Thursday, February 24, 2011

February 20th, 2011

Well, we're back after a nice long weekend at the Washington State Horse Expo. It was a great time--the horse expos are wonderful places to meet new supporters and make contacts with other groups committed to horse welfare. With Jim and Kassi away in Vancouver for some of the weekend, it was pretty quiet at the barn. The usual crowd was out to work with their horses, clean stalls, or do some training for our younger rescue residents. Saturday, Katie, Dani, and Sasha, and Becca worked with their horses (Charm, Ada, Vanilla Bean and Delilah, Buddy and Hope, respectively). On Sunday, Michelle the Carrot Lady, Katie, Sam, and Becca were all out despite the occasional blasts of cold hail and rain!

The weather has been fairly wet for the past week, but this weekend shaped up to be mostly cold and dry (except for that short period on Sunday!) The horses seemed to be happy with the drier weather, but the wind made a few of them feel a bit loopy. This week, the Pacific Northwest has the potential to be hit by some unusual late February snow. Luckily, the reduced numbers in the field make it much easier for Jim to feed.


Although we've found homes for many of our rescued friends in the past weeks, we're going to try and get the last ten of our young, healthy horses into new homes over the next few weeks. It's almost spring, and time for serious riding and training!

Here is a picture of the 37 acre field, as it's been sectioned off until April. When the horses are introduced back into this field, it takes a very short time before they're all shiny and happy, and their winter coats are gone.


Three other past horses to mention are Norma Jean, Chanel, and Jet. These three were the original load of rescue horses from the Yakima feedlot. When Jim and Sherry first went to the feedlot in 2005, they saved Norma Jean, a Percheron:



Norma Jean went to a wonderful home in Eugene--a perfect place for our first feedlot rescue


And Chanel, an adorable and uniquely colored buckskin/paint Mustang filly:





Chanel was adopted in 2009--she now lives in Northern Washington.

And last is Jet, a beautiful black Quarter Horse gelding:







Jet was adopted in 2006 by Ashley
 More to come soon! Stay warm!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Good news! Fun news, too!!

Excellent news! Hytyme Equine Rescue is a recipient of an extremely generous grant from the Vince and Patricia Whiting Animal and Nature Fund. We are extremely appreciative and honored to recieve this grant.

Patricia Whiting represented Tigard in the Oregon Legislature for three terms. She was one of the first people to work on banning substances that damaged the ozone layer, and even appeared on the Today Show to discuss what was going on in the environment.  She was an ardent supporter of Oregon education and community building. Sadly, she passed away this June. Here's a link to her obituary and more about her life and work--what an extrordinary person! Oregon is a better place because of Patricia and her husband, Vince. We (especially the horses!) can't thank their foundation enough. Tualatin Times Article .

In other news, we'll be at the Washington State Horse Expo this weekend. It's at the Clark County Fairgrounds in Ridgefield, Washington. We've been there for the past few years, and it's always been a blast to meet other horsepeople. We hope to see you there!

Until next time!


Snickers mingles with a mini neighbor


February 9th, 2011

Another delay in posts! Expect more consistant blogging as the weather gets nicer and we have many more exciting things to post!

Things have been good out at the rescue. Maegan has been working with Cash for the past few weeks, and they have been doing quite well together:



Cash is a young Thoroughbred gelding, around 3-4 years old. He and his mother, Spendy, were dumped at a livestock auction. Fortunately, the auction didn't sell horses to slaughter, and it was arranged for the two to come to Hytyme. While Spendy (always a volunteer favorite) was raced for a few years (her registered name with the Jockey Club is Miss Shimmer), Cash was too young to recieve any training. When he arrived at Hytyme, he was very young--under a year. Over time, he grew from a gawky youngster into the handsome fellow he is today. He was in desperate need of a human friend at the rescue, so thank you, Maegan for working with this guy. He loves the attention and training! Hopefully, in time, he'll find his special person who can take him forward in training. Cash is a lovable horse and deserves a good home!

Other volunteers were out in the past few days, like Michelle the Carrot Lady, Sasha, and Dani. Michelle the Carrot Lady brought everyone carrots, as usual. She even stops before turning into the barn driveway to feed Coal and Rosa, who live in the front pasture. Dani worked with Ada and Sasha worked with Vanilla Bean. Vanilla Bean didn't really want to be caught, though, and as soon as Sasha got close with the halter, Chino reached over and bit Vanilla Bean, and she scurried away.

Other than that, no big news this week. No vet calls, no troubles. The grass is growing, and horses have been moved around to get some out of the winter mud. All three of the grandkids spent the evening with Jim and Sherry, too. Can't get much better than that!

We'll close today's blog with pictures of former horses and short stories about their histories.
This is Bo. He was an older Arabian and Quarter Horse cross. Bo was trained to ride, and was adopted in 2007. He recently passed away, but we are glad that he spent his last years with a loving family.

Kara, one of the first Hytyme feedlot rescues. Adopted 2007-2008
Annika, a regal old Tennessee Walker mare, was rescued from the feedlot in Yakima. Her owner lived in the Bay Area, but boarded her at Hytyme for a year or so until she arranged a boarding situation closer to home.

Lacey was a local rescue. Lacey was very sweet, but had dropped pasterns from years of neglect. Lacey was adopted in 2008 as a companion to a blind horse.


