New arrival

Today we had a new arrival at the ranch. A young dappled grey Thoroughbred gelding. A quick research of his tattoo told us he is registered as Sterling image. He is 7 years old, he will be 8 this April. He raced for a brief time with earnings of over $60,000 in his 7 wins. We are looking for a barn name for him, and are open to suggestions. Jessie has been suggested
He was known to be moody, aggressive and temperamental, but we saw none of that today. He walked into the trailer without hesitation, and did the same upon arrival at the ranch. He calmly walked on lead, taking in the countryside, acting like he had been here a million times. He greeted a couple of the horses, ears forward and with nickers.
As you can see from the pictures, he needs a bath. It will be interesting to see how much is dirt and stains and how much is his coloring. The dirty winter coat hides how thin he is, more so than the pictures show and it will take some time before he is an adequate weight.
Along with an adequate diet, he is in great need of dental work. Our vet will be out to examine him and bring him up to date with care. We'll keep you up to date on his progress.


Sterling Image seemed quite content to be at the ranch...
a closer look shows his thin body

JP greeted our new fellow with many nickers
He only peeked over his stall, not leaving his hay for long

old friends reunite

Today was another volunteer day and we had a new visitor to the ranch. Krissie was at one time the owner of Cassanova. It was obvious how much she cared about him. After having to sell him for financial reasons, Cass was not cared for well, and she was part of a group who helped buy him back. Cassanova is the sweetest horse, and he lives up to his name. He has a new girl under his spell, Joy and her daughter Savannah are adopting Cass. Here are a few pictures of them.

Cassanova on arrival

Cassanova today

Cassanova and Krissie

Cassanova and Savannah

Jakes Day

As some of you know Jake has been with us for the past year and change. He came with severe trust issues. While being ridden the saddle billet broke, the saddle slid, the rider fell off and Jake ran around terrified until the saddle came off. It was a traumatic event for both the rider and Jake. Jake was severely head shy, throwing his head up easy 30 or more times in a minute. Just dropping a glove would send him into a panicked run.

It has taken a long time to get to the point where he spooks in place, trusting now that he is safe. Still he has some fears but you can see he is trying not to give into that instinct of flight. Today was a wonderful day. We were doing so well, that I decided to try driving him. Sometimes change is a good thing. Jake was busy trying to figure out how I was directing him from 15 feet behind him, so busy in fact he forgot to be afraid. I was behind him, the long lines swinging around him, touching his legs, sides and even catching his tail, he ignored all of it, focused on the directions I was giving him. We spent a good 20 minutes in the round pen, walking, turning, stopping and then progressing to a trot, none of which set off his panic button.
I have added pictures.... I am so proud of him.

01/27/2011

Today was another sunny day and work continued on the ranch. Many horses worked in the round pen, and I am happy to report all did well. There has been so much progress on Jake, Kalib and my personal horse Zaida, all who came to us with serious trust issues, bolting, rearing and head shy, to name a few. All working well now off lead and joining up well in the round pen, nicely responding to voice commands, and standing their ground with blankets, ropes and lunge lines hanging off them.

While we worked, Tina and Rio had the run of the ranch, it was entertaining to Jake and I as we watched the neighbor horse running back and forth trying to figure out Tina. He was snorting and running away, but then would come back, so curious about this tiny horse. Is funny how such a little horse can cause such confusion to another.
It was a great day, how I wish I did not have to leave, but the paying job was calling...

JP update

JP is doing well, moving well on the injured foot, we will do another set of XRays in about 2 weeks to see how the healing is coming along. He enjoying some pampering from several girls this past weekend and of course enjoyed some sunshine too. He did manage to find the muddy spots to roll in outside, I think he just wanted to get another hour of grooming.
Thanks for the love girls!!!
Hey come back!!! you missed a spot!!!

sunny days

The weekend was a wonderful one. We had a great group of visitors, some new, some returning. Chores were completed, our big barn now has a matted isle, as do the stalls in our 4 stall barn. There were horses groomed and exercised and many others who simpley ran the hills enjoying the sunshine. I expect great pictures and video coming soon to share with you.
Thank you all for joining us at Lone Oak, I look forward to our next volunteer day.

