Heart of Dixie Equine Rescue Blog

It has been so long since I have updated this blog and I am sorry. To get the rescue off the ground in such a short amount of time has been very time consuming. Things are starting to settle down into more of a routine now and I hope to keep the blog updated more frequently. Following is the story of the arrival of our first load of horses from Canada.

Our first load of ex-PMU horses arrived about 1 month ago. (Fordie, Marvin, Obvious Paycheck, Hartes Breezy TQ, Hartes Breezy TQ 09, OK Easy Anna, OK My D Rich 09, Gents Dally 09 and Sandy’s Sister Sal) The ONLY hurricane that has had ANY effect on our area, hit the week the horses arrived. The weather was never terribly stormy but it RAINED continually for a week. We were in the process of getting the fencing in. We had thought the horses would arrive on Monday, November 16th, but our trucker needed to be back in Canada for an event so the horses actually arrived on Wednesday, November 12. We had to scramble to get the fence done in time. The rescue is a short distance off a dirt road and as South Georgia is FAMOUS for its red clay, you can guess what condition the road was in. AWFUL! We were using a tractor with a post hill digger to put the posts in. (All of the corner posts are gigantic retired telephone poles and most of the rest of the posts are 4′x4′ posts) It would have taken us weeks to dig the holes for these posts with just post hole diggers. The first thing that happened was that the tractor hydraulics went out after the first 3 holes. We could not pick up the auger. A part had to be ordered to fix it and it was going to take a couple of days to get done. We went scrambling to borrow another tractor. We were lucky enough to have one loaned to us by one of our benefactors. We were delayed a day and a half though. To add to the problems, the truck pulling the tractor on the trailer, slid off the road into a ditch. (That nice slippery red clay) The trailer jack-knifed but thankfully did not overturn. It took many hours and TWO tow trucks to get the truck, trailer and tractor back on firm ground. Finally, the men of the rescue got down to digging what seemed like a million fence posts holes. They would then set the posts into the holes and all the women would follow behind to get the posts squared up and the holes filled back in and the earth tamped down. Keep in mind that is was raining this WHOLE time and everyone was wet and miserable. We were all pretty new to putting fence in too. We knew that we had to have solid fencing that could not easily be knocked down. We also wanted the fence done right the first time. I cannot tell you how many trips we made to Agri-Supply to buy the fence pieces that we needed and to get advice from their fencing expert. So, now it is Tuesday and all of the posts are finally in but the wire has not been pulled. We had already made arrangements for the use of a local stockyard to be used to house the horses overnight on Wednesday so that we did not have to go into the rescue in the pitch black of night. The stockyard owner had no sale scheduled for the week or weekend and kindly allowed us to use the stockyard facility for a few extra days at no cost. It turned out to be the perfect thing. We were able to unload the horses into individual stalls and let them rest for a few days. None of the foals had halters on either. We had the use of small enclosures to aid us in getting halters on these terrified babies. It also made us realize that we had to have something similar at the rescue ASAP! A round ring was always in the short term plan but we needed something NOW. We added a small enclosure to the fencing plan right then.

The horses arrived late on Wednesday afternoon and were unloaded into stalls in the stockyard. Everyone was terrified. Marvin and Fordie started out being in stalls across from each of each other. Marvin got a bit cranky and put a hoof through a board and got caught. There was much panic from everyone BUT Marvin. He stood calmly while he was freed and was none the worse for wear. We moved Fordie further away. Calm was restored. Everyone was so excited and the horses were so beautiful.

