of the office.

For all you "My Little Pony" fans, this is the chance of a lifetime. There is a huge My Little Pony set on eBay, with 50% of the proceeds going to help the real ponies at the rescue. It has pony's from the early 80's - 2004. There is a total of 77 pieces. All of these pony's need a new home. No adoption approval needed. The "adoption fee" is currently only $9.99 for all of them and the "transportation fee" is pretty cheap too. Bid today, click here.

Don't forget to vote for us in the shelter challenge! We are #5 in California and #82 overall. We're moving up thanks to you! Click here.

We would like to send a huge thank you to everyone once again who made the euthanasia clinic possible and for supporting the horses at the rescue. Thank you - Mari J., Stephanie D., Catherine J., Kim H., Janet M., Kathleen S., Joni M., Susannah J., Pamela N., Margaret O., Annie W., Roberta A., Carla G., Theresa N., Deb B., Ruthann C., Susan T., Sondra W., Marsha H., Jessica B., Stormy May Productions, Glennis R., Lawrence R., Angela T., Neatha C., Jody W., Sara H., Laura C., Misty C., Michelle P., Irene C., Karen B., Constance W., Donna C.

2010-09-24T14:58:00.000-07:00

Do you recognize this horse? She came in with the last group of horses from the kb. One of our sharp eyed blog readers recognized her and was able to share a lot of her history. It's always exciting when we are able to find out history on a horse that comes into our rescue, especially when it comes from the livestock auction.

She wrote through a series of emails: "I am pretty sure that I know the four year old bay roan mare that came from the auction. She belonged to a very inexperienced horse friend of mine and the mare was extremely green so I convinced her to put her up on CL so we could find an older and way more broke horse for her so she did not get hurt. The guy we traded her to said he loved her and was going to keep her forever - guess he fibbed. I hope we didn't trade her directly to the killer buyer.

"Sophie, as we called her, belonged to a 48 yr old VERY beginner rider friend of mine. A horse trader that we know of sold her to her because my friend thought she was 'pretty to look at.' The horse trader gal actually bought her from the Madera auction quite a few months back and supposedly started her with about 10 rides total. I took the roan mare and another little bay mare from my friend, turned them out, and loaned her one of my broke horses until we could sell her two and find her something more broke for her to learn how to ride on. The horse trader gal said she put 10 rides on her and that she could really buck. She said she bucked while trying to tighten the cinch and when riding her. She said she got better as the rides went on but those 10 rides were at least 6 months ago. She is a sweetheart on the ground but does get a little worried if stuff starts moving too quick around her. I gave her her first bridle path and shave with clippers and she did real well, little nervous and ticklish at first but she trusted me after only a couple minutes.

"I put both her horses on CL and a gentleman who went by the name 'Dee' emailed me wanting to trade me a dead broke old mare for both of them. I said ok since that is what my friend really needed anyway and he oddly insisted on coming and getting them ASAP. He got here with his buddy who went by the name 'Que' and unloaded the old mare, caught the two other mares, said goodbye and left. The old mare was supposed to be 15 yrs old, dead broke and completely sound. She turned out to be dead broke- but skinny, a little sway backed, 25+ yrs old and LAME. She is sound at a walk but anything faster and she limps like crazy. My friend loves her to death though so she took her home and has her a vet appt scheduled the beginning of Oct for her teeth and a soundness exam.

"Anyway, Dee kept in touch with me for a few more emails saying he really liked Sophie (Opel) and that he had tried to ride her but she kept trying to buck him off. He wrote, 'She doesn't like going going in circles and I don't like falling off, so we are not going to do either anymore.' He said he liked her though and was going to keep her forever - guess he fibbed.

"So the only thing I really know about her is that she is 4-5 yrs old, extremely green, has been passed around about 6 times, and has a history of bucking. She would most likely benefit from being restarted completely."

Well, now we have more information on Opel. It's always sad when horse traders take advantage of situations and are completely dishonest. The horses are the ones that pay the price. She is a beautiful girl and we are glad she is safe now.

Thanks to your votes, we are now at 6th place in California. When this screenshot was taken, we were at 8th. We are moving up fast thanks to your votes! Please keep it up, you can vote once a day. We sure could use $100,000, it would go a long ways in setting up the new facility! To vote:

Go to www.theanimalrescuesite.com

There is a purple button to click on to donate free food to rescued animals. This is free to you, it is all paid for by the sponsors.

After clicking you get to a page where you can vote for your favorite rescue. Click on the word Vote with a heart next to it.

Put in NorCal Equine Rescue in Oroville, CA, click to vote.

You will then come to a page to confirm your vote by saying what animal’s picture is being shown that day.

On the homepage, You can register for a reminder to be sent to your email every day so that you won’t even have to remember to do this. You can only vote once a day, but every vote is precious.

There has been a lot of work going on in preparation in getting the new website up and going. One of the things that has been worked on is a new store where you can buy some really neat items. There's a bunch of new bumper stickers, anyone that loves animals should get at least one. Some of them are Tawnee's favorite sayings that she thinks would be neat to have on bumper stickers. Now they're there. This is a great way to support us and get cool stuff all at the same time. To visit the store, click here.

One of the really awesome items is a 2011 calendar. All of the horses ponies and donkeys were rescued. Some are recent, some are from years passed. All are precious, all are beautiful. To buy the calendar, click here.

Today's eBay giving works item is a vintage Oakland A's cooler, circa 1989. Great collectible, it's only $5.99 and 25% of the sale price goes to help the horses. Click here.

Many thanks to Diana C. for her generous donation! We really appreciate it.

Below is a copy of the "Urgent Need" sent out this morning to our E-News group. Please help if you can!

Urgent Need -

We need your help! Our Free/Low Cost Euthanasia Clinic is this Sunday. It cost about $2500 to conduct one of these clinics and we currently have only $550. We need $1950 to have this clinic on Sunday. We have been holding these clinics monthly since November 2008, but we really need your help with this clinic.

With winter coming on there are a lot of people calling that are desperate to bring their horse that are suffering to this clinic. Their horse is getting older, and has health complications, and due to the hard financial times, they cannot afford to keep their horse comfortable through another long cold winter. The horses need your help to be given the Last Act of Kindness before winter hits.

We have owners calling us pleading with us to take their precious old friend and give them the last gift of love and kindness. If we do not have the funds to take them in the owners will be forced to give them away. The only folks who are looking for older horses with health problems are killer buyers waiting to fill up their slaughter trucks so they can make the long haul to Mexico. Their only thought is making money on the precious lives of horses that have given their all in serving humans.

Please help us keep older horses out of the slaughter trucks, let them know that someone really did care about them in the end.

As always, our vet and staff will be evaluating each horse for quality of life and adoptability. Horses that have a good quality of life and are adoptable will be brought into the adoption program.

Donate Now

9-22-10

2010-09-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

Jason and Larry had to head to Chico, so they stopped by the railroad yard to get some more ties for fence posts. We can't thank Dustin at Union Pacific enough for arranging these extremely cheap posts for us!

One by one Jason loaded them into the trailer. Some of them really are heavy, others were fairly light.

This one looks like it's heavy, and he says it was!

From the rail yard they headed to Tractor Supply to get the material for the 1st pen under the shelters. Jennifer G graciously donated the needed funds for the 1st pen. She wants horse living under the shelter she donated!

The plan is to have 20' x 32' pens, 1 horse per pen. 20 pens in total for the first group of shelters.

These 16' sections sure are long.

One by one Jason and the Tractor Supply worker loaded the panels on top of the railroad ties.

Soon the panels were all loaded and they headed to the rescue.

At the rescue, there were a great group of volunteers waiting for the material to show up. April and Amee got down in the ditch and started gluing the water line while Larry, Colby and Jason set the center posts. Colby, holding the post, is a very helpful young man who has started volunteering on an almost daily basis when he is not in class. He is extremely helpful and we cannot thank him enough for all his time and energy. He hopes someday to make a career in the animal welfare mission.

One by one the posts went up, while the girls did a great job laying the water line.

Finally the center posts were done and they set up the panels in the approximate location where they will be for a visual of how it will look. We can't wait to ge the first pen done! Who will be the lucky horse to live in the Jackey Boy pen first? Tawnee says it will be Buckeye, but time will will tell.

It sure will be nice to have all 20 pens ready for residents. It will be much easier for potential adopters to visit them on an individual basis instead of visiting them in a herd setting. We will definitely have to plan a big open house when they are done.

Today's eBay giving works item is a great gift for a kid in your life. It is a Fisher Price Digital Arts and Crafts Studio that is both fun and easy. Great great gift for a 4-9 year old! It's only $14.99 and 25% goes to help the horses! Click here.

Many thanks to Vivian B for her generous donation, we really appreciate your support!

9-21-10

2010-09-22T06:04:00.000-07:00

We are working hard on getting the new site up and going by October 1st, and officially switching over to Horse Plus Humane Society. It is amazing how much work a name change takes! From the blog (horsehumane.wordpress.com) to the Facebook ( facebook.com/horsehumane) to a new twitter name (twitter.com/horsehumane) down to the new website (still under construction, but you can probably guess the name, and if you do, give it a typo check for us!) There are even some amazing new changes taking place on the backend, one of the most exciting of which will be a new phone system. Big changes are taking place, but our mission is and always will be the same: doing everything we can to help as many horses as we can escape the brutality of abuse and slaughter. Hopefully some day in the future we will be able to only worry about over-breeding and educating owners like those in the dog and cat welfare field. Dogs and cats don't get shipped to slaughter en masse. But for now, our fight is a much harder fight. Together, we are making a difference! This year alone, we have rescued 303 animals, mainly horses but a few day old calves and some goats. In total, we have rescued 1,495 animals since 2003. No, we're not counting chickens, cats or pigeons, they haven't been put into the system. We are proud of the work we do and know you are too, because you make it possible every day.

