Heartland Horse

Rescue

Newsletter

  Well, 2008 is finally here.  We here at Heartland are shivering our way through January.  Hopefully, February will be a little warmer.  We currently have 16 horses on site and 3 in foster care.  This year we are working on renovations here at the Rescue.  There are a number of projects that we have planned.  We will be refencing and seeding the back pasture in April during one of our planned Work Days.  We have a number of old buildings that will be burned down.  We are going to be finishing the interior of the barn and fitting new doors on it as the ones on it are disintegrating.  We are also looking into the cost of putting new gravel on the drive.  It is starting to get pretty washed out. 

 We have quite a few events planned for this year, some dates haven’t been confirmed yet.  However, we will be keeping the website up to date.  We have found a sponsor and will be going to the Nebraska Horse Expo at the Lancaster Event Center in Lincoln on March 7th, 8th, & 9th.  We are still looking for volunteers to help with the booth and the stall.  Leiha and her baby will be accompanying us to the Expo.  We have four Work Days planned this year.  A Work Day is a day when we invite as many volunteers out as possible to help with projects around the Rescue.  The dates are April 12th, May 10th, September 6th and October 11th.  We will be holding our 4th Annual Open House on September 20th & 21st from 10am to 5pm.

Available Horses

Running Brave – 9 year old sorrel and white paint stud.  He will be gelded before he leaves.  He is about 14hh and has excellent ground manners.  Very easy to handle.  We were told he is broke to ride, but due to the weather have been unable to ride him to see how well broke.

Jasper – 2 year old sorrel and white paint.  He will be about 13hh when he is done growing.  He has been handled since birth and is halter broke and well mannered.  Due to his age he is not broke to ride yet.

Belle – 12 year old flea bitten grey thoroughbred mare.  She is about 16hh and is very well broke to ride.  She was an ex-race horse and was then retrained for arena work for intermediate to advanced lessons.  She is due to foal sometime in the next month or two.  We are uncertain as to the date because the people she came from ran their stud with all the horses.

Missy – 15 year old registered bay Appendix mare.  She is broke to ride, but needs someone with a firm hand.  She was also very foundered at one point and needs her feet trimmed on a regular basis.  We are adopting her as a companion due to this, but over the summer she should be able to be ridden.

If you are interested in becoming a foster home or in adopting a horse, please contact us at admin@heartlandhorserescue.com. 

 Fun FactA horse can drink up to 10 gallons of water a day. 

Horse QuoteHorse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. – W.C. Fields 

Short Story The story of Elsa the donkey.  I was looking for a companion for my pony Flirt.  He had foundered and we almost lost him.  He needed to be put in a smaller pen with limited amounts of hay, since I feed my other horses from big round bales put in a bale feeder and they get to eat 24/7.  I was at the 2007 Nebraska Horse Expo and stopped by the Heartland rescue booth.  I started flipping through the book of horses for adoption and there she was.  Elsa the donkey.  I fell in love immediately.  I spoke to Christina and filled out the paperwork.  Then i had to wait anxiously for Christina to do a background check and get references from people.  I knew that I would pass since all of my horses are very well taken care of and all my friends and my vet knew that.Finally Christina called and said she had all the information she needed and that Elsa was mine!!!!  However, she was in foal (which was a surprise) and we might wait till after she foaled to deliver her.  That was fine with me since now I had to digest that fact that I was getting two donkeys!!!   Christina had Elsa vet checked and he said she had a ways to go yet, so we decided to bring her home to foal.  Elsa finally arrived in April and I was just so happy.   She gladly followed me into the pen for some Nicker Makers and then I settled her in her new home.  At first everyone was a little shy about this new arrival with her long ears and funny voice, but pretty soon she become one of the herd.  Now we had to anxiously await her baby.  I read all I could find on foaling out a donkey and checked her every day for wax and signs of foaling, but she never would show any signs.  So we just waited.  Then one cold snowy, rainy morning in April/May I woke up at the crack of dawn and looked outside like I do every morning to check on everyone and I saw Elsa looking down at the ground at something white.  I quicky got dressed and ran out there and there was a all white baby still in its sack and not moving.  I tore the sack off and tried stimulate the foal, but she was cold and not moving.  Elsa just stood there looking at me and wasn’t too upset but seemed sad.  My friend Don came out and pulled the baby out of the pen and we could see that she had never took a breath, the cord was still attached and she had probably been born dead.  I called my vet and described the foal and everything that occured and he said there was nothing we could have done and the baby probably had lethal white syndrome and was dead before she was born.   I was terribly upset and cried the whole day.  Once we buried the baby, Elsa just went about her business and ate her breakfast.  So she must have known there was something wrong.  Elsa has become a family favorite and takes the grandkids for rides and follows me around like a puppy.  She just loves attention and brays at you first thing in the morning and every time after that when you come outside.  Flirt the pony and her have become very good friends and race and play in their pen all day.  Elsa loves to have her ears played with by my 1300lb QH gelding Dunny who leans over the fence and plays with her.   She has quite the personality and is really a comedian.She is very gentle and easy to work with.  So I am just so happy that I went to the Expo and found my donkey.  Thanks Christina!!!! 

We are always looking for short stories about rescue horses.  They need not be about HHR’s horses, but can be about other rescue’s horses as well.

