Betsy and George

Betsy Ross and George Washington were abandoned by their owners on some property that they had been renting.  Fortunately for these two cute donkeys, some caring neighbors made sure that they had food and water so they wouldn't suffer.

From what I can tell, they are mother and son, the mother (Bets) appears to be under 5 years of age and the jack (George) is maybe one year old.  Obviously George has not been handled AT ALL and the Betsy has had limited handling.  Betsy will walk up to me for very limited petting and scratching but George will not tolerate touching at all other then a sneaky pat on the nose. They are both friendly in spite of their shyness and neither of them have shown any sign of aggression while I've worked with them so I think it wouldn't take too long to get them to overcome their shyness. 

George needs to be castrated, normally I have that procedure done before they are adopted out but if someone that I can trust to get him castrated after adoption wants him I will let him go in tact, otherwise he will have to stay here until he is tamed enough to be handled and castrated.

Bella

Bella is a very sweet, loving palomino mare that came to us by recommendation from one of my Horse Blanket Services clients.  She had previously owned the mare and sold her to a friend.  The friend no longer wanted Bella and decided to take her to the auction so she could "get a couple hundred dollars out of her".  Luckily for Bella, the lady was willing to bring her to HART so be placed in a new home. 

Once Bella arrived here the first thing we noticed that is she had "no wheels".  Have you ever heard the term "no foot, no horse?"  Well, poor Bella had terribly sore, chipped feet and could not tolerate walking on hard ground at all.  Because she is such a sweet, friendly, gentle well trained not to mention beautiful horse, there was a lot of interest in her and she was placed in a wonderful home in Newberg. 

When Bella's new family came to pick her up, a teeny 5 year old girl wanted to lead her out of the pasture.  Bella patiently followed behind this tiny girl, as we headed toward the gate the girl tripped and fell down right in front of Bella who instantly stopped and put her nose down as if to say "get up little girl and let's get going."  It was one of those precious moments that makes me so thankful that I am able to help these horses find better homes.

Bella's new owner is working diligently together with her farrier to get her feet ironed out, get some weight off her and get her back under the saddle packing children around.

Felipe' the Miniature Donkey

Felipe' came to us from Camp Tillikum West of Newberg, he and his buddy a little Jennette had been donated to the camp for the children to pet and enjoy.  Unfortunately, little Felipe' had not been castrated and with being a donkey and having a girlfriend, his actions were a bit unsettling to the camp supervisors and inappropriate for the children. Within one week of arriving at HART Rescue we performed a surgery that we are very well known for doing that I like to refer to as 'brain surgery' (castration).

After a couple weeks of recovery time Felipe' was allowed out into the pasture with my two old mules so they could teach him a few things about manners and let him know under no uncertain terms that approaching a lady from behind with unsavory intentions is not to be tolerated.  It didn't take my good mules long to educate Felipe' and he was then allowed to be with the rest of the herd.

Felipe' went on to form a relationship with Buster, our resident paint gelding where the two of them took turns chasing each other all over the pasture and playing.  They provided hours of entertainment for our hay crew, volunteers and visitors here at HART.

This sweet little donkey then moved on to be adopted by the Alpenrose Dairy to live the rest of his life in luxury at their Story Book Lane to be loved and be doted on by hundreds of children and to further his career as the star donkey in their live Nativity Scene exhibit at the dairy.

Thank you very much to Carlton Vet and Dr. Ross Clelland for performing the necessary surgery and thank you to Debbie Arguedas for delivering Felipe' to Alpenrose Dairy.

Two new pathetic arrivals at HART Rescue

HUMMER

This is poor Hummer, he was pulled out of a very unfortunate situation where he was not being fed properly and had very little room to move around.  He is severely emaciated, I rated him at a body score of 2 1/2 and his feet are in horrible condition right now.  Hummer is very sweet and kind and stands at the gate waiting for love and attention.  Hummer is only 4 years old but is wise well beyond his years, I didn't put a tape on him but I am estimating he is just over 17 hands.  I was told that his previous owner and her children used to ride him around the yard.

Hummer will be looking for a new home as soon as he is stabilized and well enough to be moved.  He will need to be placed with someone that has experience with draft horses and is able to teach him proper ground manners.

