Fresh Start Horse Rescue, About Us

The halter: part of the horse?

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Have you ever been anxious to pull those boots off, or take out those earrings, or get free of that underwire bra? Ever had a ring on too tight and then your finger swelled around it? Ever been outraged when a puppy outgrows its collar and the owners don’t adjust it? Maybe you’ve had somebody strap a belt around your head and under your jaw, pull it snug, buckle it, and leave you in a cage. No? Well, it’d be okay. You have hands.
This horse’s halter (just removed) was left on for weeks, skin-tight, long enough for the winter hair to grow in around it. The hair was rubbing off her nose. It was only a matter of time until the skin would follow. Eight weeks later the halter’s imprint was still very discernable on the mare’s face. She was only uncomfortable. This was a mild case of halter neglect. We saw a more severe case recently in a field, miles from anywhere, hence the rant.
The halter is not part of the horse. It sounds so obvious, but apparently, it’s not. Too many horses are left for weeks, even months, with their halters on, ignored while skin wears away under the halter, or grows around it, and sores develop. This is a form of neglect. They can carry the scars for years.
The idea that leaving the halter on a horse makes the horse easier to catch is a myth. If a horse doesn’t want someone to catch him, he can simply remain out of reach, halter or no halter. The right way to make a horse easier to catch is to teach him that being caught is a good thing. A tame, gentle horse does not need to be kept haltered all the time. But if it is deemed necessary to leave a horse haltered for any reason, the following steps should be followed:

1. Make sure the halter fits properly. You should be able to fit two or three fingers under the noseband, chin and throatlatch. But if it’s too loose, something could get caught in it, like a branch or fence post, resulting in injury.
2. Check the fit of the halter every day on a growing foal, and check horses daily for halter rubs, especially on the front of the nose and behind the ears.
3. If used during turnout, consider a breakaway halter for safety.
4. Consider training the horse to be easily haltered, or training the handler to be deft at haltering. Horses can be taught to drop their heads for haltering.

Colorado Law concerning stray and abandoned horses

If your horse wanders off and you can’t find it, take heed of this. In Montezuma County, Colorado, the livestock auction is the impound facility for stray horses. It is the brand inspector’s job to try to locate the animal’s owner, and failing that, the horse is taken to the livestock auction for impoundment. The horse is supposed to be advertised for fifteen days in the local newspaper. After that time, if the owner does not come forward, the horse can be sold at auction, potentially for slaughter. This, according to the brand inspector, is the only valid way to determine the stray horse’s worth.

Interestingly, one of FSHR’s hospice horses wandered off for a few days a couple of years ago while the founders were out of town, and when we got back we never saw an ad in the paper about it. We had to search through the neighbors, one of whom suggested we call the sale barn. Sure enough, the horse was located there in a back corral, with a few wisps of hay and an empty water tank and a steep feed bill for the few days. She was in her late 20s and had ringbone, so she would have been sold for slaughter if we had not found her in time.

What kind of a system is this? In this writer’s opinion, it is a system that puts the interests of the slaughter industry above the welfare of animals.

Unwanted Horse Coalition studies the unwanted horse problem

The Unwanted Horse Coalition has launched a nationwide initiative addressing the scope of the unwanted horse problem, according to the High Plains Journal.
You can contribute your input by completing their online survey at http://survey.ictgroup.com/uhcsurvey/.
The Unwanted Horse Coalition operates with the American Horse Council, which is quoted as saying that though there are numerous reports and much anecdotal evidence about the growing unwanted horse problem, there have been no actual studies about it, and few documented facts exist.
The American Association of Equine Practitioners defines “unwanted horses” as “Horses which are no longer wanted by their current owner because they are old, injured, sick, unmanageable, fail to meet their owner’s expectations, or the owner can no longer afford or is incapable of caring for them.”
Contributing factors to the unwanted horse problem cited include the economic downturn, the rising cost of hay, the drought affecting parts of the United States, the costs of euthanasia and carcass disposal and the closure of the U.S. horse slaughter plants.
Fresh Start Horse Rescue is collecting data about the unwanted horse problem in the Four Corners, Colorado, area. Please contact FSHR to report abandoned, lost, neglected and unwanted horses in this locale.
Source: High Plains Journal, Dec. 2008

November, 2008 News

Being there when it counts

Yesterday we received a forwarded e-mail out of Paradox about a case of cruelty to animals. It concerned five horses and a number of dogs and cats kept without adequate food, water, or shelter on an otherwise uninhabited piece of property. What stood out about it for me was of course the gray mustang mare who had been malnourished, given birth and nursed a foal throughout her existence there. She's traumatized, afraid of people. Since I have a passion for healing broken mustang hearts, my instant reaction was, of course the mustang, and her two-year-old filly if necessary, are welcome here.

