Starfish the pony was purchased at an auction in October 2007 for $5.00 He was headed for the slaughter truck. He was very thin, very lame and could not eat hay. We fed Starfish soaked pellets and alfalfa cubes for four weeks along with his pal Miss Espy. It was determined that because of his age (30+ years old) and the advanced stage of arthritis, we would euthanize him to set him free from his crooked body. He was loved and cared for and left this world with dignity and a full stomach.
Starfish - smiling in spite of it all!
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Miss Espy was purchased at the same auction as Starfish. She was a nicely registered 24YO quarter horse, very calm and friendly and very thin. She was also headed for the slaughter truck and a friend of Ruby Ranch Horse Rescue felt she deserved better than that. Miss Espy was diagnosed with a long history of founder along with severe dental problems and pervasive staph infection of her skin. She gladly ate all the soaked pellets and alfalfa cubes we provided and was humanely euthanized on November 30, 2007. She was buried with her pal, Starfish.
Miss Espy
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Lance was a permanent resident at Ruby Ranch Horse Rescue since 2004. He was found in a slaughter holding pen looking thin and traumatized and had numerous horse bites all over his body. It was discovered that Lance was a registered Missouri Fox Trotter. We gave him a permanent home at the rescue because of his long and successful struggle to overcome the ordeal of the slaughter process. This glorious cremello horse with blue eyes was 17H tall, weighed nearly 1400 lbs. and was saddle trained. He experienced a severe colic episode in which he could not recover. Lance was euthanized on September 9, 2007. His favorite pasture mate is showing an uncanny sense of longing for him. His human friends also miss him dearly.
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Jody is a 34" miniature, 15 years old, who foundered some years ago. No intervention was provided by her owners to help alleviate her pain or correct her front hooves. Xrays revealed severely deformed and rotated coffin bones but Jody had a strong will to live and bravely accepted the farrier work every eight weeks. After eight months, we knew that no amount of treatment was going to correct her lameness and more importantly, alleviate her pain.
Sadly, Jody was euthanized on May 30, 2007. Her sweet nicker is missed every day. She rests in peace at Ruby Ranch Horse Rescue.