Help Sadie, the Mare become Healthy
Donation protected
The rescue of Sweet Sadie Sue 
This is Sadie. In March of 2014 Sadie’s owners decided it was getting tough to feed her. So they gradually stopped. A few months later in September they posted a classified’s ad for a free horse with a picture of a healthy-looking Sadie, taken before they decided they couldn’t feed her anymore. A man named Brian saw the ad, and excited for the prospect of a free horse for him and his kids to love and enjoy, went to go look at her.
Brian was not the first person to read the ad and go have a look, but he was the first person who couldn’t turn around and leave after seeing the terrible condition she was in. He hadn’t planned on being a rescuer that day, but as he walked her the ½ mile to his father’s property (because she was too fearful to get into the horse trailer), he became one.
As sometimes happens, in November circumstances in Brian’s life changed and he could no longer care for Sadie. Heartsick, he posted an ad in the classifieds asking for help. Much miscommunication ensued and the ad he placed was forwarded all over social media. He received scores of hate calls, and was even reported to animal control and the Humane Society because people viewing the ad thought he was the person who let Sadie starve.
On November 10 Brian’s ad for Sadie came across my Facebook feed. Without all of the information it is difficult to form an accurate picture of a situation. Almost immediately I and a group of horse ladies started to figure out how we could “rescue” Sadie from Brian. Where was she, exactly? Who could pitch in for her purchase price? Could someone just take him some feed for her? How could we get her from Idaho to Utah? Could we find a vet up there? Who could split the vet costs for her health certificate and Coggins test? Did anyone have contacts in Idaho? And so on.
It was only through texts, and eventually a phone call, with Brian that we came to know the full story. Once all the details were known, this stopped being a rescue and became a group of like-minded ladies wanting to help a man who got in a bit over his head trying to do the right thing.
On Thursday, November 13, my daughter (a student at Utah State University, 30 minutes away from Sadie) met two Logan, UT-based equine veterinarians in Idaho for Sadie’s health certificate exam and blood draw. Everything was dependent on Sadie’s Coggins test coming back negative (Coggins disease is contagious and untreatable, and horses that test positive cannot cross state lines). Happily the test results came back negative the next day, and on Saturday, November 14, I, my husband, and our two younger daughters drove to Idaho to pick Sadie up and bring her home to Utah.
There have been many people involved in helping both Brian and Sadie, and many others have asked how they can donate money to help Sadie get healthy. She needs to gain about 200 pounds, has an eye infection in her right eye, has overgrown hooves, and will most likely need some training so she can be happy and useful—a busy horse is a happy horse.
Keeping a healthy horse is expensive (between $1500-$2000 per year for hay and feed, medical care, hoof care, training, etc.) but helping a horse become healthy can be even more so. If you’d like to help with Sadie’s recuperation costs, please click on the “Donate Now” button, and please feel free to share this on your Facebook page.
Even with all of the changes in her life in the last several months, Sadie seems like a very sweet little horse, and my girls and I have named her Sweet Sadie Sue. If you’d like to follow her road to health, her Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/groups/1525133047734203/.
Tiffany and her family are the New proud owners of Sweet Sadie Sue.
This is Sadie. In March of 2014 Sadie’s owners decided it was getting tough to feed her. So they gradually stopped. A few months later in September they posted a classified’s ad for a free horse with a picture of a healthy-looking Sadie, taken before they decided they couldn’t feed her anymore. A man named Brian saw the ad, and excited for the prospect of a free horse for him and his kids to love and enjoy, went to go look at her.
Brian was not the first person to read the ad and go have a look, but he was the first person who couldn’t turn around and leave after seeing the terrible condition she was in. He hadn’t planned on being a rescuer that day, but as he walked her the ½ mile to his father’s property (because she was too fearful to get into the horse trailer), he became one.
As sometimes happens, in November circumstances in Brian’s life changed and he could no longer care for Sadie. Heartsick, he posted an ad in the classifieds asking for help. Much miscommunication ensued and the ad he placed was forwarded all over social media. He received scores of hate calls, and was even reported to animal control and the Humane Society because people viewing the ad thought he was the person who let Sadie starve.
On November 10 Brian’s ad for Sadie came across my Facebook feed. Without all of the information it is difficult to form an accurate picture of a situation. Almost immediately I and a group of horse ladies started to figure out how we could “rescue” Sadie from Brian. Where was she, exactly? Who could pitch in for her purchase price? Could someone just take him some feed for her? How could we get her from Idaho to Utah? Could we find a vet up there? Who could split the vet costs for her health certificate and Coggins test? Did anyone have contacts in Idaho? And so on.
It was only through texts, and eventually a phone call, with Brian that we came to know the full story. Once all the details were known, this stopped being a rescue and became a group of like-minded ladies wanting to help a man who got in a bit over his head trying to do the right thing.
On Thursday, November 13, my daughter (a student at Utah State University, 30 minutes away from Sadie) met two Logan, UT-based equine veterinarians in Idaho for Sadie’s health certificate exam and blood draw. Everything was dependent on Sadie’s Coggins test coming back negative (Coggins disease is contagious and untreatable, and horses that test positive cannot cross state lines). Happily the test results came back negative the next day, and on Saturday, November 14, I, my husband, and our two younger daughters drove to Idaho to pick Sadie up and bring her home to Utah.
There have been many people involved in helping both Brian and Sadie, and many others have asked how they can donate money to help Sadie get healthy. She needs to gain about 200 pounds, has an eye infection in her right eye, has overgrown hooves, and will most likely need some training so she can be happy and useful—a busy horse is a happy horse.
Keeping a healthy horse is expensive (between $1500-$2000 per year for hay and feed, medical care, hoof care, training, etc.) but helping a horse become healthy can be even more so. If you’d like to help with Sadie’s recuperation costs, please click on the “Donate Now” button, and please feel free to share this on your Facebook page.
Even with all of the changes in her life in the last several months, Sadie seems like a very sweet little horse, and my girls and I have named her Sweet Sadie Sue. If you’d like to follow her road to health, her Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/groups/1525133047734203/.
Tiffany and her family are the New proud owners of Sweet Sadie Sue.
Organizer
Mele Mel
Organizer
West Valley City, UT