Inyokern Horses
12 Arabians rescued from a sanctuary in Olancha, CA

Update 4/4/2008: A neighbor contacted GailR on Easter Sunday to tell her about 14 starving Arabian horses up in Olancha, CA (Inyo county).  Since she had her own horses to care for, she told the neighbor that she wasn't financially able to handle an additional horse, but that she would network on the horses' behalf and do what she could. 

She immediately began to network on the web, emailing several rescue organizations asking for help and direction.  She made contact with TIER and Carol Darnell of Guardian Arabian Horse eClub.  She also contacted Inyo County Animal Control to see what, if anything, was being done.  At that time,  she was not aware that Marci had picked up Fatimar & Penny and had already called Animal Control to make a complaint.

Inyo County Animal Control went out to see the horses on Tuesday, March 25, 2008 and at GailR’s insistence finally brought in a vet on Thursday, March 27, 2008 to give a cursory look.  GailR was told by an Animal Control officer that a 48-hour notice had been given regarding the two worst cases.

Upon looking at the web site put up by Pat Bayne Montes, GailR was shocked to discover that one of the horses at this so called sanctuary might be a colt that she had bred several years previously.   She had sold him as a weanling seven years ago with the stipulation that he be gelded when he was of age.  The colt was never registered in the new owner’s name, never paid for and never gelded.  The now mature stallion was turned into Pat Bayne Montes’ sanctuary and she allowed him to run free with the mares.  GailR then made the decision to go to Olancha with a trailer to take a look for herself.

On Saturday, March 29, 2008, she and the neighbor left for Olancha, CA to see the horses and bring additional hay.  When they pulled into the area where the horses were, they had the shock of their lives.  The ten remaining poor pathetic little creatures were being housed in a area approximately 50 feet by 50 feet, with very little water, donated grass hay thrown on top of last year's cow hay which was full of foxtails.  All were munching on grass hay that the lady hadn't even bothered to remove the twine from.  Almost all had ribs, hipbones and their entire skeleton showing.  Two of the other horses had already been sold and the stallion that had been allowed to run freely with the mares had been removed the night before.

After asking about the stallion, Pat Bayne Montes told them that he had been taken sometime within the last twenty-four hours without her authorization.  Pat had called the Inyo County Sheriff and was waiting for a deputy to take a report.  As they looked at the horses, and watched them eat GailR said to her "Why don't you let these horses come home with me, so I can take care of them?"  Pat looked thoughtfully out at the horses and began to weep.  GailR started to cry too but only for the horses and their horrible plight not for Pat.  She gently asked again, "Pat why don't you let the horses come home with me?"  Pat said yes "but you can't take Corrida" who was the thinnest one of the bunch.  GailR told Pat that she really needed to let ALL of the horses come with her.  She said no again, "I need to keep Corrida."  GailR asked Pat if she would mind talking with a friend of hers.  Pat agreed and GailR called Carol Darnell.  The two talked for about fifteen minutes.  When Pat got off the phone, she said that Corrida could come with them.

Her heart jumped with joy!  Now they had to get the horses out before Pat changed her mind.  GailR asked Pat to write out releases for the horses.  The neighbor called her father who worked for a local farmer to get another horse trailer and together they loaded the horses.  The horses loaded like angels knowing they were going to a better place. 

Inyo County Sheriff arrived and took a report from Pat and GailR on the stolen stallion.  GailR showed the deputy the paperwork Pat had given them releasing the horses and he looked relieved.   The deputy also told them that the two decent looking bay mares needed to stay.  Their owner was coming to pick them up.  They unloaded the bay mares, gave the paperwork to the deputy and headed for home.

