It was at least 108 degrees out there today! We were dying! :o)


Jill's dogs enjoy the cool and stinky pig mud!

First off, CONGRATULATIONS to Sharil (Shiloh Adopter, Boarder, and Volunteer). Sharil was chosen as the Employee of the Month for the entire MGM Casino/Hotel! Yay Sharil! Here is one of Sharil's horses, Cochise, looking proud! Cooper left for his new home this morning. He was a personal favorite of mine, from the second I saw him at the New Holland Sale. He is such a gentle young gelding and we are so happy that he has a new home! Jackie-Thank you for choosing to adopt a rescued horse!


Slewus (above), rescued at the CA auction, under saddle today for the first time since his rescue. He needs some more rehab time, but is hopefully headed to his foster home this week. He has great manners, stands quietly while tied and loves attention.


Sweet Ciento (above), the recent save from the Fallon Auction. We are keeping his front legs wrapped and supported, he is very sore, poor guy.

Here are some pics of Trashy being bathed this weekend. It was so hot that the horses really enjoyed the cool water!For Eagle and Charlie (below), the grass really is greener on the other side!

A super busy weekend at the rescue!



Elisa's Equine Biology class was a hit! She had lots of people and everyone learned alot. Elisa worked very hard to make this a very educational class for everyone and she is a very good teacher. This was the first class of the Shiloh Summer Education Series, we are already planning more to cover topics like feeding, conformation, breeds and colors, first aid, teeth, etc...



Two Shiloh horses left for their new homes today. Spirit left on Sunday for Arizona and Martini, the Fallon auction Arab mare, was happily already adopted by Carol of Indian Springs, NV. More horses will leave this weekend, as Godspeed and Moses go to their foster home, Cooper goes to his new adoptive home, Boarder Maverick goes to Utah, and Boarders Noname and Lincoln are off to Pahrump where Shiloh Horse, Slewus, will also be fostered.


Big excitement out in Big Vacation Village when Trooper, now renamed Zanthos by his adoptive family, entered the pasture! Look at Belmont, the big chestnut with the crippled leg. He gets around great and even joins in the chase. Joining the gallop are Philidelphia, adopted horse Fortune, and Tioga (the paint with the UV sheet).

We had lots of volunteers and visitors, some first timers. Kelly's "Carrot Brigade" handed out treats to all the horses and other animals, who were all waiting at attention!

Another fun weekend at the ranch!

Friday

It was HOT out at the ranch today, 105 in the shade!

I took some new pictures of the Fallon horses- at least until I dropped Sally's camara into Zuiderzee's mud puddle that she makes with her water bucket. This is the second time I have done this, Sally was not happy. Luckily it's a big ranch! Here are some of the pics:

Soot
Dunny AFTER rolling after his first bath...

The cute pony, PB&J.

Sweet Christian Bail.

The dogs found some shade...

Poor Spartacus' new hair cut. I wanted him to have the full Poodle cut with the pom poms- but he was just too scraggley from running and playing at the ranch everyday. So, he had to get a close cut. He was a little embarressed to come today...

Salsa taking a heat nap!

This weekend will be a busy one at Shiloh. Besides the usual volunteers and visitors, we have a Basic Horsemanship Class and the Equine Biology Class going on. It supposed to be even hotter, so remember to wear sunblock and bring something cool to drink!

See you at Shiloh!

See what happens when we are out of town?

Looks like the inmates are running the asylum!


When we were at the Fallon auction, someone fed the mascots and wanderers some stuff they were not supposed to eat! If I hadn't seen this photos, I would have never known! I wonder what else happens when we are gone- actually it's probably best we don't know!


Can that possibly be Lucky Charms in there?
Oscar Meyer pigs out!Making sure no one else can eat his food!
Even Daisy tries a Cheese Nip or two... Wait, there are Fruit Loops in there!
Tortilla Chips!
The Goat Herd joins in the fun...

Even Thelma and Louise get some. Now, come on- there is NO WAY that small tortoise can eat ALL of that!

No one ever said the animlas at the rescue aren't spoiled. Thanks to everyone who remembers the Mascots love treats too!

Classes at Shiloh!

Don't forget, this weekend we are offering the first class in the Shiloh Equine Education Summer Series, An Introduction to Equine Biology.

We have also added new days and times for the Basic Horsemanship Classes.

Check out these great classes, come on out, and learn more about horses!

The passing of a great horse...