In the case of Abby and Winnie, two mares who were going to be sold for slaughter, leaving their foals orphans, we were fortunate to have a quick enough response from concerned citizens that they were purchased from the dealer by Fresh Start, in Winnie's case (thanks to a timely donation), and by Patricia in Abby's case. During the following month, the mares and foals have consumed hundreds of dollars in feed and veterinary costs, gaining weight and a healthy glow along the way. Both mares still need their teeth floated and their feet trimmed. This is typical of the rescue scenario. It takes tons of money and time. I'm not whining; we seem to have chosen this over saving money for our retirement and our children's college education. What crappy parents.

Fresh Start and its founders have more than twenty rescue horses. All are healthy and content, in varying stages of adoption readiness. To stay healthy until then, they're going to need at least $6000 in hay alone to get through the winter. Do we realistically have the resources to 'be there' for more emergency rescues? God knows we want to say yes. But in order to do that, we need funds, more pens, and most of all, we must adopt out more horses to loving, permanent homes. Our adoption rate has dropped from 15 last year to five so far this year because the horse market has affected the rescues as much as it has everyone else in the industry. But we cannot compromise our rules, procedures and fees. It's the people who understand the need for such rules, fees and procedures and embrace them that are the people we will trust with our beloved and yes, valuable, horses.

Fortunately, Fresh Start received a donation in July, specifically earmarked to cover the 501(c)(3) filing fee. It is done. We are officially 501(c)(3) pending. A 501(c)(3) makes all donations federally tax-deductible.

This is what is needed for us to continue to "be there when it counts," as we would very much like to be for this mustang mare or another in her situation:

And I do not apologize for dreaming big! (see #6)

1. Funding for hay and youth and senior feed
2. Volunteers to help with fundraising and planning fundraising events
3. Donations of hay
4. Donations of corral panels, water troughs, hanging feeders and blankets (horse, yearling, weanling)
5. Donations of veterinary care credit (to Montezuma Veterinary Clinic)
6. Biggest of all: We've got some neighbors from whom we've been fortunate to be able to buy high-quality hay at a low price, and even work off the cost of some of it by irrigating the hay field. They also have pasture, and have donated it for our horses for over a year now. The parcel's got 15 shares irrigation, 20 acres, cross-fenced pastures, a residence, a hay barn, a mobile home residence, and the same year-round stream that runs through our place. However, they're moving and it's for sale and we're kind of worried. We're not expecting to be able to buy hay from new owners, or anyone else, for what our friends have been charging us. New owners are likely to need all the pasture for their own horses. If Fresh Start owned it, a caretaker could live in the house, Fresh Start could have an office, and maybe the mobile home could be replaced with a barn with a wash stall and hot & cold running water and all the luxury a rescued horse could possibly want. Yeah, it's a big dream. The problem is, they need $300,000 for the place.

You may laugh, but that's the worst that can come of us putting this out there.

The Amazing Silly Wizard

Silly Wizard is a 2001 red dun American mustang from Utah, saved from slaughter in 2005 by being purchased by Fresh Start from a dealer after the auction at the sale barn. His story is outlined in several places on the web site.

Summary: Somewhat emaciated, wormy, nearly untouchable, apparent bullet hole through neck, terrible respiratory aliment, highly traumatized by people, training/saddle broke status: unknown. He's what we call a Special Needs Horse.

