Colby’s Crew Rescue, PO Box 6992, Charlottesville, VA (2025)

11/12/2025

HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAY WISHES…

To the best damn equine rescue fundraiser and social media manager we could ever dream of, our co-founder and pen live cheerleader — Olivia.

You don’t hear about her much but where Ally is a true a horse whisperer, Olivia is the resident BAMF who keeps this show on the road.

Olivia has created videos and stories that have been enjoyed by billions, cultivated a mass social media following of five million plus people across multiple platforms and introduced the world to the phenomenon that is Colby’s Crew Rescue and the magic of Ally.

And she did it with no formal training, no marketing or sales or business degree, just two girls— a phone, an internet connection, and one hell of a story to tell.

I know you never expected or wanted to be here, but we know the horses are so glad you walked this path ladies.

Thank you Olivia for not just wearing the social media hat but also taking on a full time job of twenty people— raising single handedly tens of millions of dollars to support and save slaughter bound horses and making it look so darn easy from your chair and cell phone.

Over a thousand horses have been saved and found forever homes thanks to Olivia and her never quit attitude, Ally and her true gift with horses, and the donors and supporters who walk endlessly behind the two!

As Olivia always says, “what? Like it’s hard?” Our very own Elle Woods!

We joke it would take a hundred people to do what you do, but it’s honestly true.

You’re the silent force behind CCR, ensuring we are sustainable and growing.

Your voice is one that needs to be heard right now, and I know all of us here at CCR are glad you’re using it to raise awareness for the horses most in need and to share Ally and CCR’s story with the world.

In the world of badass women you have probably never heard of, let’s raise a toast in my opinion to one of the greats.

Happy birthday, Olivia!

📸 Gilmore Photography

11/11/2025

HE WAS JUST A BABY FOAL AND HE WAS DYING, SO WE TRIED OUR BEST TO FIX HIM

Part IV of Flames Story

“Listen to his little baby whinny! He’s got fight in him!!”

“Flame is having a better day today,” Dr. Megan Marchitello told me excitedly.

She was talking about Flame, the six to eight week old orphan c**t who was dropped off at the slaughter holding facility for having birth defects and brain damage.

“He greeted me with a happy little whinny. He loves his people. I got him talking to me the way he always does on a little video clip for you that I sent you, did you get it?”

I told her I got it and we talked for a few minutes about how adorable he was before she got back to the medical talk.

“I think today is the day we address his lax tendons.” She said.

I knew this meant they were less worried about his other issues — failure to thrive, pneumonia and other contagious pathogens he was exposed to in the slaughter holding facility.

Flame was born with a genetic defect called lax tendons. It can usually be corrected even by simple appropriate physical exercise but as Dr. Megan had pointed out, even Flame’s hind-end was totally atrophied.

He either was orphaned at birth or his mother had not produced an appropriate amount of milk, or since he was an Amish buggy horse— it was possible she was taken away for hours and hours at a time for travel use for her owners. Flame would have been left on his own in the care of an eight year old boy. This time apart could cause malnutrition as foals need to feed frequently when they are young.

This malnutrition had caused liver issues which had given him brain damage, to what degree and the lasting effect remained to be seen.

Lax tendons in foals are a common condition, especially in premature or dysmature foals, where weak flexor tendons cause the fetlocks to sag. This can lead to symptoms like the toes pointing up and walking on the heels.

In mild cases, the condition often resolves on its own within the first week with controlled exercise. More severe cases may require therapeutic interventions such as bandaging to prevent injury, special heel-extender shoes, or, in rare situations, a veterinary-administered IV antibiotic like oxytetracycline.

Flame walked on his heels quite badly which explained his hind end atrophy. He needed immediate correction if we hoped to save him.

I decided then to put some short clips in the video I posted so our followers could see this type of walking for themselves.

“Please do share.” I brought my thoughts back to the present.

“We have a specialized farrier here today that will put on a correct shoe called a heel extension shoe.”

“Can you explain what that is?” I asked curiously.

