Sorry everyone, I know it’s been a while. If you’re looking for an internet provider, DO NOT get frontier. The trouble I have with them is unmatched. lol
Hopefully now that it’s working again, I’ll be able to update more often, fingers crossed.
This is what we’ve missed. A few great things have happened, and we’re taking the initiative with the abandoned mine horses in OH, KY, and WV, trying to come up with a good solution for both man and equine.
So here’s what’s happening:
Our team is the best.
No, I mean really. I assure you.
They are the best of people on the earth.
And thank to Kim K, Jim G, Amanda M, Stephanie P, Jessica C. and the others who help us in the journey, as well! — with Tinia Creamer and 11 others.
Adoptable horses in WV and Ky
People ask. . .what can I do?
You can donate, you can adopter, you can share! Everyone can do something.
Start right now by sharing our adoptable horse page!
http://www.wvhorserescue.org/adopt_horses.html
A huge thank you to Lifespring yoga and wellness for their amazing donation to us . We picked this up today, and it comes at a much needed time! They are now collection for Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue, INC, so hop on over and support them
Thank you!!
Now that the contest is over, it is back to reminding everyone to share our upcoming show!
OCTOBER 25TH – WINFIELD, WV
https://www.facebook.com/events/754798081219262/
We are still looking for class sponsors at a very reasonable $30 per class. This is GREAT advertising for your business or would be a great shout out to loved one while helping a wonderful cause!
This will be a great event even for those without horses – just bring the family out for a day of fun!
You can also set up as a vendor for only $15! Most any type of vendor is welcome. Also, fall themed vendors – sketch artists, face painting, etc – welcome!
Classes cater to EVERYONE!
If you’ve adopted from HOP, it is SO important you bring your HOP horse and show folks how awesome rescue horses really are!
Show Bill is listed on the link above and all other info.
Not another voting contest, but this is something our volunteers and adopters can take a moment and enter.
Tom’s of Maine will make the choice on which charities they will donate to:
http://www.tomsofmaine.com/community/50SFG-2014/Home — with Nicky Walters and 10 others.
Skye girl got some love today from a HOP volunteer!
This mare is so happy where she is now! It is all about the right spot! — with Stephanie Pauley and Gena T. Nicholas.
Jake Fiddy
(Better pics coming soon)
A huge thank you to Angela K. for moving horses LITERALLY THE entire day yesterday all the way into today!
But man, we got it done!
Memphis in his home today!
This boy enjoys full time turn out so very much (and needs it for the severe ulcers he has battled that are now healed to prevent re-occurrence), we really had to look far and wide with his adopter to find a place with tons of turn out time for him.
There were some very nice places, but his special needs made finding the perfect fit very hard.
We finally found the spot that would work for him for his adopter, and he went there today!
He wasn’t sure what to think right off the trailer, but he will settle in shortly, I know it!
Enjoy your amazing new life.
This type of Happily Ever after is what we do this for!
Old Jake has proved a stubborn lad in his two weeks in rescue.
He went to fosters, Nicky and Dorella, tonight.
We expect he will be learning and improving in no time!
His outlook is a far cry better than it was a short few weeks ago when he stood in an auction pen!
Someone tell me how Alfie the Wonder Pony hasn’t been adopted?!
He is a very regal, handsome guy! He is now gelded. He is personable and willing! Very smart guy right here! He does gait in the field, but he has a lovely extended trot, as well.
He has been started undersaddle and is doing so well. He will be suitable for an advanced beginner shortly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPAUmBTSZZ0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe2yM9egXjc
His fee is $350
Read the winners’ stories by clicking http://bit.ly/1qrQHXF and then View Entries!
