Horses We Have Helped

Horses We Have Helped

Sarah Beth, Cheyenne, and Annie

Please see Cheyenne and Annie's stories and information on the In Memory page. All their pictures have been moved there due to their crossing of the Rainbow Bridge. You can also find poems about Sarah Beth, Cheyenne (Cheyenne Poem 2), and Annie. Just click on their names.

Run free Miss Annie and Cheyenne. May you enjoy all that life on the other side gives!

Help Me Find Sarah Beth!
Sarah Beth is missing. I entrusted Sarah Beth to what I truly believed was a good rescue. This rescue promised her sanctuary at the rescue with the option of her returning to me if the time came that I was able to take her back. At the time I didn't think that would happen and was happy to see that Sarah Beth was bonding with the oldest daughter of the rescue owners. I was assured that she would stay with her forever. I visited when I could and asked for updated pictures. I was in talks with the rescue when a disagreement occurred. I continued to plead for the rescue to allow Sarah Beth to come here as they were facing family and financial crisis. I kept being assured that all was fine. Unfortunately this was not the case. I was contacted by several people about the conditions of the horses at this rescue and pictures began to be sent to me of horses in extremely emaciated condition. The local sheriff's department was contacted and an investigation was begun. Several horses were removed from the property, but no charges were ever brought. Unfortunately no one knows what happened to Sarah Beth. The rescues that removed horses saw no sign of her at the rescue although they did document some DEAD and missing horses. The initial rescue claims that Sarah Beth was adopted to a person named Jacob in Atkinson, NE. Please help me look for Sarah Beth. I just want to know that she is okay. I live in fear that she will end up in the same situation that we saved her from...at auction and at risk for slaughter. I want to assure her current owner that I do not intend to take away their horse! I just want them to know if anything ever happens and they no longer can care for her (it happens a lot in this economy!) or if they no longer want her for any reason, she will always have a place to come to! I would move Heaven and Earth for this little girl. Please if you have seen Sarah Beth, email me at missys.hope@gmail.com

Meet Sarah Beth. This is the way we saw her for the first time at the auction. Note the nasty chain noseband on the halter. I purchased Sarah Beth for $10.

Update: 6 Nov 2007: We have recently learned that Sarah Beth is approximately 5 years old based on her teeth presentation. She is doing well at the rescue and is getting special attention from Lynn's daughter Sam. Sarah Beth is understandably scared and needs extra love. Thank you Sam for working so hard to show her that humans can be wonderful!

Here is the story of how I met this amazing mare and her friends.

On the 13 of Oct, I mosied up to Oneill, Nebraska...my goal a horse auction. My mission, to act as moral support for Lynn Schmale (of Phoenix Rising Horse Rescue) and Jana (a rescue volunteer) and to help with the loading and unloading of horses. Okay so really my job was to be there and to enjoy a day away from my kids and hubby while also working as a volunteer to help save some horses from the meatman.

This is probably a good place to mention my restrictions for going to the auction. The only one I had was from my husband and it was this...Absolutely no buying anything!!!!! This would be the reason that my husband (keep in mind that I didn't even have a trailer of my own there) only sent me with $13 in cash and an empty bank account. He seemed to think that with that amount of money I would be able to stay out of trouble. lol. I spent $2.25 on lunch because I was too nervous to eat before the auction and I had a feeling that I would need every penny that I had.

So on to the auction report. I am guessing that between 200-250 head of horses went through the ring yesterday. Sadly I estimate that 16 went to the one killbuyer that we were able to pinpoint. I suspect that there was one more, but he also worked at the auction house helping the auctioneer see the bids (what do you call those guys? lol). You might ask how I know for sure that the one guy was a kill buyer, well the fact is that I was sitting directly behind him. I watched as he made a list of horses on his auction card that was labled Mexico. He also had a list of prices based on weight that showed what the Mexican slaughterhouse had authorized him to bid on the horses. It was one of the toughest seats that I have ever maintained. If that man couldn't feel the abhorance that I was directing at him the whole time, then I suspect that he has no feelings at all. Needless to say, it was all I could do to keep myself from knocking all his teeth out. That is right, I am a bit of a savage and I also have 9 years of Taekwondo to back it up. lol I did have a bit of a laugh when he realized that the scale was not on and that he was going to have to guess the weights of the horses. He looked pretty frustrated at that. I learned from my Uncle in law(lol...tried to think of a short way to say my husband's uncle!) today that the scale there is broken and that the owner hasn't been able to afford to replace it yet. lol