“A common corrective shoe for foals with lax tendons is a heel extension shoe, which is applied to the foal's hoof to encourage a natural stance and support the weak flexor tendons. These shoes are often made of lightweight materials like plastic or aluminum and are designed to extend the heel, which helps with the foal's development and prevents injuries like crushed heels.”

“That’s awesome. Will it work?” I asked excitedly.

“I think so!” She said just as happily. “I’ll send you some before and videos once we’re done.”

“Amazing!” Then remembering, I hesitated before bringing up something I was concerned about.

“The internet will be pretty rabid for him to get a nurse mare. There is nothing more they like than watching a momma and a baby bond.” I told Dr. Megan.

She laughed. “Well I won’t completely be against it but there are safety concerns to consider, right? He’s got brain damage so he may not react normally and the mare may read that incorrectly and attack him. We will be there with both during their introduction but he is so small and one strike from the mare, despite our best efforts to prevent it, could kill him. He also doesn’t have any desire to suckle so it’s unlikely he would nurse from a lactating mare. He’s also consuming more solid food than liquids — hay, milk pullets, etc — than milk replacer and water. And there’s the biosecurity concern since he’s been exposed to the kill pen,” she continued.

“Right,” I said quickly. “I totally understand it might not be possible. We do have an old nanny mini mare here we have for just this purpose that has already had all the contagious pathogens within the last 6-8 months so I think she’d be a safer bet than a random mare.”

“Absolutely,” Dr. Megan agreed. “Let’s get his legs straight and a little more pep and awareness from him before we introduce a companion who might correct him in the way horses do — nipping, pushing, etc. He wouldn’t withstand that right now. I do however have an idea for a temporary companion…”

I listened eagerly to her plan…

—
Keep praying for Flame that his heel extension shoes work and he continues to heal so that Dr. Megan’s plan can come to be!

Make sure you’re following Colby’s Crew Rescue for part five!

Stay tuned for Part V

—
More links!

Donate to Flame:
www.colbyscrewrescue.org/donate
Flame is currently owned by 501c3 rescue, Colby’s Crew. All donations are tax deductible as allowed by state and federal law. EIN # 86-2351417

Flame’s fundraiser:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1LebaSd3Ji/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Part One of Flame’s story:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/16kDGdM8GP/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Part Two of Flame’s Story:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1XDH5kLxxG/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Part Three of Flames Story:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1AK4xJxeed/?mibextid=wwXIfr

11/10/2025

HE WAS JUST A BABY FOAL AND HE WAS DYING, SO HE WENT TO THE HOSPITAL

Part III of Flames Story

Flame, an orphan eight week old baby horse, was rushed to the emergency hospital after being found unresponsive earlier that morning.

A few hours later, the veterinarian called us with news.

“I have good news and bad news,” the voice of one of the Equine Medical Center’s best veterinarians, Dr. Megan Marchitello, filled my ear.

We really liked Dr. Megan. She was practical and straight forward, but she also believed in taking risks and had a very good bedside manner.

I was very glad she was Flame’s lead vet for his hospitalization.

“His pneumonia really isn’t that bad. It’s just starting and I think we can control it well with antibiotics. His blood work isn’t great but it’s certainly not the worst we’ve seen…”

She trailed off and I knew the bad news was coming.

“But he’s not quite right, you know? He doesn’t really thrive. He lays down a lot and he doesn’t have normal foal behavior. He’s not very interested in eating and so we have supplemental nutrition. I wouldn’t be surprised that via damage to his liver from poor nutrition, he may have suffered some brain damage. This could explain why he seems “off” so to speak.”

I swallowed. “So he’s,” I searched for the right words, “got an intellectual disability, if you will?”

“Yes. He’s definitely developmentally delayed. How badly and the long term effects? Well— we don’t really know without more testing, right? And there’s tests we can run for sure but they are very invasive — spinal taps, CT scans, anesthesia, etc. I just don’t think the risk of running those tests that may not even give us a conclusive answer outweighs the risks of performing them on a weakened orphan baby foal are worth it, you know? If he’s already struggling to wake, giving him meds to make him achieve deep sleep isn’t ideal.”

