Whistler

Whistler's story as it appeared in the October 2022 newsletter.    One more horse in need arrives at the sanctuary. Once again, another equine rescue recommended the owner call HPS. This is a good family with other horses in good condition and other critters all healthy. The owners were having trouble with this big boy dropping weight during the heat of the summer.

Animal Control was called, and the officer could tell all the other animals were in great shape and realized that the breed and age make keeping weight on the horse more difficult.

One of the things the veterinarian recommended was adding more fat to the horse's die. Canola oil is a GMO product made from grape seed (Not good), Coco soya is coconut oil, and soy oil is a GMO product (Not good), Cool Calories is Flaxseed, stabilized rice bran (not what I would use.) All commercial feeds have fat added. If you were thin and wanted to gain weight, would you go and eat donuts for adding fat? Protein adds muscle and extra fat is not the best for a skinny horse. Soaked alfalfa cubes are the best, just make sure they are all broken up. It is better than alfalfa pellets that don’t have the roughage that is so good for the horses. 

Whistler arrived with a Henneke Body Score of one. He has good energy for as thin as he is. The tall body is of a Thoroughbred Standardbred cross. This big boy is as sweet as any horse I have ever met. He may be in his late teens or early twenties. 

Our new arrivals story as it appeared in the September 2023 newsletter.     

Recently, we have had a consistent flow of new horses arriving at the sanctuary. Our newest rescue is a 30-year-old gelding. Animal Control had removed him from his owner and contacted HPS to take him in. We know older horses do not usually get placed out once they arrive at HPS, but they still deserve a chance for a better life. This poor guy was a 1 on the Henneke Body Condition Scoring System. This scoring system is a numerical scale used to evaluate the amount of fat on a horse's body. The scores range from 1 (poor, extremely emaciated) to 9 (extremely fat.) A score of 1 is the lowest point before death occurs.
We needed someone to drive the truck and trailer to pick up the horse from the facility, and David jumped right in and offered to drive. Thank you, David! HPS could not function without our wonderful volunteers! 

 The gelding walked right up to us when we arrived at the barn where he was temporarily housed. There was no problem putting a halter on him. I spent a minute getting to know him and slipped him a few alfalfa pellets; he really enjoyed those! As I started walking toward the trailer, he followed without hesitation. When I asked him to load, he paused to check things out first, but after a brief moment, he walked right on the trailer.

He has been with us for a few weeks now. He has the sweetest disposition and loves people. He has already gained a little bit of weight, but when a horse is extremely malnourished, it takes longer than usual to regain that weight. Hopefully, he will continue to gain weight and, when strong enough, can leave his isolated pasture and join the rest of the herd.