So prices for the horses were very low. The highest bid on a horse (a well broke ranch gelding with excellent AQHA bloodlines and just out of the cattle pen) was $1500. The owner no saled him. The next highest was a mare with Topsail Cody and Leo bloodlines (for those of you who don't know, these are my mare's bloodlines. I would estimate that this mare at the right place in front of buyers that knew squat about the AQHA Legend's books would have gone for over $4000) went for $1025. Another similar mare (with very similar bloodlines) went for $650. A three year old Belgian stallion (broke to ride and drive) went for $160!!! His mare (broke to ride and drive) from the same farm did slightly better at $335. I suspect that the stallion would have gone for a higher price, but his mare was in heat and he kept challenging any male horse gelded or not that went past their adjoining pens. I think it was a bit unnerving for most of the people who went to look at him. lol

So you might ask...what was the lowest price? Well, that would be the lowest price EVER paid for a horse at the Oneill Auction house. A whopping $5!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the proud bidder of that price? ME!!!!!!! That's right. I broke the rules and bought a probably pregnant, grulla mare for that small sum. The second lowest price of the night? $10!!!!!!!!! And the winning bidder? ME!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah, I am in deep trouble with my hubby. lol Not only did I buy one horse, but two. (By the way the extra $5 dollars came from Jana...you are all sworn to secrecy because her husband doesn't know that...as soon as Curt gets paid and he forgets and gives me money, I will pay her back! lol) Both of whom are skin and bones, possibly pregnant, laughed at as they walked into the arena, and shunned by even the kill buyer!!!!!!!!! If I had been thinking instead of reacting when the $10 mare came in the ring, I probably could have got her for $5 too. No one else would even bid, or look at her...they were too busy laughing at her. The gentleman in front of me said, well I hope you will give her a good home (this was just before the kill buyer ended up sitting there) And I told him that she would be well taken care of. He said that he hoped I knew what I was getting into, that it would be almost impossible to bring her back. I told him that I had seen worse and helped with one that was getting close to that...his reply...well they were probably younger. To his surprise I told him that it was a 20 yr old gelding with Cushings...he turned and stared at me in astonishment and I politely said, I'm in horse rescue. He shut up after that!  lol

Cheyenne was very frightened when we went to load her on the trailer. She started to try to go back down the alley and I spread my arms out and stopped her. At that moment I found out what a special mare we had bought for $5. What she did will stay with me no matter what happens to me in life. She simply walked up to me and placed her head against my stomach. She stood there leaning against me with this air of resignation, scared, and weary. I rubbed her head and ears telling her that everything would be okay. I tried out my minimal skills at animal communication and tried to send her mental pics of sunshine and green grass. Her sleek and shiny in a field with other horses. And of Lynn's daughters very carefully brushing her and loving on her. She tipped her head back just a bit and looked into my eyes, then with slight pressure, I put my hand on her neck and turned her toward the trailer. She went over with great dignity and carefully got in.

In all we were able to save 3 mares (all with a certain amount of troubles...the third is limping slightly on one leg, but we think it may be minor and will go away in time with the correct care), 1 jack donkey (Harriet Pearl, Lynn's personal donkey, now has a friend!!!), and four weanlings (one is a gorgeous leopard appaloosa and the others are adorable little bays!).

So now we come to my begging for help.

Because I would like to stay married (LOL), and Lynn would like to see that too, she has agreed to take the horses into her rescue as sanctuary horses. Don't tell my irritated hubby, but when we buy our own place and are better off financially, they will be coming to live with us, if they are able to survive the neglect that they suffered at the hands of their previous owners. This arrangement with Lynn will be putting her in a tight situation this winter. She had already agreed to take in the 4 horses in SW Nebraska for me (she still will). That is once we have the funds raised to purchase them from the owner and to get hay lined up for them for this winter.

Cheyenne is the grulla mare that I bought for $5. She has an old injury to her front leg that makes her limp (the bone looks to be fused and she is unable to straighten it). She walks on it fine other than the limp and doesn't seem to be in any pain, I am hoping that a good trim will help with this problem. Her feet don't look like they have been done in quite a while, so her limp was more pronounced (she walks like my mare did before her trim and the trim did an amazing job for her!).

