We Found the Donkey's Owners!

Yeah!  They had been frantically searching for their two beloved lost little donkeys and thanks to the internet and some helpfull people, they little darlings have found their owners.

Happy ending.

Two New Donkeys Arrive Here at HART

I had just finally come to terms with placing Charles and Franchesca into an adoptive home.  They were very difficult for me to give up because I had grown so attached to them but I know that the more animals that I keep as permanent residences the less that I can save.

Charles and Franny had only been gone for three days when I got a call from the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office asking me to go out on an animal at large call two pick up two little donkeys.  These two adorable little critters had been wandering around Dopp Road between Newberg and Yamhill for at least a couple of weeks before a kind person in the area corralled them and called the Sheriff.

They are both in good health, appear to be young and other then one of them with feet a little overgrown they appear to have been well cared for.  I put an ad on Craigslist and in the Newberg Graphic lost and found to try to locate their owners.   :(  They are both gentle, well behaved and craving attention.  If their owner is not found, they will be up for adoption in 90 days in accordance with Oregon Satute.

Here is Turbo, named for her ability to run like the wind once the gate is opened.  She is quickly figuring out that when the gate is opened, that means more groceries are coming, not that it's time to make a run for it.

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Here is little Dodge, name so due to his habit of dodging the rope when I put one around his neck to take him out of the stall for the day, the silly little sucker.

Here is Turbo sticking his tongue out after a drink of cold water, I thought it was cute!

A New Update for Big Ruth from the Beavercreek Case

I'm sure you all remember Big Ruth from the Beavercreek case last spring.

Well, she has been in foster care for the past several months and is doing very well.  

Here is a photo of her feet in April.

Even after intense trimming for two months they are still splayed out and her heals are still crushed.

Here she is from November 20th, what a DIFFERENCE!

And here is a close up of her feet

Yeah for Big Ruth and thank you Gwen for helping me out

A new update on Shadow and Maryia!

Shadow just continues to amaze me. She is doing well on her recovery. We are trimming her once a week. Tweaking her feet little at a time to encourage the rolled under side to grow more normally.

She is now able to go into the "Sand Paddock" area. It is firmer foot that the rubber. She was a little tender footed the first few days but got over that quickly. She does not trot yet but can boogie at the walk with no lameness.

She is very sweet with all people. But she and Mariah have a new roommate and little Shadow will pin her ears and make ugly faces at her. Very funny to see her be such a little toughie.

Shadow had her teeth floated on June 7th. Jerry Schmidt, Balanced Equine Dentistry volunteered his time and did her teeth. She had a retained cap (at 13 years old!) he pulled. She does have one funny upper incisor that is shorter than the rest and seems to be twisted sideways. Her molars were not too bad. Jerry balanced her out and she is good to go.

Shadow has shed out and is so cute. She has little white freckles sprinkled over her hinny. A funny thing she does is in the morning after I feed her hay she will almost always take a "nap" in the hay. She plops down in the hay and eats the hay all around her. I have seen her lay flat, reach her head back and pull more hay to her. Then rolls up and munch away. She is so sweet, funny, and demanding! You should hear her neigh (squeak) in the morning. I am never fast enough to bring her breakfast, according to her. :-) She is a doll and doing well.

Mariah is doing well. Mariah and I had a big break thru last Friday. She allowed me to trim her front feet with no one holding her halter. This is huge trust issue for her. Back feet we are still working on but it is coming. On Monday she came right up to me and asked to be petted and stayed with me for awhile!

She is still very sassy but I see her coming around and understanding not all people are bad. Every time I am with her I try to do something nice for her. Mostly scratching ... her favorite spots are her shoulders and under her neck. Carrots are a good thing also. She is just so smart and cute.

She continues to do well on her feet. Walks, trots, and canters well. She has shed out beautifully. I love her little black spots in her white splashes.

Thank you Jamie for letting me work with these two cuties. They put a smile on my face.

Pamela

Moby

We have a new kid on the block here at HART Rescue.  Moby came to us just yesterday.  His owners for some reason were not taking proper care of him so he lost quite a bit of weight has was seriously lame in all four feet.  Fortunately for Moby, his previous owner checked up on him and took him back. Unfortunately, she was not in a financial position to take care of him so she brought him here to HART for rehabilitation and to find a new home.

