​Whose day wouldn’t be better surrounded by loving donkeys.

​This last storm was 5 days of intermittent rain, some of it quite extreme.  We had 3 more horses shivering badly, others much less so.  As a result we began feeding double the alfalfa to help them keep up their calories to stay warm.  It has seemed to work well.  The next several days without rain we are focusing on repairing damaged shelters and expanding several other shelters as well as adding more wind brakes.  We expect the next storm on Tuesday night.  Erica, a long time supporter, is coming Sunday with 11 brand new small waterproof blankets she purchased for us.  These will be for donkeys, smaller horses and yearlings. 

Bandits first assessment. A Bay gelding between 18 and 20 years old. Seems calm and attentive

​This is our very first time saddling and riding Bandit.  He was an owner surrender who rescued him from someone else.  We don’t know anything else about him.  He needs his feet trimmed and likely a full dental and blood work.  He does seem stiff in his front left.  We will work to get a better understanding of what that is about.  He will be going to a foster home for training for 30 days, also the dental and the Ferrier and if all goes well will be up for adoption early May 2023
It started raining last night, and it is supposed to rain until midnight Thursday evening.  Meg had intense shivers from the cold and we put her in the 4 horse trailer.  She wouldn’t let us catch her yesterday so we couldn’t get a blanket on her.  She has one now. Numbers of other horses and donkeys are quite cold so we fed extra alfalfa this morning followed by a mid-morning snake of senior feed.  We will be feeding double alfalfa tonight as it is going in to the low 40’s AND raining.  If you have any extra water proof horse blankets or you know anyone in construction who could either donate materials or labor or both to build more shelters, please get them in touch with us or me with them.  Thanks so much!!!

​Our friend and neighbor, and owner of SD Rocks donated a bunch of wind brake tarps which Lili, Mike and I put up today.  We’ve washed and repaired every water proof blanket we have and they are all on a horse today in prep for four days of rain and cold.  Please keep our rescues and all the animals and people suffering in the storm weather in your prayers.

​We got more hay: alfalfa and teff and are putting inside the shed to stay as dry as possible.  

​Napoleon’s shelter crashed in the high wind.  Thankfully no one was hurt.  Today we moved him to a nice large corral with great cover and Karen and Caroline helped us get a waterproof blanket on him.

​Belle is getting her second round pen work.  What a beauty.  She is available for adoption and is rideable BUT… she’s a little rusty.

​Here is Belle on her first ride at our place.  Pretty girl but needs some reminders.

​Perhaps you remember Pele? She came to us quite starved.  She and her daughter Uhana and Apollo, now the Mayor of Tecate Horse Rescue, have come a long long way.  Pele us handleable but untrained.  We are working on getting a trainer and… there iS REAL interest from a potential adopter.

T​his is Cierra.  She is about 20 years old.  Seems quite sound.  This is her first time in the round pen.  Caroline actually rode her today and she did very well.   Bandit, also available for adoption but not pictured here, was also ridden, did well, but is rusty.  We believe he is around 20 years old, Bay Gelding possible quarter Arab mix.  We’ll continue his work and Karen is considering fostering Bandit and Belle for a few months.  She can work with them at her ranch more frequently that she can here.

​We purchased a pallet each of Purina Strategy and alfalfa timothy pellets.  We need this for those who don’t have teeth to chew as well as several that still need to put on additional weight.  We finished getting them into the sheds just as it started to rain.

​Wow, Lena and baby Nick and Atma and baby Wilde are our first residents in the mom and baby corral.  What a blast.

​We are building a new pasture JUST for the mom and baby pairs.  We have 6.  This should be plenty of room for them to run.  We’re putting 4 smaller shelters together in the middle so they have lots of room and can easily get out of the way when someone gets mean.

Fiddle-neck— heard of it?  Horrible weed that grows where land has been disturbed.  They look pretty from a distance but they are poisonous to all grazing animals, even goats.  They contain a chemical that attacked the liver.  They grow all over this part of the country.  The only way I know to get rid of them is to pull them out by the roots.  That’s what we are doing for the next several days — the rain makes it easier to get them out.

I spent quite a bit of time on one of our few NON-rainy days, hanging out with some of our “scaredy” horses.  I actually got Barbie to touch my hand 4 times while she considered the treat I was holding.  Reba, Lena, Nick, Aurora and Samson all ate treats from my hand.  Slow progress but progress.
​

​Fabulous weather today.  No rain, no wind, sunshine and 60+ degrees. We moved Pele and Uhana back into the arena.  You can see they are quite happy about it.

​We moved Trent into the 3 sided shed paddock.  That’s because both Hera and Zeus have made it from skinny to correct weight and they can eat hay but poor Trent still cannot.  His teeth just don’t work (head injury which causes his teeth not to meet so he can’t actually chew).  He will continue on pellets and senior feed with a handful of the alfalfa “fines” the parts with no or very little stem so the colic risk is minimized.

