Lessons Learned from Chilly Pepper Miracle Mustang Rescue
This is a long post but Meredith thinks it is very important to share.
The following is from an email update from Chilly Pepper Miracle Mustang Rescue
Wow, there is never a shortage of lessons to be learned not only in life, but in the wild horse world. A week or so ago, two women traveled over 800 miles to pick up 2 of the original 65 Wild Horses Saved From Slaughter. Although we brought in both mares, there were a few mistakes unfortunately made. The first mare was brought in the night before by the lady handling the operation, and was correctly held in the round pen with a companion horse. Wild horses are much more stressed when they are not only locked up, but left by themselves. Everything instinct they have is not to be trapped and certainly not to be left alone.
However, the next morning the companion horse was released (simple inexperience by someone trying to help), which led the lone mare to become more stressed. (To make matters worse, due to more inexperience, the mare was in an incredibly lightweight round pen that was never intended for wild horses.) Meanwhile we all started working together with low energy and lots of patience and we managed to bring in the horses and separate the ones that we didn’t need. We were down to the last two horses and the one that we needed when the lone mare slid her feet under the panel, slid her neck along the bottom of the panel, lifted and pranced happily off to find her companions.
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At the time everyone was standing around staring in disbelief. However, no one was injured and I told the ladies that “God has a reason for you not to be on the road with these horses at a certain time and place”. I could tell by their faces that it still was not making their long drive and trip home with no horses acceptable. But Matt and I told them we would deliver both of the mares to their sanctuary, so we had a new plan.
We found out WHY we couldn’t load the horses that day. God was watching over not only the women, but the horses. After the folks returned home and put their rig in the shop for service, the mechanic told them if they had driven with a load or more weight they would have burned up their motor as there was a crack in the water pump and there was zero water in their engine. But even more amazing and scary was the fact that there was a crack in their trailer hitch. On that long of a ride home it would have been highly unlikely they would have made it home safely, if at all. So when we arrived at their sanctuary they couldn’t wait to share the news with us.
However, during the time we were separating the horses, the coordinator of the whole operation had an emergency and had to leave, thus quitting the operation. So other folks stepped in as best they could to clean up the mess. (Again, everyone wants us to “save the horses from slaughter”, but there are never enough funds or boots on the ground.) To make a long story short, when Matt and I pulled out to head to Utah we were assured we had the proper horses and off we went. Now the ultimate responsibility is on me as I should have verified (for myself) which horses were on my trailer. Many of them look very similar. Another lesson learned – always check with your own eyes and make sure you have a verification prior to driving horses anywhere. You cannot even imagine how embarrassed and mortified Matt and I were to know that we brought the wrong horse. This was another snafu due to the person quitting, no one having the appropriate information and being in too much of a rush to fix the earlier incident.
So we arrived back in NV yesterday and then Matt and I went and sorted horses and loaded up Scully and took her to Shirley’s. We then left this morning with the two correct horses loaded up and we are off to Utah (again).
It becomes very frustrating when mistakes are made. However these horses don’t really “belong” to anyone. After the woman in charge had to leave, the rest of us jumped in to help wherever we can. It is one of the growing factors in the wild horse arena. No one wants the horses to go to slaughter, but there is not a plausible solution as to where these horses can spend the rest of their lives. This is also happening with domestic horses also.
This is why we are so thankful for the love and support y’all give for these wild ones. We really don’t have the resources or funding of “boots on the ground” folks to make this work. Yet in spite of this, we keep on doing the best we can. But sometimes you need to just slow down and get better information and realize that there are horses that look alike.
The ranch where the horses will be staying until we find our forever homes for these guys is coming along. It has been a lot of work with folks often coming from far away to help with the project. Unfortunately our funds are very low. The monthly cost is estimated to be $2500 not including the improvements or work that has been done. That is just for feed and “board” for 51 horses.
Cowboy is doing well and improving a tiny bit at a time. We don’t know whether is back legs will ever be normal, but he is a happy little guy, and loves hanging out with his mama.
Please help us save these horses and share their story far and wide. The ultimate goal is to find homes for all of them, but until then, we have to raise enough funds to keep them alive and healthy.
You are more than welcome to come and visit us.. 530 474 5197 if you would like to chat. Our mailing address is Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang, 34694 Sidebottom Rd., Shingletown, CA 96088
You can go to Youcaring – https://www.youcaring.com/let-
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