1/3/98--Friday, farriers and vets came to assess the horses and begin to bring them back to health. Many of the long hooves were completely trimmed, making the horses much more comfortable. They will be making yet another visit on Monday to complete their assessment.

1/1/98--Horses' Haven assisted the Michigan Anti-Cruelty Society with the rescue of 57 horses from the Davison, Michigan area. We gathered horsemen and trailers all in one location. After a short prayer asking that the horses be delivered safely into our hands--in a convoy, we proceeded to the site, not knowing what we would find.

The rescue was successful, although it took us three days to remove the horses instead of one day. Many of these horses had never been haltered or handled in any way, and some were very wild. Of course, most did not want to leave their home because they didn't know there was any better place.

The conditions were deplorable--manure in stalls was 71" deep, the horses wedged between the manure and the ceiling. All of the stall and outer walls had been chewed through. Some younger horses had never been moved from the stalls they had been born in. The roof on the broodmare's run-in barn had collapsed trapping several, who then had no access to food or water. Yearling babies were still nursing. One weanling had a severely lacerated eye. The feet on all the horses were bad--many hooves so long that they curled over the top of themselves. Outside pens were only large enough for one horse and were full of manure. Some contained two horses. Two older stallions were contained in one stall. Almost all horses, even babies, were caked in manure. One weanling we estimated to be carrying an extra 50-60 lbs. of manure on his body.

Volunteers representing ALL breeds of horses brought trailers and experienced horse people to help. The first tour through the property brought total silence and tears as we looked at the horror before us. Oftentimes there were six men on a horse just to move it out of its pen because it couldn't or wouldn't walk. Horses were led (and some of them got their first haltering and leading lessons) down a grassy hill as the driveway was steep and deeply rutted. Trailers were waiting at the bottom of the hill.

Some horses who couldn't walk and had never seen a trailer took over an hour to load--volunteers urging them every baby step of the way, and letting them rest occasionally. One beautiful mare took three days to load. Even so, several volunteers fell in love with her and offered to adopt her. Some horses never did get halters on, but we got them into stock trailers on Tuesday and Wednesday. One of the neighbors brought over a bulldozer to level the ruts by the barn so one trailer at a time could get up the hill and back up to one of the barns.

Outside horses in the larger paddocks had to be lassoed on Monday. Volunteers willingly came back on both Monday and Tuesday to complete the job, refusing to give up until all horses were rescued. We also rescued three cats. The rats that sat in the barn and looked at us as we left, we believe volunteered to come along even for research.

Volunteers who were waiting at the barn that was to house the horses sobbed as each trailer arrived and the horses slowly and painfully unloaded. Horses were put in freshly bedded stalls, some looking at the shavings and wondering what it was. Water was slurped and slurped--a far cry from the frozen buckets they were used to seeing, and there was plentiful hay.

Forty-five horses are housed indoors, while 12 are in three large pastures.

The horses were fed hay at their old farm so they are lean but not in bad body condition. They are starting to relax and let volunteers touch them.

The court case will take 60-90 days. We are estimating upwards of $10,000.00 a month to keep, feed and care for these animals, including farrier and vet bills. Some we know will not be saved.

(Above is a very sweet mare, who will probably be saved. She's white.)

While they had no names, some of our HH junior members have been blessing them with some. If you have an extra moment, we'd like to tell you about some of them.

"Two Tone" -- She's quite fashionable - light gray on one side and manure gray (where she had continuously laid down) on the other. Her feet are curled and she can hardly walk, but we think we can save her.

"Romeo, Casanova and Black Beauty" -- Three gorgeous black stallions that can barely walk.

"Calvin" -- He's also a stallion. We don't know quite where the name came from.

"Peanut and Mama" -- The yearling unweaned foal of a stunning mare. He's black with four white feet and a star. He's big and breathtakingly beautiful just like mom. The mare, on the other hand, was injured when the foal was born and drips black ooze from her vulva.

The vet informed us that her breeding days are over unless she receives costly surgery. She also has a big knee from some prior racing injury. She's sweet and friendly and loves her baby and does not complain. We hope we can save her so Horses' Haven can adopt her from the court and let her live out her life with us. "Saint Peter" -- A three or four year bay colt that can't stand and was never given a chance to be anything since he was born. We will be unable to save him but we thought that when the time comes in the next few days, with the right name he would not have to wait at the Pearly Gates. Instead he could RUN through green pastures, which he should have been doing all his life. We can't thank all the volunteers enough for their assistance, equipment, expertise, patience, muscle and big hearts. Many of them are sore and bruised and will always carry an indelible picture in their memory of what happened at that farm.

We've had hundreds of offers from those wishing to do the daily chores. We are sorry that we cannot divulge the location of the horses--due to restrictions of the court.

When the trial is completed, we hope that we will be allowed to adopt the horses out. The adoption requirements are that you be a member of Horses' Haven, live in Michigan, meet our requirements as far as providing a good home and have long arms to dispense lots of love.

Adoption horses cannot be sold, leased, traded, taken to auction, given away, etc. If the new family no longer wishes the horse, it comes back to us. We are sorry we cannot adopt out-of-state, the reason being that we personally check and inspect horses for their lifetime.

We appreciate your interest and support. We will try to keep you updated on some of the other horses and will be posting pictures.

Now, please go hug your horse, or someone else's if you don't have one.

Visit the wish list for info on the needs of the Davison horses