Question About A Horse Who Had A Broken Leg

[Patchesnposies]

i'd like to revive this thread, the story was really touching. i myself would have done the same thing, you are not kooky! i'd love to know how this mare is doing? i hope she is well and is happy as a pasture pet!

Wow. I never saw the new post notices and never thought to post an update. Thanks for being interested! I hope you see this update someday. lol

Leia (as in Princess Leia) is doing great here with us as a pasture pet. She is sweet and gentle and has formed an attachment to our six year old son that is lovingly reciprocated. (He is the little guy in my avatar, next to his big brother Mike.) Norm was born with club feet that are, of course, corrected, but still make him a bit different. Just like Leia! He runs out every morning when we feed to give her treats. The bond they have is very special.

We keep Leia's hooves trimmed but she needs a fair amount of structure under her to keep her steady. We took the trimming nice and slow, taking a little bit off at a time. She has filled out a lot, looks healthy and doesn't lay down any more than her herd mates now.

We did find Mike another horse, a beautiful flea bitten gray, half Arabian mare, that my college professor husband cleverly renamed Al Geebra (Algebra). Gigi is now the dominant mare of our little trio of girls who all get along remarkably well. Gigi actually came to us (through a circuitous route) from the same place Leia came from.

Here is a picture or two taken back in January, immediately after we got her. I know I have a more recent one of her and Norman, now to find it!

Thanks again for asking for an update!

Deb

 

[sawfish99]

Wow. Feet that are that bad are actually criminal (literally). The state can actually come in and seize the animals due to neglect. You didn't state how long the rescue lady had Leia before you got her. I would be extremely concerned about the other horses in her care. If there are others with feet like that, consider informing authorities about possible neglect.

I'm not typically one for lawsuits, state involvement, etc, but those feet are ridiculous and much more would not have left an option other than euthanasia.

 

[Patchesnposies]

The "rescue" woman with all of the horses is being investigated by the Livestock Board. When we first brought Leia home she hurt so bad that she laid down more than she was up and people were calling and reporting us for starving and abusing a horse. I had strangers stopping to tell me my horse had died...more than once. It was pretty horrific.

The Livestock commissioner actually came out to investigate the reports and when he found out where Leia had come from he thanked us for taking her in and said that anyone else would have put her down. He was the one that suggested to us that she needed a fair amount of the hoof under her one leg to keep the weight off of the leg that had been broken.

So, we now have two horses from the "rescue" farm. There has been a local movement to shut this lady down and the debates get very heated whenever there is an update in the paper or our local Topix.

I agree, what she is doing is criminal.

Deb

 

[sawfish99]

Thanks for the update.

 

[Okie Amazon]

Glad you took her in. I feel for the "rescue" lady, these people just get in over their heads; but you have to recognize when your heart is much larger than your pocketbook and energy.

 

[Patchesnposies]

Glad you took her in. I feel for the "rescue" lady, these people just get in over their heads; but you have to recognize when your heart is much larger than your pocketbook and energy.

Amen, to that! She really is a sweet but misguided soul.

 

[Queen Mum]

I live with people like your rescue lady. There are two sides to the story. (I was not here at the time.) They had rescue cats and dogs. People kept dropping them off. In the middle of the night even. They would leave them at the gate in crates. No matter what they did, the animals kept being left at the gate. They were struggling to keep up with the feed and the care. It was, I guess a nightmare. They got overwhelmed and overrun. They had donations of food from local feed stores and were trying their best, but no other shelter would take the excess animals. And YES, they were hoarders. They meant well, but didn't know how to stem the tide.

The day AFTER a HUGE storm where their facilities had been flooded and they had already notified a lot of people to come help clean up the mess the local humane society swooped in, and issued an arrest warrant and accused them of starving the animals and animal cruelty on a complaint from one of the people who had come to help with the clean-up. The animals were NOT starving, and what saved them was that they had a thousand cans of animal food and a hundred bags of dog and cat food sitting on the porch that was photographed by the humane society.

