Horse Rescue

2011:

Before and after

Before and after

One Day There Was A Twenty Year Old, Seventeen Hand,
Chestnut, Warmblood, Gelding For Sale

This is his story

I don't remember much before the day the quiet man and the lady with the straw hat and apples came to visit. I tried to remember when there used to be big buckets of grain and lots of grass. I tried to remember when there used to be brisk mornings in the arena trotting and cantering and sometimes even jumping. I tried especially to remember being brushed with soft brushes and the warm baths after a long workout - especially as my skin and coat became so painfully itchy.

No one came anymore with buckets of grain and all the grass was on the other side of my fence. Soon, when there was no more food, trying to remember became just too hard. I couldn't think of the good things because the pain in my stomach and the itch in my skin were just too loud.

After a while I just gave up.

One day a trailer came to the pasture and two people got out and came to look at me. The woman was wearing a straw hat and fed me apples. The man who was with her had a very quiet voice as he talked to me. I liked the apples and when they were gone I was about to start on her straw hat, but they both walked away. I thought they would not come back, but they did, and with a halter and lead rope. I did not understand why they were putting me in their trailer but I was too weak to care and followed them in. Maybe she would have more apples. If not, I could eat her hat.

We rode for a short time and when I was led out of the trailer I came face to face with everything I had forgotten. There was a small green pasture with all the grass I could want, a never empty bucket of grain, a warm bath and soft brushing everyday and children...lots and lots of children. All the children began feeding me, petting me and brushing me and talking to me. I had forgotten my name was Wesley!

Wesley's Recovery

In the months that followed my arrival at Three Gaits my life changed so much. I learned the lady with the straw hat was named Judy and the man with the quiet voice was Bruce.

The first couple of weeks walking was very hard for me. I fell down quite a few times and got a lot of cuts and scrapes from it. My legs were swollen and my muscles stiff. Judy would let me out in the mornings to wander around and eat the spring grass and in the afternoons some of the kids would put a lead rope on me and walk me up and down the driveway. Slowly, the swelling went away and my legs weren't so stiff. The kids also brushed and bathed me and the itch went away, more and more, day by day.

Other people came to visit who were doctors that looked in my mouth, ears and eyes. They listened to my heart and stomach and poked me with needles. I didn't mind, though, because I knew this was to help me. Dr Mitch Benson came out and Dr Catherine Szabo came many times.They always left medicine behind for Judy and the others to give me with my grain and supplements.

So many people showed concern for me, bringing me supplements to help me gain weight, oil for my skin and coat and special shampoo for my itch. All the kids spent time walking and grooming me and giving me the medicine the doctors brought.

I had a few setbacks. I couldn't get over the abscesses that I had. Everyone was so worried but they all stayed with me and eventually I healed.

After six months we tried a little workout in the arena and it was splendid. A little walk, a little trot. Everyone was quite surprised to find that I still have a few of my old moves!

My Heartfelt Thanks To:

Dr Catherine Szabo and Dr Mitch Benson for their kind and wonderful veterinary care, so much of it donated. Dr Catherine also donated much of her own time to come out and take care of me and take my blood tests (she has been nicknamed "the vampire-lady"). She also saved me from a difficult trip to UC Davis by staying in close contact with the doctors there who work with starvation cases. More thanks to Dee Dee and Cindy at Dr Benson's office for such personal service, Jill at Saddles to Boots for supplement donation, Ariel for taking care of my special grooming needs and starting me on my slow, painstaking path to fitness, and all the wonderful people at Three Gaits and beyond, adults and children alike, who have spent their time, love, energy and care helping me make it home.

Don't You Just Love

A Happy Ending?

Thanks to Elizabeth for providing me with a good home for many years, and for bringing me safely back to Three Gaits.

For more information, email Judy@threegaits.com