Monday, July 30, 2012

Mardi today

When Mardi first came to us, she would not let anyone close to her.  Over the course of this past week, Mardi had appeared to be wanting to get some of the attention that the other horses were getting and yet she couldn't bring herself to come up to Veneta to get the pets.  Today, Veneta worked with her and she is now eating out of the dish next to Veneta.  She still has issues about being close to people, but she is trying.  Today's eating out of a bowl so close to Veneta was a SERIOUS undertaking for Mardi.  Tomorrow, she may not want to be so close and may revert back to her ways of staying far away and this attitude may go on for quite some time.  This is okay and it is also something we would expect because of her previous emotional trauma.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Japanese encephalitis

The Bluegrass Digest reported that Japanese encephalitis is a mosquito borne virus and is spreading across the southern hemisphere.  It is spreading from temperate and tropical Asia to Australia, Indonesia, New Guinea, and Pakistan.  The digest stated that it affects humans, horses, and birds and it is spreading rapidly.  Cross your fingers and hope it doesn't make it to the Northern Hemisphere.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Don Juan (Donny for short)

Donny is an alpaca that came to us at the end of last summer.  The person that donated him had went into foreclosure and then lost his lease on the land that he had rented for him.  He is a very sweet alpaca.  He is approachable if a person walks up to him gently.  Donny is up for adoption.  His age was never given.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Take on minis question answer

Someone asked whether we are taking on minis.

Yes, we do and/are taking in minis.  We like to know a little more about the minis before we take them in to best suit them, such as whether they are older minis, special needs minis (emotional problems, blind, special diets, dwarfs, etc).

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

elk grove milling stable mix

Elk Grove Milling Stable Mix is suppose to be a complete grain horse feed.  We buy it because we have a horse, Bucky, who cannot eat hay without collicking.  We'll introduce him (Bucky) more on another blog.  Veneta put a couple handfuls in all the dishes tonight as an extra treat for the horses and the alpaca and llamas decided to have a bite too.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

July 22, 2012

Today was a hot one!  The news said it got up to 104 degrees F.  The animals spent most of their day under the trees.  Lil, my personal service horse, spent a great deal of the day in front of the portable air conditioner.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Thunder

Thunder came to us back in October of 2011 from a family that didn't have much knowledge of horses.  They were getting rid of him because they thought he was too much for their daughter.  Thunder is not a mini, he is an Icelandic Horse.  When we picked him up, he had about a 4 inch long shaggy coat.  They told us that they had just had a farriar out within the week to have his feet done and were told he had thrush.
      When we got him off the trailer, he had a hard time walking.  He was walking on the heels of his hooves.  We called our farriar out and he examined his feet.  Our farriar told us that he did not have thrush and his feet were trimmed wrong.  He had too much heel and his toe was too long.  He had laminitis.  After a brief discussion, we had decided to put shoes on his front hooves for a short period because the soles were very thin.
      Once we had shoes on Thunder, we took him to the vet.  The vet said he had cushings and put him on cushings meds.  The vet took xrays of his feet and it was determined that he had a 15 degree rotation.  The xrays had also revealed that he had been worked hard while his coffin bones were pointed towards the ground because the tips of them were like gravel.
      Thunder is now bare foot once again and he is walking around fine.  It took most of the winter to loose his long shaggy coat but it is now gone.  Thunder is quite a pretty horse to look at.  Yes, Thunder can be ridden and has been on a couple of occassions but for the most part, he is a pasture pal.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

twitter and facebook

GARS set up a twitter account today.  The user name is gallopingangel.  We made our first post as well.

If you are interested in following us through facebook, we are on facebook twice.  The current facebook is: Galloping Angels Rescue and Sanctuary.  There hasn't been too much done with it at the moment accept building friendships.  We will be putting pictures of the animals on it soon.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Rosie

Rosie is a small shetland pony that came to us from Butte Animal Control in December.  The brief history they gave us was Rosie was with five other horses when they were picked up.  The other four horses were standard sized horses which two had to be euthanized because the front legs were twisted and broken beyond repair.  They said the horses were going over the fences because they were not being fed enough.  When Butte Animal Control attempted to catch Rosie, she gave them a run for their money.  She was not about to let them catch her.

When Rosie first came to us, she tried to go over a fence once and has never tried to do it again.  She did not want anything to do with us when she first arrived.  It has only been within the last couple weeks she has trusted us enough to allow us to touch her on a regular basis and put a halter on her.  We still don't know what level (if any) that she has had.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Mardi Gras and Lalique



As of this morning, the sanctuary got two new additions:  Mardi Gras and Lalique (pic not shown since there was too much computer memory used).    During treat time, Mardi didn't seem to understand what the treats were but it was quite different with Lalique.  Lalique worked hard to get Mardi's treat and finally succeeded when Veneta tossed the treat to Mardi and it landed just in front of her feet and when Mardi walked away.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Summer Heat

On Monday, July 9th, we made sure everything was in order for our heatwave. 