When his previous owner found him in poor condition she immediately took action. She made sure that the people had the proper feed for him, called out a vet and a farrier at her expense and stayed in daily contact with his current owners.  The farrier guessed that he might have abscesses in all four feet but didn't find any pockets.  They put some special shoes with medication packs on him.  The vet prescribed butte and ulcer medication.  After 3 weeks his owners told the previous owner that they would not/could not take care of Moby and wanted to be rid of him.  That is how he ended up here at HART.

When he arrived yesterday he was moving out pretty well but was still on butte.  I decided to not give him any butte last night because it is so hard on their stomachs so this morning he is a bit sore on the right front at the jog in the arena.  He has 4 more weeks before his shoes need redone so I'm hoping to find out more information then.  Based on the description of how he was reacting it sounds more like stress founder to me then abscesses.

Moby is a SWEETHEART He is almost 20 years old, registered appendix quarter horse gelding.  He is broke to ride and in face is very well broke and gentle for anyone to ride.  Hopefully I will be able to get him sound again and ready for adoption.

Here is a photo of Moby before he was starved down.  I will get some pictures of him in his current condition later this week.

Unfortunately, Moby's condition was so advanced that we were unable to make him confortable enough to be even pasture sound so we were forced to make the difficult decision to put him down.

A Quick Update

It has come to my attention that there is some concern regarding the affiliation of HART Rescue and Sound Equine Options. I want to take this opportunity to assure everyone that HART Rescue in no way supports the slaughter of horses. My involvement with Sound Equine Options is strictly to support a low cost euthenasia option for people who cannot afford to do the right thing for their horse when the unfortunate time comes that it needs to be put down.

The mission and goal here at HART is to serve the community by providing a safe place for abused horses to recover and live until they can be adopted out.

If anyone has any questions or concerns, please feel free to call or email me at any time.

Thank you Jan for bringing this to my attention so that it can be addressed.

Jamie Cheslock
Founder/Director
HART Rescue

Thank you Vetericyn for your Support

The folks at Vetericyn, Inc. were generous enough to donate a case of their wound and infection treatment to my rescue. In reading the brochure they provided I see that this project has many wonderful uses for all kinds of animals. I will definately be putting this stuff to good use on the rescue horses. If you would like more information on Vetericyn, please visit their website at www.vetericyn.com

It's time to get Technicle!

I have been struggling for the past several months with if I should invest in good bookkeeping software to keep track of HART’s expenses, donations and whatnot. I have always told everyone that I have an open book policy regarding the financial status of HART but it’s awfully hard to stand up to that promise if I don’t have adequate software to track everything. So, after thinking and pondering long and hard on the matter I finally decided that since we did so well at the Canby Tack Sale, now would be a good time to spend a little money and invest in a good software package.

I decided to go with a Quickbooks based program because I already know that software inside and out since I use it at work and fortunately, Quickbooks has a software program specifically designed for non profits. I am excited to get it all downloaded, enter all of my past financial transactions and donations and be able to keep a printout of everything available to anyone who asks.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support!

The Canby Tack Sale was another huge success for HART. We sold over $1200.00 worth of tack and visited with several old friends and made a lot of new friends and contacts. My booth was so busy for the entire sale that I never got to unfold my chair to sit down, not even for a second. Thank you very much Sarah for being there all day to help me sell tack, educate people on HART Rescue and hand out business cards.

I had some picture story boards at the sale and they were a big attraction for many people. I only wish that I had more time to visit with the people and their children as they looked at the photos and read their stories. Thank you so much Debbie for coming down a couple of hours to help out with that part, I really appreciated it.

We also made some space for our newly formed Sound Equine Options group to set up an educational story board to introduce ourselves to the public and let them know about our upcoming low cost euthanasia clinics and future plans for a hay bank and horse rescue registration and accountability program.

The best part of the entire sale was the amazing amount of people that approached us as the sale was ending and donated their unwanted horse tack items or asked what they could do to help out in the future. The generosity and genuine caring and appreciation of what I do from everyone were almost overwhelming. I would head out to the trailer to load up my leftover tack and when I returned to my booth there would be a large box of miscellaneous items on my table that someone had dropped off. I want to make sure that everyone knows that any and all donations no matter how big or small is always greatly appreciated and even if I can only sell an item for one or two dollars, it still makes a difference. Everything will be washed, cleaned, repaired, oiled and salvaged in the best way possible to raise funds for the rescue.

