Update!

Sorry it's been a long time since I've updated this, life has a way of getting in the way! Freedom is doing better than ever, he's at a different place now. This winter was pretty tough on him, he wasn't able to get as much feed as we'd like, and he finally was able to get his teeth done, (vet didn't want to do it until he'd gained enough weight to handle the anesthesia) but he's definitely looking better now! I had some awesome clients offer to give him a home, but with him still being my horse, so he's out at their house now. In less than a year, he's now gone from the brink of death to being spoiled completely rotten! We feel very blessed by our friends and their willingness to help the Freedom cause. I went out last night to just spend some "quality time" with him, unfortunately when you're as crazy busy as I always am, your rescue horse can just seem to be on the back burner. He was really appreciative of the brushing and love, and we did some ground work. By the time he's back to good weight he's going to be one well trained horse! He's definitely showing more attitude that he used to, but is still just as responsive and a really good listener. He had another vet check and was given the green light to eat (like a lot) of feed. It's pretty cool to think of what he looked like a few months ago, and how he looks now, and know he's on the road to doing great!

Progress!

Yesterday we decided it was time for the kids to ride Freedom. He's gained about 100-150 pounds, and his back has filled in enough to comfortably put a saddle on him with a lightweight kid. I had Jenna help me brush and saddle him, which he stood for like a perfect gentleman. Jake rode our friend's horse, Rowdy. I got a little nervous as I helped Jenna up into the saddle, since we've never seen him ridden before, but he acted like he'd done it a million times (which he probably has). We started walking with me right next to him, but got to the point where she was walking all over the pasture, steering, stopping, and getting him to go all by herself. Anytime she didn't ask correctly, he just stopped. I was so proud of both of them! After Jenna rode, we put Jessie (who just turned 3) up and he was just as good. I'm so impressed with Freedom, we know he loves kids but who knew he was so well trained!

Getting Ready To Move

It's hard to believe we've had Freedom for 2 1/2 weeks already. The horse greeting me every day from his stall is not the same horse we loaded into the trailer a few weeks ago. His coat is getting shiny, his eyes are bright, and he has enough energy to run around the pasture with the other horses. Shortly after my last post, I turned him out and he ran off across the field, dropped and rolled to scratch his back. I can't help but get excited about little things like this, because it is showing he is a normal horse again! He still has quite a long way to go though. A few days later we were busy, and had my friend feed that evening for us. The next day, as I got out to open the gate, Freedom looked over his stall door at me, but instead of greeting me with his usual whinny, he pulled his head back in the stall and wouldn't look at me. Talk about making me feel bad!

We're planning on moving the horses this weekend to a barn that is awesome. It is indoor, so no more slopping through mud to feed and clean. Also there is an arena and a round pen, as well as lots of room for turnouts and a hotwalker. It's a lot of work planning this move, but I think it will be the best for Freedom. My older kids have been a tremendous help with him, they get his halter and lead on by themselves and take him for walks. He is such a sweet soul, never walking too close behind them, and dropping his head down low enough for them to reach. I wonder if he was a kids horse at one time, or just really well trained. We'll see!

So Far So Good

Yesterday was the 1 week mark since we brought Freedom home. So far, everything is going better than expected. He's already looking a lot better, his ribs are filling in, and he has more energy. I've been working with him on the lunge line, and he knows how to pick up the trot and canter both directions, and how to whoa. Kinda important on that one. Yesterday I took him for a walk while my husband cleaned out his stall. After a few minutes, I unsnapped his lead rope and let him go. He cruised around the pasture, checking to see exactly how far he could go. After a few laps, he walked right back over to me, I resnapped the lead, and we walked together a little more. By then it was starting to rain again, and his stall was done. He wasn't too happy about his bucket of feed for some reason. Maybe because I'd just wormed him, that stuff can't taste too good, or maybe because it's the first time I'd forgotten his carrots. I'll make sure that's all it was when I go out this evening. Happy first week Freedom!

