Journal Horse Rescue

Horse Log cont. [ update by the date of the activity, most recent at the top]

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9/14/22 Pal died today. She was 31.  She was the last horse from my original string when we started the horse rescue.  She took summer trail rides, unguided rides at my riding stable, and fall hunting trips.  I had her for 25 years.  She is now free from her arthritis and other old-age infirmities and is galloping around among the clouds of Horsie Heaven.  Goodbye old friend.

9/5/22 we got “Joe”, name changed to JoJo, from a gal named ‘Mel’.  This horse has fractured wither bones but is recovering.  Will take some time to heal but after Mel dropped him off here he was running around the paddock with the other horses.

9/1/22 Brad Herbel and Nicki came and looked at Smokey and rode him around a bit.  They decided to take him on trial. He was not getting along with our herd; kicking and biting. Wanting to be the dominant horse.

 

8/27/22  Happy Appy died today.  Very old, 33.  We’ve fed him grain twice or three times a day for two years.  Rest in peace old guy.

 8/24/22 we went to Star Valley, 115 miles round trip, and got Smoky, a 21 year old big white gelding, from Joe and Nancy Bohne.  He has had laminitis (hoof wall separated from coffin bone) but is over it now.  He hasn’t been ridden in 7 years, just a pasture pet.  So this morning, 8/25, I saddled him up.  He is spooky…nervous.  I put the saddle on him and let him wear it around the round corral.  He accidentally caught a stirrup on the side of the corral which spooked him and he ran and bucked around the corral.  The saddle was leaning badly to one side when he finished.  I went out and carefully took it off him.  He stood there patiently until I got it off.  Then I went and got an old worthless saddle and put it on him.  He was calm, no problems, while I was doing it.  He is wearing it around the corral to just remind him what it feels like.

8/23/22  Robert took Hattie to the Vet to check on her recluse spider bites.  Still somewhat swollen and draining.  X-rays show it is okay.

7/15/22 took Whiskey to Margareth Ruesch and exchanged for TJ “Truckin’ Joe”.  Brought TJ back here.  280 miles round trip. The truck got 8 miles per gallon towing the trailer, which is about 35 gallons of gas at $5.40 per gallon, $189.  OUCH!

6/23/22 Hattie had a weird swelling and what looked like a boil or a hole in her lower right back leg, just above the ankle, filled with puss.  Robert took her to the vet. “bit by a Brown Recluse poisonous spider” was the diagnosis.  So she is out of action for a while and three times a day flushing it and doctoring it.  Vet bill $380.

6/2/22  To Afton to get horses shod/trimmed.

6/1/22 this afternoon Linda and I drove to Cora, Wyoming and took two horses, Roller and Trixie, to Larry and Sally Alder.  They will take care of them for the summer.  They gave us Roller and Bourbon last summer.  Bourbon was very old with hardly any teeth.  He finally died.

6/1/22 We were able to place the two mares belonging to Beth in Star Valley.  She had called me about them a couple weeks ago.  We are just too full to take them in.  We have too many older horses in our care.  I sent the word out to our rescue volunteers with no takers.  Yesterday I talked to Beth again, and then I placed notice on Facebook and Misty’s List about them.  GREAT response, 30-some people.  A guy, Brandon Baker, is picking them up today. "We will get them all brushed and cleaned up the next couple days. For now they are happy grazing. We did find out that they are 27 and 26. Its ok though. Still happy we got them."  Brandon Baker

5/18/22 Eli Hale came and got Betty the Mule. 

5/17/22 tonight we officially changed the name of “Pico” to “Romeo”.  He is “proud cut”, meaning he still thinks he is a stud.  He hustles the mares all the time.  I suggested “Pepe” as in “Pepe-Le-Pew” but agreed to Romeo.  He’s sure a cute little guy.  No wonder the mares love him.

5/17/22 got brand inspection for Betty the Mule to Eli Hale.

5/16/22 the horse shoer, Jared Little, came today and did 4 ½ horses.  $700.  Had a lot of trouble with almost all of them; Cinco, Patience, Copper, Buffy, Rooster (only got fronts done; arthritis.)

5/13/22 Robert and I went to Bedford and got 2 tons of hay this morning from Roger Preston. $300 per ton for hay.  The drought and price of diesel fuel is sky-rocketing the price of hay.   The missionaries came this afternoon and helped us unload it.  We have been feeding the horses a lot lately, about 6 bales per day.  Just so cold and windy that the grass won’t grow.

5/13/22 had to put Aspen down today.  She wouldn’t eat last night nor this morning.  About noon we saw her standing alone by herself, way out by the west fence, hanging her head down.  It is her time.  The veterinarian said she was living on borrowed time and it wouldn’t be long.  He was right. Still very nasty cold weather.  Strong winds 30-40 mph.  Temps in the low 40s.

