Jodie #3 The Arrival

Jodie Blog #3 The Arrival


If you follow me on twitter or FB you already know that Jodie arrived here safely last Sunday the 12th of September 2010. After what ended up being a 42.5 hour trip from East Texas to Central California, horsey transport ride!! I mean OMGosh that was sooo fast. The Horse transport people who make this trip from Cali to TX twice a month must have been flying.

The amazing thing here is that when Jodie stepped out of that trailer late last Sunday night she was sooo fine. (Cali girl here) No really I have never seen a horse get out of a trailer and be so stable. She didn’t even wobble a bit. We were very surprised. The horse transport people called for specific directions and told us their estimated arrival while they were driving. We were worried about Jodie while she was in route. The trailer that ya’ll help pay for was 1st class all the way. The trailer had AC, padded sides, camera feed to the cab, food and water access for the entire ride. She stepped out here at the our ranch (The Full Circle) shiny, safe and sound. Sure she looked a little tired but her demeanor was clam, balanced and very curious. She found fresh herd poo and started her assessment. Our 12 horses, and 2 burros were on the back 30 of our 40 acres. It’s all hilly back there so they didn’t hear us or know anyone had arrived.  That meeting didn’t happen until the morning, when the herd came down for breakfast and to get a drink.

Our little Miss Jodie immediately once stepping out of the trailer got to meet the two baby Brahma bulls (Bram & Stoker) who were curious about the late night visitors. They were so close we had to “shoo” they away (my natural bullmanship skills here..lol) They mooed and she just perked up and look over, no startle, no jumping, no wide eyed surprise even. We took care of the paper business with the driver, Dave, while Dd #2 (dear daughter #2) held Jodie online.  Then Hubby drove back up to the front gate to let out the trailer. (They had 3 more horses inside)

While we waited for Hubby to return Jodie walked with us up to the front of the house and walked over to her “Mare Motel” as if she knew that was where she was going. It will be her home the closer she gets but for her initial penning we want her in the pen down by the barn. It has a better view of the ranch for her, and she is able to have the herd all around her on all sides for feeding time.

Dd #2 and I took turns walking her down to the pen and Hubby followed. We took off her halter, a privilege we are going to have to earn back with trust before she wears another one I’m sure. We squared her up with fresh hay and let her check it all out. She went straight to the hay for a bit then started walking around. She allowed all 3 of us touch a pet her with little concern. Since the herd wasn’t around Dd#2 decided she would sleep in the pen with her. I waited as she walked up to the house and got her bedding. Dd#2 made a night roll on the ground we hung for a bit then hubby & I went up to the house.

Then I called Kindle, and she and I talked for two hours that night, I just love her. We were so relieved and finally calm and sooo excited about Jodie getting here safely. Teehee.. Whew!!

All that abuse, all those scars still visible and here it only being September and Kindle rescuing Jodie in June and none of that showed. Her trust was apparent her soul was soft, she was calm, she had gained soo much weight and she was settled in her forever home.

Jode is but one little Mustang out of thousands in need in America right now. Thousands are losing their land, herds and daily family lives forever. The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) are conducting round ups at an alarming rate. The iconic representative of free spirit and symbol for the American west, the Wild Horse is in a dire situation. Those that have been captured have to look forward to a life of waiting in over crowded long term holding pens waiting for the possibility of being adopted. With 35,000 already residing in long term holding pens back east, the future of the Wild Horse seems more in jeopardy than they ever have been. The genetic viability of several herds is in question as it is.  Truly it seems that one day we will have no wild horses left to run free in the West. This saddens me to my deepest core. I have no words for the sadness disrespect and lack of consideration our government has given to our Mustangs. If we don’t fight now they will be just another species pushed out of their natural habitats and their very right to exist taken away. 

If you want to help with ongoing ligation fighting for our Mustangs and to find out just where everything stands please go to grassrootshorse.com. You can donate for the ongoing legal actions or simply be more informed.

Thanks for reading this far and keep watching as Jodie will surely lead me to more endless blabbering and my need to share it all with ya’ll…teehee…

Jodie's Blog #2

Jodie blog #2!!

Woo Hoo Jodie’s all ready to transport!! She and the foal she is expecting will be to their forever home, the “Full Circle Ranch” by the next Tuesday the 7th of Sept!! 

