My Horses and Donkeys

[DogwoodValley]

Since I am really more of an equine person than a chicken person (the chickens find ME!) I thought I'd share some of my horse and donkey photos.

I run a rescue in northwest GA and there are 37 horses and donkeys here now. Some of those are boarders, however, so not all are mine.

I have many photos at www.dogwoodvalleyfarm.net and http://flickr.com/photos/dogwoodvalley

Oh, lastly, Faith is my rescued mammoth donkey and a very dear friend. She is worthy of her own website which is http://faiththedonkey.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html

That is the start of her blog, a whole year ago. You have to click the dates to the right to get up to the present. Thanks for looking!

 

[Chelly]

WOW - thats all I can say 37!!!

I get so sad when I see horses that are skinny from neglect.

I have just one special little girl, she was neglected in the past and has scaring on her face from flies, and her one leg has scars from what seems to be barbed wire or something.. AND she is only 10 years old!

I'm just learning about horses again, I used to ride when I was a teen, and decided in my 30's that I REALLY wanted to have that dream of owning my own horse....
So now I have Rosie, she's a Peruvian Paso with a touch of spice, but she loves me!

(i've got treats!)

I just did my first SOLO bareback ride today on her, I've ridden bareback on her only twice before, with my trainer in the round pen with me - so I'm VERY proud of myself today! And my sweet girl Rosie was SO good for me.... I even popped my kids up for a little walk around the arena!

 

[DogwoodValley]

That is wonderful that you were able to give her a wonderful home and in return she gets to be a safe mount. The horses who are given a second chance really tend to try hard for the owners who save them.

We have a Paso up for adoption named Rosa!

She was set to be put to sleep. She'd been stalled 24/7 for a long time and became dangerous to handle. She bucked every time she was mounted. Now she rides as sane as a deadbroke trail horse. It usually only takes patience and love with these guys to bring them around.

Any photos of your girl?

 

[Judymae]

Faith has won my heart!!! I have a stunted mare that is now 3. We bought her just over a year ago and was told she was a yearling. She was so starved you could see every bone in her body. When we got her home and read her papers we found out she was almost 2! I bought her because I didn't want to see her starve anymore. I knew it would take the SPCA too long to get out and check on her so I offered the owner some money and ran with her. She is so fat and sassy now. At only 13 hands she is still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. We haven't broke her yet. Need to get it done. I was waiting to make sure she would get healthy. When we got her she didn't even know what grain was. I had to put it in her mouth and hold her lips closed. She must have been on pasture (a bare one at that) her whole life. I also have a donkey. He is my favorite pet! If I have to walk a dog in the middle of the nite Mr. Donkey can hear me open the door and starts calling to me. Not stubborn or mean like everyone said he would be. But he's also been cut!

 

[chickbea]

Ooh - I'm so glad you posted pictures for us! I've been looking at donkey pics for the last hour! Cute!
Currently I caretake four horses who have been lucky to never have had a bad experience in their lives. As a kid, however, we had an old thoroughbred who had been through every unfortunate experience you could imagine, and probably some we couldn't. He came out of the low-level claiming ranks on the track in the late 60's, all four knees and ankles swollen to an amazing size. From there he went to the steeplechase circuit for a few years. He then had a few mystery years where no one seemed to know where he was. Eventually he was picked up as a rental horse, where he was sent out to camps and roadside trail ride set-ups. This is where he was when we finally came across him, and he was the sorriest looking thing you could imagine - 17.1 hands of bone and vermin-ridden skin, and with a huge open sore on his withers. He had the most calloused mouth of any horse I have ever seen - lord knows how many idiots he had hauling away on him over the years and with what types of bits.
Needless to say, I absolutely fell in love with him, and we had many years of riding and showing together. We managed to heal the withers, bring his weight up and get his coat in beautiful shape, but those terrible legs...not much could be done with them. Although he adored jumping and begged for it, we had to hold him back.

Anyway, it constantly amazed me how willing he was to give people another chance, despite what he had been through. As long as you respected his 3 idiosyncrasies (sp?), he would have died for you. They were: 1) He always had to be first on a trail ride; 2) He could never be tied (luckily he ground-tied reliably!); 3) He wouldn't allow a crop within ten feet of him (can you blame him after all the fools he dealt with in his life?).
Bless you for the work you do - I can remember all the heartbreaking little moments - the shying away when I came near with a rake or shovel, the startled fear at a loud voice, the quivering the first few times I came near with a halter. You just don't even want to think what people may have done to their souls to make them so frightened.

 

[justduckie]

Oh, I love horses and I love my horses too! We have 7. My 15 yr. old son uses his to pick up girls! It's really kind of funny. He had a friend over yesterday (a girl) and they went riding for half the day.

Your mammoth donkey is such a sweety. I hope her hooves are getting better, I read a lot of the blog and I was amazed at the x-rays. It hurts to watch an animal be in that much pain.

Where in GA are you? My DD lives in Smyrna and I will be flying there next week. She recently gave birth to twins and they were 6 weeks early, so I'm on my way to help when they get home. AND help with my older grandson (4 yrs. old).

While my chickens are my new hobby, my horses will always be my favorite. I love the way they smell...........

My son on his paint - Bandit

 

[Mulemom]

Ok....I have to figure out how to post pictures.

We have a horse (my husband's ride) and two mules (my daughter's and my ride).

I've had my big saddle mule, Romeo, since he was three and I pulled him out of the pasture with his momma when I bought him, so I'm about the most traumatic thing that's happened to him.

My daughter's little white saddle mule, Cotton aka "Dirty White Boy", was my husbands pack mule when we met. He bought him for a companion for his gelding, Buck. Cotton was skittish, and shy. He was hard to catch, hard to touch. He would hardly even take a carrot from you. My daughter, Caleah, was 5 at time we met, and she and Cotton just looked at each other and decided they belonged together. She would go out and spend time just hanging out with him. In no time, she could hand feed him all day long, she would sit on the fence and he would lay his big head in her lap and she would scratch the ears that no one could touch. She would sing and dance for him, and he got used to all her noise and movement, but he is always slow and calm around her. He had packed before, but never ridden, so we sent him to a trainer who draged a dummy around on him for 30 days, and then Caleah had her saddle mule!

He is amazing with her. He loves his job. He is so carefull with her. We have ponied her on him for a couple of years now, and I at the end of last fall, I put a headstall on him and rode him out the back of our property. He did great! He's no reining mule, but I could steer him and stop him, and that's about all I need right now. My husband is buildingus a round pen so the two of them can start working together.

We belong to a black powder shooting club and we take the boys out there with us. I lead him around with two or three kids on him while the shooting is going on, he doesn't even flinch. My husband says he is the best $700 he ever spent!

 

[Mulemom]

got this picture thing figured out...
Here is Caleah and her boy, Cotton at a historical reenactment event.

Here she is just keeping him company while he eats.

 

[chickbea]

Mulemom - adorable!

 

[Chelly]

Here is my Rosie..... You can't see her mane, but it comes down to her shoulder - I normally keep it braided.
You can see the scars on her face from previous neglect - the hair won't grow there, and she has issues with her eye's now - her eye lids don't keep the liquid in, so they constantly run down her face like she is crying...