5/12/22Today Robert took some horses to the vet to have them evaluated.  Just very old.  Vet told us to keep a close eye on them and if they show any signs of distress to put them down.

5/12/22 Linda and I went to Star Valley and got brand inspection for Betty the Mule, Cinco the five-footed horse, and Buffy the new mare that John Toolson gave us.

5/10/22 the horseshoer Cody came this morning and shoed 6 horses.  Big job.  In helping him on that concrete floor it hurt my knee so I was a bit laid up for a couple of days.  Lots of snow and blizzard conditions lately.  COLD.  WINDY. Had to shoe in the barn.

5/7/22  Three trucks, two with trailers, drove over the pass to Crowheart to get horses from winter pasture. 220 miles round trip, one truck put on an extra 80 miles because Linda and I had to take two horses to Kinnear.  As we were going over the pass, we saw a mama grizzly bear with cubs.  They were absolutely beautiful.  We got some good pictures.  On top of the pass it was snowing and blowing but not too bad on the road.  We stopped in Dubois and had a good lunch at Cowboy Café.  Then we drove on down to Scott and Jane’s place.  We loaded up Robert and his truck and Alicia and Elizabeth and their truck and trailer with five horses each and sent them home.  Then Linda and I loaded TJ ‘Truckin’ Joe’ and Trey and headed to Margareth’s in Kinnear, about another 40 miles.  She takes good care of some of the really old horses.  Then Linda and I headed back to Scott and Jane’s to pick up the four horses that were left there.  We had a good visit with them and ate some snacks while we watched the Kentucky Derby with them.  It was the most exciting Kentucky Derby ever.  Just the day before, a horse had been allowed in because some other horse withdrew, and the horse, Rich Strike, had an 80 to 1 betting odds.  Believe it or not he won it and he won it in incredible style.  Going into the last turn he was 16th in the pack and came up through the pack and then beat the leaders by half a length at the finish.  He made up 7 lengths in the last furlong.  It was absolutely unbelievable.  Then Linda and I headed for home.  We got within ½ mile of Dubois gas station and ran out of gas.  We supposedly had enough gas but we had four heavy horses in the back and a really strong 30 to 40 mph head wind and it sucked the gas down to nothing.  So I got out and started to walk.  Went only about 100 yards and this woman was jogging down the road toward me.  I talked to her and she jogged on past me and went to her house and then came back with her husband in a Polaris and with a gas can.  And so we got it and made it.  THANKS SANDY!

5/6/22 5/6/22 JetBlack has colic. Robert and I went over to Rusty’s home where JetBlack is keeping his other horse company and got him. Rusty was working with him, leading him around, trying to get him up when he laid down, etc. We forced some Canola Oil down JetBlack’s throat to try and lubricate his digestive system. Then Robert led him the mile and a half back to our place.  Usually walking quite a ways will help the problem.  This did not.  Then I called the vet and we were able to take him right in. The Vet had him all day, then recommended putting him down. He had a very elevated heart rate and blood in his stool. We brought him home and gave him one more chance. He was eating and acting normally in the pasture so we left him and watched. About an hour later he started pawing the ground and lying down, obvious signs of distress, so we had to put him down. Goodbye old buddy.  $900 vet bill. Ouch!

5/3/22 drove to Filer, Idaho to get 4 horses from Deb Cox. She has taken care of them this winter.  She had five: Whiskey, Butter, Dolly, TJ, and Wilt.  Wilt died.  Just old age.  530 miles round trip.  Snowing much of the way, but not hard.  Fields and terrain snow-covered clear to Idaho Falls.

5/3/22 Robert brought Betty the Mule and Pal over here from Johnny’s home.

4/28/22 drove to Kinnear and got Happy-Appy.  He looks great!  For a horse that is 32 years old.  280 miles round trip.  In the rain and snow all the way home.  Margareth took very good care of him.   

4/26/22 We had a fence-fixing project this afternoon to fix barbed wire fences ruined by winter.  Had four volunteers plus me, Jonesy.  We were able to do it in a couple of hours.  Good work, guys and gal!

4/25/22 took 5 horses to vet; teeth floated Shai, Patches, Pico, Betty.  Pico front feet worked on.  Pal checked out.  $715.

4/24/22 The shoer, Cody, came this evening and trimmed five horses; Pico, Patches, Shai (shy), JettBlack, and Pal.  Good job.  $325.  We weren’t able to trim the hooves on Betty the Mule.  She was uncooperative and her feet aren’t that bad, so we let her slide.

4/24/22 Linda and Jonesy went to Star Valley and got “Shai” (pronounced shy, in Hebrew it means “Gift”.) from a gal named Emily.  She just couldn’t afford to feed the horse any more.  Very skinny mare.

