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Surrendering Your Beloved Friend:
As mentioned
in our homepage, many of our horses come to us when owners can no longer pay for
vet bills, but don't want to put the animal down. Sometimes people can no
longer care for their horse or don't know how to proceed with a misbehaving
horse. If the horse has a chance at a new beginning we would like to make
that happen.
Surrendering An Unwanted Animal:
If you have an animal in
your care that is either unwanted or has been abandoned, you may call us for
help. If the animal has been neglected you may surrender the animal
without the authorities intervening, however...it only takes one complaint to
bring the authorities to your doorstep. Do not contribute to the abuse or
neglect of these animals.
Signs of Abused or
Neglected Horses:
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Emaciated or Extremely
Overweight (view chart below)
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Feet are Uncared for
(cracked, winged, or long toed)
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Experienced Physical
Abuse
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Abandoned for more than
3 months
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Fencing Unacceptable
(animal can escape)
Alternative Care
More often than not owners will experience the pain of vet
bills associated with major injuries. Or owners may not understand or have
the time to care for an injured horse properly. In this case they may
contact us for an evaluation. If the owner is unsure of how to proceed, we
will make a site visit to access the situation. In these cases we can
educate the owners on the proper care of these animals, and offer advice on
correct containment.
Rehabilitation Program
Once the horse arrives at our facility we assess the general
well being of the horse. By this we can identify a proper feeding
schedule. As soon as our vet can arrive a full exam will be done and a
round of vaccines will be given. Once the horse stabilizes and has bonded
with the others, he will be released into the pasture. He will also receive
a huge amount of exposure to children of various ages and many different
types of animals. This helps the horse become desensitized to his
surroundings. Throughout the horse’s care at our facility, he will be
handled on a daily basis ensuring a sense of peace. Through the use of
massage therapy we are able to correct behavioral issues that have been
embedded into the horse’s behavior. We have found that this technique can
be useful in horses with biting issues, cribbing, face sensitivity, pulling,
hauling, etc. Once we have corrected the behavioral issues we can move onto
the foundation training.
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Equine body condition chart
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| 1 Poor. Extremely
emaciated; spinal processes, ribs, tailhead, tuber coxae and ischii
projecting prominently, no fatty tissue can be seen. |
| 2 Very Thin.
Emaciated; slight fatty covering over base of spinal processes;
transverse processes of lumbar vertebrae feel rounded; spinal processes,
ribs, tailhead, tuber coxae and ischii prominent; withers, shoulders,
and neck structure faintly discernible. |
| 3
Thin. Fat buildup about halfway on spinal processes; transverse
processes cannot be felt; slight fat covering over ribs; spinal
processes and ribs easily discernible; tailhead prominent, but
individual vertebrae cannot be identified visually; tuber coxae appear
rounded but easily discernible, tuber ischii not distinguishable;
withers, shoulders, and neck accentuated. |
| 4 Moderately Thin.
Slight ridge along back; faint outline of ribs discernible; tailhead
prominence depends on conformation -- fat can be felt around it; tuber
coxae not discernible; withers, shoulders and neck not obviously thin |
| 5 Moderate. Back
is flat (no crease or ridge); ribs not visually distinguishable but
easily felt around tailhead and area beginning to feel spongy; withers
appear rounded over spinal processes; shoulders and neck blend smoothly
into body. |
| 6 Moderately
Fleshy. May have slight crease down back; fat over ribs spongy; fat
around tailhead soft; fat beginning to be deposited along the side of
withers, behind shoulders, and along sides of neck. |
| 7 Fleshy. May have
crease down back; individual ribs can be felt, but noticeable filling
between ribs with fat; fat around tailhead soft; fat deposited along
withers, behind shoulders and along neck. |
| 8 Fat. Crease down
back; difficult to feel ribs; fat around tailhead very soft; area along
withers filled with fat; area behind shoulder filled with fat;
noticeable thickening of neck; fat deposited along inner thighs. |
| 9 Extremely Fat.
Obvious crease down back; patchy fat appearing over ribs; bulging fat
around tailhead, along withers, behind shoulders, and along neck; fat
along inner thighs may rub together, flank filled with fat. |
Updated 5/5/2006
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