Greetings!

I hope 2013 is shaping up nicely for you and you have many wonderful adventures ahead of you.

Here at Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue, our new year is starting out with a bang! 

Being one of our continued supporters, you know that we have put a halt on taking in any new rescue horses right now because we are inundated with previous rescued horses.  Until we can find homes and sanctuary for many of them, we just can't afford to take any more horses.  I have been very strong, and against my heart, I have had to say "I'm sorry but we cannot help that horse at this time". 

Well, a person can only say no so many times before a "yes" slips past their lips.  Let me tell you about Twyla and Zizi.

 

There is a place called Stallion Springs which is a beautiful rugged area in the Tehachapi Mountains of California.  It's a place where time hasn't changed much from the western rural lifestyle of the old days.  Where you can travel for miles on bumpy back roads without ever seeing another human.  Where trees, and grass, and springs provide habitat for all kinds of life.  It's cowboy country at its finest.  Cattle roam lazily grazing on the lush natural grasses.  Deer and bobcats and even bears live there without too much worry of being disturbed. 

One day someone was touring one of those dusty dirt roads and passed a big field where two donkeys were standing all alone.  As she stopped to admire them she noticed something very wrong.  The donkeys, or burros if you prefer, were standing on some grossly abnormal outcroppings.  These things were jutting out from underneath the animals like mini lava eruptions that curled and twisted when they left their firey underworld.  But as she studied the scene she realized that what the donkeys were standing on - those weird shaped rocks - were actually the donkey's hooves that had grown out of control for years.

 

Understandably alarmed the woman took a photograph and immediately posted it to Facebook with a plea to help these poor crippled burros that had been abandoned in this large field.

The photo cause quite a stir and several people and other rescue groups as far as New Mexico chimed in to try to get some help for the animals left behind years ago.  The photo came to my inbox, not once, but many times.  I had to turn my head and hope that another local group or individual would be able to help them instead.  I just kept saying "I'm sorry we can't take anymore - we are full".  But I continued to watch as the story unfolded. 

Animal Control of Kern County finally stepped in and managed to arrange capture of the two little Jennys (female donkeys) but still there was no place for them to go once captured.

I couldn't say no again.  I couldn't.  So I said yes, Lifesavers will take them.  We coordinated efforts with Animal Control and picked up Twyla and Zizi and brought them to the ranch.  They have been here less than 24 hours now and so there is much to learn about them still.  But our priority will be to get their hooves trimmed and back to health.

I named them Twyla and Zizi after the famous dancers of the early 1900's.  Because even with these crazy long curly hooves these two girls managed to run and jump and get around as needed with the grace and balance of dancers. 

The story of Twyla and Zizi is to be continued.  I will update you on their progress and prognosis.

Twyla and Zizi

The donkey rescue came on the heels (pardon the pun) of another Animal Control seizure that we are involved in.  Just one day prior to receiving Twyla and Zizi we got a call from L.A. County A.C.  There was a wild mustang being kept in a small corral in someone's backyard.  She had been there for years with no handling whatsoever and only enough feed to keep her from starving.  Her hooves also overgrown and causing lameness which can often become permanent if not corrected in time.

The officer in charge asked me if we could help them get this wild horse in their trailer because they had tried the day before and wasn't able to succeed.  They tried roping and pulling and it did not go well.  So four of us went and gently and quietly and ever so slowly asked the mare to go willingly into the trailer - she did.  There was no roping, no pulling, no touching at all.  Just communication in a way she could understand.  That's what we do here at Lifesavers.

This little mustang mare who we call J-Lo for now will stay with us until the abuse case is settled in court.  We hope she will be released to us and we can then gentle her and find her a loving home.  We, of course, will get her feet trimmed right away too.

J-Lo

So you see - its early in the year and we've been busy, busy, busy already.  With more than 500 horses under our care we really need your help - your continued support - your gifts of love.

Thank you for all the support you've given us so far - we can't do this kind of work without your help. 

Lifesavers continues to train and ready horses for adoption.  And, we've been lucky to have placed about 30 last year.  My goal for Lifesavers is to place 100 more over the next two years and if successful, repeat that goal until we can get to a more manageable number of horses under our care. 

In addition to my goal for adoption I also will try to expand our natural habitat sanctuary for un-adoptables.  We have at least 100 horses that just need to be the wild horses they were born to be. 

Someday soon "Wild Horse Canyon" will be open for visitors.  You will be able to tour Wild Horse Canyon by horseback, by foot, wagon, or vehicle.  It will wind and climb through the most beautiful landscape and scenery in California.  Everywhere you look there will be rescued horses grazing peacefully on the hillsides living the life God gave them when they were born.  The life that was taken from them somewhere along the way - and returned to them by you and by Lifesavers working together as a team.

Thank you for helping us make dreams come true for horses!

Many blessings,

Jill Starr

President

Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue

 

Thank you for making your most generous gift so you and Lifesavers can continue our lifesaving work - together.

661-727-1205

www.wildhorserescue.org 

info@wildhorserescue.org