Update on Paddy

We have some bad news. Sadly we have made the very hard decision to have Paddy put to sleep. He recently spent a few days in the hospital due to the serve sarcoid which is causing him all kinds of grief. The sarciod is massive, not responding as well as hoped to the treatment which has become painful and he isn't a happy horse. It could take 12 months or longer before we can heal the massive skin tumor and even then poor paddy isn't comfortable with his arthritic knee's. Even if we treat the sarciod in the end he still has bad arthritis. In the end we have to make a choice based around quality of life and what the out come might be if we continue treatment and I really do think that we are prolonging his suffering by keeping him going. Paddy has never been a happy horse since we have had him and since arriving home from the hospital he has isolated himself from the other horses and just doesn't want to be near anyone. Its heartbreaking and I believe our decision is the right one. Paddy is booked into be laid to rest on Tuesday morning.

 

 

Rescued from the Laidley dogger sales

The penned section of the local sales are for "meat competition", horses deemed worthless by other human beings who don't seem to care where the horses end up. Maybe they are unhandled, aged, sick or injured, but sometimes perfectly healthy, sound horses end up in the meat section for what ever reason. When we bid on dogger horses we make sure we only bid against meat buyers. These four horses are our latest rescue.  

1. Unhandled mare and colt foal - Penny and Cooper
2. Unhandled colt about 7-8 months old - Chevy
3. Aged palomino mare about 20 years old - Holly

Chevy at the sales

Penny and cooper at the sales

Cooper, Penny and Chevy at home

Chevy

Holly

Holly

 

If you would like to make a donation to help us rescue more horses like these four then please deposit money into the account below and email saveahorseaustralia@yahoo.com.au with your details for a receipt.

 

We out bid the slaughter house for all 4 horses. Penny and Cooper were $340, Chevy was $90 and Holly was $220. We attend these sales once every few months and we can only rescue what our funding allows us to rescue. Please help us help the horses by making a donation today.

 

BSB: 084852
ACC: 189538671
Name: Save A Horse Australia
Bank: NAB

Mickey is doing really well

Mickey has been in care for just 9 weeks now and he is doing really well. He was so badly emaciated that he spent several of those weeks at Exclusively Equine Hospital and was suffering from advance stages of emaciation due to being starved near to death. We had blood tests done to make sure that his condition wasn't from an underlying illness and in just 9 weeks he is almost perfect health.

On arrival

photo taken 8 weeks in care

We Need Your Urgent Help

We love rescuing these poor unwanted, neglected souls but sadly we cant do it without your help.

 

Our outgoings are around $11,000 per month including feed, vet care, supplements, chiro, medication, hospital appointments, training and everything else our horses get. Our rescue horses want for nothing and we pride ourselves on being able to give each and every horse exactly what it needs to get the best start in life. At the moment we have some HUGE vet bills.... Gold Coast Equine Centre is $2,200. Exclusively Equine is $682.28. Samford Vets is $453.70. Nerang Equine Practice is $3198.40. We also have a transport account with Signature Transport for $1374.50. We are URGENTLY seeking donations to get these accounts back down to $0. For everyone who donated money to this campaign someone will be in the running to win a mystery prize... Every donation no matter how big or small will go into the running... The winner will be announced on the 31st of August. Please donated today, even just $1 will make a huge difference to us... You must use your surname as the reference and so we know your donation is for this campaign please use "VET" as the reference as well. This will make sure you get a ticket in the draw. All donations over $2 are 100% tax deductible. We cant continue to help rescue horses if we don't have funding so each and every donation is so important in helping us continue saving lives. Thanks guys for your ongoing love and support... PS. The mystery prize is AWESOME!!

BSB: 084852
ACC: 189538671
Name: Save A Horse Australia
Bank: NAB
Ref: VET

 Don't FORGET to email saveahorseaustralia@yahoo.com.au for a tax receipt. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping us help the horses.