Larry was on the tractor today finishing the water ditch to provide water to the shelters. The waters will be under the shelters so it can stay cool in the shade.

After the ditch was dug, the pipe was laid in.

Then the dirt was put back on top. Sadly, there wasn't enough glue for the pipe, and a couple other supplies need to be bought, so Larry wasn't able to get it finished.

This afternoon we got a phone call from a desperate horse owner. He had no money, and had lost everything. We told him that we could take his horse, thanks to the generosity of Caroline R and Irene C whose donations today made it possible for poor arthritic Gaily to come in under our Last Act of Kindness program. She has severe arthritis in her knees and is in lots of pain. As always, our vet will do a quality of life determination to see if her pain can be managed and she can be placed into our adoption program.

We are so thankful that we are able to bring in horses like Gaily who have no other options. Their owners are even more grateful that we are here to help no matter what.

Gaily has such a cute face. So many owners are faced with such desperate situations. Some owners simply abandon their horse. Others give them away to what they hope is a good home. Others starve them.

Soon Gaily was at the rescue eating yummy hay.

Ruthann has been diligently spreading the word about the Animal Rescue Site's Holiday Shelter challenge. We really appreciate her writing this up. We have attempted it before, but it's complicated... Way to go Ruthann! "NorCal is signed up to participate in the Animal Rescue Site’s $100,000 Holiday Shelter Challenge which starts September 20. Go to www.theanimalrescuesite.com. There is a purple button to click on to donate free food to rescued animal. This... is free to you. It is all paid for by the sponsors. After clicking you get to a page where you can vote for your favorite rescue. Click on the word Vote with a heart next to it. Put in NorCal in Oroville, CA, click to vote. You will then come to a page to confirm your vote by saying what animal’s picture is being shown that day. On the homepage, You can register for a reminder to be sent to your email everyday so that you won’t even have to remember to do this. You will be donating free food to help rescued animals and helping NorCal.If you are reading this, you see what great work these wonderful people do. Let’s all commit to share this on your facebook page and ask our friends to post it. This organization deserves all the help and blessings that they can get. Please help. We can do this!!!"

There is a gorgeous Courbette Felbach saddle on eBay we think you may just want to take a closer look at. It is currently $9.99 and 25% of the sale price goes to help the horses! Click here.

Many thanks to Caroline R. and Irene C. for their generous donations to the euthanasia clinic. Gaily thanks you too!

9-20-10

2010-09-21T12:22:00.001-07:00

The September free euthanasia clinic is coming up this Sunday. We have a lot of calls from people who are signing up for their elderly horses. Now that wintertime is just around the corner, owners are making the wise decision not to allow their elderly horses to suffer through a long, cold wet winter. USA Fundraising website (the kind folks who hosted the fundraising thermometer) are no longer operating, and as such our thermometers are down. We are currently at $550, and need $2,500 to provide end of life services to elderly horses in need this Sunday. Please help keep these horses out of the slaughter pipeline or suffering through the winter, click here.

The kb brought 8 more horses in, 4 of them he purchased at a livestock auction, and he gave us the option to purchase them. The other 4 were from the staging area.

Sad, bedraggled horses. They wondered why this happened to them. They wondered why they had to go through what they were, wondering why their owners walked away from them, leaving them helpless.

Dawn is one of them poor dears from the staging area. Too weak to make the final trip to Mexico, she had two paths ahead in her life: languish and die a slow painful death at the staging area or come to the rescue. Some folks think it is a waste of time and money to rescue these horses from the staging area. Just look at Dawn's sad tired face. Someone at some point loved her, someone cared about her, someone who owned her at one point would probably be horrified and in tears to know where she is now and what she has been through. Every life is precious.

Opel came from the livestock auction and is a gorgeous 4 year old QH mare. She is a lucky girl to not be heading down to Mexico.

Brownie is a poor baby from the staging area. Just look at those nicks and scrapes. The double decker ride was not kind.

Laramie is Brownies friend from the staging area. No doubt, in their short lives, they have seen and experienced more horror than any horse should have to. We are just so thankful that Brownie did not have to see Laramie die under the butchers knife right in plain sight in Mexico.

Georgia is a gorgeous paint mare from the livestock auction. She is a little shy but with a little time and relaxation she should be fine in no time.

Rusty is an adorable POA who simply ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time, but now, she is at the right place at the right time thanks to your support.

Ruby is the final horse to come from the auction. It is interesting looking at her mane, you can see where someone, maybe a little kid, tried to make her look beautiful.

Midnight is the last horse from the staging area. He was too far gone, he just didn't have the strength to make the final trip to slaughter. Ironic isn't it, not strong enough to be slaughtered. What a terrible, rotten evil "industry."

At first, it did't make sense to us why these emaciated horses were ending up at the staging areas. Why were they even put on the slaughter trucks to begin with? What it comes down to, is Mexico will take anything. Pregnant mares, ponies, donkeys, mules, emaciated, fat, they don't care. The emaciated horses that have no meat on their bodies are butchered for their hides and bones. The bones are crafted into trinkets to sell to tourists. Please don't buy bone trinkets in Mexico, it could have been your horse.

The reason emaciated horses are put on the truck, is the truck can't roll until it is full. The trucking owners don't want half full loads moving down the road, so they jam anything they can find that is still walking into the double deckers. Once at the staging area, the horses that are too weak to make the last leg of the trip are kicked out and their space filled with stronger horses from other trailers. What a horrible horrible situation.

It is so sad that the slaughter "industry" allows abusive owners to throw their victims away instead of taking responsibility for them. Just imagine if you could sell your dog on the black market, just because it's old, and you don't want to be responsible, you can walk away like it's trash, and your dog is crammed into a crate, with hundreds of other dogs, destined for slaughter in a foreign country where they eat dog meat. Wake up, we must be responsible for our elderly horses!

These horses give their entire lives in serving humans. Loving, trusting, giving their heart and their all to please us. This is not what they deserve, this is not humane. There is nothing good about the slaughter "industry" they are not cleaning up a mess, they are enabling abusers, and are abusers themselves.

Midnight no doubt has let hundreds of people ride on his back. Now, his back is sunken from lack of food. Why can't people be responsible? Thank you so much for your support, Midnight and all the other horses that come to the rescue know love and compassion. Those that we must say "Goodbye" to will know thoughts of love instead of hate, and those that find homes will find that there is such a thing as a forever home.

On a much brighter note, about this time Pepper the Llama, now named Obama the Llama, was gazing into his new mommy's eyes. We are sad to see him go, but so happy for him all at the same time. He will have such a wonderful home, and his new mommy is so happy to have him.

The donkey looked on with wonder. Where they really going to be sharing a pen? Obama will have some goat friends as well. No doubt, he thought he was getting away from all the equines and that annoying Mr T.

Back at the rescue, Jason and a volunteer were at the rescue screwing down roofing onto the pen shelters. Screw after screw, roof section after roof section went down. Finally, the last screw was being screwed down!

Now, the first 5 shelters are finished! Now the Bunny Bop Bear, Rosey Bop Bear, Sammy, Jennifer Leigh, and Linda's Shelter are up and waiting for the pens to be put around them so the horses can wait for their forever homes in style.

This is a 'must have' eBay Giving Works item. Everyone needs one of these in your tack room. When that little kid comes over with his boots and helmet, you can make your saddle work just perfect for those little legs. This is a Little Dude brand child's leather stirrups. The safety stirrups in themselves are worth more than the current price of $19.99. And best of all, 50% of the sale price goes to help the horses. Click here.

Many thanks to Gail G. for her generous sponsorship. Please consider helping horses like Midnight find love, click here.

9-19-10

2010-09-20T11:41:00.001-07:00

First off, thank you so much everyone for your extremely generous donations towards saving lives from the slaughterhouse! There is still $85 in the donation matching fund, so for the next $85 that comes in, it will be doubled automatically. Please help bring slaughter bound horses to safety, click here.

It was a long week at the rescue, Jason and Tawnee were at training so now it is time to catch you up on the happenings.

Monday, the kb came with a stallion we believed was cryptorchid. He also had an old leg injury on his hind leg. Our vet evaluated him to determine whether he was cryptorchid or not. Sadly, he was cryptorchid, and due to other issues preventing him being adoptable, he was humanely euthanized. We are so thankful that he never knew the horrors of the slaughterhouse, and that he was able to be pulled from the pipeline and given a dignified and humane ending.

The KB had a little goat in the trailer as well. He wanted $20 for her. She was injured and we just couldn't let her go.

Betty is a cute little girl. She was very weak, but was so grateful for the yummy food.

While the KB was there, Connie was out on the tractor scraping pens and making everything look great. We really appreciate the tractor being at the rescue!

April, Larry and the volunteers were going to be keeping the rescue running all week. Unfortunately there didn't seem to be a camera available, so there are no pictures from the rescue all week. They took horses to the vet for evaluations, lameness exams, and they also took Betty to the vet for medical care. Meanwhile, Jason and Tawnee did have a camera with them, so the blog will follow their week.