I nodded. Then realizing, she couldn’t see me, I said, “yes makes sense. So what do we do now?”

She sighed. “Well we give the IV nutrition time to work, we hope he keeps eating, and we give the medicines we can give him safely now time to heal him. And if he doesn’t get better, we think about running those more invasive tests.”

“So we wait and see?”

“Yes, we wait and see.”

I hung up the phone.

Even though he was developmentally delayed, Flame still deserved a chance.

And we were going to give it to him.

Come on Flame, please keep burning.

Don’t go out.

You’re so close to a full bonfire.

This boy needs all your prayers.

Stay tuned for Part IV.

—
More links!

Donate to Flame:
www.colbyscrewrescue.org/donate
Flame is currently owned by 501c3 rescue, Colby’s Crew. All donations are tax deductible as allowed by state and federal law. EIN # 86-2351417

Flame’s fundraiser:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1LebaSd3Ji/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Part One of Flame’s story:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/16kDGdM8GP/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Part Two of Flame’s Story:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1XDH5kLxxG/?mibextid=wwXIfr

11/09/2025

HE WAS JUST A BABY AND HE WAS DYING RIGHT IN FRONT OF US

Part II of Flames Story

“It’s get him to a hospital now or euthanize him while he’s down,” Dr. Davis said gravely. “His heart rate is low, he’s cold and he’s unresponsive.”

“Send him to the hospital,” my wife Ally said without hesitation.

Dr. Davis grave a brief nod and hurried out of the small barn to call the hospital and let them know we were coming.

The little c**t lay prone in the sawdust, he was motionless as Ally sat down beside him and lifted his head into her lap.

The baby c**t named Flame had been exposed to numerous contagious pathogens that would cause pneumonia, sepsis and worse.

Sometimes medications work…

But I’ve truthfully seen Ally do better than antibiotics.

I’ve seen her give these horses the will to fight.

And she was already working on Flame when everything she had.

“He has to want to live,” she said simply.

“Ever since he lost his little boy,” Ally said, “he feels alone and he’s given up.”

Flame was driven directly to the slaughter holding facility in the back of a buggy in the lap of a little boy like a lost lamb.

The little boy named him Flame, and loved him deeply— but he was forced by his father to drop Flame off at the slaughter holding facility due to the c**t having untreated lax tendons.

Since they hadn’t gotten better, the Father felt it was Gods will for Flame to be culled from his herd.

The little boy had sobbed the whole way out of sight as he left Flame inside the yawning evil mouth of the slaughter holding facility, and I suspected a similar gaping chasm had been blasted into his heart.

There’s no pain like being forced to abandon an animal you love.

I turned my thoughts back to Ally and Flame and present day.

She rubbed him, talked softly to him and hummed a tune I instantly recognized. A little smile played at the corner of my lips.

“You are my sunshine…”

Flame’s eyelids flickered at the sound of her soft and clear voice.

“My only sunshine…”

I watched as his ears twitched.

“You make me happy, when skies are gray…”

His eyes opened and two beautiful brown ones gazed up at her kind gentle face.

“You’ll never know dear, how much I love you…”

He shifted his little legs at the words.

“Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

She finished the little song right as Dr. Davis and her assistant Emily came back into the stall.

“We need to see if he can get up on his own,” Dr. Davis informed us. I knew what that meant— if he wasn’t able to, it may not be kind to haul him forty five minutes just for him to die on the car ride over.

Dr. Davis was better than a good vet, she was a great one. She always cared about the horses best interest first. We trusted her implicitly.

If Flame could be saved, she would fight and save him. Just like Ally.

What happened next might look a little rough, but Mother horses actually paw their newborn babies and bite them sometimes to get them to stand. Horses are prey animals so their instincts say a down baby is a dead one.

