Who won the rescue war??

"Who won the rescue war?" That's what my daughter asked while we were driving to school the other day . The night before she was reading over my shoulder about yet another rescue dispute made public . Without even really thinking I responded " no horses that's for sure. " I thought about her question over and over on the drive to work. While disputes are bound to happen between any business it sure seems like a lot of these disputes break out between animal rescues and in particular horse rescues or between their supporters. People from both sides spend hours even days and weeks trying to beat the other down or talk their side up. All the time and energy spent makes no sense to most sideline observers when they see two or more groups on the same side with the same goals embattled in an online war. Why is so much time and energy wasted on these arguments ? I think it has to do with competition for donors to support a particular group , as they are businesses , naturally there will always be a bit of competition. I hope most of it has to do with passion as well. Passion to help animals is a great quality but what you do with that passion is the tricky bit. You can stay up late fighting online , let your chores go while you make your point to the other rescue's side, or you could harness that passion and do something positive that actually helps horses. The horses would greatly appreciate the last option. A non-profit organization is not owned by anyone. There is no owner who can do whatever they want , it is not a private business The very reason chairties are exempt from tax is because they are doing a public service. That is not to say a non-profit cannot make a profit. They can . They have to in order to keep going unless the founders and board members cover it themselves they rely on donations. There is no federal funding or goverment money pouring in as some people think . You as a donor are in charge Nobody not even the founder has a guaranteed position with a charity. If you feel a rescue or any charity for that matter is not living up to their mission statement , acting as for profit business instead of a public service not removing bad board members or misappropriating donations you should express those concerns to the Board of Directors. In order to keep you, the donor or adopter happy the Board of Directors would be wise to listen to your complaints. They are your employees in a sense. If they don't want to change or remove Board members that are causing problems , don't allow the public to have any say on policies than they aren't really a public service and its time to move on. Find a group that listens or is more aligned with your goals or heres another option..... If you still have all that passion , time and energy and want a place to harnass it and do something good with it. Hey, give us a call. We welcome passionate horse lovers. We want you on our steering committee , on our projects committees and on our Board of Directors.We want to hear your ideas for programs and ways to help Love to help horses but can't stand something we do? Tell us about it or better yet change it with us. Don't just offer advice like ;you should do more gelding clinics. Get out there and talk to your vet about it and help us get one in your area help us find facilities. Want to start a youth group for horses and kids? Us too, but we need people to help. Want to start your own rescue, cool It's highly suggested you have experience before jumping into any business What better way to learn the ropes than to be on a committe or board member of a rescue first? Not in the area? There are horses everywhere that need a foster home and tons of opportunities to help online. We know a lot of people have time to go online we've seen the various discussions about rescue, slaughter, wild horses, etc that go on for months and do not help a single horse. There is plenty of room for anyone on our team , no matter if you have never owned a horse or have 50 . We don't care if you ride English or Western or only like horses as lawn art as long as you like helping animals you're welcome. There are so many ways to help horses that don't involve direct rescue and rehome, although we welcome people that want to help with that aspect as well. There are thousands of horses in need and they need thousands of passionate people to help. We need you , they need you. It takes a tiny bit of your time, probably less than you spend a week reading Facebook and certainly more rewarding for you and the animals. :) Email Help@backinthesaddleproject.com and join the BITS team let's help the horses the right way instead of talking about it !

Neglected Orland Herd

If you have been following us on facebook you are well aware of the situation in Orland involving 80 horses . The horses are being removed from the property as quickly as possible and need homes asap so more horses can be saved.
Please join us on facebook for the latest information and photos of the horses. We are accepting donations for feed vet and farrier care for these horses.
If you can help email us at bitsproject@ymail.com  donate through paypal.com to the same email address or call 530 513 7348
We love how the horse community is helping this herd and we need more to join the effort.

Pro vs Anti Slaughter is that all horse people can talk about?

