December 25th-28th

Sorry for the combined post, but it's been quite peaceful at the rescue this week, since everyone was busy with their families and the holidays. The regular crowd was out to see their horses: Sam, Katie, Lynn, Kassi, Becca, and Joey, but we have welcomed a number of new volunteers over the last few weeks. A new volunteer, Michelle has been an enormous help so far--bringing bags of equine senior, mucking stalls, and, of course, feeding the horses lots of carrots. Welcome, Michelle!

Sue is doing much better. Her foot is healing nicely. Dr. Rosario made a barn call to see Lynn's horse, Gracie. Gracie was acting lame, but the vet determined it might actually be something going on with her back rather than her legs. On a similar note, Kassi and Michelle noticed Hope standing alone in the big field, shivering. On the 28th, the weather had taken a turn for the worse. Cold, steady rain made most of the horses head inside for shelter. But Kassi and Michelle noticed Hope was having trouble walking, like her muscles were tying up. Because Hope can be difficult to catch, Becca and Joey hurried to Eagle Creek to catch her and get her inside for a thorough inspection. At first, Hope didn't want to be caught at all. But after some carrot bribes, she relented. Becca was able to halter her and bring her inside the arena.

Hope was shivering, and after being towel-dryed and covered in a fleecy cooler sheet, walked around the arena. She did seem to be almost goose-stepping, or like she had mild stringhalt. Hope started moving normally once she was given some hay to eat. Eating hay can help a cold horse get warm again. The internal heat generated from all that chewing will warm them up. Since the weather was so terrible, and Jim had fed hay in the barn instead of the pasture, it's possible she just got pushed out into the rain. Hope seemed much happier to have all the attention and food to herself. Everyone was so busy with the holidays that there hasn't been much riding going on, so Hope got to spend the night in the arena (none of the stalled horses were that receptive to having a new roommate!). Buddy got to spend the night in the arena with Hope, to keep her company. They are quite cordial to each other (and Becca hopes that they will become best friends so that she can take both out at once!), and seemed to enjoy each other's company and the dry arena.

The next day, Becca and Joey came out early to check on Hope, and to see if she possibly needed vet attention. Upon arrival, they were happy to note that Hope was definitely dry and in much better spirits after spending a luxurious night in the arena. Sam palpated Hope's hooves for abcesses and found nothing. Hope's legs weren't hot to the touch or swollen, but she did have sore points on her back and withers. Sam came to the conclusion that perhaps Hope had slipped in the pasture and was pretty achy and brusied. Combined with the freezing rain and getting kicked out of the barn during dinner, well, she wasn't feeling great. Horses like Natasha, Caroline, and Dallas were all ready to leave their stalls and go back outside, so Hope got to move indoors for stall rest. Everyone will be keeping an eye on her. Hopefully the stall rest will do the trick. If not, Hope will be seeing Dr. Rosario for a check-up.

In other news, Dakota was adopted this week! She'll be living in St. Helens. Dakota, for those of you who don't know her, is a dark bay mare and a granddaughter of Seattle Slew. She has gone through some training, but needed a special person of her own. Congratulations to Dakota and her new owner! We wish you all the best of luck!

More updates tomorrow, but we'll close this blog with pictures of feeding time at the rescue We hope everyone had an excellent Christmas, and Happy New Year!
Thanks for following our updates!


Maverick? (sometimes it's hard to tell the bays apart!)





Shannon

Peanut Butter Boy is first in line today!

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!

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!

December 20th, 2010

Kassi was working out in the field with Whoops and Scout and noticed Sue was limping. Sue is an older Clydesdale mare. She was sore on her right rear leg, and it was hard to tell what the cause of her pain was. We decided it might be her foot, so we brought her inside. Chuck was at the barn to trim hooves, so he took a look at Sue's feet. He trimmed some of her hoof, and then we decided to put a  medicine boot on. We tried the biggest size possible-3X!-but it still didn't fit her giant hoof.  She did seem to be moving a lot better after her trim, so we'll just have to watch her closely and try to find the right size boot.

Whoops and Jaqueline decided to play with Chuck's hair and equipment this whole time. They helped a lot.

Also, Coal is wearing a thick new winter blanket. He's one of our oldest equine residents, so it's important to keep him dry, well-fed, and happy during the winter. He always trots up to the fence for food. He was a jumping pony in his younger years, and before he came to the rescue, he had owners who dyed him black so that no one could see all his grey fur and know how old he is. Even though they might not have appreciated Coal very much, we sure do. He is a real character!

December 19th, 2010

We had to say goodbye to two wonderful friends today. Although we're going to miss them, everyone at Hytyme is happy that Reba and Mac have been adopted into new homes. We know they'll make excellent best friends for their new people.

Mac came to the rescue in 2007. He was very reactive toward horses and people. He was agressive in the field, and he was also unpredictable because of his abusive past. However, once the volunteers learned that Mac had a broken nose and was in pain and got him the necessary surgery and vet attention, and Mac learned that he was safe and cared for at Hytyme, he blossomed into the perfect gentleman he is today. Once Mac found a job at Hytyme, and volunteers started working with him again, he really flourished. He went camping near Bend with the Hytyme crew, and helped bring horses in from the field as a "pasture taxi", and gave rides to many people all over the property. He was one of the herd leaders in the field, but was good friends with Buddy, the other dominant horse in the pasture. They worked as a team to boss everyone around.

Today, a family from Culver, Oregon, came to pick up Mac. They wanted Mac for their ten-year-old son, Jordan. They drove all the way from Eastern Oregon to meet Mac and try him out in the arena to see if he was a good fit for their family. The bed of their truck and the top of their trailer were covered in snow.



It's a long, snowy drive!

 Mac showed them how much he liked people and how well trained he was, so his new family decided to take him home. Although we'll miss Mac very, very much, we couldn't ask for a better home for him. He is one cool dude, and we know he'll make Jordan and his new family extremely happy. He'll have a wonderful home with his new people. Can't ask for anything more than that! So, good luck, Mac and Jordan!

Another good horse is also leaving. Reba, our red roan Mustang, has been adopted, too. She'll be going to the Oregon Coast to live with a woman who specializes in training Mustangs. When Reba is ready, she'll be a 4-H horse for her new owner's granddaughter. Reba had a big smile on her face while she met her new people. Her big, kind eyes were gleaming.