Sadly for us, Austral was peacefully euthanised at Shiloh yesterday morning. Austral was owned by Jill's family for over 20 years, so his passing was very, very sad for us. It was something that we knew was coming, but that doesn't make it hurt any less. He was an awesome horse, it was a true privilage having him in our lives. Please take a moment to read his story here in Greener Pastures.

But, there is some good news from today. Stealth, one of the new Fallon horses, has already found his new home. He has been adopted by someone who has been waiting for months for just the right horse to come into the rescue. As always, if there is a good home out there, we adopt the horse out. No horse needs to sit in a rescue if there is someone out there who will love and care for it. Stealth is a healthy, sound, and beautiful horse, he deserves the full attention from his new family.

In fact, we have quite a few horses who will be moving on. Spirit is leaving for his AZ home this weekend, Cooper goes on Monday, Aviator has someone interested in adopting him in New Hampshire, and Moses and Godspeed are off together to their foster home by next week...

Monday

We arrived back at Shiloh yesterday evening with four of the new horses from Fallon- Martini, PB&J, Ciento, and Soot. The remaining seven horses are arriving at Shiloh tonight. All eleven will be added to our website tomorrow.

Click here to see some photos from the auction!

Great news as Cooper is adopted today to Jackie of Las Vegas! Peace, one of the wild mares, found her new home last week. These guys moving on to new homes and futures leaves room for the new guys to come in from auctions...

Thanks again for everyone's support!

The Auction!

Sorry I wasn't able to post last night, we were at the auction until after 9pm. We got there around 9am, so it was a very long day. There were over 400 horses run through!

We were only able to save 11 of them. We spent just over $3,000, all of the Slaughter Fund and more.

We got some very nice horses, most aged 9-18, we did thin white Arab mare, and a thin TB gelding with swollen front legs. He went for $100.00. We also got some very nice dude string Quarter Horse types who will make wonderful horses for people who are looking to adopt. I will post pics and more info later, but for now we need to go back and load up four of them to head back to Vegas for the long drive home. The other seven will be hauled to Vegas by a hauler from Fallon, they should arrive in the next few days.

It was an exhausting and difficult day for all of us. Eleven of four hundred ihardly seems like a drop in the bucket, but it makes a difference to those eleven who were able to save. Still, it's hard to think of the ones we had to leave behind.

Huge thanks to everyone who has pitched in for this auction save!

On the way to Fallon, NV

We had another $48.74 donated to the Slaughter Fund, thank you!

Traveler, Jill, Sally, Sharil, and Elisa left Las Vegas at 8am and headed out to Fallon. A journey of over 400 miles. We finally arrived in Fallon around 5pm.

Traveler checks out the "Big Boss" rig.
To help pass the time on the long drive, he helped Sally bead some horseshoes.
Then he hung out with Sharil in the back seat.
Watching the scenary from the back window.
We stopped at a antique shop along the road in Beatty, NV, where we bought a sign for the feedroom.We stopped for some Mexican food for lunch.

This truck was outside of the restaurant, only in Nevada!

We made a tourist stop in Gold Field, NV an old mining town.
We visited the old cemetary....
"Let's go Sally and Elisa, we have a long drive ahead! Honestly, those girls..."

Stopping to look at the view of Walker Lake. It was very beautiful with the sky reflecting in the water. We saw wild Mustangs twice on the long drive. It was so cool to see them in their natural habitat!

We stopped by the Fallon sale yard before going to the hotel. They are estimating 200 horses to go to auction tomorrow. We have some hard choices to make, but we have some horses already added to our list. We will have to see what arrives tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a difficult day.

___________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, Back at Shiloh. Dave arrived to find the Big Pasture like this! Where are all the horses?
Not a horse in sight! They were ALL in the trees, just hanging out! How weird is that!

Life, and Work, Goes On...

Even though we are still so sad after losing Pongo and Sweeney Todd yesterday, life moves on- and at Shiloh, it's usually moving on in all different directions!

We did have some good news from yesterday's Vet Day, Jill's old show horse, Austral, is doing fine for now. We have been concerned for him for a long time now, he has a very advanced neurological condition that causes him to walk crooked and is causing major structural damage to the tendons and ligaments in one hind leg. He has had this condition for years, but it is progressing quicker than we would like. He does not appear to be in that much discomfort, still eats, drinks, wanders the pasture with his best friends, Hollywood and Serenity (Jill's second and first horses). We wanted the vet to give us his opinion, as he always checks on his condition whenever he comes to Shiloh. He agreed, that although it looks bad, that Aussie still has a quality of life and an interest in his world. We were afraid that he would recommend euthanasia, but thankfully, he agrees that, at this point, we should let him live out his days and let Aussie tell us when he is ready. He was given a Legend shot (for his joints) and a steroid injection to keep him feeling strong.