In fact, just by lying down too long, Flame could go into shock and just slip away…

All three women gave one giant Hail Mary to get Flame up. It hadn’t worked for Joe or the other vets before Ally got there.

But it needed to work now.

My heart was in my throat.

“Get up Flame,” Ally ordered him.

And to my complete and utter amazement, he did. He stood right up and held himself upright on shaky legs.

The women stood around him for a split second with shocked and then hopeful expressions.

“Let’s get him on the road,” Dr. Davis said and a little cheer from all of us went up.

In answer, Flame whinnied.

“He wants to live,” Emily said.

He did indeed.

—

Hayden pulled up his pride and joy— a 2010s model F250 diesel truck in platinum trim. That truck always shone like a new penny— and the interior was rubbed down and cleaner than a new car.

It was the love of Hayden’s life, along with ladies of a blonde persuasion, and I knew what it meant for him to volunteer to put a dying baby c**t in the back of it with projectile diarrhea.

In that moment, for Hayden, the lifted gleaming truck no longer mattered, the little c**t mattered most— and blankets and towels and soft pillows were laid down across the back seat to make it comfortable for sweet Flame to ride back there.

Flame lit up when he saw Hayden— another young man just like his boy. He whinnied happily to him, even adding a few little talkative nickers.

“We got you, little man,” Hayden said, lifting him into the back of his truck.

Flame stood back there like it was a perfectly normal way to haul a little horse.

Hayden turned back to me and clapped me on the shoulder. “I’ll have him safely delivered as quickly as I can.”

I nodded to him, “Godspeed.”

With that, he jumped into the truck and drove off— Flame was on his way to the hospital.

Stay tuned for Part III.

—
More links!

Donate to Flame:
www.colbyscrewrescue.org/donate
Flame is currently owned by 501c3 rescue, Colby’s Crew. All donations are tax deductible as allowed by state and federal law. EIN # 86-2351417

Flame’s fundraiser:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1LebaSd3Ji/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Part One of Flame’s story:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/16kDGdM8GP/?mibextid=wwXIfr

11/06/2025

THE EMPTY PEN!

Before we show the unloading videos, I think it’s so important to show the literal hell they came from and what it really looks like.

This is a brief walk around a slaughter holding facility. Not many people are able to capture what it really looks like, and we’re grateful we are allowed to share this footage.

I ask you keep that in mind before you disparage the owners. This a far deeper rooted problem than just them.

The horses are packed (sometimes 100+) into this small barn and the overcrowding creates fighting for resources — water, hay and just a simple place to lay down and nap.

No horse wants to lie down in manure and urine, and this floor reeks of it. You can hear me realize I have cloth shoes on and yes by the end of this walk around my socks were soaked in black water. It’s disgusting.

It is not usually this unclean but the reality is that people are dumping horses at a more alarming rate than ever before.

The fact that we subject any animal to this is abhorrent but all around the country horses are held inside locations like for a few days to a weeks before being shipped off to slaughter.

And this facility actually does provide water and hay. Cody told me simply that others don’t quite care so much.

We know this will make people angry at the facility owners but they are not the true or only villains here. It is not so black and white as that. They are simply cleaning up the mess made by our throwaway society, and allowed to operate as is because our laws are so slack for livestock.

Unwanted horses are being dumped by the thousands right now. Every auction and holding facility are over crowded and full. We need to really start thinking about investing in low cost euthanasia and gelding clinics and holding over breeding or unprofessional breeding accountable, otherwise the slaughter pipeline in America is never going to stop churning out horse meat for foreign countries.

People keep asking us why do we keep coming back despite numerous reasons to stop?

The horses.

It’s why we keep coming back when this place becomes overcrowded and full. The horses deserve a chance to leave this place, even if it’s just a compassionate release by a licensed veterinarian because no other viable options remain.

It is easy to criticize and say why don’t you call the authorities? And if we did, then what? A light slap on the wrist (maybe- since there is food, water and shelter)?

And then what?

