Macho Man and Brownie

These two minis came to us from a semi-neglect situation. Friends of ours called us about their neighbor's mini horses that they no longer wanted. When I went to see them, I saw that the owners were trying to care for them, but for whatever reason, no longer could do so.  They were living in a very small paddock with two donkeys and were not friendly or socialized at all.

They hadn’t been groomed in a while, and their feet needed a good trim. However, they seemed well-fed and healthy in all other respects. So we took them. It didn’t take long to socialize Brownie, but Macho wasn’t having it. He wanted to stay alof and unattached. 

They quickly adapted to the herd with Sissy, Baby, and Jake. Today they are happy and healthy and enjoying well over an acre of paddock loaded with grass and sunshine. They will live out their days here at Heartbeat Farm. 

 Baby & Sissy came with no name, which is the case with many rescues and of course ferals. They were both.

One day I saw an ad on Facebook for a beautiful Stallion Mini Horse for $100. I was not in the market for a horse, and I don’t by them, I rescue them, and if there is a re-homing or adoption fee, of course I pay it if it will save an animal from a life of abuse or neglect. But something was so odd about this add. The Photo was blurry, and showed only his face, which by the way was beautiful in every way. He had a balloon tied to his neck, and between that, and the way the add was strangely worded led me to immediately contact the woman and ask if we could come and see him. We agreed on a time, and I convinced my husband to hook up the horse trailer and come with me over an hour away into GA to check out this little guy. He knew once I asked him to hook up the trailer we were not just going to ‘check him out”, but he would most likely be coming home with us.

When we pulled up there were two beautiful mini horses with a deep chestnut coat and thick, lush blond manes sitting in a large dog kennel on the front lawn of this run-down farmhouse. We got out of the car and saw how wild they were, not to mention stir crazy from their cramped quarters. There was clearly tons of open land all around and a few larger, older horses in the back. The mare was in pretty good shape, but the stallion, was clearly not. He was dwarfed in his rear

quarters to start with. Dwarfed is a condition that happens when people try to breed animals, especially mini horses, to get then even smaller, they’re also usually inbreed. He looked like half horse half pig. Steve’s immediately response to me (not knowing which was the stallion) “I guess were here to get the deformed one?” I sighed and simply said, “Yes, I believe we are, and I want the mare also”. They were clearly bonded and desperately in need of a new life.

The elderly woman and her husband came out, him with a cane to help him walk, and her with a cane as well, but it was not going to be used to walk as I came so soon find out.

First, I asked her the names of the minis; she called the deformed one “the small one”, and the Mare she simply called ‘the sister’.

I told her that we were prepared to take both, and she quickly snapped “well the girl is $500.” “Well then” I responded, “can you give me some history on this pair? They appear very wild and so I am questioning your price.” “Cause she’s pretty and everyone wants a pretty horse, I have lots of people calling me about her, so If you want her, give me $500 cash right now, along with $100 for this one”, as she pointed her cane over at the small one. Steve quickly pulled me aside and said no way are we paying $500 for that horse” … let’s just take the deformed one and go”. I was upset that he kept calling him that but understood his frustration at her attempt to extort money from us. I kept trying to reason with her, I wanted to tell her that that the horses were clearly neglected, but I never take that path with people…no one really knows the story

behind anyone’s life, and I didn’t need her as my enemy, I was here to save a horse and not be turned away, they might not ever get this chance again. I questioned her also about the horses in the back, but she was truly getting annoyed, so I handed her the $100 for “Baby” and said I could give her another $100 because that was all I had on me for the sister. “Nope, just back the horse trailer up to the kennel gate and let’s get him loaded”. I asked if he was at least halter trained and she looked at me like I had three heads. She jumped into the dog kennel and began to beat Baby with her cane to move him into the trailer. It all happened so fast Steve and I were in complete shock that we let this happen right before our eyes. He Bucked, reared, tried to bite her, it was awful. She just kept hitting him. The halter I brought was too big and he was adamant not to have it on, therefore there was no way to secure him in the trailer, so between the three of us, I rigged a halter from a lead line and secured him the best I could. Dropped a hay net in front of him and he began to go to town on it. He acted like he hadn’t had hay in a long while.

We closed the door and drove away. I was near tears, and my heart couldn’t stop pounding. “We’re coming back for Sissy!!” “Who?” Steve wasn’t quite recovered either from the ordeal. “The Sister, I’m naming her Sissy, and I am going to find a way to get this woman her $500 and save her life, besides Baby needs his sister and she needs him.” Who’s Baby”. I just sighed as we drove the next 90 minutes listening to Baby buck and howl all the way home.

Three days later, I had not stopped thinking about Sissy, and then the phone rang. “hey, you still want this nasty mare?”

“Yes, Yes, but not for the money you’re asking.” I was both shocked and excited. “Give me $100 but you have to come today”. The rest is history. After weeks, and many months of Sissy and Baby biting and kicking us every time we tried to work with them, today they are different horses. They are happily running free on 10 acres of paddock shared with two other rescue minis and one rescue donkey.

They still hate halters, the Ferrier, being loaded and even grooming, but they tolerate it because they love their life and deep down truly know that they are home.