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 After 3 weeks at the Rescue, Blitzen is starting to fill out. His initial weight, recorded by the attending vet on April 4th, was 720 lbs,. When we taped him over the weekend he was 893 lbs. This is still very thin for a horse of his size and bone, but he has come a long way already. He has lost his wormy coat and is now a shiny, deep bay color. This evening he really strutted his stuff as he objected to not being the first to be brought in. He certainly has the Arab floating trot with tail lifted proudly, and he was not pleased at being left while Tom put the blind horses up.
On July 1st our furthest flung volunteer will be arriving at the rescue. Laura is coming over from the UK for a month to help with the horses, and we are much appreciative of her 3,000 mile commute. Volunteers are the bedrock of the rescue. Without them we could not take in as many horses or give them as much attention. From mucking out stalls and cleaning buckets, clipping the Cushings horses, test riding for future adopters, to keeping our rescue machinery going, or simply being a companion to an individual horse, volunteers can come in all shapes and sizes, ages and sexes. We can never thank them enough.
White Bird has a new guest. Blitzen arrived on Friday morning. This nice boy has clearly missed many meals and needs a little help gaining back his weight. But underneath the ribs and rough coat, he is basically a healthy guy with a real fondness for people. We welcome Blitz to the White Bird family!
I’m sure it seems that today, everyone is asking you for donations. In the present economic climate, just about everyone needs help. Here at White Bird, the situation is much the same as it is with all non-profits. But as people have lost their homes and jobs, the number of horses needing help has never been greater. And horses have a special problem in that there are fewer places for them to go.
I don’t think we have ever devoted a post to a direct plea to readers for donations, and we wouldn’t want to do this more than once a year. But this year is going to be a difficult one. While it would be nice to have one or two large corporate donors show up and whisk our financial worries away, we know that, really, it is the $10 and $20 individual donations that keep us afloat. And for those supporters who never fail to make regular monthly or yearly contributions, there is a special place for you in Heaven and in the hearts of our horses. To everyone who has contributed over the past year – a big thank you.
How have those donations been used? Well, if we look at some of the typical costs associated with the Rescue, it is obvious that small amounts add up in big ways:
- A bag of feed – $15 feeds a healthy horse for up to a month
- A bale of Hay – $3.50 one horse for two days in the winter. We cut our own hay, but we still have to pay the farmer to bale it.
- Medicine – $.50/day for pergolide for each of our Cushings horses
- Aspirin – $5/month/horse, used as an anti-inflammatory for uveitus sufferers
- Sawdust – $10/month/horse
- Tack – fly masks $15, muzzles $30
- Farrier – $25/horse/6 weeks
- Wormer – $10/horse/6weeks
- Fencing – $6/board, 3 to a section; $15/post
As you can see, even small donations make a big difference in the care of horses.
You can donate via the PayPal button on the site, or by check direct to the Rescue address. These donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. In addition, you can support us through the purchase of our stylish White Bird products available at Cafe Press. We update these products from time to time, and if you see something you’d just love to have with a White Bird logo on it, just let us know and we will add it to the catalog.
The Rescue promises each horse we take in a home for life, either through an adoptive family, a foster home, or as a sanctuary horse. Your donations make that promise possible, and they allow the White Bird rescued horses to live out their lives in safety and dignity. We could not do this without your help. Please help us continue to care for these beautiful, deserving animals.
 Our new sign is finally up and in place, with a bed around it and sporting an array of bushes, trees and spring flowers.
Spring has very definitely arrived – “0 to 60″ overnight and winter has given way to soaring temperatures. Muzzles and fly control are the order of the day, with the sheep carrying out grass control around the barns.
Like most rescues we have a full house, and turning away legitimate requests to take horses is one of our most painful duties. But without setting a limit we do our current residents, and adopted horses that might come back, no favors in this economic climate. We have seen too many rescues, with the best intentions in the world, fold up due to over-extending themselves both physically and financially.
Consequently, when we get an inquiry we try to work with the owner, or interested party, to suggest options they might have depending on the circumstances, and also spread the word. To that end we have set up on the web site a Clearinghouse for horses, meeting the rescue criteria, in need of homes. It is not intended as a purely sales feature and we will moderate accordingly. The details of horses in need can be entered on the Clearinghouse page and we will post up those details, as with Jeb below. Anyone interested in the horse can go to the contact directly.
