Happy New Year From All of Us!

On the Way Back Home...

We are driving back to Shiloh now with mom and foal and another old crippled paint gelding who was going to ship to slaughter tomorrow morning.

We have named the mom Nevada and we have named the newborn Battle Born after the Nevada state motto. After all he was born in the midst of a horse welfare battle on a slaughter feedlot. We can call him BB. Nevada gave birth to BB in the mud and snow of the feedlot surrounded by other horses on Christmas Day.

Of course, we rescued 9 more horses today making a total of 18 feedlot horses rescued in the past week. Two truckloads of slaughterbound horses are shipping out tomorrow from this lot. It was very hard to walk around and see the horses who will be killed and not try to save some of them.

So, we rescued Wampum, the older paint in the trailer, a one eyed palomino mare who is well broke for riding, another palomino dude string mare, a weanling filly, a Thoroughbred gelding who has worked on a ranch, an Appy pony, a Saddlebred gelding who looks like he was someone's show horse, and of course Nevada and BB.

We used our Slaughter Fund to help pay for these horses. The total for all 18 horses was just over $3600.00. 

Thank you to everyone for your support! More info and photos coming tomorrow!

A Foal in Need...

Well, it looks like Sally and I are going to drive up to Fallon in the morning. There is a  foal who was born on Christmas at the feedlot. It is freezing up there, in the mid-teens, and he needs help asap if he is going to make it. A snowy feedlot is no place for a newborn baby. We will drive up and pick up the baby and his mom. It's a 10 hour drive for us and we will have to spend the night. We will be bringing a warm foal blanket for him. Please keep the little guy in your thoughts...

We will be at Shiloh very early in the am and then head out from there. 

Computer Problems and the Feedlot Horses

I know I haven't blogged for a few days- sorry everyone! But, I do have a good excuse. My cat threw up on my laptop's keyboard and now the keyboard won't work! It is beyond just cleaning it I am afraid, the repair guy has to order and install a new one.

But, I should be able to use a borrowed keyboard attached to my laptop for a few days. I have lots of photos to post from the past weekend and I will get those up asap. I am posting this post with my iPhone which is not easy

It looks like eight of the nine new feedlot horses will be arriving at Shiloh late tonight/early tomorrow. This load will include the two moms and babies, two camp type geldings and two ottbs. The ninth gelding will ship in the next load sometime in the next week. We are in the process of rescuing another camp type horse, a palomino mare, two more ottbs and possibly a mare and her newborn foal. I will post more about all the horses as the first load arrives and the second load is organized. The holidays slowed everything down. I will post pics of the new guys tomorrow...

In the meantime, I received the following in my email and wanted to share it. It us so true!
 
 
Only horse people...

* Believe in the 11th Commandment: Inside leg to outside rein.

* Know that all topical medications come in either indelible blue, neon yellow or purple.

* Think nothing of eating a sandwich after cleaning out stables.

* Know why a thermometer has a foot of string attached to one end of it.

* Are banned from Laundromats.

* Fail to associate whips, chains and leather with sexual deviancy.

* Can magically lower their voices five octaves to bellow at a pawing horse.

* Have a language all their own ("If he pops his shoulder, I have to close that hand and keep pushing with my seat in case he sucks back".)

* Will end relationships over their hobby.

* Click to their cars to help them up hills.

* Insure their horses for more than their cars.

* Will give you 20 names and reasons for that bump on your horse.

* Know more about their horse's nutrition than their own.

* Have neat's-foot oil stains on the carpet right next to the TV.

* Have a vocabulary that can make a sailor blush.

* Have less wardrobe than their horse.

* Engage in a hobby that is more work than their day job.

 

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays

from all of our creatures, great and small!

Cloudy and Cold...

First off, I want to thank everyone who donated winter blankets to Shiloh this year. Every single blanket will be used and appreciated!

Special thanks to Jo Deibel of Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue and Mattie's Fund which donated four boxes of badly needed used blankets to our rescue horses! Thanks Jo!

VET UPDATE: DAISY'S teeth were worked on over the past week and an Equine Dental specialist consulted with our vets. It was finally decided to leave her teeth alone and to put her on long term antibiotics for her sinusitis. They just cannot get into her mouth to remove her affected teeth. The process is too stressful to Daisy and anesthesia is too risky for her. Hopefully, Daisy will be able to return to Shiloh today. EAGLE and ARSON will also be coming back home. We can't wait to welcome these special horses back to Shiloh...