 

 

Update 1/8/13

It has been a few months since our last update. We do updates daily on our facebook page so don't forget to join. :-)

Bingo was purchased on the 22nd of June at the meat sales for $360. He is a 5 year old STB gelding and was in pretty poor condition. He had nasty ulcers and wasn't a very healthy horse. In 6 weeks Bingo was fat, healthy and ready for a trainer. Bingo has been vaccinated, microchipped, wormed, teeth, feet and will be heading to the trainer on Monday for 2 weeks before being offered for a home. :-) Keep an eye out on our page if you are interested in adoption.

At the sales

Week 6

 

 

Honey was bought from the same sale as Bingo. She was purchased for $150 and was in shocking condition. Honey is a 18 year old TB mare and has since put on weight well. She isn't ready for adoption yet but we are hoping in the next 8-12 weeks.

 

 

At the sale

Day 1

Week 6

 

Jinja was also bought from the same sale as Bingo and Honey. Jinja was purchased for $220 and was in light condition but nothing to bad. She has since spent 2 weeks with a trainer and is now looking for a new home. Jinja will be posted in our "horses for adoption" section very soon. She is 14.3hh and 13 years old needing a confident rider suitable for any type of riding.

 

Jinja at the sales

 

week 4

week 6

 

Illusion is a 6 month old Appy x Stock horse foal bought from a different sale. He was purchased for $260 and was completely unhandled. The poor little fellow has been with us for less than 1 week and is going well. He loves being touched and handled now. He will make a great horse for someone one day soon.

At the sale

Home

 

 

Maggie was bought from the Knackery at the beginning of the year as a completely unhandled broodmare. She had just had her foal taken off her and was tossed away to be killed. We paid $250 to save her and she is now at the trainers being broken in. Maggie is 8-10 years old and such a sweet mare.

 

 

Maggie at the trainers

First rug

 

 

Savi was rescued from a TB stud. She had a little colt still on her but was in emaciated condition. She has since put weight on slowly but well. Savi is 21 years old and won over $100,000 as a racehorse.

 

 

Day 1

Week 8





Star was rescued from a different TB stud but the same story as Savi. She was being shipped off to slaughter and still had a little colt on her. She windsucks sadly but is slowly becoming brighter every day. Star is 19 years old and won quite a bit of money as a racehorse. We purchased Star for $100 to save her from becoming petfood.

QLD Festival of Dressage

Hey guys!

Don't forget that THIS SATURDAY, 20 July, is the QLD Festival of Dressage! There are loads of demonstrations and seminars, a silent auction, raffles, plenty of shops and even a stallion and fashion parade! Tickets are only $30 for adults, and $15 for kids if you buy them by friday! So come on down to the QLD State Equestrian Centre at Caboolture and have fun at this great not for profit event, I know I will be!

Past Memories

As many of you may have read about 4 weeks ago I was beside myself trying to find where I had stored all of the rescue horse photos pre 2010. I had searched every hard drive in every computer and external I could find but they were lost. Well today I spent about 2 hours working on my book and stumbled across a file which was unnamed.. I cried tears of relief and joy to have found hundreds of photos that I thought I had lost forever... I’m writing a book on horse rescue and really needed some of those photos so the happiness I felt can’t even be expressed in this blog! It really did make my day.. Needless to say the 2 hours I spent on my book included looking through old photos and reminiscing rather than actually writing any words but it brought back some amazing memories.

Now im sure that everyone who has had horses throughout their life has had just one special horse who changed their life right? I have had hundreds of horses come through SAHA.. I can’t remember the exact figure but it’s between 600 and 700. For me there is one special mare that truly did change my life. She was the reason I started rescuing and the reason why I’m still doing it today.

I rescued Gypsy along with a 3 year old Appaloosa colt from the Narrandera sale yards in 1994 when I was 13 years old for $75. God my grandmother who was raising me thought I was crazy but I used my own money to buy them and care for them. I ended up riding the little Appaloosa colt to high school and tethered him in the vacant block across from the school. He was a gem but i couldn’t afford to geld him so ended up giving him to a horseman who could. He went on to be an awesome kids pony club horse. The beautiful Pally mare became my life and she helped me through many hard times. After moving to the Gold Coast when I was 14 I gave her to a friend to care for and a year later i moved Gypsy to the Gold Coast with me. Sadly after a few years someone stole Gypsy from her paddock and I dedicated my life to finding her. I did find her but she had been put to sleep only 3 months before I found her due to age and failing arthritis joints. I was at peace knowing she was loved in her final years. Rescuing Gypsy started something in me that I haven’t been able to turn off and knowing how many horses get abused and neglected each year made me more determined to at least try to make a difference. Even now I have photos of this special mare in my house and my “never give up” attitude comes from her.

