Red Feather Equine Sanctuary

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Red Feather Equine Sanctuary making the world a kinder place for horses
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Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah from our crew to yours! 🎄🕎✨We wish you a season full of warmth, peace and joy. Thank yo...
25/12/2024

Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah from our crew to yours! 🎄🕎✨

We wish you a season full of warmth, peace and joy. Thank you for your support this year and beyond!

With love, the Red Feather team

Chico and Katsina, our cherished Alpine babies, have officially arrived at Red Feather after months of gentling with our...
22/12/2024

Chico and Katsina, our cherished Alpine babies, have officially arrived at Red Feather after months of gentling with our wonderful trainer, Laura ❤️. Meanwhile, mares Sundance and Roulette remain with Laura as we made the thoughtful decision to wean the foals for everyone’s well-being. The mares will continue training until Roulette’s milk dries up, ensuring a smooth transition for all.

During their recent dental floats and vet checks, we discovered that Roulette is still just a baby herself—approximately two years old, with baby tooth caps still present. Despite her young age, she was nursing two foals: her own filly, Katsina, and Chico, an orphan c**t. Rou deserves time to focus on her nutrition and growth, and without the foals, both mares seem more at ease, enjoying restful days and meals all to themselves.

Eventually, we’ll reunite everyone, but this decision prioritizes the health and well-being of each horse. It’s important to share our reasoning, as we’ve witnessed too many horses—especially these Alpines—be “rescued” only to be turned out into a field without the care or oversight they desperately need. Many go months or years without training, vet, farrier, or dental care, and some are left to suffer with untreated injuries or illnesses.

Taking on unhandled horses is a profound commitment, and the Alpines have been our most costly rescue to date. Long after the excitement of their auction faded, we’ve continued to provide them with the individualized, daily care they need and deserve.

Your ongoing support and belief in the transformative power of kindness make this work possible. Together, we are protecting horses for life.

My phone dinged with a reminder today that it has been three years since Biscuit joined the Red Feather family. I don't ...
21/12/2024

My phone dinged with a reminder today that it has been three years since Biscuit joined the Red Feather family. I don't think we ever posted about her arrival back then because she was part of the ongoing Paws Ranch investigation, and we generally can't make public statements on active cases. We don't know anything about her past before that, other than she is a senior over 20 years old.

Many of the improvements we have made to the property have been from Biscuit's inspiration - she quickly figured out how to open our front gate which necessitated the upgrade to an industrial design with a heavy duty magnet closure. Often, we'd think we had her secured only to turn around and find her standing in the barn... She is a master at getting loose, and she is happiest when she is plunked right in front of the feed room door.

Biscuit is the type who enjoys being appreciated but she isn't overly affectionate. She is a quiet little mule, although when she does bray, she sounds exactly like an old Ford truck trying to get started in the cold. That's actually a pretty good analogy for her overall - just like a classic Ford, Biscuit is timeless, strong and has a sort of wisdom to her that the newer models haven't weathered into yet.

For all of her antics, Biscuit is an irreplaceable spirit here and I can conclusively say that all of our lives are enriched by knowing her. ❤️

Joey's new business idea is a drive through kissing booth, and he is both the owner and operator 😘❤️
18/12/2024

Joey's new business idea is a drive through kissing booth, and he is both the owner and operator 😘❤️

Happy Friday from me and Hank!We were contacted by a University in Germany about sending Hank's hair follicles to be par...
06/12/2024

Happy Friday from me and Hank!

We were contacted by a University in Germany about sending Hank's hair follicles to be part of a research study that will investigate a potential genetic link to wry nose in horses. After some discussion to make sure this program aligns with our values (including very appreciated guidance from other reputable rescue organizations), we decided we would gratefully support a study that can benefit other horses like Hank.

There is still no conclusive cause for the wry nose condition, and the vast majority of horses born with it are euthanized at birth. Survivors are at risk their entire lives, due to higher care needs which makes them vulnerable to neglect and abandonment. They often have related medical conditions like impaired breathing and inability to properly chew, but fortunately Hank lives as a mostly normal horse and does not require surgical interventions.