Please remember that although donations are greatly appreciated, I do also buy tack for resale so if you have items leftover from the sale that you would like to sell, please email or call me and if I can, I will buy everything you have to resell.

My only regret of the sale is that I didn’t have a camera to take a photo of the booth but I’m afraid that even if I did have my camera there, I would never have had the time to take a picture! So, here for your enjoyment is a photo of my grandson Riley leading his miniature horse Gigi out of the barn so they can go for a ride.

The Canby Tack Sale

Don't forget to come and visit my booth at the Canby Tack Sale this weekend. I will be in the far corner of the indoor arena. I have a large selection of bridles all put together and ready to go. All of my bridles are priced by each piece so that if you want to mix and match you still know exactly how much you are spending. I also have a nice selection of saddles and tons of other horse related items.

Remember, I raise funds for HART Rescue by buying and selling tack and I also accept donations so if you have any tack you don't need anymore please bring it to my booth for donation or I'll buy it if I can. 100% of the proceeds is spent on the rescue horses medical care, feed and supplies.

I look forward to seeing everyone there!

Updates on Studly, Snoot, Big Mare, Lightening and Amber

Here is an updated photo of my dear Studly.

I haven't ridden him yet as I'm waiting for the case to be closed and castration but he is definitely a very personable horse from the ground. It's easy to forget that he is a stallion because he is so gentle. Studly thoroughly enjoys being brushed and loved on and is not shy about showing his appreciation for the attention.

Here is an updated photo of Amber.


Amber has been returned to HART because her adoptive owner reported she had food aggression issues with the goats that she was pastured with. I now have her out with permanent HART resident Gigi and the two mini donkeys Charles and Franchesca and they are getting along great. I have decided that Amber is going to be a permanent resident of HART so I have plenty of teeny minis for the children to love on when they vistit.

I received a phone call update on Lightening the other day. His family reported that he is doing AWSOME and they absolutely love him. They are looking forward to training him to be ridden next year.

The family that adopted Big Marehave reported that she is absolutely perfect and they love her dearly. She was such an awsome horse that it was really hard for me to let her go but I just can't keep them all.

Snoot still lives here at HART as a boarder. Her owner is curently training her for OHSET and had been doing some trail riding. She has turned out to be a nice horse.

It's time for Pal to meet the big boys!

I've decided that it's about time to start weaning PAL. I always like to make the weaning process as low stress as possible for the mother and the foal and so far my method has worked pretty darn well for me. For starters, I move the mare and foal into a pasture with one or two gentle aged geldings. For Pal I choose Buster and Fritz as they are gentle giants. Today seemed like a good day to do it so here is Pal introducing himself to Buster and Fritz while Mom calmly eats hay in the background.

Well hay there little fella!


Hi, I'm just a baby. Won't you be my friend?


I couldn't have asked for a smoother introduction. I'm going to leave all of these guys together for a couple of days and then I will put Pal and the gentlemen in the arena (the safest environment possible) and take Mom away for a bit to see how they react. Normally the foal will have made some great new friends so he won't fuss very much for his mother. If he doesn't make too much of a stink I'll go ahead and move Mom down to the PAL Ranch so they can't hear each other call. Once all is calm with the guys, I'll move them all back out to the pasture and get on with things.

Gearing up for the Winter

Well summer is rapidly comming to an end. I love the cool air of fall, the return of the green in the fields and the sweet smell of the fall rains but also fear what this winter will bring us. There are still hundreds of thousands of people out of work and and several thousand of them are finding their unemployment benefits tapped out. This not only means that more people can't afford to feed and care for their animals, but it also means that they can no longer afford to make donations to charities.

I have been working hard this past several weeks to be as ready as possible for the onset of rescue cases that I fear will come our way. New fences have been built, shelters are being reinforced, mud control put into place, hay is being stored and supplies are being gathered. I hope and pray that I will not be forced to turn any animals away this winter but have a terrible feeling in my gut that there will be more then I can handle on my own.

Here is a photo of the new no climb horse fence that we put around our winter sacrafice areas. This was a lot of hard work and expensive but definately necessary. Now barring bubble wrapping everything, this is a very horse safe area.



One of the things that I do here at HART to raise funds is buy and sell tack and horse related items. I have recently purchased a really cute little two horse Logan Ranger II slant load trailer. If you or anyone you know is interested in the trailer, please call or email me here at HART. I also have several nice saddles and tons of other tack items. We will have a booth at the Canby Tack Sale in October so make sure you come and check us out. I'm also going to work on putting together a tack for sale area here on the blog. Be patient!