Wizard, after being dewormed and vaccinated, was left mainly to his own devices at first, exploring the back forty, finding his place in the herd, spending a summer in a beautiful pasture and gaining much-needed weight and condition. Slowly he learned to take treats, from over the fence, but would not be petted or caught unless he made himself cornered, and fearfully endured necessary handling. It was almost unbearable, emotionally, to pet and brush him because it seemed he couldn't stand any attention. Kind attention was unknown to him and it made him miserable. He was waiting for a blow. But he never kicked or bit or even appeared to be considering those alternatives. He was terrified of anything and anyone new. Monty Roberts-style join-up seemed a fairy tale even this past spring.

But somehow, he let us know it was time. After running away, he would gaze longingly at us petting the other horses in the corral. His ears pointed ever more forward. At last I tried join-up with him - again - and though I'm only a mere mortal and didn't do as well as Monty, I got him to at least stand still in the round pen and accept petting with hands and rope and halter. He threw his head up whenever I tried to put it on him, until at last I taught him to put his head down. Then we began to lead. I haltered him twice a day. He began to come up to me to be haltered. I left him tied to eat, and led him out to graze on the lead rope. We have a game that we play, an approach and retreat game. I, and anyone else I can make do it, will go up to him with hand extended, palm down, and when he touches with his nose we walk away. Wizard follows. He follows halters. He follows strangers. He follows clacking lead rope clips. He follows crackling plastic cups and brushes and whatever object I present him with. Wow, interesting, he says with his ears and eyes.

This weekend, after a couple days free in the back forty enjoying turnout with the herd, instead of reverting to Feral Mustang Survival Wizard as he would have last month, he stuck his nose in the halter and stood quietly for the farrier to trim his hooves, being more concerned with checking out the farrier's wife to see what she was all about. She was interesting.

Just yesterday the brand inspector came for a visit, a big, unfamiliar man. Wizard spun around once, trying to decide whether to be the old Wiz and flee. New Wiz won out, and he turned back to the brand inspector, ears pricked, interested to see what new puzzle or treat or activity this strange human represented. The brand inspector didn't care, to him Wiz was just another livestock. But to Wiz, the brand inspector had gone from being a threat of danger and pain to a source of fascination and interest (though I don't believe he could have just walked in Wiz's pen and haltered him. Most people still have to play The Game before touching him, and only Daniel and I have haltered him).

I took Wizard around with me on a loose lead. He followed me between the trucks and trailers. He followed me into the horse trailer. He backed out when gently cued. Twice. He nudged me with his nose. I picked out his feet. He barely batted an eye while standing outside the gate on the side of the road when the big hay tractor roared and clattered past. I put a saddle on him and we walked around some more. He was not concerned enough for this to have been a first-time occurrence, unless his trust in me has crossed some sort of event horizon. I like to think that either way, it has. He's not ready for adoption yet, but he's come a long way this summer. My wild one.

June 2008 News

Editorial

Resenting Compassion

The facts stated in this editorial are true and verifiable. The opinions expressed around them are those of the author as an individual, and are not the official position of Fresh Start Horse Rescue, its volunteers, board members or anyone who has made donations.

by Amanda Turek Ryan

On Wednesday June 11, 2008, a representative of Fresh Start Horse Rescue was thrown off of a local livestock auction premises with much ado and profanity and told, in front of several witnesses, never to come back.

What was Daniel doing that was so offensive to the livestock auction owner? Was he taking pictures of skinny and injured horses? Was he posting anti-horse slaughter flyers? Was he soliciting donations on private property? Was he running around the place offering to buy horses out from under the auctioneer before the sale? Was he stopping trucks on the way in and warning people that their horse might be sold for slaughter? What was it that he was doing?

Well, none of the above.

Daniel was meeting a Colorado State Brand Inspector in the Colorado State Brand Inspector’s capacity as a Colorado State Brand Inspector employed by the State of Colorado in accordance with Colorado State law in a location that was convenient for the Colorado State Brand Inspector to perform his Colorado State Brand Inspector function, which, on Wednesday, June 11, 2008, happened to be the parking lot at the auction. Daniel was also caught, at the same time, trying to help extricate somebody’s stallion from a dangerous entanglement with a fence.

It is still unclear which of these transgressions triggered the expulsion and the accompanying stream of invective, which concluded: “You ruined my horse business!”

