<-- This is where Honey's story with our rescue began. Here in Colorado we are very fortunate to work closely with other rescues in our area to find horses in need and this mares story would very likely have a not so happy ending without the help of those other rescues and volunteers. Every Wednesday in Fort Collins, CO Centennial Livestock holds an auction, "what does this have to do with rescue?" you may ask, let us explain. This auction is not the type of auction where people are sending their high dollar show horses to find new homes. This is the type of auction where people dump their horses that they can no longer afford or their horses that are too old to serve the purpose they once had, or to drop of their horses because rehoming them is too much of a hassle. This kind of an auction is the perfect place for "kill buyers" or more appropriately termed horse traders lacking morals to find cheap inventory. When these horses are bought by these "kill buyers"/horses traders they are often brought to a facility that is a breeding ground for nasty illnesses and the absolute bare minimum standard of care-meaning they have food and water but may have to compete with several dozen other horses to have access to it. So this is where the rescues step in and try to obtain the horses that seem to need the most immediate attention before they are put into an even worse situation , like Miss Honey.
We were able to buy her from auction and get her back to the rescue on September 1st, 2022 and her body condition was less than ideal. Every rib and vertebrae could be seen, her topline was non existent and where a nice round behind should've been was nothing but hip bones. We often hear the excuse that "they are just old" and yes Honey is 28 years old but that is no excuse for why she was in the condition she was in. So why was this poor mare nothing but skin and bones? Lack of proper maintenance. One of the very first things we do to horses that come into our rescue is dose them with dewormer and do a round of sand clear. For those of you that are unfamiliar with sand clear it helps clear the horses gut of any sand that has settled in the stomach. Sand can cause a number of issues with horses including weight loss and colic. A few days after Honey received her first round of dewormer she began passing tons of worms and she continued to do so for DAYSSS.
Honey had an enormous worm load, which was a huge contributing factor to why she was in such poor condition. We started Honey on our refed program, and got her teeth floated by our wonderful equine dentist and in less than two months Honey was back to a healthy weight!
Now our sweet Honey had made it to the point in her journey where she is back to being healthy and ready to show us what she knows! Honey was brought from our main location in Black Forest to our training facility in Fountain for a training evaluation. Upon on our evaluation we found out that this mare that was dumped at auction in poor condition, was incredibly well trained and still moved well for an old girl! This girl is now ready to find her new forever home and she is suitable for almost any level of rider!
We felt Honey's journey was an important one to share because it is a journey that we see far too often for old horses that have spent their whole lives serving their owners, only to be tossed aside. It also can serve as an important reminder to horse owners on the importance of regular maintenance such as deworming, sand clear, and dentals! If you are having a hard time keeping weight on your oldies make sure they are up to date on routine care and consult your veterinarian.
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