Jasmine (name pending...I just thought of it and haven't told Lynn about it yet...her daughter's may have come up with another name since last night...I asked them to think about it. lol Update as of Nov 6th: Now named Sarah Beth!): Is the $10 mare. She is white and has a very soft eye. She is a bit more wary than Cheyenne. She has a large tumor (it looks like a tumor, but may be proud flesh from an old injury) on her hind leg. It isn't causing her any pain and she walks perfectly on it. She was a bit frisky last night in spite of how neglected she is.

Update: (21 October 2007)

Since I wrote the detailed account of how I met Jasmine (renamed Sarah Beth by Lynn's daughter who is working with her...after the Rascal Flatts song "Skin" about the teenage girl with cancer), there have been some new developments.
Sarah Beth is taking some time to get to know. She is a bit shy because of all the things that she has faced in her life. Lynn's daughter has been making a special effort to get to know her and to earn her trust. Sarah Beth has a large, weeping tumor on her hind leg that we noticed at the auction and was probably the main factor no one wanted to buy her. The good news is that the tumor seems to be going down in size and drying up. She also has a scabbed area on her side right at the juncture of her barrel and her hip. We are hoping that with time, the correct care, and a lot of patience, she will come around to the loving, sweet mare that we see inside of her. We believe that she is also pregnant.

Here is Sarah Beth's leg at the auction.            And a beautiful picture of Sarah Beth's face.

Updates: (6 November 2007)

The good news is that we now know approximately what age for sweet, scared Sarah Beth. She is only 5 years old!!!!! She has a chance now to grow old with a family that loves her!!! Where she will never know hunger or pain. And once she is completely well and back in shape, she may find an adoptive family that will make her a part of their forever family. When we first saw her, we thought that she was older and with the tumor, would be a sanctuary horse at the rescue. Now we know that with love, kindness, patience, and care, this girl has a full life ahead of her. Someday if the right family comes along (or I can convince my hubby to let me bring her home) she will have the opportunity to find her forever home.
These pictures were all taken around the 5th of Nov 2007.

Here is Sarah Beth. Sarah Beth's leg is looking better. The tumor/proud flesh is decreasing in size and part of it looks like it is about to come off (it is dried out). Hopefully with continued treatment and love, she will be healed up in no time!

Update 22 Feb 2008:
Sarah Beth is doing wonderful at the rescue. She is such a sweet mare and is falling in love with Sam (The rescue owner's daughter). She will take treats and allow Sam to visit with her. She is really starting to trust the touch of humans thanks to all of Sam's patience and understanding.

Here are a few updated pictures of Sarah Beth. In the pictures you can see Sam with her! It has been a wet and muddy winter so far here in Nebraska, so please excuse Sarah Beth's appearance. Hopefully Sam will have her trusting enough this spring to get what could very well be her first bath.



Sarah Beth has also began making friends with the other horses at the rescue. Right now her favorite seems to be Sahara. Here is a picture of the two of them together.

Sarah Beth recently had a second proud flesh tumor removal. She did very well after the removal and seemed to perk up quite a bit afterwards. She was trotting the fence line and calling the recently gelded colts (they were gelded just prior to Sarah Beth's tumor removal.).
Here are some before and after pictures.

Immediately after removal.



Two weeks after the removal:



You can see the pink flesh which indicates healing of the area. This is the first time it has shown that since the original removal!

Sarah Beth was also found to have blood warts in a few areas. Here are a few pictures of them.





Thank You:

Sarah Beth would like to say thank you to those that have donated to help her and her friends who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge. She appreciates it very much!

Thank you Rosalie for the offer of a blanket and several other items for Cheyenne and Sarah Beth!

Thank you everyone who is waiting for the feed store information in order to donate for these girls

We got an awesome donation of $20 for Cheyenne today!!! Thank you…forgot to ask Lynn who it was from! Lol
We have a lady from the Alex Brown Forum that is donating two blankets to the mares!!! Yeah!!! Thank you!!! This donation means that we have all the winter blankets that we will need for these mares.   :)
Thank you to Trish for the $5 donation for Cheyenne's sling!!!!!

Thank you to Jennifer for the $26 donation for Cheyenne!!!!

Thank you to Ginny for being the winning bidder on our auction and donating $40 to the girls' care!!!

Thank you to Eva for the donation of feed through my store for Cheyenne.

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