Its been a long time since we posted on the blog. Busy busy busy

Pro slaughter vs Anti slaughter . These discussions always end in the same name calling, statistics quoted but no real solution . There are still horses going to slaughter 130,000 from the US in 2011 up from the year before. No matter how you feel about it its a business and it is based on supply and demand. Even with that high of a number being slaughter there are over 200,000 horses that are in

 rescues that are not being absorbed into the population as the animals welfare/rights groups promised. If you save a horse from slaughter it does make a difference to you and that horse but another horse or horses went in its place , the number would depend on how much money went to the kill buyer Supply and demand. There has always been neglect and even if slaughter came back there are still people who will not sell or send their horse to slaughter , some would let them starve first and will never enter the slaughter pipeline .The things most of us agree on are that there are too many horses circling the drain . There are too many horses that do not meet the criteria people are looking for and too many horses for homes. We know where babies come from . The time, energy and money spent on killbuyers, lobbyists, posters , rescues or directly to the head organizations of whichever side you support could have gone to a DVM to geld , a trainer to give them skills to make them valuable or to a horse owner that just needed a couple of bales to keep the horse they wanted. Being proactive to help horses from circling the drain would have prevented a lot of the problems we see now. Can we put aside our political differences and help the horses or is it just a lost cause ?

Did you ever meet someone and wish you hadn't?

That's how I feel about the guy who was going to shoot this horse.  When the owner emailed me that if she didn't move her horse by Monday he would be shot by the property owner I thought it must be an empty threat. When she gave me the address I felt absolutely sick to my stomach.
I used to board right next door and the trails were fantastic but in order to get to the trail you had to ride past this one house. The path was not on his property but it didn't stop him from putting up wire lines right at rider height to try to keep people from riding by or maybe to purposely hurt people .  Clotheslining someone is not legal by the way and it's down right nasty and dangerous. The first time I saw the line I had just rounded a corner on a young colt at a canter . It was dusk and I barely saw it in time. Literally I stopped inches from it. I came straight back and took a bolt cutter to it and let's just say " he and I met". It went back up, I cut it down . Again, this was not on his property it's about 20 ft before his property line in an area where people have been riding for years and he built his house there recently.  I called the police , who I believe had it removed again. It kept on like this for months I moved so I don't know if it continued after I left but I do know a girl who got knocked off her pony from it. Luckily she was not seriously hurt or worse.
He now boards horses at his house ?? Bizarre world.
We planned on Monday afternoon because we wanted to make sure it was at least 90 degrees so I could really enjoy the long drive with no air conditioner.  UGH, why do they work fine when you don't really need them?
I pulled up and saw the man outside. I was really prepared for another round of words with him but he just went inside. Whew, very glad of that because my tolerance for jerks is directly impacted by the temperature . The owner went to go get the horse and when she brought him out of his pen she said" last two times it took 6 people 7 hours to load him"
Oh great! I saw she was having trouble with the odd contraption of a gate and offered to hold the horse. He was a little wound up but not too bad we walked over to the trailer . He did not load right up unfortunatly and did not care if there was hay , carrots or nice treats in the trailer. Happily it didnt take 6 people7 hours but about ten minutes just the two of us , one long line and a little tapping on the butt.
So he is Eddie a 6 year old Andulusian  that was broke and then turned out for two years. The new owner of 2 months has been lounging him but has not tried to ride him.
So that's how he got here, why I think he really would have been shot and who he is.

Hello Peyton !

Peyton is a  Quarter Horse/ Arabian/ Thoroughbred/ Mustang mix . They said his story is that he was a bottle fed orphan who has figured out how to buffalo people and can be pushy .
He is apparently not over the traumatic childhood?
 Well, Payton you are now three years old and the label orphan just doesn't cut it anymore , just like everyone else you are going to have to get over it.  You are no longer a rescue horse so that isn't your ace in the hole either.

They said he knows the 7 Games (TM ) but I have a couple more for him.
1. Red light Green light=. I stop , you stop , I go , you go.  No tailgaiting or bumper cars and I will not play Tug O War and drag you by the face  , you have 4 legs you can keep up with me

2. Follow the leader , my way= You can't walk directly behind me , I can't see what you're doing and don't want to get run over when you jump at the boogey man behind you.

3.Mother May I = You walk , trot , canter and whoa when I say and you don't get to change until I say.

4 Freeze Tag= Whoa , means whoa it does not mean slowly creep up or eat or any other fidgety things
Really simple games and we both win . I don't get hurt and end up in the hospital unable to do the chores or pay for your feed and care.  You will be treated kindly but like the horse you are.
Sounds fair right ?
Game on !

The foals meet Mr Halter.

