Thursday, July 31, 2008

Thursday

Hot with little wind today, we were roasting!



Our Farrier, Trey was out working on the horses. Blackjack and Aviator were re-shod in preparation for their travels to their new homes. Blackjack is going near Sacramento, CA, while Aviator is going all the way to New Hampshire. He also worked on some of the Boarded horses, as well as Convoy and Soot.


All the patients from yesterday's Vet Day are doing well. "Salsette" was wandering all over, Pig Newton was trying to escape from his recovery area (where he needs to remain until Sunday), and Blue Moon ran all around when he was turned out.

Little Willing had some fun. We moved the two little ponies, Pepperoni and Pocahontas into the Bungalow area and they all ran around in the attached turn out together. Will, of course, was the boss. Will is such a neat little guy. He will be looking for his new home very soon. He will have to remain at Shiloh until he is weaned, at around 6 months of age. If you are interested in adopting little Will, please let us know. He deserves a home of his own...


Our new riding area is getting into shape. This is a huge open area near the big Pasture and Area 51. We have some small Cross Country jumping fences we will be putting here. We will also be setting the Parelli playground up near this area. I am hoping to set up a Dressage arena as well. A little something for everyone and every horse!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Vet Day 7/30/08

Today was Vet Day at the rescue. Dr. Little from Desert Pines and his vet tech, Tracy came out to work on the horses. We had a full schedule, so we were all to work early.


Shiloh Volunteer/Boarder/Adopter/Equipment Manager Dave arrived first (before the vet) and while checking pasture horses over, he noticed that his horse Rookie had hurt his eye. The vet checked him first and found that Rookie had scratched his eye and it had created an ulcer. Rookie is being treated and should make a great recovery.


Then it was Pig Newton's turn. He was to be castrated and he was NOT happy about it. Dr. Little put Pig Newton to sleep for the procedure with a gas mask. Watch this video and listen to the screaming! Turn your volume up and enjoy! (Notice, Sally the Pig Wrangler is right in there! Hold him Sally!)




Before the vet's arrival, we caught Oscar Meyer telling Pig Newton all about what was going to happen to him... Pig Newton looked worried, Oscar looked pleased. Leo and Felipe look a little queasy... They are keeping a close eye on Dr. Little's scalpel.
Go to sleep Pig Newton...

Pig Newton in a horse stall recovering. He looks a bit stunned!

Next to be gelded was Salsa! As the vet said, it was a true "Testicle Festival" today! This is what we were all waiting for! Poor Salsa! (It's hard to know who was more upset, Salsa or Dave!) He went thorough the whole procedure with no problems but, afterwards, before he got up, he just laid on the grass making a sad hee-hawing sound! But, enough about Dave! :o) Just kidding! An hour later, Salsa was back to his old tricks and vying for the center of attention. But, we are teasing him now, calling him "Salsette" and talking about Dave's "new daughter"! :o)


Getting sleepy... "Save me Dave!"
Let the fun begin!

Dreaming of his un-gelded days...

Sally takes advantage of his condition to groom Salsa's "Danger Zone". Hurry up Sally!
"What happened? Why Dave, Why?"

Blue Moon was also gelded, he is a sweet little guy. He had no problems and made a great recovery.

Blue Moon...
His procedure!


We had Philadelphia's cheek bump checked again, we will be taking him into the clinic to have x-rays done and any floating bone chip removed. Daisy, Flower, and Sitka will also be taken into the vet at the same time to have their feet x-rayed again and their deformed hooves worked on by the vet and shoer in the clinic.

Philadelphia has his tear ducts flushed out.


We also had some of the Gummies checked over. We wanted to make sure we were doing all we could for these older guys. Dr. Little said, they just don't have many teeth left and nature is taking it's course. He said to continue them on the feeding program they are on and keep an eye on them. Gummie Mendoza did have some proud flesh removed from his old wound. When he was rescued, he had horrible cuts all over his lower legs, all have healed but one had a large amount of extra tissue growth.


Mendoza's foot.
Done!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Tuesday

Another hot day today. Lots of horses were worked and turned out, everyone was checked over.

Blackjack now has an adoption pending to a wonderful horse family from CA. Years ago, Jill and Cortney used to ride together in Pony Club in CA. What a small world! This is a perfect home for Blackjack.