GYPSY

Gypsy is a medicine hat pinto, she is 5 years old, approximately 14 1/2 hands high.  Gypsy is rated at a body score of 3.  Gypsy was showing some signs of aggression when I inspected her out at the site and I have been told by a person that knows the horse that she has a past of showing food aggression.  She has not been aggressive since she has arrived at HART but she has only been here for one day and I have been just leaving them alone other than petting if they come to the gate.  I am hoping that after she realizes she will no longer need to worry about where her next meal is coming from she will settle down a bit.  Just on her first night here she was standing quietly at the gate enjoying some loving and scratching while completely relaxed.

A neighbor from where these two horses came from has generously offered to pay for 30 days of training with a kind, gentle trainer for Gypsy.  After she has had some time to recover and put on some weight she will be sent to the trainer who will evaluate her aggression issues and hopefully start her under saddle.

If you would like to help with with these horses, HART has a few different ways you can do so:

1.  Come out and volunteer

2.  Donate hay, grain or supplies

3.  Send money to Carlton Vet c/o HART Rescue

4.  Send money via the PayPal link at the top of the page

Bad News for HART

After spending SEVERAL HOURS out at the site I was forced to come to the determination that the horses were not in bad enough shape to justify seizing them at this point.  The horses are for the most part in poor condition and are being kept in deplorable conditions BUT I know that on the day I was there (today) it is not bad enough that we could seize them and win our case in court.  It absolutely breaks my heart that I had to turn my back and walk away from 10 pregnant mares and 5 stallions, I'm completely sick to my stomach about this.

On one hand I wish I had waited to send out my email for help until the horses were here but on the other hand I knew that I needed help to be here TODAY to take are of these horses if I had been able to bring them home. I was confident that the deal was going to go down as the sheriff assured me that the conditions were terrible.  We had a legal warrant but I didn't want to blow our case by seizing these horses and having to give them back to their abusive owners.

We will continue to monitor this case and believe me, the INSTANT I feel we have enough grounds to seize, those horses  WILL BE SEIZED.

I wan to thank Tammy and the girls for all of the time they spent out here today getting the barn ready for this group of horses and Gwen for bringing out grain, alfalfa pellets and wormer.

Help and Foster and Parmanent Homes Needed ASAP

HART Rescue is in urgent need of permanent or foster homes for several horses.  The reason for this sudden need is that I am going out to assist the Sheriff serve a warrant and seize 15 horses that includes 5 stallions that are in horrible conditions and terrible health.   This will put HART way beyond capacity of the facilities and my body.

If you can adopt or foster one of our current resident horses Pokey, Raja, Madeline and Giggles are all wonderful horses and ready to go.  They are all healthy and sound, Pokey is the only one that is broke to ride.  He has had tons of ground work done by a natural horsemanship trainer and about 10 rides where he has done wonderfully, he walks and trots around the arena completely relaxed.  The other three are all very gentle and healthy but only halter broke, they have all been saddled but that is about it.

Minis that need homes are Wolley Bear, Foot Pony and Little Red One.  They are all gentle but a little shy.  I believe I have homes for Rambo and Nemo but I will keep you posted.

After the new 15 arrivals have been triage, documented, evaluated and healthy enough to place we will also need foster homes for them.  They will be wards of the court until the case is settled.  I can give you all of the details at a later date.

Since we are being slammed way beyond capacity with the arrival of these 15 desperate horses HART will be also is in need of good quality hay, alfalfa, grain, stall bedding and especially PANELS as I do not have enough stalls for all of them.  I have placed a PayPal link at the top of my website if you would like to send money.  Be assured that all donations are tax deductible!!!!  You can still send money to Carlton Vet c/o HART Rescue also.

Help of the labor variety is also very much appreciated as these horses are currently in DEPLORABLE conditions.  They are all going to need to be bathed, their feet done, wormed and so on.  I'm thinking that since I don't know what time the warrant will be signed by the judge let's hold off most volunteers until Monday.  I could use some select help later this afternoon and evening to help get the horses settled in, fed and whatnot.  If you have volunteered here in the past when things have been hecktic, know where everything is in the barn and can work without supervision than you would be a good one to come help later today.

Please spread the word HART needs your help, this warrant and seizure are for sure things, these horses will be arriving at HART sometime later this afternoon.