Getting Closer to a Forever Home

(photos by Kira Hawk)

The work just starts when a horse in trouble is brought into a rescue. That horse, those horses, need to be fed, mucked, groomed, conditioned, and more than likely trained. The time comes when someone must take each horse for a "test drive" to assess if they are ridable and/or establish training goals. For Charlie, that someone was Jerry Boots.

Jerry is the owner (along with his wife) of Hillcrest Stables in Loleta. He is also a registered trainer for the Extreme Mustang Makeover events and a volunteer with HRHR. The man has a special place in his heart for mustangs and volunteered to see how Charlie would respond under saddle.Charlie took the bit like a pro. When it came to ground work, Charlie clearly had some advanced moves. Long-lining? No problem!

Getting saddled? Hmmm, not so much. Charlie had some serious sideways evasion when it was time to tighten the girth.

Having Jerry on his back? Ah, not really liking this. A little bit of back humping. For a minute by-standers were worried that Charlie was going to blow. But then he settled and stood still.

And stood.

And stood. What happened to Charlie's go-button? Folks were left wondering if Charlie had been a driving horse, or maybe ridden a very long time ago. Next week he will go back to Hillcrest and Jerry will work with him for a few more days.

HRHR Volunteers Know How to Make Hard Work Fun

Today a few volunteers took on a giant job at Heart of the Redwoods Horse Rescue's Redwood Acres facilities. Our three paddocks were in dire need of rehabbing. Our hay room was ankle deep in hay. Stall mats, water buckets, and feed buckets were in desperate need of scrubbing. Hard work? You bet! But the job got done thanks to Carey Call's team coordination and the tenacity, determination, and hours of hard work by Abbie, Cat, Sarah, Thommie, Becky, Jo, and Cherie.

Guess what we found under the stall mats? Remember what adobe clay is made of?

Dozens of wheelbarrow loads to the manure pile and . . .

. . . hours of mean shovel work by some determined volunteers leveled the nasty mess.

Carey and Thommie perfected the art of moving stall mats so they could be scrubbed.

Abbie was our secret weapon! That girl is one incredible, cleaning machine!

Thank you Cat for leaving our hay room absolutely spotless!

Cat, Sarah, and Jo moved what felt like TONS of old, soggy manure and hay.

Once the paddocks were clean and leveled, it was time to bring in the new gravel.

We really appreciate the generosity of our friends at Taylor's Landscaping Supplies.

They donated

the use of this really

cool little dump trailer. It sure made our job a lot easier!

Becky showed some serious backing skills with her truck and maneuvered

the gravel dump trailer into the perfect position

When Jo says, "I'm in" she really means what she says.

Here is Abbie still hard at work. She wins the award for hardest worker of the day.

The third paddock did not get new gravel but was thoroughly cleaned.

And here is the finished product!

Just about anything is possible with a few, determined HRHR volunteers. Thank you everyone!