Bonnie Blue has a Pasture Pal

Bonnie Blue has a pasture pal. His name is Augustus (aka Loverboy) but we call him Gus most of the time. Gus is about 20 years old and comes to us through the caring folks at Trails End Horse Haven and the Hub City Humane Society. Like Bonnie he had suffered neglect and was near starvation when the court ordered him and other to be seized about a month ago. The kind volunteers transported him to a vet, paid for his immediate care out of their resources, and then moved him to a caring foster family. His foster family fed and cared for him and he gained about 50 much needed pounds over the three to four weeks he lived with them. The world is a better place with people like these in it.

On Friday February 1, 2013, he moved from foster care to here and his new "forever home". with us and Bonnie Blue. He still needs to gain at least 200 pounds more to fill out his large frame. We have taken notes from the foster family and will continue the good work they had started with him, e.g. feeding twice a day with Alfalfa and a complete grain based feed, plus all the hay he wants. The pasture / orchard has a good bit of rye grass and he will be allowed to graze that also. However, we will start with a couple of hours a day and move to full access to the pasture over the next week or so. We don't want too much of a good thing all at once as his system might not respond well to that much fresh grass all at once. His mouth and gums seem to be in good condition now. When he was seized and taken to the vet they found his gums were covered is sores from wood splinter. The poor thing had been trying to eat wood to have something to eat. The vet removed the splinters and he has healed wonderfully. I feel great sadness both for the animals who suffer such terrible neglect and for the sad people with such poor spirits that they can not have compassion for another living creature. May they both find healing.

Bonnie Blue seemed to be very happy to have him in the pasture. They are getting along well with just a minimum of jousting to determine who will lead and who will follow. For now Bonnie seems to be dominate. However, when he fills out he will be much larger than she is, so there may be some more negotiating later on. For now, both seem content to be where they are and glad not to be hungry or in any immediate need. We are happy too. Horses are herd animals and need one another just like humans. And as much as I love Bonnie Blue, I am a poor substitute for a horse. These first days together have been good days for all of us.