Freedom Reins

The summer heat is already getting brutal. I let the cows out for a few hours today to go graze & explore. When they came back up to their pens, Queenie & Penny had pretty notable heat stress.

The other cows were fine & are pretty heat tolerant. Queenie is 20 years old so she exerts a lot of energy keeping up with the herd. Then Penny lost a lot of lung function when she got stuck in the water trough & drowned a little over a year ago. Cows rely heavily on respiration to cool themselves, so both have a lower tolerance. I will have to change to turning them out in the early mornings/late evenings until fall.

I hosed both of them off until they cooled down & their respiration rate lowered. At the end of the video you can see Queenie yawn. Much like horses, cows will yawn when their stress response is transitioning to the parasympathetic (rest/relaxed) state 🐮

The horses are far more heat tolerant, sweat more effectively, have larger lung capacities & don’t have a rumen acting as a furnace inside them, so they are all handling this hot day with ease!

Then vs now 🥹✨

Noodles spent 5 months at A&M, underwent multiple surgeries & fought against all odds to overcome her injuries. She is with no doubt a fighter 💖

These animals continually defeat the odds. Noodles mom, Jenny, was also the most cooperative, gentle mom donkey we could’ve asked for through Noodles surgeries & care. Both are healthy & living such full lives here thanks to this community ✨

Regina 🥹

She is like the mother duck with all the ducklings following her 💖

Before I get attacked - they have hay put out in multiple places, so this is by choice. I am not “making them work for food”. They’ve made a game of chasing the wagon when I go to feed the back horses lol 😂

Atleast they are staying trim! They thrive in the hill country environment.

Me & my Sawzall went to war together lol. Blood, sweat, tears & some level of insanity because how did I even look at that & think “yeah I can clear this with a sawzall” 😅 There is still so much to get done, but I feel like I finally have made a dent & have some structure vs just a slab of untouched land.

Moving twice with 50+ animals - on top of normal rescue operation costs almost closed our doors. I can’t even put the stress into words when so many innocent lives depend on you. On top of that, we were in a horrific drought up until recently meaning pastures died so hay & feed costs have been exponentially higher. While I would have loved to hire someone to clear this acreage, I did it myself because putting funds towards their hay, vetting is where it’s needed to go.

I am so thankful for the tried & true supporters/followers who have been here through the lowest of lows with me. You all have kept these horses safe & this sanctuary open. We aren’t fully out of the woods yet. There are still mountains to climb, but hopefully you see the progress. It’s only up from here. There are so many more lives that need us.

These two make my heart just melt 🥹❤️

Both Flower & Kevin were orphaned at 2 months old. While Flower is 6 months older, Kevin came along shortly after. They’ve been together ever since. When we tragically lost their friends, Millie & Bambi, less than a year apart - Kevin & Flower’s bond grew even stronger. They’ve experienced so much loss, but have always had each other ❤️‍🩹

Their reunion is dramatic, but I think that’s another beautiful part. Both of them feel safe. They aren’t anxious or searching desperately. They know they are safe here, with me & with their herd. They are feeling the happiness of seeing one another again in a relaxed, present way.

Kevin had a dental while at A&M to rule that out of differentials. He ended up having a mesquite stick/thorn lodged between a molar & his gum 😟 He also had some sharp points that they filed down. He never had any swelling or abnormal chewing, but I know he has to feel & chew so much better now.

His bill came out to $1900 before his dental. We’ve raised enough to cover his dental, but still need to cover the colic portion. Once we finish with Kevin’s bill, we can finish the last bit of Popeye’s ❤️‍🩹

Thank you so much to everyone who has shown up for these horses time & time again. You all are my heroes. Truly.

🐴VNM0: @ freedomreins

🐴D0NRB0X: https://donorbox.org/freedomreins

🐴ZLLE: [email protected]

🐴P@TREON: https://patreon.com/freedomreins

I noticed Kevin at 7 PM yesterday mildly uncomfortable. He had laid down, got up. I watched. He stood quietly, but was swishing his tail some. He had been fine the whole day prior to then. I went ahead & pulled him in. HR normal, temp was normal, but he was wanting to lay down again.

I have given him banamine orally (he’s horrible with needles so he is hard to stick alone), so it hadn’t kicked in yet during this video. I ended up sedating him IV (a battle) when I realized he needed pain management sooner.

He was only 10 minutes into sedation in this clip. I was putting panels in front of the alley so I could keep him in an area away from any hay/feed & monitor him. Then he had a brief episode of pain again. Since the banamine hadn’t kicked in yet, his HR was still normal & he seemed to work through the brief pain within a few minutes - I continued to monitor.

I went to feed the back horses, came back up & by 8:45 he was down rolling again. His HR & temp were still normal, but the fact that he was burning through meds that quickly is always a 🚩. I sedated him again, loaded him immediately & drove him to A&M.

In his work up - they could rectally palpate a big large colon impaction. It was soft, but very large. Everything else - bloodwork, hydration, ultrasound were unremarkable & normal. He has a lot of free fluid in his abdomen, but his ab tap was good. He could’ve been having spasms or sometimes the weight of the impaction can make them really painful even with meds.

I caught it early thankfully. Kevin is stable. He has not passed the impaction yet, but is hospitalized, comfortable & on IV fluids to help him get through this. His emergency bill is right around $1,600 so far. If he passes the impaction without issues then it should land around $2,500. We didn’t raise any funds yet for him.

I didn’t get home until 4 AM this morning. Rescue is so physically & mentally demanding. This vet bill is a big stressor to the many bills keeping the rescue open. If you would like to help, no amount is too small 🙏🏽❤️‍🩹
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VNM0: @ freedomreins
D0NRB0X: https://donorbox.org/freedomreins
ZLLE: [email protected]

Popeye, the mini, is so kind & mannered 🥹💙 Meanwhile, Mouse, the old Amish cart horse, is the drama 🤣

I need to get a load of hay today. The pastures are recovering which is a huge relief, but we are still relying on roughly $1750 a week in hay. If anyone would like to join a $5 Monday to help cover this load, it would help the rescue a lot 🙏🏽

VNM0: @ freedomreins

DN0RB0X: www.donorbox. org/freedomreins