We were all quite surprised that Pat relinquished the horses so quickly.  It was later found out that two local residents, Michael L. & Debbie  C., had been trying for months to help the horses and dogs at the “sanctuary” .  Michael & Debbie have told us that Animal Control had been contacted numerous times in the past, and had made several trips out to the sanctuary.  According to Michael & Debbie no animals were ever seized.  They informed us that they had seen the bodies of at least two dead horses previously.  A friend of Michael had seen the state the horses were in a couple months prior to our involvement and she had donated thousands of dollars worth of hay to help these horses.  Michael & Debbie’s efforts to help these animals paved the way for the eventual relinquishment by Pat Montes to GailR.  More disturbing information is coming to light regarding this situation.  Had it not been for Michael & Debbie’s  hard work, it is doubtful that Pat B. Montes would have handed the horses over.

The trip home was uneventful with the horses traveling well and very quietly.  They unloaded horses, the two thinnest grays, Corrida and Apollo into the 70' round pen and the other six into a 150' x 150' arena.  Already they were better, they had more space!  The horses were fed, extra donated feeders and water troughs were set up.  They gave a little handful of sweet feed to the two grays but the others saw it and begged for some.  So a handful of sweet feed was given to all the horses.

Sunday was a bit anxious with the horses wondering if this was really going to last, food and fresh water with room to run.  Carol D. phoned GailR to offer a reference for Pam S. who wanted to come look at the horses.  Pam S. called, came out to see everyone and asked if she could foster TSable a tall bay mare.  As funds to help the horses were at zero, the decision was made that TSable would be fostered by Pam S. This left 7 starved horses for GailR to care for. 

In the last four days their access to feed has been gradually increased to free feeding grass/alfalfa hay with three small coffee cans of hay pellets soaked in water per horse and GailR has been coerced out of several handfuls of grain.  In checking Corrida's teeth to see if they had points, several sores inside her mouth from the foxtails were observed.  An appointment with Dr. Ellsworth from Tehachapi has been scheduled for next week (this is a rural area and vets come to the area every two weeks) to check teeth, mouth ulcers, pregnancy checks, general overall health and set-up a worming program. 

At this point, the horses are still in desperate need of a veterinary evaluation to include pregnancy checks for the mares, getting the grossly neglected feet trimmed and on their way to recovery, worming, and simply good nutrition, the upcoming expenses to successfully rehabilitate these horses will be significant.

We really all need to support this effort.  The feed store in Inyokern is accepting phone-in or cash contributions.  The Guard has reached out to other arabian clubs, encouraging them to participate. People in the Inyokern area are pitching in both monetarily and offering much needed labor.  TIER has offered to accept donations designated for the InyoHorses through the paypal account.  Much needs to be done.  These horses are in need of and deserve our help.

Update 4/3/08 - ALL of the horses have mouth sores, most likely because what hay they had been getting was full of foxtails.

New Photos added 4/1/08

On or about 3/17/08 we received a phone call from a lady named Fran asking us if we were in a position to take in two Arabian mares. Fran had previously placed her horses with Free Spirit Arabians/Pat Bain Montes which was supposed to be a sanctuary for Arabian horses. The story was that the ‘owner’ of the sanctuary was going through a divorce, could no longer care for the horses and they needed to rehomed.

TIER was not in a position to bring more horses in so we contacted Carol Darnell who is well known in the Arabian community as an advocate for rescue.  Carol then began to network with her contacts and Fran.  Marci de la Torre, owner of Pegasus Park Arabians, Temecula, CA, http://www.pegasuspark.com  agreed to go pick up the horses and provide a safe haven for them.

Prior to this, on 3/10/08 the following ad was placed by the ‘owner’ of the sanctuary:

REHOMING ARABIAN HORSES/ALL MUST GO!!!Reply to: freespiritarabians@XXXXXXX.com Date: 2008-03-10, 3:21PM PDT HERD DISPERSAL DUE TO DIVORCE/ 15 HORSES MUST GO. $700 each or as a group. ...
losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/pet/601964744.html

Marci made arrangements with the sanctuary to pick up the horses the weekend of the 21st.  Another ad was placed prior to Marci’s arrival:

Reply to: freespiritarabians@XXXXXXX.com
Date: 2008-03-21, 10:32AM PDT

Thank you for reading this
We are an Arabian Horse Sanctuary and we need to move the horses THIS weekend from the premises... I have run out of hay and can someone help... going through a divorce...
all money has stopped... Some one please help with pasture, hauling, hay or adoption.
PLEASE CALL XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Pat
Thank you.