Let’s review:

Daniel was meeting the brand inspector because, when horses change ownership in Colorado, it is the law that they get a brand inspection. The horses in question were two healthy, beautiful, well-loved, half-Arabians who had been dispossessed of their home by a horrible tragedy: the burning down of their owner’s ancestral homestead. Unable to find someone who would take them both, for she had intended that they live out their lives together on the homestead forever, she ran out of time and finally contacted Fresh Start Horse Rescue. The auctioneer’s response to this information was as follows: “I don’t give a [expletive] that your house burned down! This is private property.”

The anger and frustration that pushed the auctioneer to such heedless, needless cruelty are undeniably real, or he wouldn’t have exploded like that. I’ve often wondered about the extent to which the closure of the U.S. horse slaughter plants has affected him and others economically. I have my answer, apparently.

The question that still wants answering is this: Who “ruined” the auction’s horse business?

It is understandable that, Fresh Start being a horse rescue and, by association, part of the Great Animal-Rights Machine, one would be tempted to blame it and/or other area rescuers for the closure of the U.S. horse slaughter plants. However, the laws that closed the Texas and Illinois horse slaughter plants were state laws. There is no federal law preventing the operation of horse slaughterhouses or prohibiting the sale and transport of horses for slaughter. Nobody in Colorado closed the slaughter plants in Texas or Illinois, and to place blame for this on a local horse rescue is irrational. Well, stress can make people behave irrationally, though most people would not react to it by screaming obscenities at a woman whose house burned down.

[Note: Fresh Start is not a political activism group. It is a relationship between individual horses with needs and individual people who are willing to help meet those needs. If anyone wishes to find political activism groups to join or to blame, just go online and Google the words, “horse slaughter.”]

So, this begs the question, is it possible that a person who treats people this way could be ruining his own business? Or, could it be that the market is poor because people keep manically breeding more horses into the already insanely high density of horses in the area? Or, could it be that people who could bring money into the auction simply don’t care to buy or sell valuable horses in a place where the horses are chased from pen to pen while being pointlessly whacked with sticks, stallions are put in indiscriminately with mares (yes, we know of at least one extra foal produced last year just this way), and the horse's worth is determined not by pedigree but by the pound?

This auctioneer might also ought to have considered the implications of his business becoming known as the livestock auction that bans a horse rescue representative from its premises--the obvious self-implication goes something like this: What is it that he is afraid the horse rescue representative will see or discover?

Now, I admit I hate horse slaughter. But the closure of the U.S. slaughter plants has probably done more harm than good. It’s adversely affected the economy. It’s caused a great wasting of fuel. It’s eliminated wages in this country and given them to people in other countries. It’s been the one of the final nails in the coffin of at least one livestock auction in Utah that I read about in the paper. It hasn’t stopped slaughter, but it has increased costs and complicated logistics for the people who transport the horses (I know, the smallest violin in the world is playing a sad song…) but most of all, shutting down U.S. slaughter plants without an existing federal ban on the sale and transport of horses for slaughter has INCREASED THE SUFFERING OF HORSES GOING TO SLAUGHTER ANYWAY!

Now, I also admit that I have never been an activist in favor of H.R. 503 and S. 311, a.k.a. the slaughter ban. Horses are livestock, after all. If NAIS isn’t bad enough, the slaughter ban would be yet another way the government can intrude on a rancher’s right to decide what to do with his livestock. Livestock are property. If we give the government permission to tell us who we can sell our livestock to, I believe it follows that soon we could be handing over the rest of our private property and free enterprise. If horse slaughter is to end, I believe it would be better if it died a natural death as the result of people in the position to be affected by it having found better alternatives and making decent, educated choices, not as the result of laws made by people hundreds of miles away from the issue with nothing to go on but their emotions.

