HORSES WE WILL NEVER FORGET
Bentley was rescued in 2016 from a slaughter lot when he was just 2 or 3 years old. He was a 13 HH Welch/ Icelandic cross pony with so much love for people. He was a farm favorite and was always the highlight of our Hug A Horse events. Bentley was involved in a tragic accident in June of 2022. We worked hard for weeks to save him with multiple vet visits to the farm, as well as trips & stays at Tufts. There wasn’t anything we would not have done for this pony, but in the end the damage to a nerve was too great for his body to recover from and we had to let him go. There will never be another Bentley. Rest in Peace our Funny Valentine!
Bentley
OUR BLIND MARE
There are times someone sends me a picture or a story and it grabs me at my core…. no matter what else is going on, I KNOW I have to act upon my inner voice telling me this is a horse USHWR needs to save. Meet Gigi! Gigi was one of those horses. A friend sent me pictures of this 20 ish yr old thoroughbred-ish blind mare standing in a kill lot in PA starving to death. You see, blind horses are not supposed to ship to slaughter…well, I guess that‘s great in one way, but….. no kill buyer is going to keep a blind horse and feed it out of the goodness of their heart. So, this girl was standing around starving. She had to come to USHWR.
Gigi arrived the first week of June, 2019, has had her teeth done, put on a ton of weight, become a part of the herd, and had a barn mate that meant the world to her. Her world was small but familiar and it made her happy. She had a quality to her life that let us know that she was not ready to leave this world, until she WAS ready. She knew love and gave as much as she got. Gigi let you cradle her head into your arms. She was the quintessential therapy horse. We continued to care for her and love her as long as she was happy. But alas, Gigi let us know when her days were done….She spoke to us through her mood and her anxiety. Gigi left us one morning, quietly… with the assistance of the vet, we laid Gigi to rest. RIP Gigi! We love you.
GIGI
Buchanan (Buck) was our newest save from a slaughter lot. He was a young 2 or 3-year-old 17HH Thoroughbred when he arrived with loads of potential, or so we thought. Sadly Buck had a badly damaged L front knee. After a great deal of rehab and rest, and consulting 3 vets, repeated x-rays, we were advised that the kindest thing was to let him go across the rainbow bridge to run free of pain. We will all miss him terribly!