Playing the Games

Since Natalie has started working with the rescues doing Natural Horsemanship, I have learned that there are several "games" that you can play with them, such as the yo yo game, the porcupine game, etc. I have also learned that you can understand how horses think just by watching them interact in their herd. Every horse exhibits behaviors that make up its "Horsenality". He can be a left brain extrovert or introvert or a right brain extrovert or introvert. Some horses can switch over from left brain to right brain in an instant. It sounds complicated I know. But as I watch the horses, it makes more and more sense to me everyday.

Two of our rescues, Our Man and Lucky, both geldings, are turned out together every day. A natural horsemanship trainer would label Our Man as a "leader" and Lucky would be considered "dominant". Yes, in a herd, there is a difference. You really need to take the time to study this, it is so interesting.

It is amazing to watch Our Man and Lucky interact in the pasture. Neither one of them really want to "give up" their status. To mix a leader with a dominant horse can be very educational, as well as entertaining. These two are really good buddies and they tolerate each other so well. All day long, they battle over who is going to move who or which one is going to get that pile of hay or stand at the gate to come in at feeding time. It makes me laugh to watch them. They never make physical contact, but the language they use with their bodies and facial expressions have really taught me how the relationship should be between human and horse. Watching Our Man "drive" Lucky and then Lucky moving Our Man from the water trough is hilarious. These two would be an asset to any herd in the wild. They are both kind of special around the rescue facility too.

My Highlight of the Yard Sale

We had our yard sale this weekend and it was a huge success thanks to all of our volunteers who worked very hard and all of the people who donated such great items.

I don't have much experience with yard sales as far as attending them or putting them on. As I watched people park up and down the road and enter the gate, I was struck at how many participants were desperately trying to find much needed items, such as clothing and shoes. Our failing economy has really put a hardship on so many.

At one point, a young lady came up to pay for her items and discovered that she had lost her $20.00 bill. In a panic, she ran around all of the tables desperately searching for it. Some of the volunteers helped her look. After much searching in vain, she started to leave with tears rolling down her face. She walked past her "much needed items" still laying on the check out table and then I watched in amazement as several volunteers grabbed her items and said, "Here take your stuff", you don't have to worry about paying." This proud woman said, "No, that's okay", but the volunteers persisted until she agreed. As she took the stuff in her arms, the $20.00 bill fell out! She was so happy and started to come back to the table to pay for her items. The volunteers said, "No, absolutely not, you just take your stuff." This woman was so grateful. After she left, one of the volunteers, wiping tears from her eyes, said, "Oh my gosh, I was about to go get my purse and give her the $20.00 she had lost."

What I learned from this is that our volunteers have so much compassion, not only for abused and neglected horses, but also for humans. It was so touching to witness such caring people trying to help someone who is not as fortunate as others in these hard economic times. To those of you who stepped out to help this lady, God has a special blessing for you. I am proud that you are a part of our rescue.

Starry Starry Night

One of my best volunteers, Jill, who comes out regularly to help with barn chores has nicknames for all of the horses. She calls Star, "Starry Starry Night", which takes me back to my younger days when I loved to listen to Cat Stevens. Jill is much younger than me, but I am often surprised at how much she knows about the music that I grew up listening to. In my book, she is a very "cool" person. The picture at the top is Jill and I showing off our muck boots. We try to stay in style.


In the meantime, Star's training is going very well. Natalie and her mother, Terri have been coming out on a regular basis for over a month now. It amazes me at how much patience Natalie has working with the horses. Her goal for now is for them to want to be with her, which is challenging, since these rescue horses have been mishandled by humans. But Natalie hasn't given up and it is finally paying off. All of the horses have come so far!


Star was one who was terrified of the "stick and string", a tool used by Natalie, as well as most Natural Horsemanship trainers. Now he has come to accept being rubbed by it and today, her mother, Terri, who brought her own "tool" sat in a chair while tossing the string over his back, which is huge, since Star had such issues with it 30 days ago. He would not even stay at the same end of the pasture with Natalie, if she had that "thing" in her hand.

Now she is working on making him comfortable with putting on and taking off the halter. In the past, Star has immediately ran away when the halter was removed, so he is learning that the halter is not a bad thing.

Thank you Natalie and Terri for being so kind to these special horses. They deserve the time and patience that you give. They deserve a chance.

Richard and Scam; Reunited!!!

Little Richard and Scam were both rescued on November 30th, 2009 from a case of severe neglect. After their rescue, we were able to trace down most of their history and were even able to obtain their registration papers. The story we were told by reliable sources is that Little Richard and Scam were kept at the same barn for years. Because of health issues and through circumstances beyond the original owner's control, the horses were sold to another man and they ended up at a sale. The bids were just not high enough, so the man "no saled" them and ended up selling both horses to another man, who nearly starved the two to death. Investigators received a report and found the horses in very bad shape, but were relieved when the owner surrendered both of them to the rescue.

In December 2009, Scam was moved into foster care for further rehab, but sadly had to leave her long time friend and companion, Little Richard. Then, in June 2010, Scam was moved to a different foster home. At this time, she was totally rehabilitated. Meanwhile, Little Richard remained at the quarantine facility and was also brought back to great health!

Today, Little Richard and Scam were reunited, thanks to Ruth Martin who has been fostering Scam. She agreed to also take Little Richard into her care. Now the two of them can hang out together once again under the shade trees and talk about the good old days. And I think they know, that they are going to be okay now, for the rest of their lives.

This blog is dedicated to their original owner, Richard Dean, a.k.a. "Lucky" who passed away this year. We pray that he can look down and see his beloved Little Richard and Scam; together once again and living a great live with no worries.

Legs; a.k.a. Max

Legs, a.k.a. Max was rescued by PER in June 2007 out of Santa Rosa County, along with 12 other horses. For years, he was tethered on a rope 24/7 without shelter or the ability to exercise or just be a horse. He was a stallion when he was rescued, so what little bit of "free time" he had, it was spent breeding the mares in the herd. Included in the rescue, were four of his babies, one was still not born nor did we even realize that the mare was pregnant until we got a surprise one morning! That colt was named "Wonder's Never Cease" and has grown to be as beautiful as his sire!

Max was adopted by Karen Tucci in November 2008 and received two years getting plenty of TLC. Karen did some ground work with him, but recently became very interested in Parelli Natural Horsemanship and made the decision to send Legs to Mirka Pitts, who specializes in this training.

Today, Michelle Phillips and I assisted Karen by moving Max to Mirka's. We are all very confident that Mirka will do an excellant job with him and bring out his full potential. Karen also plans on taking lessons from Mirka,so she can continue to use natural horsemanship on Max for his lifetime. This will be a whole new chapter for both Karen and Max and I'm sure it will be a good one. Good luck to you, Karen. I know this will be an adventure to remember.

New Trainers On Board!

Most rescues have a trainer to assist in evaluating and retraining their horses. While it is great to ride and see where the horse is at, it's difficult to get a horse started or restarted when there is no one available with the knowledge and great patience required with some rescues that have been abused, mishandled or allowed to get away with "stuff". We are very blessed to have not only one, but two trainers who have agreed to work with our horses. Both of them are very good at natural horsemanship training. Some well known trainers that do this are Pat Parelli, Clinton Anderson and Chris Cox, just to name a few. This training starts with lots of ground work which establishes respect from your horse before you ever get in the saddle. Mirka Pitts and Natalie Thomas have both recently started working with the rescues and we are so grateful to them both. The pictures here show Natalie working with Star. These special horses deserve to have a relationship with a human being that doesn't involve abuse or neglect. Rescue horses are very forgiving, but some have major trust issues, through no fault of their own. It is wonderful to watch these ladies work with them and see breakthroughs! We will keep you updated on their progress. To see videos of Mirka and Natalie; go to www.doublepfarm.com.

Rescue Teams

I haven't posted in a few days, so I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of those who have been a part of the actual rescues. Even though you are volunteers, you do not hesitate to drop whatever you are doing and come to the aid of horses (and other animals) that are in trouble. I have witnessed some very talented horsemen and women in the handling of horses; some which have never been touched. To load a horse like this without injury to the horse or people can be challenging, but with the patience and skill of our volunteers, we have been able to successfully remove all horses from neglectful and abusive environments. I have seen compassion with these special volunteers that would bring tears to my eyes. It really touches me to see so many hearts for rescue. I applaud you and dedicate today's blog to you. But most of all, the rescued horses thank you every single day.

Two Stripes Gets A New Foster Home!

Today we delivered Two Stripes to his new foster home. Thanks to Larry and Ruth of McDavid, FL. for providing him a place to stay.









Two Stripes is a special little guy; not big in stature but he has a huge heart. We're sure he will do well as he begins another new adventure.










We would also like to thank Larry for servicing our vehicle while we were there! He was so nice to make sure our trip home would be a safe one!

Magic Graduates!

Magic was picked up from school today and transported to his foster home in Crestview. He did a lot of growing up in the past few weeks and was very well behaved for a yearling stud colt. He has gone to a wonderful place with a very knowledgeable lady who will bring him up with patience and plenty of ground work to prepare him to be a great trail horse someday! Thank you Rose for taking him in! Magic was very calm when he arrived and took everything in stride. He is very special. Everyone that comes in contact with this colt really likes him. We'll keep you updated on his progress as he grows!

Dentist Day

Today, equine dentist, Tyler Fowler came out and did dentistry work on all of the horses at the isolation facility. He did a wonderful job. He has a lot of patience and knowledge. The picture shows him working on Star; a gelding that was recently returned to us. If anyone is interested in using an equine dentist, Tyler can be reached at 251-510-5226. Tell him you saw him on the PER blog!!!!

