Success Stories!

Hope, previously Brownie, is a sweet mare who had some experience leading, tieing, and standing for the farrier. After some training with our rescue, we were sure she had so much potential, which she is living up to! Hope was adopted by another 501c3 charity where she works as a Special Olympics horse! Her new owners are so pleased, and we love to see her success!

Dennis was an owner surrender to the rescue. After getting some practice with the farrier, which he needed desperately, Dennis was adopted to a family who loves donkeys and mules!  Dennis is living his best life! He loves to nap under his tree during the day and lots of times his best horse friend will join him. We are so happy he is doing well and his new owners just adore him!

Kentucky, previously named Forrest, was an owner surrender to the rescue. He was completely blind when he arrived. Our vet determined that his eyes were causing him significant pain, and thanks to the donations of our supporters we were able to fund a double eye enucleation. Kentucky adapted well to being eyeless, and was adopted as a companion to Kora! 

Dixie was an owner surrender who came to us extremely underweight. Due to her advanced age (30+) and significant nourishment needs, we determined that Dixie needed to stay here at the rescue. She is now gaining weight well and will live the rest of her golden years as our first Sanctuary horse!

Phoenix came to us with the Saddlebred mares from a local owner surrender. He was still a stud and had been living in a stall for several months, with no room to stretch his legs. This gorgeous boy was gelded and adopted in no time and is now learning the basics of being a riding horse at his wonderful new home!

Dolly was surrendered to us from a local family who was concerned when she stopped keeping on weight. Our vet determined she will Need some regular medications to regain and maintain her weight, as well as a significant amount of feed as she is a senior Belgian horse. With that in mind, we determined that Dolly would be sanctuaried here at the rescue! She will spend the remainder of her years here being endlessly spoiled!

Beltane (Bel) is the son of Sandy, one of the American Saddlebred mares we took in from a large owner surrender. He was hesitant to be caught and aloof for quite a while here, but his adopter fell in love anyways! Once weaned and adopted he was sent to training where he learned to accept both a halter and affection. When he is old enough, Bel will be trained as a trail horse and go on all sorts of adventures with his adopter!

Kora is a beautiful redhead American Saddlebred registered who came in with our large owner surrender. She took some time to catch, but once we got her in the round pen only took a few days to halter and learn to lead! Kora is 5 gaited (a genetic Saddlebred trait) which her adopter loves! Kora will be assessed under saddle at her new home, and hopefully will be a show pony one day soon!

Kommander (Kam) is the son of Cheyenne, one of the American Saddlebred mares we took in from a large owner surrender. He is so curious about life and eager to learn, which got the attention of his adopter right away! He will continue to explore the world around him in Minnesota, where he will be joining a small herd of equines owned by a Saddlebred lover! We are so excited to see how Kam does as he continues to learn!

Cinder and Smoke were two mustangs that had been running loose in the county, their owner unable to contain them. Animal control reached out to us for assistance and we started working on a plan to catch these 2. Several long days of trial and error and getting so close but not quite there, we were finally able to get them into a catch pen. Unfortunately, after a training evaluation it was determined that Cinder would not be a candidate for domesticating as he was much too aggressive with people. And while Smoke was calmer, she has a swayed back that left little chance of her ever being more than a pasture pet. This didn’t leave us with a lot of options. So we started networking! And in the process we reached out to Engler Canyon Ranch Mustang Sanctuary. This sanctuary exists solely for mustangs that are unable to be domesticated and let’s them live a re wilded hands free life on thousands of acres. They graciously agreed to take in both mustangs! 

In order to get them there though, they needed to have a coggins test and Smoke needed a negative pregnancy test. We knew this would be no small feat. It took 6 of us several hours to get the necessary blood draws. Despite many challenges our amazing vet persevered and got it done, with the help of a lot of rope, a dart gun, some pannels and a whole lot of sweat, curse words and sheer will.  Then our team made the long drive to Colorado to the Engler Canyon Ranch Sanctuary. It was breathtaking and watching those 2 take their first steps back to a re wilded life was absolutely worth it!! They are living out their lives EXACTLY the way they were meant to before they were rounded up. 

Firefly was born in the rescue, out of our first rescue Kali. He found his forever home quickly, where he is now learning how to be the best young horse he can be! When he is old enough, Firefly will be trained as a trail horse and will go on amazing adventures with his adopter!

Kali is the mare that started it all! We rescued her from an auction on the slaughter pipeline in Kansas.  She was a 10yr old draft cross mare, about 16.1hh. She is a beautiful liver chestnut color and a very athletic mover. Kali came to the rescue untouched, emaciated and heavy bred. After having her foal and recovering, she received 60 days of training through our rescue, which made her handleable enough to qualify for Heart of Phoenix's Appalachian Trainer Face Off! Although Kali wasn't selected for the AFTO 100 Day Challenge, she was taken on by an experienced trainer. She is now rideable, and is continuing to work on her training! 

Sweet Sandy headed to Heart of Phoenix (HoP) to participate in the Appalachian Trainer Face Off (ATFO). She had to have a name change as they already have a Sandy, so her new name is Sonora. She was selected by a spectacular trainer to participate in their 100 day challenge, where we know she will excel.  We are so excited for her to have this opportunity!

Sonora's registered name with the ASHBA is Cork N Bubbles.