We received an urgent call for a baby mustang who is fighting for his life, but at this point barely hanging on. I apologize for the photo, but it is what we have and it clearly shows he is starving to death and in extremely critical shape. If you look closely, you can see his top line is completely exposed and simply skin over bones.
His coat is ragged and he is obviously wormy and most likely has ticks. When babies get this thin (adults too), the body starts eating itself to survive. (Honeybandit’s blood work showed his body was in that mode). That is when you start getting organ damage internally. He has been getting good food, but he obviously needs immediate attention to his health issues. As he is in urgent need of critical care, Matt will be leaving tomorrow to go get him.
We are delivering 3 horse kids on the way to WA, so although we will have a couple spaces here, Racoon needs to go immediately to the quarantine nursery. Thankfully, Matt just finished the inside stall this morning. (They say timing is everything lol).
We need to purchase stall mats and some panels for an exercise pen so he can begin his rehab once we get him home.
We need help with expenses for fuel, Coggins, vet care and special groceries for this baby. We are not sure if he will be ok but we are going to give it our all. We do have to finish his nursery prior to his arrival and we would really appreciate any help you can give this baby.
Please help us give “Racoon” a chance to live a long and healthy life. He needs immediate care so he won’t have to suffer anymore and we also need prayers that too much damage to his internal organs has not occurred. He was not expected to live this long, so it is obvious he is a fighter.
We are already in contact with the vet in his area so we will be working closely together to give him the best chance possible. Please help if you can!
Baby season is coming early this year.
I am still on crutches but will have to stay home to feed and take care of the critters.The timing isn’t convenient, but when God puts a “baby in need”, in front of you, you just “git ‘er done”. Babies can’t wait. Please say a prayer for Raccoon and help us save him if you can.
Thank you for all the love and support and all the lives you’ve saved! We could not do this without you!
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
We received an urgent call for a baby mustang who is fighting for his life, but at this point barely hanging on. I apologize for the photo, but it is what we have and it clearly shows he is starving to death and in extremely critical shape. If you look closely, you can see his top line is completely exposed and simply skin over bones.
His coat is ragged and he is obviously wormy and most likely has ticks. When babies get this thin (adults too), the body starts eating itself to survive. (Honeybandit’s blood work showed his body was in that mode). That is when you start getting organ damage internally. He has been getting good food, but he obviously needs immediate attention to his health issues. As he is in urgent need of critical care, Matt will be leaving tomorrow to go get him.
We are delivering 3 horse kids on the way to WA, so although we will have a couple spaces here, Racoon needs to go immediately to the quarantine nursery. Thankfully, Matt just finished the inside stall this morning. (They say timing is everything lol).
We need to purchase stall mats and some panels for an exercise pen so he can begin his rehab once we get him home.
We need help with expenses for fuel, Coggins, vet care and special groceries for this baby. We are not sure if he will be ok but we are going to give it our all. We do have to finish his nursery prior to his arrival and we would really appreciate any help you can give this baby.
Please help us give “Racoon” a chance to live a long and healthy life. He needs immediate care so he won’t have to suffer anymore and we also need prayers that too much damage to his internal organs has not occurred. He was not expected to live this long, so it is obvious he is a fighter.
We are already in contact with the vet in his area so we will be working closely together to give him the best chance possible. Please help if you can!
Baby season is coming early this year.
I am still on crutches but will have to stay home to feed and take care of the critters.The timing isn’t convenient, but when God puts a “baby in need”, in front of you, you just “git ‘er done”. Babies can’t wait. Please say a prayer for Raccoon and help us save him if you can.
Thank you for all the love and support and all the lives you’ve saved! We could not do this without you!
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
What we have all accomplished in 2017 is beyond amazing. Y’all have made it possible to save so many lives. Please remember, every single horse that was saved in South Dakota was partially due to the love and support you continue to show. Our rescue spent a great deal of money on that situation. Although it was only a drop in the bucket compared to the hundreds of thousands donated by the big organizations, for us the thousands plus that we spent was mind blowing. YOU DID THAT!You made it possible for Matt and I to do what we had to do. In turn, we made it possible for FOA to do what they did. Elaine Nash and Barbara Jo Rasmussen also are partially responsible for the hundreds that we saved this year. If they hadn’t stepped up and taken on the re-homing of the horses at ISPMB, we wouldn’t have been able to save all those orphans and all the families that you helped us save his year. So by working together, the affects reach further and further down the line without us even realizing it.
I wanted to share this. As one of our favorite “family members” so eloquently said,
“Hi Lauri! My name is Tina. I am the mother of the young girl you are referring to in your post above. I have to THANK YOU for bringing Frosty into my daughter’s life. Frosty lights up her world! Your rescue efforts trickle down to giving a young girl the ability to use her determination, compassion, and love to pour into this sweet and gentle boy! She absolutely loves him. Thank you!
I am going to post a few pictures of Madelyn and Frosty’s growing relationship. Enjoy! :)
As you can see, kindness and love trickle down and keep on going. ALL OF YOU MADE THIS HAPPEN! An old blind stallion who most likely would have not had much of a chance because he was “too old to geld” as well as being blind, now is in the perfect place. THANK YOU!!!
I know it seems that sometimes we take on a lot of the “lost causes”. But these are the ones who need the most help. Lots of people can help with the “easy ones”, but at Chilly Pepper we have seen more miracles than even seems possible. I don’t believe in killing a horse because it is inconvenient. I truly believe God puts them in front of us so we can do what is best for them.
I am sorry it has taken so long to do this update, but we started the Christmas Holidays with some heartbreak. We lost my lil brother Tim, 4 days before Christmas. His passing was a complete shock and like everyone who loses family, we simply needed some quiet time.
So many folks have been asking for a leg update. Well the good news is that the Doc said it looks great as far as the break healing. The scary news is that Doc also wants me to start seeing his joint specialist. He is afraid I will end up with a Catastrophic Failure of my total knee. (I guess once they are over 10 years old they can fail?) Of course I haven’t told him yet that it’s baby season and that means we will most likely be crazy busy again. I can say I am not looking forward to them taking the rod out of my leg.
So we are back on the proverbial horse, and working like crazy to get the kids their new homes and figure out where our new “permanent residences” fit in with the other kids.
So I am still on crutches but hoping to keep healing quickly. It has been really hard not being able to do much with the horses, especially with so many critters here.
We have a couple of guys who need to be gelded, and lots and lots of hoofers to get trimmed. We think that Kyle (our long yearling draft) is starting to stand a bit higher on those front legs. The vet said if he doesn’t improve he may only be comfy for 3-4 years? So we are praying that with special feed he will be another miracle. It’s go time now, and we need to be ready for the upcoming foals, so we are getting the new quarantine area ready to go.
Thank you and God bless you for sharing this wonderful journey with us and for making the Chilly Pepper family so amazing.
