new placements, new incoming

I am so happy to say 3 of our feedlot babies are going to new homes. Congratulations to Vivian , Luis and their daughter on their adoption of Fanci, Daisy and Rayna. they are bound for a great home in the northern hills of California, where pastures and shade trees await them. In less than an hour Luis had Daisy eating from his hand.... it is great to see a connection in such little time.

Shadow too has a new home pending, we are excited to know he will be spoiled and pampered in southern California, road trip here we come!

As well we have inquiries on several other horses and hope they will find there forever homes soon.

In light of the recent adoptions and the plight of numerous horses, mostly pregnant mares sitting on a feedlot, we are making room at the rescue. Pending sponsors and help with transportation we are making room for 4. 1is a paint gelding, 2 are pregnant mares and quite far along, and the other is an exposed mare and unknown if pregnant or how far along she might be.
I have asked these to be marked and am asking for help with sponsorship and transportation.
The cost to buy them from the kill buyer is $200 per horse, please help if you can.

The time is running out, the feedlot has an offer to take the whole lot to Mexico, so we have to act fast to save what we can. please spread the word, if you cannot rescue please donate to the rescue of one that we can help.

Pictured below are the horses I asked to be marked for the rescue, please help every dollar makes a difference. These horses are not safe, they are on the feedlot, we need help to get them safely to the rescue where they can deliver their babies and find a new life.

buckskin mare appears to be early in pregnancy, needs to be assessed
unknown paint, very thin and in need of good groceries
pregnant paint mare due very soon, needs to move before she delivers
pregnant paint mare needs to be rescued and deliver in a safe home

Fall Placements

These past few weeks have been busy our barn has been cleared of any quarantine, and we have been able to move horses to their new homes.
Pearl, Shawnee and Kay have been blessed to have found great new homes, thank you all for opening your hearts and homes to a rescue horse. We look forward to hearing news and seeing pictures of you all together.
We have some pending adoptions as well, I look forward to introducing our herd to their prospective new owners this weekend.
We are still looking for retirement homes for our Senior mare and Mule, we would like to see them go out together, If you can give them a home please let us know. Sponsoring them at your site is tax deductable as well.

This summer we have not had as many volunteer days, but have 2 planned for November.
Look for the details on your email, noticed will be coming.

With winter fast approaching, costs are up and demand for hay is up along with the price. Our pastures are greening up, but we still have numerous horses in the barn, The cost of a bale averages $14. Please help with a donation of a bale or two this month. We currently feed almost 3 bales a day to our 13 horses not on pasture. We also supplement our senior horses and our growing fillies, and appreciate donations of any type of bagged feed.
A special thank you to Kathryn of Dave's hay for your generous donation of supplements and of course for your ongoing great advice.

We are still looking for barn moms and days to come help clean groom and just give some TLC to our horses, as well as experienced people to help with chores. You must be over 18, local and available for morning 7-8am or evening 4-6 pm feeds and have your own transportation for this activity. Please email us if you are able to help.
Thank you to all of you have helped in the past and for Vicki, you are treasured as you know, and a huge welcome and thank you to Candice and Melissa for joining our efforts. Lone Oak could not operate without the generous support of time and efforts from our volunteers.

We are looking for donations of tack and other items for our upcoming ebay store as well as preparing for our annual tack sale coming in the New Year.

Thank you for your ongoing support everyone, watch for more updates coming soon.

update 10/18/11

I have good news to share, we have the vet clearance for our barn. The test results for strangles have all come back negative. Our little mare Mi Carina, is doing well, still on antibiotics for the respiratory infection she has, but she is bright, nickering at us when we enter the barn. From all of the handling and ordeal she has had she understands we are not here to harm her and now is easily approached. This afternoon I led her around by her halter and groomed her. She loves the attention leaned into me and kept tucking her head into my arm. The vet exam puts her closer to 3, so we don't expect her to be a big gal, more of pony sized. With her personality emerging it is perfect she will be suitable size and temperament for children.

Now that we no longer have a hold on the barn, there are several horses that will be going to new homes, we are happy to say, Kay, Shawnee and Pearl all have new homes waiting for them.
We have numerous inquiries on various horses and hopefully there are several more adoptions coming up, so watch for more updates coming soon.....

updates....

This past week was our scheduled vet day, unfortunatly we have a sick filly. Little Mi Carina had a high fever, and 2 days later developed respiratory symptoms and was quite distressed. Our little gal took a trip to Davis where she is currently being cared for. initial exam suggests a pneumonia, as well as an infection that we are ruling out for strangles. All horses in the barn are now back on quarantine until we can be sure no others have any illness of any sort. I have consulted with the vets at Davis and we are watching this little one more closely as she came in underweight and her immunity is simply not as strong as it should be. Good news that her blood work showed only an infection and nothing more serious. If her tests come back positive we will be testing our pasture herd over the next several weeks to check for strangles. Any horse who is not in the best of health to begin with is likely to become more ill like little Carina, but for the most part they do not require treatment and once they have become ill they develop an immunity and are unlikely to become ill again. We are taking all precautions at the ranch so until we can be sure we do not have any ill horses adopted out so we will not be letting any horses out nor bringing any in until clearance from our vet.

Mi Carina's trip to the hospital exposed her to all sorts of new things she has numerous examiners, blood tests, injections, ultrasounds, nasal tube and lots of noisy scarey machines rolling around her. She was not confined and stood quietly for everything. Her biggest objection was the alcohol wash for the ultrasounds, even that was only a side step.

We were very proud of this little one who was exposed to so much and took it in stride. It says a lot about her character. The vets estimate her to be more like 2 1/2, so older than the others, so we expect she will stay pony size. She will be available for adoption in a month or two.

Mi Carina will stay the next nights at Davis until she looks like she is on the mend.... the stall charge alone is $150 per night. Thus far her stay is estimated at $1000. Please if you can help us care for her, even the smallest donations add up.
We expect a full recovery with her and will be posting updates as we have them. Thank you everyone for your support.

Fall news...

October has come quickly as has the changing weather. It seems I was just putting on fly spray and here we are putting on rain sheets and checking on winter blankets.
This year we are over capacity and need to place horses before the winter sets.

If you are able to help with sponsorship on or off site please let us know. Life long homes are our goal of course, but we want to ensure it is the right home and the right horse match.
Off site sponsorship means you have the full care and use of that horse and the first option to adopt him or her.
We currently have 22 horses on site, 18 of which are available for adoption. We have 2 pending adoptions. With the winter weather we will be looking for local volunteers to help with cleaning, feeding and grooming of horses, during the wet weather there is little riding, but more time for general handling, ground manners and other ground work.

We are in need of donations of grain and hay to supplement feeding until pasture green up, as well we have fall vet checks and vaccinations.

A huge thanks to our regular volunteers who are so important to the daily function of the rescue, and special birthday greeting to Savannah, have a great day!!