We have a Monastery in WV? Really?

 

Last Wednesday I received a call from a Father (the religious kind!) at a monastery down in Wayne County, WV.  My first reaction was “Monastery?  In WV?  Seriously?”  The mental image that accompanied that consisted of toothless rednecks in patchwork robes riding donkeys, growing pot, drinking moonshine, and making up lewd jokes from the bible.  Sorry, that’s just the way my mind works.  I couldn’t stop it.  

Anyways.  The Father told me about four horses that had been running loose in the area since March and one horse had since died.  He thought the horses had belonged to someone who had committed suicide this past winter.  He had tried the local authorities several times, but no one would return his calls.  What a shocker.

He said the horses were dehydrated and emaciated.  The monks had been feeding them on and off, whenever they came on to the monastery property.  Two of the horses had halters and were very friendly, but the third was skittish and flighty.  They were covered in rain rot and their feet were overgrown. 

Since my quarantine paddock is still filled with studs, there was no way I was going to be able to bring the horses here. So I talked to the director over at Olive Branch and asked if they were interested.  They had rarely rescued starving horses before, but have a few old retired horses that people have surrendered, a beautiful farm with plenty of acreage, a nice barn… and a great little paddock with shelter for quarantine.

The horses arrived Friday evening.  They weren’t as bad as I had thought they’d be, but they’re not great.  The Father had said there were two mares and a gelding, but of course the gelding is really a stallion. 

 

The buckskin stallion is the friendliest one and looks to be about three or four years old.  The vet is coming to examine and castrate on Tuesday and we’ll know more accurate ages then.  I gave this guy a bath today and he was totally cool with it, like he’d been bathed many times before.  I named him Tristan.  You’re welcome, Brad Pitt.

 

This is the younger mare, I’d say around 6 years old.  She was the hardest one to catch, but is okay once you’ve got her as long as you don’t make any fast moves.  Her bath didn’t go very well and I stopped when she was comfortable with the water on her legs and chest.  She doesn’t have rain rot, so I’ll take my time with getting her used to the hose. 

 

She was really difficult to catch for worming and again for feeding this morning.  Luckily, we had her in the barn, but she still had enough room to get away from me.  After her bathing attempt later, I let her eat some grass and plied her with cookie after cookie.  When I fed this evening she walked right up to me and wouldn’t leave me alone after that.  Some people don’t like cookies, but I’m telling you right now… cookies make the world go round with these rescued horses.  We named her Breezy.

This is the older mare, I’m guessing between 10 and 12 years.  She’s friendly enough as long as you don’t make any fast moves around her.

 

There were three teenaged girls volunteering at the Olive Branch today and they named this mare Wendy.  She wasn’t so confident about a bath at first, but with slow moves and patience, I got her done.  She seems like she’ll be an incredibly sweet mare eventually, but for now she’s just wondering where she is, what’s going on, and when is dinner?

Olive Branch could use some help bringing these horses back to health so please consider a donation!  Any amount will help and they are a 501(c)3 charity!