Standardbred Neglect Case
On September 9, 2010, Ruby Ranch Horse Rescue was called by Detective Gattenby of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office to take 10 starving horses from a known hoarder in Peyton. Because Ruby Ranch was not in a position to take all 10, Det. Gattenby called Julie at Dreamcather's Equine Rescue who agreed to pick them up. We have since picked up two from Dreamcatcher's.
What we discovered is that these 10 are from a herd of 27 Standardbred crosses that were posted on Craigslist after the owner was visited by the Sheriff's Office. They were starving at that time as well. Thirteen of them were picked up by a horse trader in Yoder where Carrie from the CLazyT Ranch purchased four of the most at risk youngsters to prevent them from going to auction. The remaining nine were bid on by Charlie Carter, the slaughter buyer.
The two mares at Ruby Ranch are Portia and Abby. Abby is one of two very thin youngsters. The other youngster aborted a four-month fetus on Sunday, Sept. 19. We are now assuming that these girls are a bit older and that Abby and Portia could be in foal.
Julie at Dreamcatcher's had the three studs castrated and is starting halter training on the others. None of them had been handled or had farrier or vet care in the past.
The three ex-studs are Ceasar, 15-17YO, Teddy, about 15, and Romeo, about 8. Ceasar is the most emaciated, Teddy has frost bitten ears and Romeo has the beautiful conformation. Ceasar and Romeo are already haltered and are leading up nicely. They all should be good mounts when trained. The mares at Dreamcatchers are in foal for spring babies. Also with the herd is Bam-Bam, a 4-month colt.
UPDATE: Our mare, Portia, foaled in March, 2011, and her baby, Maquinna, did not survive. Abby, the two year old, was not pregnant. Only one of the mares at Dreamcatchers had a foal that survived.