1st: Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue, INC — $10,000
2nd: Rikki’s Refuge — $5,000
3rd: S.N.A.R.R Animal Rescue Northeast — $3,500
4th: Carolina Waterfowl Rescue — $2,000
5th: Friends Fur Change (www.facebook.com/groups/FFC2013) — $1,500
6th: It Takes a Village Canine Rescue — $1,000
7th: Heath’s Haven — $800
8th: Phoenix Animal Rescue — $650
9th: Satchel’s Last Resort Animal Shelter/Sanctuary — $350
10th: Blackhat Humane Society — $200
Jake is on the path to learning new skills!
At ten, I suspect he has seen a lot of auction barns. Stubborn and not really consistent in behavior at all, I imagine he has been auctioned and auctioned and auctioned. By some miracle, he has always skirted around the kill buyers, though. Waiting for HOP, it seems.
I wonder if he ever even had a name before we found him at auction.
He is lucky in a few small ways. If one could look at it that way. Though his feet are very overgrown, and he was clearly just running at large before being yahoo’d into auction with a herd of mares and a mule, he will be an easy physical rehab. Just a bit of weight and condition, he will look all ready to go. . .not the starving horse we are used to seeing over, over, over again.
But I suspect making him a real partner for someone will be what takes time.
That isn’t typically what we do.
We usually save horses that have spent their lives a riding partner. . .then someone starved them to the point of death.
The rare cases we get are horses where mental neglect is the biggest issue the horse has suffered. They are really the most difficult. Not to see, to show you, it is true. . .but to understand and repair.
In this guy’s case, I’m believe no one ever took the time to teach him.
He was the cheap horse someone kept buying at auction over and over and over. . .finding he didn’t know what was being asked, they loaded him back on a trailer and to the next sale barn he went. . .I bet this played out for years because while he doesn’t know much about what is expected of him, he sure loads like a champ onto a trailer.
That is usually good news for us. In his case, it just tells us more of his story.
Rudy is ready for his adoptive home.
While he will stay with HOP until it is time to start him undersaddle in about a year and a half if he isn’t adopted, the most awesome thing for him would be adoption and time to bond with his adopter until that time comes.
We are offering a discounted fee and a free 30 days of training when he is ready in the future to any approved adopter who would want to pursue giving him a home while he is still a young fellow (15 months).
Most beautiful horse ever in the rescue, Glory. . .1.5 years after her adoption.
This was one hard to see go mare. I wished she could have stayed here forever!
Folks, we are still looking for Class Sponsors for the show. Only $30 sponsors a class. This is GREAT advertising for your business or a great thank you to a horse lover you know!
Please share and consider sponsoring!
October 25, 2014
OPEN TO EVERYONE!
$15 Vendor fee
$30 Class Sponsorship fee
Pony rides and other events for families will be offered
ALL day Fun then Formal Horse Show
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/heart-of-phoenix-2nd-annual-horse-show-registration-11549989329
We need volunteers to make this even a success, please email Stephanie at scooke79@gmail.com or call 3046349419 to commit to volunteering for the show!
These are Mine horses Abandoned in a county where we do have permission to move them, which is something we are thankful for! This is not a county in WV with a large population of mine horses, and the local folks and county WANT them moved. This is great news. There are 7 total. We went to see, photograph, age, handle and film them today. We need rescues to step forward to help. We plan to accept the stallion, the lame mare and at least one of the other mares. We need help with at least the 1-2 year old paint filly, colt and maybe one of the mares. We need to get them moved by next week. They are very friendly. The colt is curious. Mares are bred back but none near delivery.
— with Tinia Creamer and 2 others.
New ladies cut t shirts!!! ( the gray) Love these
We also have the “more manly” shaped ones for sale as pictured in the light celery color.
Both shirts have the Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue on the back.
We have tons of colors in all sizes from child to 2x (and a couple of 4x), but we ask for people to give their size and then preferred color and perhaps second choice. We can’t promise the color will be available. We have v-necks, too.
$15 ea plus shipping of $3
You would think that given all the horrors I’ve seen with horses, after over 150 horses in all types of situations coming through the rescue, I’d be numb to anything. I guess I have become used to seeing skeletons and overgrown feet and downtrodden souls, yes.