Thank you for all the love and support and all the lives you’ve saved! We could not do this without you! Another one of our “too old to geld, blind stallions“. The day he walked up and said hi I swear he knew it was a life saving moment.
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
We did it, we saved the 7 (2 minis and 5 ponies) from slaughter. This took awhile, but all came home safely. Great news is that two of them have already been adopted.
This group was by far our most expensive, but we had to save them. THANK YOU EVERYONE who stepped up to make it happen. The “tiny’s” would have been slaughtered for dog food or their hides. So they say THANK YOU!
At this point we have 23 horses on the property. Four of the older ones have special feed requirements . One of the 20 year olds need his teeth floated as he looks like he is starving :( But he will get those fixed soon and he is on special feed and doing well so far. We need to get a couple stallions gelded so they can be adopted. There are 9 total up for adoption. Most of our permanent residents have either health issues or are special needs for a variety of other reasons.
In the last month or so,10 of these amazing horses have found their loving, forever homes. It is always bittersweet to say goodbye, but is wonderful for the horses. We recently went and visited “Sky”, one of our orphans. He came up for a kiss but took off with his two new friends. When he came running back up to say hi again he ignored me and ran straight to his new mom. Hmmmmmm I know that is how it should be but it did make me sad for about a second LOL. Because that is the perfect home, where he loves his new mom best. It’s so heartwarming to see them thriving.
We now have 3 ponies and one miniature available, as well as two gorgeous purebred Arabian colts and 3 mustangs (once Tomahawk and the mini stallion are gelded.)
Our number of permanent residents has grown, so we will need to get the rest of the acreage fenced quickly and add a few more shelters. Everyone here has shelter, but we need to be ready for the coming year.
2017 has been crazy and together we have saved so many horses from slaughter. We cannot thank you enough and are so appreciative of your ongoing support. We could never have done this without you.
We are looking at quite the feed bill. We had a wonderful grant for hay, but we need lots of groceries for the special needs and the elderly to get them through the winter.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful journey with us and for making the Chilly Pepper family so amazing.
LOOKING FOR THAT GIFT FOR THE IMPOSSIBLE TO SHOP FOR PERSON?Make a donation in their name. You get a tax donation, we can send them a photo of a horse they helped save. (Just let us know their information), and they can help save a life without any effort – for the gift that KEEPS ON LIVING!
(The horse shown above in the top photo is Levi, the 20 year old y’all made it possible to save a few months ago.)
Thank you and God bless!
Thank you for all the love and support and all the lives you’ve saved! We could not do this without you!
To our monthly donors, Due to joining WIN, our tax ID number changed. We appreciate all the ongoing support and are asking you (with so much love and appreciation) to please transfer it to the new Paypal – Palomino@chillypepper.org as we will be closing the old paypal acct. Thank you so much for being part of the Chilly Pepper family.
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
I am home from the hospital and desperately hoping that we can make this Holiday one to be thankful for. Another “48 hour deadline is here”.
We just got “the call”. _ As I write this, there are babies at risk of being loaded onto the slaughter truck tomorrow night if we do not step up and save them._ We need to let him know ASAP! if we will be there or if these babies die.
However, the last time we got a call for 6, it was 14 babies two hours later and by the time Matt did the pick up it was 22. So we need to be prepared for a much larger number. We are praying it won’t be more, but we have never, ever, not had “more” babies upon arrival in WA.Right now it is 4-5??
As usual, it’s last minute and definitely not convenient, but this is what we (Y’ALL) do! We step up no matter what and save these young lives!!!
The only thing we can do is to ask y’all to help us once again so we can save these babies. They are definitely big enough to be stuffed onto that trailer and shipped straight to slaughter, so time is of the essence.
So much for a relaxing Thanksgiving, lol. But being thankful is something we should do every day. I am very thankful our neighbors will be able to feed the horses for me and check in on me while Matt is picking up the babies. Last year we were in stuck in South Dakota for Thanksgiving. We were hoping to be home together this year, but these babies need our help.
So please help if you can, and share far and wide. Matt will be bringing these kids back to Chilly Pepper, and we are pretty full. Anyone interested in adopting please contact me.
Thank you and praying everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Please hug your family for me as I will be home with the critters thinking about y’all, and Matt will be on the road once again.
Thank you again for being part of our Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang family. Together we are a force to be reckoned with. Y’all Rock!
You can see Midnight Onyx’s story in the December 2017 issue of Equine Wellness.
Thank you for all the love and support and all the lives you’ve saved! We could not do this without you!
To our monthly donors, Due to joining WIN, our tax ID number changed. We appreciate all the ongoing support and are asking you (with so much love and appreciation) to please transfer it to the new Paypal – Palomino@chillypepper.org as we will be closing the old paypal acct. Thank you so much for being part of the Chilly Pepper family.
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
You can donate via check at Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang, P.O. Box 190 Golconda, NV 89414 PLEASE MAKE CHECKS OUT TO “WIN”, as Chilly Pepper’s bank account is now under the name of our parent company
You can also donate via credit card by calling Palomino at 530-339-1458.
NO MATTER HOW BIG OR HOW SMALL – WE SAVE THEM ALL!
Please forgive me if this is poorly written. I am sitting in the hospital (actually after care at Renown Skilled Nursing). There are some pain meds involved, so hopefully you will have patience with any grammatical errors.
WOW – What an adventure. Matt and I were prepping to pick up the 14 babies y’all came through for. It was Sunday and we were maybe 10 minutes from pulling out of the driveway. I was in the office grabbing my purse when I took a step and “snap”. I had been on my crutches for about a week and my leg felt like it was going to snap every now and then. The last time it felt like this they had to add cadaver bone. I didn’t think it actually would break, but it did. Shown above you can see the initial hardware below the break.
So instead of heading out with both trucks and trailers, we sat waiting for the ambulance to come. We still had to pull the babies, but obviously I wasn’t going anywhere. We immediately called my neighbor Ammy Gorsuch and she and her hubby came over right away. She would immediately take on providing Hope and Gypsum’s milk and their care.
So Matt and I both got to go to the hospital in Winnemucca, and then went our separate ways. I had to go to Reno for surgery, and Matt headed out to Washington to pick up the babies. As usual, the number was no where near close, and Matt picked up 22 babies from the shipper, in addition to another youngster waiting for us at Mel’s. So now we had 23 babies to bail, get vetted and it was no longer Matt and I with two rigs.
As usual, Matt stepped up and “got ‘er done”. We have a pretty good set up at Mel’s to get the younger ones vetted, and although Matt wanted to be home with me, as usual we just had to do what was needed. (When Matt was in the hospital having his knee replaced several years ago, I was on the road saving Cowboy.).
Thankfully we have some amazing folks who are helping adopt these kids out and taking on some for their 4-H projects. We want to thank everyone who not only made it happen financially (the cost was roughly $5,750), but also everyone who stepped up and took on the physical care of these babies.