Vet Day

This afternoon we went out to meet the vet who would be checking out Freedom. He was a very nice (looked very young, but hey I'm getting old) man who had a great manner with the horses. My friend had 2 of hers checked for stuff as well, so we got to split the call fee. I got a little anxious as I led the vet and his assistant to Freedom's stall. I worried he would tell me something was horrribly wrong with him, and that I should put him down, etc.. He quickly checked him out, the assistant got a stethoscope and listened to his heart, lungs and gut noises. She finished and told the vet Freedom has a pretty significant heart murmur. He listened as well, and agreed. He explained that as emaciated as he was, there was a lot of muscle loss going on, including his heart muscle. Also he said more than likely he was really anemic, resulting in thinner blood. He said that after gaining a hundred pounds or so, it probably will go away. He estimated Freedom to weigh about 800-825 pounds, and said he should gain 300-400 to be at a healthy weight. I cannot imagine losing 1/3 of my healthy body weight, that would put me at about 80 pounds. That would not be pretty. Not that I'm anywhere close to my healthy weight though any weight loss would be nice :) I was given the green light on my proposed feeding plan, incuding beet pulp, rice bran, senior feed and canola oil in a soggy bucket in addition to his hay. I was also told to pick up some Red Cell and start feeding him that as an iron supplement. Apparently he's missing a lower tooth, no biggie but the upper one above it has grown down a ways. We'll get that fixed when we can. So, long story short, Freedom looks like a pretty healthy, sound, nice horse with a little (ok a lot) of feed.
I am convinced though that I NEED to have my own property. I have horses running through my blood, plain and simple. I want nothing more than to be able to look out my window and see my baby(ies) out there. I also think it is a valuable learning experience for the kids. Not that they are lacking in the animal department already... Of course my kids and husband are my number one priority, but horses run constantly through my mind, my heart, and my soul. They need to run in my backyard now too :)

Freedom Likes Doritos

After leaving Freedom in his stall, I slept like a rock that night. After the kids got home from school the next day, we headed out to see him. Pulling in, you could see his little red head peeking out at us. He whinnied at me when I walked up, I almost cried again! After a good brushing I lunged him for just a few minutes, and he knew exactly what to do! I clucked, he picked a little trot right up! Someone sometime spent a lot of work on this horse. I wonder what else he will show me he knows in the future.

Today, we went to visit Freedom, bearing carrots of course. He whinnied at me again, not sure if it's really meant for me or the carrots, but I'll take it. I had my husband walk him around while I cleaned out his stall. Jeramy came back in a few minutes telling me Freedom likes Doritos. Ok. Apparently Jeramy had opened the van door to let the 2 smaller kids see the horse, and there were a few Doritos on the floor, and Freedom went right after them, sticking his head completely into the van. I was thinking to myself, hello, how smart is it to take a new horse up to the car with babies in it, but after watching him do it again, realized that Freedom probably is really that mellow of a horse. I handed Julia a carrot and stood on the other side of the car to get the picture. Doritos are not the way to put weight on him, but it was only 2 or 3... Tomorrow he gets checked out by the vet. Prayers for good things!

Freedom

The other day I was browsing the farm and garden section of the Austin Cragslist. I like to see, and imagine, what I would spend my farm budget on if I had one. I ran across an ad, misspelled in the header, that caught my eye. 3 guildins for sale. Gelding is a neutered male horse, who knows what a guildin is. So I opened the ad, read the text, and then scrolled down to the pictures. What I saw almost made me cry right at my desk. The first 3 pictures were of fat, shiny horses but the fourth was a sad looking sorrel that was skin and bones. I thought for sure the people who posted it would have got in trouble from someone just for posting the picture. I reread the text, which read that they were asking 900 for each of the first two horses, and open to all offers on the last. I immediately emailed the people. My family and I are in no position to have a horse right now, let alone a sickly or hard keeping one. Something in my heart told me though that I needed to find that horse, now.

