I figured we could all use a little cuteness after looking at those Fairmont pictures yesterday. I took these the day after Baby #4 was born when I first let them out with the rest of the herd. Riley wanted nothing more than to play, but baby thought Riley had cooties. She’s probably right.
Every time I look at the new baby out with the herd, I think “one of these things is not like the others…” I don’t think her adopter has come up with a name for her yet, so I’ve been calling her Sienna.
An anonymous person sent me some pictures from the Fairmont hellhole that I’ve been sitting on for awhile now. It’s over, it’s done with, is there really a need to show you the pictures? This is what I’ve been debating with myself. Do I, or don’t I? What would be the point?
The pictures are difficult to look at. There are many pictures of dead cows, horses, and donkeys. Pictures of starving cattle. A picture of a decapitated cow. Pictures of horses and cows that are now healthy and safe, and pictures of cows that we were unable to save. Pictures that will haunt my sleep for months to come.
I finally came to the decision that I won’t be posting the pictures here on the blog. However, I do think the pictures can be of some use. The more people who realize how bad the situation was, the less likely this asshat will be to get the animals back. I’m leaving it up to you… if you think you can handle them, click here.
If you don’t have the stomach for it, I certainly won’t think any less of you. I know I will never look at them again!
I knew Jubilee was going to have her foal any day now, so it was no surprise when I went over to the quarantine farm this morning and had an extra set of ears. And, oh my, what a large pair of ears they are!
Didn’t see that one coming! I knew there had been donkeys at the hellhole in Fairmont, but it never occurred to me that one of them could have been a jack and might have impregnated one or more of the girls.
It’s a little girl and she’s just a pistol! She was rearing and kicking at me as I was trying to put iodine on her umbilical stub, but she’s calmed down a bit now that she’s been handled more. Jubilee has been an excellent mother so far and seems to be doing great. Mom and baby are in the barn until tomorrow to make it easier for me to bond with the little one, and to give them a break from the rest of the herd.
Jubilee’s adopter is thrilled and will hopefully be coming up with a name for the little beastie soon!
While you people out west have been flooded, we’ve been painfully dry. So thanks for sending some much needed rain on Wednesday and Thursday this week! I had to haul water from town to fill the spring-fed tank because it couldn’t keep up with the herd. We hadn’t had a decent rain in weeks and it’s been so danged hot! So two hours after I bring home water, dump and scrub the tank, then refill it (with an eager audience impatiently surrounding me), we got one hellacious storm!
Now, I’m not the type that is afraid of thunderstorms. On the contrary, my favorite past time is sitting out on the porch watching the lightening and listening to the thunder. However, this storm had even me a little worried! Some of the cracks of thunder were right over our heads and made us all jump. Stormy, Cody, and Heidi were cowering under whatever furniture they could fit under in the house. Thor, Xena, Lucky and I were out on the porch. Xena did pretty well with the thunder and didn’t seem to mind until this one crack that sounded like the sky was falling – she took off and ran a circle around the house as fast as she could, then came bounding back onto the porch with her tail between her legs! After that, she hid in the house with the rest of the wimps. Thor didn’t bother to even wake up during the storm and just kept snoring. We should have named him Rumpelstiltskin instead!
The big problem with Wednesday’s storm was the wind…
I loved that tree. It was the lone tree on top of the ridge in front of the big barn. That barn you see in the background is across the road at Cattle Baron’s place. There were also trees down all over the roads and Cattle Baron lost a couple that fell across the road and took out our fence. I was waiting to see if he’d fix it, but it was still down earlier today. Up here, you’re responsible for any trees or limbs from your property that fall down and block the road. But we all know that ‘responsibility’ is too big of a word for Cattle Baron. I lost electricity for almost 24 hours, and it took DSL a little longer to come back up. The wind took down half the roof of our first attempt at a run-in shed in the back pasture. I knew it wouldn’t last long since we did a piss-poor job at building it, and was actually hoping it would fall down so I’d have an excuse to build a better one. All things considered, we came out of the storm in pretty good shape.
We just had some wet and unhappy rumps afterwards.
These girls were standing in the shed when the sky fell, then quickly ran out and went romping around the pasture, bucking and kicking in the rain. Silly mares!
Speaking of silly mares, go check out Jewel’s latest update over on Training the Unwanted!
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted videos of the munchkins playing and I wanted to get something up here before there were riots in the streets. So you can calm down now.
Want some good news? I talked to the sheriff down in Fairmont this morning. He said there was a slim to none chance that asshat would be awarded custody of the horses, due to a couple of things: 1) this was his third animal cruelty charge in a six month timeframe, 2) he doesn’t have two pennies to rub together and the authorities dropped the last $720 bail charge so he could use that money to take care of the nine cattle he still has. Also of note, is this guy’s father was recently arrested for robbery! What a family!