At this time we have 18 at home in NV. We have some special needs, some waiting for adoption, and some of them are permanent kids at Chilly Pepper and we need to provide them the care they came for. As soon as I get home and can safely do so, we need to get Kyle, the Blonde Belgian, checked out for his front legs, the stallion gelded and multiple other chores done. Then we can start getting ready for winter.
Y’ALL CAME TOGETHER AND SAVED ANOTHER 23 ORPHANS……..!!!!!!
A special thanks to Mel, Kenny & Cam, at the Yakima Foal Orphanage and to Helen & Marla of Thunder Mountain, and Kim Clark and the rest of our angels out there. There are so many more folks involved in each and every one of these rescues, Wendi Clark, Dannielle Dawn Dustin, Theresa Bowman, just to mention a few. WE are not the ones saving all these horses. It is ALL OF Y’ALL, and ALL of the folks who step up and take on the responsibility of finding these kids a home instead of leaving them to load up in the slaughter truck.
Thank you for all the love and support and all the lives you’ve saved! We could not do this without you!
To our monthly donors, Due to joining WIN, our tax ID number changed. We appreciate all the ongoing support and are asking you (with so much love and appreciation) to please transfer it to the new Paypal – Palomino@chillypepper.org as we will be closing the old paypal acct. Thank you so much for being part of the Chilly Pepper family.
I apologize for the lack of clear photos. However, Matt and the gang were pretty focused on keeping the kids safe while they were being vetted, so we pulled this off a quick video.
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
You can donate via check at Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang, P.O. Box 190 Golconda, NV 89414 PLEASE MAKE CHECKS OUT TO “WIN”, as Chilly Pepper’s bank account is now under the name of our parent company
You can also donate via credit card by calling Palomino at 530-339-1458.
NO MATTER HOW BIG OR HOW SMALL – WE SAVE THEM ALL!
It’s Saturday, and we JUST NOW got a call from the shipper. We have 48 hours to be there to pick up a MINIMUM of 14 of this year’s babies.They will be older kids, but how do we say no, you need to ship them????
So it is going to be up to y’all if, and how many, we can save. The last group was underfunded by about $2000, but luckily we received a grant from Giant Steps Foundation who covered the balance still owed for that rescue.
They also gave us a grant for the additional nursery building we so desperately need, our wild horse chute and to help with hay. THANK YOU & GOD BLESS YOU, GIANT STEPS FOUNDATION.However, these funds can ONLY be used for what they are specified for, and they are needed explicitly for those items.
So that leaves us in a critical situation. There are absolutely ZERO funds available at this point to pick up another 14+ weanlings. We will also need to pick up a 3 month old as well, and were warned the numbers most likely will increase before we get there. But we know FOR SURE, there are 14 youngsters who are easily large enough to ship, waiting for all of us to come together once more and save their lives. If we are not there in 48 hours with enough funds to purchase, vet and transport the 14, they will ship directly to slaughter. We have a home for 6 of these kids, but there will be at least 9 we have to bring back to Nevada.
We need your help to save these lives.
We are full already, but of course Matt and I are already hooking up to save as many as we can. We are exhausted, but we are not going to be the reason they ship to slaughter”. It is up to all of us if we are going to save them. This is definitely not the way we want to start winter, but I truly believe that if God puts them in front of us, we have to do our very best to try and save as many as we can. Unfortunately, after this rescue we will have no room for more, unless there is an orphan who needs critical care, or we can place the babies coming home. Fortunately, we only have 4 babies on site today. The rest have been adopted. PTL!
So please, let’s come together one more time and keep these youngsters safe. It is bad enough their families have already been shipped as of today.
Thank you for all the love and support and all the lives you’ve saved! We could not do this without you!
To our monthly donors, Due to joining WIN, our tax ID number changed. We appreciate all the ongoing support and are asking you (with love and appreciation) to please transfer it to the new Paypal – Palomino@chillypepper.org as we will be closing the old paypal acct. Thank you so much for being part of the Chilly Pepper family.
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
You can donate via check at Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang, P.O. Box 190 Golconda, NV 89414 PLEASE MAKE CHECKS OUT TO “WIN”, as Chilly Pepper’s bank account is now under the name of our parent company
You can also donate via credit card by calling Palomino at 530-339-1458.
NO MATTER HOW BIG OR HOW SMALL – WE SAVE THEM ALL!
THE STALLION ABOVE IS SAFE AND ON THE WAY TO CHILLY PEPPER – MIRACLE MUSTANG!
THANK YOU to each and every one of you who donated, sent prayers or shared our mission. It is an impossible task but because of your amazing hearts so many lives have been saved. (Proper thank you’s will be coming but it has been non-stop babies and rescue. Thank you for being patient.)
11 More Lives were saved this last week.Sadly, upon arrival to pickup the horses we were told the Stallion had shipped. As tears slid down my face I wondered how it could hurt so badly to lose a horse you had never met. But the pain was real, and so was the overwhelm.
But this week, we received a small miracle. Thanks to the work of Thunder Mountain in WA, enough time was bought for the stallion pictured above to be saved. He is currently on his way home, and should arrive with two Belgian x Colts we rescued.
Both of these colts are special needs, and one of them has a very large heart murmur on both sides of his chest, and the vet thought most likely he has a hole in his heart. So we have 3 special needs kids heading home and they should be here tomorrow.
Once again I stared in disbelief as the number showed up for “orphan foals”. Normally this would all have ended months ago, but as I picked it up I got the news that we have the chance to save 10+ who otherwise will ship straight to a horrible end.
At this point we are pretty much full, but we need to save this last group before the snow gets here. We are expecting snow later this week, but Matt will be arriving home tomorrow, dropping off the 3 in the trailer, and heading straight back up to WA in order to pick up the LAST big group of the year, IF we get funding for them.
_It seems like its always the same old story. But every life counts and it is the cold hard facts about rescue. It cost money to save these lives, and no one can do it alone. Thank the Lord this should be our last big trip for the year. It has been a long and extremely exhausting one, especially because it started with 3+/- months in South Dakota.
The new kids at Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang!
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
You can donate via check at Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang, P.O. Box 190 Golconda, NV 89414 PLEASE MAKE CHECKS OUT TO “WIN”, as Chilly Pepper’s bank account is now under the name of our parent company
You can also donate via credit card by calling Palomino at 530-339-1458.
NO MATTER HOW BIG OR HOW SMALL – WE SAVE THEM ALL!
THE EMERGENCIES JUST KEEP COMING. About an hour ago I got the call, and it was even shorter notice than normal. We have 24 hours for Matt to get to Yakima and save 11 orphans and a mare & stallion.
Our budget is completely tapped, but we have to try. I don’t want to be the one who says “no, we can’t get them, send them to slaughter”.
It will cost roughly $3250 to save them, get the blood work for the Coggins test, the Health Certificate and the brand inspection. (The average cost is usually about $250 per horse including transporting them to NV). But this does NOT include any money for hay, grain or milk for the little ones.