At SAHA we have a purpose, a goal and a dedicated amazing team who work around the clock for no reward other than seeing these horses come into care a complete mess, and then head back out to a new home a different horse. That is the reward we get, the reward in our hearts that we have made a difference ~ not a huge world changing difference to society as a whole, but a world changing difference to one life at a time.

Im not a religious person, nor do I believe in heaven as such but I do believe that this special horse along with all of the others we have lost over the past 13 years are looking down on all of the SAHA team and the horses currently in our care.. Whether its true or not, its a beautiful thought. ~ Amanda Vella

 

 

Update

Its been a while since I have had time to update our blog webpage so Ill be filling you in on the things that have happened in the past few months since our last post. If you read our last blog post about our own black beauty and ginger I have some sad news. Sadly we lost our black beauty who we had to have euthanatized due to his joints failing him. Mishka was beside her self but we have since introduced her to "Lynda" a new rescue horses who has bonded with Mishka helping her through.
We have rescued a number of horses in the past few months as well and have had a few surgeries done including Jaffa's puss pocket which just kept coming back after being drained. The photos are below but very graphic. I hope you enjoy the photos and stories of our rescue horses and please remember that we are a not for profit fully registered and sanctioned charity and we rely on donations to keep our doors open so please go to the "how you can help" tab and donate today. Every $ helps, ever just a $2 donation goes a long way in helping us help these needy horses. Thank you so much xxx Amanda

 

The above photo is of Bexter, he was surrendered by his owner who no longer wanted him after he got out of his paddock and was picked up by the pound. Bexter was in a pretty bad way, his shoulder was out along with his pelvis and back. The vet inspected him and said that his stifle was unstable along with his joints and body under developed due to starvation at some point in his growing life. The poor boy is just 3 years old. This photo was taken on arrival on the 9th of March. 

 

Poor Bex had pretty bad mud fever but he is all healed up now.

 

Bex had an eye ulcer which we treated with a treatment tube and I'm happy to say it has healed very well.

 

 

This is bex currently. He has grown about a hand already and his joints and stifle are all strong and sound now due to amazing chiropractic and muscle release therapy which he has regularly. He will be going to the breaker after winter and will be ready for adoption at the end of the year.

 

If you have seen earlier posts you will know the story of Jaffa who was surrendered with a massive lump of puss. We has this puss drained but it came back. We had it drained 3 times before opting for surgery and I'm glad we decided to have it cut out completely because there was some horrible dried cheese like puss in a pocket under the muscle which needed to come out. Jaffa is healing very well now and will be ready for adoption soon.

 

This is the pocket of puss

 

Loki was surrendered in poor condition. He is picking up well in care but at 22 years old I doubt we will be able to find him a suitable loving home. He needs supplements for his joints and isn't rideable. Its sad that no one wants these beautiful old horses.

 

The above photo is of Maisy and her hoof which hasn't been trimmed in 10 years. This poor pony was to far gone and we got her to the equine hospital for xrays but the specialist farrier and the vet suggested having her put down. She was far to gone for us to help her and for her to ever be pain free.

 

Poor Maisy couldn't even walk properly.

 

This is Paddy, he was surrendered in poor condition with a massive sarcoid on his side. We are currently treating the sarcoid but it will take a while to heal completely.

 

This is Savy, she was also surrendered in poor condition and she sadly had a 8 month old foal feeding off her at the time. We have taken her into care and she is slowly getting better. She is such a sweet old girl and will be fat and happy in no time.

 

 

Massive thank you to all of our supporters and volunteers for everything that they do to help SAHA and the horses. :-)