Sadly our ranch dog, Curry, killed a cat today. It was not one of Shiloh's cats, it was an older Calico kitten, we have no idea where it came from. We are wondering if someone dumped some kittens somewhere near Shiloh. (We looked for more but coudln't find any.) Curry has been chasing rabbits (he doesn't chase the cats) and he probably started out chasing the kitten thinking it was a rabbit. Unfortunately, he caught it and we think Curry broke it's back. The kitten passed away in the Cherry Pie lounge with everyone comforting it. There was nothing we could do.

Jill's husband, Tony came out to the rescue today to do a magazine interview. He talked about his life in movies, as well as Shiloh...

Tomorrow is Vet Day, visitors are welcome. Salsa, Blue Moon, and Pig Newton will be castrated. So it should be a really fun day! :o) We will post all about the day on tomorrow's blog.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Monday and some updates

A very hot day today, it must have been like 106 at the ranch. We had a hay delivery this morning, three semi trucks worth. That is alot of hay (and money!)...


Here is a picture of Sy, the newset arrival. He is in excellent shape for his age, we were told that he is 36 years old! His teeth seem to confirm it. He is a very friendly and personable guy.
Seemore and Poker are doing great as well, they have settled in with no problems. The three new guys are still in Isolation.

Here is a picture (below) of Former Shiloh Horse, Biloxi! Those of you who have been with Shiloh over the years will remember Biloxi was the little weanling Walker with the broken leg. He had to wear a cast and splint for almost a full year. Look how big and wonderful he looks now!
I had an update on Shorty as well. He is doing great, has grown taller. He is no longer short, he is 16 hands now! His new name is Ranger and he is working out wonderfully in his new home. He is great with kids and is well loved. Here is a new pic of Shorty "Ranger" sent by his owner Nancy.

Here are some cute pics of Jill's dogs Max, Osito, and Sukie- all three sitting on the golfcart "helping" with the chores.

Osito and Max LOVE the pig mud water hole. I have to say this is such disgusting mud- the pigs and the Llama go to the bathroom in it- the grosser it is, the more they like it! Then the dogs jump in my truck...

Sunday, July 27, 2008

More Pictures from Sunday

A couple more pics from today:
Daisy goes one way, Pig Newton goes the other, while Clover in Assisted Living watches...
Our old goat, Slew.
Notice Pig Newton marching back and forth in front of Oscar Meyer's pen? Well, Weds pig castration should take care of that! I am sure Oscar Meyer will be cherring the vet on...
Tequila.

The Weekend

Did you all hear that an Thoroughbred ex-racehorse has made the Olympic Three Day Event Team? Courageous Comet, from racehorse to Olympic horse- what a story!

Good news as Plymouth's adoption to Bianca of Las Vegas is finalized. This is a great match and we are all very happy for both Plymouth and Bianca. Congrats!

The new guys from Pahrump are settling in. They were turned out and had some fun playing in the arena. We also had another New Arrival today. A very old gelding, who was abandoned by his owner at a boarding facility, came out to Shiloh today. The concerned boarding facility owner wanted him to have a place to live out his days in safety, so here he is. His name is Sy and we were told he is 36 years old. Hopefully, he will be able to eventually fit into one of our Senior Pasture herds. I will get some photos of him tomorrow.

Look who showed up yesterday, it's Kevin Bacon. Probably wanted to pay his respects to Pig Newton. First he had to have a roll in a cool mud puddle.Kevin Bacon has some sort of thing for horse legs. Here he is rubbing on Tanis' legs...
Then he stood right between Tanis' back legs. Poor Tanis didn't want to hurt him, he very carefully and slowly picked each leg up to get away.

A huge sandstorm blew in yesterday, the entire valley was full of blowing sand!

Here is Blackjack being used for a lesson at Shiloh. He is so well mannered, a great horse for people to learn on.

Shiloh supporters, Adopters, and Boarders, the Hickey Family traveled to Arizona last weekend to attend a Pat Parelli clinic. They loved it and learned alot. Here is Dave and Kody getting Pat Parelli's autograph...





Saturday, July 26, 2008

The Pahrump Auction 7/26/08

Shiloh drove to Pahrump, NV today for the Nye County Animal Control horse auction. These horses had been confiscated from their owners and were being auctioned off to the highest bidder. These horses were at great risk for heading up to the Utah slaughter auction, if they were not sold, or if they were bought by a dealer type, they would end up there.