We simply CANNOT raise funds to “save” them, without having some funds for feed and care. It is not responsible and we already are close to max numbers at Chilly Pepper.
It is so disheartening for the roundups to still be going on. But now it’s up to our entire Chilly Pepper family.
HOW MANY DO WE SAVE? HOW MANY GET LOADED ON THE NEXT TRUCK OUT?
THESE BABIES NEED YOUR HELP! We simply cannot do this with our current budget. Once they are safe, they will need gelding, feed and vet care until we can find them a home.
At some point we have to say “no”, and unfortunately we have been. However, we are the one rescue that is allowed access to these particular babies, so all we can do is our very best. They have no other chance.
Please help us save these babies and the mare and stallion. Matt will be on the road about 4 a.m. The number of horses we save will depend on the funds Y’ALL raise.
I will be staying home with Hope and Gypsum. They have been a huge roller coaster ride and are definitely not out of the woods yet. We still need prayers for them. The vet was here today and we are very hopeful, but all we can do is “one day at a time”.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who donates, sends their love and prayers and shares these updates.
Honestly Matt and I are so past “ready for a break”, but if y’all want to save these lives and help us care for them until they have a home, we are willing to keep going. As tired as y’all are hearing about the “emergencies”, you can be sure Matt and I are also tired of the phone calls and running 24/7. However, if we don’t stand together to save these lives, who will?
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
You can donate via check at Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang, P.O. Box 190 Golconda, NV 89414 PLEASE MAKE CHECKS OUT TO “WIN”, as Chilly Pepper’s bank account is now under the name of our parent company
You can also donate via credit card by calling Palomino at 530-339-1458.
NO MATTER HOW BIG OR HOW SMALL – WE SAVE THEM ALL!
The Chilly Pepper family is sending prayers for Las Vegas, and all the loved ones who are affected by this tragedy.
However, we are in an emergent type of situation here at home. Gypsum and Hope are hanging in there, and are extremely tired of all the shots (twice a day each) and the meds they are receiving.
Hope’s pneumonia seems to be breaking up and she has not had a fever for the last few days. Gypsum is still struggling and we need to take both of them to the vet by tomorrow for further testing.
Gypsum has (hopefully had) an extremely life threatening infection. His good leg received this assessment by the vet. “The right front common digital extensor tendon had ruptured”So in addition to his contracted tendon, his potentially life threatening umbilical infection and pneumonia, his good leg is suffering. He needs another ultrasound ASAP and more blood work. We cannot wait as it could be life threatening if we do not stay on top of this infection,
Hope also needs more blood work and possibly additional medication as she is still coughing and wheezing from the pneumonia breaking up. We are hopeful it is just the gunk leaving her lungs, but we have to be sure.
It is always hard to ask folks to keep helping when so many do so much. But this is about the babies and the horses here at Chilly Pepper, and we are in an emergency situation at this point. We are simply “their voice” (and their private staff – literally 24/7 lol).
I am grateful a good friend had reminded me in the past of how important it is to keep emergency funds available. This saved our bacon on the last trip, but we now need funding for the additional vet care and the costs of caring for so many horses just increased substantially.
We spent nearly $800 on Gypsum’s vet care prior to picking up the horses and saving the 9 slaughter babies. This is the reason he has a chance at life, as Doc Rodger (at Crossroads in CA) is the one who caught the deadly umbilical infection.
We then spent another $1486 at the vet in Idaho (for Hope and Gypsum). The trailer repairs were $800, and we spent over $800+ on medication and Coggins for the 9 babies in Washington. This doesn’t include fuel etc. for the days we were out on this rescue, or to cover the ranch care while we were gone.
So it was well over $3800 in unexpected emergency costs in just the last two weeks, and we are spending over $2000 in feed for the babies and the new horses. (Many of these horses did not belong to Chilly Pepper originally). We were just asked to help place horses. However, apparently they are now “our horses”. So this is where your donations are going. Without you none of these horses would be safe and most of them would already have been slaughtered.
So we are looking at 7 extra adult horses to feed and care for at the worst time of year, in addition to the ones we already had. We try to be really careful and responsible and we do say “No”. However, due to the emergency situation we had no choice but to pick up these horses.
Some of them are in pretty good shape, but there are a few who are pretty thin. We are looking for sponsors for these ladies, and especially for Granny, an older Virginia Range horse that is now our responsibility thanks to trying to help place her. But she is such a sweet mare, so we will figure it out.
There are so many crisis in our world right now, but we have to keep feeding and caring for these kids. If you would like to help us give these babies every chance they deserve, they would so appreciate it. Both of them have survived unthinkable odds, and by the Grace of God and some pretty amazing Angels, both of them are still here and wanting to run and play.
Please help if you can. Each and every dollar adds up, and these beautiful little souls are gifts from God.
THANK YOU FROM ALL THE HORSES!
* A quick note. We moved from LRTC to WIN due to some of the projects being more closely connected. However, we are still working with LRTC and will continue to do so. Our Large Animal Rescue training (at LRTC) (and some awesome Angels) is what made it possible to save Hope. We want to once again thank Willis Lamm for helping us come up with a safe and successful plan to extricate Hope from the trailer full of wild and very anxious horses.
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
You can donate via check at Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang, P.O. Box 190 Golconda, NV 89414 PLEASE MAKE CHECKS OUT TO “WIN”, as Chilly Pepper’s bank account is now under the name of our parent company
You can also donate via credit card by calling Palomino at 530-339-1458.
NO MATTER HOW BIG OR HOW SMALL – WE SAVE THEM ALL!
I have to say that this is probably the hardest update I have ever had to write. For over a year we have been working with a rescue in Naples Idaho. Everything was great for about a year, until it was not, and then it was beyond horrible and the devastation was heartbreaking. There is no worse feeling than knowing you have spent so much time and money and worked so hard to make sure a horse is safe and then you find out something like this. So we picked up all of ours who are not being held for evidence in the court case.
Matt and I had been to the rescue in question numerous times and the horses were all fat and happy. There was lush pasture and we wanted to live there. The horses were all doing well and we received updates via photos and videos. We also shared our visits and how awesome things were.
We visited the horses remaining in Idaho as “evidence”. Although it was beyond heartbreaking, they are under great veterinary care and the lady providing them with the care while the case gets under way is like a ferocious mama bear and I so relate to that. So now the healing starts… (immediately for the horses, and hopefully some day for our hearts.)
As I write this, we have 8 horses in our trailer (7 that we are bringing back to the rescue), 1 whose frantic Mom is on her way to get her, and Mel is babysitting the 9 “slaughter babies” we were in the middle of picking up.
So while we are waiting for the final paperwork to bring our horses home, Little Man Gypsum was enjoying all the attention. He is doing well and our vet is very hopeful is leg will heal well. He had been our newest “critical care orphan”.
