August 31st, 2011

Things have been quite uneventful out at the rescue for the past few weeks! This is a good thing, really. Horses have been happy enjoying the long, warm days. The usual volunteers and boarders have been out doing their usual things. We love summer!

In construction news, Jim built an awesome new addition to the facility. We now have a 60-foot round pen. It's built right into the oldies' pasture, so it's convenient to all. What fun! Now we'll be able to work on some of those important groundwork basics with ease! Pictures will be forthcoming!

Jim also figured out some nice techniques for watering the arena. During these dry months, the arena can get pretty dusty. The new watering system can cover the whole arena without any overlap! Also awesome!

The Brain Tumor Walk for Laurie was also a success! Katie, Joey, Becca, Dylan, Adrienne, Jim, Nathan and Dylan all caravaned from the barn to attend the walk in Willamette Park. It was a beautiful day, and it was a real treat to meet Laurie and other family members! The hot dog roast was also a blast, and we'll put some pictures up of that soon, too.

And here are some pictures of our rescue residents. There are 20 of them, in total. Seven are young and healthy! Many of these horses are permanent residents, but some are available for adoption!

Yuma, Quarter Horse mare

Braveheart, our sweet, older gelding with a bad wheeze. 

Dreamer, older Quarter Horse mare

Granny, our beautiful Belgian

Tempest, our blind appy mare (her pal Juliet is lurking behind her).

Boss, one of the four fillies, looking wonderful this summer!

Cameo, older Arabian mare

Hobbit, young and adorable Haflinger

Katie Mae (aka Black Beauty!)

Rose, Arabian mare

Vanilla Bean!

Chino

Delilah (her adoption didn't work out, so she's back at the rescue)

World-famous Peanut Butter Boy

Shannon, one of our elegant Thoroughbreds

Spendy, our other lovely Thoroughbred mare

Reminder!!

Hi everyone! Just a quick reminder--the last day to register for the Brain Tumor Walk is August 17th! Walk for Laurie, who has been dealing with this for the last nine years. Her great attitude and spirit help inspire Jim to keep the rescue going. The walk itself will benefit the National Brain Tumor Society, and our goal is to raise $1,000.

Here's the link for registration: http://www.braintumorwalk.org/Portland

After the 5k walk, we'll have a hot dog roast back at the barn! Everyone is invited--we want all the Hytyme volunteers and friends to meet Laurie. We hope to see you then!
More news from the barn coming soon, too!

July 26th, 2011

One of Hytyme's most difficult rescue situations involved Vanilla Bean, Iris (now gone), and another mare named Gimlet. It's hard to imagine the type of abuse and neglect these horses faced. They were "rescued" from the feedlot in Yakima by way of the Columbia Basin Equine Rescue, and sent to a horrible place not fit for any sort of animal life. Why these horses, saved in time from potentially going to slaughter, were sent to a farm that could have rivaled the slaughterhouse as far as cruelty goes, is unknown. Regardless, Hytyme intervened, and these three mares were safe.

The following pictures are pretty graphic. If you don't want to see them, keep scrolling down and you'll see some happier pictures of their recoveries.

Iris:

Iris was a very beautiful older Quarter Horse mare. She was so damaged from her abusive past that she was never able to trust humans. In 2008, a couple years after she arrived at the ranch, she was back to an excellent weight and in good health. Sadly enough, Iris sustained an injury that would have required more invasive treatment than she would allow. She had been through enough, and her mental and physical suffering had to come to an end.

Here's Iris as she looked a year or so after the previous pictures were taken:

It was very sad to lose Iris, but we feel better knowing that she isn't in pain anymore. That's what matters.

Gimlet, another chestnut  mare, wasn't in as bad shape as Iris or Vanilla Bean. You can see her lurking in the background of some of the pictures of Iris above. She was adopted shortly after her arrival at the barn.

Vanilla Bean, who is now a long-time resident and volunteer favorite (and available for adoption!), was also in sad shape. Here are some of her pictures upon arrival at Hytyme. She was around two years old as well as pregnant:

Remarkably, and despite the terrible neglect, Vanilla Bean had an adorable and healthy filly, Baby Bean (also adopted and doing well!).