She has progressed sooo much under Kindle’s care & love. It takes more than just food to bring back a horse from the brink of death ya know. Kindle had to show & give her love to heal Jodie’s soul. Jodie was so weak when she first arrived that Kindle had to spend the night out in the pen with her. When an animal is soo disregarded, so made to feel that she doesn’t matter, the faith and love to survive can be a huge hurdle to over come. The sadness and discouragement that Jodie first had when she arrived was the hurdle that Kindle had to fight in order for Jodie to thrive. I cannot ever say “Thank You” enough to Kindle and her family for bringing the light of life back to Jodie’s soul. Kindle will forever be in Jodie’s heart and I dare to say the same from her family’s side too. Kindle found Jodie’s “sweet spot” it’s under her chin and down her chest. Yippee!! Every slight bit of acceptance from a wild horse that went through a round up at some point in their life, to ending up at an abusive home being beaten & starved is a big joy and welcoming. To me, trust with horses wild or not is earned one moment at a time. I am grateful for each of those moments. It doesn’t feel like its enough but “Thank You Kindle, you and your family”. Ya’ll are the reason Jodie is alive and thriving, as well as the foal inside her.  

I also want to thank all of you who helped make this possible.  You guys donated $380.00 towards her transportation cost. I cannot be more grateful.  I have been twittering & FBing for about a year now and I have met soo many great helping people. (Total strangers that are now buds)  I/We need these confirmations in life. We need to know that there are great loving people left in the world.

At a time when all of us critter loving people can feel so discouraged and simply drained because of the seeming lack of compassion for animals in our world we need each other. Our wild horses alone are finding every day their life, their very existence becoming more and more destroyed. 100,000 horses wild & domesticated combined, from our country alone, go to slaughter every year. Plus who knows the number that are starved and abused in their “supposed” homes. It can all be so heartbreaking.

This is what is so wonderful about Jodie coming here. She will never have to leave this ranch nor her baby. They will always be considered for the wonderful loving beings that they are. It’s cool too though for the rest of our herd as well. We have 7 mares and they each and everyone are beautiful. Each of them has wonderful qualities that would be great to keep in our little herd, and some of them would love being a mother. Having said that, I don’t know if I could ever bring myself to getting one of our lovely mares pregnant. With soo many horses unwanted and there not being any sound reason for me to breed one of ours, I would feel very bad and disrespectful for doing so. You know what I mean?

Jodie though is with foal and although allowing her to be bred into an already abusive situation should never have taken place, but it is what it is. I can feel happy about this little baby coming though… teehee I also can see this as a healing of sorts for our whole herd. Jodie will be in her own pen until her and the baby are ready to be running with all the horsey’s but with our nosey herd they are sure to become “over the fence” buds. The two are going to live in a special pen connected to our house. I want them close so I can  watch Jodie’s pregnancy and attend to her daily needs, to show her how we share our looove and respect as a family. She is coming to a very special group of horses, and people, living with us. We have smorgasbord of breeds and attitudes here. Teehee..

At some point this little baby will be the herd’s baby with so many aunts & uncles. Each horse in our herd comes with their own story and life’s experiences to share and teach with.  Every one of our horses has a history in a time before we got them. Heck Kid Rock (TB) had a very successful racing career. Including all the horrors that went with it, he is the lead dude here. Our lead Mare is Ellie Mare and she is a 3 yr old Mustang rounded up as a yearling from NV. Then there is Sierra (14 yrs old) a beautiful palomino foundation quarter horse, she worked as a pack horse in the mountains.  Suzie is a curly that came from a big ranch close by where she learned and lived the cowboy life, working cattle and other basic ranch work. Oh I can’t stop without mentioning CJ.  He is the one that started it all for me. He is my Mustang and is in his 20’s now.  He wasn’t caught and rounded up until he was 5 yrs old from the wilds of Nevada. He is the one that went through the awful prison training program that the BLM participates with. (Not trying to step on toes here just telling my boys facts).  He left that program afraid of his own species. Since he was fast from a stand still the cowboys in the prison used him as “the cow” in their rodeos. He would shoot out the gate and be chased down by riders on horses then roped. When we first got him if he got to close to any other horse he would break out in a sweat and shake. He’s great now, confident and sooo loving.  He is the official Granddad on the ranch. (CJ’s the wise one that moves in and out of the herd as he feels on any particular day). Point being, because none were born into our family, that every horse in our herd comes with their own past. It has and is our job to understand those “before lives” to respect and accept what and how those have affected them individually. I mean geesh don’t you want to know and understand the past of anyone you love? 