As I went out to check the wild horses I noticed a miracle. The horses had been abnormally agitated last night, and the answer lay on the floor. There in the midst of 24 wild horse hooves lay a teeny tiny little foal. HOPE was perfectly formed and I couldn’t believe she was alive.
Her mama had “done her job”, and had nothing left to give. She showed no interest in her beautiful baby, although by some miracle she had kept her from getting squashed on the trailer floor. She watched as Matt picked up Hope and brought her to me. (there was an amazing amount of stress and work to make that happen lol). Her mama is emaciated and has no bag. It is absolutely amazing that she had a healthy baby. SO Far, Hope seems very healthy and has had her Colostrum and is receiving critical care. She is feisty and bouncy and hanging out with Gypsum.
What happened to this rescue really made me stop and think. It is terrifying how everything could be so “good”, and then someone just stops caring or even feeding the critters. I don’t understand how you can hurt any animal. It is beyond heartbreaking. It really makes you want to hang up the towel and walk away.
Then comes HOPE. God gave us a huge blessing in the midst of despair and chaos. So we have something even more to fight for.
But the reality is that we are bringing 7 more horses to the rescue that need special feed and care and some of the slaughter babies. We are needing funds to do Coggins and Health Certs so we can bring the 9 babies, and now we have 2 additional orphan foals, ages a week plus and 8 or 9 hours old who are really enjoying their milk.
At this point we are beyond grateful that it appears that the “weanlings” we were standing by to pick up, are going to be held (to my understanding) through the winter so they can be adopted. Thanking God for that one.
Some of the 9 babies will be placed on the way home, thanks to folks having prepped to help the weanlings.
Thank you for ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT – Especially during hard times like these. As always, we will do everything we can to make sure the horses have good homes. Although it doesn’t change anything for the horses, there were lots of folks who believed in that rescue, and we are all shocked and horrified. When I found out about the situation, Ted Bundy flashed in my mind. We lived in fear for many a year as he poached women at our lake. He is a perfect example. Someone everyone trusted; well liked and oh so personable. Who knew a monster hid inside.
But there is never a rest. This teeny tiny little one needs the critical care we specialize in, so back to work we go. She is the start of the healing and of looking forward to better times. As of now we are waiting on paperwork so we can get back to Yakima and get the babies ready. Thank you for making this happen.
Oh yeah – and a great big thank you to Willis Lamm for helping us plan our approach to safely getting this baby out of a trailer filled with so many anxious hooves. So many times in what we do the Large Animal Rescue training comes in to play. The chances of getting a baby out of a trailer filled with stressed out wild horses without her getting stepped on are not really high. But with God’s grace and the training we have had (and the luxury of having Willis to help us come up with a viable plan), it all worked out in the parking lot. (Not always my favorite place to move wild horses about.)
“CAM” feeding Gypsum his bottle.
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
Well they just keep coming. I received an urgent call last night about 5 foals ready to ship up in Washington State. I spoke with the gentlemen this morning and he will be calling in the next few days to arrange a time for us to pick them up. (Providing we can raise the funds necessary to keep saving these lives.) We are also on standby from our other folks in WA as well.
The larger number of babies, which at this point is 30 – 60 weanlings, will need to be picked up in CA, by September 17 or around that time. As usual in our world, there are no “for sures” with the exception of the fact that there will be a very large number of babies to save. We won’t know how many or how much help there will be. These babies lives will be at stake so we are hoping that y’all are on board to save them. At this time, we are really strapped from the last batch of 49 Yakama kids and the orphans from NV.The gelding of the stallions was not quite covered and the total bill was around $3300+. This included Nya’s vet visit and her blood draw.Unfortunately the wilder ones generate so much adrenaline that they require larger amounts of medication, and that medication is extremely expensive.
On the plus side of success however, you have once again “done the impossible”. ALL the stallions (now geldings) will be heading to Idaho and many of them already have their forever homes lined up. This is only possible due to the love and support y’all have showed for these amazing animals.
What will happen with the larger number of foals: We will be able to commit to as many as we can afford to transport, get blood work done, and be able to care for. These babies will need special munchies, and some of them may still need milk supplements. That is really expensive. However, many of them are older and will simply need some good grain and hay. But winter is coming and we cannot commit to horses we cannot properly care for.
It is not a space issue, but a financial one. We simply cannot fund this rescue from our rescue without lots of help.
The option for these babies if they are not adopted is not a very happy one. From what I understand they would be released back into the wild but without their moms or a band to protect them. Coming right before winter I believe that would be a death sentence. There is also a possibility that ALL the babies would come to Chilly Pepper in NV on their way to other rescues. However, that has to be fully funded as we cannot feed them “air” if funding did not come through.
Unfortunately, there are more horses than homes right now, but if everyone who had the ability stepped up and was willing to take on one or two, it would be a minimal task.
“The Plan’. IF, WE CAN RAISE ENOUGH FUNDS TO RESPONSIBLY SAVE THESE BABIES, the following will happen. (As Far As We Know LOL)
Matt and I would pick up the babies and take them to our old place in CA. We still have the nursery and the outside foal room as well as lots of shelter available for these babies. Then we would have to get a blood test for “Coggins” prior to bringing them to NV. It would take approximately 4 trips from the pick up point to Shingletown and about 2 hours each one way trip when loaded.
Then all the babies would need to be vetted and have their blood drawn.
Once the blood test results were in, we would begin transporting the babies to our facility in NV. However, again we simply cannot take any of these foals on without having a realistic and responsible budget to work with.
Worst case scenario, we would be looking at approximately 5,000 + miles to pick up the kids in WA and to pick up the babies. If we are close to the max number, we would take 4 round trips to Shingletown and then once we had blood work, health certificates etc. we would head back to NV. We are down to an older “back up truck” and we can haul 15 babies per load, give or take depending on size and health.
So it is once again AN EMERGENCY SITUATION for these babies. We are praying many of them are adopted prior to the pick up date, but have been asked to be standing by to help as many of the ones that we can.
So we are looking at up to 60 lives at stake. I am hoping folks want us to save them and are willing to help. We need adopters, sponsors, donors and lots and lots of prayers. Once again this is an overwhelming task that could be considered a logistical nightmare. OR, it can be a task where everyone steps up and together we get it done. After sorting all the 900+ kids in SD and so many people coming together to take on one or two, this seems like it should be so much easier. If 60 people stepped up each and every baby could have a wonderful home.
PLEASE, let’s save these beautiful little lives and give them a chance to actually have a life.
We can not take on all the babies if there are no other rescues in line to help out. We will take the max we can based on the ability to provide care, feed and what they need until they find their new homes.
This really is an emergency and with so many little lives at stake I am confident that we can come together and make this happen. God bless and thank you from all the little ones waiting for their trip to safety.
I really do not enjoy fundraising, but it is for the horses and the only way we can save them. It will cost thousands, but together we CAN “git ‘er done”!
I honestly was hoping to not even be involved, but once again God put it in front of me so we will do our best, as once again we come together with our Chilly Pepper Family.
