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True Innocents Equine Rescue
Be kind to the animals for they are the True Innocents!
Mailing Address: 17130 Van Buren Blvd., #45, Riverside, CA, 92504
Phone: 951-943-0627

 
Pedro
There I was.......standing ankle deep in mud in a pen among some horses and a Jenny Burro, when this lady comes tromping through the mud towards us. The horses moved off and the girlie Burro stood behind me as she approached. I would have headed for the high ground as she came closer, but there wasn't any. And, slogging through mud on feet that look like the beginnings of elf shoes isn't easy. Fast paced mobility was simply out of the question, so I just stood there. There wasn't really any place to go to get away anyhow.

This mud wading woman comes up to me, rubs my head and says some stuff in a soft voice. She then tries to approach my female burro friend, but my friend just kept hiding behind me. The lady then sloshes over to the horses to talk to them. The lady then looks at each of us in that pen with a look of sadness and resignation, and then turns away with her head down and shoulders slumped.

Updates

12/28/2003

Pedro the love bug is absolutely the bestest, no fuss nice guy! We are still working on feet picking, but at least I have finally found a farrier willing to work with me! He is fine with the fronts, getting better with the back. Pedro has his own napping spot and the dogs will actually lay by him nicely. Usually they bark when the horses roll and irrate them, but not the donkeys. Pedro was wormed today and will be getting the same MSM as Annabelle. I wish I could tell if that front knee bothers him, but no limping, tenderness, heat, etc. I just figured he may get a little "creaky/stiff" with this cold weather. He is getting more personality...even pinned his ears and gave a little buck at Reza when she did her "mine, all mine!" drama dance at feeding time. He only tolerates so much in his quiet way. He love to go for walks and see the world with me. No spooking at anything, he just stops and looks if something bothers him, you can just see him thinking.

11/25/2003

Had to share, needed a smile. Pedro seems to be good for that. The "redhead" is Gemma, stuffing her face. Pedro at least was curious about what I had in my hand. He propbaly thought it was food! His newest food like is pumpkin spice bread (with butter). I love my donkey!

5/7/2003

Pedro De Burro is a doll! He is getting healthy and all the yucky coat is falling out at once, looks kinda mangy but I keep swat on the bald spots, especially on his legs. He isn't much on normal horse treats but LOVES french fries!

12/11/2002 - Pedro goes home!
Harry: Okay Pedro..let&rsquos try stepping in here.
Pedro: Are you serious Mr.??


Pedro: No problemo Harry.


Pedro: Now what Harry?


Harry: Now, let's step down.
Pedro: Are you getting confused Harry?


Harry: Good Boy Pedro. I'm proud of you!
Pedro: It's walking Harry. I've been doing it for years!!


Harry: Okay Pedro, let's learn to give to pressure.
Pedro: Give to pressure? I'm a donkey!!


Harry: It's okay Pedro. You're doing great!
Pedro: You don't get it do you Harry?


Pedro: You've really got a hang up about this giving to pressure thing Harry. Well, so do I!


Harry: Okay Pedro, now that you have the giving to pressure thing down, let's get in the trailer again.
Pedro: Harry, you have some serious problems.......


Harry: That's a good boy Pedro.
Pedro: Harry, are you seeking medical help?


Harry: That' a good boy Pedro!! Now we'll head out to your new home!
Pedro: Harry, I&'ll just stand here and keep you in until the little men in the white coats arrive. Poor guy!


Many thanks to Harry for his continued help!! And......of course, thank you to Pedro for being such a star student!!!


Pearl: Is that little furry fella with the long ears gone? I was going to share my treats with him! (NOT!!!) Gee.......too bad he left already, he was kinda cute!
11/20/2002

The gate opened and the truck roared down the drive ......headed my way. Wow! A whole truckload of goodies for me??? But, no..........two men get out of the truck, walk around to the back and start clanking things around as they take items out of the truck.

The lady that feeds me and pets me everyday starts walking up to me with a lead rope. Uh Oh......something fishy going on here! She walks up to me and says "Hey Bubba, you ready to get some real feet?" Uh Uhhhhh!! No way! I'm outta here! But the lady snags me and attaches the lead rope. The two guys walk up and start talking to me like they were long lost friends or something. I ain't buyin it! One of them leans down and tries to pick up my front foot.........what??? Does this guy think I'm slow witted or something??? I barrell right into him and the lady. My moves are pretty good cuz they back off.

The one guys says......"Gail, this boy hasn't ever had his feet done. They're pretty bad and I don't believe he is going to cooperate very well." Darn tootin! Ain't nobody gonna be tryin to pull MY feet out from under me! The lady and the man talk a bit and he walks back over to the truck, fiddles around a bit and comes back. By this time I'm tied up next to Panache's pen. Panache is no help at all! He hangs his head over the rail to watch the circus. Probably glad it's me and not him that is the focus of these people's attention! I'm thinkin maybe the guy got smart and got a Pie or a carrot or an apple out of his truck?? Nope, next thing I know I feel a little sting in my neck and everyone goes off and leaves me tied up all by myself. They go over and start picking up Pearl's feet and doing things to them. She's not pitchin much of a fit and I'm thinking maybe she got stung in the neck too cuz I'm feeling kinda mellow about now.