Many volunteers have worked with Vanilla Bean over the last few years. She's practically a tank! She'll be an excellent trail horse! She's an extremely easy keeper these days, and has really tough feet. She's lived through a lot for such a young horse! What an inspiration.

In other news, things have been going well out at the rescue. Despite a cool and rainy week, this one has been warm and filled with all of our favorite summery happenings.

Shannon hadn't been feeling well, and she came off the big field and was put into a stall. She's perked up, and Jim let her back out with the herd. Peanut Butter Boy's foot is just about healed, and he's also back with his friends.

Michelle was out the other day feeding carrots to all her equine friends. Thanks again, Michelle, for keeping the horses so happy and well supplied with carrots!

Jim has been burying a lot of concrete this week as well, concrete that's left over from the foundation removed to build the arena. Here are some pictures of that project:
The concrete comes from here:

The arena view sure looks awesome, too!

Also this week, Scott came out to volunteer. He was able to fix the leak on the backhoe's big cylinder, which made this concrete removal project lots easier. It's working great now!

Anthony of Running Bare  was out to do trims. Here are some pictures of Anthony and Devon:

More to come soon!

July 24th, 2011

Things are going well out at the rescue!

Hopefully, many of you can attend the 5k Brain Tumor Walk on August 20th! Laurie's strength is truly inspirational, and we want to do something to help and honor her. Our goal is to raise $1,000. Here's the link again to register and join our "Walk For Laurie" team:
http://www.braintumorwalk.org/Portland

Hope to see you all there! August 20th! It will be a blast!

In news from the barn, Juliet and Tempest have joined Braveheart and Granny in the front field. The senior citizens all enjoy their beet pulp and alfalfa pellet mash, and they can also enjoy the clover growing in the field. Juliet seems to be doing particularly well after her teeth floating in April.

After such a wet winter and spring, the pastures are in full bloom. Many of the volunteers and Hytyme crew have noted how green and lush everything is. We will keep monitoring the horses to ensure that no one is experiencing any symptoms of founder.

Kassi recieved an update on one of our favorite Hytyme horses--Mac! He's doing really well with his new family near Bend. Here's a picture; you can see how shiny and good he looks!

Mac grazes with his new friend Ezra in the background

We've gotten some AMAZING updated pictures of two of our adopted horses this week, too. Check out the Facebook page to see pictures of former Hytyme horses Anna (now Remi) as well as Izzy.

One of our long-term volunteers, Dorothy, is back in the area for a few weeks. She's been a Hytyme regular for years, working with horses like Dakota and Peanut Butter Boy. Here's a picture of Dorothy and Natasha--what a nice, untangled mane!

One really, really cool thing about Natasha--her mother was one of the horses to play the Black Stallion in the movies of the same name!

Anyway, welcome back, Dorothy! It's so nice to see you again!

Also in exciting, hay-related news, we've had another 50 tons of hay donated! It's got to be baled and loaded, but it will be an immense help for the upcoming winter (although most of us don't really want to think about winter just yet...). Once it's ready to go, we'll need help (people, trucks, trailers etc.) to get it from Colton to the rescue. We'll update with more information on where and when soon!

A huge thanks for that amazingly generous donation!

Brain Tumor Walk!

From Jim and Sherry:

"Hello all   ---  I've discussed my niece, Laurie, with many of you in the past.  She has been fighting a brain tumor for the last nine years.  Her outlook on life is inspiring and gives me strength when I need it, which is most of the time.  Don't think I could have made it so far without her inspiration. 

Anyway as a gesture of our thanks, Hytyme Equine Rescue has a team in the Brain Tumor Walk on August 20th 2011 at Willamette Park, in Portland Oregon.  If you are interested in joining us please contact www.BrainTumorWalk.org/Portland .  Be sure to join the Hytyme Equine Rescue Team.  We can all walk together.  Laurie, and my sister Debbie, who live in Fiddletown, California, will be at the walk.  They would very much like to meet you all.  Laurie will be walking in a wheelchair.  We can all take turns pushing her.  Your life will be better after you meet her.

This is a win win win situation.  It helps the National Brain Tumor Society.  It helps my Niece Laurie, and it helps Hytyme Equine Rescue.

After the walk will be a hot dog roast at Hytyme. Getting together will be a nice thing, plus we can pet some horses.

Hope to see many of you there.  We are really looking forward to it.

Jim & Sherry