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
It seems as though summer is in a hurry to leave. This morning was downright chilly. Fall is definitely in the air. The donkeys and mules feel it too. There has been a lot of running and bucking and farting happening in the pasture today. I have been getting calls from folks who are going to be needing to surrender their animals before winter comes. We have had a good summer for adopting out animals, with three donkeys and the adorable mini horse we have going to their new home shortly.
We have five animals in the rescue currently, four standard donkeys and a hinny, who all need a lot more training/handling/behavioral work done with them before they will be ready to be put up for adoption. We work with them almost daily, but it’s been slow going with this group. I am confident that they will come around in time, but in the mean time they need to eat and have their feet trimmed and receive veterinary care and it’s putting a strain on our bank account.
Those of you whom have been getting this newsletter for any amount of time, know how much I hate having to ask for help. I try not to do so unless we are in a pinch. We are not there yet, but heading that way, so if anyone can make a financial donation of any amount it will be very gratefully appreciated. Once the animals can no longer be on pasture our feed bills go up and I don’t feel right if we don’t have a “cushion” in case of an emergency veterinary issue arising. Our cushion does not have much stuffing in it right now. I thank you in advance for any help you might be able to offer. All donations are tax deductible.
Our annual Donkey and Mule Benefit Fall Festival will be held in Alstead at Millot Green again this year. The date is October 7th. I hope to see a lot of you there. It’s such a fun day. We will be having a big booth at Equine Affaire again this year as well. The dates for that are November 9th-12th. I hope to see many of you there as well. Both gigs are like an old home day reunion. I love seeing folks that I only get to see during these events. Equine Affaire comes on the heels of the Donkey Welfare Symposium again this year so hopefully I’ll be able to answer everyone’s donkey questions with new found knowledge!
Meet “Nya”, our latest “critical” orphan. We picked her up on Tuesday in Fernley, NV. I have to say she might win the contest for “worst physical condition” since Honeybandit. She is an absolute love, but starved to the point where she could have organ damage.
However, she is improving a teeny tiny bit every day. She did not leave the nursery or her air conditioner for the first several days, and is fighting some sort of internal issue. She has a cough and is here fighting for a chance to survive, thanks to Anne Hall and Anna Orchard, who pulled her in the nick of time.
Her temperature was all over the place, including a fever of 103+ when she came in to a low temp of 97. But we are watching her like a hawk and what we are seeing so far is positive. She needs lots of prayers and special groceries obviously.
We placed 9 of the 15 orphans we had, and then received an emergency call to pick up up 2 4-year old mares, prior to picking up Nya.
The wonderful news is that we have a place for ALL 14 of the stallions at a friend’s in Idaho who helps us adopt out these precious kids. She is ready and waiting for the 14, after they are gelded.
We are going through about $1000 worth of hay every week and a half, so unfortunately the boys are trying to eat all of the gelding funds.(Could they have a master plan? lol). But we have an appointment with the vet on Tuesday and we will geld as many as we have funds for. The minimum charge will be $200 per horse, (and a few of them are pretty big so they may take more meds.) So if we were fortunate and had enough funds to fully cover all 14, it would be a minimum of $2800, just for the gelding.
But the great part about that is once they are gelded we get to take them to their new place. This will be a huge and very much needed reduction in our hay bill. It is also imperative that we get these boys where they are going as I am already on standby for another group of mustangs who will be headed straight to slaughter.
I will keep y’all posted when I know more, but right now we do not have enough funds to save more while we feed these kids. So once again (as always), the decision will be out of my hands as far as how many we can save.
So far, y’all have pulled a miracle every time and we have not lost one. But again, these boys need to get gelded and off of our books so we have space to put additional rescued kids in.
So we went from 39 horses down to 30, but had the emergency call for Nya and the other two 4 year olds, so back up to 34 :( As usual, we are trying to make sure we place the horses as safely and quickly as we can. It is so much work feeding and taking care of nearly 40 horses with just myself and my hubby when he is here. So I can promise you we will never ever “hoard horses” lol.
If you can help us get these kids gelded and safely transported to their new homes, it will give us a chance to save some or all of the next batch that we are currently standing by for.
Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang has now joined forces with WIN (Wild Horses in Need). We will be operating under their 501c3 (ein number shown below) while we continue our rescue efforts.
We still work with LRTC, but per Willis Lamm, “You guys have really outgrown our operation and hopefully by reorganizing under WIN, you will be able to perform at the next higher level.”. So although logistically it worked out better for all involved for us to join up with WIN, we didn’t grow that much on purpose lol. This started out with us just providing critical care for orphan foals. But God has sent us all over the place and apparently His plan was bigger than mine. (Mine involved time off, but apparently I don’t really need that.)
The only difference this change brings is that any donations made from Sept 1, 2017 onward will be filed under our new tax id number. All donations are still tax deductible and so very much appreciated.
Below are two of our orphans who are now 4 years old. Due to a death in the family and the loss of the family home, we went and picked them up. Pistol has an injury to her leg from a roll of fencing that a worker inadvertently left in the field, but we are hopeful everything will turn out well.
So as always, there is never a dull moment. Thank you everyone who is part of our Chilly Pepper family. You are so appreciated and you make this happen. We truly appreciate each and every penny donated as they all add up to provide life saving feed and medicine for these kids.
God bless and thank you for helping us help these beautiful souls. Please share and if you cannot help with the gelding please spread the word. the sooner they are placed, the sooner we save on our hay bill and will be ready to save more lives.
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
Meet Walker, a Yakama stallion saved from slaughter. As you can see, he is in desperate need of groceries.He is in the worst shape of the 7 we picked up, but they are all in extremely poor condition. However, when you think of his alternate destination, slaughter would have been his destiny.
We have some great news on the baby front. We have 5 scheduled adoptions for babies heading to their new homes in California. This will help our “milk load” tremendously, and leave only 10 orphans vs. the 15 we have now.
We also have potential homes for 7 of the younger stallions, AFTER they are gelded. Right now we really need to raise funds to accomplish that. Then they will be off the Chilly Pepper books for good. :)
Until we geld and place more horses, I have to say “no”, to anything but babies, and that is a horrific thought. We also had a lady who was trying to sponsor the gelding of these 14 stallions, but her funding fell through.
So we have been taking some serious hits in the financial area, but I know that God will provide as this is His rescue.
Our little man Sky seems to be heading towards darkness, as he is losing much of his vision. We are not sure how much he has lost so far, but he is obviously having severe problems. We suspected as much weeks ago, but he has unfortunately proven it to be a certainty. We just don’t know if he will keep any of his sight. But he is a sweetheart.
When we picked up the last batch of horses, we had some pledges for substantial donations. Of course you never count the money before you have it, but you cannot help but consider the possibility of what can be done with it. We have amazing and very reliable folks who donate, but life does happen. Whether it is a change of heart, financial situation, or other life emergency, plans do change. Unfortunately some of the donations promised in regards to the stallions and the orphans did not arrive.
