Raggedy Anne aka: Annie

1/27/00 - I received a call from an Animal Control Officer regarding a filly that was found wandering the streets. The filly appears to be a mustang, but that is not for sure. The BLM has looked at her and said it is a possiblity that she is a mustang, but they were not interested in taking her. The Brand Inspector has looked at her and found no brands of any kind. Since nobody came forward to claim her, she was to go to auction, be euthanized or given to a rescue. She will be coming to TIER as soon as we can arrange transport.

1/29/00 - I put out a plea for assistance in transporting a Mustang filly to TIER. We had received a call from Animal Control officials indicating that this horse was in their custody and would TIER be willing to take her in. Of course, we said yes. Our problem was that we did not have transport. Thanks to all you wonderful people who offered us your assistance in brining this girl home. I did not realize how many friends TIER has made and how many giving people I have met. Thank you from me, TIER and Annie! That night, Brenda contacted me and arrangements were made to pick up the filly the next afternoon (Friday). Brenda and her friend Tammy picked up the mustang filly and brought he home. Due to her overall appearance (tangled mane, very, very thin, hooves the length of canoes and a scraggly coat) Tammy dubbed her Raggedy Ann. We now call this filly Annie.

Update 2/1/00 - Our vet estimated Annie's age at 4 yrs. old. We had noticed that Annie seemed to have difficulty chewing and the vet checked out her teeth. No easy feat! Annie is very skittish and wary! We tranquilized her (I.M. and then I.V. also!) and the vet floated her teeth. It seems that Annie's lower jaw is narrower than her upper jaw. Therefore, the teeth were not being worn down evenly and she had several hooks on her teeth. She will require floating at least twice a year in the future. She also has a tooth that will eventually need to be pulled. This will be done at a later date as we didn't want to do too much too soon. The Natural Horseshoer will trim her feet on Thursday.

Update 3/22/00 - Recently, Annie was having diarrehea bad! It was green water. So....we called the vet. The vet simply said "She's just not used to this high living!" Annie no longer gets any alfalfa. We give her bermuda grass, 3-way pellets (timothy, bermuda & brohme grass), Ensure vitamins and a handful of Evergreen Maintenance. She was on medication for 5 days and everthing is back to normal now! Whew! She is such a sweet girl!

Annie has been adopted!

Congratulations Chris!

Annie & Chris at a TIER Clinic, March 2001

Update 4/13/01 - Annie went to her new home with adopter Chris today! We are excited for Annie & Chris and look forward to updates and stories.

Annie didn't go to her new home alone! TIER will not adopt out a horse to a home that does not have another horse, or to at least be able to touch noses over a fence with another horse. Horses are herd animals and should not be isolated from one another. Therefore, Chris is also fostering Ella! Ella is a sensitive young lady and shy. She will benefit from having her own foster mom lavish attention on her and we are quite happy for both Chris and Ella. Ella is available for adoption/sponsorship.

Update 4/28/01 - I just wanted to let you know how the girls are doing.

Annie is doing great in her new home. She settled right in with no problem but I don't think she's terribly fond of her stablemate Ella. She tolerates her but I think she would have chosen someone else! She is getting a little sassy, but is still sweet. She's starting to nicker to me every time I come out of the house but more so at meal time of course. I have been working with her on standing still while mounting and she's getting really good. I just want to take it slow with her because who knows what she's been
through, and I'm in no hurry. Her winter coat has all shed out and she looks so shiney she even has dapples on her butt! We're also working on getting used to fly spray. She doesn't even like to have it wiped on but she's getting better. The flys really bother her so she better get used to it. A neighbor is giving me two fly sheets - she got a bunch for free (long story) - so that should help. We'll see how Annie likes that!

Ella is doing great now too. It took her about a week to settle down and stop pacing and she was in heat the whole first week too so that didn't help. But now she just stands calmly in her corral. She is really comming out of her shell. She actually puts her head over the top rail of the corral and looks excited when I come out! She will look right at me and will let me pet her head without turning it away. I even set the baby on her back one day (holding her tight with both hands of course) and Ella just stood there perfectly content. I'm really happy about how good she's doing after only two weeks! I think she's a real sweetheart inside just waiting to come out.

One of these days I'm going to call Lydia Hiby the "animal communicator" and try to find out what these girls have gone through in their lives!!!!