More Vet Procedures: Sadler had a Sarcoid, a benign growth, cut off of his abdomen, Chatty, Shadow, Idaho, and Sally's horse, Sage had skin cancers checked and some bits removed, Spirit had his blood drawn for his traveling papers so he can go to his new home in AZ, Philadelphia's lump on the point of his jaw was examined. It looks to be an old fracture that has healed and causes him no problems. Pepperoni the Roan Pony's eyes were checked and her tear ducts flushed. She has small cataracts, but can see just fine. Some boarder horses were also checked.

Not to be left out, Salsa made his presence known to the vet. He followed us all around all day. Here he is drinking the water to be used in teeth floating. Little des Salsa know that his castration days are fast approaching!

Thursday (today) was also a busy day. Formerly adopted Shiloh horse, Black Jack, a Thoroughbred gelding, returned to Shiloh for financial reasons in his adoptive home. He is a very nice big gelding, sound and healthy, who was being ridden on trail by his family. He will begin his evaluation next week.

We had the shoer out and horses were trimmed and reshod. It was at least 107 degrees out at the ranch today, so we were all just dying. How many people does it take to trim Flower's hooves?

Jill and Elisa to hold her, Sally to supervise, and the Farrier to trim. Flower is a pistol, if she were a big horse, we would all be dead by now!

Success, we all survived, although Sally was bit in the leg and Jill's toes were stomped on!

So what the heck are we doing here you wonder? Well, someone told us that bags of water hung from the barn will keep flies out. They get disoriented by the light prisiming through the water, or something...

After hanging the bags, Jill stands back and watches flies buzzing right past the bags. Later, the flies were actually stopping to rest on the bags before entering the barn. Oh well, we tried...

We are off to Fallon tomorrow and we will be blogging from there. Who knows even little Traveler just might show up...

A Very Sad Vet Day 6/18/07

Today was the kind of day that just makes one despair. What started out as a regularly scheduled Vet Day at the rescue, turned into a heartbreaking day.

Unbelievably, both Sweeny Todd and Pongo had to be euthanised this morning. Those of you who knew these two special horses will know how hard it is for me to even write that sentence.

Sweeny Todd, our stallion, was scheduled to be gelded today and all started off normally. We took him out of his stall, where he had been eating his breakfast and lead him into the Cherry Pie area where he could be laid out on the grass. As Dr. Little began to do his initial exam, ST began to shows sudden signs of a bad colic. As he continued to exam him, he got worse very fast, so he was sedated and given Banamine. By the time Dr. Little got his kit together to do a rectal exam (about 5 minutes), ST stopped responding to the meds and was trying to go down. More sedation and we got him back into his stall to do the exam, where it looked like he was responding a bit. So we decided to give him a few minutes to let all the meds work.

At this time, Dr. Little stepped across the barn aisle to Pongo's stall. By this morning, all four of Pongo's legs had swelled up and he just did not want to move at all. He had stopped eating his Equine Senior two days ago, and since then has just started to go downhill quickly. Dr. Little did a thorough exam and let us know that his body was just shutting down, his heart had a very big murmur, his fluids were not filtering properly, and his old Laminitis was becoming extremely painful for him. We decided that it was best to let him go and let his pain end.

While we were discussing this ST began to thrash in his stall. So we had to decide that ST needed to IMMEDIATELY be out in the trailer and driven to the clinic, an 1 1/2 hour drive. By the time we got him into Shiloh's big trailer, he went down again inside the trailer. Dr. Little sedated him again and after examining him, it was obvious that his only chance was to go into emergency surgery. But he was so shocky and painful at this time, that we all knew he just would not make it for the long drive. We all decided that the right thing for Sweeney Todd was to peacefully euthanise him and ease his horrible pain. Sadly, he was put to sleep, still in the trailer because he just could not get up. He passed with all of us letting him know that we loved him as we all cried. Dr. Little though it might be possible that ST had a defect or lesion in his colon that caused it to be displaced- this was the third time that he had coliced since his arrival. The same sudden pain, but he always responded to the initial medication in the past.

Then, it was back to Pongo's stall. We all gathered around him and told him that he was very loved and that we were all so happy that he had come to Shiloh. He was quietly euthanised, he went very quickly. He was ready.

This all happened in about 20 minutes.

I will post more about the vet day- every other thing was routine. I am just too emotionally drained to do it tonight.

I do want to say this, Sally and I want to thank you Sharil, Robin, Daria, and Elisa, (and all of our other volunteers and visitors) who were there, and are always there, to help us help horses in their time of the most need. It is not easy to see an animal pass, but our volunteers stay strong and pitch in, helping the Shiloh horses pass with dignity, peace, and compassion in the midst of a whirlwind of activity and emotion. The caring today made a difference to Pongo and Sweeney Todd and we can't thank you all enough for being there with us. Thank you also to Dr. Little from Desert Pines and his tech, Tracy. They helped us make these difficult decisions and allowed us to say our good byes to our Shiloh friends.

We will be saving two special need horses at the Fallon auction in Sweeney Todd and Pongo's memories.

Tuesday

First of all- a HUGE THANK YOU for all of the generous donations to Shiloh's Slaughter Fund! As I post this, we have $1070.00 in the Fund to be used for this saturday's slaughter auction in Fallon, NV! You guys are DIRECTLY saving horse lives when you donate to the Fund! Thank you!!!! We will be blogging from Fallon, so make sure you check in to see what's going on. Shiloh is heading up there Friday and will be home on Sunday. We have some Shiloh volunteers going along and we will all be working hard.

Another turn in sweet Moses' life story! Here is how he looked when he arrived:

But, today he was able to be ridden for the first time! He looks like another horse, it just about makes you cry to see him. Happily for everyone, Shiloh volunteer, Robbie, will be taking Moses home to her house to foster and care for him! She is a life long horsewoman who just misses having horses in her life. She still has her horse property, stalls, corrals, and arena and has offered a home to Moses. She is also a huge supporter of Godspeed, and she is considering taking him home as well in the future. We actually tried to see if Godspeed was rideable today, he is healthy and fattened up now, so we tacked him up to see how he responded. All was great UNTIL Elisa went to get on him- he bared his teeth and got extremely agitated. So we backed off. This poor guy was not only starved, but obviously badly abused as well, at least under saddle. He has good ground manners and has really bonded with Robbie, but he is just not ready for more right now. Robbie will continue to visit him and hopefully, he can become a companion to Moses at her house.
Watch this video of Robbie and Moses having some fun today:


Karma's adoptive family came out to visit today and ended up washing P. Shaggy- after handing out carrots of course! P. Shaggy enjoyed the extra attention! Watch a few seconds of sweet old Shaggy:


Volunteer Samantha spent alot of time with America, walking her around the ranch and then bathing her. America was on her best behavior and really loved the extra loving attention. Other long time volunteers did all the wound care and helped us check everyone over. Shiloh really does have THE BEST Volunteers! Shiloh volunteers really get their hands dirty and help us take on the big problems- it's all "on the job training" for all of us and it takes all of us to keep things running smooth, or at least as smoothly as possible! :o)

More great news as Courage finally finds his new home with Shiloh Supporter, Don of Pahrump! Courage has been waiting for just the right home to come along, looks like his wait is finally over and he has a family of his own at last.

Tomorrow is Vet Day at Shiloh- Sweeney Todd will be gelded! Happy for us, not so happy for him! We will also be having some reoccuring skin cancer taken off some of the older horses, as well as other routine stuff done. We will be posting all about it tomorrow!

Monday

We have decided to name the new mare from the desert, America. We named her after the line from America's song which goes "I've been through the desert on a horse with no name". So, America it is. This is a very sweet and friendly mare, approx 20 years old, a tattooed Thoroughbred. Unfortunately, her tattoo is too faded to trace her information. She does have front shoes on and we believe she is probably very well broke.

America video from today.

Big thanks to Kelly who donated flymasks to the Shiloh Horses! Also thanks to Janice who donated money to purchase more...

A really nice woman came out today to try out Cooper for a possible adoption, it looked like a great match and we are hoping that she decides to adopt him. He's a sweet gelding who deserves a home of his own.

We will be going to the Fallon, Nevada auction this coming Saturday. It is a new auction, run by the people who run the feedlot up there, and they are thinking there may be up to 100 horses run through. It is a 7-8 hour drive for us, so we will be staying overnight. Many of these Fallon horses ship direct either to Mexico or Canada, so we need to do what we can to save the horses we can. We will be using our Slaughter Fund to help pay for our auction bill. If you would like to contribute, please do so here. One hundred percent of the funds go directly to paying the bill and as always, we will give a full accounting of each horse's cost. Shiloh has regularly saved horses for as little as $25.00- up to $250, so any amount truly does save a life. Shiloh only bids on the horses who are being bid on by the Killer, if a family looking for a horse or "normal looking" horse person bids, we stop.