I received a note stating something to the effect of living in an “emergency” all the time is not good. I have to say I totally agree. However, that being said, Chilly Pepper is not a “normal” rescue. We DO NOT ever search out horses to save. By that I mean we do not attend auctions, go to kill pens etc. to try and save horses. Every single horse we save comes via an emergency phone call, and yes, the highest percentages are true emergencies.
When I get the call for the Yakama horses, I am the ONLY one getting that call. If I say no, I cannot get them, they go straight to slaughter. They do not go to auction and have a chance to get bid on. They are considered “organic” and are in great demand due to the lack of drugs. So that is always an emergency as I have hours at the most to say yes or no to saving them, and then have to be on the road, usually in a matter of hours.
The first 3 months of this year that we spent in South Dakota were part of one of those “emergencies”. I was the only one who was available and qualified to safely sort the 800+ horses at ISPMB. In reality, there are very few folks with those skills, and I had to step up for those horses. One of the rescues who were thinking about getting involved told Elaine “we need more than just a girl to sort those horses”. But the old, crippled girl “got ‘er done”, with the help of her half crippled hubby and some other folks. So we pretty much do what God puts in front of us, and it is usually always at the last minute and somewhat crazy.
Folks talk about our “organization” and it always makes me smile. We are part of LRTC, our parent 501c3, but when it comes to raising money and doing what we do, “Matt and I” are it. Chilly Pepper is myself, and my hubby along side of me. What makes it great is the extended family, who are you, the folks reading this email. So again, THANK YOU for helping.
I am hoping we can raise funds asap to get these stallions gelded and moved out of here. Right now we are going through hay like water and once they are gelded we have potential homes for at least 7 of them.
So please help if you can. It will cost roughly $300 +/- for gelding, vaccinations and prepping them for their new homes. We really would like to get them settled soon, so any help you can give is much appreciated.
The babies are all improving (except for Sky’s vision), so once again YOU DID IT! You have made it possible to save so many lives, but the mission isn’t finished until they are safely placed and transported to their new homes.
Thank you for helping us rehab and re-home these stallions. As you can see from Walker’s picture, he has been through more than any horse should go through.
Thank you for being part of the Chilly Pepper family and saving so many lives!
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
ABOVE – one of our newest critical kids, “Little Riata”, who is in extremely rough shape.
She is another starvation case with a severe injury to her back leg. She and Tesla’s Full Moon (another orphan from NV) were delivered to CPMM two days ago. Little Riata will also need veterinary care as well as special feed to give her a chance at survival.
Travis (my son) and I are back on the road and picking up the stock trailer, 7 stallions and 4 orphans.We are driving the “back up”, a 2003 Ford who has also been living at the shop. The good news is that she has another year under her “used truck” warranty, so hopefully she will be a reliable “band aid”. We will also be needing 6 new tires for her today, prior to hooking up the trailer and loading our precious cargo. (Approx estimate $1500).
Matt is busy working on other projects so everyone is busy as usual.
Princess Felina is hanging in there, but having issues gaining weight. At one point it appeared she was just “too tired”, and I was afraid we would lose her than night, but with lots of prayers she pulled through. The vet said her blood work is ok, she is just a starvation case. It is going to take lots of time and money to get her healthy.
We had to have Doc out to lance a huge abscess on Kahlua that just “showed up”. Doc thought maybe there are pieces of whatever caused her injury that are moving about. It was extremely gross but a life saving procedure. She is hanging in there and also on medication.
Unfortunately circumstances dictated that Trav and I run up here asap to get the trailer and the 11 horses, but we have a wonderful “horsey” family who is staying at the ranch caring for the kids until we get back. It kills me to leave the babies even for a couple of days but we simply have to do what is necessary and the babies should be fine until we get back.
At this point we will have a total of 15 orphans (including the 4 we are picking up), the injured yearling, 14 stallions who need to be gelded asap so we can find them homes and 15 others, including the blind, special needs and others soon to be ready for adoption.
We need to purchase about $5,000 worth of hay for the next couple of months and we are going through milk pellets and “baby feed” at an amazing rate. Each baby is a minimum of $300 per month just for the basic milk needs. Luckily some of them are bigger and will be leaving the “milk zone” within the next couple of months. But we are looking at about $5000 for milk pellets, grain, hay etc. This does not include the vet bills.
Doc will be coming out as soon as we get home to evaluate our newest little girl. We are looking at a purchase of about $3000 – $4000 + as we will be bringing home a special chute for the wild horses.
Gelding is more expensive with wild horses, especially when you have less than professional equipment. It is extremely dangerous for your Veterinarian and it also creates undue stress for the stallions. We are looking at about $250 just for the gelding per stallion and at 14, that comes out to about$3500, plus vaccines and worming.
The stallions have to be gelded in order to place them, so that is an urgent matter.
Ideally every rescue handling wild horses has a tilt squeeze (and the bigger, well financed rescues all have them). The horses are squeezed in a very well padded chute where they become calm and it is much less stressful to do vet work etc.
Having a squeeze means it is much safer for your Doc and the horses need less drugs. They are much calmer and about a 100 times less likely to break a leg or rear up and hit their heads or break their necks.
You can also tilt them and do the hoofers of the wild kids in a safe environment. However, the price for the “good equipment” lol is about $35,000, so being able to get a set up that is still about 70% safer than what we are currently using for the horses (and safer for the folks handling them) for $3,000 – $ 4,000 is definitely a win/win for everyone.
So this is what is happening at Chilly Pepper right now and what we need help with.
Again, we cannot thank you enough for all the lives you are saving. None of this would be possible if it wasn’t for everyone in our “Chilly Pepper Family”. Together we are saving lots of lives, and for each and every horse, it is literally their whole world. As always, I am behind on individual thank you’s, but they are slowly coming. Thank you for your patience on this issue.
I am praying the phone stops ringing, and we have a chance to breathe. But for now we need to get these kids ready for their new homes.
THANK YOU AGAIN! for saving these lives. Y’all rock!
As you can see below, Tia and Princess Felina are very relaxed and both are improving thanks to y’all.
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
Hi ya’ll, We have a little emergency at Chilly Pepper.
Matt is up delivering the 5 mares in Northern Idaho, and the transmission in the Chevy just froze. He nearly wrecked, but thanks to our Angels was able to keep enough control not to. There have been absolutely no issues with the transmission, so I guess this was an all or nothing, and now we have nothing.
However, we are looking at a minimum of $7,000+ for a new transmission. You always have to wonder – do I put more money into an old truck?
Well, we have zero money in the budget to purchase a new one, and she is running perfectly. The transmission has over 270,000 miles on her which isn’t too bad. So when you compare $7000 – $8000 vs $30,000+ for an unknown vehicle it seems to make sense to go with what you know.
__
So unfortunately I have to throw this out there and see if anyone wants to help us stay on the road and keep getting these horses where they need to go.
