DANDY

When an HNR rescuer first saw Dandy, he was deprived and emaciated. He had been living in a tiny, fenced‐in dog run with no shelter except for the trees. Without hesitation, Dandy eagerly jumped into our trailer and started his rehabilitation. Our crew tried all the regular methods to facilitate his weight gain, but Dandy was not gaining or thriving. We even tried massage therapy with him, but he still made no real headway.

We decided that he might need one‐on‐one attention with his own person. We placed him with one of our incredible fosters, a practicing small‐animal veterinarian. Once Dandy settled into a more “homey” situation, he responded well. He gained weight and even got his old pizazz back! Our volunteers believed Dandy was a mellow old gentleman, but his foster mom discovered the inner show pony and jumper that he truly is! Dandy is now living his best life in his forever home, with lots of attention and children to love him.

SADIE & Sahara

Sadie, Sahara, and Jen all arrived together. All three mares were in rough shape, but Sahara and Sadie were the worst. It took a good long while to get weight back on Sahara, but once we did, we found a stunning beauty underneath. Sahara is a lanky, gorgeous, very dark bay verging on black. She loved to doze peacefully while being brushed or petted, and soaked up any attention given to her. Though she hadn’t been trained to ride previously, she took it all in stride and quickly learned the basics. She was adopted by longtime friends of the rescue and now lives a pampered life on their little farm with her own red-headed boyfriend and lots of love.

Sadie was in the worst shape of three girls, Sadie, Sahara, and Jen. We were seriously worried about her chances, despite the fact that she is actually the youngest of the three. However, she showed great willpower, and made a massive comeback. She is now a happy, chubby, easy keeper. Unfortunately, Sadie suffered an injury to her fetlock sometime long before she arrived at the rescue that seriously limits her ability to be ridden. “Pasture pets” like Sadie can be hard to place, and to add to that, Sadie sometimes has a sassy personality, not your usual, docile little kid horse. We worried about her chances for adoption, but Sadie found her perfect person – a young woman who loves her for who she is. The unconditional, one-on-one love has turned sassy Sadie into a puppy dog, and she is living her best life with her best human friend and her painted boyfriend. 

SPICE

When Spice was relinquished she was emaciated, matted with burrs, eyes puffy, nose running, and obviously miserable. She had a terrible case of ulcers and she had been ridden while suffering from them. After all she had been through, she was very untrusting of humans, and had learned to pin her ears, posture, and fake charge in order to protect herself from more mistreatment and pain. Once we managed to get her mostly healthy again, we started from scratch to regain her trust, one tiny step at a time. Spice has come an incredibly long way, and turned into a sweet, cuddly, talkative mare. She is currently undergoing allergen therapy in an attempt to treat her heaves, and working through some lingering defensiveness with veterinarians and injections.