Jodie will be #13 in the herd and the foal #14. With so many history’s, different pasts and special individuals coming from within the whole herd here on the ranch comes new and important lessons, lessons for each member of the herd, lessons for us 2 leggers and tons of lessons for the baby. See its funny to me, everyone thinks it’s so cool we are taking in this poor abused/starved mare and it is, but the ones really being lucky aren’t just Jodie and her foal, it’s us my family.  We have the chance to right whatever wrongs that have befallen Jodie.  The chance to show her humans can understand and that we can share our lives together. See how lucky we are?  Horses just need to be themselves and we need to be there for them however they need us. We don’t make them fit into our lives we fit into theirs. It’s not like living in the wild on their own for the horses, but with our little 40 acres it’s as close as we can get them to it. They all run wherever they want on our collective ranch. They choose to come down from the hilly back 30 to be with us. You can’t do a thing around here from working in the garden to fixing or driving the tractor around here without the herd walking over to see what’s going on. They are so friendly and so so curious. They feel at home as they should. We try really hard to share our love and our life with all the critters here, from the wild turkeys and bobcats to our house dogs and cats. This sharing, loving and living our lives together is what makes us a family.

Jodie has no idea how much she means to us and how grateful we are to have her and all of the critters in our life. Thanks for listening to my ramblings.  Sometimes ya just have to step back and acknowledge how wonderful animals in a human’s life can be. :) Check out Jodie’s new pics from the 23rd of August… Yippee she’s coming home…

The Rescue of Jodie

(Your generosity can help get Jodie and her unborn foal to their Forever home.
Donations are being accepted through JERAS (Journey’s End Ranch Animal Sanctuary http://www.jersanctuary.org/) to help offset the transport cost of $900.00 to get them from Texas to California.  No amount is too small and will definitely help.  If there are extra funds collected they will be used by JERAS to help other rescues.  You can use this link http://www.jersanctuary.org/ or the link at the end of her story to contribute. Click on the “Donate” tab or “make a donation” to go to the donations page.  Click on the One time donation option: “Donate” button.  You will be directed to the Journey’s End Ranch Animal Sanctuary PayPal donation page.  Be sure to add a note, “JODIE”, on the donation to insure that the donation goes to Jodie’s transportation cost.  JERAS is a Non-Profit 501 (c)3 organization so your donation is also tax deductible.  The following is Jodie’s story.)

This is Jodie, she is a 14 yr old BLM Mustang Mare. Jodie was almost a statistic in that the eventuality of her going to slaughter was a real possibility. Then she would have become one of the 100,000 horses that do go to slaughter annually. She has been starved, abused & beaten (whip marks on face). She is but one Wild Horse rescue and this is her, story… 

Jodie’s story starts in Nevada where she was born free and wild. We know certain information about Jodie since she was once owned in part by you, as she was briefly protected under the Wild Horse & Burro act and considered a ward of the Government & protected by it, she is an American Mustang of which all are in legal terms property of the United States of America you the American Tax payer.

Jodie came from the Augusta Mountain range in what is called the “Battle Mountain” HMA (herd management area) The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) is in charge of the land  as the land is own and maintained by our US Government under the office of the DOI (Dept of the Interior). At some point the BLM conducted a round up and Jodie was captured. We know most of this information from the freeze brand on Jodie’s left side of her neck. She was processed & adopted out and then was titled and officially became private property on August 28th in 2002, her titled date. She was then 6 yrs old. She was one of over 33,000 Wild Horses being kept in long term Government holding pens waiting for adoption. All of this at the cost to you (tax payer) of $100,000 a day for the daily up keep and feed of the Wild Horses in the holding pens. She was one of those Mustangs held in over crowded pens for her first 5 yrs. of life as she was brought in as a foal or weanling.