Here is a reminder of why we drive hours and hours to get to an auction and why we do what we do. This video is very hard to watch, but it is the reality of what horses are going through. See Video here, WARNING IT IS GRAPHIC!

Another horse dumped in the Desert

Well, we got in a new arrival today. She is a bay mare who wandered into Sandy Valley and was found by Sandy Valley Ranch, neighbors of Shiloh.

But, let me start at the beginning so you will all know why we are so mad.

Last week, Shiloh's rider, Sabine, who rides and cares for horses after work a few days a week, called Jill. At 6pm a man pulled up to Shiloh's gate with his truck, horse trailer, and a horse in the trailer. No phone call, no appointment, nothing. Just showed up. He had driven all the way from North Las Vegas out to Shiloh to "donate" this mare to us. Actually, he said that it was "his friend's horse" (we've all heard that before) that had been left at his boarding facility. He did not want to care or feed the horse, so his "friend" told him to either give the horse to Shiloh, or just dump it in the desert. Shiloh has made it our policy to not accept horses this way- with no warning, no owner responsibility. Sabine told him to turn around, drive back home, and call Animal Control about the horse or he needs to take on the responsibility and have the horse euthanised by a vet. He said he would do the right thing, but we had a very bad feeling that he was not going to. So, Sabine wrote down his license plate, a description of his rig, a description of the mare, and talked him into giving her his name.

Well, a week passed and here is the mare, the same horse, wandering in from the surrounding desert. The Brand Inspector from the Department of Agriculture was notified. Sally, Sabine, Eric, and Daria all drove over to pick the mare up, who was turned over to Shiloh for it's care, and they gave all of the man's information to the county. Shiloh is insisting that the Animal Control and the Dept of Ag do something about this man. It seems like whenever a horse is dumped, the county just lets it slide and Shiloh takes in the horse and the full financial responsibility and no one is ever prosecuted. Not this time, this time we are going to insist, or we will be contacting the local news about the situation.

It boggles the mind that people will actually dump an animal in the desert to die a slow and horrible death. It is in the upper 90's now, there is no water out there- but people don't care. This is the fifth horse in a few short months that has come to Shiloh after being dumped.

Saturday!

A very hot day today!
For some reason Sally says she wants a fence around the feedroom. I wonder why? What are you waiting for Sally,go on in there! (This is how the wandering mascots greet her each morning.) I guess I can see her point...
Shaggy gets some more grooming. He has actually put on weight and is looking better and more alert.

Great news as little Trooper, the young gelding who had been attacked by a Pit Bull dog before coming to Shiloh, gets adopted by Vic, a Shiloh volunteer. Trooper is such a cute little guy and he deserves this home of his own. Happy trails, Vic and Trooper (pictured below)!

VolunteerTerry worked for hours on Pongo (below), who looks even better today. He is responding to his meds and we are all feeling better about him.

Terry hand feeds him his medication.
After being treated, Pongo hangs out in the cool barn aisle.

Darian gives Pongo a pet.

Chaplin left for his new home today. He is off to AZ. A great home for this nice gelding. Here he is with his new owner, Lindsey:

Shiloh adopters, Bill and Amber recently adopted a BLM Mustang (below) from the National Wild Horse Association. This is a very nice Mustang mare- congratulations on the new horse!
Lorie and Deonna helped us set up our new improved Geezer Pen. This will be for the older horses who are really struggling with keeping on their weight at this time. So far, we have Mendoza, Vista, Jackson, and Abilene- there might be a full set of working teeth between the four horses! Hopefully Pongo will be able to join this group when he is ready. Here are the horses moving in:

Charmin gets a bath from Darian...
And then, the inevitable happens- the after bath roll!
Austin and Dodge seek some shade in the trees in the Big Pasture.
Sitka and Eagle go tail to tail to beat the flies. It would help if they would keep their flymasks on!
Shiloh supporter, adopter, and volunteer, Anita with her adopted horse Vegas. That is one way to reach his head- very smart Anita!
What a cute picture!
Volunteer Andy learns from Sanctuary horse, Starwood, in his horsemanship class.

Sabine's dog, Bear goes in the dog pool.

Sabine gave a riding lesson as well as a private Basic Horsemanship class today. To sign up for riding lessons or horsemanship class go here. Don't forget the Equine Biology class on June 28th and 29th!