Misty has returned and will be back up for adoption soon. It was thought that Misty may have EPM. Two trainers and a farrier have checked her out in the past couple of days. They see no problems other than she is a 23 year old horse. I spent over 8 hours with her on Sunday. I groomed her and walked her. We ate treats and even played a little. I saw nothing wrong. We have the vet coming to do yet another checkup to see what he says.
The story of Misty is that she was adopted. They took her to a boarding stable. The stable owner acted funny when we walked Misty in. She told the new owners of Misty that she thought that Misty had foundered because her back leg was stiff. The stable owner called in a farrier who said maybe she had foundered years ago, but it wasn't bad. The stable owner was sure that something was wrong with Misty so she then asked a vet to look at her again (She had a checkup a week before she left). The vet supposedly said that Misty had EPM and asked if she had been checked before she was adopted because this was a serious illness. The funny part was, she was checked by the same vet's office and given a clean bill of health just a couple of weeks prior to this lastest vet visit. Anyway, Misty came back to us. The stable owners told us that she "can't find her back end". She loaded into the trailer and stood fine up the winding hill to home. She unloaded and walked down the hill and into the pasture fine. She has been walking around fine and having no problems here. We are going to continue to monitor her condition. If she does have EPM, she will not be put back up for adoption, but if another vet opinion says that she is fine, she will be available for adoption again.
Flip and Sugar are currently being trained. When they return home, they will be put to work as our children's program leaders. Taz will be headed out next month for her training. We have decided to train Taz by herself since she needs a little extra attention. The trainer has had his hands full with Flip and Sugar....or should I say Sugar. She seems to be showing her bad side. While Sugar is a very gentle horse and has not offered to throw us as we worked to break her, she has a temper. The trainer made her mad and she jumped out of his round pen(clearing it with ease)and then ducked under his fence and started for home or somewhere.....
Hopefully when she comes home, the temper is a little more under control. We decided that Flip and Sugar would be great to help work with troubled teens. Flip is very gentle and very big (almost 17 hands now). She will be great to teach respect. Sugar is small and fiesty. The two of them show two big size and personality differences. We hope to get a youth program off the ground soon and these two horses will be great to teach with. That is why we decided to send them out for more specialized training. Taz is going next so that we can have a formally abused animal to help show the changes that can be made. I think we are off to a good start with them.
Item Needed |
Reason Needed |
| Treats | We can always use horse treats! |
| Mineral Tubs | The horses love the mineral tubs |
| Wooden fence posts | For perimeter gate |
| Drive gate | For perimeter fence |
| Lumber new or used | For the spring expansion of the barn |
| Fiberglass panels or sheet metal | To use for roofing materials on the barns |
| Fence panels (hog type) | To replace goat fencing and expand their area |
| Horse training | We can always use help training horses |
| Cash donations | To purchase items not donated |
| Volunteers | Volunteers always welcome! |
Our goals for 2008 are: Expanding the barn to allow for more stalls and a feed storage room. Adding more hay storage areas. Getting water run towards the barn. Expanding pastures and adding new ones. Finishing the road with another layer of gravel.