If you're new here, our Handsome Hank was found abandoned, tied to a pole in a California shopping center. The responding animal control agency sent him to live with a rescue that later moved cross country before eventually deciding to close completely. Hank had some training and behavioral needs that made him a good fit for Red Feather's dedicated training program. Now he is a Certified Good Boy(TM) and now he can also add "Global Advocate for Wry Nose Horses" to his resume!

It is your support that allows us to rescue and sanctuary Hank and all of our other deserving equine friends.... Thank you so much ❤️

GIVING TUESDAY GOAL UPDATE: $2257 raised 💓Pictured are just some of the faces we helped in 2024 with your support. This ...
03/12/2024

GIVING TUESDAY GOAL UPDATE: $2257 raised 💓

Pictured are just some of the faces we helped in 2024 with your support. This year, we prioritized owner surrenders and interceptions that would keep horses out of the auction and slaughter pipeline. Regardless of what health/behavioral needs our intakes have, we meet them there... We are there for horses when they need us, will you be here to help us continue this life saving work?

Know that there is no such thing as a small act of support. If each of our followers donated just $1, our goal would be exceeded. YOU can make that difference and we need you.

We could not have saved Tonka, Lawson, Valor, Sundance, Roulette, Chico, Katsina, Willow, Buck, Aladino, Strawberry Shortcake, Sedona or Flora this year without your help. And there are more! Help us make a difference for the horses who need us.

**What Does Giving Tuesday Mean to Us?**  At Red Feather, our mission is to promote radical kindness for horses. Every d...
03/12/2024

**What Does Giving Tuesday Mean to Us?**

At Red Feather, our mission is to promote radical kindness for horses. Every day of the year, we work relentlessly to rescue, rehabilitate, and provide sanctuary for the most vulnerable—those at the greatest risk of abuse, abandonment, or slaughter. From the misunderstood and unrideable to the wild and forgotten, these horses find safety, medical care, and a chance to heal and thrive with us.

This life-saving work is only possible because of supporters like you. This year, we have an ambitious goal: raising $15,000 to continue protecting horses from greedy traders and cruel kill buyers.

Your donation directly impacts lives, like Willow’s. She’s alive today because Red Feather stepped in, saying *YES* to the medical care and rehabilitation she so desperately needed.

Together, we can save more lives. Will you join us this Giving Tuesday by making a donation? 🐴❤️

https://givebutter.com/redfeathergivingtuesday

Venmo (under Charities)
Paypal: [email protected]

BLACK(smith) FRIDAY 🐴We set a farm record of trimming 26 horses today, in addition to feeding everyone warm soupy mashes...
29/11/2024

BLACK(smith) FRIDAY 🐴

We set a farm record of trimming 26 horses today, in addition to feeding everyone warm soupy mashes and putting on blankets for the cold snap ahead. With overnight temps getting into the 20s this week, we wanted to make sure everyone was warm and snug.

We would love sponsors to help cover hoof trim costs! Each trim is $45:

Argo - ❤️
Aurora - 🧡 thank you JoAnn Petersen Houghtby
Siri - 💛 thank you Karen Saylor Bush
Zephyra - 💙 thank you Kaitlyn D.
Tonka - 🤍 thank you Sharon P.
Shania - 💜
Dixie - 🩷 thank you Melissa Blunkall
Willow - 💛
Valor - 💚 thank you
Johnny Cash
Maddox - 💜 Sharon P.
Tater - 🧡 thank you
Mia
Paisley - ❤️ Becka R.
7 Minis - 💙 thank you
Biscuit - 🩶 thank you Sterling H.
Finn - 🤍 thank you Stephanie Toney DiMora
Capri
Remi - 💛 thank you Becka R
Kitty - 🩷

Venmo (under charities)
PayPal [email protected]

Our two resident turkeys, Rhubarb and Ringo, wish everyone a very Happy (and kind) Thanksgiving!Rhubarb is a brand new a...
28/11/2024

Our two resident turkeys, Rhubarb and Ringo, wish everyone a very Happy (and kind) Thanksgiving!

