Joy

5/10/01 - TIER was contacted today by Norco Animal Control in regard to a mare that was found running the streets. This mare was horribly thin and weak in the hind end. She is a sorrell mare, large/oblong star, white on left rear, appx. 17 - 20 yrs. old, appx. 15 hands. High withered.

Animal Control has put a good amount of weight on her in the month or so she has been with them, but she is still in need of groceries as you can see from her picture. No one has contacted Norco Animal Control regarding this mare. In the beginning, she was very weak or loose in the behind, but seems to be much stronger now....although you can still see weakness in her rear movement at times. She is pushy and willful and does not seem to care too much for other horses. While we were taking her picture, a deer wandered
into her pen (there are many different beautiful animals at Norco's facility in need of homes!!) and this mare is definately not a deer lover. She chased the deer out and even kicked at it!

ONE WEEK!
This mare needs a home NOW! If a home is not found within a week, this mare will in all likelihood be euthanized. Due to the fact that she is not rideable because of her weakend back end, she would be a companion only horse. Her adoption fee is $100.00. Adopters would need to sign an adoption agreement with Norco Animal Control.

City of Norco Animal Control - (909) 737-8972

Update 5/14/01 - Yipppeeeeeeeeeeee! This strong minded mare has a new home with Dianna C., a new name Joyful Tiers, aka: Joy and she will also have some new buddies who are anxiously awaiting her arrival at Dianna's!

I would like to personally thank all of those who expressed interest in helping Joy. Hats off to the caravan ladies who will be assisting with transporting Joy to her new home in the lap of luxury, love and fellowship. Thanks to all those who offered advice and support for this neglected, abandoned mare. Thanks to the TIER webmistress for putting Joy's information and pictures up as quickly as she did (even though she had 15 guests at her home when I sent her the info.....she took the time out from her hobnobbing (HA!) to make sure the mare's plight was on our website!). Thank you to new mom Dianna for really reaching out to help a horse in need.
And........

A special thank you to Norco Animal Control for making us aware of the situation so that we could hopefully assist in finding this girl a home!

Many, many thanks to all of you who are there for the horses! Your support, advice, guidance, caring, understanding of the desperate need of the horses and willingness to act have helped so many horses to find homes with loving humans. Because of YOU....these horses are more than a memory of a picture and wording. They are living, breathing, loving friends with homes that truely care about them for who they are....rather than what they can give. Because of YOU!

Now this is TEAMWORK! Wooooo Hoooooo!

5/18/2001 - 8:47 am
Joy will be leaving the pound today at about 11am. Lisa will have her over for a slumber party tonight and then drive her to Fresno tomorrow. Joy will take a 2 night vacation at the Sunnyside Ranch, her own personal horsey hotel, and then Dana will bring her to N CA on Mon. Guess I better get out a map to find how to get to Galt. That's where I'll pick Joy up Monday afternoon. A hop, skip & jump and she'll be home in Oroville! Well, maybe not hop, skip & jump as that would be a bit rough on the old girl. The excitement is building.

5/18/2001 - 11:43 am
Just wanted to let everyone know Joy is hear with me know. I just pick her up from animal control. She is so sweet. She loaded great. I know she will be ok for her journey tomrrow. Dianna what a perfect name you gave to her. She was such a Joy to load and the kindest eyes. I will let you all know how our journey goes tomrrow. we are going from Norco to Fresno. Have a great day all. I know I will with Joy in my backyard.
Lisa

5/19/2001 - 7:47 pm
Hi all I just got back from Fresno. Joy is at her first destination. We got her their safely. She made the trip with no problems. She gets to rest for 2 days before going too her 2nd stop. Thanks for everyones support. She is partway home.
Lisa

