It’s hard to believe that Halloween is just around the corner. It is time to make sure there is enough hay in the barn, and get the snow shovels out of storage. Personally, I am glad the fly season is coming to an end. I have never seen so many grass awns (grass seed heads which burrow deep into an animal’s ear canal) down dog’s ears, and bot fly larvae trapped under the skin, of our local pets as I have this year, wow!
A bit of good news recently is that we found, and adopted, a horse to add to the ResqRanch program’s. We are pleased to introduce Sugar! She is a 17 year old, beautiful Palomino Quarter Horse mare, whose owner had been trying to find her a new home for 6 months. Sugar did more than her fair share of cattle and ranch work through the years, but eventually was deemed ‘stubborn’ and given away as a project horse to a young horsewoman in southern Colorado. It was discovered that in all those years of ranch work, Sugar never had any proper dental care.
You see, horses chew side to side, not up and down like us, dogs and cats. This means that they can develop sharp points on the edges of the teeth, which can cut the tongue and gums, make eating painful, and cause the horse to lose weight, and act up if their mouth hurts. Luckily, Sugar got her teeth problem taken care of, and then, just like that her “stubborn’ streak disappeared, and she became a loving, willing partner again!
Although her teeth issue was fixed, Sugar then developed an intermittent lameness which caused her to be not usable for ranch work anymore. The vets checked her out but could not find a cause for her limping. So that’s when her owner began to search for a new home for her, with someone who didn’t just want to breed her for her good looks.
We made the 4 hour drive to meet her, and she was just as lovely and kind as they said she would be. So we took her back with us, and she has been a darling ever since.She seems to be enjoying all the mane and tail braiding, treats, and endless loving she is now getting from the kids. So far she is the perfect addition to our programs, and we are really looking forward to starting her (re) training.
Although she has been ridden a lot in her life, she has always been ridden with a bit. Here at the ResqRanch, we don’t use bits on our horses, so they learn, through positive reinforcement techniques, to go where we ask, because they want to, not because they have to or suffer a painful jab in the mouth. It is truly wonderful, and we are truly grateful to be able to give a loving home to such a deserving horse who has given so much of herself.
Sugar will be the cornerstone of our kids programs that we will be offering next summer. She will allow us to be able to do more, with more children, and continue to help spread our message of positive reinforcement training for horses. Please keep us in mind as we begin the search for our forever home for the ResqRanch, it’s horses, and programs. We are seeking a home, with an indoor arena, and property large enough to accommodate an average of 8 but up to 20 horses in case of a fire or other emergency situation.
We would prefer be in or near north Evergreen with easy access to 1-70 so we can accommodate out of state visitors and participants in our programs, more easily. We will lovingly continue to provide our FREE educational services to the community. Have, or know of someone who has, an equestrian facility in north Evergreen that we can take great care of? We are currently entertaining several stabes in the area, but have yet to find THE ONE.
Please contact us through Aspen Park Vet Hospital so we can see if we might be the right fit!
Our next fundraiser will be pet pictures with Santa, coming the first weekend in December. Stay tuned for more details on that, until next time, wishing you all the best from DrQ and the crew at the ResqRanch and Aspen Park Vet Hospital!
