December 23rd and 24th

This is a video of the four fillies. It was shot sometime after their arrival at Hytyme, but before volunteers really began to work with the fillies. One of our philosophies is that rescued horses need as much time as necessary to relax and decompress. They also need time to learn to trust humans again. Since they were malnourished and unhandled babies, they took a very long time to warm up to the volunteers at the rescue. Also, all four had gone through strangles, which is a painful equine distemper. Strangles can cause sores around the jaw, so it's possible that these babies only associated people with pain.

As a reminder, the one with the big, white blaze is Izzy. The roan is Abby. The smallest one (you can see how big her head is compared to her body--this is a sign of stunted growth from starvation) is Boss. The dark bay/almost black filly is Velvet.

But, as promised, here are the updates on these four:

Abby: Several volunteer trainers started Abby's training using Natural Horsemanship methods. Abby was quite responsive, but didn't really come out of her shell until she met Jodene, her fabulous owner (and our webpage designer!). Jodene now takes lessons with Kassi. This fall, Jodene had her first ride on Abby! It's wonderful to see how a fearful horse can grow into a happy companion and riding partner. Congratulations to Jodene and Abby!

Boss:
Although Boss's growth is definitely stunted, and it's possible she may have vision issues, she is doing well at the rescue. A high school girl has taken on Boss as her senior project, and works with her on a regular basis. As a result, Boss is much more socialized. Although she is not a horse that will willingly approach a person, she tolerates attention and seems to be maturing enough to feel comfortable around the volunteers. She is very petite, and will probably never get much bigger. The other fillies have filled out considerably, but Boss remains small. Regardless, everyone will continue to help Boss with her fear and trust issues and make sure that she lives a happy, comfortable life.


Velvet:
Of the four fillies, Velvet was the easiest to approach and work with. Several volunteers made her their project horse at one point or another, and she was considered for adoption a number of times. In 2008, she was adopted, but her owner decided that Velvet had too many deep-rooted fear issues, and she wasn't capable of continuing the training she needed. Velvet was returned to the rescue in 2010, and our volunteer Alex began to work with her. Over the summer, Velvet's confidence increased with Alex's patient training methods. Velvet is currently available for adoption again:

Izzy:
Izzy was adopted by Tammy, a volunteer who specialized in Parelli Natural Horsemanship training methods. Izzy is working through all of her flighty fear issues and will become a demo horse for Tammy when she does clinics. According to Tammy, Izzy is a smart, athletic, and beautiful mare! Congratulations to Tammy and Izzy! We wish you all the best of luck.

 It's also possible that Hope, a Quarter Horse mare rescued from the feedlot and then adopted by Becca in 2008, is Izzy's mother. Hope and the four fillies were dumped at the feedlot by the same Eastern Washington Quarter Horse farm.  Here's a picture of Hope for comparison. See what you think:



In other news, Kassi and her friend rode Lyric and Chino around the trails today, since the weather was as perfect as possible during a northern Oregon winter. David, one of the vets from Eagle Fern, checked out Sue's hurt foot. He found an abcess at the front end of her hoof. He dug it out and drained it, then bandaged her giant hoof and gave her a tetnaus shot. Everyone was worried about Sue, but on Christmas Eve, Kassi noticed that she was walking almost normally. Thanks to David, Sue had a good Christmas. All the horses are out on the pasture, since the mud by the barns is getting a bit deep.

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed time with their families!