Yet, as owners of livestock, just as with keepers of pets, are we not blessed with being stewards of God’s creatures? Or, if you prefer, stewards of Mother Earth, of whom animals and people are part? Our laws will be the measure of our values as a civilization, when we are history. Shouldn’t our laws reflect our sense of stewardship? Shouldn’t our laws require that we care for the animals we eat? Shouldn’t our laws protect the chickens and the cows and the veal calves and the pigs and buffalo and deer and rabbits and grouse and require a humane and respectful life and death for all? And then, if we have such laws, and they also extend over horses, why should slaughtering horses for food be any less moral than slaughtering anything else that is beautiful and alive? As in the aboriginal cultures, we must honor and revere the life we take to sustain ourselves. We must honor the wheat and corn and coconuts, the chickens, eggs (for even the unfertilized eggs are still the product of the chicken’s labor to reproduce itself), the cows, the whatever. If we were to do this, then taking the life of the horse for food--whether for zoo animals, wildlife rehab, people in third-world countries, or for European gourmet diners--would not have the heinous stigma that it has for us today.

Wouldn’t it be better to have regulated, humanely-run, USDA-monitored horse end-of-life facilities providing jobs for people and horse meat for export, zoos, and wildlife rehabs all around the U.S., than to have stigmatized, vilified, contentious and economically struggling individuals trucking horses hundreds of miles to foreign countries with no regulation of how the animals are treated and no way to know what drugs and toxic substances are in the horses’ bodies? (Medication labels read: “Not for use in horses intended for human consumption.” Well, how many horses are intended for human consumption? None are, until the moment they’re sold to the dealer who makes that decision without knowing or caring about the animal’s history. Who knows what the horses have been shot up with, since they must be ambulatory to meet this fate?)

But until slaughter of horses is humane in practice as often as it is in theory and in the halls of Congress, until horses can be sold by people in intention that their horse contribute to the circle of life and in the knowledge that this use will not entail terror, suffering and abuse, until a consistently safe/painless captive-bolt or other procedure is adopted and required in a more relaxed, calming atmosphere, until the auction owners and “kill-buyers” are compassionate and care about the feelings of sellers and horses and about the quality of the end of the horse’s life, until they are dedicated to the humane treatment of the horses they traffic in, until it is no longer possible for a two-month-old foal to be left alone without food, water or future in the back lot of an auction yard while its dam is hauled away to her grisly death, until industry officials may no longer crack coarse, loud jokes about horses needing their heads cut off, in front of teary, shocked lay people, maybe, until then, horse slaughter should be banned. And if this is an idealistic pipe dream, then the slaughter industry should rest assured that it's digging its own hole.

Are these auction people just jerks, or are they a body of nice folks simply trying to make their living, who have been squeezed into their circle of wagons by a hooting tribe of ignorant animal-rights extremists, and their need for mutual support and solidarity has resulted in defensive and crass behavior on some of their parts toward members of the local public who have nothing whatever to do with their misfortunes and had nothing against them until they became abusive?

As with any extreme either/or question, the answer probably lies in both directions. Not all the industry people at this auction are rude. Some have been quite nice. But the atmosphere is charged. The anger is palpable. Stress and feelings of defensiveness cause some people to lash out, but not everyone responds to stress with meanness and cruelty. Except in cases of mental illness and post-traumatic stress, cruelty is the result of a choice, attitude, or predilection. How can a person who behaves with deliberate cruelty and deports himself like a two-year-old blame others for his misfortunes?

It is too bad people can’t just settle down and try to understand and help each other instead of sling muck everywhere, since in the end, we’re all as mortal as the horses. But we can choose to die alone in bitterness, or as part of a community, knowing we did the best we could.

The facts stated in the preceding editorial are true and verifiable. The opinions expressed around them are those of the author as an individual, and are not the official position of Fresh Start Horse Rescue, its volunteers, board members or anyone who has made donations.

Articles

The halter: part of the horse?
Colorado Law concerning stray and abandoned horses
Unwanted Horse Coalition study
Being there when it counts
The Amazing Silly Wizard
Resenting Compassion
Farewell to Ziggy
About Euthanasia
Roundup of goals met and not met
Appeal for hay, homes
Sponsor a Horse
2008 Volunteers, Donors, Thank You
Stuff is Available

Adopted in 2009

Ahshikii
Avalon
Sam
Cassie(Rosa)

Star Volunteers:
Community Connections
Pine Street Day Program

Adopted in 2008

Traveler
Sundance
Kid
Johnny
Blizzard*
Cookies

*in adoption process

Thank you to everyone who adopted! Because of your kindness we were able to place 15 horses in 2007 which was the total since FSHR's inception.

