January's Horse of the Month

Reveille on the far right, grazing with herdmates.

The Hidden Horse:

Reveille’s history is indeed sad. When she was 1 1/2years old, the Bureau of Land Management rounded her up, removed her from her mother, hobbling her front feet while waiting to put her on a truck bound for Florida where she would be put up for auction. When the horses were unloaded, Reveille’s face was cut with a large flap hanging loose (from a traumatic injury while enroute). She was taken behind the barns and tied to a post and just left, bleeding. A family in Florida who was looking for a horse to adopt saw her, hidden from wandering eyes. The family immediately called a vet and made arrangements to adopt and care for her. She was in a home with people who loved her, who had the means to care for her, and who treated her as a beloved part of the household.

When she was old enough to start training, she was sent to California to a trainer in Carmel Valley who was respected and good with horses. It was then discovered that certain things (a rope dangling around her legs, large trucks going by on the highway, and loud male voices)cause her to have “flashbacks”. Horses can also have post traumatic stress reflected in various ways. She would panic and blindly run through a fence, barbed wire, even out onto a highway to escape. Her previous guardians tried several different trainers who were excellent; however, her last trainer broke his arm trying to restrain her and, her owners, fearing someone would be badly hurt, felt they had no alternative than to humanely euthanize her. She had no place to go. Through no fault of her own, she was going to lose her young life because of the trauma she had experienced during the BLM roundup!

Her guardians contacted Redwings and after careful consideration, it was decided we could take her and not endanger other horses or personnel. She is a very sweet, lovable mare. The staff and volunteers who work with herd horses are aware of her fears and anxieties. She is handled with care, and has regular visits from our trainer and her trusted staff members. She is a lovely horse and has a great, but fearful demeanor. We were glad to have come to her aid. She will live with her herdmates as long as life allows!

October's "Horse" of the Month

The Horse of the month is Magic the Miniature Horse



However, for October the cast also includes
Marco the Cat,
Magic the Burro and
Mystic the Burro for Halloween.


Enjoy this Halloween at the Ranch.

About Mini Mayhem

Created in 2003, the first Mini-Mayhem Live! show premiered as an opportunity for model horse enthusiasts to exclusively show their mini models. What was offered then as a fundraiser to benefit the Redwings Horse Sanctuary has now turned into a popular annual event that has raised over $7,000 for the facility, and the 7th annual show is scheduled for September 18.

This year, a new venue has been chosen. The Lion's Club hall in St. Martin (Morgan Hill) is conveniently located for entrants coming from the Bay Area, Central/Southern California, or the Sacramento/Foothills areas. Many of these participants have supported the show each single year, and many more have generously contributed of their time and energy -- or items for the huge raffle -- which have helped to make this event the largest "little" show in California!

Hay for the winter

With your help, the horses at Redwings now have a part of this coming winter's hay. Hay is only part of what the horses eat at the Sanctuary. Your donations help pay for much needed pelleted feed, and other types of hay.
Supplements are also required for some of our horses to thrive. Our rescued horses get customized diets to help each of thier days be as full of quality as possible. Your donations also continue to help our educational efforts.

Thank you all.

Horse of the Month - Buster Brown

Horse of the Month is Buster Brown

Redwings was told that Buster had run away from his home and lived in the woods for several months. Frightened by the sound of guns when hunting season started, he returned home. To get “even” with him for running away, his owner worked him until his chest was bleeding from deep lacerations, and then hauled him off to the auction to be sold for slaughter. At that time it was still legal to sell equines at auctions for human consumption. It is no longer legal to do this.

He is Buster his first day at the Ranch:



Redwings was there that day to out-bid the “killer buyers” from the slaughter houses and make sure Buster would have a safe home and never have to “escape” again. He has since learned to trust humans and, in fact, loves all the attention and affection he can get.

Date of Birth: March 31, 1987
Breed: Percheron gelding
Redwings Arrival Date: December 13, 1993
Color: Bay -small star on center of forehead, LF & RH socks. Lt brn muzzle

Here he is Horse of the month today:

Visit from Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce

The Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce brought a herd of people and a herd of busses to Redwings to see the horses.

A great visit with Pearl

Doctor Robinson with our Pearl girl! Believe it or not Pearl will walk right up to her without hesitation! Guess these guys really do know a good person when they see one.


Doctor Robinson is a supporter over the last year that has been joining us from Pennsylvania she is a sponsor for Takoda. Her goal this time was to get Pearl to come see her and Pearl allowed for her to actually give her a hug. Pearl actually walked right up to Doctor Robinson for this picture I was with Stryder 10 steps away from her. This was simply a magical moment for Doctor Robinson one she will always remember she said.


Just thought you guys would like to see this.

A generous visitor from Paso Robles,CA.

In July we had a kind and sweet visitor from Paso Robles who donate money and supplies to the ranch. Here is her informational letter for your review.

Vist from Western Career College in April

The Ranch was visited by many students from the Western Career College. One of the RVT students enjoy the visit to the ranch so much that he send a thank letter to the group.

Here is the letter:

The student include an ancient picture of a horse:

The New Guy in Lockwood

“Discarded” – The story of Champ the Winery pony!