The case was dropped eventually, and the animals were all eventually adopted out. But in the end the people here were devastated and left bitter, sad and frightened. They are now terribly afraid to ask for any help when their animals get in to trouble, terribly afraid to modify diets or medical care, very suspicious of authority and rarely leave the property. Their kind intentions could have been handled in a MUCH better manner by those equally well meaning authorities who treated them like criminals rather than working with them to restore normalcy to an situation gone haywire.

The fact is the authorities turn people away who don't want their animals euthanized, but give NO alternatives so they turn to people like the lady with too many animals in desperation.
And the lady with too many animals can't find the help she needs to care properly for those animals.
Then we who refuse to lend her a hand call her a criminal for trying the best she can.
She is not a criminal! She did the right thing by finding a home for that animal. She was as desperate as any.

People need to get off their duffs and stop pointing a finger of blame at people like that lady and start helping her do the right thing!

If everyone who called her a criminal put in an hour a week at her ranch, she would have plenty of help, wouldn't she? And none of those animals would be neglected any longer!

Ok, getting off my soapbox now!

 

[redtailgal]

I do some volunteer work with a local rescuer of dogs, cats, and horses. Is she a hoarder? You'd better believe it, lol. But, all her animals are well cared for, fat and utd on their shots, worming, foot care, etc. (we are talking over 16 dogs, and i lost count on the cats) Everything is neutered.

How doe she do it?

Well she makes a hard desicion when a new animal comes in. Can she adopt it out? Can she afford to keep it? If the answer to both questions is no, the animal is Euth'd and buried on her property.

Her statement to me (and one I whole heartedly agree with) is "If it looks like I'm gonna struggle paying for the needs of this animals, I will beg people to take them and provide for them. If I cannot find someone to take them, I will spend the last dollars I have on enough bullets, so that they do not starve. I would kill them all with a bullet to the head before I allowed their lives to become miserable. I owe them that much respect."

I hate to see a healthy animal euth'd. But I also hate more to see an animal euth'd after living in misery for months or years.

I"m glad that this horse is in decent care now. It is shameful the state that those hooves were in. Sure, people should help others out. But, I cannot feel sympathy for someone with a starving herd because the neighbors didnt help out.

Case in point:

With the drought in the west, a friend of mine had a lot of pasture go dry, and die this year. NO winter hay and NO summer graze in about 2/3 of her pasture. What did she do? She sold 90% of her herd. (to the tune of 3000 cattle. that is not a typo, 3000 cattle.) The few cattle that she has left are slick, fat and healthy. Her pasture is growing out, recovering nicely. Hurt like snot to sell the cattle, but it was better for the herd.

Her neighboring ranch did not sell off any herd. His cattle continued to graze weakened land, killing what was left of his pasture. As of now, he has NO pasture........and starving cattle that will not be able to be sold because their health is so poor. He's got his hand out to the neighboring ranches.......wanting them to "help" him by sharing some of their extra pasture and hay.

The other ranches will not "help" him, and I dont blame them one bit. I hate it for the mans cattle, its not fair to them, but these other ranchers sold cattle in order to protect their herd, to look out for the future of their herd. The "extra" that they have right now, is acruing for them rebuilding their herd and for protection in case the winter pasture cannot recover in time for summer.

The man is doing what he can, working hard for extra hay, etc. And he is, daily, having to shoot another downed cow. Should he go to jail? No, I dont think so. But the reminder of his herd should be taken.

He's not criminal, he is a fool. BUT if he makes the same mistake again, perhaps THAT is criminal.

But are those cattle starving because the neighbor's wont help? or are they starving because their owner subjected them to this negligence by greed and lack of forethought and inability to recognize his own limitations?

Queenmum, I'm not picking on you here! I do agree with most of what you put in your post. People are quick to point fingers without doing any homework. I can sympathize with someone who has bitten off more than they can chew, BUT everyone has a mouthful and a plateful. I am glad to help out my rescue friend, so long as what I have on my plate is well under control. And to be blunt, I am often quick to remind her where the vial of euthanol is kept. Hoarding is a dangerous thing to animals.