4/20/22 Gloria Courser came and got her two horses from Johnny which had been there for three weeks.  We took care of them while Gloria was on vacation for two weeks and then the lousy weather delayed the pickup.

4/19/22  Went to Cody, WY to get two horses; a big paint gelding and a small Shetland appy gelding.  We named them Patches and Pico respectively.  Total 635 miles round trip. The big paint, Patches, seems to be sound except for needing hoof work and teeth worked on.  The little pony has a hard time walking; bad feet.  It was a hardship case or we wouldn’t have gone that far to get a couple of old broke-down horses.  The man died and his daughter and family flew in from Michigan to settle his affairs.  Didn’t know what to do with the horses so we took them in.  Deb Cox texted and said the horses’ hooves need trimming badly so I gave her permission to do so.

​4/25/22 took 5 horses to vet; teeth floated Shai (shy), Patches, Pico, Betty the Mule. Pico front feet worked on. Pal checked out. $715.

10/6/2021  we got TJ “Truckin’ Joe” from the Forest Service.  They simply retired him because he is getting too old. Very skinny.

10/3/2021 we took Aspen to Margareth for her to give Aspen lots of TLC

8/5/2021 got Dolly from the Forest Service, Martina. Old mare.

6/10/2021 Sampson died.

4/15/2021 we took in a ‘Molly’ (female) mule named Amber, and a ‘John’ (male) mule named Roy.  Within a couple of days we adopted them out to Eli Hale.  He uses them to pack out game for hunters.

4/2/21  Scott Maller called and said an old sorrel gelding died.  I think it must be Waco.  The one Billie gave us.  No big loss.  Not rideable anyway and very old.

Oct 2020 Chicklet died.  Old age.

11/8/19 Went to Crowheart and delivered Zorro, Dobie, and Patience to winter pasture.  212 miles round trip.

11/1/19 Hauled Gypsy, Lilly, and Stretch to Deb Cox in Idaho.  540 miles round trip for her to take care of them this winter.  Each of them has special needs.  Total gas $127.37.

10/30/19 took the following horses to the vet to get Coggins tests and health certificate; Gypsy, Lilly, Stretch.  39 miles round trip.

5/24/19 Sherman Tank died.  We went out there and he was lying there dead by the paddock.  Don’t know why.

5/11/19 3 vehicles drove 214 miles round trip each, 642 miles total, to get horses from winter pasture at Scott and Jane Maller’s place.

5/10/19 Copper, Rooster, and Nugget came back from Barry Fullmer.  He was taking care of them for the winter.

5/10/19 We got Lilly from Robin Snyder, my dog groomer at Mountain Mutts.  Sorrel/white paint mare.  Her right hind foot has a bad cut on the heel.  She is not limping.  It should heal. It has been there a while.  Slow healing.  Robin says she is a good ride when she heals.  [late note; Robin was right…took her a couple months to heal.]

5/10/19 Julie brought Spot to us to take care of.

5/10/2019; Chief died in the winter of 2019. Sure miss that good old horse.

4/26/19 spent 8 hours repairing fences around the pasture preparing to bring horses home.

4/25/19 drove the truck with the leveling drag behind it for 5 hours to level the pasture, knocking down the gopher mounds and horse piles.

4/11/19 Burke Newman from Ft. Collins Colorado, Senior Investigator, USDA Investigative and Enforcement Services 970-494-7485, his cell #801-885-3440, came to my house to interview me.  It’s about the four horses from Eaton, Colorado who were at the auction where Mindy McMahon got them and brought them to us.  Rescued from a kill pen at the auction.  These four horses were Nugget, Dawn, Nova, Stretch.  A horse at the auction had tested positive for Coggins (Equine Anemia), so all 1,500 horses who were there had to be quarantined and tested.  So for 60 days these horses have to be kept in a separate pen at least ¼ mile from the other horses.  We will keep them at Johnny’s and we have to monitor the whole herd of horses and have them tested.  Pain in the neck.

9/22/18 We took in 4 horses from Kathy and Bill Hooper from Lander; Dixie, Rooster, Chicklet, Snake (don’t like the name, we renamed him Sampson).  Their dad died and so they turned the horses over to us.  The dad had been getting old and hadn’t ridden the horses in ten years.  Just fed them.

9/17/18 We received Cuatro from Armand Acri and Mo O’leary.

9/17/18 We signed over Fancy and Roxy to Gloria Courser who adopted them.

9/17/18 We signed over Copper to Sean Sedecum who adopted him.

9/15/18 We took a Horse Rescue ride into Cascade Canyon with friends.  39 miles round trip to the trailhead and 14 miles on horseback.

