White Bird gets a lot of requests to take in horses that need to be rehomed. In many cases, the owner is just looking to rehome the horse and it doesn’t really need to go to a rescue organization. It just needs a new owner. Our priority is, and always has been, to take in only horses whose situation has put them at risk. This risk comes in many forms. The owner may have lost their farm or job and have no takers for the horse. Sometimes the owner has a health issue, or the horse has one that the owner can’t handle. Some horses are seized by animal control due to severe negligence or abuse. We have taken in two abandoned horses and one whose owner was deliberately starving him to death.
All of these horses were not only unlucky, they were in danger. We accept these horses in order of urgency whenever we have the resources to take them. Some animals meet our criteria for urgent need, but we are too full to accept them so we try to get exposure for them on this site. Today’s horse is one of these. I am going to quote the owner directly, as I believe she has conveyed the urgency of this situation better than I can. She has tried in good faith to place this horse for some time, but has run out of options and now needs help.
For those needing to place urgent need horses, we request that you contact us directly and describe your situation. For the reasons noted above, we do not post unscreened horses on this web site or allow them t be posted to our Facebook wall. We insist on giving priority to those horses who need help the most urgently. This horse certainly qualifies. He has had a hard life and deserves a dignified retirement.
“This is ReRock’s story.
He is currently at a farm in NJ where I have been paying board since I was forced to sell my own farm two years ago. He was sent there to try to find him a home. He has cancer in his eye and Glaucoma. He has steroid ointment that is put in his eye two times a day. His front legs face east and west so he is lame as well. I have been out of work for two years. I have been trying to save his life for the last six years and I can’t afford to do it anymore. This poor guy is an ex-show horse. He was shown from the time he was a year old. His head used to be tied up all night so he would be so tired in the morning that he would drop it to the ground. His tail was nerved and not done correctly so now it hangs to the side from the base. When I bought him in 2006 he twisted a shoe the day he got to my farm, and ended up lame. After six weeks on stall rest, I turned him out in a round pen to stretch his legs and he put his leg through the wooden fence. I had Vet come out and look at him and take x-rays. I was told then he would never be sound again. So I pulled his shoes and retired him. Something that was well deserved for a horse that had the life he had prior to coming into my life. So after six years and two of those I have not been working I can not afford this anymore. I wanted to send him to the auction 1) I would have done it when I found out that he would be lame for the rest of his life. 2) I would not be reaching out to rescues outside of my state. I have already tried the rescues that are local. I have offered him free to 4-Hers and horse owners that are local (Most of which know this horse). So I am now out of options. I have two weeks to find him a home since I can’t afford his board due on May 1st.”
For more information about this horse, the owner can be reached at: majiklady_33@yahoo.com
*White Bird note for potential adopters: We have successfully treated an ocular squamous cell cancer in one of our horses and know that this treatment is often successful.