Story submitted by Spring Creek Horse Rescue
Two years ago La Plata County Animal Protection notified us of 4 horses they had filed charges on. (They don’t start proceedings unless we can make room to take the horses in) In the time it took to go through court 2 died. When the Court awarded the horses to Spring Creek the Humane Society had been going to the property & feeding them everyday & checking on their welfare, La Plata County Hay Bank (Us) also supplied hay for these horses to keep them alive until the judge awarded them to us. The 2 surviving horses were supposed to be a 6 year old dun mare & a 10 year old Thoroughbred. The owner had been riding these horses as thin as they were until Jon from LPCHS stopped them.
After they arrived & started putting on weight we had our vet come to do Sissy’s teeth & he said she wasn’t 10- but 30 & Sassy was not 6, but 3 (meaning she was a skinny yearling when he was riding her) we had our trainer start working with Sas as being younger, she gained weight easier, Sis took longer to put on the needed weight as she was much bigger & much older, but once she felt she was “safe” turned out to be the sweetest (except for food aggression) nicest horse we’ve dealt with in awhile.
To me, the success of this story is how animals can learn to again trust once they have been treated so inhumanely.
Both horses have been adopted by a couple in Telluride, and their updates tell us they are thrilled with having horses with such exuberant personalities.