But I am telling you that standing in a herd of horses thrown away on old mine sites like someone’s worn out laundry makes me feel more lost and sad than anything I’ve seen in a very long time.
What I did yesterday. . .
Learn more here
http://www.wvhorserescue.org/mine.html — with Stephanie Pauley and 3 others.
This is the reason we do what do we.
We asked recently for any adopters or volunteers that could lend some new posts for our testimonials page to let us know their experience with HOP.
Pecos’ family sent this:
“In December of 2013, my 11 year old daughter Jayden came across a horse named Pecos on the internet. From that moment on, she knew that was her horse. People warned us against rescue horses and tried to push us into purchasing a show pony, but her commitment to Pecos was unwavering. Finally, I gave in and began the process. First and foremost the care and concern that Heart of Phoenix shows for the horse and the adopter is second to none. They made sure that Pecos and Jayden were a match before even considering placing Pecos with us. Pecos has shocked all of Virginia. His ground manners are excellent and his trot is the cutest around; but the love and companionship that Jayden and Pecos has, brings tears to my eyes. The fact that HOP still keeps in touch, and wants to know how Pecos and Jayden are doing, makes it even better. I would not hesitate one bit to adopt again from HOP.”
Our October 25th Show bill
You are all invited – please plan to be there!
Heart of Phoenix will be at the WV Pumpkin Festival this year. This was an awesome fundraiser for us last year
“The availability of horse slaughter has allowed irresponsible breeding to grow unchecked in the horse industry, with American horses suffering terribly as a result. Some unscrupulous horse breeders produce far more foals each year than they can realistically train or sell, choosing instead to cull their herds by dumping their “excess” horses at auction. These breeders know these horses will likely be purchased by middlemen for foreign owned slaughter plants.
In 2006, the last full year there were operational horse slaughter plants in the U.S., approximately 100,000 American horses were sent to slaughter. According to the most recent census data, the total U.S. horse population is more than 9.2 million horses. The 100,000 horses who met a brutal end at slaughter that year represented approximately one percent of the total horse population.
Almost every horse born in the U.S. is the result of a person’s conscious decision to breed his horse or not to separate mares from stallions.
Breeders—and horse industry organizations that profit from their use of horses—must take an active role in ensuring the horses they’ve brought into the world are treated humanely.
Emphasize quality over quantity
All horse breeders should breed with quality in mind. The availability of slaughter has given unscrupulous breeders a per-pound-price market in which to dump their “excess” horses. Breeders should plan their breeding programs in a way that enables them to properly market and train each individual horse for a lifetime home.
Breeders should be willing to take back or re-home the horses they produce, at any time, for any reason.
Breed organizations have an obligation to help at-risk horses
Breed registries make their money from new foal registrations. While the registries for some breeds, like Thoroughbreds, require live cover (i.e., the mare and stallion must physically mate) for foals to qualify for registration, others, like that for the American Quarter Horse, allow artificial insemination, enabling one stallion to impregnate far more mares than he could if live cover were required.
The Thoroughbred industry has taken steps to help re-home race horses once their racing careers are over and is supportive of horse rescues that assist former race horses.
In contrast, the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) registers more foals than any other breed registry (more than one million foals in seven years), and far more Quarter Horses are sent to slaughter than are any other identifiable breed. The AQHA offers no significant assistance for at-risk Quarter Horses and has actively lobbied against stopping horse slaughter.”
Article from http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/horses/tips/responsible_horse_breeding.html
Update: We have been told the paint horse has been put down by DNR.
These photos are VERY hard to see. I understand people will NOT want to see them, but people have been quiet too long.
This was yesterday in Mingo county. I was FLOODED with emails from early morning through last night about this.
The truck (cropped to protect the identity of the driver) hit the horses. The black one is reported to have died on site. The paint was severely injured.