Rhubarb is a brand new addition to the farm this year, and joins us all the way from Staten Island. He is a domestic tom that was dumped with a flock of wild turkeys, who immediately rejected him, realizing he was not one of their own. Vulnerable and alone, he started roaming the area around the Staten Island Zoo looking for aid. Our friends at helped to catch him and asked if we thought he would be a good friend for our boy, Ringo, and the rest is history!

Ringo joined us in July of 2021 from . He is a beautiful Royal Palm turkey with an extraordinarily bad attitude that only a mother or a sanctuary could love 😂 Ringo has been known to chase and peck people, so he lives in the pig yard where he is handled only by our trained staff and volunteers, although he has gotten more gentle over the years.

Turkeys are smart, funny, entertaining and can be very loving companions. We hope our handsome boys inspire you to leave turkey off your plates this year and embrace a lifestyle of kindness and empathy for animals.

Wishing you and your families a safe and restful Thanksgiving day! 💗, the Red Feather team

Let's title this post "💩 happens!!" In a year where lots of worse things have occurred, we aren't going to lose sleep ov...
26/11/2024

Let's title this post "💩 happens!!" In a year where lots of worse things have occurred, we aren't going to lose sleep over the fact that a branch fell on our old pole barn. It's fine. This structure has been on our demo list for a while.

But - it does show another one of the endless chores, tasks, responsibilities, and expenses that go into maintaining a farm property and running the sanctuary. Although the old pole barn was janky, it still served its purpose as a needed shelter for equipment, and now we will have to figure out another plan before we are ready to.

Giving Tuesday is coming up, and we hope you'll consider supporting us with a donation. The power of social media and community is wild - if our followers on every platform donated just $5, we would be fully funded and more for an entire year... Imagine?!! YOU can help us do that.

Your support, coupled with our commitment, is what keeps us going and provides permanent, lifetime safety for horses and other animals that have been failed by humans. What we are doing is important, it matters, and you are part of it.

💗💗

Congratulations to our animal care team who each completed an Equine Emergency First Aid certification course 🎉 We take ...
22/11/2024

Congratulations to our animal care team who each completed an Equine Emergency First Aid certification course 🎉 We take the health and safety of our rescues seriously, and we are committed to providing high quality care to our residents.

Rescuing horses is so much more than pulling them from bad situations. It is the commitment to their lifelong wellbeing (which includes quality adoptive placements and taking back previously adopted animals when needed) that separates good programs from the bad ones. Please research the rescues you support and ensure their standard of care is transparent, ethical and lifelong.

❤️‍🩹

A thought-provoking read.By Jane Smiley (copied)Most horses pass from one human to another - some horsemen and women are...
20/11/2024

A thought-provoking read.
By Jane Smiley (copied)

Most horses pass from one human to another - some horsemen and women are patient and forgiving, others are rigorous and demanding, others are cruel, others are ignorant.

Horses have to learn how to, at the minimum, walk, trot, canter, gallop, go on trails and maybe jump, to be treated by the vet, all with sense and good manners.

Talented Thoroughbreds must learn how to win races, and if they can't do that, they must learn how to negotiate courses and jump over strange obstacles without touching them, or do complicated dance like movements or control cattle or accommodate children and adults in therapy work.

Many horses learn all of these things in the course of a single lifetime. Besides this, they learn to understand and fit into the successive social systems of other horses they meet along the way.

A horse's life is rather like twenty years in foster care, or in and out of prison, while at the same time changing schools over and over and discovering that not only do the other students already have their own social groups, but that what you learned at the old school hasn't much application at the new one.

We do not require as much of any other species, including humans.

That horses frequently excel, that they exceed the expectations of their owners and trainers in such circumstances, is as much a testament to their intelligence and adaptability as to their relationship skills or their natural generosity or their inborn nature. That they sometimes manifest the same symptoms as abandoned orphans - distress, strange behaviors, anger, fear - is less surprising than that they usually don't.

No one expects a child, or even a dog to develop its intellectual capacities living in a box 23 hours a day and then doing controlled exercises the remaining one.

