Our January Bucket Funder, Harley, is home.
But before I get into that, let me say… YOU ALL ROCK!
Through the internet, tom-toms, smoke signals and setting the world on fire, we raised every cent that he needed (and a bit more for his future care) in less than a day.
In less than 15 hours.
Amazing.
And, not only did you relieve the stress on Theresa’s shoulders as she prepared to heal this huge boy, you also armed her with the funds needed to barter with the farmer for the buddy.
THE BUDDY
Sadly, the farmer was adamant that he still needed the buddy back at the ranch. So, for now, the buddy stays put. However, Theresa kept the door wide open and offered him a nice sum to release the second gelding.
Theresa has to be careful to not let the farmer think he can negotiate a new car out of the deal, if you know what I mean… He cannot know there are a bunch of us waiting in the wings to throw more money at this. It just has to happen when the farmer decides he is ready. For now, Theresa walked away saying she’d come back anytime.
The good news is that the buddy was in better health than Harley, although that’s about all we can say on that.
And, to answer your questions, technically, the buddy is being fed. He has water. He is in a safe paddock. So, there are no welfare issues for AC to respond or inquire upon.
So for now, we just have to hope and pray that the farmer gets tired of the buddy and calls Theresa. Believe me, she will keep checking in with him…
HERE IS THE NEWS FROM BHFER ABOUT HARLEY’S ARRIVAL:
We’re back – as Pam and I listened to the owners tell us “he’s not going to load” a few times, Harley got the smell of alfalpha in the trailer and Pam had him on within 3 minutes. We were back at the rescue in no time.
Theresa with Harley at BHFER. That boy is BIG.
Once unloaded, he walked me to the QT paddock – glad that was where he wanted to go!
Harley in his new paddock
We let him have free roam for a bit to check out his new digs. I can’t wait to get the tangles out of his mane – maybe give him a bath. And I’m looking forward to his hooficure that will be done this afternoon – his feet look horrible and he trips just walking because his toes are so long.
The nasty halter...
He’s big – really big! I’ll stick and tape him this afternoon.
Diving in...
Harley’s old halter is history – it made it’s way to the trash can. His eyes and face have been cleaned, and he’s got on a flymask. He seems perfectly content.
I’m very sorry that we were not able to get his partner. But we left the door open, with an offer, for him. Hopefully they’ll think about it and change their mind. When we pulled away his partner was eating coastal while sort of dancing in place and letting out little whinnies.
Thank all of you for helping this giant boy. I have to go make a run to the hay store. Hubby is out raising the electric wire in the QT paddock. It looks like Harley could almost just step over the fence he’s so tall! I’ll post more this evening but wanted to let everyone know that he is here and it feels really good – but I am sorry about his partner. I’d like to ask for prayers that they change their mind and we get a call to come to get him.
THE NEWEST UPDATE
Here are a few more pictures from today. This is Harley and his friend this morning – Harley is on the right. His friend is about 2 hands taller than him – a very sweet boy too.
Harley is on the right
Harley was pretty brave about loading. It took only a little coaxing – once he got a whiff of alfalpha he followed his nose.
Alfalfa - YUM!
Checking out his paddock at the rescue.
Skinny boy
Fabio was very patient did a great job trimming Harley’s feet. Harley didn’t offer full cooperation but we think it was because he was in new surroundings – he wasn’t bad at all though. He just seemed very curious/cautious about many things. But tonight he seems all settled in and content. I bet he feels like he has new feet! Here are “before” pictures and I’ll get “after” shots of his feet tomorrow.
Yikes.
What a mess of tangles he had! This was actually the good side – I forgot to take a picture of the bad side before getting the tangles out.
So blonde!
Harley after a grooming – all of the tangles in his mane are gone. Tomorrow we’ll work on his backend which still needs to be cleaned. Without his winter coat you would clearly be able to see all ribs. He has a great appetite! He seems to feel better already. He’s holding his head up and looks so beautiful. His eye is not well and it has an odor to it. The little no-see-um’s and flies like it. There is a constant discharge but at least now it’s getting cleaned and he has a flymask. I have not seen him rub it though which is good. I didn’t get to stick or tape Harley today to see how much he weighs or how tall he is but believe me when I say that he is huge – the day just went by so fast – there was much to do.
Much Better!
Thanks again to everyone that made it possible to bring Harley here and to have his surgery which will be next week. I am going to continue to pray about his friend – actually, I’ll be taking a new halter over to him in the next couple of days and talking to the owners again, so maybe??
HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!
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