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Be sure to check out the Mountain Shadows Equine Youtube Channel for more training and adoption information!

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May 23, 2019

We got the all clear to transport Easley and Oakley to Laramie!
Using the panels again we were able to halter Easley and Oakley. Oakley was loaded into the trailer first, and she did amazing. She stood patiently while we fed her some hay so we could load Easley. Easley was not as keen about getting into the trailer. We coaxed her in with some hay, but she wasn’t having it. We gently pressured her from behind and she hopped right in.

The ride to Laramie was a nasty one. Dense fog turned our trip into an even longer one. We made it to Laramie and the girls were unloaded into stalls next to Boone and Earhart.

What a relief it is to have all the rescues in one place finally!

May 17 , 2019

Oakley and Easley will be hitting their 30 day mark on Monday so we scheduled their vet visit. Thanks to the generation donation of K and A Mercill Construction we were given livestock panels, and without them we would not have been able to halter Easley. She is a very timid and shy filly, and is definitely going to take a while to earn her trust.
With the panels we were able to safely halter both Oakley and Easley and they were given a clean bill of health and were both vaccinated. Oakley was a very good girl and kept a level head through the whole visit.

After the vet visit we pampered on Easley, giving her a good brushing and a good ‘ole love session. Oakley we tried our best to get her hooves trimmed while we had a little time to do so.

We have to wait for the coggins to come back clear. Hopefully by Wednesday we get the all clear so we can transport them up to Laramie!

May 3, 2019

Today was the day we scheduled Boone for his castration surgery, as his 30 days of quarantine were almost up! We traveled to Cheyenne and loaded him decently fast. He was extremely trusting, and did not give us too much trouble with the trailer, and got some yummy grain to make the short trip back to Laramie that much easier on him.

Once we arrived at the vet he was very unsure about his surroundings, and definitely was smarter than we expected. It took nearly an hour to get the drugs in him to knock him out, but the vet was so amazing and patient with him. We now have a happy little gelding!

He spent the night at the vet clinic for stall rest, and we brought him to the barn the next morning.

Welcome to Laramie Boone!

April 20, 2019

We took the trek back down to Fort Collins from Laramie once again this week. We had a fast detour on our way, in Cheyenne, to visit with our stud colt, Boone. He was putting on some weight and seemed willing to trust us, but there is going to be some work to get this guy to understand that humans are here for partnership and love rather than the harsh treatment he may have endured.
After our quick visit with Boone we headed to Centennial Livestock Auction yard, located in Fort Collins. We had to pay for the two mares we had saved from the Wednesday prior.  There were some bumps, but the ladies were loaded safely in our trailer and we took the short trip to Berthoud. Both Easley, and Oakley, haltered well and lead nicely into their new paddock for their quarantine.  They have a nice quarantine location where they can just be horses for a little while. We are very excited to get stared on training these ladies and finding them forever homes.

April 17, 2019

Finally the day to bring Earhart home! On our way down to Berthoud to pick her up, we stopped to check out a very busy day at the auction. There were over 33 horses at CLA! We dropped off a list with the lovely ladies there of horses they could bid for on our behalf, and their max bids. Our max bids are not very high, but they are higher than what a “kill buyer” would pay without any competition. This reduces the profit they make when they either flip or ship the horses. And this way, if we do end up with a horse, they will have a safe landing.

We ended up with two lovely ladies (we think). We will post more about them soon, but one, we think, is a very thin two year old filly whose growth has been stunted from being malnourished. She also has wounds all over her body from being beaten up by other horses. Despite this, she is very friendly and happy to greet you at the gate. The other horse we ended up with is a three year old registered quarter horse. We know little about her since we did not expect to get her at a low price and did not spend very much time with her, but we do know that she is friendly.

Earhart did wonderfully on her journey. Walked on the lead like a champ and hopped right in the trailer! We took it slow, but there was absolutely zero fuss! Welcome to Laramie Earhart!

April 12, 2019

Earhart had her vet visit to get ready for her move up to Laramie! This little filly is just the sweetest baby. From an untouched yearling to loving all the scratches in just a couple visits!

Unfortunately, during her check up our vet noticed she has a heart murmur. He was worried in letting us know that she would never be anything like a competitive barrel horse, but we don’t mind! She can still make someone a lovely mellow trail partner or western pleasure horse.

April 3, 2019

Flashy horses tend to have better luck finding homes from auction. It is unfortunate but true. We are lucky that at the Centennial Livestock Auction there are groups, including Hard Knocks Equine Rescue Coalition, who post the horses online before they are sold. This allows for the public to decide if they would like the horse before it ends up on the feedlot and keeps the money out of the hands of the “killbuyers”. Unfortunately, the horses that tend to catch the public eye this way are, well, eye-catching. For this reason, horses like Boone are overlooked. We were not able to attend the auction on this day due to work but noticed this guy had no potential buyers. We asked the ladies at the auction if they wouldn’t mind bidding for us on him up to $500.

We ended up getting Boone for $375. He is a 2 year old stud (not for long) colt. He is sort of halterbroke, but as sweet and curious as can be! He is headed to quarantine until he can come to Laramie and start his training program!

March 20, 2019

We visited the Centennial Livestock Auction in Northern Colorado hoping to save one or two horses as we can save some money by having multiple horses go through quarantine rather than one at a time. Out of the 16 horses there, all but 3 were trained to ride to some degree with about 8 trained as ranch horses. One of these horses stole our hearts. He had a fresh would on his face which was bleeding and his feet looked like the hadn’t been taken care of in over a year. We scratched his face and picked up his feet. He was the sweetest guy. We did everything we could think of to raise enough money to save him but we just did not get enough. Larger horses like this guy sold to the feedlots for about $750. Without getting enough donations coming in it just wasn’t responsible for us to bid that high on him.

He went to the feedlot where his wounds won’t be dressed and his feet won’t be trimmed. He will not be treated with the respect he deserves. He may be bailed out by some big hearts, but that will leave more money in the pocket of the kill buyer. Wednesday was hard. We wish you all the best buddy. We hope we can save the next one :'(