These folks go from horse to horse, pick up their feet one at a time, do something to it and when they've done that to all four feet, they go to the next horse. I'm just enjoying the breeze while Slim grumbles something about the darn wind. They finish whatever they are doing to the horses and come back to me. Uh Oh! Not this again! But, I'm feeling pretty forgiving right now and when they start picking up my foot again I only give them a little trouble. Besides, there's three of them and one of me!! Dobbin looks on with a grin on her face as if to say....."Neener, neener, neener.....I told you you'd get yours shorty!"

Next thing I know I'm being untied, my head is being rubbed (that lady kept rubbing my head and running her mouth the whole time these guys were messing with my feet!) and then the guys get in the truck and head out the gate again. The lady heads off saying something about getting the checkbook and I'm left there to try to figure out how to walk cuz they have REALLY changed my feet around!! Did they put them on backwards or something? I can't see my toes anymore! It feels weird to walk instead of rock. Oh well, guess I'll see if I can get that Dobbin girl to make those ugly faces at me again. She looks so funny when she does that! Goodness knows I can't take a nap because Pearl is grumbling so loud. She's muttering something about the darn chiropractor (that's the guy that was here before the tag team got me!) and complaining about those guys picking up her feet and not a one of those people had a Pie for her. But......Pearl is always muttering something. Earlier she was chastising me for not enrolling in her Weed Abatement Program. Why should I when there's all this grass around and I'll be going to my new forever home later???

11-20-02 Yeah....I got new feet!
Traveling is a snap now!
Sheesh, I'm not sure I can remember how to walk now that the elf shoes are gone!
BIG difference huh?
Hey! I can balance my hind feet on this hose without rocking back and forth now!!
And the rear action ain't too shabby either!!
11/16/2002

Today were are all herded into a trailer. I don't want to go because I have a feeling that the next place I go to is going to be worse than this one. I am picked up by two men and put into the trailer. My friends and I aren't at all hopeful about this trip. The horses shuffle around and the girl burro stays very close to me. When the trailer stops and the door finally opens we all crowd to the front of the trailer to avoid whatever/whoever is at the door.

We hear voices and the door swings open. There stands one of the people who bodily put me in the trailer and right behind them is that woman who likes to walk in the mud! I hear her say "Pedro! Que Pasa?" The next thing I know I'm being led down a driveway and there are horses hollering hello to me. My friends in the trailer are quiet, no shuffling, no sound......then I hear my lady burro friend bleat out a couple of goodbyes. I say nothing........I don't know what to make of this whole situation.

I am put in a big round pen with water and hay. I just stand there for a long time. Waiting. Waiting for them to bring in the yearlings that they will tie me to so I can teach them to be somewhat halter broke. Waiting for the people on horseback with ropes to come and rope me while I teach their horses not to run up on me or I will kick which will teach them to not run up on a cow so they can become good roping horses. Waiting for someone to jump on my back so everyone can laugh when I run.

Waiting.......and here she comes. She doesn't have any yearlings with her...she doesn't have a rope or lead rope. She does have something in her hand and I know it can't be good. It usually isn't. She squats down, this woman that wades through mud and acts like she's a friend, extends her hand while she is holding this thing. I back up warily at first, but she is persistent with this thing. I tentatively stick my nose out to sniff this thing in case it is something I recognize. I hear this pony in the background making weird happy sounds as someone holds out one of these things to her, so I go ahead and sniff. It smells............edible. I take a bite and........It's PIE!! Cherry Pie! My! My!

The pony, who I later found is named Pearl, is pretty ticked off that she had to share her pie with me. She'll get over it I guess. The woman realized that I wasn't going to cause trouble so she opened the gate on the roundpen. I now get to sleep wherever I want, I get to mow the grass all around this area and the woman's back yard too! I'm not too sure about the water bucket in the roundpen, so I drink out of a big trough that belongs to this tall horse named Panache. He's really nice to me, but that Dobbin lady makes ugly faces everytime I get close to her house!!

Everytime the lady passes me to go feed, muck, water, turnout horses, etc., she comes up and talks to me. She rubs my ears and face and neck and has told me I will be getting a manicure as soon as somebody named Farrier comes. She did do one mean thing.....that was when she hosed me off to get the mud out of my fuzzy coat. I wasn't happy about it, but I didn't run off when she started wetting me down.

And...........I met a lady who says she is my new mom!! I will be going to live with her right away!! She used a word I hadn't heard before......adopted. I hear them say......"Pedro is adopted". Huh? I thought "Pedro is a Burro"! Oh well, as long as the pies, carrots, apples and bermuda grass keep coming, I guess I can deal with it!

Photos

 

True Innocents Equine Rescue (T.I.E.R)
17130 Van Buren Blvd., #45
Riverside, CA, 92504
Tel: 951-943-0627
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