Home At Last

The sunflowers greeted me this afternoon as I came home from the Denver area. It was a wonderful week with family near the Mile High City. Jim had all kinds of stories to tell. Some were funny and some very sad.




Honey cat said a happy hello and thought maybe she could have a little extra treat.


Do you remember the poor raggedy donkey who came a couple of months ago? Well, Jonathan is no longer raggedy. In fact he's fat and sleek. When I talked to Jim last night he said he had good news and bad news. The good news was that we had some wonderful fully ripe watermelons. The bad news was that Jonathan ate them all. Jim said the juice was dripping from his chin and he was one happy donk.

Our pasture has an empty spot. The really bad news is that Breezy Summer died of colic while I was gone. Dr. Darling feels she may have had a strangle abscess break internally. They worked for days to keep her alive. Jim knew she was in trouble because Tucker the mule would not leave her pen. When Tucker stays with a sick animal we know the animal is dying. Tucker has a special gift.

Breezy Summer was a beautiful sorrel Quarter Horse mare. She loved to be petted and Smoke was her favorite pasture buddy. We will miss you, sweet girl.


Quincy came for a drink.

Then enjoyed the salt lick.

More good news. Maggie had been feeling better and Jim moved her back to her friends in their pen. He said Maggie and Sugar groomed each other for hours when they first got back together. Maggie had been sick when I left. In fact, she could hardly breathe.

Belle and Charles were moved to the lower barn so Belle could have flatter ground to walk on. Charles had not been very comfortable with the old turnout, but is at home in the barn. His blindness bothered him and he just seemed unhappy. Now he wanders all over, but as you can see he and Belle are very close. Belle had some lymph nodes swell and now has some edema on her belly. She is eating well and does not seem to be sick.

Another funny story. Jim thought Molly wanted out so he opened the back gate. Molly looked at the gate, at Jim, at the gate again and seemed to say, "You forgot to close the gate. Someone else may get in." Jim closed the gate and Molly went to sleep.

Rosie had asked to be let out, so Jim opened her gate. She went to the big tank for a drink, then came back and asked to come in. She's a sweet and gentle girl and often gets chased off her food if she is out. Sh sure looks good now. Remember how skinny she was?

Lexi has put on so much weight I almost didn't recognize her.

Hi, Gracie.

Juan was sick while I was gone, but is doing better now.

Little Cricket came in with Lucky, but never got really sick.

Lucky has made a full recovery.

Callie was a little "off" when I left but is fine now.

Tory was coughing this afternoon. We will keep a close eye on him.

It's always fun to visit some place else, but as they say "Home is where the heart is" and my heart is at the sanctuary.
We still are contagious so be patient with us. We will continue to be closed until we get the OK from the vet. Strangles has been a real problem with a great number of our horses getting sick- some critically and one fatally. We do not want to be responsible for spreading this to other horses.

Since so many of our middle aged and older horses have been affected, I can't help but feel that maybe this is a new strain. Usually it is the young, previously unexposed horses who come down with strangles, but so far that hasn't happened. Let's keep our fingers crossed that no one else gets sick. I miss our volunteers. Don't forget about us, Helen, Leah, Carly, Tina, Sue, Laura, Joanna, Emily, Jenny, Amalie, and all you others. See you soon, I hope.

NorCal Equine Rescue has a lot of horses who need homes. Please, check them out and see if you can give a horse a forever home.

Our vet bill is overwhelming. We can use all the help you can give. Thank you.