Back at the ranch... It was cloudy and cold out at Shiloh on Tuesday. It started to rain in the early afternoon and there was snow falling in the pass...

Look at the sky!

The Los Malos Gang was getting everyone riled up in the Okay Corral. (That's Intrepid in the green blanket with Resolute to his side and Manhattan behind them in the blue blanket.)

Heavenly is warm in P. Shaggy's winter blanket. P. Shaggy wore this donated blanket last year, but now that he has passed on to Greener Pastures, it is keeping another horse warm.
In Assisted Living...

Little Levi showed Chia Pet what he thought of her! Run Chia!

My old mare, Serenity, who is now into her 30's explored back by the Blind Girls. She was feeling great with the cold weather and was even seen trotting a bit out by the hay pile...

We moved Sanctuary Horse, Charity, into a barn stall for some extra protection from the coming storm. She munched on her Equine Senior while Charlie (behind her) tried to figure out how to reach the feed...

He hung out by her back stall door hoping he could reach it...

Katy looking warm in Doggy Carhartt...

A Big Headache and Then Lots and Lots of Pictures...

The headache started as we drove out to Shiloh this morning when we were called by the guys who told us that the three loose pit bulls were back on Shiloh's property. The same ones we all suspect attacked Lindsey Loham a few weeks ago, ripping off both of her ears, as well as attacked and almost killed the neighbor's little dog.

Well, as we drove up, the guys had caught the smallest of the dogs and had it on a rope. The other two bigger ones had run away toward the next ranch over. So, I immediately called the Clark County Animal Control who told me that there was already a humane officer in Sandy Valley and they would come over to pick up the dog and look for the other two. Five minutes later, Animal Control called me back and said they could not come to get the dog as we are in CA.

Those of you who know where we are located know that we are about 1/2 mile into San Bernadino County. The nearest CA town is Baker, some 100 miles away. Of course, when AC needs our help, we are considered in NV (where both Sally and I live), but when we have a problem, like a dumped horse, then we are considered to be in CA. It is beyond frustrating.

Anyway, I was informed that I had to call the San Bernadino AC to pick up the dog (don't forget a Clark County AC officer was only about 2 miles from Shiloh at this time, the nearest CA AC officer was at least 100 miles away). I explained that it is entirely possible that the pit bulls live in NV, as they could be in NV within about 10 minutes of wandering down the road. I said, "come on now, you really aren't going to play the "you are in CA card" with me when there are three loose pit bulls wandering from ranch to ranch attacking animals and most likely, people will be next". I said if I were to drive it 1/2 mile down the road and meet the officer, would they take the one we had caught? With that question, the AC person on the other end of the phone hung up on me.

So, I guess if we have a loose pit bull attacking a person or animal on our side of the Valley that it is our problem to deal with? I did call the San Bernadino AC who had no idea where we are located (the CA side of Sandy Valley doesn't show up on most maps) and that an officer would be calling me. I still haven't heard a thing.

We had our Farrier, who lives on the NV side of Sandy Valley, about 2 miles from Shiloh, bring the one pit bull to his house where they called the Clark County AC and told them to pick it up. How ridiculous is that?

This is such a frustrating situation. It is also a scary one, as we had to keep our dogs locked up all morning at the ranch, afraid that the other two would return. These dogs could easily kill little Daisy, one of the ranch dogs, a goat, or another pig. Of course, they can also attack a person. I am just hoping that somehow the other two dogs can be caught in NV, or the CA AC will help us.

Anyway, on to nicer things. I should know very soon when the new Fallon Feedlot horses will be arriving at Shiloh. We are possibly going to be saving two more OTTBs as well as another camp horse, so we are waiting to get all the transport organized.

Here are lots of photos that I took today...

This is the New Arrival, Liberado. He is the Arab gelding whose owner had lost his job and could not feed him for the past few days. We named him Liberado, which means "released, set free or delivered" in Spanish. The owner's name was also Liberado, so it's a perfect name for him. He is 7 years old and very sweet. We are not sure if he is broke to ride, we will give him some time to settle in before we try anything with him. He does appear to be healthy and sound.

He is a bit thin and dirty, but very interested in his new surroundings and with some time will make someone a very nice horse...
Our Christmas Tree...
Veteran and Longfellow are doing great. They have become good friends...

