Jake's Story...

From Jim: We've got a big ole Brabent Belgian named Jake. He's a PMU rescue from one of the Canadian farms that collected mare urine for a source of estrogen therapy for women. The poor mares that are used (abused) in this effort suffer terribly. Bred every year, tied in a stall, bagged or catheterized, denied water, year after year. Their colts are taken after a month and sold or slaughtered. What an awful industry. Well, anyway, Jake found his way to Animali Rescue and we got him and his brother, Elwood. We named them after the Blue's Brothers. Woody died very young from chronic colic. His intestines had been severely damaged by parasites. PMU colts get no vet care when they're born. They're just a by-product, after all. Jake has a very special relationship with Donna. He "talks" with her and has from the beginning. He wasn't even supposed to be rescued by us, but when we went for Woody, he asked Donna to "Please take me, too". She found him in a herd of colts and he told her that we really needed to take him. We didn't even know he and Woody were brothers. We chute loaded them, hauled them home and, then, thought about what it meant to have two yearling drafts with absolutely no training. That turned out not to be a problem. On the first day we halter trained them-took about two hours. The second day, their feet were trimmed for the first time in their lives. To this day, Jake will follow with no more than a piece of bailing twine. We've had a few of our interns on his back to see what he'd think about that. He doesn't care at all. They are "gentle giants", these draft horses. Jake is a great horse. He's friends with Smokey and Stoney and Liso. He has the softest eyes and calmest mind you could ever imagine. He thinks he's about Gracie's size. Maybe 7 hands and 300 pounds or so. Of course, he's really 17 hands and 1600 pounds, but he's still just a little boy. I really like draft horses. There's something about their power and size and gentle ways that is wonderful to be around. When he and the other youngsters are really on the move, in the midst of a wild rumpus, the ground shakes. That's fun to experience! What a boy! Sure glad he told Donna he needed to come home with us!