 In the News

• On January 7, 2008 the Wall Street Journal had an article on unwanted horses.  We have created a link on our website to this article.  It was fairly accurate to what we are experiencing here in Nebraska. 
• The Omaha World Herald will be publishing a story on unwanted horses due to the publication of the article in the WSJ.  HHR was interviewed for this article.
• Tractor Supply Company is publishing an article in their February edition of the Out Here magazine which they sell in their stores.  This article is on a rescue in Nevada, however HHR has been listed along with a few other rescues throughout the nation.  They also have more information on us on their website due to this article.

Maggie Desperately Needs

One or More Guardian Angel Sponsors

Heartland Horse

 Rescue

Newsletter

It has been a while since I have been able to get a newsletter out. I apologize. My husband and I were married in September, so my last name has changed to Persing. We have been fighting a parasite here that seems to be drug-resistant. We have been using some alternative methods of treating parasites that our vet recommended. We are also in the process of getting everyone here ready for winter. We have one new horse, an 8 year old sorrel/white paint stud. Once he puts weight on we’ll be gelding him.

We have a number of changes here at HHR that we are working on and will be announced soon.

Events

HHR is having a raffle to benefit the horses over the winter months. It is a dollar per ticket. The drawing is for a gift basket that contains 3 energy drinks and a “Ribbon Book,” which allows the person that wins the raffle to choose their gift from any of the items in the book. (Items are shown at http://cpersing.ordermygift.com/Documents/IWOV/VIS/010-en/swf/shopbuy/Ribbon/GI_albums_2007_N.html.) We will be drawing for the raffle on December 18^th. Tickets may be purchased on line, but please contact us via email.

We are getting all of our paperwork and such together for the horse fairs coming up this spring ’08. We will be posting on the website about this year’s upcoming events.

Featured Horse

Candy

Candy came to us this summer. She is a sorrel and white Shetland pony mare. She is halter broke and mostly well behaved, however she was abused in some way in the past. She tends to run from people and is going to take some time before she will be friendly. She is due to foal in May 2008. She would make a very pretty little cart horse once she settles in here. Any and all donations would be greatly appreciated and are tax deductible.

To contribute towards a horse in HHR’s care, please visit our donation page… www.heartlandhorserescue.com/donation.html

Heartland Horse

Rescue

Newsletter

We have definitely been busy these last few weeks. We have placed out almost all of the Filley Feedlot Horses. We have 2 left; Alaina, a 3 year old bay mare that has been mainly unhandled and Maggie, a 23-25 year old QH mare that is now in foster care being weaned and putting weight back on. The court made their final ruling on the Butler County Horses on the 8^th of August. They were awarded 6 of the horses back and probation for 6 months. This is a situation that we will be keeping an eye on in case we are needed again. Also the situation in Polk County was resolved by the owner. We like to hear that the owner took responsibility. We are currently getting ready for winter. We are in the process of raising funds to stock up on small squares for the winter. We also would like to put in 2 automatic waterers. We have the piping already installed, but need the actual units. This will alleviate the hose and large tanks in the 2 pastures we use over the winter. We are also completing our barn so that a few of our horses will be able to be inside over the winter and we are putting stalls in the garage for some of the foaling mares.

Events

We are working on getting a couple of fundraisers going before winter to help pay for the hay and automatic waterers that we need. We will be posting on the website about the events. We are also doing a Funniest Horse Photo Contest. The prize is a $20 gift card to TSC and all entries need to be sent to cmiller@heartlandhorserescue.com by 10/30/07. Winner will be announced 10/31/07.

Featured Horse

Sassy

Sassy is a 6 year old welsh pony mare that we have had for 2 years. She is a permanent resident due to the trauma of being severely beaten. Sassy needs a Guardian Angel to help with her daily care. She has come around slowly but steadily over the time she’s been here. It is our hope that in another couple years we can start her under cart. She is gaited and would make a lovely cart horse. Any and all donations would be greatly appreciated and are tax deductible.

  If you would like to contribute towards the care of one of the horses at HHR, please visit our donation page…

www.heartlandhorserescue.com/donation.html

Heartland Horse

Rescue

Newsletter

We have been overwhelmingly busy this last 3 months. We took in 28 of the horses from Filley, NE. We had to have 3 of them put down right away due to old injuries and we had the 2 stallions gelded within the first 2 weeks. We have had 4 foals so far this year. Most of the horses that we took in from Filley have been placed. We do have a few that due to their condition will be with us for a while and need sponsors.

We are also holding 12 horses for the Butler County Sheriff’s Department until the court proceedings are finished. There are 5 mares in the group that are bred and look like they may foal out yet this year. We have had a call from the Polk County Sheriff’s Department and may need to round up a lot of foster homes as they are working on a case of 150 horses. We will desperately need foster homes. HHR is also now offering horse training for the public.

Events

We have a number of upcoming events. We are hosting barefoot hoof care clinic. Part one will be July 28^th and part two will be September 29^th. The clinic will discuss the anatomy of the hoof and the proper trim for the hoof function. We will also be doing a dissection of a cadaver hoof and showing a natural barefoot trim. We are also going to be selling Village Inn Pies and Valentino’s Pizzas to help raise funds for the horses.

Featured Horse

Trixie

Trixie is a bay mare that is not very old (specific age unknown) that is bred and we believe has EPM, a parasitic infection in the neurological system. In order to check for this problem the vet has to do a spinal tap. If EPM is confirmed, she will need treatment which could cost up to $1800 depending on how long it takes to get it under control. We are trying to raise funds for her veterinary care. Any and all donations would be greatly appreciated and are tax deductible.

If you would like to contribute to the care of one of the horses at HHR, please visit our donation page…

www.heartlandhorserescue.com/donation.html