On part of the trip to the training, Jason and Tawnee saw this billboard alongside the road. It's a compelling thought. If you can't read it, it says "Which do you pet? Which do you eat? Why?"

Soon they arrived at the Santa Rosa Police academy once again. It is a beautiful facility.

The training they would be taking was PC 832 Firearms. It is part of their training for becoming level I humane officers.

The first day was spent in the classroom learning all the ins and outs of everything.

The next two days were quite difficult and were spent in the gun range. It was an extremely strict class, 2 people were kicked out due to safety violations, and 2 people didn't pass the final shooting test.

8 hours a days standing in a hot, humid stinky gun range is quite draining on your feet and legs.

There were some short breaks after a few hours of standing. Tawnee just had to find somewhere to sit, even if it meant sitting on top of a fire hydrant. She just had to give a break to her legs!

Here they are learning how to shoot from behind cover. The wood simulated the corner of a building.

Finally all the shooting was done, the final test was taken, and the instructors were counting bullet holes.

Tawnee passed with flying colors, and got 36 out of 36. Jason is embarrassed to say that Tawnee beat him, but at least he passed. He got 35 out of 36. Passing was getting 29 out of the 36. Two people didn't shoot good enough to pass.

They were awarded their POST certificates of completion.

Sunday morning, Jason and Tawnee headed out to check on the critters that are at the vet. Buckeye is doing absolutely great. You can tell he is so much more comfortable now, he has a new peace about him.

To refresh your memory, here is a picture of his hoof before the surgery.

And this is how it looks now. What an amazing difference!

Betty is doing well too. She was still waking up from her morning nap when Tawnee looked into her stall.

We didn't realize it, but her injury went all the way through the underside of her leg out the top. Most likely she was gored by another goats horns at the auction.

Shadow, the surviving calf from the last calf rescue, is doing great and moved out to the rescue. She is healthy and strong, and now able to begin her new life with all the other critters. She enjoyed meeting Parcy too.

After feeding time, she went running around. Shanti was in the round pen and wanted to have some fun too.

Shadow is living with Dottie and Macho Man. She is quite comfortable and happy with them.

Sunday some great potential adopters come out and look at horses. Scarlet was placed in adoption pending. This girl was very interested in Music, and are hoping to adopt her into their family. Keep your fingers crossed, she would have a great home as they have adopted from us before and they have an awesome home.

Jason and some volunteers got to work putting up a new shelter. This shelter was donated to the rescue a few weeks ago, they just didn't have a chance to get it up yet. It is an older shelter, and extremely strong and heavy.

One by one the walls went up, but when it came time to put the gate up, it took every bit of muscle these two strong guys have to actually pick it up. They estimated that just the gate section of the shelter weighs over 350 lbs! No horse should be able to hurt it and it will keep the horses inside very safe.

Larry started putting the water line in down the shelters.

But then he had to use to the tractor to put the roof on the shelter.

Once again, Connie's tractor was a lifesaver, the roof is probably over 600 lbs, and there is no way to put it up there without a tractor.

Finally the shelter was all together and ready for an inhabitant.

Jason and Tawnee say it's great to be back after the training. It is so calm and peaceful compared to the noise and smoke of the gun range. Please bare with us as everyone gets caught back up with emails and phone messages.

Parcy graduated too, he is now a big boy and can live out in the pasture with the horses.

This beautiful watch is on eBay with a buy-it-now of only $42.95. 10% of the sale price goes to help the horses! Click here.

We would like to thank everyone who swipes their SHARES card when shopping. We received a couple checks from them for almost $600! What a great way to help for free. Just remember to swipe that card, it really does make a difference.

A huge "Thank you!" to Jean S., Colleen S., Karen B., Patricia D., Judy H., Gail G., Catherine J., Charlotte K., Richard L., Norma C., Janice M., Sheri B., Trudi R., Howard N., Kelly Y., Jenette S., Dream Quilts by Wendy, Lori R., Charlene C.

9-12-10

2010-09-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

We have some very exciting news - Stephanie H has offered a $500 matching donation for the Dano Fund! Every dollar donated, for the next $500, becomes $2 just like that. Your $10 becomes $20. $50 becomes $100. The next $500 will raise the thermometer $1000 just like that! Thank you Stephanie H for your generous offer to help bring slaughter bound horses to safety. Thanks to everyone that has been donating, the thermometer is currently at $1,121. Make it go higher, click here.

Recently there was a big happening in Sacramento. They made old town Sacramento look like the 1800's, they brought dirt in over the pavement, etc etc. Someone there posted the below picture on Facebook. We thought you may all enjoy it. She commented: "This is Monarch, He is from NorCal Equine Rescue and I spoke with his new owner, he can't say enough great things about his Morgan.... love it! Monarch was at the rescue a week ago! This was his first time through the drills! Way to go!" It looks like Monarch is having the time of his life. Him and his dad were such a great match.

For those that don't know, Monarch came from Placer County Animal Control and was adopted very recently.

Friday, the chickens were trying to figure out what was going on. They decided that Jason had lost his mind. Jason was tying some scary looking object on top of the hay wagon. Whatever could he be doing? This little chicken couldn't believe how undignified Jason was acting.

Jason did have a reason for tying a pallet on top of the hay wagon. He would crawl on top and screw the roofing down on top of the shelters. Unfortunately he was the only one working at the time and so he couldn't get a picture of himself doing it...

It was so nice seeing the roofing going up on the shelters.

Finally the first shelter, named Jennifer Leigh, was up. A huge "Thank you!" to Jennifer who donated the funds to purchase this shelter. In the coming years, thousands of horses will enjoy the shade it provides. What an exciting moment, the first shelter finished.

We would like to give you an update on Buckeye. He is doing great and walking almost as freely as he did before the surgery. It took Macho Man 6 months to fully recover from the surgery. Buckeye is well on his way, we are so excited for him!

He is such a cool little guy, we are so thankful that you, our supporters, made his surgery possible, and we know he is thankful too.

Sunday morning, the chores were in full swing. There were a lot of people out helping, which made the chores go even faster.

Soon the chores were done, and it was time to get back on the shelters. This time, Jason had some great help. There was a great group of guys to help get the shelters up.

Tawnee decided it was high time the round pen get scraped down again. We haven't chosen the permanent location, and there isn't any sand in it, so it has to be scraped down to dirt. Especially since it ends up being a holding pen more often then a round pen. She got to work, thinking "Ok, I'll put everything in piles and make the guys shovel it into the hay wagon."

April decided to help her too, but shortly after she got to work her cell phone rang. Soon she looked at Tawnee, who was still scraping the loose material into piles, and gave her a stern look and said "Stop!" Tawnee figured she must be making too much noise for April to hear her phone conversation. But wait, April had exciting news...

...a tractor was on the way to the rescue! That is why April wanted Tawnee to stop dead in her tracks. What a huge blessing.

The tractor rolled in and got right to work. Then Tawnee thought to herself "Why was I shoveling those little piles around?"

The tractor made a big job very easy and we are so thankful that Connie brought her tractor to the rescue today to help. It is so nice to have the round pen looking sharp and clean.

Soon the round pen in use once again. Rascal had a potential adopter checking him out.

They really fell in love with the guy and put him in adoption pending. They are also going to have a lameness exam done by our vet to make sure he is ok.

Shantee also had a potential adopter visiting her.

Shantee and her got along great and Shantee was put in adoption pending as well.

Meanwhile, the guys were making major progress on the shelters. The next shelter is up, this one is named Sammy.

We also had potential adopters looking at the chickens today. We're sure the bugs will be happy if the chickens move.

When things settled down, Larry got busy moving the piles from the round pen to the composting pile.

We all dream of someday having a tractor as a permanent resident here at the rescue. But for now, we want to thank Connie again for letting the tractor 'live' here for a few days. It is really appreciated!

There was a great adoption this Sunday, but first we must share the history with you. Back in April, we had two horses surrendered come into the rescue. They were both in very poor condition, skinny and bedraggled. They were half brothers. The person who owned them fell on hard times due to the economy. They arrived at the old rescue location after dark and were led into the waiting pen where food and water were plentiful.

We had a someone become approved to adopt who was very interested in adopting both them. She really liked the little black and white one, Lou, and could see through his shabby outside and see the heart of gold inside. With a little love and care, he would be beautiful on the outside once again.

They really liked both of them, but they completely fell for Lou. They wanted to take them both home, we were all in high hopes that Lou and Chip would be able to spend their whole lives together and have a great home.

After speaking with their trainer and different folks, it was decided to only adopt Lou. They wanted to concentrate on Lou to make sure his recovery was complete and they were able to spend the time with him that he needed. Two horses in rehab was a little much for their home.

We were sad that Chip would not be able to be adopted with Lou, but were happy that Lou was going to his forever home. We were very happy when Connie, who brought the tractor, adopted Chip. She was going to rehab him, put some training on him, and then bring him back to the rescue as a more adoptable horse. She knew she couldn't keep him forever, but she wanted to give him the gift of a great start to life.

Meanwhile, Lou was doing great and his adoptive family was ready to add another member to their family. They came to the rescue Sunday to look around and see who they might find. They brought this recent picture of Lou. He is doing great and has really started growing. Connie told them how well Chip was doing, and that he was ready to be adopted through us once again. They got so excited, they just had to go see him.

