Operation Horse Rescue

It’s a Filly!

Judy Stevens — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:00:43 +0000

Mea Ola gave birth at 6:52 a.m. on Monday, May 14, 2012. Thank you to everyone who was watching Mea Ola and pulling for her. Mother and baby are doing great!

From Ann:

Okay…drum roll please…..her name is:

Lokahi Malulani (Low ka hee Ma lu lawnie)

I couldn’t figure out how to put the words together…but it is the two meanings that she has to have:

Our International unity (harmony) …. Lokahi
Protected by God or Heaven……. Malulani

The girls want to call her Lilly…I will see what nickname I come up with out of her real name for her barn name and let you know.

NOTE: Her barn name is Sassy!

Zach and Mea

Judy Stevens — Sun, 06 May 2012 21:06:39 +0000

No one is immune to Mea Ola’s charms!

Wish List

Judy Stevens — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:19:58 +0000

As you can imagine, with all of our old-timers, vet bills, and foot issues we have with the rescues, our funds have been depleted fast.

Any donations of feed, straw and shavings can really help us, especially Hay Replacer Pellets. That is the bulk of what we feed, soaked in water to put and keep weight on. Locals can buy any of these items at Hemme Hay & Feed on South Street and simply say they are for Ann at Operation Horse Rescue.

We can also use donations of fly masks and fly control products as the weather is warming up and I am starting to see flies. We did have dryland distemper here two years ago and fly control is the best thing we can do to prevent anyone from getting it this year.

If you are replacing your clothes washer and dryer, the rescue could use a pair (propane gas dryer). Also a propane water heater, any size, for the barn would be of a great help in the winter for warming up food.

We can still use pipe and or cattle panels. If you have any lying or standing around…we could sure use them…as well as 4×4 fence posts. Our neighbor, John Russel, built us a pad for a new round pen with better footing for these guys and gals. With all of the feet issues, our hard-ground round-pen just doesn’t work for them very well. I cannot move that one though, as it is connected to turn outs and those panels make up part of that fencing. So we could use more panels for the new one.

We could use garden hoses, too!

I am dreaming of something easier to use to clean stalls and feed…like a four-wheeler with something to pull behind it. I did have c-spine surgery, two years ago (today!) and I still have neck and back issues. The soaked feed in the buckets is very heavy, and lugging a wheel barrel around and dumping it wears on me.

Volunteers! We sure could use Volunteers willing to help with fundraising! Also, we could use some help designing and putting up more shelters. We have most of the material already.

One more wish…A cut-back saddle, double bridle, and a Saddleseat suit…for Volt!

Thank you all for your support!

A Special Thank You!

Judy Stevens — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 22:33:07 +0000

Operation Horse Rescue would like to give a big thank you to Hemme Hay & Feed, 20616 South Street, Tehachapi, CA for their amazing support of Operation Horse Rescue!

They allowed the Girl Scouts to set up a “Bale Out The Horses” fundraiser in January; they keep a Donation Jar for OHR on the counter, into which they collect not monetary donations, but also the Purina coupons and tickets for hay replacer pellets, hay, shavings, etc. that people have purchased and donated. They also let us put up flyers and posters.

We are very grateful for their support!

Purina Coupons to Help OHR

Judy Stevens — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:45:58 +0000

It’s that time again…we need coupons. Click on the logo to the right, answer a few questions (answer yes to each question), and print out the coupon. You can drop it off at Hemme Hay in Tehachapi, or scan and send as email attachment to ljkline03@yahoo.com. The purina rep said we can use as many as we can get! They help soooo much!!!!

Thank you!

Theresa Update

Myranda — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 04:28:21 +0000

Today we heard from the Mulvey family. Theresa, renamed Penny, for the first time was able to get her hurt leg trimmed by the ferrier. Penny is doing great with her buddy, Charles. This is exciting news for us at Operation Horse Rescue as we are extremely happy she found her forever home!

Recent Visitors

Judy Stevens — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:53:49 +0000

Operation Horse Rescue was pleased to have Bill Diehl, from ABC News Radio-New York, Tom Saunders, retired San Francisco DJ, and Sunny Elliott, our cutest and dearest Cheerleader, visit Operation Horse Rescue yesterday. Romeo looks pretty happy too, as he has a taste of Bill’s coat! Thanks, Sunny, for inviting your guests for a tour!

Silent Auction

Judy Stevens — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 02:43:08 +0000

UPDATE: I discovered that it was entirely my fault that the auction ended too early. I neglected to set WordPress’s internal clock to PDT. I’m so sorry that some of you did not get to bid because of my error.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Silent Auction was set to end today, April 14, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. Instead, for some reason, it ended early. I’m not sure exactly when it ended because the internal auction page shows that it ended on April 14, 1500 hours:

Started:
2012-03-30 20:52:26
Ended:
2012-04-14 15:00:00

As we know, that time hasn’t been reached and yet the auction has ended.

