December 21st and 22nd

These last few days have been pretty calm at the rescue. Everyone is gearing up for the holidays. Jim spent part of his day Christmas shopping, and the barn was mostly empty except for Sam and Katie. Sam mucked out the stalls in the morning, and Katie arrived in the afternoon. The horses were all in good moods today. The only problem of the day was trying to figure out a way to soak Sue's foot so it can heal. A clydesdale foot is really large--practically the size of a plate!

Wednesday was a little bit more exciting. Jim ran some errands and picked up the frontloader pins needed to fix the tractor. Without the tractor, it would be impossible to get the bales of hay to the horses in the field. Luckily, Jim was able to fix the tractor--for only about $60! He fed the horses and scooped up the manure piles to be spread. Also, he was able to drag the arena so all the sand is nicely groomed.

Here's a bit of a blast from the past:

The four fillies were adopted from the feedlot in February 2006. Volunteers from that era knew Velvet, Abby, Izzy, and Boss as scared babies who had suffered malnutrition and neglect even before being dumped at the feedlot in Yakima. Volunteers were also horrified to realize that these young horses were bound for slaughter, even in their emaciated conditions. Before Jim and Sherry drove to Yakima to pick them up, the smallest filly, Boss, had gotten stuck in some deep mud at the feedlot. The feedlot owner had to use a tractor to pull her out.

In the following years, the fillies became a fixture at the rescue. Some volunteers were able to work with Velvet, the most approachable of the four. Velvet was also the easiest to catch, since Izzy, Abby, and Boss were more wired for flight. Boss was an especially sad case. She stopped growing, most likely as a result of her starvation. The other fillies began to fill out, but all retained their fear of people.

Here are pictures of the fillies after their arrival in 2006:



Abby (roan), Boss, Izzy



Abby, Velvet



Boss, Abby, Izzy

Next post: an update on the four fillies!