Adopted in 2007

Peanuts
Chief
Tootsie Roll
Talon
Lakota
Mystique
Batman
Eagle
Cassius
Emily
Reba
Scout
Cloud
Diamond
Hawk

Farewell to Ziggy

Ziggy Stardust was a very special fellow. Just ask anyone who has met him.

"My hat has Ziggy boogies on it now," said volunteer Kim, after a particularly sweet bonding experience. "I'm never going to clean it."

He was a tall, beautiful bay Arabian gelding, about 11 years old. He came to us from Norwood, CO. He was personable, smart and interesting. He was a great trailer buddy for Zil, the Ryans' baby Arab, when she had to go to the vet for the first time.

Most people knew him as the horse with proud flesh on two of his legs. That proud flesh resisted treatment of every kind we could bring to bear. Over the summer, it began to grow larger. And Ziggy began to lose weight. Was there a connection? We didn't know. We fed him what we fed Chokecherry, our cancer horse: lots of alfalfa and grass hay, pasture, Nutrena feeds and beet pulp. Choke gained weight, but Ziggy kept losing. Volunteers helped by donating feed for Ziggy, by purchasing medications for his proud flesh, by donating veterinary care credit, and by hands-on help with his care.

We went to the vet about his proud flesh again (could it be sarcoids instead?) and his weight, with the expectation that his teeth would be floated. The vet determined, for the second time, that the proud flesh was exactly that. Then we opened Ziggy's mouth to check his teeth. What we found was a horrible growth that covered his teeth and spread over the roof of his mouth. Without a biopsy, the doctor's best guess was cancer. But cancer or not, surgery to remove a growth of this kind would be so drastic, he said, that the horse would not survive it.

Three vets recommended euthanasia right then. But we couldn't just put Ziggy down without exploring our options first. He was too full of life, and did not seem to be suffering. We discussed it and decided to give him a month and see how he did.

Motivated by our love for Ziggy, the concern of the volunteers and donors, and faith in God, we rethought our feeding schedule. Close examination of his behavior revealed that despite all the animated flittering of his prehensile lips, Ziggy ate only one molecule of food at a time. We decided that a) he should be fed separately from the other horses; and b) since he had trouble chewing, he should eat his feed soaked.

We promptly received a donation of two bags of senior feed earmarked for Ziggy. Since then he was fed a warm, wet mash composed primarily of this twice a day. It took him a few days to realize he could actually take bites of the stuff, and soon gobbled it up like a big pig. It was wonderful to see him enjoying his food. He had additional meals of beet pulp and when available, chopped hay. Throughout the year, he was to gain about 300 pounds, and became fat, shiny and energetic.

During the winter, we didn't have enough pens for all the horses, so Zig wandered the place at large, and soon forgot he was a horse. He believed he was a dog or had license to act like one, and would approach any person he saw and loom, plopping his heavy head on their shoulders and swinging his rear around at them. Friends would roll their eyes and scratch away at his rump. Strangers would run in panic. We all got used to the sight of his bulk, hanging around by the hay shed. He even got to be ridden.

But the tumor continued to grow. Ziggy had good days and bad days, and finally the time came that he let us know he was ready to end his life with dignity in May. It was very hard, because we loved him so much.

Ziggy is buried under the big cottonwood in our back yard beside two other friends who also succumbed to cancer and whom we also loved: Ziggy's special friend Reba the Sweet and Spirited, and Chokecherry, Erin's First and Best Trail Horse!

We would like to extend our thanks to the veterinarian and his assistant for their efficiency and kindness during the procedure, as well as those who sent us cards and gave us moral support during this difficult time.

Best Friends of Ziggy

Barbara
Cathy
Kim & Larry
Pat
Amanda & Daniel

A word about euthanasia

For most of us, horse ownership is a lifetime commitment. For those who choose euthanasia when the end of life comes, there will always be a first time. The decision to euthanize is fraught with complexities, and when it comes down to the final moment, no amount of certainty is enough if you are not prepared. The loss of a horse is a vast experience, comparable to nothing else. Be sure to ask your veterinarian to explain the procedure beforehand, so you will know what to expect. That will make the sad day less traumatic.