Veteran is gaining weight and his coat is looking better. He is still thin but has an excellent appetite and should be back to a healthy weight in a few months.

His condition when he first arrived.

His hindquarters are becoming more round and has less bony points.

Longfellow is also filling out.

Salsa carried a feed bucket around. Sigh...

Out in the Big Pasture, Daytona and Dayton hung out. They are best friends and make a very cute pair.

That is Kerkorian in one of the Duplexes with Little Vacation Village behind him.

Boone, looking cute! He has such a neat face. We are still waiting for his x-ray results from last week's vet testing.

Falcon out in the Okay Corral.

Okay Corral. Lots of horses laying down in the sun and dozing away...

Thistle in The Big Pasture.

Pequito is enjoying his time out in the Big Pasture. He is friends with another TB gelding, Sleet...

Here is Sleet (Sleetwood Mac).

Another TB gelding, Seattle enjoys his hay in the Big Pasture...

The VC Pen with the three Blind Girls. That is the annex pen behind them with White Cloud.

Nike in the Okay Corral. She is looking great but we had to put her adoption evaluation on hold as her hoof crack (caused by an injury in her former adoptive home) has opened up causing her to show lameness if she is worked. We are giving her some pasture time to allow her hoof wall and it's crack to grow out.

Sanctuary Horse, Austin in Okay Corral. He is very fuzzy!

So is Slewus in Big Pasture. What a face!

Big Pasture horses eating their hay...

Lovely in Big Pasture. She looks, and acts, like a different horse from when she first arrived. She is enjoying a good horse life with her herdmates.

Why do we do what we do?

This is why.

Helping Feedlot Horses and another New Arrival

Even though Sally and I are currently out of town working, we are arranging the rescue of nine horses off of the Fallon, NV feedlot who are days away from being shipped.

There are two ranch/camp type horses, one older paint gelding, two mares with foals and two straight off of the track Thoroughbreds.

We are saving all nine horses for $1975.00. More info to come.

As I am writing this one of the guys is picking up an Arab gelding in North Las Vegas who's owner recently lost his job. We were told that the horse has not eaten this week, whether that is true or not, this gelding needed help and quickly.

We are happy to welcome these ten horses to Shiloh.

Traveler Amid the Red Rocks of Sedona 12/16/09

Well, we are back in Sedona, AZ, for another art showing in the Goldenstein Gallery. It's much colder here now than it was last time we came. There is even some snow up on the peaks.

Today, we decided to get out and take a Jeep tour with Pink Jeep Tours...

Our Jeep. She's pink and she is beautiful...

We headed out to do the Broken Arrow trail and then to see some ancient ruins!

We are in the Coconino National Forest...

The red rocks are just breathtaking!

I just love looking at all of the scenery...

That is Submarine Rock out there in the middle of the green trees.

A close up of Submarine Rock. I climbed on it.

The Jeep went up and down incredible trails, it was so much fun! This is a trail we drove down.

Here is a Prickly Pear cactus that has been eaten by Javalinas! Javalinas are wild pigs, I tried to find one but they were nowhere to be seen. I wonder if they look anything like Jimmy Dean?

This is a cliff dwelling called Palatki. It was inhabited by the Sinagua People who built the dwelling in approx 1100 ad. They are the same people who built Montezuma's Castle which I visited on my last trip.

See the dwelling?

This is a painting called a Pictograph. It is thought that the white circle painting was used as a sort of family crest which belonged to the people who lived in these particular set of rooms.

From time to time, rocks still break off and fall from the cliffs. Here is one piece that looks ready to fall at any moment! "Ah, Sally, hold up there, I think your shoe is untied..."

Afterwards the Girls brought me to Mickey-D's. The Sedona McDonald's is the only one not to have yellow arches! In Sedona the arches are turquoise. It was thought the yellow would clash with the red rocks. I like the blue!

Iceman's Blog

I just wanted to remind everyone to check out Iceman's Blog. Eric is doing such wonderful things with this Mustang.

The Iceman Cometh is a great blog about a really neat horse...

Inca going Rogue!

Our Llama, Inca, escaped the other day. She wandered around a bit outside of Shiloh...

Then she was rounded up...

Moving on out!

Heading down the road to the gate.

Her Rogue days over, she settled down for a nice breakfast by the feed room.