There is nothing cute about a foal you cannot handle, give medicine or hoofcare to . In fact it's just dangerous . So today the foals had their first lessons about the halter and leadrope. I have to wait until they are in the stall and shut them in , eventually I'm hoping they are more approachable in the pasture but the mom's are nervous and they follow mom.  The filly did great without any issues at all. The colt had a little tantrum about being touched and mom pacing outside and whinnying didn't help. Once she had some hay she settled down. After that he did great! He even got led around outside of the stall and eventually he even let me lead him away from mom  without pitching a fit. I feel much better knowing that if they need medical help at least I can lead and hold them without any "high ho silvers". They even learned it's ok for me to hold their feet up, this will come in handy real soon because their hooves need a trim badly.

More pictures of the halter lesson on http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150224373919758.328743.161382019757&l=b78764d054

What happens to those cute foals all over the country?

These horses are a prime example of why we want to bring awareness to over breeding and offer the low cost gelding clinics.

The mothers and foals were 2 out of 4 that were on the way to slaughter. A feedlot is no place for a foal, ever, so we offered to rehab them until homes could be found. Shipwrecked Farms will be taking one of the pairs .

I don't know who bred these horses but their hooves don't look like they have ever been touched. Their tails are a solid mass of matted hair which gives them a good thump just from trying to swat a fly. The feedlot said the larger mare leads but she will not let anyone touch her yet. She has a large scar that appears to have been left on its own to heal. The younger mother is only a 3 year old filly herself, meaning she  was bred at 2 years old. Her filly was a week old when it was sold for slaughter. A feedlot is a rough place for a big horse and this filly shows she has been pretty beat up. She has missing patches of hair and scrapes all over her face , body and all four legs are bald from the hoof to the pastern. Her mother was so stressed at the feedlot that she was refusing to nurse her. The cruelty to an innocent animal and her newborn is beyond fathom.
The old owner managed to make sure they had a brand on their hips though. Whoever it was should be ashamed to be connected to the neglect these animals are showing.  People can claim their rights to own horses and consider them livestock but a real breeder or rancher would have tried to put some effort into caring for them to keep his stock alive and healthy. Even cattle raised for slaughter get more care than this.
I am disgusted by this breeder and all the others like this.  All I can do is try to make the rest of their futures a little brighter by getting them healthy again and putting some effort into their handling.
It won't make up for what they went through but hopefully it will keep them from going through it again.
If anyone can donate to help it would be greatly appreciated and used on the horses. If you can't donate please share our website or facebook to get the word out about overbreeding and the importance of gelding clinics for those who need an incentive or help getting it done. We do not need more foals ending up neglected or heading to slaughter.
Together we can all help
paypal address is info@backinthesaddleproject.com

Thank you
Enjoy reading about their progress on our facebook - Back In The Saddle Project
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150218586784758&set=a.10150218585429758.326813.161382019757&type=1#!/pages/Back-in-the-Saddle-Project/161382019757

36 New Geldings !!!

The gelding clinics went great! We somehow picked a small gap in the rain and wind this week and actually had pretty good weather and even some sun.
I'll spare you the close up pictures of the surgeries but we got some great shots if anyone is interested email me.
 The first clinic was held at Epona Farms in Galt. Kelly and I arrived in the dark  to set everything up. There were already 10 horses who had been brought in the day before . We cannot thank Catriona at  Epona Farms enough for her generosity in letting owners bring horses in so they didnt have to take the day off work . The vets and UC Davis students arrived in their bus. Some fugly blog readers may remember my suggestion to get a bus to go around gelding horses, well Dr Eric Davis really has the Gelding Bus!

The students got right to work unloading equiptment and Dr Davis started right in on the surgeries.

They made sure each horse was comfortable and even put pillows under their heads



This is where the bad kids had to go stand . I think the guys were just getting a little uncomfortable with all the women and castrations going on , they seemed to get further and further away



We had a great group of owners and friends of owners at the clinic. Thank you to Michelle and her crew for helping set up and  making sure everyone had coffee and food . Here she is with her boy Charger as he is starting to feel the sedatives.

This pretty pony was quite a character. He looks like he knows whats coming doesn't he?

 Grumpy is trying to get his bearings after waking up , he was so small we all thought the stall was empty when we first walked by.

The students were so nice and so professional , it was a pleasure meeting them and watching them work.