I apologize for this error. I have yet to figure out how it could have happened. My own computer has the correct time and date set so that is not it. Until we know what caused the auction to end early, we certainly won’t be using this software plug-in again.

Again, I’m very sorry that some of you who intended to bid did not get a chance to. On a brighter note, the auction did raise over $375 for the rescued horses and we thank all of you who participated.

A special thank-you to those who donated gifts and prizes:

Tehachapi Candle Company
Beary Creations
Lindsey Ornamental Iron
Chateau Mountain Clydesdales
Tehachapi Soap Company
Dream Maker
Skin Revisions
Lori at Natural Health Massage & Spa

[NOTE: I just discovered, i was not the software, it was me and WordPress. Mostly me. The WordPress time is set for UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) and I did not notice it.

Again I apologize to those who wanted to bid but didn’t get a chance to.

Sponsor Marley’s High Voltage

Judy Stevens — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 02:52:19 +0000

Volt was rescued from KCAC . They had gotten a phone call when someone found him tied with a hay string to their fence in the desert. On one of our many trips to animal control, one of the officers told me about him. She explained that because he was a stallion, he was being boarded at the veterinary hospital and it was costing the county a lot of money. The chances of placing him were extremely dim because not only was he a stallion, but a crypt-orchid, which means only one testicle had descended, thus making castration very expensive and something that must be done at a surgical facility. For these reasons euthanasia was eminent. The county could not afford to continue paying his board and upkeep.

I fell in love with him instantly. He is about 17 years old and is an American Saddlebred. I have years of experience with Saddlebred stallions, so I decided to give him a chance. He was once a show horse as there is evidence of him being in a tail-set and his tail has been cut. He ”parks out” and I am sure he is broke to drive. My gut tells me he was probably a Harness show horse, as he is perfectly built for it and moves like one. I have had a harness on him and driven him in long-lines. He is a bit rusty, but enjoys the work and has certainly done it all before.

He has arthritic changes in both hocks (not surprising for an older show horse) but he hasn’t taken a lame step yet. Our veterinarian recommended a good glucosamine supplement, which he is getting.
He is well mannered for a stallion, but there is no way we would adopt him out until he is gelded. A stallion must be handled by experienced stallion handlers and a crypt-orchid should never be bred as the condition can be hereditary. Depending on whether the retained testicle is inguinal or abdominal will determine the cost of surgery ($700-$2000).

Please help us give this beautiful boy a chance at finding a forever home by donating towards his castration surgery.

Sponsorship: You can fully sponsor Volt for a pledge of $150 a month, or participate in a partial sponsorship for any amount you chose.

Sponsor Esperanza

Judy Stevens — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 01:41:02 +0000

Esperanza is a 14-year-old, tattooed Thoroughbred mare. She was one of the original rescues from KCAC. Esperanza was scheduled to go to auction in just three days before we rescued her.

When we rescued her, she was being treated for an abscess in her right rear foot. She was thin but otherwise seemed healthy. Right away she became one of the favorites. Esperanza was willing to do anything asked of her. She was clearly broke to ride, as both of my children rode her bareback. She has been the one we always pull out on volunteer days, because she is so trustworthy and gentle.

We had her adopted and just days before being delivered to her new home, she came up lame on her right front foot. Upon examination, the veterinarian suspected another abscess. We soaked and wrapped her foot in a poultice for days. The veterinarian was called several times and was not able to locate an abscess. Finally, because her pain was so severe and getting worse, we decided to x-ray her. The x-rays revealed that she has extremely flat and fragile coffin bones. There is only about 7 mm space between the bone and the sole of her foot. They explained that this is a common flaw in some Thoroughbreds and had we not caught it, she would have eventually broken her coffin bone in one or both feet. The veterinarian explained that just stepping on a rock could have broken her bone! This did not explain her severe lameness though.

A few more days went by and we had to change her to a very expensive pain medication because she was getting colicky on the bute. Finally, our farrier was able to locate an abscess and opened it to drain. This relieved some of her pain but she was not progressing as she should have been. Again, we called the vet. They suspected that the abscess had been there for some time and had actually gotten into live tissue in her heel. She has now had 2 full weeks of antibiotics and is much better. She will be re-checked soon to make sure it is completely healed. In the meantime, she has had special shoes and protective pads placed on both front feet that she MUST have for the rest of her life. Because of the issue with her coffin bones, her adoptive family decided not to adopt her. Her riding future will need to be monitored . She should only be ridden lightly and on soft footing, even with the protective pads and shoes, which must be replaced every 6 weeks.

Please consider sponsoring Esperanza as she would be perfect to use for the both the RISE program and for children to enjoy. She will be difficult to place with the diagnosis of her coffin bones and is going to require regular and expensive farrier care as well as veterinary check-ups.

Sponsorship: You can fully sponsor Esperanza for a pledge of $150 a month, or participate in a partial sponsorship for any amount you chose.