Some of this group of horses went to destined to go straight to foster homes. Sandy’s Sister Sal and My D Rich 09 went to one place. Sally (as she is called by her foster parents) looked very bedraggled on arrival. Her foal had been pulled the day she loaded on the trailer so her bag was still HUGE. She had an edema on her belly from a probable kick and her belly was hanging so low that it looked like she would foal that very instant. I will tell you that Sally is in heaven now. She has a stall with a heat lamp. She is turned out when the weather is good but she LOVES her stall. When her family opens the barn door, she goes running to her stall and stands waiting to be let in. She is the queen. When this wonderful family saw, My D Rich 09, they fell in love with this colt too. They took him home as a foster too. Richey was very scared and did not like being too far away from Sally so they built-in a stall right next to Sally for him. He also has a heat lamp. For horses that came from a frigid temperature to a climate that is balmy in comparison, I can only imagine that they think they are in heaven. They actually are. Both are happy and I am fairly sure that their foster family is going to adopt them. The Appaloosas, (OK Easy Anna, Hartes Breezy TQ, Hartes Breezy TQ 09 and Gents Dally 09) went to another foster. When Hartes Breezy arrived, her mane and tail looked like they were in dread locks. It was awful. Donna and I spent several hours in her stall getting the horrible knots out of her mane. We did not make it to her tail. When I saw her yesterday, she looked like a different horse. Her glorious white mane and tail were just gleaming and were as silky as you could ever want. I am almost certain that Hartes has found her forever home too. Anna is doing well too. She has a big pasture with lots of trees and grass. She has made friends with a gelding and they are inseparable now. She is lame. It is not a hoof issue, it is a leg issue. She will never be ridden but that is OK. The lameness does not seem to cause her pain. We are going to have x-rays done soon to see what we need to do to keep her healthy for the rest of her life. She will be a retired pasture pal. Hartes Breezy TQ 09 found his forever home on the day he arrived in Georgia. He is now known as Little Man. He is SO cute and has the sweetest curly mane. I have never seen a mane like this. Ricky and Donna are adopting him. Both Ricky and Donna are founding members of HODER. Little Man has a great forever home. He was very scared little boy but has really come around and is being handled every day. That brings us to Gents Dally 09. This girl was by FAR the wildest of ALL the horses that we have seen come in. She is stunningly beautiful though. It took 5 people several hours to get a halter on her. She is a double barrel kicker and she rears too. It broke my heart to see her so scared and so wild. We had great fear for her. I am happy to say, that she has settled a bit. Her foster parents have been hand feeding her and she is in a small paddock. Her first reaction is still to turn that dangerous rear-end towards you. We know only too well how dangerous her rear hooves are. Dally about killed two of us when she kicked a fence gate that we were bracing with our bodies at the stockyard. Thank goodness for that gate! It still knocked the wind out of Donna. We had a very good trainer come out to work with her on Friday. This man just has a way with scared horses. He was able to get his hands on her and she ended up laying her head on his shoulder at the end of the session. I was in tears. She has a long way to go but there is great hope. Her Gents blood is recognized as being very hot. There was a very good breakthrough on Friday. She is still very dangerous but this trainer will be working with her. The first bonds of trust have been established and I am overjoyed.

Back to the story… Since we had the stockyards for a few days, we could breathe a bit easier. The men worked on finishing the fence and all the ladies spent their time with the horses. We moved most of the foster horses on Thursday and Friday. The only three we did not move were Hartes Breezy and her foal and Gents Dally. Hartes had been loaded into a two horse trailer but she went crazy. We thought the trailer was going to fall over. We took her off and decided to move her in the bigger stock trailer on Saturday. W also decided to move the rescue horses on Saturday morning.

During all of this, Jack, (our donkey) finally arrived from Texas. Amber and I had a horrible time getting him shipped. Our original shipper backed out after just not showing up. I then remembered, Steve Merka, my angel shipper who had helped me get Dixie home from the drop site two years ago. No one else would agree to haul a huge draft horse with an unknown personality in their trailer. When I say this huge terrified horse racing off the big semi into the holding pens, I was terrified too. Steve calmly dealt with getting this wild mare into his trailer and helped us get her home. I would have been lost without him. He agreed to go and pick up Jack from Texas and bring him back to Georgia. Jack arrived on Friday night. Since we were still at the stockyards, I had Steve deliver him there. Jack was such a good calm boy. He hopped right off the trailer and led right to his stall for the night. He was truly meant to come on that day. When we went to load everyone on Saturday, the foals would not move. They were terrified. We tried everything. The one thing that ended up working was when we took Jack out of his stall and led him down the aisle of the stockyards. The foals followed him like sheep right onto the trailer. They were very calm with him around. Jack has turned out to be the best babysitter ever. All of the babies trust him. We have used him on more occasions than I can count to settle someone who was very upset. Jack is such a joy. He just loves attention. His favorite thing is to come and lay his head on your shoulder. Now, Jack is not huge and I am 5’10” tall. He still manages to get his head on my shoulder. He will stand there for an hour like that. Jack has a permanent job at the rescue. He will be an ambassador but he is also our babysitter.

