Senior Spa Day!

Thank you to all the members of the University of Mary Washington Pre-Vet Club who spent the day grooming geezers. Other than a slight wind, the weather was perfect.  Most of the horses loved the attention, though a couple  of grumps would have been perfectly happy keeping their hard earned dirt.

Perhaps most importantly, our new resident, Sherman, was partially bathed to remove evidence of a light digestive upset from his hind legs.  The New Guy seemed completely relaxed during this procedure, a far cry from a few other residents who declare they've never seen anything resembling a water hose or sponge in all their 30+ years.

Here's Sonny, age 38, following his spa session:

And Rienzi, who is in his mid 30's:

Lizzie's (24) new coif:

Fitz, 26, absolutely ate up the extra attention, looking like he might take a nap during his grooming session:

Miss Mona, 30+, from neglect to diva in just 3 months:

Jubal, 29, also made some new friends:

And our last photo for this post............NATE!  (who was one of the grumps, but did a little of his signature "scampering" afterward, so the experience must not have been as tortorous as he let on in the beginning.)

Thank you, all!  Please come back any time.  We'd love to see you again.

The Odd Couple

Ori's departure over the weekend left Butternut, a small blind Shetland cross pony alone in her dry lot paddock. Who could we move in with her that would do well on a dry lot and be kind to a small blind pony?

Rienzi! Perfect. Except Rienzi didn't think so. He paced the fence, wanting more than anything to go back "home." Normally we would give a horse a little more time to adjust to new surroundings, but after only three days, Rienzi had visibly dropped weight. With winter fast approaching, we couldn't allow a hard keeper to remain in a situation that was causing him this much stress.

How would Butternut do alone for a day or two while we decided on a solution? Terribly! She panicked. A panicked blind pony is a pony at risk of injuring herself.

Think, think, think.

Wait!


This may be it. Nate needs more room to get a little more exercise, he can't be turned out on a lot of grass, he needs a buddy, he's a very kind gentleman..........

As of this morning, the two are studiously ignoring each other, but at least all is quiet. Its not the love at first sight we've seen following some other introductions, but it looks like it will work.

Stay tuned.

Weekend Visitors

Over the weekend, Traveller's Rest met several wonderful people.

Thank you to Tabitha and her whole family for stopping by to meet the Elders and drop off some senior feed. As a cold front came through Spotsylvania, we were treated to quite a show by the Goofy Geezers. Rienzi bucked and crowhopped his way along the driveway fence, Emma began to relive former dreams of Thoroughbred glory, while Fitz scampered (if you can say a 17 hand Thoroughbred "scampers") in circles in his unique way, head waggling, tail in the air. Who says "old" horses don't enjoy retirement?

Thank you, too, to Jean for bringing more blankets, as well as coolers, pads and leg wraps. Please come again when you can stay longer.

TREES welcomes visitors by appointment Monday-Sunday, between 10AM and 2PM. (Evening hours will be available during summer.) If you would like to meet our residents and learn more about the sanctuary, please email info@equineelders.org or call 540-972-0936. Wade will be watching for you!

Horse-sized Place Mats!

Traveller's Rest would like to thank all who donated stall mats to the cause.

The mats, however, will not be used in the ordinary way, providing a comfortable floor in a stall. Rather, they will serve as over-size place mats. Many of our dentally challenged horses drop food while eating. This, in itself, would not be a significant problem if they did not try to vacuum up the leftovers once their food dishes are emptied. All residents are served soaked food, so you can imagine how much dirt or bedding might cling to the "plops" that hit the floor at meal time. We have always tried to keep feeding corners swept clean, so there is not much to stick to dropped food, but since the floors are dirt there is still a concern that the horses might be swallowing dirt or other debris which could lead to "sand colic" (or dirt/gravel colic depending on your environment and just what your horse is likely to swallow.)

Through no fault of his own, Rienzi is our biggest offender. Not only does our clown prince have a serious malocclusion, but his previous home was a paddock he shared with goats and pigs. After picking up a mouthful of food, he still looks around to see whether or not his "roommates" are coming to share the meal. As you can see, this habit distributes his food in an impressive arc around the dish.

Rienzi's "bite:"

Here is Rienzi's mat after he decides he's vacuumed all he can. He does a pretty good job picking up the dropped food. If he were eating on dirt or in a bedded stall, he would pick up a lot of debris with each meal. He is still pushing a lot of food off the edges of the mat, so we will need to dedicate two mats to this particular feeding station.

The remaining mats will be cut into triangles that will fit in stall corners below the feeders. We'll still need to sweep up around feeding stations after meals, but this should make the job much easier in addition to providing a little more peace of mind concerning what is going into residents' stomachs.

Rienzi Shines!

Remember Rienzi, one of our "newer" residents?


This is how Rienzi looked August 9, 2007, the day he arrived:





The reason?



And now, with an appropriate feeding regimen............drum roll, please.............................



October 11, 2007:

Keep those meals coming!

If you are in the Spotsylvania VA area, you can help by attending the All Treats, No Tricks Tack & Yard Sale on Saturday, Oct 20. Residents of other areas can help by collecting Proof of Purchase seals from Reliance, Legends and Triple Crown feed bags, or by visiting our "Dear Santa" list (in the sidebar of this blog)

Rienzi thanks you for your support!