Marci arrived to find the two mares, Fatimar & Penny in terrible condition and the remaining 12 horses also in need of help.  (pictures below) Two of the horses were blanketed in order to camouflage their terrible condition.  Fatimar was one of the mares covered with a blanket.  Marci took Fatimar & Penny to her home where they are now safe and already responding - bright eyed, ears up, inquisitive, eating and drinking well, and proving how resilient and forgiving horses are.

Now
Before

On 3/25/08 we received an email from Gail R. who was made aware of the plight of these horses from her neighbor.  Gail’s neighbor had been riding with her father who works on a ranch in the area and had witnessed the horrible condition of the horses and the deteriorated state of the “sanctuary”.  Fences were held together with baling twine, old lumber & trash was lying around and the hay the horses were trying to eat was filled with foxtails.

Gail R. became the rescue effort’s local eyes & ears on the ground.  She is working with Animal Control & the Sheriff’s department to facilitate the rescue/rehoming of these poor horses.

A number of us are working to help the remaining horses - the first two got out as a result of their previous owner learning of the situation, contacting us, and our teamwork paid off royally.   Animal Control & the Sheriff’s department were contacted.  An equine veterinarian was contacted by Animal Control and together they went on site 3/26/08.  Two of the remaining horses were considered  in grave condition.   The two horses are thin enough for them to have issued a 48 hour notice and we're scrambling to line up foster care and funding to help them as soon as we can win their release (or seizure, though that would take longer).

3/28/08 another ad was placed on the internet by the owner of the sanctuary asking people to donate hay.  Why weren’t these steps taken BEFORE the horses were in such bad shape!!! 

We NEED HAY! Thank you...
Reply to: pattym60@XXXXXXX.com
Date: 2008-03-28, 4:28AM PDT

Hello,

We are needing hay for some horses we took in to help, "Where's the hay?"
Please help!!!    call XXX-XXX-XXXX. Pat
ADOPTIONS ALSO AVAILABLE...If you can buy some bales for the horses call the
XXXXXXXXXX  at XXX-XXX-XXXX  and say it's for the Free Spirit Arabians. Thamk you very
much.

As of this writing, Gail R. has taken hay to the horses.  More info and pictures will be posted as soon as it becomes available.

For more information on how to help us help these horses, please contact Carol Darnell:  caroldarnell@hotmail.com

Update 4/10/2008 - Vet Report:
Dr. Ellsworth from Tehachapi was arrived on April 10, 2008 to evaluate the rescued horses.  Each horse was presented, teeth checked and evaluated for points and age determination, gums were inspected for healing ulcers, heart checked, gut checked for sand, bodies were evaluated for starvation and dermatitis. Per his instructions, they are to be wormed with Strongid followed with an Ivermectin in three months, vaccinated with a five-way vaccine and a West Nile vaccine. Several melanomas were detected in the exam. Each mare that wasn’t currently in season was palpated and checked for being in foal.    He then had each horse trotted out and evaluated for soundness.  His exams were very thorough.

Corrida (mare) is twenty-five as her papers state.  She has mild points on her teeth and showed several healed ulcers from the foxtails.  Dr. Ellsworth said that these would continue to heal and should not be a problem for her. She didn’t have sand in her gut and her heart sounded good.  She has a melanoma on her lower lip and moderate melanomas on her anus.  She is not in foal as she was in season at the time of the exam.  While she is the thinnest one of the herd, Dr. Ellsworth said that she would be o.k. to travel if she is given plenty of rest stops and the trip was made slowly.  She trotted out sound and when she has put on about 150-200 pounds he said she might be able to be ridden.  She has lost a lot of muscle mass which may or may not rebuild itself.