On Tuesday, July 10th, we had decided to let the horses that were in minimal shade shelter pens out during the heat of the day by separating the mares and the geldings/stallions.  We closed off the front from the mid-yard.  The mares hung out under the shade trees in the front and the geldings and stallions hung out under the shade trees in the mid-yard.

We did the same thing on Wednesday, but the older stallion decided he was going to torment all the geldings by chasing them around the yard and so he had to go back to his pen early and use his lean-to instead of standing under the trees.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Week end of July 7th and 8th, 2012

This week end had been a pretty busy one.  Veneta went out got hay for the horses and other farm animals, unloaded it and put it away.  Then she went to the store to get some baby carrot treats that she had run out of.  Then after that, Veneta cleaned up some of the road apples that were left by the horses.  She didn't get it all cleaned up because it got dark.

Dorothy had been working with Galloping Angels Rescue and Sanctuary facebook page and because she invited too many friends to quickly, there has been a hold put on to add on new friends and she has been waiting for facebook to release the page so she can continue to add some more

Today, Veneta went out and bought some worming meds and wormed all the horses.  She cleaned out some of the water containers and filled the water containers with fresh clean water.

Veneta had heard that the Grace Foundation was having problems getting rid of most of their horses and so she emailed them to check to see if they had any small or miniature equine.  She got an email back from the Grace Foundation letting her know that all the horses they have are full sized horses.

Friday, July 6, 2012

two mini horses with social issues

Veneta went out yesterday to meet a couple of miniature horses that have social issues.  Her first encounter with them was they stayed way off in the distance wondering who she was.  She stood in the pasture with Michelle (the wonderful lady that got them out of a bad situation) for awhile which allowed the two horses a chance to get aquainted with her at a safe distance.  She eventually walked over by each of the horses and stood by them.  As leary as both were, they seemed to have accepted her presence and viewed her as non-threatening.  Michelle told Veneta that one of the horses is sooo fearful of people that she shakes when she is on a lead line.  Michelle does not know what the previous owners had done to her but whatever it was, was not pleasant.  The other horse is an older horse that Michelle got  that hadn't been people socialized and therefore stays clear of them.

Today, Veneta spoke to others about the two horses.  She told them about the fear the one horse has.  Veneta was told that the horses would benefit being with her because of all the interaction she has with them and it would show the two horses that there is nothing to fear.
     She believes the older horse would come around rather quickly.  The other horse will take some time.  Veneta says that it may take years or she even may never learn to trust again.  She says only time will tell.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Horses of the 4th of July 2012

The day went as usual for the horses.  The evening hours were a different story.  They didn't like the fireworks this year.  Especially the illegal ones.  They didn't appear to understand what was causing the loud noises and they didn't understand why there were bright lights shooting up into the sky and only lasting for a few seconds.  Last year, they stood at the back fence and watched the fireworks set off by McClellan Air Park, this year they stayed huddled in the center of the dry paddock in a group and did not move.

The alpaca, lamb, and llamas didn't seem to be bothered.  They layed down under the trees and went to sleep.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Whiskey

Whiskey came to us a couple of years ago from South San Jose in California after nearly losing his life after what was a preventable accident.  At t he time, he was a stallion and these rodeo people put him in with two large stallions and a mare next to the pen came in season.  The natural reactions of stallions is to eliminate the competition and because Whiskey is a miniature horse, he got the brunt end of the elimination process which nearly cost him his life.  The larger stallions had ripped open his back from one hip to the other all the way to the bone.  The owners at the time did not consult a vet.  They took it upon themselves to doctor his wounds.  They doctored his wounds by taking unsterile table scissors and cut the loose flesh off with no anesthesia.  There was a Animal Control report made at the time.  The lady that originally sold Whiskey to these people heard about it and bought him back from them.  She was so devastated over the fact that she had sold him to these people and they were sooo cruel to him that she was emotionally all over the place.  When she turned him over to us, she asked that he remain in the sanctuary the rest of his life were he would be safe.  It took Whiskey's back five months to heal.  He's got a nasty scar on his back that grows hair lightly in the winter and he looses it in the summer.  He does show some signs of nerve damage as a result.  From time to time, he drags his hind leg (sometimes both) like his hips/legs go to sleep on him.  We have watched for signs of pain but we have not seen any.  Whiskey was gelded shortly after we got him.  The vet at UC Davis told us that it was a good thing we were gelding him because it would save his life.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Who we are

We would like to start by introducing ourselves.  We are Galloping Angels Rescue and Sanctuary, a non-profit corporation located in Antelope, California.  We bring in small farm animals with major emphasis on miniature and small equine that have been tortured, abused, neglected, older, medical issues, or just unwanted.  We have been setting up a facebook page if you would like to join us there.  At the moment, we do not have pics of our critters on there, but hopefully soon along with how they came about to be with us.  Our Facebook page is:  Galloping Angels Rescue and Sanctuary.   We do accept donations through paypal under the email address: galloping.angels@ymail.com.  If you need a receipt, you need to contact us directly and we will mail one to you.