In addition, if you have any horse related items you would like to donate or sell let me know and I'll come pick them up and give you a reciept for your taxes.

Hopefully soon Studly, Pokey, Boss and Pal will be up for adoption. We are having a forteiture hearing on the 29th. This also means that Studly, Pokey and Pal will have to be castrated so if you can spare an extra $1.00 or two, please send it to Carlton Vet c/o HART and it will be used to help pay for the three castrations.

Thank you everyong for your continued support. All help, money and supplies are ALWAYS appreciated!

Thank you OET

For having me to speak at your meeting. I hope that my speech was informative.

Options for when "that time" comes

I know this isn't really a very popular subject among horse lovers but I do think that it is very importand information to have on hand for when the time comes that you are faced with the job of putting down your horse and disposing of the body.

Oregon
State Veterinarian:www.oregonvma.org/
USDA Cooperative Extension Service: www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/


Euthanasia Programs:

Oregon State University
Lois Bates Acheson Veterinary Teaching Hospital
30th Street
Corvallis, OR 97331-4801
541-737-2858
www.oregonstate.edu

Equine Cemetery Services:

Omega Farms
21479 Cook Road
Noti, OR 97461
541-935-1588
www.omega-farms.com


Equine Crematory Services:

Ashes to Ashes Pet Cremation
22331 590th Street
Pomeroy, IA 50575
712-358-2600
www.ncn.net/~scottdev

Dignified Pet Services
8976 SW Tualatin Sherwood Road
Tualatin, OR 97062
503-885-2211

Memorial Pet Care
654 E. King Street
Meridian, ID 83642
208- 887-7669

Petland Cemetery, Inc.
P.O. Box 184
Aberdeen , WA 98520
360-533-2931
1-800-738-5119
www.petlandcem.com

Rendering/Carcass Disposal:

Baker Commodities
9401 North Hurst Avenue
Portland, OR 97203
503-289-1221


Johnson's Farm Rendering
5405 NW Kauffman Avenue
Vancouver, WA 98663
360-693-5282

Landfills that Accept Equine Carcasses:

* Waste Management ® accepts equine carcasses at some but not all locations. To find out if your local Waste Management location will take horse carcasses, please contact them: www.wm.com; 800-963-4776

Saphire from the Highway 47 case had a foal!

I got a phone call from a very excited Shelby informing me that Saphire had a healthy little filly. They name her Lizzy.



Isn't she just DARLING!!! What a cute, lucky little stinker pot!

Some of the horses have been updated and an announcment

I have posted new photos and bits of information on the following horses:

Buttermilk buiscuit
Amber
Misti
Moonshadow
Fancy
Pokey

The defendants of the Sheridan Seven horses Studly, Boss, Madeline, Giggles, Tease, Pokey and Big Ruth were sentenced and very VERY soon all of these horses (except the ones already spoken for) will be up for adoption!!!!!

The ones I have left are: Tease, Pokeyand Studly. Boss and PAL may also be available, the person that originally spoke for them is thinking it over. She wants to be sure that they go to the very best home available where they will be treasured and loved as much as they deserve.

Pokey and Studly will need to be castrated before they leave HART and will have an adoption fee of $200.00 each. Tease will have an adoption fee of $100.00. Boss and PAL (if available) will have an adoption fee of $300.00.

Pal and Boss are doing very nicely

Pal is growning into that head and ears and is starting to show some resemblance of his sire


Here is a head shot of his sire



Boss is looking excellent and healthy with a nice shiney coat

If you didn't see me on the news the other day

Here is a link to the story on ABC

click here

Enjoy!

Here are some photos of Misti

These were sent by Misti's new owner. Notice how crowded her teeth are in her mouth. EEKS!

Updates are finally downloaded!

FINALLY I had some time to get updated information and testimonials from the adoptive families on some of the horses. Click on the links for Misty, Molly, Moonshadow, Shadow, Mariah and Big Ruth to see their updates. Sorry, putting the html links in this post just takes too danged LONG!

Keep checking back for more updates!

Two Pigs and A Duck

These adorable creatures came to live at HART a few months ago. I haven't been able to add them to my blog because they were being held as evidence for the Humane Society and they asked their case to remain private. Well, fortunately for the pigs and the duck, their case is finally done and they are now up for adoption! Anyone interested an adopting this interesting trio will need to go through the Humane Society and their adoption proceedures. We would like them to stay together.