Unfortunately, there was no camera to catch the events, but as you can see from this older photo, Chip has filled out and is a gorgeous boy once again. He has had lots of groundwork training and he takes the saddle wonderfully. They filled out the adoption paperwork and added Chip to their family. We are so excited that these two brothers will be together once again. Everything worked out great in the end!

A couple of announcements: First off, we recently found out that no emails had been sent through Larry's email system for a couple weeks. We are working getting this complication solved and get the email system up and going once again. We apologize for any inconvenience. Hang in there, you will get a reply!

Second, Jason and Tawnee are going to be in training for the rest of the week. They are hoping to post to Facebook, facebook.com/horsehumane, for updates, but they do not expect to write a full blog until after next Sunday's events. We thank you for your understanding.

We plan on being opened to visitors next Sunday.

Many thanks to Anonymous, Sara H., Claudia S., Margaret B., Danielle C., Donna A., Denise S., Judith H., Pat B., Lee E., Kristen D., Iris L., William E., Roberta A., Martha M., Marilyn R., Robert D., Martin O., for their generous donations. We couldn't do it without your support!

Please remember, there is a $500 matching donation for the Dano Fund, please consider donating today. Click here.

9-9-10

2010-09-09T22:03:00.001-07:00

Thank you so much for your generosity towards saving lives! Currently we have raised $896 towards the goal of $6,500. If anyone is interested in offering a matching donation of $500 or more, please let us know. This really helps with fundraising and makes every dollar count even more!

During feeding time, Tawnee was moving a bale of hay to get it ready to go into the hay wagon. She finally got the bale positioned, reached in for a good hold, when she yelled "Yikes!" and coiled back in pain. What kind of barbaric sticker got into this hay? Sometimes weeds and stickers end up in hay that are not supposed to be there, but whatever this was definitely was the worst. She took a closer look and found a bee. It had stung her pinky finger. Guess there really is a first time for everything!

Tawnee had another surprise when she walked by the tack room. A group of kittens came out of the tack room to meet her. That was a little unexpected!

This little guy jumped up on the hay wagon and posed for a picture. What a cutey!

Once the feeding was done, Tawnee took some photos for the website. This is Radella, the youngster from the last kb drop off. She is a cute little girl and has pretty good manners. Someone spent a lot of time with her at one point before she entered the slaughter pipeline.

Larry hooked up the trailer to head out to make a delivery.

Bailee was being adopted! He loaded up in the trailer all wide eyed for his new adventure and a new beginning. He is a lucky little guy.

Bailee is one of the youngsters the kb brought in on the 23rd of August. He was delivered safely to his home and his mommy was so happy to have him safe at home.

By this time Tawnee had rounded up all the kittens and called Northwest SPCA to see if we could do a shelter to shelter transfer. We are not currently set up for kittens, just as Northwest SPCA is not set up for horses.

They agreed to take the kittens so Tawnee headed to their lovely facility.

Maybe someday in the future as our facility and staff grow and expand, we will have a place for kittens that have no other home. For now, we want to give a huge "Thank you" to the Northwest SPCA for taking these little guys. If you are interested in adopting one of them, they should be available soon. Most of them were friendly and liked attention. To view their available cats, click here.

From the Northwest SPCA Tawnee headed out to see Buckeye. He is doing extremely well. He is walking so much better and we can tell he is on his way to a great recovery.

We would like to thank each and every one of you who donated to give Buckeye a great quality of life.

There is a lovely horsey picture frame on Ebay that benefits the horses when it sells. It is currently 99 cents and 10% of the sale prices goes to us! You can learn all about it by clicking here.

We will be posting eBay Giving Works items on a regular basis again, so keep your eye on the bottom of the blog for some neat items. If you have items you wish to sell on eBay, and donate a percentage to help out, click here. We would like to thank Bertha L for sending a huge box of items for fundraising. We may be putting them on eBay as well. In lieu of sending us items to sell on eBay ourselves, it is far easier for our staff if you can post them on eBay yourself. You can even select 100% of the sale price to go to the rescue! Items that are mailed directly to us may end up on eBay or used in local fundraiser events. Thank you!

A huge "Thank you!" goes to Sara H., Becky W., Claude B., Lee E., Shari W., Maurine K., Natalie K., Donna A. for their very generous donations. We couldn't do it without your support!

9-8-10

2010-09-08T21:26:00.001-07:00

Thanks to your extremely generous donations, $875 has been raised to bring slaughter bound horses to safety. The Dano Fund was established to bring horses in desperate need into the rescue where they can find love, compassion, and the best chance at a forever home. The fund is used for two purposes, transportation costs to bring the horses from the slaughter staging area ($100 per horse) and to rescue horses at livestock auctions, cost depending on what killer buyers are willing to pay for the meat on their bones. Please donate what you can to help save lives. Click here...

We need to bring you up to speed on what has been going on since Labor Day. This mare named Music is 22 years old and was brought to us by her owner due to the hard economic times. She has owned this horse almost all of her life and was absolutely devastated when she had to make the hard decision to bring her to the rescue. Music is a very nice girl that would make a great kids horse. She does have arthritis and would need injections and other medical maintenance to make her comfortable for riding. She is very sweet.

Crow has decided that his life got a whole lot better. It seems that about 20 chickens got displaced due to a move, and they found their way to the rescue. Crow feels like a king! He is a standard size chicken and the rest are bantams.

Now there are 21 chickens running about the rescue eating flies and bugs. They are definitely having a huge chicken party.

There is a hen sitting on 7 eggs. This hen has 1 itty itty baby. If you are interested in adopting some cute bantam chickens to run around your ranch, and you don't want to eat them, please let us know.

Rascal is a very beautiful Appendix QH gelding who was no longer able to stay with his family due to a divorce. He is 16 years old, he is trained to ride but has been hanging out for awhile and will need a refresher course. He is a big beautiful guy who wants a new home, maybe yours?

Monday a group of guys met at the rescue for a hard days work. The shelters are getting put together, and that was the day to put on the perlins (the cross beams that hold the roof on.)

So many holes had to be drilled, so many bolts put in.

One by one they went up.

It was amazing watching so much work get done.

Finally, the last perlin was being bolted into place. Many thanks to Scott, Larry, Rob and Jason for making the shelters that much closer to being done.

Tremendous progress is being made towards the name change. The legal end of the name change has happened, so we can now legally accept donations as Horse Plus Humane Society. Larry already has his truck magnet made up so people can identify him. Larry got pulled over the other day by law enforcement, and there is already interest in a possible contract to provide animal services. Exciting times!

The website is also moving along, we hope to open it to the public very soon.

And, last but not least, we would like to invite you to visit our Horse Plus Humane Society facebook page. We will be only updating only the Horse Plus Humane Society page now, so make sure you become a fan! click here.

Many thanks to: Emily G. - Pamela N. - Pamela R. - Shawna W. - Dianna S. - Jaime V. - Barbara B. - Carla G. - Marie J. - Faryn K. - Barbara C. - Judy C. - Laurie D. - Heidi S - Todd W. - Claude B. - Shari W. - Maurine K. - Cindy R. - Dena L. - Teresa L. - Joni M. - Patricia F. - Yvonne P. - Omar S. - Katie G. - Marilyn R. - Select Enterprises - Lance A. - Josh W. - Rhonda L. - Yvonne W. - Carla G. - Cindy M. - Show Dressed Up - Sea Horse Training - Gail G. - Lori F. - Sara H. - Becky W. - Lee E. for their extremely generous donations.

9-7-10

2010-09-07T22:07:00.000-07:00

Over the Labor Day weekend, the killer buyer brought in 5 more horses. Apparently the slaughter pipeline never takes a holiday.

The 5 horses came in from the staging area somewhere in CA. The horses that are left at the staging areas are unloaded off the double decker rigs, about 45 horses per trailer. The ones that are too weak to continue the trip of death to Mexico are left to linger and slowly die at the staging areas. With our current arrangement with the kb, on his way back north he is willing to pick up the horses left for dead at the staging area and transport them to the rescue for $100 each. Most of these horses are older horses that have given their all serving humans, but are then thrown away like trash in their older days. Many of these horses had a caring owner's at one time, but due to the horses age, the thought of "Let's find someone that wants a horse to put out to pasture to spend his last days" comes about. Instead of taking responsibility for their senior horse, they find someone who is willing to take the horse, but unfortunately, typically the horse ends up in the slaughter pipeline instead of retiring on green pastures. Please, if you have a senior horse, do the right thing and keep that horse until its last days, don't send him on to an unknown future. If you cannot keep your older horse, be responsible, humane euthanasia is far kinder than sending your senior on to a terrible fate, such as this poor mare Kitty.

Kitty was emaciated and was down in the KB's trailer when he came. She was badly foundered and her pleas for help and soft knickers when Tawnee approached was heart wrenching.

Her body was so thin, it was just hide stretched over a skeleton. Mexico takes emaciated horses for their hides and bones to make such items as buttons and other trinkets to sell. That is why poor emaciated horses like this end up in the slaughter pipeline. Just fill up the truck, get weighed and get paid.

