Post by schwung on Nov 9, 2008 22:00:49 GMT -5
Amber is one of the Jean Elledge horses from Snohomish County that SAFE has been quietly caring for since last March. Now that the case has ended and all the horses have been signed over to SAFE, it is time for her story to be told.
Amber, whose registered name is O Bahira Magidaa and whom Jean called "Bahira", was bred by Jean herself and carries, so I have been told, valuable Egyptian bloodlines. She is a striking liver chestnut mare with a flaxen mane and tail, approx. 14.3h.Sasha, whom we also got from the Snohomish County seizure, is one of Amber's foals. It is obvious that Amber has not had much, if any, handling and was merely used as yet another foal-machine.
Timid and extremely flighty as she was, and thankfully wearing a halter, we were able to catch her and begin to treat her lice and rain rot. Like Summer, she had huge bald areas on her back, knots in her mane and tail. Unlike Summer, she did not appear to be as thin at first glance. Looking at her carefully though, you saw the ribs and protruding hips - but you also saw a mare that appeared to be heavily pregnant.
When the first four mares came from Snohomish County, SAFE was already overloaded with horses from King County, so the four mares took over my arena. We had looked at Amber and though I was concerned about how quickly she would give birth, she did not appear to me that should could possibly be imminently due, given her condition and the state of her udder. Daphne had been working with Amber on getting her used to having her feet handled, as she was very difficult to handle and was not used to picking her feet up. However, she had been able to pick up a back foot a few days earlier, so on March 15th, 10 days after she arrived at SAFE, we attempted to trim her feet. Daphne was able to do the front feet easily, but she was not having anything of her hind feet. Daphne felt that since she had been good a few days earlier, that she was uncomfortable from the now obvious pregnancy, and didn't push it.
That night I went out to do my usual midnight feeding. I fed the horses in the stalls and paddocks first, where I had light, and then finally filled my wheelbarrow with hay and turned my light on the arena habitants, and witnessed Amber, down in the hogfuel, with a little chestnut foal halfway out, clearly alive. The other mares milled about uneasily. I immediately ran and grabbed my phone and put a call into Dr. Hannah, before running back out with towels and a blanket. The foal was all the way delivered by this time, and was sitting there blinking in the bright light. Amber was resting, but nickered softly to her baby. I quickly brought the towels and began drying the foal off and trying to keep her warm until Hannah arrived, where we determined that the foal seemed healthy and strong, and was a beautiful filly that looked much like her dam. Amber too, seemed to have pulled the delivery off without any complications. I will write more about Ariel in her thread.
Despite the additional burden of having to nurse a growing foal, Amber began to recover quickly as spring arrived. Her nasty winter coat shed out revealing a beautiful dark liver chestnut coat, which was extremely flashy with her flaxen mane and tail. Unfortunately, as the summer wore on her coat lightened once again to a more normal chestnut color.
Amber, of all the Elledge horses, has been the hardest to get through to, having surely spent most of her life essentially running wild. She remains difficult to catch, although once caught she leads politely and respectfully. Everything has been new for her - brushing, getting her feet done, wearing a blanket. She's very headshy, and wary of human hands in general, and we have yet to convince her that human hands can feel good. She does have a natural curiousity, and if you don't try to pet her or catch her she will approach you cautiously and sniff noses with you. She is one that is going to benefit from daily, one-on-one handling and having one person to bond with. For now, her security blanket remains the two mares Jasmine and Summer that she came in with.
Amber is currently located at the main SAFE facility in Monroe. Now that her filly, Ariel, has been weaned, she is in line for training. We've been told her bloodlines are valuable and rare, but of course, we will not allow breeding of any adopted mares, so she will need to learn a new career. She is a nice mare, beautiful and sound, and with handling and training is more than capable of becoming a nice riding horse. Adoption Fee: $500.
Photos shortly after she arrived at SAFE:
A few weeks later, after the birth of Ariel:
One month after arriving at SAFE, working on getting her hind feet done:
Six weeks later, she shed out to a beautiful liver chestnut:
By June:
Amber, whose registered name is O Bahira Magidaa and whom Jean called "Bahira", was bred by Jean herself and carries, so I have been told, valuable Egyptian bloodlines. She is a striking liver chestnut mare with a flaxen mane and tail, approx. 14.3h.
Timid and extremely flighty as she was, and thankfully wearing a halter, we were able to catch her and begin to treat her lice and rain rot. Like Summer, she had huge bald areas on her back, knots in her mane and tail. Unlike Summer, she did not appear to be as thin at first glance. Looking at her carefully though, you saw the ribs and protruding hips - but you also saw a mare that appeared to be heavily pregnant.
When the first four mares came from Snohomish County, SAFE was already overloaded with horses from King County, so the four mares took over my arena. We had looked at Amber and though I was concerned about how quickly she would give birth, she did not appear to me that should could possibly be imminently due, given her condition and the state of her udder. Daphne had been working with Amber on getting her used to having her feet handled, as she was very difficult to handle and was not used to picking her feet up. However, she had been able to pick up a back foot a few days earlier, so on March 15th, 10 days after she arrived at SAFE, we attempted to trim her feet. Daphne was able to do the front feet easily, but she was not having anything of her hind feet. Daphne felt that since she had been good a few days earlier, that she was uncomfortable from the now obvious pregnancy, and didn't push it.
That night I went out to do my usual midnight feeding. I fed the horses in the stalls and paddocks first, where I had light, and then finally filled my wheelbarrow with hay and turned my light on the arena habitants, and witnessed Amber, down in the hogfuel, with a little chestnut foal halfway out, clearly alive. The other mares milled about uneasily. I immediately ran and grabbed my phone and put a call into Dr. Hannah, before running back out with towels and a blanket. The foal was all the way delivered by this time, and was sitting there blinking in the bright light. Amber was resting, but nickered softly to her baby. I quickly brought the towels and began drying the foal off and trying to keep her warm until Hannah arrived, where we determined that the foal seemed healthy and strong, and was a beautiful filly that looked much like her dam. Amber too, seemed to have pulled the delivery off without any complications. I will write more about Ariel in her thread.
Despite the additional burden of having to nurse a growing foal, Amber began to recover quickly as spring arrived. Her nasty winter coat shed out revealing a beautiful dark liver chestnut coat, which was extremely flashy with her flaxen mane and tail. Unfortunately, as the summer wore on her coat lightened once again to a more normal chestnut color.
Amber, of all the Elledge horses, has been the hardest to get through to, having surely spent most of her life essentially running wild. She remains difficult to catch, although once caught she leads politely and respectfully. Everything has been new for her - brushing, getting her feet done, wearing a blanket. She's very headshy, and wary of human hands in general, and we have yet to convince her that human hands can feel good. She does have a natural curiousity, and if you don't try to pet her or catch her she will approach you cautiously and sniff noses with you. She is one that is going to benefit from daily, one-on-one handling and having one person to bond with. For now, her security blanket remains the two mares Jasmine and Summer that she came in with.
Amber is currently located at the main SAFE facility in Monroe. Now that her filly, Ariel, has been weaned, she is in line for training. We've been told her bloodlines are valuable and rare, but of course, we will not allow breeding of any adopted mares, so she will need to learn a new career. She is a nice mare, beautiful and sound, and with handling and training is more than capable of becoming a nice riding horse. Adoption Fee: $500.
Photos shortly after she arrived at SAFE:
A few weeks later, after the birth of Ariel:
One month after arriving at SAFE, working on getting her hind feet done:
Six weeks later, she shed out to a beautiful liver chestnut:
By June:
