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Post by schwung on Dec 31, 2008 3:52:24 GMT -5
New arrival at SAFE. Due to the fact that this is an open neglect case, I cannot provide many details at this time. Star was surrendered by her owner to SAFE with encouragement from Animal Control. We know she is in her mid-teens, is supposedly a TB although she has no tattoo, bay with a star/stripe. She's in extremely poor condition, with a BCS of about a 1.5, is covered with rain rot, and has a severe case of scratches/cellulitis. May be pregnant as she was in with several other mares and two stallions. In foster care as of this evening in Sultan, WA. More info and better photos to come. Photo below was taken prior to rescue.
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Post by cat67 on Dec 31, 2008 21:55:48 GMT -5
Was she another broodmare? Is she definitely open or might she be bred to the Appaloosa stallion also? She looks cute but even with the blanket on, I can see her spine standing up.
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Post by schwung on Dec 31, 2008 21:59:30 GMT -5
All the mares were with two Appaloosa stallions and yes, she is very likely bred. I took more photos of her today that I will post later.
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Post by schwung on Jan 1, 2009 14:55:50 GMT -5
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Post by cat67 on Jan 1, 2009 15:07:17 GMT -5
Good grief. Well, let's hope she is open although it's amazing how thin of a mare will still carry a foal. It just takes everything out of them to do it, though.
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Post by schwung on Jan 1, 2009 15:28:03 GMT -5
Personally, I think she is pregnant. She's very thin, and yet she has a roundness to her belly that doesn't fit with the complete lack of topline and the protruding croup and hip bones.
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Post by coconut on Jan 1, 2009 15:31:40 GMT -5
How horrible Poor girl! The photos tell a story don't they? *Heavy Sigh* and how many other hidden disasters are out there waiting to be discovered? So, I know there are probably restrictions on information but I'm just going to wonder this out loud..no need for an answer just yet...just getting the thoughts in print and out of my head for a moment... if I have this right, Star, the colt & filly all came from the same place and the Dam of the black filly had to be euthanized, right? Are there still horses where these horses came from? What about the two stud Appy's?
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Post by schwung on Jan 1, 2009 15:53:59 GMT -5
Well, it appears that no action is going to be taken against the owners as they are complying with AC, so I will post this.
Yes, one mare had to be euthanized, the dam of the black filly. We were contacted by the owner, who claimed the mare had been abandoned at the farm two weeks ago and they had been unable to reach her. When they finally asked for help, it was too late for the mare, she had been down for at least a day, was less than a 1 on the BCS, had paddled deep ruts in the ground around her, and was probably only hours from death when I got there (her temp was 93 degrees), fortunately with Dr. Hannah as she had said in her last email to me that the mare was down which raised my alertness and got me out there. Because the mare was not owned by either of the two girls there, and she was unable to be reached, we had to call Animal Control to authorize the euthanasia, which fortunately after dialing 911 they were able to do within an hour. There were 9 other horses there, all wearing blankets, but we could tell they were thin and asked AC to check the rest out. There was a stallion, the two foals, and the rest were mares, all Appaloosas except for Star and the Arab mare that was euthanized, all probably pregnant and several obviously so, and all thin, between a 2.5 and a 3.5 except for Star and the two foals who were much thinner. AC helped convince the owner of Star to surrender her to us, and I also told them I would bring some better blankets for the horses the next day. All the horses were owned by three girls around 20 years old, and they rented the pasture the horses were in and all lived in the Lynnwood area so were supposedly driving out twice a day to feed the animals. Hannah wrote up a feeding and care plan for the horses which I brought out the next day with the blankets, and found AC there again. A dead horse had been found in the back pasture, a young stallion about 6 years old, clearly starved to death. The horse had died two weeks ago.
As of right now, my understanding is a ton of hay has been purchased by a neighbor, and the owners are complying with AC and attempting to rehome the horses ASAP. We have been asked to take more of them but we do not have foster homes for them. I am of course very concerned about the remaining horses on the property, but none are in immediate danger now that Star and the two foals have been removed.
FYI - the woman who abandoned the arab mare and the black filly, and where several of these "foundation" Appaloosas came from, is a woman named Fran Farmer, whom I believe has been the subject of the Fugly blog and was begging for donations for hay sometimes last year. She used to live in Arlington, then moved to Idaho, and now has recently moved back, but no one knows where she is now.
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Post by leahlady on Jan 1, 2009 18:16:52 GMT -5
oh man.
what a beautiful girl. I am so glad she is finally safe.
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Post by cat67 on Jan 1, 2009 19:00:03 GMT -5
We are going to be seeing a lot of those Fran Farmer horses around. She produced hundreds of horses - low quality, unhandled, parentage unknown...Jean Elledge but on a grander scale with worse quality stock to begin with.
Lots of people cooperate once the law is involved. It should not mean there is no prosecution when you have dead horses and plenty of evidence.
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Post by monicabee on Jan 1, 2009 19:48:18 GMT -5
Could this be the dam of the black filly in better days? foundationappaloosaranch.20fr.com/photo3.htmlThe farm appears to have been founded by buying up some aged appaloosa mares - "foundation" meaning over twenty. Yes, another sad story. Star has a certain elegance that shines through even the rack-of-bones condition. The feet are dreadful - but Cedar's came around... I hope she is not pregnant.
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Post by schwung on Jan 1, 2009 21:17:31 GMT -5
It could be, but the name they gave me for the mare that was euthanized was Cami.
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Post by schwung on Jan 1, 2009 23:23:43 GMT -5
Here is some minimal info I have on the remaining horses. I am going to get some photos and more info from the owners as they are looking to rehome all of the horses. It sounded as if most of the horses were not broke, although a couple of them may be.
Diamond - Sorrel Appy mare, 14 yrs BCS 3/9 Heavily pregnant - possible twins? Large hernia on right side
Little Bit - Sorrel Appy mare, age ? BCS 3/9
Meera, roan appy mare, 13 years BCS 3/9 90% blind, getting picked on by other horses, most at risk of remaining horses and should be removed or euthanized
3 more mares 1 - gray Appy 1 - black Appy with white spots over rump 1 - I believe another sorrel/roan
And 1 stallion, black with white spots over rump
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Post by schwung on Jan 1, 2009 23:38:49 GMT -5
Here are the only photos I took of the other horses, and unfortunately they are all wearing blankets: Meera, blind mare: Chestnut mare in the front, the black stallion is in the red blanket:
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Post by schwung on Jan 2, 2009 0:23:27 GMT -5
Update on Star from her foster mom (and by the way, Star is living in a PALACE of a barn. A significant upgrade!):
Star is doing great. Her legs are looking better every day and the lice seems to have died off…My husband us putting in my hot water tank, so as long as she is doing good at this time next week, I will give her a full blown bath. I have sprayed her down with the microtek and gave her a good brushing today. She loved getting groomed-she is so itchy from the lice. More scabs fell off of her body and legs. She still has a fair amount of heat in her legs, but they do not have that strong of a pulse. I took her for a couple of hand walks today as she did not have any interest in walking out of her stall on her own…I think she is afraid she might miss a snicky snack if she walks out into her paddock. I will turn her out into the sand arena tomorrow to let her have a good roll in the sand(that should feel good on the itchy skin) before I wash her legs again and re-wrap.
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