“Champ’s” story starts out at a winery in San Miguel, California. Champ is a small pony-sized bay Arabian gelding. He is at least 30 years old. He lived next to the winery alone. He had an owner nearby who fed him occasionally, but did not care or provide for him.

One day the winery decided that they needed the land that Champ lived on to build a new tasting room and Champ had to go. If he didn’t find a new home immediately he would have to be destroyed. A nearby horse owner, a kind lady, knew of Champ and his predicament. His owner told the lady that if she didn’t find him a home he would give him away as dog food!

Champ deserved better than a trip to the slaughterhouse. He was sweet and well-behaved. The kind lady took Champ to save him from this fate. She paid for him to be boarded at a local stable temporarily and then contacted Redwings for help. With five horses already in her care, she could not afford another horse - could Redwings possibly help this little guy and provide him with a permanent, safe home?

Who would take in a 30 year-old pony that had no other options?
Redwings agreed that Champ deserved to live out the rest of his days with other companion horses, at a place where he could be safe, cared-for and well-fed. So Champ came to his last home at Redwings in Lockwood. We wished we knew more of his past life. Was he a child’s first show pony? Was he loved and cared-for at one time?

On arrival at Redwings Champ received a full medical evaluation and was started on the road to re-gaining his weight. His feet were looked at by our farrier and his health was checked by our veterinarian. He found a place in our pastures for the rest of his life. His initial care required over $2000!
We are thankful to all of our generous donors who have provided Redwings with the means to make a difference in the life of a pony like Champ.

We can only help so many horses and we are entirely dependant on the generosity of our supporters. Every horse deserves to be loved and cared-for and Champ deserved a happy-ending to his life. If you would like to help Redwings care for more horses like Champ, please support us with your generous donation. Even the smallest amount can help.

Please return the enclosed envelope with your donation today. We thank you and Champ thanks you.

Ranch Forgotten March's Open House

Redwings Horse Sanctuary kicked off the new season with their first open house at Ranch Forgotten. After many days of rain, the horses, Ali, High Tide, Lover Boy and Snap were basking in the afternoon sun and occasionally going for a roll in the very muddy pasture. The volunteers were greeted by Michelle Beagle, Redwings President, and Roz Bailey, Redwings Vice President. Refreshments and tasty goodies were served by Dorothy Beagle and the horses had some treats as well.
It was also a pleasure to see devoted Redwings advocates; Leora and Lee Worthington pay a visit. We also caught up with volunteer, Karen Hallstein, who drives all the way from Cupertino for her weekly "horse fix". And many thanks as always to Ed Mitchell for allowing us to use his beautiful Ranch Forgotten as a forever home for the horses over the years. We hope to see many of you at the upcoming Redwings Open House at the main ranch in Lockwood, California. In the meantime, look at the pictures in our website's photo gallery.
Hooves up!
Lori

Even on Rainy Days

A rainy day doesn't stop our cleaning faces and training others. Check out Jorge with his hands in his pockets. Seriously though, he was soaking things up like a sponge. Good to have extra volunteers down to clean all the mud off. Lacey has had her eyelids so scarred by sunburn that she has to have her tear ducts flushed regularly. She also needs the tears that spill over her eyelids cleaned up on a daily basis. We love our horses.

Michelle

Farwell to Fanny

One of the early rescued creatures of Redwings Horse Sanctuary left us today. Fanny a lovely dark brown burro was originally snatched from the jaws of death at a local auction. The "buying" crowd were often buying animals to take to slaughter to gain just a bit more money than they paid for them. She and another burro Pal had been good friends. He had been a donkey rescued from the same auction house.

The representative that purchased Pal and Fanny came back with a story of having heard that they make "good donkey jerky". These two spent many years together in Carmel, until Pal had problems with his feet and body that led to our humanely euthanizing him. Fanny was introduced to the large wild burro herd soon after, and fit in very well. She was a real "in charge" sort of burro. She reigned as a leader in the herd for quite some time. Fanny was one of the burros that always loved human interaction. She helped teach many a visitor or volunteer that Burros have a great love for people if they aren't afraid.

In her later years, she developed cushing's disease, and more recently hoof problems that affected her quality of life. Today, Fanny left us and is surely off to greet her long lost Pal, and her herd mates Daisy and Belle. She passed peacefully and greedily chomped down a huge pound of carrots and equine senior in the warm sun.



Bye bye Fanny.

Chocolate Born Early 1999, Passed 1/13/2010

Wild Horse Rescued in 2000 from the Pryor Mountain herds bought from BLM auctions.

Chocolate was one of many wild horses from an over 100 horse rescue. Many organizations teamed up to help Chocolate’s herd. His body condition was skeletal, as were his many stunted yearling herd members. Redwings took the worst cases, as no one wanted them. We knew we could get them through recovery. We did with 100% success, all 21. Starvation and heavy worm burdens took toll on the herd. The board of Redwings Horse Sanctuary decided we would keep this herd together, and cherish their wild nature. These horses are a true link to the “music and dance” of body language and communication with equines. Chocolate was one of the less likely to allow people to handle him. Those who did get to touch him felt very special indeed.

Without Redwings, Chocolate would have surely died or been sent to auction leading to slaughter. We were blessed to enjoy 9 years with him. We’ll miss one of our favorites. One of the magical connections to North American history has moved on to meet up with old herd members running free in the stars.