Shiloh could not sit back as horses in our very community were at such a great risk. We were hoping that we would not have to buy any horses, that other caring horse people would show up and help these horses. We had to go to see for ourselves that the horses would be safe.

We met up with Shiloh supporters, Cheri, who drove up from Las Vegas, and Lenny and Arthur, who have recently moved to horse property in Pahrump. Once we got there, we found another Pahrump Shiloh supporter, Don, who was also there to help.

The first horse through was the unhandled Mustang Stallion, a beautiful guy, just wild. A horsewoman called out from the doorway and bought him for $20.00. She is hoping to start a horse rescue of her own and we all could not be happier to see her there!

The next two horses were the older geldings, both around 30 years of age. Thin and scraggly and gray with age, but extremely sweet and in need of some help. Shiloh was the only bid and we got one for $30, the second for $20. There was a sweet old mare with a bad leg, who was bid on by a mother and daughter team for $30. Happily for the mare, the girl and her mother had been going to visit her at the Animal Control corrals for weeks and really wanted to offer her a home. The older pony created a bit of a bidding war between two horse people, going to one of them for $160.00. HUGE thanks to those who showed up to help these horses out!

Big THANKS also to Cheri, who paid for both of the geldings. Cheri is the one who bid on Sweeney Todd at the last auction, saving him and trailering him back to Shiloh. THANKS also to everyone who donated cash to use at this auction. Since we did not have to use it (thanks to Cheri), it will be put into our Slaughter Fund to be used at the next auction.

We have named the big red roan gelding, "Seemore". As we drove away from the auction, hot and sweating, we drove by an ice cream shop named Seemore's. The name just stuck! Seemore is extremely gentle. The second gelding is now named "Poker", he is also kind, but a bit more frisky. Both hopped right into the horse trailer and are settling into their new corrals at Shiloh.




Seemore grabs a bite of hay back at Shiloh. Look at that sweet old face, how can anyone resist?

Seemore

Seemore



Seemore



Poker's grizzly old face. What a sweet old guy!

Poker

Poker

Friday, July 25, 2008

Pig Newton and more...

Today, a new Bill to fight Horse Slaughter was introduced by the Animal Welfare Institute. Please check it out and support it! We NEED to get this Bill passed! Huge thanks from everyone at Shiloh and all the Shiloh Horses for those who are writing and crafting legislation for horse welfare!


Sally, Jill, and Sharil picked up the new pig from Lied Animal Shelter today. He is an unnuetered male (of course) who we have named "Pig Newton". (Pig Newton is on the right in the photo above, Oscar Meyer is to the left.) He seemed very happy to be at Shiloh, but he fought with Oscar Meyer. So, we had to lock him in the pig area. Unfortunately, he kept on escaping and fighting, so we finally had to lock Oscar Meyer up. Pig Newton will be castrated on Weds during our vet day. (We will also be gelding Blue Moon and castrating Salsa.) We had to lift him into the horse trailer in a blanket, watch the video below and see Sally, Shiloh's Pig Wrangler, help get him loaded up. Make sure you turn up your volume! :o)




Here is a picture of Will cast in the Bungalow's turnout. One minute he was up exploring, two minutes later, here he was. He just laid there quietly until we flipped him over. Then he stood up, got himself organized, and came over to say Good Morning. He is such a sweet and level headed little guy!

Our Shoer was out working. We finally loaded up around 3pm to go home, leaving the shoer and Felipe to finish up. They were working on Convoy when we drove out. All looked fine. After we got through the pass, we got a frantic phone call, Convoy had somehow lost his footing and fell forward, flipping himself over in the cross ties in the barn aisle! The cross ties are tied with string as a precaution, as the string will break. Convoy whammed his head so hard on the brick floor that he almost knocked himself out! He just laid there really still for a minute or so. At first, they thought he had broken his neck, we rushed back as fast as we could drive, fearing the worst. By the time we got back to the ranch, Convoy was up, looking dazed, but slowly coming out of it. His neck seems fine, but he will be very sore. We are watching him very closely for any sign of head trauma, but he is looking fine. What a horrible thing that was for everyone, we didn't know what we were going to find! Just goes to show you that you just never know what is going to happen. Anything, and everything, happens when you have horses. We are just thankful that no person was hurt and that Convoy seems okay.


