Saving One Horse At A Time

My Unique Equine

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"Don't be the rider who gallops all night and never sees the horse that is beneath him"
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Too many people spend their whole lives running in the dark,driving themselves to gather more, better, bigger,and fancier stuff, only to find that they have harvested little that makes them truly happy. And they have run through too many precious days that cannot be relived.

Please open your eyes wide and view the horse that is beneath you. Praise the moments you have with others more than the time racing for lifeless processions that give false joy. Always choose the warmth of the living over cold gold!

-- Jelaluddin Rumi

The horse's on this page were either rescued from being put to death,purchased from someone who could no longer afford to feed them,or purchased from the auction in Madras,Oregon.Saving one life at a time has turned into a hobby! Some of these horses had very bad ground manners or just didn't trust people at all. In the very short time I had them (one I still have) they began to regain their trust in people and seemed to know right from wrong. Please look at the before and after picture's.

The mare in the picture below was bought at the Madras auction in April of 2003. She's a 7 year old Quarterhorse/Thoroughbred.When I bought her she was 4 months pregnant and sick.I didn't realize how sick she really was until the day after I brought her home.She had dried snot on both front legs all the way up to her knees and yellow slime dripping from her nose. The only thing I could think was "What is this thing I just bought and why did I buy this?"

As you can see in the pictures,(Sage is her name) has turned out to be a real nice looking mare. She is a little shy of new people and won't look you in the eye if you are a stranger to her,she loves affection,is awesome with children,does great on a lunge line and seems to know commands,is not broke to ride,does really well with getting shots,she's really good for the ferrier,has great ground manners and is a real great mom to Faith!! I can't figure out why she was at the auction.

My only guess is that she was sick.

First day

Sage ~ AFTER 7 months with us

1 month before she foaled

Sage~ First day with us

After 2 months with us

*Mack*(Max) is a 13 year old gelding that came to me because his owner didn't want him any longer. He would not load into a

2-horse trailer if his life depended on it. His owner tried for hours to get him to load and near the end, I got a call from a friend telling me if we didn't come pick up this horse, he'd be shot. I called my best friend that had a large horse trailer,she picked me up and off we went to get him.

It was only 20 min.of my best friend talking him into the trailer,and the next thing everyone knew, he was in!! He had hooves that looked like cow hooves(split almost up to the coronet band) and the worst case of rain rot I've ever seen. He had horrible ground manners,would rear over his stall if the horse next to him left. I thought a lot of the times he would really hurt himself.He was used as a barrel horse before I got him. I did sell him to a really nice lady who loves him to death!Below the picture of him is an update about him.

After 2 months with us

I didn't get a before picture

March 03,2004 I still have him and he is doing great.He seems quite happy with the cushy life he enjoys.Actually, you may be surprised to hear that I'm doing dressage with him. He is quite a nice mover when you get him to do it. It helps me and him with collection, balance, and yielding. I also do a bit of trail riding (last fall we did an all day ride near Eugene).

I didn't realize that he had such a close call with death because of his stubborness. He can be quite stubborn but I'm pleased to report that he now has excellent ground manners (just whisper the word and he does it) and is getting better and better all the time at dressage.

I'm also pleased to tell you his hooves are great. They are completely normal and strong. He gets his feet done with no sedation and is quite good. He's also not as herd-bound but does get a little nervous on trails by himself. He does much better with a buddy!

The trailer loading issue has also been improved. He doesn't love it and I can't just send him in one yet, but I can load him into a 2 horse slant. I haven't tried a straight load, but plan to try it soon. I surprised myself one night and loaded him into a 2-horse slant load at night...in the dark...and he did it!!!!

I'm still very happy that I found Max and he has been a great addition to my life. I'll have to send a recent picture soon (he looks great) for your website "after" photo. He has muscled up and is fit and shiny (no rain rot).

I don't exactly use the Natural Horsemanship style but do borrow many of the techniques. It has worked great for Max, but you do have to be quite firm at times with him.He can be very stubborn and doesn't like to give up control very easy. But he is so cute and so sweet that I just love him through the tough stuff. I definately think he found the right owner that will work through his issues with him.I'd hate to think of such a beautiful, wonderful horse being shot or neglected because of these issues.

Thanks a lot!!!

*Miss Lillie* The horse is a 7 year old Thoroughbred mare. She was purchased from the Madras auction. She was on the thin side because her teeth needed to be floated really bad. As you can see in her after picture, it didn't take much to get her looking better.She was a really good mare and had all right ground manners.

Miss Lillie ~ First day with us

After~ 2 months with us

Lilly came to me from our local vet.She is a registered 18 year old Arab mare. Her owner could no longer afford to feed her. Lilly had foundered 10 years before I got her. Her owner had some friends take her to our vet to be put down,because she didn't want a meat buyer to get her if she put her in the paper for free. Lilly was only 100 lbs.under weight.For the cost that the owner would have had to pay to put her down, the vet used it toward floating her teeth and to do some minor blood work.This mare was sold to a young boy who came 4 1/2 hours by truck and trailer with his mom.The boy who bought her has been showing her.I've heard they have received a lot of first place ribbons and even went on to nationals!

Lilly ~ First day with us

After ~ 3 weeks with us

Stormy is a 24 year old black/white
Stallion. I had wanted to buy a stallion to breed my mares with. I found Storm through a friend. They had a friend who couldn't really afford to keep him anymore. I went and looked at him and he was a little on the fluffy side. I was unsure about having a stallion, so I didn't buy him.

Three weeks later, I made up my mind and went and looked at him again. He was so thin that every bone on his body was sticking out. He actually looked like a dairy cow! I bought him just to get him out of there and to get him healthy.

The picture below is after 1 month with us.

My Unique Equine