This was my personal truck that I paid for out of my pocket, but she has been dedicated 100% for rescue use for years now. Nearly 200,000 of those miles are rescue, so she has worked really hard.
Please SHARE far and wide if you can. Thank You! *
Please SHARE far and wide if you can. Thank You! *
The reason I am thanking God is that no one was injured and Matt and the horses are ok. Once again a less than optimal incident and yet no injuries to us or anyone else.
▪ I can say that I am truly sorry that I need to put out this update. * But he is literally stuck once again. Thanking God for US Rider insurance :)
I can say that I am truly sorry that I need to put out this update. * But he is literally stuck once again. Thanking God for US Rider insurance :)
THANK YOU for being part of this amazing journey and for saving so many horses lives. We so appreciate you and THANK YOU for being part of the Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang Family.
GOD BLESS!
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
What started out as a 30 something rescue, turned into a total of 51 mustangs, due to the 18 stallions and the 7 orphans – (Not 5 lol) . By the time we arrived to pick up the last minute orphans, there were 7 instead of the 5 we were called for. But that seems to be the norm.
We have several babies with some injuries to their legs, which will need some pretty intensive care. All of them should be fine hopefully.
Upon arriving back in NV, we also picked up another orphan from our “foal partner – Anna Orchard”, who is in pretty rough shape. Thankfully she was able to get her (of course with proper authority) and care for her while we were out of town. She is shown below with her buddy Tia (aka Trailer).
Upon getting back from WA we noticed that “Tia” was not thriving and needed to be pulled immediately. Tia was with Double J whom everyone assumed was her mama. (Our Double J & Trailer duo) However, once DJ started getting her groceries it was very obvious that she was extremely pregnant and way too far along to have a baby this young. Sadly, DJ seemed not to care whatsoever when we pulled the baby, and both of them are doing much better with receiving the appropriate groceries. I was actually really upset with the condition Tia was in. Poor DJ simply could not supply the milk that Tia needed and have a chance to grow a healthy baby.
So now “Princess Felina” has a new best friend and everyone is getting the much needed groceries so they can thrive and be happy.
Matt is out delivering 5 of the mares to their new homes, and bringing back another of the 8 young stallions for our gelding party.
I have to say I cannot believe how amazing y’all were in coming up with the money to save the extra stallions and then the 7 orphans on top of that. So we were able to get everyone vetted and bring them home.Now comes the fun part, ie. gelding, feeding and vetting them all so they can get to their new homes. We need to get this done asap as we are expecting another phone call in the next week or so. Hopefully it doesn’t come sooner.
In addition, now we need to cover the costs of feeding a total of 12 orphaned babies. Thankfully the bigger ones only need the pellets and the special feed. As you can see in the picture, Tia and Princess Felina are seriously in need of some extra groceries.
So once again, TOGETHER and by the Grace of God, we have achieved another true miracle.
We will try to get more pictures of these kids on the website, but I have simply not had time to get the info to my amazing Emily so she can get it up there.
If you can help make up the budget for the care of the extra horses or want to help with gelding, feeding the kids or taking care of the babies, it is very much appreciated. I have to say I dread hearing my phone ring lol. Because that next call will come in soon. I so do not want to have to say “no, send the big kids to slaughter and we will take the babies”. But it again will all depend on the space available and the funds we have to work with. I was actually ill on the way to WA last time fearing I would fail our hope to “LEAVE NO HORSE BEHIND”. But y’all saved every last one!!
THANK YOU for being part of this amazing journey and for saving so many horses lives. We so appreciate you and THANK YOU for being part of the Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang Family.
GOD BLESS!
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
This morning I received an urgent call. There are 5 orphaned foals waiting for us to pick them up. Of course I had a few hours to say yes or no, and a few hours after that to actually get them. We were not given any opportunity to save any of the others.
So, once again plans are changed at the last minute. Luckily Matt has delivered all the 44 that were not going home with us. Mel is sharing her place with us and babysitting our stallions and other kids waiting to go to NV.
We have the rolling foal hospital with us today, (with the orphan SKY and the injured filly Kahlua with us for 24/7 care.) Matt was doing his pre-trip check when he noticed one of the tires starting to fail. They have good tread, but we have been running on them non stop for the last three years since we got the trailer.
So once again, lots of unexpected expenses. New tires, saving and vetting the foals and milk powder and pellets etc. etc. for the new kids.
But when God puts it in front of you, all you can do is say yes and do your best. So we are back in emergency mode.
Thank you to all of our CHILLY PEPPER FAMILY! Without you, none of this would be possible. Again, I have to say this was a bit overwhelming, but with your prayers, love and support we will “git ‘er done”.
God bless and thank you so much for sticking by us and saving these lives. Pictures will follow.
Please send lots of prayers for safe travel, the support we need and for Kahlua to feel better!
Below, Sky enjoying a break at one of our “free” campsites close to Yakama. :) Sometimes being frugal is just plain beautiful. lol
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
WE DID IT – One more miracle for the Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang Family, and that is – YOU! Each and Every Single Person who donated, shared and prayed for these amazing horses is part of Chilly Pepper.THANK YOU & GOD BLESS YOU!
We were extremely lucky that one of my friends stepped up and she and her husband took 14 of the stallions to their place for foster care. They will be helping us get them gelded and gentled so they can be placed in their forever homes.
So now I will only have 14 stallions at Chilly Pepper LOL.
I cannot begin to thank everyone for stepping up. We did not raise enough funds for the gelding, but for now they are safe, and that was definitely the most important aspect to worry about. We will just have to deal with that when we get them home.
Below is Kahlua. She is a 2 year old? filly who came off the range with a horrible injury. It appears as though she fought with a branch? She has a huge and oh so deep gash. Due to the fact it has been there for some time, the infection has spread to her chest and legs. However, she was seen by the vet and is on antibiotics and being treated.
When she came through the chute, I told the guys I wanted her loaded straight into my trailer. They laughed and said “Oh – you gonna just stick a halter on her?” She had a halter on the next day while standing at liberty. She is extremely intelligent, sweet and knew she needed help. She loves to play in the hose while I am hosing her injury off and we would appreciate prayers for her. If this treatment plan does not work, or even if it works but still needs help, we will take her to our vet when we get home.
THANK YOU – THANK YOU – THANK YOU for saving these 44 horses.
Together (just in the past month or so) we have saved the mare and foal, 49 last time and 44 this time. ALL BECAUSE OF YOUR BEAUTIFUL HEARTS AND LOVE AND SUPPORT.
Together, you are making miracles happen!
However, I have been “grounded”. We need to stay home and get these stallions gelded and the more of the horses at Chilly Pepper placed before we can bring more in. We have to be responsible. Once we get the 6 acres fenced it will allow for more horses to be saved.
There are more round ups going to happen. So we will work as quickly and diligently as we can to get these kids placed.
Thank you for continuing to help us save these lives. It takes a village…
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