Everyone had a good time even this guy was smiling

Little Celebration

To Steve who keeps emailing about Smutty, I emailed back check your spam folder maybe?
Anyway, the latest on Smutty.
Today, I'm super excited Smutty finally stood still for mounting .
A big Wahoooo!
We stopped at that point , one because he finally got it  and two because it was pitch dark outside.
He is such a good boy I can't imagine what he went through that he is so worried about us people, but he's come so far already that I'm really proud of him.
I wish I would have remembered to bring extra batteries for the camera.
 He looks so good all tacked up.

How's Judge?

 A few comments on the blog were asking for more information on Judge.  I can give you a little more information about how he is now but  sadly we don't know anything about his past.
The comments suggested he is a Saddlebred or National Show Horse.
Just a little update on how he is coming along.
He now lets me pick up all four feet consistently and holds them up like a good boy , which is great because he is due for a trim.
He has gained quite a bit of weight , you can no longer see those ribs. Yeah!!!
He will let me put a saddle pad on and off without any fuss. Bends his head down to put the halter on and has never been hard to catch , he enjoys the attention and really likes his ears and neck being fussed with.
He stands tied, does fine being led around and is getting really good at whoa and back while on a a lead. He's coming along really nicely , once he puts on a little more weight we can start working more on getting him in better condition and put some muscles on those spider legs
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Here comes "The Judge"

This is Judge he is a 3 year old , a soon to be gelded 3 year old.
Judge is super leggy  really big boned and tall already and will probably end up just around 16 hands   . He is halter broke and is easy to work with so far. Right now Judge is just hanging out trying to put on enough weight to be healthy enough for castration. Poor guy was dumped at a feedlot by a "rescue"  that was closing it's doors. He is really underweight but has a good appetite and is starting to gain a little already, he will be looking good in no time.

The Judge

That mane will soon be getting some much needed attention , that is one shaggy mess right now

I guess the more obvious name would have been Mickey 

Look at those long legs!

All legs 

11/6 Gelding Clinic More Geldings/ Less Breeding!

The weather on Saturday cooperated and we had a beautiful sunny day for the Operation Gelding Clinic. ( Blogger has not been so cooperative and this post was delayed a little while ). BITS has now gelded 33 horses through our clinics.

 Which means 33 horses will not be breeding and adding to the excess horse problem Considering how many horses these 33 could have helped produce if they were left as stallions, this one day clinic has made a serious dent in the  horse population. We believe these clinics are the most important and long lasting change we can make to help the future of horses.

The vets and students got right to work getting everything ready

Three little minis came in for the clinic from Oakdale Rescue, one was
running a fever and had to skip surgery. No worries, Lori from Oakdale Rescue said he is feeling much better now.

This little mini got gelded

This little mini had a high fever but did get lots of attention and vet care.

This little mini had fun.... until it was his turn

We think he was trying to make a break for it under the door

But look he is still smiling . The picture wasn't edited by the camera crew on CSI, the sun just happened to provide a little privacy to his private area.

Newlyweds Dr Jennifer Mather and her husband Jim get Chance ready
for his gelding surgery.


Chance also had some very swollen eyes which Dr Mather flushed out.

He is a really nice looking guy and makes an even prettier gelding

Tank gets a pep talk from Becca before his turn.
Becca and her friend Kim were great helpers during the clinic

Taking advantage of the sleeping horses wolf teeth were removed. 

Mickey's owner was really glad these pointy teeth were removed

NEXT!

Mocha and Mom Tara
Mocha was born on a feedlot . Cheryl took Mocha and his mom Tara into her rescue the Shiloh Horse Foundation
They are two great looking horses if anyone is looking please contact Cheryl at Shiloh Horse Foundation

Mocha had his human mom Cheryl and horse mom Tara to comfort him.


 All the surgeries went well and everybody was back on their feet and ready to go home in just a few hours.




We are extremely thankful to Cheryl of Shiloh for letting us use her wonderful barn again
 We are all extremely thankful for Dr Jennifer Jeske, Dr Jennifer Mather and husband Jim and all the hard working volunteer students. We could not do these clinics without them. It was a really great watching them work. The vets were fantastic mentors  and the students were so confident, talented and knowledgeable.  Watching them work you realize they are doing exactly what they must have been meant to do and the animals and owners are lucky to have them..