This mare had a story to tell from what could be pieced together. Someone had given her a bridle path not long ago, a few months. Somebody cared about her, it was somebody who probably thought "I'll find my older mare a nice home somewhere where she can spend her days eating yummy food and being with other horses." This mare was probably given to one of those "nice people" who would give this older mare a wonderful home to spend her days. Instead, she was probably put in a pen with other horses. Unable to fight her way to the limited food, she became weaker and weaker until she was thrown in the slaughter pipeline before she died and they would have to deal with a body. In the double decker, she found herself unable to stand and was soon thrown away like trash at one of the staging areas. They knew she would be dead by the time she made it to Mexico.

There was so little life left in Kitty. She sat up for a little bit, but then went back down on Tawnee's lap as she gently stroked her forehead. It is so hard seeing horses that have given their whole life in serving humans, when they need their owners the most, their owners reject them.

Sadly there was nothing that could be done but to let her know love and simply fall asleep on Tawnee's lap. Please please please, be responsible with your elderly horse, your horse could easily end up just like Kitty. If owners would be responsible, horse rescues would not be needed. Over breeding and lack of responsibility are what create this situation, we just do what we can to give the horses love so their last thoughts are ones of love and compassion, not torture and slaughter.

Meet Abbot, an older gelding who is in desperate need of groceries. He was thrown away at the staging area like Kitty. He is suffering from extremely poor health and is occasionally bleeding from the nostrils. He probably wonders how he ended up in this situation...

...why was he not given even enough food to sustain his body? Why in his last days he had to feel hunger pains every moment.

Farley is another older gelding who was so sore he could barely move his legs. He had a terrible infection through most of his body, the infection sites were bulging with puss. He had a terrible case of strangles that went systemic. Systemic strangles in generally fatal in the long run, and due to his poor body condition, Farley was humanely euthanised to relieve his constant suffering.

Raedan is also an older gelding. He has severe arthritis in both front knees. No doubt, his owner decided that since he couldn't be ridden, there was no room at their house for him anymore. Who wants the expense of a horse you can't ride? So they found him what they thought would be a good home. Instead, he entered the slaughter pipeline, and only because his body was too weak to make it to Mexico, he has not been slaughtered. Instead he is safe. It's sad that with being emaciated comes safety.

Radella is the youngest of the group that was brought in over the weekend. She appears to be fairly healthy and she may have just refused to get back in the double decker when it was time to go. Perhaps she put up such a strong fight for her life that they decided to get her on the next go-around. It's hard to say why she was not sent to Mexico, but she is safe now. She such a lucky little horse!

Last month we purchased about 30 horses from the killer buyer. He said he could have made it 50 horses easily. He also gave us a proposition that we could purchase horses from him that he buys at livestock auctions instead of them heading down to Mexico on his next route. We can still get the horses from the staging area from him, but we would be able to get more adoptable horses from him that would be heading to slaughter as well. He doesn't care, money is money to him. We are asking for your help to make this possible. No horse deserves to be slaughtered, and if we can get these precious lives out, and let them know that somebody cared for them, it will be worth every penny.

The most horses we ever purchased from livestock auctions in 1 month was 40 horses. We did this with $10,000 that was donated that month for livestock auction rescues. That was in July of 2009. Our goal is to raise $6,500 to rescue and care for slaughter bound horses as soon as possible so we can start saving horses heading to the pipeline. Many of these horses should be able to find homes, many of them will only have the last blessing of knowing that someone cared and loved them at the end. Every life is precious, every life deserves to be treated with dignity and love.

Help us help them - click here.

9-2-10

2010-09-03T08:51:00.000-07:00

Notice: Due to the 4 day weekend, we will be closed to visitors this Sunday, but will be accepting horse surrenders. Please look for the next blog about next Tuesday.

We have been wanting to share some horse updates about adoptees for some time now, and today we have the opportunity. First we will share the sad news, then the happy news.

Casper was surrendered to us and adopted by one of our wonderful adoptive homes. She gave him a wonderful home and they spent many hours together on the trail, parades, and just spending time together. Sadly, a couple weeks ago, he suddenly passed away from what we believe is an aneurysm. Casper, you were such a wonderful loving boy, you will be truly missed.

On to happy updates, Olive, the abandoned Mustang mare, is doing great in her new home. Her new mommy loves her so much!

We received this update about Dakota: "Just wanted to update you on Dakota, the arab that we adopted last November. He's a special boy, extremely sweet and gentle, and we absolutely adore him. He has personality+ and even comes on command.

He's in a large pen with 3 other horses and may be as much as 200 ft. away from the gate, but his head will pop up when his name is called and he trots over while the others stay behind--quite the character!!

His training is going well, he's a quick learner and willing student. He's wearing a western saddle pad in the photo only because the surcingle was a little big on him, but he is being trained classically. Next, he'll learn to take the bit and will be ready to ride.

Thank you again for rescuing him and so many other worthy horses."

Dakota came to us from Placer County Animal Control. Thank you so much for giving him such a great home!

Ramito, on the left, is doing great too. His mommy and daddy are the same mommy and daddy of Officer Kramer, the police horse. Ramito's owners were no longer able to keep him and surrendered him.

Here is an update on Brighty: "Took this today, thought you'd like to see Kathryn getting ready for her first horse show, on Brighty!! She is very excited for her "Pee Wee Equitation class"....she has breeches, boots and is ready to go. Brighty is such a trooper. Pik, Tonka, Dolly & Cruiser are all great!"

Brighty was surrendered to us to find a forever home. He definitely has that!

Here is an update on Sienna & Ebony: "I wanted to share a quick update on Sienna, Ky (Sienna's Filly), & Ebony. I brought home Sienna & Ebony 1 1/2 years ago and they are doing great. I've been having such a great time working with them and watching them progress in their training. They are all so gorgeous and sweet. They came to me almost completely unhandled and now all three tie, bathe, trailer, stand politely for the vet, farrier, grooming, and most of all they are happy and extremely spoiled and loved!! Sienna & Ebony stand patiently while being tacked up and seem to enjoy their ground work. Sienna has been under saddle several times now and so far has been a complete angel, never offering a buck or anything naughty. I sure got lucky finding your rescue and these girls! Thank you!!"

Ebony was rescued from the Roseville Livestock Auction.

Sienna was also rescued from the Roseville Livestock Auction the same day as Ebony. They were ran through the auction ring together. Many thanks to Jennifer G for making their rescue possible!

Unbeknown to us, she had this cute girl tucked away in her belly when she rescued. She had a nice surprise for her adopter. What a cute adorable baby.

Cooper's Update: "I adopted Cooper at the end of 2008. New Years Day 2009, we had an accident- he was threatened by a couple of dogs from a neighboring property that came through the fence, and in his haste to get away, he lost his footing in the snow and ended up falling… on me… I ended up with a broken collarbone and shoulder, and multiple broken ribs. As you can imagine, I could not ride for several months. When I was really able to ride, I decided to start him over as if he had never been broken. I have put many hours into him, with the payoff being an incredibly sweet loving reliable saddle horse! Thank you so much for my boy, and for everything you do!"

Cooper was rescued from Roseville Livestock Auction. We are so thankful that he has such a wonderful home that is willing to stick with him through thick and thin.

This update we got on Buck, Doc and Pedo. The adopters wrote up a little narrative for their pictures...

Buck is nearly 30 years old now, he was adopted from us in 2006. He came to us because his owners would no longer keep him.

"Buck is finally slowing down, or maybe he thought we had grain."

Doc came to us in 2006 from Lassen County Animal Control.

Doc "Did someone say grain?"

"No grain, then we're out of here."

Pedo was rescued from the Cowtown Livestock Auction. He was a stallion, but quickly became a beautiful gelding. He is now enjoying his life immensely.

"Pedo soaking up the sun. Thank you again for helping us find our wonderful friends."

This is a great update: "Just wanted to drop a line and update you on Beauty (Dakota Flash, grey), Georgia (polomino tobiano), and Hattie (Pearl, bay tovero). Beauty came to me in the fall of 08 and she is now 6. I sent her to a trainer last fall for 60 days and we have been working since spring. She knows all the basics but tends to have a mind of her own, always testing. She is sometimes more of a challenge than I would like. On the upside she keeps me on my toes and forces me to keep improving my skills. Sisters, Hattie and Georgia came to us just over a year ago. Hattie will be going into training later this summer while Georgia will wait another year to give her some time to grow into those legs. I believe that Hattie will make a great kids horse which is good since she seems to be staying kind of small. Georgia on the other hand is a good 15 hands, very smart and much more reactive. Definitely not one to be left sitting. Both turned two in March 2010. I have included a couple of pics of each. One of them just shows the difference in height. Check out Hattie joining me for a cup of ice tea. She is perfectly happy sharing while I prefer to have my own cup. Thank you for the opportunity to know these wonderful souls. Keep up the great work."

Here Hattie is enjoying sharing a cup with her owner. Hattie was rescued from the Roseville Livestock Auction as a yearling.

Hattie's sister, Georgia, was also rescued from the Roseville Livestock Auction the same day.

Beauty came to us in 2005, a PMU throwaway. So sad the PMU industry makes so many babies, with no where for them to go. Thankfully Beauty has a wonderful home now and is truly beautiful!

Dun Deal came to us last year, one of the Clint Ritchie mustangs. She is doing very well now with her family. They recently adopted Tante to add to their family.

Montana came to us from the Cowtown Livestock Auction at the same time as Pedo. He too was a stallion who became a gelding and is now enjoying his life. "Just wanted to show you how cute Montana has gotten. He is a good boy. Very sweet, smart and fun. What's not to love ;-)"

We would like to thank all of our adopters who are giving such wonderful homes to their adoptees. It is so wonderful to save a life by adopting. We love getting updates, if you have adopted from us, please send us an update and maybe you'll see it on the blog!

