Christmas Happiness for Horses and Humans!
Three of the 25 horses needing homes. "Pretty", Thistle and My
Sparky Boy meeting their new owners for the first time.
For the last two weeks we have been asking everyone to help us find homes
for 25 horses that
were in desperate need of new homes. Many of you responded and for that we
say THANK YOU! Finding buyers for the horses was just the
first step on the road to a new home for these horses. It took a whole team
of people to make it happen.
First we needed to get photos of all the horses
to put on our Web site. .
.
Our
contact Becky drove an hour from Kentucky to Ohio to the farm
to take photos of them. This was not an easy task with all the horses in
outside pastures filled with mud. Many of the horses would not let her get
far enough away to take photos. They are all very loving horses and were eager
to be petted. Viva Vicky chased Becky to get her head rubbed. Becky also met
with their owner and took down all the information about the breeding, age,
sex and temperaments. She then sent this information to us to put on the Web
site.
Viva Vicky still needs a new home.
The response to the photos was overwhelming!
We had hundreds of e-mails
and phone calls from people wanting more information. We had over 1000 visitors
one day on our Web site! We had buyers but each horse would need a current
coggins and health certificate to be transported.
Once again, Becky pulled it together. She located a vet that was willing
to spend a half a day wading through mud to round up these horses and pull
blood and worm them. Dr.
Mike Farwick of Lebanon
Equine Clinic was the man with the big heart who made it all happen for
these horses.
With coggins in hand and buyers ready, all we needed was transportation and
health certificates. Dr. Farwick drew up the coggins and our favorite horse
transporter Billie Powell arranged for a 15-horse van to pick
them all up. She arranged for special pricing so that these horses could make
it to their new homes in the south.
How do you fill a 15-horse van in one week?
We had eleven of the 15 stalls filled but we had room for more. E-mails were
sent out and phone calles were made to previous buyers. The buyers came through
and we were able to sell five Prospect Horses that were for sale on our Prospect
Horses page: Strict
Mister, Cherish the
Groom (our very pretty gray filly), "Lance", "August
Prospect Two" the beautiful white gray Allovertheplace and
one horse who never even made it to our site was sold! Brother Darcy was
further north in Cleveland and we arranged for him to get to Nashville, TN
on another van.
Barry checking on Strict Mister before
he leaves for Florida.
Saturday December 3rd was "D" day (Departure Day) for our 15 horses.
Two horses were in Columbus, Ohio, two were in Kentucky and the eleven special
horses were in Cincinnati area of Ohio. Our van driver Randy Meyers picked
up Cherish
the Groom and Allovertheplace early Saturday
morning in Columbus. Then, he had to do some fancy driving down back country
roads to maneuver the 15-horse van down narrow winding roads to get to the
farm and pick up our eleven special horses.
The calvary arrives . . .
Becky brought help to load the horses. Another of our trainer friends, Richard
Estvanko, helped to load the horses. Eddy's
Departure went on first and all
the horses loaded without a problem. "Skinny" dragged
Becky up the ramp to follow his buddy "Josh" into
the trailer. It did take quite a while to load because each horse had to
be caught and walked an eighth of a mile to the road and the waiting van. Eddy's
finally got tired of waiting for his friends and he made his "Departure" from
the van and refused to get back on. Time was running out and the van needed
to be to Turfway Park to load up Strict
Mister and "Lance" who
had come in the day before from Louisville, KY.
On to Georgia . . .
The last two horses loaded without a hitch and the van started for Georgia
at about 3:30 Saturday afternoon. Elizabeth stayed in touch with the driver
and at 10:30 PM she got the call that they were getting off I75. That meant
the horses were just 40 minutes away.
Barry had prepared three stalls earlier in the day with fresh water, hay and
deep bedding to receive the three horses that would overnight at Bits & Bytes
Farm. The other eleven horses were going to overnight at The Arena at Red Gate
which is just a mile from Bits & Bytes Farm. One more call from the drivers
let us know they were on Georgia Highway 20 and just minutes away.
