Many of our horses come from troubled homes. People often get wrapped up in their own lives that they forget or simply don't have the means to care for their horse anymore. So, instead of selling the horses or giving them away, the horses simply rot away in the pasture/stall alone and uncared for until someone comes along and offers help. Occasionally, we have to purchase the horses, other times they are donated.
We are privately funded. There are two formal horse rescue organizations in the area including GERL (working closely with the GA Dept. of Agriculture), and the Horse Rescue, Relief, and Retirement Fund, Inc.
Hannah evaluating a horse for the GERL 2003.
Most of our horses come in desperate need of groceries, de-worming, dentistry, farrier work, emotional stability, and understanding. It was one of these horses that got me (Hannah) started on the road to discovering Monty Roberts' techniques. These are just a few of the stories of the horses that have crossed our path.
Lady, shortly after she arrived at our farm
Here is the story of the mare that started it all:
Her name is Mi Bey Lady (Lady), a bay Arabian mare. Lady came into our lives at Christmas 1995. I received a call asking if I'd be interested in a yearling Arab filly, and if I wasn't, then they would shoot her because she was so unpredictable and vicious. I agreed to take her on. It took 5 people and 3 hrs. to catch her, amazingly enough she loaded into a friend's stock trailer with little difficulty. Wonders never cease!
We trailered her home with another horse. The fun began once we had unloaded her and were leading her towards her new paddock. Before we could get her to the gate, she spooked, reared, flipped over backwards, got away from us, and galloped down Heardsville Rd. which is near a highway with a 20' cotton rope dragging behind her (which of course was terrifying and caused her to increase her speed). With our hearts in our throats, we jumped in the car, and began following her as my speedy brother Timothy ran after her. Thankfully, one of our neighbors has horses, and she went to them and got off the road. Timothy caught her and led her home.
This started our saga. Lady was very distrustful and it became immediately evident that she had been seriously abused, she'd flip herself over backwards if I attempted to touch her face or if she was tied, and it took 2.5 YEARS to pick up her right front foot. She was a dangerously frightened animal that would charge and kick if you came into her space, and heaven forbid if you tried to do anything to her i.e. de-worm her, or give her shots.
I attended a John Lyons seminar in Ohio in March 1996, where I was given an idea about using a round pen for taming purposes. I brought my new knowledge home, but Lady didn't drastically improve, so I kept looking for new answers. (Please note: I respect John Lyons and have read many of his articles; my interpretations of his method didn't work for this particular mare.) In June, a friend gave me a copy of Monty's book, "Man who Listens to Horses," and it changed our lives forever. After studying the book, I wrote notes on 3x5 cards, and went out to try it on Lady. It took 3 hours and much convincing, but she Joined Up! A week later, I was riding her! Bobby (my husband) asked if someone had stolen Lady and replaced her with a look-a-like. She was a changed mare. Occasionally, she would have flashbacks, but she was well on the road to recovery.
A few weeks after our first Join Up.
Two years later, I bred her to my stallion (Sir Lancelott) as she was impeccably bred (Bey Shah x Mi Loves Star {Hal Gazal}). I then sold her to some wonderful people in Milledgeville, GA who have her on 70 acres of pasture. She didn't want to be a riding horse, but she could excel as a broodmare. She had her first baby, a colt, born March 23, 2001.
Lady and Thunder (age 1 week)
Ariel:
In March 2001, we were given another impeccably bred Polish Arabian mare. She had been a superb broodmare in her younger years, but supposedly wasn't able to reproduce any more (was 26 years old), and was having a hard time keeping weight on in the pasture. The owner had little use for her because she couldn't reproduce, so with regret, he decided to put her down. Our farrier asked if the owner would consider giving her to us, instead of putting her down. The owner was relieved, and we picked her up the beginning of March. We've nicknamed the mare Ariel, and as the pictures show she has blossomed here, and is now one of our best lesson horses.
Ariel in March 2001 Ariel and a student in June 2001
Ariel at Woodward August, 2001
Ariel and Jake (Ariel's best friend) Jan. 2002
Sky:
Our newest pony is Sky, (came in June1, 2001), a 16 year old mix pony. He had foundered at some point in time. His previous farrier was trying to correct the foundered hooves, and in the process of trying to build up his heel, he hadn't cut off any of Sky's toe (where about 6" long, should have been 2.5") which put an enormous amount of pressure on his tendons and made his balance very precarious. This process is usually good. However, you must keep the foot balanced; the idea is to relieve the pressure, not add more.
My farrier, same one who lined up Ariel for us, cut off 1.5 inches off his feet in the first trim! Sky still has another few inches to cut off, but the farrier said it would hurt him to cut off any more. Notice that the feet are different sizes, in time, all 4 will be trimmed to the same length as the "quick" shortens. His tendons have also started to stretch back out. He also needs to gain some weight.
Update: Dec. 2002, his coffin bones are rotating back up. His feet are getting better. Sky is almost sound. We gave him and Inky to a little girl down the street who adores him.
Left front foot trimmed Both fronts trimmed (1.5" cut off!)
Ink Spot (arrived Sept. 2001)
Ink is a 19 year old, miniature horse. She also has feet problems. When she first came, her heels were 1/2" longer than her toe. This means that her fetlocks were bent backwards. Her feet had been butchered - only 1.5" long at the toe! Ink could barely move and was in a tremendous amount of pain. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take pictures of her feet as the farrier came out the same day she arrived. He said that with time and proper trimming, we may be able to save her. He lowered her heel by 1/4" and has kept trimming her every 3 weeks. If the fetlock joint stays in the incorrect position for an extended amount of time it can fuse and never bend properly. So, the heel has to be lowered fast enough that the joint doesn't fuse, but slow enough for the tendons to stretch back out and not cause more problems.
Update: Dec. 2002. Ink's doing great! Her feet are much better, and she's moving quite well (amazing how fast she can trot when she escapes her paddock! :>). Her feet are getting harder and are looking like proper pony feet. We gave her and Sky to a little girl down the street.
Ink in the snow