Apollo (gelding) is twenty-five as a copy of his papers state.  He has mild points on his teeth and has several healed ulcers from the foxtails.  He didn’t have any sand in gut and his heart sounded good.  He is the second thinnest of the herd.  Apollo trotted out showing major arthritis in his left hind.  While he is sound, Dr. Ellsworth said not to place him in a home where he might be jumped.  It would not be good for Apollo to have that kind of stress on his hind leg.  When he has put on 100-150 pounds he may be ridden.

Sara (mare) is thirteen according to Dr. Ellsworth exam.  She has mild points on her teeth and she had healed ulcers from the foxtails.  She is in foal and due in the fall, late September or early October.  Dr. Ellsworth recommended Capers Broodmare Supplement beginning with a couple of pounds the first week and working up to five pounds until foaling.  She is not to be given rice bran.  She needs a rhino vaccine every two months and in August a five-way vaccine and West Nile vaccine.  She has moderate fungus and needs to be treated with Paraguard shampoo or another good anti-fungal, anti-ringworm shampoo.  She trotted out sound and when she has another 100-150 pounds she may be ridden.  This probably won’t happen until after she has foaled and possibly not until the baby is weaned.  She is the third thinnest of the herd and she is feeding a baby.

Beauty (mare) is fourteen according to Dr. Ellsworth’s exam.  Her teeth were o.k. and the ulcers from the foxtails had healed.  She didn’t have sand in her gut and her heart sounded good.  She is not in foal as she was in season at the time of the exam. Beauty has severe dermatitis and needs to be treated with Paraguard shampoo or another good anti-fungal, anti-ringworm shampoo.  She trotted out sound and when she has another 100-150 pounds she may be ridden. 

Symphony (mare) is ten according to Dr. Ellsworth’s exam.  Her teeth were o.k. and the ulcers from the foxtails had healed.  She didn’t have sand in her gut and her heart sounded good.  She was palpated and found not in foal.  Dr. Ellsworth said that Symphony is very wobbly with something going on in her spine when she was trotted out.  He said she is not a riding horse.

Boo’s Patriot (gelding) is fifteen according to Dr. Ellsworth’s exam. His teeth were o.k. and the ulcers from the foxtails had healed.  He didn’t have any sand in gut and his heart sounded good.  Boo’s Patriot needs to gain about fifty pounds and he trotted out sound.

Samm (mare) is nineteen as her papers state.  She has mild points on her teeth.  She didn’t have sand in her gut and her heart sounded good.  She was palpated and found not in foal.  Samm has a possible melanoma on her left shoulder and small melanomas on her anus.  Samm needs to gain about fifty pounds and she trotted out sound.

It was explained to Dr. Ellsworth that these horses were “zombies” two weeks prior when they were loaded in the trailer for the trip out of Free Spirit Arabians “Sanctuary”.  He nodded without smiling and said “You’ve done an excellent job stabilizing them!”  “Good luck!”  Dr. Ellsworth is a man of very few words and this was a very grave situation.  His assistant talked more during the exams than Dr. Ellsworth.  She just asked where the horses came from and who would do such a thing.  Both Dr. Ellsworth and his assistant were shocked at the condition of the rescued horses.

The vet said that each rescue horse needed between 100#--200# of added weight, shots and farrier work.  We desperately need funding for hay and supplements, farrier work and vaccines!  Thanks to the generosity of several caring people, the vet bill has been paid, a month supply of hay & pellets has been purchased, a donation of supplements from Caron at Blueridge Distribution,  and a discount on the purchase of Pawier vitamins, these starving horses have just begun their rehabilitation.  Pellets and hay are needed to continue to help these horses recover from their neglect/abuse as the current supply is dwindling fast!  They are still in need of your help!