I am fostering a mare for Curly Horse Rescue. Her name is Belle, and she is supposed to be somewhere around 18-20 years old (guess by the vet). She is likely gaited (based on a description by the owner to one of the Directors of CHR) and is either chestnut sabino roan, or palomino sabino roan (based on statement by the owner that she was surprised that her "white" horse in the winter shed out to "palomino colored" in the summer).
Anyway, the story is that "Miss Janet" owned this mare for quite some time, before marrying her current/2nd husband. Rumor has it that she lived in California, Kentucky and finally in Tennessee. She rode and showed this mare extensively, winning many blue ribbons on her. Miss Janet has Alzheimers and is a long-term care facility, she doesn't even recognize her husband anymore, which is so very sad. Husband is not a horse person and travels a lot, and had caretakers taking care of the horses. The caretakers threw away her papers when they found them in the attic because they had mouse poop on them.
She was taken in by a woman who I'll just call "T", who lives in Tn, in May 2010, who used to be an investigator for the Humane Society down there, and has been involved with animals and rescue for a long time. The other rescue mare that she has is beating up on Belle, which is why she is turning her over to CHR. Her 30 year old gelding is very bonded to the mean mare, and she is devastated that she has to give her up because she promised her a retirement and she is a very sweet mare.
So even a "good" horse can end up in a situation where they need a rescue. Its not just the sick, ill-tempered, or poorly bred grade horses that are needing Rescues to step in.
Here are some photos that "T" sent to me, that she took in May, of 2010. She told me that Bella was eating a LOT of sweet feed that the caretakers were feeding, and Miss Janet's husband didn't know much about horses. She assured me that she had lost weight since those photos were taken!
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