Great Pet Net

I’ve posted some touching stories about events at the Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary over the years. This piece profiles the founders, Alayne Marker and Steve Smith, and provides some insight into their lives and their hearts. Click here and take a few minutes to get to know a little bit about their world.

Slide show courtesy of AARP Bulletin Today.
Photo of Ellie May the blind and deaf cocker spaniel courtesy of Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary.

Molly is a gray speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Katrina hit southern Louisiana, USA . She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier, and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected and her vet went to LSU for help. But LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case. You know how that goes.

But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn’t seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her. She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight, and didn’t overload her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic.

Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there. (more…)

Alexis Ells at the Equine Sanctuary rescues, rehabilitates, and retrains injured performance horses that can no longer compete. See the video here: Healing Horses

From the time she was a small child, Alexis Ells remembers rescuing injured animals and bringing them home for care.

“Healing has always been innate to me,” says Ells. “It’s been a calling, a passion. I was one of those blessed people who always knew what she wanted to do.”

By continuing to follow this innate passion, Ells is fulfilling her life’s dream as the founder of the Equine Sanctuary, a non-profit organization that rescues, rehabilitates, and retrains injured performance horses that can no longer compete.

Located in Ojai, California, the sanctuary accommodates horses that usually require extensive veterinary care and are at high risk of being euthanized. Through their work, Ells and her team of volunteers have improved—and often saved—the lives of thousands of animals. Most horses are healed and adopted by families and go on to lead long, productive lives. Those that require ongoing care remain as goodwill ambassadors in the sanctuary’s educational and therapeutic program for children and adults.

Lena is a blind horse living at Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary. She has found a very creative way to signal that she has finished her meal and is ready to be untied. Click here to read the whole story and to find out why she has to be tied up at dinner time.

Steve Haskin Remembers John Henry

John’s life was a magnificently constructed script, and all who passed his way felt part of it, whether they were watching him run or visiting him at the Kentucky Horse Park. Perhaps the most amazing aspect of John’s life is that he basically had little use for the humans who bonded with him; who came in droves to his birthday parties and other celebrations; who brought him treats and gifts; who cheered him during his daily shows; and who shed tears when he died.

John Henry was not born to greatness and did not possess the physical attributes or the bloodlines to be great. He did, however, possess something much rarer: the strength of character to will himself to be great.

For me, John came alive in every page I wrote, as if allowing me entrance into his very being. That was the only way his story could be told. I became immersed not only in the story of John Henry, but in the phenomenon of John Henry. His road to greatness was unpaved and rocky. No one had ever traveled over it, nor would they ever again.

Along the way, he became the first horse to earn $3 million, the first horse to earn $4 million, the first horse to earn $5 million, and the first horse to earn $6 million. At the age of 9, when most horses are already well into their stud careers, he was winning an Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year and being named by People magazine as one of the 25 most intriguing “people” of 1984.

John might have left scars on the outside of people, but he left something much deeper and permanent on the inside. While interviewing those closest to him in his early days, I discovered an affection and reverence for the horse that overshadowed the bitterness of being mere fragments in the monument he was to build.

I closed the book by saying, “And at the Kentucky Horse Park, just miles from where he was born, the radiant spirit that is John Henry still glows after all these years. Now age twenty six, he remains, in Bob Dylan’s words, forever young.”

Even after his death, those sentiments ring as true as they did when they were first written. A statue of John is being planned at the Horse Park. On it should be the same words that are inscribed on the statue commemorating his first Arlington Million victory: “Against all odds.” There could be no more fitting epitaph.

I know John is gone, and I know it was expected, yet it is still hard for me to believe. Despite his age, I’m sure most everyone feels the same shock as I do. That’s the way John would have wanted it.

From the time he was born, John felt compelled to fight for everything in life, whether it be with his handlers in the barn or with his opposition on the track. Was it mere coincidence that he shared the same name as the legendary blue-collar folk hero who became the subject of songs, stories, plays, and novels?

via Leigh Ann Anderson

Erin Ryder at BloodHorse.com writes about John Henry in Hoofing It with John Henry

If you’ve visited the Kentucky Horse Park sometime in the past few months, you might have noticed a small, dark brown gelding, utterly unremarkable apart from his obvious age, walking with purpose with bright eyes and pricked ears among the sleek and shiny show horses. Step a little closer and read the engraved plate on his halter: you’re looking at John Henry.

John Henry was twice Thoroughbred Horse of the Year (1981 and 1984), won $6.5 million, and is still the richest gelding in Thoroughbred racing history. He’s also known as a difficult character around the barn.

What’s different about John Henry now from a few months ago, when the world wondered if he would actually make his 32nd birthday?

He has been going for morning walks around the park (see video). Given his head, he drops his nose like a bird dog, picks his course, and is off. His “mystery excursions” might take him to the lake, for a tour of the cross country course, through the hustle and bustle of whatever show is running that day, or sometimes right through the middle of the Parade of Breeds to revel in the applause he clearly feels is still his due.

Make no mistake, he has earned his notoriously nasty reputation. Cathy Roby, who manages the park’s Hall of Champions, John’s home for the past 22 years, said she bears 16 years worth of scars that prove he’s a tough charge to handle. However, she reported John has mellowed–a little–with age, and that his improved attitude since his daily excursions began has changed the whole dynamic of the barn.

Below are some videos of this great horse.

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There was a farmer who had an old donkey. The donkey fell into a deep dry well and began to cry loudly. Hearing his donkey cry, the farmer came over and assessed the situation. The well was deep and the donkey was heavy. He knew it would be difficult, if not impossible, to lift the animal out.

Because the donkey was old and the well was dry, the farmer decided to bury the animal in the well. In this way he could solve two problems: put the old donkey out of his misery and have his well filled. He called upon his neighbours to help him and they agreed to help. To work they went. Shovel full of dirt after shovel full of dirt began to fall on the donkey’s back. He became hysterical.

The donkey then realised he had a choice. He could sit there and accept what was happening to him, or he could do something about it. So, each time they would throw a shovel full of dirt on his back he could shake it off and step up. Shovel full after shovel full, the donkey would shake it off and step up. Eventually, exhausted and dirty but quite alive, the donkey stepped over the top of the well and walked proudly through the gathered crowd.

From the Urban Lighthouse blog.

Here is a funny story about Cash, the blind colt, from the June edition of the Rolling Dog Ranch newsletter:

We were heading out for afternoon barn chores one day last week when we saw our blind foal Cash mowing the grass in his own unique way. We kind of wondered how the grass was getting clipped so far from the corral panels.

And when he’s finished — which can take a while, since he likes to snooze off and on while dining — he just slides himself back under the corral panels.

These cyclists got a big surprise when they were joined by an unconventional participant. This is amazing footage!

Cute little Rory, a Shetland pony, was rejected by his mother at birth. But at eight weeks of age he found a whole new family and a very happy life at the Essex Horse and Pony Sanctuary in Pitsea, England. Rory’s best friend is Mille the Labrador retriever. The Daily Mail has the full story and some adorable photos. Enjoy!

Photos by the Daily Mail.