On Saturday, the first thing we did was give the part of the stockyard that we had used a huge cleaning. It was a great kindness that we had been able to use it and we wanted to show our gratitude. We mucked out the whole area we had used and hauled all of the stuff to the back area of the property. We picked up every bit of trash we could find and cleaned every water bucket that we say. We left the facility in cleaner condition than we had found it. It was a thank you to the owner of the stockyard as well as a present to all the animals that come through there. We then loaded up Hartes Breezy and her foal and OK Gents Dally (all with Jacks help) and moved them to their foster home. They did much better in the stock trailer. We returned back to the stockyard to pick up the horses going to the rescue. The men were madly finishing the last of the electrical for the hot wire. We loaded up Marvin and Fordie onto one stock trailer. (One facing forward, one facing back) We had much discussion on this. We did not want any issues. We loaded Marvin first. The trailer was backed up to the stock yard gate so that we could run Fordie back off into the contained aisle if there was a problem. Everything was fine. These two guys do get along pretty well for being stallions. We then loaded Obvious Paycheck and Jack onto the other trailer and headed off. It was only a 25 minute ride to the rescue. Upon arrival, the first thing we did was back the Stallion trailer up to the gate. We opened the trailer door and let Fordie go. We untied Marvin and let him go too. These boys had much joy at being turned loose. There was also some stallion foolery. They reared and neighed and pawed the ground at each other. There was no real contact; just two stallions showing off. It was still very dramatic and we held our breath and prayed. Fordie and Marvin had spent the last several months together in the same pasture so we were pretty sure they would be fine. They were. Within 15 minutes both boys were grazing peacefully. These are very sweet tame boys. Marvin is the elder king at 19. Fordie is the prince at 11. They both LOVE to be scratched. Every time we bring a truck our trailer into their paddock, they will both take their heads, butts and whatever else they can get on it, and scratch against it. It is very funny to watch. The only thing to remember is not to bother Marvin while he eats. He takes his chow very seriously and does not want to be bothered at all. You can pet and scratch Fordie anytime. As long as Marvin is not eating, you can pet and scratch him too. We left the center paddock empty and turned Jack and Paycheck (now known as Calypso) loose in the third paddock. They were overjoyed to be free too.

I cannot tell you how happy I was to finally have the beginnings of our facility AND to have horses there. It was my dream come true. Fordie, Marvin and Jack are all permanent residents of the rescue. Marvin’s ransom was paid by Katleen is Florida.  Fordie’s ransom was paid by Susan in Florida. Jack was a gift to the rescue from Amber in Texas. Wendy and Adrienne in Australia paid the ransom on Hartes Breezy TQ and Sandys Sister Sal. My wonderful friends that are part of TIBBP, (The International Blessed Broodmare Project) raised much money to help us get these horses here. A special thanks to Janice who took on the huge job of selling some of my more valuable models to help fund the rescue. This was a huge project and a gigantic time commitment on her part. Huge thanks to Deb, the president and founder of TIBBP. I would never have done this if you had not brought the plight of PMU horses to my attention. I owe a huge debt to Jennifer at, “The Animali Farm.” Jennifer has spent the last 10 years traveling to Canada and North Dakota trying to save PMU horses from going to slaughter. I would not have my darling Dixie or her foal, Daisy, without her. What can I say about the community I live in? To everyone that has made a donation to us, I am truly humbled by your generosity. To the core group of volunteers who were there at the beginning of the rescue, (Gary, Joel, Pat, Jimmy, Eileen, Elise, Donna, Ricky, Holli, Nancy and Cathryn) I can never express my thanks and love for each of you. You are the best and I am honored to know you. There are so many more that need thanks. Please know that you are in my heart and I will get to you in later posts.

Many Hugs!

Julie Barnes

President

Heart of Dixie Equine Rescue, Inc.

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