Horses in the Clearinghouse remain at their current location, and are not taken in by the Rescue. Any agreements are purely between the outside parties, and White Bird is not responsible for the validity of the descriptions nor the agreements entered into.
Jeb
Description of Jeb: 16 hand leopard Appaloosa, approximately 21-25 years old. Former dressage champion. Blind, but very sweet. Needs a home asap. Owner will put him down if he is not placed soon. He is a sweety!
Note from White Bird: Our experience with blind horses is that they are not the difficult keepers they might seem. Also their quality of life (depending on other medical issues of course) is good to very good. Having a quiet pasture buddy and an obstruction free paddock is essential. As our own Rudy taught us, their sense of hearing will often give them the appearance of “seeing” what is happening around them.
Location: North Carolina
Contact: susannewood39@yahoo.com (acting for owner)
While we try and keep up with posts, especially for those of you who regularly look in on us to see what is going on, this winter has kept us off the computer and busy just carrying out the mundane tasks of cleaning, feeding and watering. Jobs all seem to take twice as long in the snow, and although we didn’t lose power the “frozen bucket” routine also kept us occupied. We are more than thankful for our two regular volunteers this past year, Julia and Becky. Their ability to turn up throughout the worst of the weather was a great morale booster and very welcome.
Fortunately the weather has started to improve, and although we are sure it has at least one more kick in the teeth left, the temperature is rising, the days are getting longer, and the maple buds are showing.
We are pleased, once again, to be the recipient of donated vaccines from the Unwanted Horse Veterinary Relief Campaign and Intervet/Schering-Plough. Our sincere thanks to Dr. Randy Scarrow, for doing the farm inspection to help us qualify.
It has been some time since we ran pictures and stories of the White Bird horses, generally we do it when they arrive. So we thought we would introduce our current residents over the next month or so.
 Oreo Oreo
At 40+, Oreo is one of our senior citizens. A Welsh Pony, he was rescued from a situation of neglect and we understand that he was once a carnival pony. He has Cushings Disease and is on Pergolide daily, as well as a strict diet, which also must accommodate his “dentally impaired” status. As with a lot of Cushing’s horses he is often reluctant to shed his winter coat and usually requires a summer clipping. Apart from a slight “geezerish” attitude, Oreo is a friendly pony, and has as his pasture buddies our two mini horses, Belle and Wendy.
In this difficult economy, many animals are without homes and finding new ones has become more difficult than in previous years. This problem is not unique to horses and can be a special challenge for farm animals that have become family pets. “Smooches” the cow is a ten-year old Holstein who lost her home and simply needed a place to live out her life. While she is not an Appaloosa, we have a special soft spot for these sweet, family cows and made the decision to try to help. We awarded Smooches the status of “Honorary Appaloosa” and we are happy to report that she has found a wonderful new home. Our sincere congratulations to new mom, Taby, on the newest member of her family!
White Bird Appaloosa Horse Rescue
Thanks to Lennie Tierney, a prize winning video producer, we now have a beautifully compiled video, with accompaniment courtesy of Madeline MacNeil, and narration by Lynne Daley. We think it is a great addition to our published material and hope you enjoy it too.
 Fun in the Snow The White Bird horses have been enjoying the sun, the crisp air and the snow. For all their arthritic joints, old injuries, and for some age, they romped in the snow after being in their stalls on Saturday and Sunday.
 Star struts his stuff Star, in particular, showed off and with tail lifted proclaimed his Arabness.
 Refuelling The youngsters, on the other hand, were more interested in getting stuck into the hay, and as we are unlikely to see the grass (much less experience any growth) we are thankful for a good hay crop this past year.
 "Deep and crisp and Even" It may not stay quite so pristine but there will be at least some element of a “White Christmas” left by the end of the week. So from the White Bird Appaloosa Horse Rescue to all our family and friends, and readers, a very merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.
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After 3 weeks at the Rescue, Blitzen is starting to fill out. His initial weight, recorded by the attending vet on April 4th, was 720 lbs,. When we taped him over the weekend he was 893 lbs. This is still very thin for a horse of his size and bone, but he has come a long way already. He has lost his wormy coat and is now a shiny, deep bay color. This evening he really strutted his stuff as he objected to not being the first to be brought in. He certainly has the Arab floating trot with tail lifted proudly, and he was not pleased at being left while Tom put the blind horses up.
