Horse Rescue, Relief & Retirement Fund, Inc.

Meet Blossom. She's a two year old Jersey raised on a dairy farm. Blossom broke her leg when she was a week old but it looks like nothing was done to repair it. She gets around on it but she is a survivor and knows nothing else. Though we don't know for sure, we think she had a calf. Now at two years old, we think the owners realized that she could not carry another calf.  They didn't have any use for her and didn't want to send her to slaughter so we were able to bring her to the rescue farm. We are now working on having  a brace made by Veterinary Inclusive Prosthetics And Orthotics, if it is possible. Dr Marcella will come and hopefully make a cast so the brace can be made. 

There are many pros and cons to having a brace or even amputating and making a prosthetic, which would cost thousands more and may cause more problems. We are trying to do the right thing. We want her to have a happy future but without the support of a brace, we are afraid her leg may just give out. We need your help to make Blossom bloom into a beautiful flower of a cow. 

SaveTheHorses.org

Bernie was born to bad circumstances. We don't know what happened to his leg but who ever owned his Mom never cared enough to even check on him. Last fall Baby Bernie with his mother and 20 other horses were found abandoned in a field south of Atlanta by animal control. We had to use a dart gun to catch his very frightened mother and Bernie was most likely never handled by humans until we saved him. He limped on his rear leg and it was obvious something was wrong because of the size of his hock. The veterinarian took radiographs and said he'd need surgery but we should wait about 6 months to have it done . The time is now and we hope the surgery will relieve the pain we see as he walks.

He is a sweet baby and deserves a chance to have a happy life even it he is never going to be ride able. he can always be loved and give lots of love back.

You can help Bernie have a good life by donating any amount to Save Baby Bernie. He deserves to know humans are kind, He deserves to not be in pain.

Please join us in the campaign and please share with everyone. Together we can give Baby Bernie a bright future. We appreciate your caring hearts! Thank you everyone who supports SaveTheHorses.org, and supports every horse we help.

One mule, that's how it started. A fellow rescuer sent me a private message saying she'd help if I would take this mule. I looked at his picture and could see the pain in his eyes. He was a lost soul and being sent to slaughter. Sadly the Amish who owned him used him up, every muscle and bone, now getting the last few dollars from the kill buyer.  

I went on the FB page to read about him. No mention of lameness but he is extremely lame. Than I saw another mule #2, who was heading for slaughter and he tugged at my heart as well. I agreed to purchase him (some call it randsom or bail) Either way, there is profit to the seller. 

I paid to have them picked up and brought to a safe pasture also to have a health certificate and coggins test done to travel.  The owner of the pasture had another mule whom he no longer wanted. She has a swollen leg and scratches, maybe reaccuring cellulitis.  So she became the #3 mule. 

I had a few people tell me about another Molly mule waiting to go to slaughter. I agreed if we could raise the money, we could take her because there was room on the trailer. It was a 6 horse. After agreeing to take mule #4. Then the guy from Lancaster PA told me about 2 smaller mules but a bonded pair of driving mules heading to the killer as well. They became mules # 5 and #6!  This is why I don't like to even look. It is too heartbreaking and so much soul searching on how it can be done. It's 1300 miles away. Transport costs are high. Then once the forst 3 mues were in the trailer, the transporter realized, he really couldn't fit the other 3 so we need to raise the money to get them here to the safety of SaveTheHorses. 

We had the veterinarian out this morning. She is doing a blood panel to see if anti-inflamatories are going to be ok for him to manage pain since his heart rate was elevated. It's all a trial and error way of doing it but we always have hope. The farrier is coming tomorrow but the vet will also be here because they were frightened when the farrier tried towork on them the other day. A mild sedation will make them calm and not have a bad experience. I have no idea if they were ever treated kindly. 

This will be ongoing but raising this money, it will surely help us continuing with their care. The #2 and #3 mule have lameness issues, as well. We'll see what the #4, 5 and 6 come in with. 

If anyone would like to help sponsor a mule, please let us know. It you can contribue any amount, it will surely help. We can do this. #WeAreRescue

If you are interested in adopting or fostering or isf you have a pasture we can use, please contact us.

Around the barn, his name is Axel. In the world of paint horses, his name is Think IM Zipped. He is a 13-year-old registered paint overo gelding. He was living happily at a nice boarding stable but his owner was taking much notice to the growing infection in his right eye. It isn't just a cancer, it is the fast growing aggressive cancer Squamous Cell Carcinoma. We have seen it too often in the past 10 years, The UV rays of the sun seems to be a culprit, especially on horses with blue eyes or light skin.  

For some reason, the owners decided not to treat the cancer and decided they do not want the horse. They wanted to give him away. Who'd take a horse like this? Sadly there are people who would take him, ride him until the cancer ate away his face then send him to slaughter for a few hundred dollors in profit.  

Axel owes a big thank you Dr Amanda Cerniglia and the barn owner for the alert so we can help offer him a safe and happy future. Sadly, this could have all be stopped before it got this bad if someone would have taken care of it much sooner. Unfortunately, that did not happen so he is at SaveTheHorses.org and we will do our best for him but we need your help and compassion for horses.