9/14/18 Equine Therapy, Nealy, gave us Dobie, a 19 year old buckskin gelding.  He is sound but “burned out” with therapy.  Totally bored with going round and round in circles.  “He just quit.”

8/17/18 Took Stringbean, Purple, Midnight to Nicole in Roberts Montana.  497 miles round trip.

8/16/18 Drove to Fairview and got Midnight, a black mare, to take to Nicole Joyce in Roberts, Montana, just north of Red Lodge.

8/9/18 Took Stringbean and Purple to vet Theo in Wilson.  35 miles round trip.

8/6/18 Mindy and husband went and got Dawn, Nova, Nugget, and Stretch from Colorado.  989 miles round trip with our truck and trailer.

8/4/18  “Chaco” arrived from Therapeutic Riding Association.  “Nealy” brought him.  12 years old gelding.  Brown and white paint.

6/18/18 took Stringbean to vet Theo and had teeth floated.  38 miles round trip

6/14/18  horse Stringbean was given to us.

6/11/18 We drove through Yellowstone to Powell, Wy to get a bay mare, Satin, 15 years old, from Martin and DJ and Kristi. Satin has a bad knee.  We had to drive back the long way through Riverton because we couldn’t take the horse through the park without a Coggins test.  Gas $150 round trip, 590 miles.

6/4/18 We drove to Bedford to get Belle from Barry Fullmer, just to pasture her for the summer and use her occasionally.  Then we took her to Gros Ventre to get her shod.   Total mileage 190.

5/15/18  Drove to Starr Valley and delivered Chase to Kathi Newall (Teti). 

5/15/18 We got two tons of hay from Blair Erickson.  175 miles round trip.

5/2/18 We hauled horses from Crowheart to bring back from winter pasture with Scott and Jane Maller.  We placed one horse, Sissy, with Creed Garnick.  He will try to work with her.  We haven’t done any good in gentling her.  We also took Ace and Deuce to Creed.  They are horses that belong to Creed’s mother, Vicki Garnick.  We were using them but now with Creed’s ranch in Dubois he will take care of them.

2/7/18  Hauled Sierra to Crowheart.  229 miles round trip.

2/6/18  Went to Alpine and picked up a mare, Sierra, from Rob and Colleen Rich.  Sierra has large swelling under her chest, right where you would put the cinch.  120 miles round trip.

1/30/18 Drove to Pocatello, 315 miles round trip, and bot a 2018 Challenger bumper pull horse trailer.  $7,499 plus $206 for electric jack.  The horse trailer has badly needed a new trailer.

12/30/17 horse rescue mileage for 2017 was 2,040 miles.

12/2/17  Took horses to Crowheart.  240 miles Round Trip. Butter and Sissy delivered to Creed Garnick pasture.

12/2/17 hauled horses to Creed pasture in Crowheart, 222 miles round trip. Sombra, Spook, Flicka, Leo, Cream, Cookie, Tinkerbell

11/13/17 Hauled Sammie from Crowheart to Fairview to Mindy McMahon.  392 miles Round Trip.  [note; this is the first time we had dealings with Mindy.  She has since become a valuable member of the Horse Rescue team in helping save horses]

11/13/17 hauled Ace and Deuce to Crowheart.  210 miles round trip.

11/6/17 hauled Pal, Scout, Cheyenne, Roxy to Crowheart.  210 miles rt

10/31/17  hauled 5 horses to Crowheart, 210 miles.  Chase, Chief, Sammie, Chip, Stormy

9/29/17  trip to Star Valley to get grain, 152 miles rt

7/29/17 John R. Johnston adopted JetBlack

7/28/17 “Vallen” hauled Scooter to Pagosa Springs.  His health issues prompted it.

7/26/17 ButterBean was renamed Chip and Jamie Zapata adopted him.

5/11/17  We acquired two horses from Equine Therapy; ButterBean, an 11 year old gelding Welsh pony, and Scooter, an 11 year old gelding that has narcalepsy.  Paint gelding.  Scooter went to Kathi Teti in Star Valley.

5/4/17  We took 2 trucks to crowheart to get horses.  220 miles round trip.

5/4/17 we went to Wilson to get 3 horses, Butter, Sissy, Roxy.  Billie and Bryn met me there and we got horses from Gabe Kallas’ home.  44 miles rt.

10/29/16  We got Sammie, 26 year old mare from Gary and Joey Moss and Pinky Bonner.

9/15/16  Roan gelding, Jack was delivered to us by Tanner and Lee Judge 307-699-0577.  Jack is fat and limps.  Lee said she will donate to help out.

9/13/16  The USDA Forest Service, Black Rock Ranger Station, Flying W Ranch, donated Clyde, an old bay gelding.  We went and picked him up.  We have a person that will adopt him.