Just a reminder, we will be closed to visitors this Sunday, we will still be accepting horse surrenders, but due to limited staff, we will be closed for general visiting.

9-1-10

2010-09-01T23:30:00.000-07:00

We are confident that Buckeye does not share this persons comment. They commented on the last blog about Buckeye's surgery:

"This whole surgery was un necessary. He is in more pain now than he was before and I feel worse for him now than I did before. Look at his body posture bofore and after. He is not walking better at all. All he needed is correct hoof care and physical therapy. There was no need to sever his tendons. Tendons cannot contract to the extent it would "pull" his foot backwards. Tendons attach bone to muscle. If anything is contracted it would be his shoulder muscles. Tendons cannot contract to that extent. The whole problem came about because the back of his foot hurt and to avoid that he began walking on his toe until his heel got so high he "knuckled over". Then his toe wall grew backwards and under his entire hoof capsule. Now he has to try to recover his mutilated foot, his sore body and from his tendon being severd, which will take years, as they are a fiborus tissue that receives little blood flow so healing will be a very long and painful process. And, a special shoe is not going to help him. But, good luck with all that. I feel very bad for the pony. He would have been better off being euthanized like the little Marylegs white pony you recently put down. That pony could have also been fine if she had correct hoof care and rehabilitation. I wish people were more correctly informed on the functions of a horses body and the effects we have on them, especially if one is going to run a horse "rescue". I wish you luck"

After reading this, we felt that we need to explain the surgery a little bit better. The contracted tendon pulls the toe of the hoof back, causing a clubbed hoof. In Buckeye's situation it was extremely clubbed, so clubbed that the hoof was growing back into the back of his leg, if left in this state it could cause bone deterioration along with sores and ultimately end in euthanasia being the only option.

This is the 3rd contracted tendon surgery we have done, Macho Man was the first, followed by Baby. Both made 100% recoveries and are now living pain free thanks to this surgery. Looking into Buckeye's face, we can tell he is thankful for what you made possible for him. He has a great prognosis for 100% recovery and we look forward to the day when he can go to his forever home.

Wednesday morning, the farrier made a special trip to the vet just to get Buckeye fixed up.

The vet and farrier had a discussion on how the special shoe was to be made, and exactly what its functions needed to be.

The farrier got to work and started shaping a normal shoe into a custom therapeutic shoe.

Buckeye watched on with amazement and wonder.

The farrier kept putting the shoe in the forge to heat it up so it could be shaped just perfect. Buckeye just couldn't believe how hot that thing looked in the back of his truck.

Then it was down to shaping it again.

Finally the shoe was shaped and fitted just perfect. It was then attached to Buckeye's hoof.

The shoe sticks out about 2 inches past his hoof to help position his hoof for proper healing. Buckeye is on pain medication throughout this rehab. We are all looking forward to the day when he will be pain free on his own!

The incision is healing beautifully and doing very well with no sign of infection.

A new wrap was put on his leg to protect the incision and help the healing process.

Then he was led back to his stall.

Buckeye would like to say a huge "Thank you!" to everyone for their thoughts and prayers, and for making this life changing operation possible.

Many thanks to Cindy M. for her generous monthly support for hay and to Jennifer L. for her generous donation.

8-31-10

2010-08-31T22:45:00.001-07:00

Today was Buckeye's day. A lot had happened to him by 9:00 am. He had been given a bath, the first in a very long, his leg had been cleaned and shaved for preparation for surgery. Now he was ready for the life giving surgery, thanks to you!

Soon he was in the operating room. He was given the drugs to make him go into la-la land.

Then his leg was cleaned again to make everything sterile. Here you can see how to the right is the flat area where he should be standing. He is actually standing on the front of his hoof.

Dr Weaver made sure all of her surgery tools were in order.

Then the surgery began. At times everyone held their breath, finally the tendon was reached and was cut to relieve the contraction.

Tawnee stood behind him helping to support him in his sleepy state. You have heard of people holding hands during surgery and stressful situations, well, Buckeye wanted to hold hands too! He gently put his back hoof on Tawnee's foot as the surgery went on. He wanted emotional support.

Finally the surgery was finished. Everyone could see a huge improvement already.

The farrier will be coming out and making a special shoe that will help him walk on his heel, helping his rehab progress nicely.

He was such a good boy through the whole surgery and didn't feel any pain through it all. He knew that they were helping him.

He was a little confused about his new standing position on that foot, but with time it will come as second nature.

Soon he was led out to a waiting stall and got to take his first steps properly in his whole life.

He is such a handsome little guy and he says "Thank you for saving my life! Look, I can put all my weight on my new foot properly."

Soon he was in the stall enjoying some nice yummy food.

We would like to thank you once again for giving Buckeye the gift of life. It will be a long rehab, but we know he is on the right path now. This operation could not be done without your support, and we thank you for your promptness in completing the fundraising goal so he could get the surgery he needed to relieve his pain sooner than later.

Many thanks to Gail G. for her steady monthly support. Please consider becoming a monthly sponsor, it is very easy. Be the horses hero, click here.

8-30-10

2010-08-30T22:54:00.001-07:00

Thanks to your generosity, all of the needed funds were raised to give Buckeye the surgery he needs to make him comfortable! Thank you thank you thank you!

Monday morning found Tawnee on the road. Tawnee was taking Buckeye to the vet once again.

At the rescue, Jason and a group of volunteers were preparing for a big work day.

At the vet, Buckeye was led into the barn for his first treatment.

He was wide-eyed with wonder, he knew something special was going to happen. Someone finally realized his little foot needed help!

The farrier's could not believe their eyes. They said they had never seen a case this bad before.

They got to work trimming and shaping his hoof so after his surgery he will be able to stand more normal.

After the surgery, he should be able to stand on the newly trimmed hoof. It is unbelievable, we are holding our breath that his surgery will be 100% successful. We would like to thank you so much for making this possible.

Dipper was getting his feet done. Today was his big day to head to his new family. We wanted to have one last nice trim before he headed off on his new life. If you remember, he was one of the colts that came to us with extremely long feet. He is now a properly trimmed gelding.

At the rescue all the horses were enjoying the day. The cooler weather sure has been nice for everyone!

Jason and the volunteers continued putting up the poles for the shelters.

Pole after pole was set in concrete, plumbed and made straight. It was a lot of hard work getting them set!

Tawnee and a volunteer headed down the road with Dipper and Coco (one of the yearlings rescued from the kb on August 12th.) A very wonderful lady wanted to adopt both of them as she wants to put some training on them to make them more adoptable in the future. Her plan is to make them more adoptable and then adopt them out through us and train another couple young horses from the rescue that need her help.

Finally all 20 of the posts were in the ground. After a week to let the concrete set hard around them, we will be able to get the roofs on. Then the pens will need to be built under the shelters, we can't wait!

Tawnee and the volunteer finally arrived at Dipper and Coco's new home. They were wide eyed and looked out of the trailer with wonder.

Soon the trailer was backed up and it was time to get them unloaded. Dipper was a little shy about coming out, but Coco convinced him otherwise.

Soon they were both enjoying their yummy supper. We would like to thank this adopter for opening her heart and home up to these two young horses that so desperately need training and one on one bonding time with people.

After the horses were settled, the adopter said she wanted to donate a trailer load of hay. Soon 40 bales of nice yummy hay was loaded up in the trailer. Thank you so much!

It was a very long drive back, but there was such a beautiful sunset along the way. A wonderful ending to a wonderful and busy day.

A huge "thank you!" to Chris R., Colleen S., Iris L., Norma C., Melissa P., Carla G., Kim P., Erin D., Susan T., Victoria C., Barbara P., Jennifer K., Elizabeth K., Aimee W., Kim K., Betsy W., Zsuzsana W., Julie P., Cynthia S., Barrelracingnews.com, Faryn K. They all made Buckeye's surgery possible and more!

8-29-10

2010-08-29T21:57:00.000-07:00

Bringing you up to speed from last week, Tante left the rescue and headed on his new adventure in life. We are so excited for him and are so glad that he has such a wonderful adopted home.

Buckeye was taken to the vet for an examination and xrays to determine how bad his leg was internally.

Without receiving proper care prior to coming to the rescue, it had gotten far out of control.

At the vet, he was a willing patient. It was almost as if he knew we were trying to help him.

Soon the xrays were being taken. He was such a good boy and stood there so calmly. Of course being able to eat yummy food out of the bucket Tawnee was holding was an extra plus. He has the worst club foot our vet has ever seen, along with an extremely contracted tendon.

The xrays revealed a lot of problems in his little foot. If he was a full sized horse, there would be no chance of a pain free life. Since he is a little guy, his chances of making a recovery are far better. He cannot continue living in this state as he has an extremely poor, painful quality of life. We are hoping to raise $750 for his surgery and care.

Sunday morning at the rescue, we had a very nice lady show up who wanted to volunteer. She got right to work shoveling manure. She was so incredibly helpful! She said she wanted to make a donation for hay, which we desperately need and are very greatly for. Her generosity will feed the horses for about 2 weeks! Thank you so much, we look forward to you volunteering again soon. You were a great help.