Raven's Foot Cast

Raven went into foster care on June 5th with Dolly Gibbons and on July 5th managed to get a nasty cut on her back foot. She is being treated by Dr. Stewart from Gulf Coast Equine Hospital in Summerdale, AL. Since Raven wasn't the best candidate to have her foot wrapped daily, he put a foot cast on her to aid in healing and also make aftercare virtually maintenance free. Raven must remain stalled, however, to keep the cast dry and sand out, but can be hand walked daily. Today Linda Lambert and I accompanied Dolly to take Raven in for a recheck. Raven will stay overnight to have her cast removed and they will see how she behaves for wrapping. If she is manageable, they will leave the cast off. While we were there, Dianna, took us on a tour of the new clinic. It was very impressive! We appreciate Dolly and Dr. Stewart for taking such good care of Raven.

The Old Man Is Gone

We knew the day was coming soon when we went to check on him early this summer. He was sort of "wobbly", but he still had that gleam in his eye and was happy to see us. He followed us around the pasture and loved getting attention. When I left that day, I was almost positive that I would not see him alive again.
Trouble, a.k.a. Domino was rescued in May 2006 from neglect; his owner was not willing to take the necessary steps to maintain a senior horse, so she surrendered him to PER investigators. His age could never be determined; he just didn't have enough teeth to tell, but once in rehab, he blossomed into a very healthy horse, much to the surprise of more than one veterinarian! He was a kind old man and was very sweet natured. He loved people and kids and looked forward to getting treats from everyone.
Trouble went over the Rainbow Bridge sometime during the night; there was no sign of struggle; he was found this morning at feeding time; lying peacefully in his paddock.
PER would like to thank his foster mom, Paula Johnson for giving him a quality life for the past four years. Also, thanks to all the others who took care of him when Paula would take her summer vacations.
When I spoke to Paula this morning, she again told me something that I have heard her say many times, "Trouble was no trouble at all." He will be missed by many and always remembered as a kind old gentleman.

Fundraising

Today was yet another day out in the heat doing, you guessed it, more fundraising! As long as there are horses to feed, we must keep on collecting donations at every opportunity we can get. Since we currently have 22 horses in foster care, funding is critical!

PER would like to thank Winn Dixie Stores, particularly the one in Cantonment for allowing us to set up a booth in front of their store. The holiday weekend brought in a lot of people to shop, so we got great exposure and donations.

Thanks also to all of those who sacrificed a few hours out of their holiday to come out and help man the booth. As long as we have committed volunteers and a community to support us, we can continue to help the horses!

Little Richard finds happiness

Little Richard (horse pictured with the halter) was a stallion when he was rescued in December 2009. He was used occasionally for breeding since his lineage went back to Man O' War and Seabiscuit. He was known as a "pacer"; always going back and forth on the fence line, wanting to be with the other horses.

Today, for the first time in many years, he finally got his desire as he was introduced to the herd. The herd consisted of one gelding, Our Man, who always longs for a companion and has been known to be a "pest" to the other horses; he has a strong urge to play with everyone and will intimidate until he gets a response, good or bad. Both Our Man and Little Richard have been kept by themselves for quite some time, but after weeks of being on the same fence line and leaving all mares totally out of the picture, we released Little Richard into the pasture with Our Man. At first, it was frightening because Little Richard took off like he was going out of a starting gate, beelining for Our Man, screaming with his ears pinned back. Volunteer, Mandy Preston was at the other end ready to "break it up", if Little Richard went in for "the kill". But much to our amazement, they bonded very quickly with no blows or contact by either one. They quickly became friends. They even hogged the water hose from each other as Mandy rinsed them off over the fence; both are true "river rats"! They took turns rolling and standing to be hosed off; it was very comical to watch!

We feel good that they both have pasture time with another; after all, horses are herd animals; they thrive when they are socialized and somewhere in a pecking order. While Little Richard is the leader of this herd, one day we hope to place him in his forever home, where he will bond with others and make new friends, but most importantly never be isolated again.

Magic goes to school!

Today, recently rescued Tennessee Walking Horse, Magic was transported to a two week yearling class where he will learn to lead, tie, load, back and give to pressure. He will also be introduced to baths and fly spray as well as obstacle training, picking up his feet on command, lounging and desensitizing to various objects. PER would like to thank Greg and April Violette for donating their services and giving this youngster such a good start. If you have a weanling up to a two year old; even one that has never been touched, that you would like to get a foundation on for a better future, then give April a call at 207-9069. Also, her husband, Greg is an awesome farrier! April will be happy to set up an appointment for you!

Spell

Recently rescued "Spell" was moved into a foster home today to complete his rehabilitation and then begin an evaluation of his training level. Now, he will begin a new life, free from abuse and neglect. He has many scars that show the pain he has endured such as "chains", "soring" and "blistering". These methods are used mostly with the Tennessee Walking Horse breed to get a horse to lift his feet high in a show ring. They are no longer permitted in the large shows, but unfortunately, this still goes on at small shows that are not regulated. Spell will never have to endure that pain again.










Here he is, greeting the mares at his new foster home.










Happy and content, Spell makes himself comfortable.













Spell with his new foster mom, Sarah-Jane.