Whispter-  

Whispter Arrivial Day  Whisper with wieght on him.

Eragone- The grey horse: came in on his way to auction- he has been adopted and is boarded here.

Ginger - came in Nov. 2009.

Flame-

Riley's pictures on his arrival day:

     BEFORE- DAY HE ARRIVED

 5 months- about 400-500 lbs heavier.   Riley in action

4/25/09- Riley is looking super good- he probably could gain another 50 lbs. He is being ridden and trained to show at the St Croix County fair this year. He is a fun horse to ride, and is a great jumper! He can teach you how to jump. His muscle is coming in well. Riley is eating 3 meals a day: senior and grain wet down. He is on 2 supplements more muscle, and daily dewormer. He has already started getting a great coat as well. wait to see some updated photos.

2/7/09 Riley is doing great! Okay other than the fact that now that he's healthy- he has attitude issues!  We are working on putting some muscle on him and of course correcting the ground manners. He is ridable for advanced riders at this time. AND we found out today- he likes to jump. :)! 

NOTE: Riley was not a cheap horse to rescue- medical expenses, and feeding 3 times a day- SPECIAL FEED- cost more than you can imagine! THANK you to Tommie Santilli for covering his medical bills!!! Thank you to other families Nikke Hefermeyer and Ellen Olson who asked relatives to donate to Riley's cause rather than give Christmas presents. THANK YOU! 

12/23/08 2nd blood test revealed that Toby is doing better- but NOT out of the woods yet. He is still anemic but things are not as bad as they were on the 8th. Keeping him on iron supplement- and will take another test in January.

12/11/08 Tonight- I took a Riley to the hospital- a very special new rescue that we’ve had only 3-4 months. Yet, I’ve grown to love him as if he were part of me, my family or closest friend. It is his trust that has drawn me to him. Step back several months as I hobbled out of my truck, crutches in hand, and feet in casts- a feeble horse in need of help rounded the corner of a dry lot in hopes of a being rescued- only to look up and see a feeble looking woman with sad eyes looking back at him- I am sure his first thought was- OH BROTHER! How is she going to rescue me??? But he took a deep breath and decided- “OK, God, I’ll hang on and help this gal out-“. Together- we bonded as we healed- each feeling the pain of recovery- each leaning on the other as we grew stronger. Tonight- he is in the hospital and I am confident he will recover once again- Pulling thru to make sure others such as myself get the tender support he is so good at giving!  Sometimes I question whether the work I do is worth the “cost” of what it takes to keep it up- I probably can’t answer that question- but know in my heart that sometimes things just feel “right”.

12/1/08 Riley is looking really good. On thanksgiving day, I tacked him up, and quietly sat on his back. we walked in the arena- and he even wanted to trot a little. He loved having a job, even if it was just walking around. He is definitely trained, listened to leg cues, and had a smooth gait. We are looking forward to having riley as a lesson horse summer of 2009.

11/18/03 The Vet was here this week and said that Riley has gained at least 200 lbs! YEAH! He still has 300 more to go- BUT he is doing good. Thanks to Bonnie and Tony G- we have a stall built for him in the hay barn so he can keep warm this winter.

11/03/08 No photos yet- but Riley is still improving. In hopes to start adding muscle to his weight gain, we have begun a light exercise program- lunging 5 minutes a day to get the arthritic joints moving, but not exert too much energy that he loses any weight.

10/16/08 Riley is gaining slowly. Slow enough to prevent colic. However, it was 31 degress this morning- and Riley will not be able to stay warm this winter if he doesn't gain weight. So- to ensure enough energy for him to continue to gain and stay warm- we'll be putting him on three warm meals a day- ALSO, we are looking into building a bigger stall in the hay barn for him to sleep in at night. Our 10x10 stalls are not quite big enough for him. We'll take some more photos this month.

9/29/08 Riley has been introduced to several horses and gets along well with most of them. He is steadily gaining weight. My guess is he has gained 50 lbs  or a little more. He is on a special diet of 1.5 cups of merit senior,  1.5 cups beet pulp, and 1 .5 cup Maxi-glo meal (high energy low starch) twice a day.  We wet this combination down with warm water. This was not given to him immediately but he was gradually built up to this. He has a lot more energy now. 

9/18/18 Riley has gained enough weight that his ribs are not as pronounced as when he came. The pics above were given to me by the previous owner and his condition had worsen by the time he arrived at our farm! SO- now he looks almost back to the picture state above.  His energy is increasing and he even threw a little fit this AM when he wasn't the first to be fed.  We've been trying him with a couple horses- and he LOVES Chaun. They spent an hour or so together and really got along well. Now, we have to get Rusty used to the idea of Riley coming into his pasture.

9/15/08 UPDATE- Rileyis doing well. Seems to have gained a few pounds. we tried putting him in the pasture with Snappy- but Snappy was too aggressive. What a shock that was. We'll try to keep the photos updated.