Then every rescue and outsider banned from here. The horses with no chance at any way out ever again. Shipped week after week with no ending in sight and no one to come in and provide relief?

No thanks.

We know the extent of the true battle. Laws and legislation need to change for sure, but that will never happen without footage and awareness it creates like this. You can’t change what you don’t know is happening!

Every horse— no I even go as far as to say every animal deserves kindness, respect and compassion.

Our first responder work has saved countless horses from inside here, with nearly 1000 being adopted out to forever homes already.

We have made ONE BILLION people aware of the slaughter of American horses.

We have supported hundreds of thousands of dollars of castrations, private owner euthanasia (for those who can’t afford it) and major medical support for our adopters.

Think about that! Truly the little rescue who COULD!

We’re working hard to try and save as many as we can.

We’re pretty proud of what we do and how we change horses lives, but we couldn’t do it without YOUR help.

Thank you for your continued support as we fight for, raise awareness for, and save horses from the slaughter pipeline.

This isn’t possible without our supporters, donors and cheerleaders.

This isn’t just our victory.

It’s yours.

You’re a part of the little rescue who never quits, never gives up and never backs down.

Keep this video in mind as we show the horses unloading and photos of them inside their new quarantine locations.

You will realize quickly why we keep coming back and why we hope you do too.

The girls are coming.

And the horses know.

11/05/2025

URGENT, FUNDRAISER DEADLINE APPROACHING…

7 remain that are on the Canadian slaughter truck for human consumption tonight.

Just SEVEN left to cancel this truck!

One last push CCR, come on!!

If you can’t donate, please share. Let’s send the girls home!

‼️ TO DONATE ‼️

WEBSITE: www.colbyscrewrescue.org/donate
PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/ohkaytacos
ZELLE: [email protected]
Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/ohkaytacos
Charity Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/colbyscrew
DONORBOX: www.donorbox.org/colbyscrew
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6992 Charlottesville VA 22906

EIN # 86-2351417

All donations are tax deductible as permissible by state or federal law! We are 501c3. Ask your employer about a possible company donor match!

11/05/2025

23 HORSES LEFT SHIPPING TO SLAUGHTER!!!

Donations are down big time. The live feed was wondering what the heck was happening — no one was watching and we were just not moving.

I know people are tired. You have done the impossible AGAIN AND AGAIN.

But there are still quite a few left inside the facility and we cannot finish this without your help.

Please consider one last donation.

One last push.

We need you.

The horses need you.

Please share. If that’s all you can do, that’s enough. Come on, CCR. Let’s do this.

‼️ TO DONATE ‼️

WEBSITE: www.colbyscrewrescue.org/donate
PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/ohkaytacos
ZELLE: [email protected]
Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/ohkaytacos
Charity Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/colbyscrew
DONORBOX: www.donorbox.org/colbyscrew
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6992 Charlottesville VA 22906

EIN # 86-2351417

All donations are tax deductible as permissible by state or federal law! We are 501c3. Ask your employer about a possible company donor match!

11/05/2025

MEDICAL EMERGENCY, DOWN BABY C**T

As the girls were sorting this morning and separating horses out for the final push today, they found a young a draft baby c**t in distress.

He was up and down several times so they’ve separated him and got him by himself and gotten permission to give medication.

He needs to be the first one out and donations have been very, very slow all morning.

We need to raise the funds to purchase him and get him out.

Come on, CCR! This baby needs us.

Can’t donate? Please share.

I’ll kick us off with a $25 donation. As a volunteer I don’t have much, but I want to see this baby get help!

‼️ TO DONATE ‼️

WEBSITE: www.colbyscrewrescue.org/donate
PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/ohkaytacos
ZELLE: [email protected]
Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/ohkaytacos
Charity Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/colbyscrew
DONORBOX: www.donorbox.org/colbyscrew
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6992 Charlottesville VA 22906

EIN # 86-2351417

All donations are tax deductible as permissible by state or federal law! We are 501c3. Ask your employer about a possible company donor match!

Colby’s Crew Rescue

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