Intrepid Monarch was adopted about 9 months ago, but sadly it was not working out so he was returned Sunday. One of our previous adopters who sadly lost his adopted horse due to a tragic health issue was at the rescue looking for a new friend. He and Monarch hit it right off, and you could tell they really enjoyed being in each others company. The adopter is keeping the history alive of the dress and customs of the calvary during the civil war. He was very excited that he will be the only person in his unit that has a Morgan.

Soon adoption papers were signed...

...and Monarch was off to his new home.

We also had a potential adopter come out and look at Forest. He really liked him, but they went home to think about it. One of these days we know that Forest will find that perfect home.

Keller also had some visitors out who gave him a nice long massage. He just couldn't get enough of the attention. He also enjoyed the misters that Jason installed in the barn today. It really helps keep things cooler and keeps the dust down. We just love all the extra water!

In between all the visitors, progress was being made on the paddock shelters. We have been soaking the holes to make them easier to drill, and it sure did work great! Jason and April were able to drill the holes without any fuss at all.

Soon Jason was mixing concrete.

An almost tragic circumstance happened. When one of the holes was dug, Tawnee looked in and saw something moving. A poor toad was at the bottom of the hole, but thanks to the quick action of a volunteer it was out of the hole and set free. Amazingly enough, he was unharmed. He is an extremely lucky guy.

Jason hoisted the upright metal pole on his shoulder and carried it over to the hole.

The concrete was done being mixed and ready to go in the hole.

Shovel after shovel full went down the hole. Soon the very first post was set in concrete. This was such exciting progress, we know it won't take so long to get #2 in.

With all the extra water we have decided to start irrigating. Here a little sprinkler is making its way around and around, watering the grass as it goes. It's also getting the next set of holes wet that needs to be drilled.

Please remember Buckeye's surgery to save his life. Without this surgery, the only kind thing to do will be to have him humanely euthanized to save him from his life of pain, but you can make a difference. You can give him the gift of life. Please donate for Buckeye's surgery, he is counting on you! Click here to help Buckeye.

Many thanks to Rebecca H., Jimmy C., Constance W., Pamela N., Lori F., Wendy S., Phyliss K, Rebecca O., Anonymous for their very generous donations!

8-27-10

2010-08-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

Today we would like to say Happy Birthday to Larry. This blog is dedicated to one of the best volunteers we have ever had. Larry first heard about us at a fundraising booth in front of Wal-Mart. Him and his wife April came out to the rescue and soon fell in love with Drake.

After their adoption application was approved, they adopted Drake in August of 2008.

Larry and April started volunteering and soon proved themselves to be absolutely invaluable. Larry is handy with just about everything. His painting skills were put to test making the tack shed look wonderful.

He also is great with horses and soon was transporting horses for the rescue.

He also helps a lot with fundraising booths, this was taken at the California State Fair 2009.

He is always willing to lend a helpful hand when there is work to be done.

Even if all he can do is watch, point and say how to do it right.

He is always willing to stay up if there is work to do, even if it means staying up until 2:00 am making protest signs to try and save the Mustangs.

Larry and April manned the intake at the euthanasia clinics for many months.

He is very helpful at auctions and other places where we rescue horses.

By this time Larry was doing most of our emails. Sadly, his back (which he injured at work being a firefighter) started causing him more and more pain. Eventually he had to go in for major back surgery, but even that couldn't keep him down. Yes, he really did write our emails laying in the hospital bed after major back surgery.

The first time he came out to the rescue after his surgery our blog said: "Brave Larry came out to the rescue today for the first time since his surgery. Jack, the ever watchful dog, immediately noticed that Larry could use some cheering up and put his head in his lap ever so gently. No Larry is not paralyzed. He will be up and walking very soon we hope."

With his increased back pain, he was more limited to doing office work, but there he shined too.

He started answering phone calls and replying to phone messages, freeing Tawnee up to do more hands on with the horses.

Soon Larry was back on his feet and rescuing horses once again. Here he is picking up Dakota and Cheyenne from their home.

At the new facility, Larry continues to be a huge help. Here he is helping to make the office look great.

Larry and April do most of the watering, feeding, and day to day chores at the new facility.

Larry has a huge heart full of sympathy and love. Here Larry is giving some of that love and sympathy to Dano before his life slipped away.

Larry, you are the best, and from all of us here at the rescue, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Thank you for showing all the horses you come in contact with so much love.

8-25-10

2010-08-25T23:27:00.000-07:00

At our last euthanasia clinic, one of our previous adoptee's Bud was brought in. His health was failing and his quality of life was fading fast. His adoptive family made the tough decision to say goodbye. After Bud's passing, his family wrote us this message:

"Thank you Norcal for rescuing our Bud so that he could become the best friend of a little girl. You found him beaten down, head hung low, and starving. A little love and care and he is the best friend a little girl could every have, he gained his pride back and held his beautiful head high knowing that he was loved. Today we said good by. I want to thank you for providing a way for him go go peacefuly, that last thing he heard was the voice of someone he loved. We are resting in the comfort that the ending of his love was full of love because of what you do."

Many of you may remember Bud by his rescue story. In memory of Bud, we are re-running his rescue story. May he rest in peace.

Bud's Rescue Story

Bud was rescued from a livestock auction in June of 2008. It was scary for him as he is blind in one eye and he was very weak.

He definitely needed to gain some weight.

A young girl who was volunteering at the rescue fell madly in love with him and adopted him. We had named him Dakota Boy, but she called him her "Buddy" so now he is known as Bud.

After a few months, Bud started looking like a different horse. His ribs disappeared, his coat was getting shiny, he was happy now with his girl to love on him.

Soon they were off riding all over together.

Once he was fully recovered they started doing 4H events.

It's amazing seeing him in the middle, so beautiful and filled out. It's hard to believe he is the same old, bedraggled Thoroughbred that came off the auction.

This summer he was still doing 4h with his girl. He is looking so beautiful and healthy.

We would like to thank those that can open their hearts and homes to an older horse for giving them the chance to live a wonderful life.

8-23-10

2010-08-23T21:49:00.001-07:00

We got a call from the kb that he had 6 horses in the trailer we could buy if we wanted. We said "Yes." He said he would call when he was going through Marysville, but he forgot and didn't make the call until he was at the rescue. We would like to thank Jennifer G so much for covering the cost of purchasing these lives, thank you Jennifer! Your support is greatly appreciated.

Soon Tawnee arrived and he was backed up to the round pen unloading the precious lives.

Soon all the horses were unloaded and the kb was off down the road.

The horses all looked on with wondering eyes, curious about the new development in their lives.

Meet Gambler, he is a sweet guy but has ring bone pretty bad.

Bailee is a cute young gelding who seems to be fine and healthy, just a little thin.

Caeser is an Appy gelding. The poor guy is sore on his feet, and...

...this eye is having a lot of issues.

This cute filly is named Summer. She is a yearling who needs someone who is willing to spend the time with her to make her a beautiful well trained mare.

Promise is another yearling filly. Both these girls are very cute and will be looking for their forever home soon. The kb got both Summer and Promise from an auction.

Buckeye is a cute little Sheltand pony gelding. He has a big problem sadly.

His left front hoof is twisted beyond belief. We believe, possibly, that he may have the same condition that Macho Man and Baby did, but obviously much more severe. We will be having him evaluated by the vet to see what she thinks can be done to make him comfortable. Keep your fingers crossed, just maybe a surgery can save this poor little guy.

Looking at his hoof so mangled and twisted, it's hard to figure out where it begins and where it ends.

Once everyone was settled and had food and water, it was off to run some errands. Tawnee got a call from April and Larry. They said "There's a fire and it's growing fast." They told her where the fire was and Tawnee got very concerned about one of our previous adopters. Tawnee headed back to the rescue to get the trailer to help with evacuations if needed.

From the rescue the black smoke just looked so angry and ugly.

Tawnee hooked up the trailer and off down the road she went.

The closer she got to the fire, the more people were heading the other direction with their precious animals.

Trailer after trailer was heading out of the fires path.

Fire is such a scary thing. This morning everything was normal, and now everything was chaos.

Burning peoples homes, belongings, and everything they hold dear.

It was nice to see so many people had trailers and were putting them to good use. It's always scary when people have large animals and have no way to transport them in an emergency.

Tawnee got so close, and then due to safety, she could go no further. With all the firetrucks back there, it would not be wise to put herself and others in jeopardy with so much large equipment and so few turnarounds. She could just hope and pray that the fire would not reach the previous adopters home. Tawnee waited here where she could turn around to see if the conditions would change.

Channel 12 Action News from Chico was there documenting the action. To see the news clip, click here.

Thankfully the firefighters were on the job in time and soon the smoke was starting to diminish.

The helicopters were still flying around dropping water and looking for hot spots, but it looked like the worst was over.

Tawnee headed back out through the roadblock and back to the rescue.

By the time she got back to the rescue all the smoke was practically gone.

It was so nice that the fire did not burn the previous adopters home or come towards the rescue. All our critters were safe today.

Many thanks to Jennifer G. and Faryn K. for their generous donations. We couldn't save horses without your help!

8-22-10

2010-08-23T09:01:00.001-07:00

Friday was a farrier day. In between all the big horses that got trimmed, Macho Man stood quietly to get his feet trimmed too. He is such a perfect gentleman.

Rocky's feet are growing in nicely, they were so long, cracked and painful. When we got him we were fearful for quality of life, but his hooves are growing in healthy.

