Memorials

Snowflake

USESR purchased Snowflake at auction because we saw that she was a victim of Trader's Syndrome. Victims of Trader's Syndrome are unfortunate equine who must endure being shuffled from auction to auction on an almost nightly basis, sold and resold in hopes of making a quick $5.00. Sno had cancer and no human practicing Trader's Syndrome was going to break from the syndrome and treat such an expensive disease. Sno was 18 years old and practically blind when USESR rescued her. We kept her until she had to be put down. She developed a tumor in her throat which prevented her from swallowing even her own saliva. Snowflake was fostered by our dearly departed foster family, the Selmers of McKinney, Texas. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

Cassanova

Cassanova. Senior Hannoverian gelding. Died peacefully during the night. Resting forever at Pine Hill Pet Cemetary. We were able to provide Cass with a best friend (a gelding named Lucky), children to play with, and peaceful, loving surroudings before he passed away. Cass was deeply loved and will be equally missed.

Cheyenne

Cheyenne was rescued from auction but passed away due to colic before he could be adopted out. Since Cheyenne was a sound, healthy, green broke to ride horse who seemed to have no problems, and he was being properly fed and cared for, we suspect that he was sent to auction because he was prone to colicking and that made him difficult to sell via regular marketing means.

Gem

Gem was a 15 y/o Bashkir Curly. She had a breathing obstruction and was very underweight when we picked her up. Gem had allergies, which caused breathing problems when she got over heated. She was on daily allergy medication. Summer days were the hardest on Gem, but at her foster home in Brashear, she could go into the cool barn and stand in front of the fan. Her foster mom took great care of her. She had Chester, an USESR adoptee, to keep her company. The two were in love. Sadly, we had to put Gem down after enriching the last several years of her life and saving her from certain slaughter. The hot summer days just got too hard on her. When she began to suffer, we made the sad decision to put Gem down humanely and lovingly. Gem will be greatly missed by all of us at USESR as she was the first horse we ever rescued. It was our pleasure to provide for her comfort and happiness in her last years. Special thanks goes out to her amazing foster mom who cared for her daily for so many years. We could not have taken care of Gem without Diana's special kind of dedicated, patient, and gentle care.

Clara

Clara was a purebred Quarter Horse mare who has EPM. This causes Clara to have an unsure equilibrium so that she cannot be ridden. Clara is only 5 years old. She is not on medication, nor does she require any. She is an easy keeper and a very sweet-natured mare.
We are currently evaluating Clara's disease and considering treating her for it again with a stronger medicine. We have decided that if she cannot stand on 3 legs to be trimmed, it would be cruel and inhumane to treat her, as the vets all say that even if the treatment cures her, it will not reverse the nerve damage already done.

Bobbie Jean

Bobbie Jean was donated to the rescue in December of 1999 after we received an abuse report on her. She had recently changed owners and was already very, very underweight at that time. She was given to a nice, caring lady whose horse had died, to help alleviate the lady's sadness. Bobbie Jean proved to be too much for the lady to take care of after she scraped her eye on a tree branch and would not allow it to be properly treated. Because of this, Bobbie went blind in her injured eye. Recognizing that she could not take proper care of Bobbie Jean, her caring donor chose to place her with us. Bobbie Jean was in the process of being adopted when she injured herself. Her malnourished old bones were so fragile, the vet thinks she broke a rib, so she had trouble breathing. She was humanely euthanized. Her passing was very, very saddening both to her adoptive parents, the rescue, and the public. Bobbie Jean had many fans and is greatly missed.

Maggie

Maggie's foster family loved her so much, they decided to adopt her. Maggie was very happy, living with USESR ' other adopted Equine, Dutch and Summer. Her leg was healing well and even getting smaller. One day, Maggie developed an infection in her leg and never recovered. Maggie was sent over the rainbow bridge, to the great, great sorrow of many people. Maggie was a very, very special horse.