​Belle remains in the upper corral.  We found that she cannot chew teff…. When we get the Doc back out we will have to check her teeth again.  We still have to raise $1400 from the past vet visit before we can get her out again.

We also moved Bandit into the lower pasture as he had graduated from the skinny pen but we moved Delilah BACK into the skinny pen and dewormed them both.  We are concerned that Delilah is not getting enough to eat so we will get her extra every morning and night.

And finally, we can say that while this may not be Apollos BEST life, it is a pretty good one!!  See you tomorrow!!

Despite all efforts, she passed Wednesday March 9 at 6 pm in the kind and caring hands of Dr. Harlan at the East County Large Animal Hospital.   She was suffering from a twisted gut and there was nothing else we could do.  At the end she was out of pain, standing comfortably.  
We are shattered by this.
Coco was one of our very first rescues from Bowie Texas last year. 
We rescued her because she was so very very sick.  She was diagnosed with strangles, pneumonia, her left eye was cancerous and she was foundered.   After a family discussion we proceeded to try to save her and the doctors at Outlaw Equine Hospital in Decatur Texas succeeded.  It was enormously expensive but we were committed.
After her recovery we brought her to our rescue in Tecate California.   She was terrified of people and while we were able to handle her, we choose to do so sparingly because it caused her so much fear. 
For the last 3 months she has been running with her herd of 7 other mares in one of our large open pens.  She and Molly were buddies and would sometimes play together.   Coco’s founder was improving and her feet were growing out like they should.  We were so optimistic. I simply knew that at some point we would find a home with some young girl who would sit and play and talk with Coco and put flowers in her hair, groom her and simply adore her.   We gave her a life she would not have had.  She had a full belly, clean water, space and companionship.  She was healthy until that last day.
​I personally am heartbroken.   I wanted that wonderful life so very very much for Coco. I hope she has it now, somewhere she feels loved and cared for, able to relax and run free through meadows and relax in the soft grass. God speed my sweet girl.

Oh say can you see... the sky where there should be a roof.

Timmy. 1+ year old gelded jack. friendly, handleable but untrained. Available for adoption for $400. Must be adopted with another donkey.

Annie, possibly pregnant. we don't know her age. Jenny, handleable but untrained. Available for adoption for $400. Must be adopted with another donkey.

Katie. we don't know her age. Jenny, friendly but unhandled. Available for adoption for $400. Must be adopted with another donkey.

Priscilla we don't know her age. Jenny, friendly but unhandled. Available for adoption for $400. Must be adopted with another donkey.

Petey. 1+ year old gelded Jack. handleable but not trained. Available for adoption for $400. Must be adopted with another donkey.

Tommy 1+ year old gelded jack. handleable but not trained. Available for adoption for $400. Must be adopted with another donkey.

Zonkers, 2 year old gelding with extra stripes on his legs, handleable but not trained. Available for adoption for $400. Must be adopted with another donkey.

Milly the mini and her friend Mildred. Available for adoption together for $900 adoption fee

Look inside our gorgeous tack shed. things are looking organized!!!

If you are interested in adopting any of our donkeys, or want to volunteer or would like to donate, please email me at DJ@tecatehorserescue.com or give a call at 858-213-5543.  Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Napoleon got his double pen today!

​Today we completed expanding Napoleon’s pen.  It is now 24x48.  It will have to do until we can fundraise for the crypt-orchid gelding he requires.  It is an abdominal surgery and will cost between $1800 and $3500 at San Luis Rey Equine Hospital.  It won’t happen this month, perhaps the last of April.

​We jumped back into fundraising today.  We’ve sent out 75 requests for donations to grants, trust and charitable foundations.  If you know any one or a company who might be interested in supporting us, please let me know and I’ll get in touch.

​Do you remember our scarily starved Pele, the Andalusian we rescued out of Mike’s auction parking lot?  She’s looking amazing.  She is handled but untrained.  She is available for adoption as a project horse.  Contact me for details.

​This is her baby Uhana, just under two years old and barely handled, also a project horse and also available for adoption.  She is weaned though mom and baby still prefer to hang out together.

​It was a beautiful day today and all the horses took advantage of the sun.  Everyone was laying down at some point. So quiet and calm.  Everyone enjoyed the slight breeze

​Today is the day we discovered that our dear Belle is having trouble chewing.  She has had a dental but this needs to be revisited.  She is “cudding”, chewing her hay for awhile and then spitting it out and starting again.  She literally gets tired of chewing and isn’t making any progress breaking it down to swallow.  We moved her back into a pen and started her on grain and pellets.