Mammal minds develop through social interaction and stimulation.

A horse that seems "stupid", "slow", "stubborn", etc. might just have not gotten the chance to learn!

Take care of your horses and treasure them.

Yesterday, we said an unexpected and tearful goodbye to our beloved friend, Buck. He experienced a severe laminitic flar...
18/11/2024

Yesterday, we said an unexpected and tearful goodbye to our beloved friend, Buck. He experienced a severe laminitic flare that left him unable to stand for most of the day.

While laminitis can sometimes be managed, it is an incredibly painful condition. Considering Buck’s advanced age and arthritis, we felt it would be unfair to prolong his suffering. These decisions are never easy, but our greatest responsibility is to prevent unnecessary pain. This was the most compassionate gift we could give Buck.

As always, we relied on expert guidance during this process. Three veterinarians serve on either our board or Animal Wellness Advisory Committee, and one of them is always involved in these critical decisions. Yesterday, Dr. Miley cared for Buck, ensuring his passing was peaceful. He was surrounded by love, including his favorite volunteer, Mel, who has been by his side since the very beginning.

I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Buck Off shirts—they’ll be a beautiful reminder of his radiant spirit, and I’ll wear mine with pride.

Forty days was far too short to love this incredible soul. Until we meet again, sweet Buck. You’ll forever be in our hearts. 💔

This picture isn't much to look at but it pretty well summarizes the day... a beautiful blur. Buck is eating his dinner ...
15/11/2024

This picture isn't much to look at but it pretty well summarizes the day... a beautiful blur.

Buck is eating his dinner under the light of tonight's super moon. It was a simple, rather rushed moment, but one worth capturing. We had a full day of dentals, x-rays and vaccines for the sanctuary horses, including Buck. I got to peek in his mouth in between rushing around from work meetings, farm chores and helping a friend whose horse was colicking. His teeth are aged, which we expected, and he is missing a few. But overall he is in great condition, and our vet said she is happy with everything she saw.

Often we are so busy in the hustle and bustle of the day that we don't take the time to enjoy the simplest things, like the beauty of a full fall moon reflected in the eyes of these horses we love so dearly.

Mandy & Pop Tart 🤩 We are enjoying every last second of these pups before they go to their forever homes! (Mandy the Pyr...
13/11/2024

Mandy & Pop Tart 🤩 We are enjoying every last second of these pups before they go to their forever homes! (Mandy the Pyrenees is a permanent Red Feather resident)

11/11/2024
Did someone order a Derpberry Shortcake?Apologies for the lack of updates on Strawberry... We still don't have many answ...
07/11/2024

Did someone order a Derpberry Shortcake?

Apologies for the lack of updates on Strawberry... We still don't have many answers after several check-ins with our vets, the specialists at NC State, plus other trusted partners.

The vet hospital suggested that we bring her in for advanced testing, which we are open to, although the cost is extremely high and we want to make sure we are seeking treatments that help her, and not just spending money on diagnostics that lead nowhere.

We decided that although her EPM serum test was negative, it is worth treating her with EPM medication since the test results can be inaccurate. We started her on the meds today, along with a Vitamin E supplement that is known to help neurological conditions.

Since Strawberry Shortcake does not present like she is in severe pain, we can take the time to try a few things and hope for improvement while we monitor her condition. She has to be kept in a separate exercise paddock instead of full turnout because she loses balance and becomes really unsteady on her hind end if she moves around too much.

She is so curious and full of life! Sweet Strawberry doesn't understand why she can't run and play with the other horses, and I desperately hope we can make this a reality for her one day. Cases like this, where the horse is mentally willing, but their physical bodies aren't cooperating, are the hardest for me personally. I would do damn near anything to help Strawberry get back to normal.

My friend and one of our equine body workers recommended a few different diagnostic routes so we will explore those options and provide updates as soon as we have them. In the meantime, please keep Strawberry Shortcake in your heart as we navigate her neurological issues in search of treatment. 🍓

Capri is always here to loan a smile to anyone who needs one  ❤️
06/11/2024

Capri is always here to loan a smile to anyone who needs one ❤️

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