Just curious, what would you like for the authorities to do? Times are hard on everybody. Less animals are being adopted right now because people cannot afford to care for them. (Meaning more people are doing the right thing by not taking in a project that they cannot afford). However, this leaves more animals in need of resuce. Well, rescues are struggling financialy as well. So what's left? Shall we ask the authorites to step in and "do something"?
Who will pay for that? the tax payers will..........the very people who could afford the animals in the first place. I cant find a happy answer to the problem, though admittedly spaying and neutering will help lessen this situation in the future. Perhaps a good start would be to find a way to make spay/neuter more affordable nationwide? Sure, some places have free spay/neuter clinics.........alot of places dont. I paid over $100 to have two cats spayed, that was with the "discount" coupon from the local humane society.


Being kindhearted and loving to animals is a wonderful thing. But it is not a good reason to jump in over your head and then ask your neighbors to bail you out.

OK, off MY soapbox now! I think we are gonna have pretty different viewpoints on this one, but it's all good! Variety makes the world go round and round and round!

 

[Patchesnposies]

I do some volunteer work with a local rescuer of dogs, cats, and horses. Is she a hoarder? You'd better believe it, lol. But, all her animals are well cared for, fat and utd on their shots, worming, foot care, etc. (we are talking over 16 dogs, and i lost count on the cats) Everything is neutered.

How doe she do it?

Well she makes a hard desicion when a new animal comes in. Can she adopt it out? Can she afford to keep it? If the answer to both questions is no, the animal is Euth'd and buried on her property.

Her statement to me (and one I whole heartedly agree with) is "If it looks like I'm gonna struggle paying for the needs of this animals, I will beg people to take them and provide for them. If I cannot find someone to take them, I will spend the last dollars I have on enough bullets, so that they do not starve. I would kill them all with a bullet to the head before I allowed their lives to become miserable. I owe them that much respect."

I hate to see a healthy animal euth'd. But I also hate more to see an animal euth'd after living in misery for months or years.

I"m glad that this horse is in decent care now. It is shameful the state that those hooves were in. Sure, people should help others out. But, I cannot feel sympathy for someone with a starving herd because the neighbors didnt help out.

Case in point:

With the drought in the west, a friend of mine had a lot of pasture go dry, and die this year. NO winter hay and NO summer graze in about 2/3 of her pasture. What did she do? She sold 90% of her herd. (to the tune of 3000 cattle. that is not a typo, 3000 cattle.) The few cattle that she has left are slick, fat and healthy. Her pasture is growing out, recovering nicely. Hurt like snot to sell the cattle, but it was better for the herd.

Her neighboring ranch did not sell off any herd. His cattle continued to graze weakened land, killing what was left of his pasture. As of now, he has NO pasture........and starving cattle that will not be able to be sold because their health is so poor. He's got his hand out to the neighboring ranches.......wanting them to "help" him by sharing some of their extra pasture and hay.

The other ranches will not "help" him, and I dont blame them one bit. I hate it for the mans cattle, its not fair to them, but these other ranchers sold cattle in order to protect their herd, to look out for the future of their herd. The "extra" that they have right now, is acruing for them rebuilding their herd and for protection in case the winter pasture cannot recover in time for summer.

The man is doing what he can, working hard for extra hay, etc. And he is, daily, having to shoot another downed cow. Should he go to jail? No, I dont think so. But the reminder of his herd should be taken.

He's not criminal, he is a fool. BUT if he makes the same mistake again, perhaps THAT is criminal.

But are those cattle starving because the neighbor's wont help? or are they starving because their owner subjected them to this negligence by greed and lack of forethought and inability to recognize his own limitations?

Queenmum, I'm not picking on you here! I do agree with most of what you put in your post. People are quick to point fingers without doing any homework. I can sympathize with someone who has bitten off more than they can chew, BUT everyone has a mouthful and a plateful. I am glad to help out my rescue friend, so long as what I have on my plate is well under control. And to be blunt, I am often quick to remind her where the vial of euthanol is kept. Hoarding is a dangerous thing to animals.