After seeing the surgeon, Dr Goodin, last week at Georgia Equine Veterinary Services a plan of action was taken. We started Axel on Chermotherapy medication which we have been applying in the corner of his eye. The last treatment is Saturday and then surgery will be Thursday, Auugust 24th,

Sadly that beautiful blue eye will be removed because the surgeon needs to remove all margins of cancer cells around and behind it so the chances of cancer reoccuring are much less.  It will be an adjustment since he still can see out of his eye and will be blind on that side. We will help him through that period and he will be availbe for adoption. Right now we need to focus on getting him through the surgery. $1500.  is the cost estimate of the surgery so your donation will help us get that paid and he will need continued care for a while. Axel could use a few sponsors to help with his after care and regular care while he is here at the rescue. Everyone is always welcomed to come and meet him, don't forget the horse treats, he'd really appreciate that! 

We depend on your compassion. You all have been wonderful by helping and we appreciate you very much. Thank you keep him in your thoughts. We are Rescue!

It all started with a GoFundMe. It said an injured horse needs veterinary care and $50. was raised. It was over 24 hours since the GoFundMe started. This horse was going to need much, much more. He had about a 10 inch wound with bone exposed. I have seen many wounds but I never saw one so horrific.

We contacted the person who started the GoFundMe and she gave me the owners information. The owner agreed we could take him because we said we would do everything we could to save his life. I really don't know how Trigger was injured but I know he needed serious care and FAST. Another rescue friend, Clair Coley, arranged the two and a half hour transport to the rescue farm. Dr Laura was on her way. When Trigger got of the trailer, I thought I made a terrible mistake. I thought that I made him take this two and a half hour trailer ride so we could euthanize him. I was heartsick. Watching him walk and buckle over on that injured leg made me almost lose hope but we were here to do everything we can to save him. Dr Laura advised us on what to do, she knew we have cared for many kinds of injuries over the past 15 years and seemed confident we would do our best.

We flushed the wound out for quite a while hosing off as much debris as could come off. Then we covered it with coconut oil to keep it moist and turned Trigger into a nice stall with lots of hay to keep him happy. It was amazing he was such a good boy and stood as with worked on the wound.

The next morning, as we were again cleaning out the wound, Penny Worsham stopped by to donate some horse blankets. She walked over to see Trigger and was shocked to see such a horrific wound. She immediately called her husband, Dr Hugh Worsham from Foxdale Equine Veterinary and they agreed to bring Trigger to their personal farm. What a blessing! Veterinary care, 24/7.What could be better!

Thank you to www.Vetrixinc.com 
and www.PulseVet.com for their products which contributed to Trigger's healing process alsong with the utmost professional care given by Dr Hugh Worsham and the staff at Foxdale Equine! 

Now after 11 months of care, Dr Worsham lets Trigger go out with another older gentleman gelding named Danny. He wraps Trigger's leg for support because the tendon was severed.   Now it is time to have a brace made for Trigger so he can have a fairly normal life.  
 
 Having a brace will stablize his leg. 

This is from Foxdale Equine Veterinary Services this morning. Nov. 10, 2015
"Exciting news for Trigger this week. Tomorrow morning Ronnie Graves of “Veterinary Inclusive Prosthetics/Orthotics” (VIP) is coming to Foxdale from Bushmell Florida.
Trigger is having a Fitting!
Check out the VIP website , http://www.equineprosthetics.com/ 
they have made Braces and Prosthetics for animals for years. Everything from chihuahuas to horses to a baby elephant.
Ronnie will first cast the leg without any padding to make a custom impression mold. Once set the cast will then be cut off and taken back to Florida where a prosthetic support device can be fashioned to exactly fit Trigger’s bad leg. It can be made within a couple of weeks. "  

 The casting and brace will cost $1650. It is a small price to pay after all the time and expensives occured in the past 11 months. We have 2 weeks to raise the money. We want Trigger's life to be safe in a pasture. Please think about making a donation to this sweet deserving horse that fought an almost losing battle, with the help of many caring people.

Thank you for your continued support. We are Rescue!

Please help this sweet Mustang mare find a great new home!

As we continue to care for Angel the fundraising goal will be periodically increased to ensure we have the funds to care well for her.
If she is adopted out before the funds are used, any remaining funds will go to help other mustangs through Mustang Rescue Network at Save the Horses  www.mustangrescuenetwork.org

Update 4/3/2014: Angel has been fostered for the last 2 months by some very generous folks, and thanks to your donations and thanks to the people who have donated services to Angel, we still have $142 left in our fund. We were offered a great opportunity to send Angel for training at a reduced rate. Nancy Faulconer, from  Cloud9 Ranch in Eatonton, Ga,  a 2 star Parelli natural horsemanship trainer, offered to help Angel. Nancy will work with Angel and also expose her to having other people work with her.This will help make sure Angel is safe and well trained, and therefore more adoptable! Who knows, she may even meet a new adopter there!
An anonymous donor has sponsored her stay there for the first month and I have upped our goal to allow for Angel to stay there longer. If we get to $553- that will pay for her training board and hoof trimming for the second month. If we get to $833 that will allow for a third month there. 

Animal Control in Georgia received a report that this Mustang mare was found wandering around the county. Unclaimed, she needed help.
Mustang Rescue Network at Save The Horses agreed to take on the challenge. She was once a Wild horse roaming free in America's West. Somewhere in her life, she was captured and domesticated the best she could be. How did she end up in Georgia? We have many unanswered questions but we do know she will be evaluated and checked by a veterinarian once she gets to her foster home in Fairburn. She needs to get healthy and some good nutrition will make a big difference. We are asking you to join us and be part of this herd of Mustang lovers. We need to transport her and have a thorough vet check, along with feed and hay for the first month of care
We are approximating her care for the first month including veterinary care will be $500. A small price to pay for her well being.