Anna was a stunning young Mustang mare. She was surrendered to Hytyme. As you can see in this picture, she had terrible feet, and while she was at the rescue, she spent her time being rehabbed. She wasn't around for long! Anna was adopted in 2009, just a few months after her arrival at the ranch.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

February 2nd, 2011

Hello again!

We have another excellent new volunteer, Maegan. She owns a half mustang and has quite a lot of excellent horse experience! She'll be working with Cash, who has needed his own special friend for quite some time. Next time, we'll post pictures and share Cash's story. Cash is a young Thoroughbred gelding, and he's really filled out in the past year--he's starting to resemble his elegant racehorse relatives!

The usual crowd was out at the barn on February 2nd: Katie, Sam, Kassi, Sasha, and Julie Hart. Sasha worked with Vanilla Bean some more, and Julie Hart worked with Jasmine. Jasmine is a young Morgan mare who came to the rescue with Maverick, Jewell, and Caroline. Today, Julie was able to ride Jasmine. Morgans are such unique personalities--and Julie has done a great job with Jasmine's training so far.
Here are some pictures:


Way to go, Julie and Jasmine! Julie has such an interesting saddle--it's treeless, and looks super comortable. The horses probably like it, too.  Julie is the owner of several former Hytyme horses:

Celeste:

Malissa:



Fifi (and Celeste, too):
All three, this summer at Hytyme:


Next time, we'll show more pictures and give more history about some of our horses, including Vanilla Bean, who were rescued in terrible condition from one of the worst situations imaginable.
More soon!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

January 29th, 2011

Yikes! It's been a week since the last posting! Things have been busy at the rescue. All the usual volunteers were out working with horses this week: Katie, Kassi, Sam, Sasha, Michelle the Carrot Lady, Kim and daughters, Becca, and Alecia. Below are pictures of Sasha working with Vanilla Bean. Vanilla bean is a happy pony with her new friend, Sasha! She is learning all sorts of good things.










We also had a new volunteer as well! Ben used to work at a Morgan breeding and training facility and wants to help with ground training some of the younger horses at Hytyme. He is also a professional photographer, and brought his camera out to take pictures of the horses. Ben's pictures are forthcoming! We are happy to have him around to help!

Chuck was out trimming horses' hooves on Saturday as well. He worked on Buddy, Hope, and Abby, all privately owned and boarded horses. He also examined Dallas as well. Recently, Dallas had a setback in her recovery, so Sam soaked her feet and used an easyboot to keep them dry. Dallas was moved back indoors and seemed to be feeling better with Sam's good work. During her check-up, Chuck noticed Dallas' foot rotates to the side, and that perhaps some of her ligaments are injured or have calcified. We will continue to monitor her feet and get to the bottom of her lameness issues. 

Chuck also worked on Dunny's feet. When Dunny arrived at Hytyme a number of years ago, he was in a lot of pain. His entire front set of muscles had wasted away, giving him a narrow, bowlegged look from the front. Years of hard work and then subsequent neglect put Dunny in bad shape. A number of volunteers have worked with Dunny, and try to help him feel more comfortable. Scott is Dunny's good friend, and when Scott is at the barn, he often takes Dunny out for special attention. Dunny's also had chiropractic and other muscular work done. Sometimes he gets better, and you can tell how good he feels because he runs with the rest of the herd. Other times, though, he moves with a slow, stilted gait. 
 Ben held Dunny during Chuck's trim, and Dunny did quite well. After the trim, he seemed to be feeling sore, so he was given some bute in his grain. Ben brushed him as well. We'll keep watching Dunny, too, to make sure that he is feeling okay, and that he's able to enjoy his life without so much pain.

On the 29th, Jim, Sherry, Becca, and Sam attended a Lameness Seminar at Eagle Fern Equine Hospital. Our vet, David, did an excellent job explaining the structure of the equine knee and hock. His presentation detailed all the injuries and treatments in those critical joints. It was an informative lecture with lots of slides to show the inner workings of the knee and hock. The other advantage to this seminar was getting to sample the many delicious deserts! One of the vet clinic's clients is a pastry chef, and she delivered many lovely snacks! Cookies, tiramisu, brownies, cupcakes--all delicious! Informative and delicious. The best kind of seminar.

This week, we also had some good news. We had some wonderful donations of tack, blankets, a feeder, grooming supplies, feed and vitamins. We can't thank our donors enough. We appreciate every donation to the rescue! The horses do, too!


But we got  some truly wonderful news this week. Jim and Sherry's niece in California has been battling a brain tumor for the last nine years. Recently, she found out that she is eligible for a new kind of advanced treatment that she's wanted to try for some time. Although we all may go through hard times, we can gain courage and strength from watching someone undergo such difficult treatment with grace and dignity.  It's excellent news that she will be involved in this new treatment. She is an inspiration!

A word from Jim:

Sometimes I wonder what keeps me going at this.  It is a little strange, a guy liking and working with horses.  It's not a riding thing.  Actually, I don't like to ride very much at all.  Ever since that one day in November of 2005 when we met Heidi and Ryan at a feedlot in Eastern Washington, things have changed.  To see it first hand and find out what it is really like for those poor horses changes a person.  Sherry and I were never the same after that point.  To this day, every time I go out in the field with the rescue horses, there is a feeling of reverence that consumes my body.  Kind of spiritual.  That's about the best I can explain it.  Anyway, I like the feeling.



More soon!