A few hours later the owner emailed back, and said that for $200 he was mine. I thought that was a ridiculous amount of money to pay for him, considering the shape he was in, but I replied telling her we'd be there the next afternoon to look at him. That night, I didn't sleep. I worried about all kinds of scenarios. I wondered what kind of person lets a horse starve. I prayed so hard for an answer about what I should and could do about it. I was exhausted the next morning, and still had to be mom to 4 babies, and wife to my awesome husband. We had to leave here pretty early in the morning, as it was over an hour drive to where he was. I prepped myself, knowing there would be little chance of me not getting him. I thought if he looked mean, or had a violent personality, I would leave him there and not look back. My husband and I talked about it and agreed the best thing would be to leave the kids in the car while I checked him out and dealt with the owners, just so their hearts wouldn't be broken if I decided no.

I expected to see a thin horse, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when we drove up. A small red horse standing tied to a tree, saddled, so extremely thin his hips stuck out as the widest point on his body. Every rib was very obvious. His poor skin was so stretched over his bony frame it looked like it would hurt him just to pet him. His eyes were so blank he might as well have been a stuffed animal. He looked like he'd already given up on life. My heart completely broke upon first sight of him, and I had to quickly blink back tears, smile, and act like a professional. My thought was that if I either cried or got in a fight and beat the people up, both of which scenarios I really wanted to do, most likely I would be leaving without the horse and possibly with an arrest. I knew I had to do whatever I needed to get him out of there. I introduced myself, and immediately started petting the horse and telling him it would be ok. I don't know why I said that, I wasn't sure I would even get him, let alone promise him anything. After asking them why he looked so bad, I learned that since the area was in a drought this summer, no grass grew, and when they bought hay, the other horses wouldn't let him eat. When asked why they didn't separate him for feeding, they finally admitted they were never home and hadn't paid attention to the horses in a couple years. My thoughts went along the lines of, if you don't have a clue how to feed your animals, please don't have them. At least they had the heart to sell him, instead of letting him die a painful death.

I politely turned down the offer to ride him, and checked him out as best as I could. His legs were very clean, nice conformation, sweet eye and face. I made them an offer, way less than they had asked, explaining that it would take a lot of money to get him in shape, and that he would have a great home. They agreed, and I told them I'd call with a time to pick him up. I let the kids out of the van to see their new horse, and they saw right past the skinny horse and saw the regal animal he once was, and hopefully will be again. My husband was so angered he wouldn't get out of the car. Bless him for supporting me on this venture. Thank God he loves animals as much as I do, and believes an injustice was being done. As soon as we got cell phone service out of the driveway, I called a friend who agreed to haul him the next afternoon. After a sigh of relief, I still wasn't sure I had done the right thing.

The next morning, we went to church, but I had butterflies in my stomach about the horse. What if they ran off with him? Sold him out from under me? My friend picked me up and we were on our way. I brought a day sheet to put over him in the trailer in case people could see through, I didn't want to be pulled over and questioned about his condition. We had a great time on the way down, talking and bonding over horse stories. There is definitely a bond between horse people that is like no other, and it's so cool to find others like yourself! We pulled up to the place where he was, but the gate was latched and there was a pit bull loose inside. For a second I got worried, but then saw the horse looking at me from behind the house. After a few phone calls, the people came out of the house. We fly sprayed him (he was covered in flies), and I loaded him into the trailer. I honestly expected a problem, knowing that he hadn't trailered in years, but he hopped right in after me like a gentleman. We did the paperwork and were off.

I'll never forget the look on that horse's face the whole way home. He had his entire head and neck stretched out the window, letting the wind blow through his mane. If a horse can smile, that's exactly what he was doing. He got such a kick out of finally being out of there, it was cool. I took a few pictures of him, and he looked like a totally different horse than the one we'd looked at just the day before. He unloaded well also, and took right to eating in his new stall. No more competition for feed, no more depending on grass to grow. I've got him now, he's mine, and I'll do the best that I can to ensure he doesn't worry or hurt or go hungry anymore. I will make sure that everything is going to be ok. I think I'll call him Freedom.