Barry and Elizabeth jumped in the truck with Bits & Bytes Farm's four horse
trailer attached. Lise Matte met us on the road and Barry lead the van convoy
to The Arena at Red Gate. The time was now 11:30 PM on Saturday night.
In less than two weeks we sold 12 of the 25 special
horses needing homes! We hired a 15 horse van to get our horses down from Ohio
and some more from Kentucky!
The horse van's ramp was dropped and thirteen horses unloaded quietly. They
were exhausted from the long trip. Cherish
the Groom stayed
on the van to continue to Wewahitchka in the panhandle of Florida. She drank
a big bucket of water before getting on the road again.
The horse van's ramp was dropped and thirteen horses unloaded quietly.
Each horse had a stall bedded deeply with shavings and buckets of fresh water.
Elizabeth mixed a bran mash and it was distributed with hay to all the
horses. Each one was checked to make sure they were eating and drinking and
not about to colic.
"Skinny" was
tired and weak from his trip to Atlanta on the big 18-wheeler. When he came
down the ramp, his steps were a bit wobbly. But his trip was not over yet. "Skinny" and
two others had to get back on another trailer for the short hop to Bits & Bytes
Farm.
When "Skinny" walked into our barn, you could feel the power and stability
in his legs returning. He looked down the aisle of friendly horses
welcoming him and gave out a confident whiny as if to say, “Yes, I have
arrived!”
"Skinny" was last seen with his head in a feed bucket wearing
a big grin made of sweet feed.
Sunday morning Elizabeth ran to the barn to make sure "Skinny" was
OK. Big thunder storms had rolled in through in early morning hours. "Skinny" was
fine! He had finished both buckets of water. He was quickly given more before
Elizabeth, with Dana McLean, jumped in the car to head back to The Arena at
Red Gate to check on the other horses and feed them before their new owners
arrived to pick them up. Barry and Lise Matte stayed behind to feed the rest
of the horses at Bits & Bytes Farm.
The horses meet their new owners . . .
"Pretty's" new mom is Halliea Milner who lives nearby. She was the first to
arrive with her trailer.
"Pretty" and Halliea Milner.
Meanwhile, Kate and Ben Helms arrived to pick up the four horses their mom
Melanie O'Donnell purchased: My
Sparky Boy, Thistle, Violet
Maewon and the miss named Eddy's
Departure. They are also neighbors in Cherokee County, Georgia.
Kate Helms with My Sparky Boy.
Ben Helms with Thistle
Violet Maewon and Kate Helms.
"Pretty" was used to riding in a "big rig" and she was not about to
load into Halliea's smaller trailer so Barry was summoned to bring "The Betty"
- that's our nickname for our 4-Star four horse head-to-head trailer. He was
followed in the drive way by Laura Durham-Dixon and her trailer.
Laura was
arriving to pick up the most gorgeous black colt "Josh" and
the beautiful and kind Noshrinking
Violet. Noshrinking
Violet was used to help us load "Pretty".
She quietly walked on to each trailer, but "Pretty" was
holding out for "The Betty's" box stalls.
Laura and "Josh" and Noshrinking Violet with
Laura's daughter Leslie.
Read more about our 25 Special Horses.
There are still more horses needing homes, so
if you missed out on this load, call ASAP! Check them out here.
Here is the Update on Our Special Horses . . .
"Skinny" has found a home with Jessica Hughes in
North Carolina. He made the trip down on Saturday night and he is at Bits & Bytes
Farm for a week to gain enough strength to finish his trip home. GOD BLESS
you Jessica.
"Josh" and Noshrinking Violet were
purchased by Laura Durham-Dixon who bought Prospect Horse Miss With
Attitude from us in February 2005. You can read her story also on
our "How to Buy a Prospect
Horse" page. "Josh" the colt is gorgeous
and Noshrinking Violet is about the sweetest quietest mare
you ever met. We loaded her onto many trailers to help get other horses loaded.
"I just wanted to let you know that we got here fine.