Joy Makes 2nd Leg of Trip!!!
5/21/2001 - 6:09 pm
Hi everyone! Just thought I'd give a little update on Joy. Sandy and I picked her up in Fresno at Sunnyside Ranch this morning and headed to Galt. Joy was a pleasure to load and a wonderful trailer too! We stopped half way through the journey to give her a little rest before we continued on. Then we met with Dianna in Galt to make the final leg of the journey. After a quick rest there and a nice cool drink of water (Not to mention lots and lots of carrots and pictures from her new mom) she loaded into the next trailer like a trouper and off she went to her new heavenly pasture!!! I am so glad I was able to help out in rescuing this cute little girl! I will have to see her in a couple months when her feet are trimmed, her teeth are floated, and she has a couple hundred more pounds on her! She'll be
beutiful!!!
Thank you so much Dianna for taking this little girl into your home and your heart!!!
Dana

5/22/ 2001 - 10:54 am
Well, Joy is home. I have to say that if I'd known she was in such poor condition, I wouldn't have risked the trip up to me. She tapes at 745 lbs and my vet says she should be closer to 1200. Big, big, girl. I cried for a good part of the trip from Galt to Oroville at the thought that anyone could do this to any animal. Joy's in a pipe barn, airy & cool and out of the flies, with tons of shavings so she her bedsore hips will heal. She was rolling before I had the halter off! She immediately got a sloppy mash of beet pulp with a dash of grain for flavoring and some much needed electolytes. So far she's gone through every blade of a bale of grass hay and the vet says to keep it coming! My vet will be out next week to float teeth, vaccinate, etc. He took a quick glance at Joy's teeth and thinks she's closer to 13-15 yrs. He also thinks the hindend weakness is from starvation and should continue to improve with feed. He actually likes her and said she should make a really nice riding horse once she's back in good health. It was nice to see her eyes sparkling and perky this morning since they were dull and forelorn last night. I think she knows she's home! Thank you for all that you do and for sending Joy my way! And Lisa's right, I did pick the perfect name.
Dianna

Joyful Tiers has come home!
5/22/2001 - 11:27 am
First, I would like to thank all the wonderful people who made it possible for Joy to come home. Joy's in a pipe barn which is airy and out of the flies. She was rolling in the shavings before I even had a chance to remove the halter. It was a good thing I happened to have a large halter because she's a big girl. Really looks big with all my arabs. She got a very sloppy beet pulp mash with a little grain and some much needed electrolytes as soon as we got home. She's had her head buried in grass hay and has gone through an entire bale. My vet took a look at her and said to keep grass hay in front of her at all times. He really liked Joy and said she'll make a nice riding horse once she's healthy. He says the hindend weakness is from starvation and won't be a problem as she gets fed and stronger. A quick
glance at her teeth has him thinking she's not as old as it was thought. He puts her at 13-15. Next week he'll be out to float & really check her teeth and to vaccinate. I was a little worried at the dull eyes last night but she was bright, perky and calling to my other girls this morning. I think she'll be just fine and I'm sure she must know that she's home!

Update 5/29/01 - Joy's Surprise!
No, she's not pregnant. She's GAITED!!! That's right, Joyful Tiers is gaited. Had her hooves trimmed Sat. morning and she no longer trips over herself. Turned her out in the arena and away she went at a gorgeous running walk. I kept wondering why she looked like she was sorta pacing with a dash of trot and now I know. Her hooves were so long with such bad angles that she couldn't "do her thing". Taped her on Sun. and she's at 807 lbs. A gain of 60 +/- lbs!! Boy can she pack away the groceries. Found out yesterday that she loves watermelon. She's finally settling in and getting comfortable in her new home. She put her head in my stomach for the longest time yesterday while I stroked her face. When Joy first home she had no ground manners and would either try to drag me along or walk over me. Her behavior did a turn around on Sun. She walked quietly beside me and gave me space. I think she finally realized she was home and had no reason to fear what was
happening next in her life. The vet will be out tomorrow to float Joy's teeth, vaccinate her and give her a thorough checkup. As soon as he gives the ok (after quaranteen period), Joy will be able to go on pasture with a buddy.