Just curious, what would you like for the authorities to do? Times are hard on everybody. Less animals are being adopted right now because people cannot afford to care for them. (Meaning more people are doing the right thing by not taking in a project that they cannot afford). However, this leaves more animals in need of resuce. Well, rescues are struggling financialy as well. So what's left? Shall we ask the authorites to step in and "do something"?
Who will pay for that? the tax payers will..........the very people who could afford the animals in the first place. I cant find a happy answer to the problem, though admittedly spaying and neutering will help lessen this situation in the future. Perhaps a good start would be to find a way to make spay/neuter more affordable nationwide? Sure, some places have free spay/neuter clinics.........alot of places dont. I paid over $100 to have two cats spayed, that was with the "discount" coupon from the local humane society.


Being kindhearted and loving to animals is a wonderful thing. But it is not a good reason to jump in over your head and then ask your neighbors to bail you out.

OK, off MY soapbox now! I think we are gonna have pretty different viewpoints on this one, but it's all good! Variety makes the world go round and round and round!

Redtailgal,

Thank you for posting. You said so well what I struggled to try and formulate in a post and couldn't. Besides our 3 rescue horses, we have 8 dogs (5 from a local animal rescue group and 3 from someone who took in a pregnant mother dog whose puppies would have ended up at a shelter had they not found homes.) And 10 cats, 9 from a local rescue and one from a litter that was being handed out in a walmart parking lot. I love all of my animals fiercely and take excellent care of them. All of them are neutered to the tune of a couple of thousand dollars, vaccinated and micro-chipped.

Because we have adopted so many, people assume that we will be willing to take in any old dog or cat they want to cast off. We have had to turn away animals because we just can't afford to spread the money or the love any thinner than we are right now. We know our limitations. Even so, THIS WEEK ALONE I have had two different people bring us their unwanted animals, guinea pigs (2) and Dwarf Rabbits (2). I agreed to take them....and I thank God that my DH is sweet enough to indulge my tender heart. We even had someone bring us 5 naked babies sparrows whose nest blew down in a storm. I hand fed them without much expectation of their surviving.....so, of course they did. lol I do love their afternoon song and figure this is an experience I will never have again in my life.

Everyday I see posts on our local yard sale forum and Craig's list from people who are basically giving away animals they cannot afford to care for. Horses being the most frequently posted. It breaks my heart. We are at our limit here and I know that most of our area rescues are full.

I do know that Cheryl (the horse rescue lady) is in well over her head and cannot feed all of the horses she has on her small acreage. I've seen her ads trying to find homes for some of them to no avail. I know for a fact that she does not worm them, float their teeth or do any kind of hoof care. Healthy horses on that property have feet that look like Leia's. So, to me, that IS criminal.

I am not patting myself on the back or promoting myself as something wonderful....honestly, with all of the need out there I could easily see myself slipping into the hoarder place without even realizing I had gotten there. Fortunately, my dh and six kids keep me grounded in reality.

It is a conundrum that's for sure.

 

[Queen Mum]

She should have euthanized those animals, I agree. But she clearly needed help doing it. And she needed people to come in and help her make that decision. It should not be a crime it should be a decision of compassion. Hard as it is, there is middle ground there. I live with people like that and I am not afraid to say to them, "You are not being fair to your animals." when they are making foolish decisions. But I try to do it with compassion.

The humane society and animal welfare need to be humane in the way they handle the people as well as the animals. That's what I'm saying.

Not everyone can put a bullet to the head of an animal. So someone sometimes has to step in and remove the animal. Those people who take in animals to save their lives don't always understand that that can be a cruel fate. When that happens the person needs to be treated with compassion. Ethical treatment doesn't always mean keeping an animal alive in misery.

I'm GLAD that the OP, here took in a LOVELY horse and made it's life MUCH better. One more life saved. That took courage and money. The woman who gave it too her had the courage to hang on until she came along.