Saturday, July 28, 2012

Saving Horses, wild or tame / Palomino pt.2


                                          Rocky's recovery: 4 feet off the ground, baby!

Palomino's report on Large Animal Rescue training


We spent the rest of the day at another training class where "Nigel", the training horse was buried and "trapped in the mud" and we used the proper tools to get him out. I did not know, prior to these classes, that you can literally pull a horse's hooves COMPLETELY OFF from the suction. We saw pictures of horses that were DEGLOVED from being pulled by their hocks to be moved. YOU SHOULD NEVER EVER EVER MOVE A HORSE BY IT'S HOCKS WHEN IT IS STUCK. IF YOU HAVE TO PULL A HORSE WITH IT'S LEGS, THEY MUST BE PADDED SO THE PRESSURE IS SPREAD OUT OVER A LARGE AREA AND NOT JUST BY HIS ANKLES WHEN PULLED BY A ROPE. WE LEARNED THAT FROM THE CHEST FORWARD, UNDER THE STOMACH DOWN, AND THE TAILS ARE NOT SAFE FOR PULLING!!!!! WE ALSO SAW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PULL A HORSE BY IT'S TAIL. THEY CAN PULL COMPLETELY OUT AND YOU END UP WITH A HOLE BIG ENOUGH FOR A BASKETBALL WHERE THE TAIL WAS! SO PLEASE, MAKE SURE SOMEONE KNOWS HOW TO PROPERLY MOVE A HORSE IF YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY!! It's funny, because the more I know, the less I know.

Matt and I are members of the LRTC Large Animal Rescue & Evac team, and are taking the classes and steps to be ready to help in our own neck of the woods. One of the last rescues performed (in Nevada) by some of the members of LRTC and other professionals was the rescue of a 2200 pound draft horse that had fallen about 40+/- feet down a steep ravine. It took them over 8 hours to safely pull the massive horse down a creek bed, (using the tools we have been training with) to reach a safe point where he could be met by his trailer and taken to the vet.







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Friday, July 27, 2012

ROCKY update from Palomino

Hi ya'll, Here's a pic of the beautiful Rock Star. He met his new "mommy" Sunday. It is not a done deal, but most likely it will be. Tricia is a wonderful and pretty much amazing woman. She is involved in Search and Rescue in her area, and has worked with previously untouched wild babies. She is a gentle woman but firm when she needs to be. Rocky was his normal "snotty" (healthy little stud colt) self, but Tricia didn't let him get away with anything. I think she is the one special person that I know that will be a perfect mommy for him. (Anyone looking for investment opportunities - "tissue" would be a good stock - haha because just thinking about it makes me cry). She will be coming to visit him and spend more time and we will probably have a "sleep over" at her place so he feels secure. Rocky is "extra bonded", more so than most of them, and we want his transition to be as easy for him as possible. When you take the time to do it right and make sure the bonding is there, you are so less likely to deal with "returned" horses that have more issues than when they left.

more from Palomino tomorrow! 
Terri 

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Friday, July 06, 2012

Write me to Freedom: plea from fictional foal's real twin

Dear Readers, This book cover shows Tempest, daughter of the Phantom Stallion and Dark Sunshine. In my stories, she lives in captivity despite her mustang heritage, but her welcome to the world was marked by quiet care, full-time nuzzling, milk from her mother and love. This photo by Laura Leigh, shows a tiny mustang foal who looks a lot like Tempest. Range-born, her peace lasted until predator helicopters stampeded her on new hooves, with her terrified herd, to a place where she was separated from her mother, slammed into a noisy truck with other bewildered babies and taken to one corral after another. Now, she is at BLM's Palomino Valley wild horse corrals, where, according to BLM records, 3 foals have been found dead in their pens. Will this foal survive to remember the range? If I could, I'd write open the gates to freedom for her and the other Jackson Mountain mustangs.

Labels: BLM, Jackson Mountain roundup, Palomino Valley, RainDance, Tempest, wild foals

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