Violet got right off and is in a stall with a paddock. She seems SO sweet
and quiet. We backed up to the round pen, and Studley turned around, came
to the end of the trailer and looked, then trotted right off very politely.
I know my husband really thinks I have lost my mind now (as if getting two
more horses wasn't enough to convince him)."
"Pretty" lives up to her name and is already showing
a talent for jumping! Here is what her new mom Halliea Milner has to say about
this filly.
"Just wanted to drop you a line to say that "Pretty" settled
in immediately, she has been doing really well today. I turned her out with
my mare and another gelding in the pasture that I have all of my fences setup
in, and you would have thought that they have always lived together. When
they did decide to play, I got a pleasant surprise - "Pretty" took
it upon herself to free jump one of the fences set at 2'6"! Totally on her
own, just playing in the pasture. I thought that was a good sign." : )
Older mares Thistle and Violet
Maewon came down to Georgia with My
Sparky Boy to live with Melanie O'Donnell and her daughter
Kate and her husband Ben. Eddie's
Departure will be joining them soon but he got tired of waiting
for all eleven horses to load up and he "departed" the van and
refused to get back on. We will get him next trip which we hope will be
next week. Can we bring another one back for you?
At feeding time this evening, I can report that Thistle
is settling in nicely at Wild Shamrock Farm and Sparky is, well, getting
cabin fever! That boy is nutso in his stall tonight, doing a great
bucking bronc imitation in place :-D. But he was fairly respectful
when I led him out to clean his stall. I'm sure that after a good
romp in the morning he'll be a little saner. He hasn't been confined
in a long time, and now 48 hours of it is probably messing with his head.
Violet's settling in well. Ben has already trimmed her fores and
they look 100% better! And she's had a bath with lots of conditioner.
Updates soon!
Kate
Violet
Maewon and Ben after a quick trim of her feet.
Bad Hombre will
be living in South Carolina with Ashley Kinsey. He spent Sunday through Tuesday
in Canton, GA.
BAD HOMBRE UPDATE DECEMBER 7, 2005
Hombre has arrived safely! He's SOOO incredible and sweet... we
unloaded him up by the road and he walked all the way back to the barn without
batting an eye. He couldn't seem to decide what he wanted more... hay
or water. His appetite is DEFINITELY good. I can't wait to spend
more time with him tomorrow! I'm taking the morning off of work!!!!
:)
Bad Hombre is resting before continuing to his new home.
Bad Hombre will be getting on another trailer with He
Named Me Katie who was also heading to South Carolina to be
with Candice Robertson who bought Duelin Little Joe aka "Willie" as
a Prospect Horse last fall.
He Named Me Katie says good bye forever to her "Pretty" little filly.
Artic Vic was
also on the van and he will become a Horse for Sale at
Bits & Bytes Farm. Watch for his photos soon. He already has a suitor and
we don't think he will be here long.
Artic
Vic was one of the 25 special horses. Elizabeth grabbed him for
herself.
Hollywood Vic is
going to have a career at the track with our favorite trainer - Becky!
Watch for updates on this boy.
We still need homes for the rest of the horses!!!!!!! Here is the scoop.
We have been asked by a retired breeder/trainer to help him find homes
for his twenty five horses. We
have found homes for twelve so far. He has two and
three year olds that are unraced and unregistered, registered three and four
year-olds, racing geldings, young broodmares and one older broodmare that
he needs to find homes for. They are turned out in pasture so our photos
are not the best. Most have good weight but a few need some pounds added
to their frames.
The broodmares all have good breeding and have produced winning babies. Some
of the mares would make good sport horse broodmares because of their big bone
and correct conformation. Some of the horses still meet racing conditions.
Many can be registered as Ohio breds. They are all from good racing stock.
Several horses have already be scooped up by smart buyers. Pricing starts
at just $1000! Many are available for less than $3000! They are sound and
healthy. We are looking for people who are willing to retrain
these horses and find them permanent homes. Horse traders need not
call.
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