Sheriff said it would be ok to start adopting out the Fairmont horses. I’m just going to include a clause in the adoption contract that states the horses have to be returned if asshat ever gets custody and pays restitution. The one problem is that I still can’t castrate the studlies, so they will probably have to stay with me for awhile longer. The mares and geldings will start going to their homes this week, but I won’t be posting “Go Home” posts or updating the rescue site until the court case is finally done and everything is official.
Oh, and go check out Maverick’s update over on Training the Unwanted!
Timmy has managed to injure his right hip and stifle and is no longer sound for light riding. He’s comfortable enough in the pasture as long as no one is chasing him around, so I think he’ll just live in the yard for awhile and keep Lucille company. Once things calm down around here I’ll haul him up to a vet hospital in Ohio and get him x-rayed to see what we’re dealing with.
Lee hated giving Timmy up, but knows his limits and understands that he can’t care for two horses right now, especially when one of them can eat 200lbs of feed in a week! What he really wanted was a horse he could take down the trail this summer and take on some overnight camping trips with his friends. Did I have a horse like that? It just so happens that I did!
Molly was supposed to be adopted by a girl going to Meredith Manor this month, but when I checked her references and found that she and her boyfriend and dog were all living out of the car, I had to put the kibosh on the adoption. She talked a good game, saying her aunt was helping her out financially, plus she had financial aid for school, and everything would be fine… ever get that feeling that things probably wouldn’t be that fine? Yeah, me too.
Molly is a lot shorter than Timmy, but she’s a stout mare that didn’t have any trouble carrying Lee around. Now she’ll have the one-on-one attention that she needs and Lee will have his trail horse.
Besides, I missed my 1300lb lawn ornament.
Remember little Summer when she and Traveler arrived here on 11/8/09?
Here’s the picture I took for her adoption flyer back on 6/8/10. Is that the same pony? Really???
She’s a little over a year old and growing like a weed! That’s Traveler next to her in that top picture… see how much smaller she is? Now she’s the same height!
But most importantly, she’s still a big sweetheart that loves to be held and petted and will climb into your lap if you let her. Which is why resistance was futile for Lawrence and his wife when they were here to ride Cinnamon and Thunder the other day. Summer kept following them around wanting love and they couldn’t stop thinking about her. So when I talked to them today and they said they wanted to adopt Summer as well, of course I had to say yes!
I can just see her being best buddies with that little mini and the donkey in no time! What a lucky girl!
When Thunder and Lakota first arrived, they went out with the main herd since I knew they were healthy (just thin). When Cinnamon and Genesis arrived, they went into the back pasture by themselves. Within a couple of days, Cinnamon started popping over the fence to be with Thunder and Lakota, so I moved those two into the back with Genesis. A few days later, Jolie Rose decided that she could also jump the fence and really REALLY wanted to be with the other four.
A couple of months later, I moved all five back out with the main herd and put my old fogies in the back. Lakota left soon after, leaving just Cinnamon, Jolie Rose, Genesis, and Thunder. The four stuck together like glue, only allowing Maverick and Sadie to join their clique.
So when Terry and Lawrence decided they wanted to adopt both Cinnamon and Thunder, I was ecstatic! Now the two can be together forever and live happily ever after. :)
The two horses will have 47 acres and a huge barn to share with just a miniature horse and a donkey – lucky ponies!
For those waiting on an update on the hearing that was supposed to happen today… it didn’t. The defendant’s lawyer was filing some motion this morning and the magistrate’s clerk said the hearing probably wouldn’t happen because of that. I’ve got a couple of calls in to the sheriff to see if he can give me any more specifics about what’s going on. Unfortunately, this asshat can drag this out for a very long time.
I’ll keep you updated!
Little Mariah is two months old now and growing like a weed. She’s looking more and more like Maverick every day, and her personality is certainly a lot like Maverick. Nothing bothers her, she loves people, and not once have I seen her lay her ears back at anyone.
She and Kita are best buddies and Kita just loves the little tyke. Mariah prefers to spend more time with Kita than with her own mother most days. Willow is just the milk bar and Kita is the big sister that teaches her the ways of the world and keeps her from harm. Willow doesn’t seem to mind the arrangement one bit.
Just like dear old dad, Mariah is stacked. Like, sherman tank stacked. Look how wide she is already!
And that butt… doesn’t that remind you of Maverick’s wide load? It certainly looks nothing like Willow’s rump.
Little one is getting her feet trimmed for the first time next week. I’ve picked up her feet a few times and she just stands there looking at me. You can do anything to this little girl and she thinks it’s fun – just like Maverick. Glenn might have to fight me for this one in a few years! :)
The hearing for the Fairmont horses is tomorrow! The only word I want to hear when the judge asks for his plea is “guilty”! I know, wishful thinking. :(