Keeva's story on line

Remember to vote for Lone oak Rescue every day and tell your friends. The webpage has a quick link Also you can read the story of Keeva on the animal rescue site new beginning stories.
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/ars/story/keevas-fight-to-survive588.
Be sure to vote for Keevas story and help the rescue in our bid for a grant. Just think of all the medicines it would buy for other horses in need

reunited

Today Mia went to her new home. All went well and she settled in quickly.
Macy is there as well, however in a separate barn. We decided to turn her out to stretch her legs, unknown that Mia could see part of the arena. Soon there was quite the racket as they called back and forth to each other and Macy ran around like crazy calling for her mom. Of course we then turned them out together where they were so pleased to be together. Macy is 8 months old tomorrow, and to be reunited with Mom was a perfect way to celebrate.
Congratulations Janvi and Yogi on your new additions of Mia and Macy

Thank You Robyn and Sam

Despite the fog, backed up traffic and a cool morning Robyn and Sam joined me at the rescue to do some chores.
JP was given a nice long grooming session by the girls while I did mucking. We are happy to report that JP is moving much better and looks more comfortable in general.
Mia too had a long grooming session. During her turnout she had rolled in the muddy area of course, so she was quite the mess, both mane and tail tangles held onto little balls of mud. After looking nice and shiny we braided her mane and tail, of course she managed to shake out one of the braids within the hour.
Rio and Tina got their turn, smaller bodies but 3x the hair. They thanked the girls by promptly rolling around once they were turned out.
The rest of the herd is out on pasture, but found their way to us, somehow just knowing the girls has carrots to share. It was an enjoyable morning...

a wonderful start to 2011

What could be a better to start 2011 than to announce the adoption of 2 of our horses.
Today Macy went home to her new home, soon to be followed by her momma Mia.
It seems like just a short time ago we were celebrating her arrival.... and today she took her first trip alone. Macy traveled very well and settled in quickly.
We are so happy they have been placed together. Congratulations Janvi and Yogi. I know they have found a wonderful home with you and am happy to say close enough I get to visit.
I wanted to share a few pictures to remember our journey to this happy day.

I have been blessed to see it all... her first minutes

her first steps....

first meals.....

first naps......

first tries at running....

better the second time....

then keeping up with mom....

coming back to the ranch she met more people...

learned more lessons......

she learned about leading....
got used to her fly mask....

did some hanging out in the round pen...

ran around with mom there....

lots of naps.... in moms lunch of course

of course loved the turn outs....

exploring the 70 acres....

and becoming a part of the herd.

Macy has a wonderful new owner to love her forever, but I will always keep her in my heart...

Happy New Year

A very Happy New Year to all. 2010 was a busy year for me. For those of you who have been out to the rescue you know it is not fancy. Simply barns corrals and horses but still there is much to do. With winter rains of extra hands become few but the chores increase. The daily care as well as vet and farrier visits are handled by myself. Currently there are 16 horses to care for.

Added to the daily routine is the care of JP. One morning about 2 weeks ago JP was found to be severely lame. The vet was called and after ruling out an abscess we discovered he had fractured his coffin bone. The fracture is on the front left, and the coffin bone is fractured into 3 pieces. The consultation with the surgeon leaves us hopeful JP will make a full recovery. Meanwhile he is on strict stall rest for a minimum of 3 months, possibly longer. Until then he is in a custom shoe designed to immobilize his foot to allow healing along with pain medication.
JP has a wonderful personality and we are hoping he will come through this. We are in need of individuals to contribute to his care physically and financially. Each shoeing is $75 for that foot alone and vet visits and Xrays are required every 4 weeks. JP is very much a people horse and loves to have company and to be groomed. We are currently looking for a stall buddy for him.
Below is the Xray of the fracture.