Thank you to Karolina and her sponsored horse, Roy, who sent the Shiloh Horses some more flymasks. Flymasks just don't seem to last very long out in the pastures...


SATURDAY: Jill and Sally will be off to the Pahrump Animal Control Auction, it starts around noon. Elisa has her Equine Biology class tomorrow at 10am, and Sabine may have her Basic Horsemanship class as well. It's going to be a very busy weekend. As always, volunteers and vistors are welcome!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Thursday

Some sad news from the rescue, sweet old Cactus passed away in the night last Tuesday. We wanted to wait unitl we got home to post about it. She was found that morning, no sign of a struggle, laying in her pasture with her herdmates nearby. Cactus was in her 30's and had a badly crippled leg, but she was happy and had a great horse life for the last two years of her life at Shiloh. She had been rescued off of the Fallon feedlot with her weanling colt, Hillbilly, at her side. Hillbilly eventually went on to a new home while Cactus entered our Sanctuary. She lived in Big Vacation Village with her best friend, Marilyn. As sad as it is when a horse passes, we are always thankful when one of the old guys passes quietly and naturally in the night. I am working on her Greener Pastures page but am having some website problems.

Don't forget, we have the Second Equine Biology Class this Saturday, July 26th at Shiloh. It starts at 10am. This is going to be a really educational class, so don't miss it! Cost $25.00 per person. Please go here to find out more and to sign up!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Horses needing help and the pig!

We were contacted by the Nye County Animal Control today about 5 horses who will be auctioned off to the highest bidder this Saturday in Pahrump, NV. These were horses who have been confiscated from their owners and are now at risk again. The last auction had 3 horses, one sold for $20, Sweeney Todd who came to Shiloh sold for $40, and another mare sold for $1300.00. This time there is an older mare with a bad leg, an older pony/small horse, a Mustang stallion (of course), and two older thin geldings.

The ad read: "The Nye County Animal Shelter will be auctioning 5 horses at 12pm, on Saturday 7/26/08 at 800 Margaret St. Pahrump, NV, Nye County Auction. 1 Bay Mustang Stallion, approx 4yrs old, 1 Bay Gelding, 1 Roan Gelding, 1 Sorrel Mare, 1 Roan Pony Mare. Horses may be seen at the Shelter located at 171 N Kittyhawk Dr, Pahrump NV. For more info call 775-751-7020"

Shiloh will be going to help the horses who are not bid on by interested people, good people that is! If you live in the area, or are looking for a horse to give a home to, please consider stopping by to help these guys. Shiloh will be there with our Shiloh shirts on, so if you see us, come on over and say hi.

Thank you to everyone who sent me info on these horses, we appreciate you guys keeping an eye out for us.

If by any chance, someone can pick up a pig at the Lied Animal Shelter for us on Friday, please let us know at shilohhorse@aol.com. We are planning to go on Friday to get "GottaGo", but if anyone else can do it, it would really save us alot of time! You will need a horse trailer. The last time we picked the pig up with a blanket to load, it was not too hard!

Thanks everyone!
Jill

Traveler at Ford's Theater

Today was the last day of the trip. We had a flight to catch back to Sin City, but before we left, the Girls had another surprise for me...


Off I went on Sally's shoulder...
Even our friend Jo from Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue was along to see where our adventure was going to be...

The Girls bought me this wonderfully patriotic hat, I just LOVE it!
Oh yes! Look where we are going! It's the Peterson House, the very house where President Lincoln died on April 15, 1865! He had been shot by John Wilkes Booth right across the street in Ford's Theater and was carried to this small house.

Lets go Sally!

Here is where his wife, Mary Lincoln, waited the night out as her husband lay dying. She had fainted and they would not allow her back into his room. I heard she was a little nuts...

More of the room. This must have been an awful place, crowded with worried and scared people.

Here is the bed (not the actual one, it's a reproduction) that the President died on. He was so tall that he had to lay sideways to fit, but his feet still hung off.

What a very sad ending for such an incredible man. To die in this dingy little room ater all he had done for our country...

More about the room...

A sign in the bedroom.

A small garden right outside the back door.

This is Ford's Theater where he was shot. It is closed for renovations so we could not go in.

From Gettysburg to Ford's Theater, I learned alot about President Lincoln. I am so glad my Girls brought me on this trip. I wonder where we will be heading next? I heard we might be off to Rome very soon! Yippee!