Nuggett

Nugget was around 15 years old when we rescued him from auction. We got him at a small auction close to our headquarters in Chico. The local killer buyer was there, trying to get Antoinette to go into business with him, he buying and she selling by using the rescue as a sales vehicle. In the meantime, everyone who brought their horses in would be promptly asked by the killer if they needed their horses rescued. Everyone pretty much knew each other, and there were only about 8 horses brought in that night. Standing in the back where the horses were held before entering the ring, Antoinette was an unforgettable target. Antoinette quickly singled out Nugget, an underfed but obviously gentle horse, as the neediest horse there. When the horses began entering the ring, Antoinette and the killer stood at the ring exit, where the killer helped her bid on Nugget. We often see this man at local auctions and he seems to enjoy helping us bid on horses, unless they are ones he's singled out to ship to Bel-Tex on Monday. Nugget was advertised as a 5 year old. Antoinette was the highest bidder, but his owner pulled him because no one wanted the embarrassment of having their horses "rescued". After the auction, Nugget's owner approached Linda Corbell, who Antoinette had snuck out to the dark parking lot to meet up with. She warned Linda that everyone was watching her so any of her bidding would be unsuccessful. Linda had also been bidding on Nugget from the stands, until she noticed the killer was bidding on Antoinette's behalf. After the auction, Nugget's owner approached Linda and told her he'd noticed she'd been bidding on Nugget. He asked her if she'd like to buy him and she said yes. Nugget's teeth had been sawed down to make him look like a 5 year old, but he was much older. Later, it was discovered that Linda had given a bill of sale, with her name as owner, to a lady who had signed adoption papers and paid an adoption fee on Nugget. Linda is no longer associated with USESR , for obvious reasons.
One day, Nugget's buyer came home and found Nugget dead at the gate. She thinks he colicked. She said he wasn't acting sick at all. We are very sorry about everything that happened to Nugget but believe he did have a good home in the end and are happy that we stopped him from being traded from horse trader to horse trader, as we suspect his life was before we bought him.

Sonata

Sonata was donated to us as a companion animal. She was underweight, but gaining slowly, as very old horses often do. We couldn't let her gain too much because she had arthritis in both front legs. The extra weight would have just caused her arthritis to be worse. She was on glucosamine supplements to help lubricate her joints and slow the progress of her disease. Sonata had an unfortunate freak accident, where she hurt her leg on a fence while trying to get to the geldings on the other side because she was in heat. She fell down and could not get up, so she laid where she was all night long. By the time morning came and she was seen from the house, she'd laid so long that nerve damage had occurred on the side she was laying on. After observation at the vet clinic for about 24 hours, it was determined that she would not improve. If she was suffering mostly from any sort of pain, the pain killers would have helped her move around better. They didn't help, so Sonata was humanely put down with an overdose of painkillers. Sonata was a nice mare who is still greatly missed, as are all of our horses.

Dakota

Dakota was being adopted when he fell ill. The vet checked him one night, and the next morning, he was found dead in the pasture. His adopter was heartbroken, as we all were here at USESR . No one knows why he died, we are just all very sorry that he did. Dakota will be fondly remembered by all who knew him.

Sparky

Sparky's age will be forever unknown. Donated to us by a local Sheriff's Department, he was found wandering a school yard. So wild, it took several hours for the Deputy and 5 teachers to herd him into the stock trailer for impoundment. Sparky had a severe tumor on his eye that was inoperable because of it's location. He also had multiple tumors around his eye lid. Vet's refused to perform surgery on it because nobody knew how deep the incision and removal of the eyelid would have to go, so we had to put Sparky down. By the end, Sparky loved being petted, scratch, and kissed on his soft, white muzzle. We regret that we could not do more for Sparky, but he was well-cared for and very, very loved during his final months with USESR.

Summer

Summer was placed in a loving, permanent home but passed away under unknown circumstances. We are positive beyond a shadow of a doubt that Summer received the very best of care at all times. Summer will be greatly missed.