It is after her adoption things went from bad to worse for Jodie. All of what she suffered, what she was made to endure and all of her sorrows happen after she was adopted. This past June 2010 Jodie became a neighborhood concern in a small town in Texas to many who lived around her. She was found in a garbage filled yard along with 3 other horses, 1 mare & 2 studs. Her starved condition became apparent to the neighborhood and she eventually came to the attention of Kindle a local animal lover and previous rescuer. When Kindle saw how skinny and obviously starving Jodie was she immediately jumped into action. Jodie and the other mare were purchased outright by Kindle and JERAS, Journey’s End Ranch Animal Sanctuary, which is run by Catherine Ritlaw.

Jodie was so weak she didn’t even have the energy to be scared or fight about being caught by strangers and taken to a new home. Once safely stabled & safe at Kindle’s she was checked by Kindle’s Veterinarian. It was determined at this point that not only was Jodie starving, she was also newly pregnant. As she was examined the whip mark scars on her face, up and down her hind quarters and back legs stood out. Where ever the last 8 years of Jodie’s life had brought her too were apparent, she was literally carrying the scars of those hard fought years on her body & her soul. In these early days of being rescued Jodie didn’t like to be touched, but without the energy to fight back she would endure it. Then it was noted that obviously starving, she still had bigger concerns in her mind. If little children were any where around she was nervous and would shake & although starving she wouldn’t eat. Sadly we will never be privy to those private thoughts that were turning in her head. We can only respect the fact that from this point on she would never have to worry about those thoughts turning into reality ever again.  Not if Kindle, Catherine or eventually I would have anything to say about it.

A farrier was called out to access the condition of Jodie’s hooves. Typically Mustangs hooves are very hard and so sturdy with needing little care except for the occasional trim job and rasping (filing). Mustangs are considered “sure footed” and owning 5 Wild Horses myself know this to be true. Jodie on the other hand did have some issues. From conversations between the farrier and the Vet it was determined that her back left hoof had endured an infection at some point. An infection so bad that that hoof is cracked from the bottom where she touches the ground to the very top where her heel is. The infection had healed on it’s own. Some how this little starving mare’s own body just dealt with the infection and the only remnants were the crack up and all the way through. Jodie will completely heal from this but she will not be ridden for at least a year until that hoof wall has a chance to repair itself completely. All the discussions & diagnosis only confirmed what a brave courageous little Mustang she is. 

Kindle has been taking great care of Jodie but she has known all along that she wouldn’t be Jodie’s final stop because Kindle has her own horses to take care of.  Catherine put out requests for adoption homes and that is when Jodie touched my heart. I responded to Catherine’s call and after she deemed me and my home appropriate and loving it was decided that I would be her and her baby’s forever home. 

I live on a ranch in the Sierra Nevada’s in California with my husband and two adult daughters.  We have 13 horses of all shapes & sizes. We have now including Jodie 6 BLM Wild Horses, 2 TB’s, 3 Quarter Horses, 1 Curly mare & 1 Belgian Palomino.  They share the ranch w/2 BLM Burros, 7 dogs, 3 cats, 2 Brahma bull calves & a few chickens.  We are one big happy family and this is for one and all their “forever” home.  We have the room, the experience and the love that it will take to make Jodie whole again. I know this is going to be a big job but I know the reward that waits at the end.  The reward is a happy confident well adjusted Mare that never has to say good bye to her baby. The two of them will forever be “ranch mates” here at our home, The Full Circle Ranch. 

Jodie at present is still in Texas at Kindle’s ranch but the Veterinarian has determined that Jodie will be ready for traveling the last week of August. This window for moving her is a small one but a doable one. We have transport booked w/a nice couple that will take the extra steps to insure the safety of our pregnant little rescue.

Thank you for taking the time to read about Jodie’s plight.  She and her unborn foal will never have to endure these hardships again and your donation will include you in their story and you will become part of the wonderful future that awaits them.

Please use this link: http://www.jersanctuary.org/ and click on the “Donate” tab or “make a donation” to go to the donations page.  Click on the One time donation option: “Donate” button.  That will direct you to the JERAS PayPal donations page.  Be sure to Click on the “Add special instructions to the seller” link and Note “JODIE” with your donation to insure that the funds are marked for her transportation cost of $900.00.  Any additional funds will be used to help JERAS in their continuing efforts in rescuing and caring for the animals that other’s have forgotten, abandoned or abused.  JERAS is a Non-Profit 501 (c)3 organization so your donations are tax deductible.