Here is the female piggy, she is very friendly, will take food out of your hand and stand to be pet. If you scratch her tummy, she'll roll over to give you better access.


And here she is with her friend the duck.


When these guys first arrived, the duck was bonded with the male pig but he seems that with the onset of spring, love is in the air and he has turned his eye to the sweet little female.

Here is the male, he is not fond of being touched or even looked at but he does come running and dinner time when you call pig, pig, pig.

The mini horses

A lot of people have been asking me for updates on all of the minis. I'm sorry I haven't had the time to put frequent updates on my blog.

All but the two critial minis have been adopted out and are currently living in their new homes. Some of them have sent me photos of them and I'll get that all put on here as soon as I can.

Shadow and Mariah are staying with a vet/farrier in Sherwood and will remain there until they feet are healed enough for them to come back to HART.

I promise, I will get their photos and stories put up by the end of this week.

Thank you everyone for your emails, calls, visits and donations of time, money and supplies. It is all very much appreciated!

Here are some photos I got of Boss and PAL his first time outside

IT'S A BOY!

Last night Boss gave birth to a beautiful, healthy colt! Mom and baby are both doing great. The vet will be out this afternoon to draw blood and do a wellness check on them both just to make sure. Boss is a wonderful, attentive mother and is kind enough to allow me to mess around with her little newborn without worry.

I decided to name him PAL of my HART. PAL is for the PAL Ranch in Mcminnville, the owners of the ranch donated the use of the property and barns to my rescue and expressed a desire to adopt Boss and her unborn foal several weeks ago. PAL stands for People Animals Love. The HART part of his name of course is for HART Rescue.

I can't tell who the sire is because he's the spitting image of his dam!

Julie, I hope you like that name. I know I said you should name him but PAL of my HART just seemed so perfect! You and Hanna can give him a good barn name.

Thank You Newberg Vet for the Dental Work

Today, Wendy (the mini taxi) picked numbers 9 and 11 up to take them to Newberg Veterinary Services so Dr. Erin Tripp could do their dental work for them. Here are some photos of their trip to the vet.

Waiting their turn for the proceedure



11 getting her teeth done. Her mouth was really a mess so she's going to need some follow up work.


9 gets her turn, her mouth wasn't in too bad of shape.


A little discussion between the vet and the pony wrangler


Whew! Done and giving the grass a trim.


Thank you Wendy and Newberg Vet for helping me take care of these little horses.

Today was an exciting day for HART

We had several visitors.

My old buddy Jeanne Dougal came by with her mom to drop off some donations of used horse tack to sell and or use for the rescued horses and some new supply items for the rescue.

Pat Swansik picked up Fabio to take him to his appointment for brain surgery at Willamette Valley Equine THAT MEANS ONE LESS STALLION AT HART! I'm so sorry Fabio but it just had to be done. Good luck old man and we'll see you back here on Friday. In case you are confused, Fabio used to be referred to as Eclipse but we changed his name to Fabio after he made it quite apparent that he was a ladies man and wanted no mistake of the matter, the poor little guy just couldn't understand why we wouldn't let him be with the ladies! Oh and "brain surgery" is just a another term for castration. Yeeks!

We also had a visit from a couple of 4-H groups from Yamhill County, the Red Hill Riders and the River Bandits.

Several kids and parents spent a couple of hours here at HART brushing all of the horses, cleaning out the arena and visiting with me. The ponies all enjoyed the attention from all of the girls.

Here is 5 getting some much deserved one on one attention


10 was a favorite among the girls, she is by far the best kids pony in the bunch.


A sample of what my barn isle looks like full of girls and ponies!


The boys helped with cleaning the arena!


I thought the girls that had the donkeys were lucky but of course I LOVE donkeys.


10 never ceases to amaze me!


And finally, here is the whole gange with their ponies.


THANK YOU to all that came out today for all of you help and for the donations, all is very much appreciated!

Two New Residences to Join the Minis

Last night I took in two darling little Sicilian Miniature Donkeys, Charles and Franchesca were brought here so I can try to find them a new home where they can live together in happiness for the rest of their lives. They are sweet, freindly little darlings and must stay together.

A Shout out to Mrs. Godbey's Kids in Perrydale

HI KIDS! I look forward to meeting all of you one day soon!!!