All in all 12 horses were trimmed. Thunder wanted to stand with the most handsome pose he could strike. He certainly is a beautiful horse.

Jason got some con-mix for making concrete to set fence posts.

Last week Dually and Denada were adopted, but somehow they didn't make it in the blog. Here they are saying "Bye, thanks for taking care of us while we were here and giving us such a great chance at a new life."

Sunday morning found some horses in the anonymous drop pen. We are not revealing the horses identity yet just in case they are neighborhood runaways like last time. We should know more in the coming weeks.

We had a previous adopter, who adopted Dun Deal (one of the Clint Ritchie horses) come to the rescue to look for a project horse for a young man. They really liked Tante. She brought pictures of Dun Deal and she is doing wonderfully.

Tante really liked them too.

Soon adoption papers were signed and you could tell that both Tante and the young man were very happy about Tante going home. Transportation arrangements are being made, and soon Tante will be in a wonderful loving home.

Hilly's family brought a friend with a trailer. They were approved to adopt and were ready to take her home. What an absolutely adorable adoption photo. You can tell she'll be getting lots of loving.

She was a little hesitant about loading, but finally hopped in without too much fuss. Then the trailer door was closed.

Every time this family has come out they have to spend time petting the donkeys. Of course they had to say "Bye" to them before they headed home.

But the donkey's wouldn't say "Bye" they said "Take us with you!" So, they signed the adoption papers for Juanita and Vinny too. All our long-ears found their home today.

Soon a truck and trailer pulled into the rescue. A man got out and said "I got a message that you take horses on Sundays, is that right?"

Of course we said "Yes" so everyone went back to unload a big 21 year old TB gelding. Right when he opened the trailer door and stepped up to untie his lead, he pulled back, broke the rope and came flying out of the trailer just as Tawnee snapped the picture. A perfect example of why you never want to stand too close to the trailer when horses are unloading OR loading.

But soon he was relaxed in a nice quiet pen enjoying some nice yummy food.

His owners were no longer able to keep him. They said if no one was at the rescue they would have just put him in a pen and left. There are a lot of really desperate horse owners out there.

As you probably noticed in the above picture, Crow was sitting on Tawnee's shoulder. He likes to hang out there and thinks that he is a parrot and not a chicken.

Soon another trailer was pulling in.

It was a poor mare with a severe case of cancer. She came to the rescue for the last gift of kindness. We had some cancellations for the clinic, so we are going to be having a mini-clinic, and hopefully we can finish the fundraising thermometer so we can have a regular clinic in September. We do have a few more horses for the clinic that have not been on the blog due to their owners wishes.

The last visitors of the day came to visit Juanita and Vinnie. The only problem was, they had been adopted and were already home by that time. So Tawnee convinced them to consider a llama instead. Pepper would make a great companion for their goats too. The lady's husband was a little skeptical at first. Standing back with his arms crossed like "Really, a llama?" Pepper was quite skeptical of the lady and wasn't sure what to think of her.

Soon she passed the lead rope to her husband and it was pretty much an instant bond. Pepper liked him and he seemed to like Pepper. They are submitting their application and are hoping to adopt him if he is still at the shelter when they get their pen finished.

What a wonderful day, lots of adoptions and people interested in adding a new member to their family.

Many thanks to Karen T., Jean S., Barbara B., Roberta A., Charlotte A., Dianna S., Ian C., Bev W., for their extremely generous donations.

8-19-10

2010-08-19T19:05:00.001-07:00

Some days start earlier than others. Today Tawnee was jolted out of bed with a phone call at 5:27 am. A kb was on the other end. He was waiting at the rescue with a load of horses if we wanted to buy them. Tawnee drug herself out of bed and hit the road.

When Tawnee turned on to Four Junes, sure enough, he was there waiting.

Soon he was backed up to the pen and the horses were starting to unload.

They were a little bewildered. This poor old guy is completely blind and very insecure with his new surroundings.

The paperwork was done and Tawnee was quite surprised when the kb handed her the registration paperwork for one of the horses. Usually kb's don't care about registration, but since he knew we might want him, he had the papers with him.

The sun was just starting to peek up over the eastern mountains as the kb was driving away.

The horses were definitely trying to adjust to their new surroundings. No doubt it was a long and confusing night for them. Some of the horses that were brought in were from the staging area, others were gotten from private parties. All of them could have easily ended up heading south over the border... Tawnee posted the pictures on Facebook and asked for name suggestions. We really appreciate all of your ideas!

This is an older blind Appy gelding who is named Keller, in honor of Helen Keller.

He is completely blind in both eyes and we can only imagine the terror of being in the slaughter pipeline. Every step you take, not knowing if there is a wall or a giant edge you can fall off of.

This is a registered American Saddlebred Horse gelding by the name of Daystar's Sperkle. Born: 5-29-1989.

He is dreadfully thin and needs a lot of groceries.

This is Jerry, he was from the staging area. The interesting thin about this guy is he has an old pair of shoes on the front.

We can guess that he was sold or given away and then starved. People very rarely pay to put shoes on an emaciated horse.
He does have a brand on his hip, it appears to be a C with an upside down V. If anyone knows this brand, please let us know!

Miss Kitty is a blind mare. She may have limited vision, but it is hard to tell.

Meet Amina. She is an Arab mare who is very beautiful, sweet and friendly.

This is Casper, he is an older gelding. You can see he was most likely born a paint because he has the markings that were dark when he was younger, but with age has grayed.

This is Flicka, she is another Arab mare.

The last horse is Trinket. She is a little horse and she has something wrong with her hind end. She has shoes on all 4's.

They all had food high on their priority list. You could see the hungry looks in their eyes.

So it was off to the hay pile which got giant while Jason and Tawnee were at training. The hay guys just kept coming and coming, 3 loads of hay with a total bill of almost $2,000. It is really nice hay. They want us to spread the word that they have some really amazing fresh cut hay right now. If you need hay, give give Ray a call or text him: 530-308-5343.

Soon the Gator was loaded up and the hay pile got a little smaller... The hay wagon has over 150 hours on it already! That is a lot of feeding time.

The new horses were so excited to get some food. They just couldn't wait.

Soon they were all enjoying a nice breakfast.

Then it was time for the horses in the 15 acre pasture to get their breakfast too. We just can't wait until we can get some irrigation going. Can you imagine this all green and pretty?

Tawnee was getting the hay ready to throw off the hay wagon, and she looked down to see Forest begging. What an adorable guy.

When the hay wagon was put away, Crow hopped up on it, wishing he could go for a ride. We are forgetting about looking for eggs, he is crowing quite regularly now.

Tawnee put the blind Appy in a nice stall as he was very confused out with the other horses. She started scratching his neck, and you could see a look of sheer bliss sweep over his whole body.

His lips were twitching and he couldn't get his head raised high enough while enjoying a nice massage.

While Tawnee was rubbing him, she noticed that his eyes were tearing up. She actually saw two tear drops fall as if he was crying because someone loved him. It was very touching.

Soon Keller's massage was done and he was enjoying some nice senior feed. His troubles are truly over.

Tawnee did a search for Daystar's Sperkle. She found a website where he had been listed for sale previously. She was able to find pictures of Sperkle back in his glory days. We don't know how long ago this was, but...

...right now those days are long behind him and he is just a rack of bones.

It's hard to believe that this is the same horse. It just goes to show that just because a horse looks beautiful, is jumped and shown, that it is not safe. When their glory days are over, often horses are just dumped into the slaughter pipeline. So sad.

To keep horses from being dumped into the slaughter pipeline when their glory days are over, the euthanasia clinic is this Sunday. So far $1,160 has been donated for the clinic to provide financial assistance for people that cannot afford end of life care for their beloved horse, won't you help raise the thermometer to the top? Click here.

Many thanks to Trudi R., Angela T., Kathleen T. for their generous donations today. We couldn't do it without your help!

8-18-10

2010-08-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

The Euthanasia clinic is this Sunday and we will need some donations to help the horses out. We have currently raised $1,070 out of our goal of $2,500. We only have $1,430 left to go, please help if you can. Click here. We only have a few more days. The horses that are waiting for this clinic desperately need you help!

Tuesday morning found Jason and Tawnee back at class.

It really seems like the classroom work just keeps going on and on... Thankfully the end is in sight.

Today's class was more firearms training. They are such a huge responsibility and liability, one can never have enough training.

They had to be able to hit a little target 26 out of 30 times at 21'.

Tawnee did extremely well and managed to get 28 out of 30 and 30/30 the second go around.

Jason got 29/30 and 29/30 in his two rounds. Pretty respectable!

After the class was done the instructor signed off on their certification.

Down the hall they went, out the door and back to the rescue.

Tuesday morning Jason and Tawnee took the paperwork from Monday's training to Butte County Sheriff.

They had to be fingerprinted for the PC-832 training (police academy training) that is coming up in September, and submit all the paperwork for their permits from yesterdays training. Tawnee got her fingers scanned first.

Then it was Jason's turn to get his fingerprints scanned and sent off to the FBI and Department of Justice.

We can't thank Dolly C., who donated because it's her birthday, Adrienne S. and Karen H. for their extremely generous donations! Hang in their folks, we know the training is getting long, but Jason and Tawnee are nearing their completion, it should be just 2 more classes and they can be sworn in as Humane Officers protecting horses and all other animals!