This is an outrage. Since 2011, we have wanted to help. Yet too many people in this county cover the issue up and will not let outside rescues come in to work on the herd sizes. They let unethical horse traders continue to dump horses, let them starve through winter, picking them up and hauling to auction and shooting those they deem unfit in some type of nightmare management of the abandoned mine horses.
I appreciate those Mingo residents who have HAD ENOUGH. Who are literally emailing me constantly asking what they need to do to STOP this mess there. Thank you for those who took these photos and sent them to me.
If you’re unfamiliar with what Abandoned Mine Horses are, what you’re seeing here, etc. . .please visit http://www.wvhorserescue.org/mine.html to learn more before commenting with questions here because I’ve likely answered everything you could ask in video on the link or via FAQ.
Please understand, we want to go in and help in this county. We haven’t been given a legal ok, and there is NO WAY to go into this rural area and push our way around.
We need the cooperation of local law enforcement, state legislature and nation-wide rescues to change this.
And I promise you, we are working on it and will see a day where these herds are safe. I do not know how long it will take, but we will see it through.
This is ABOUT Helping the horses. Please folks, do not turn it into something else. That distracts from the real problem.
— with Cindy A Smith.
So you can walk a minute in my shoes. . .
Concerning the mine horses, I received this email about the Mingo mine horses tonight. As you know, people drop these horses (horse traders) off or claim them as their own in order to haul them to slaughter or sell them on classifieds pages and locally. They are disreputable people, often involved in drugs and living in abject poverty, and the locals who have reported their names to me, linked me to their facebook profiles and so forth are honestly afraid of reprisals from them for giving the information.
One such person sent me this in an email tonight, following giving more information on the Two that were hit by the truck yesterday. She said:
“They where thinning out, and he (the lady’s farrier) said that the owners where getting them, relocating, killing, or taking them to slaughter…anything they can do…I’m assuming they’ve got word that the horses are being watched or (are) trying to cover there own tails.”
God have Mercy. How are we every going to help these horses with this going on?
Take a moment and enter HOP – We love this product here!
In 2013 Vetericyn helped over 129 charities through our annual Vetericyn Loves Animals Charity Giveaway. This year we want to help out even MORE! Be sure to nominate your charity today here: http://vetericyn.com/charitycontest/
We are off to Tractor Supply in a short time to accept the $10,000 check that will allow us to do some much needed upgrades and secure winter hay! So excited!
Look for our goofy acceptance video later!
I know many people have questions about the mine horses, and the comments are out of order, so I have a hard time answering them, if you have a question, feel free to email equinerescue@live.com or PM the page to make sure it is seen.
Thank you to all of those who came out this morning – see many of you later at the dinner!
Thank you Tractor Supply Co.!!!!! We are SO grateful for this!
Several months ago, after an adopter illegally sold one of our rescue horses, the HOP board made the decision to start freeze branding all of our rescue horses. Although we eventually got our stolen horse back and won the ensuing court case, it was a lengthy and costly pursuit. We have come to believe that freeze branding is the best chance to ensure we never have to pursue one again. Although no national database of freeze branding exists, (we sure hope there will be one in the near future) we believe that by posting ours again and again, if someone ever comes across a horse with it on Craigslist or at auction, etc, they will hopefully recognize it and contact Heart of Phoenix. HOP has decided to go one step further and share the brands of the few other horse rescues we know of who have taken this step! This branding is done under sedation and causes very little discomfort for the horse. Although we know some people object to it, when you think about it, we cause brief pain to our horses when we vaccinate them or float their teeth. We have included the link to our freeze branding video so that the public can see just how calm the horses remain during the process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm-oRZo0F0o
Please feel free to share this album in order to help promote freeze brand recognition for all horse rescues employing this process!
Hey Rescue Folks,
This is the video we promised you of our mini celebration after the TSC $10,000 check presentation yesterday.
Have a laugh