Update 6/5/01 - You can tell that somebody (a young girl?) loved this big girl at one time. She loves having her head held, body rubbed, ears pulled, etc. She lowers her head for the halter and flymask. And she's such a begger for ANYTHING anyone is eating. She's a real talker. She's settled down and is no longer in a frenzy to eat, get out of her stall or to return to her stall. She just meanders around the arena every evening like no big deal. Her ground manners have much improved. She no longer tries to drag me or walk over the top of me. Kinda nice! Everyone who sees her thinks she's a wonderful mare. She LOVES the attention. One more week and she can go in a bigger stall where she can meet her future herdmates over the fence. Joy's still a stick horse but her belly is rounding and her ribs are getting less sharp. The sores on her hips are healing. She might get her much needed bath this next weekend. We're going slow with everything so as not to shock her and her system. But she did get her teeth floated, rabies & other vacs, and 1st worming. My vet says he's positive that she's no older than 14. What a great surprise as I have hopes for a full recovery knowing we aren't battling time, as well as starvation.

Update 6/11/01 - Here's Joy right after we got home. She was rolling as I was emptying the shavings bags. She's doing great.

Update 6/28/01 - Well, here I am in the middle of a herd of arabs and what do I hear? Some friend of mom's saying he sure likes that big red mare and wants to be first in line if she's ever for sale. He he, I'm the big red mare! And I'm never going to be for sale again. But what an ego boost to hear someone wants to buy me. I'm making sure that all these little arabs know that I'M MISS POPULAR!! Oh,life is good.

Update 7/18/01 - Joy's doing great. She's gained a little over 200lbs, 1/2 of what she needed, and is looking good. Her hind end is starting to look rather large (potential for huge is there) and her gaskins are getting quite muscular. She's no longer weak in the hind legs and trots quite sound when keeping up with her herd. Keeping up with her best friend (3 yr RueCeska) on 15 acres is toning her up quite nice. I call Joy my "other arab" because she's learned to twirl her head at feeding time, tries to raise her tail while running and last night she was snorting & popping her eyes out at the unseen goblin RueCeska was snorting at. I'm thankful Gail has the reputation she does so that animal control contacted her about Joy; I'm thankful to all the people on this board who encouraged and supported me in getting Joy; I'm extremely thankful to Lisa and Dana for their efforts in getting Joy to N CA; and I'm especially thankful to Joy for coming into my life.

Update 11/5/01 - Joy's doing great. What a sweet mare. You should see her following me around the pasture like a big dog. And you should see her run with the herd now. She feels so good that she can keep up with the front of the pack. Although she really would rather mosey. She's sooooo laid back. I just love the big red girl.

Update 3/25/02 - I thought you'd like to see Joy 10 1/2 months later. Her self-appointed protector, RueCeska, is never far from her side. It's really fun to watch Joy run with my herd of arabs. And sometimes she leads the pack!

Update 11/10/04 - Most likely Joy suffered heart failure or aneurysm 'cause there was no sign of struggle, rolling, etc. As far as her age, she was somewhere between late teens & mid 20s. AC in Norco had her as 21 & the first vet to look at her here thought she was mid teens. Not all that old either way, but life was none too kind & I'm sure it took a permanent toll.

Sometime late Friday night/early Satruday morning, my "other arab", Joy, crossed the rainbow bridge. There were no signs of struggle or rolling, so I know she went peacefully in her sleep. Everyone called her my "other arab" because she really thought she was little & dainty like her arab friends. It was always fun to watch her, trying to fly around the pasture in her gaitedness, pretneding she too was arab. She never did master getting her tail up over her back though. Joy was loved by not only me, but all who met her. She was quite amazing in her ability to forget the cruelties & neglect, and always sought out petting & attention from anyone who came into her pasture. I'm going to miss that big ol' stubborn mare slamming her big ol' head into my chest. Run free Joy.