Roundup of goals met and not met

Fencing - has begun to be replaced, but the process is too slow. We still lack funds for the 2x4 woven wire and green posts though we've been making do with barbed wire and cedar posts and T-posts.

Tamarisk eradication around stock pond - Tamarisk are cut down and ready to have herbicide applied to them. The stumps will have to be cut again just prior to the application of the herbicide.

Better Facility - We don't have a real barn yet but we do have two new frameworks for nice stalls - all we need are 3/4" plywood sheets. We got two new hanging feeders but need more feeders and water troughs. Some have been donated. We have torn down two old shelters whose roofs caved in over the winter. Roofing replacement is slated for existing sheds and hopefully new shelters.

Training - We have had two trainers volunteer their time and skill for a few days. Thank you Karla and J.W.! Amanda took advantage of the May 23-25 Karen Scholl Horsemanship for Women clinic being moved to Cortez, and had a fabulous weekend with her Arabian gelding, Stormy. She gained priceless confidence, knowledge, and experience that she is already applying to good effect with the FSHR horses. Karen is an amazing teacher. We still need someone who can help with training the horses who know nothing so that they will be more adoptable.

A Healing Touch for Animals® practitioner has joined our team to improve the health of our horses. If you are interested in healing touch therapy for your animals, please contact us and we will get you in touch with her.

Appeal for hay, homes

The hay situation is expected to be particularly bad this year, with prices going as high as $8 per bale. We still have at least fifteen horses that need homes, and a growing list of horses waiting to get in. Recently, we were happily able to place an orphan foal without it ever setting foot on the rescue grounds. We won’t refuse a truly desperate situation, however the feed issue is going to be critical this winter. We are Colorado state tax-deductible and still progressing toward our 501(c)(3). Hay can be donated to the rescue in general or earmarked for a specific horse. Donors will receive our newsletter, a certificate of donation and a receipt if requested and we have their address. Please help save a horse today.

Sponsor a horse!

For a small monthly donation, you can partner up with a horse of your choosing for as long as you like if the horse is unadoptable, and if up for adoption, until the horse is adopted. For far less than the cost of buying a horse property and rearranging your life, you will help support/rescue a horse and have as much of a hands-on relationship with it as you want.

2008 Volunteers, Donors, Thank you!

Through donating time, feed, finances and moral support you have helped keep us alive! (First names only listed on Web newsletter for privacy's sake)

Richard, financial support; Barbra, volunteering and pasture; Cathy, volunteering; Jim & Lisa, pasture; J.W., training; Karla, training; Pat, touch therapy and photography; Karen, discounted training equipment; Barbara, hay; Carol, oat hay & a feeder; Tyler, fencing and tack; Kim & Larry, days & days of volunteer work and hay; Johnny, hay; Diana, panels, oats and feed tub; Pat, water trough, tools, supplies, gates and saddle rack, Keith & Amy, feed.

Stuff is Available

CDs by Beltaine, a popular local Celtic band, are available for a $20 donation.

We also have hoof picks, coat and hat-hooks, and a variety of other unique items handmade from horseshoes by farrier extraordinaire Dale Wilson.

Inquire by e-mailing freshstart@happyryan.com

Fresh Start Horse Rescue incorporated as a Colorado nonprofit on September 19, 2006. We are located on 40 acres of pasture and piñon-juniper forest near Dolores, CO. We’re filing to become a 501(c)(3). Our mission is to provide a fresh start for horses (all breeds) that are abused, neglected or unwanted by rescue, care/rehab, and placement in loving homes where they will have a future; or, if unadoptable, by providing them with a permanent home ourselves; and to address issues concerning unwanted horses through education, action and outreach. FSHR will not accept any horse on the premises without a prior brand inspection. FSHR reserves the right to refuse to adopt out to anyone for any reason.

For the right person, a horse makes the best pet! Schedule a time to come see Kid or any others available for adoption or sponsorship by calling Daniel Ryan at 970-394-4120 or 970-882-7522. For more information about Fresh Start, our horses, adoption and sponsorship, visit our website, www.freshstarthorserescue.org, or contact us directly. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of our equine friends.