This week at the Rescue

Hi folks, Mandi here.

This week at PGER, I got the opportunity to meet three new critters (and a new person).

I started off the evening by having a quick visit with Moo Cow, who was feeling quite talkative when I pulled up. As she was so vocal, I decided to pop in and see if she was feeling equally social, and I was not disappointed! She let me walk up to her, and as I started to scratch her head and neck, she started eagerly tasting my fingers to see if I had brought anything edible with me. Moo Cow then insisted on returning the scritches, by vigorously rubbing her head up and down my leg. She's a character :)

Moo Cow, looking bashful

I then headed in to the barn to see who I would be working with. I was greeted by three new names: Darcy, Dallas and Evan. Okay, Darcy first. I grabbed his halter off his hook (each horse gets their own halter while they're at the rescue) and headed out to the pond field to grab him. He was a little cautious but once he made up his mind to be sweet, I was glad it wasn't raining because he surely would have melted. I had to do a bit of wound care (nothing gruesome, I promise, but I'll spare you the details anyway) and throughout it all, he stood quietly, occasionally twitching or shifting his weight. As I finished, a car pulled up and the driver asked "Excuse me, do you work here?" I replied "Well, I volunteer, yes," and he explained that he had come with a donation of carrots - would they be useful? Of course they would!! I texted Nicola to let her know, and as the gentleman carried six bags of carrots into the tack room, she came down to the barnyard to say hello. The visitor introduced himself as Stu, and the three of us hung around chatting for 15 minutes. I was able to learn that Darcy used to be a racehorse, pulling a sulky (a one-person racing buggy), that he was 22, and that he came in with another horse (who was slightly overweight). As Stu left, I walked Darcy back to his field and released him.

Darcy

I swapped halters and went to grab Dallas. He's a handsome fellow who is a bit energetic, but listens well enough. I started by grooming him, which was a quick job; I think he's the cleanest horse I've ever seen there! I then took him out to graze for ten minutes. He didn't give me any grief, other than getting a bit too excited to see the hay field and tugging me along (which was easily corrected by turning him in a circle). He's got a fine nose - he was able to sniff out any clover patches and eat those exclusively!

Dallas

I returned Dallas to his pen, and got to work cleaning Evan's stall. Evan is a pot-bellied pig, and as he just came in he's in quarantine for a bit until Nicola can verify his health and temperament. He's very shy, but didn't give me any problems as I cleaned out the soiled shavings and put down fresh stuff. He was quite happy to munch his food, not taking his eyes off me the whole time.

Evan

There are four other pot-bellies at the rescue right now: Rosie and Twixie are pets, and Morris and Teddy are rescues who came in filthy, overweight, covered in mites and un-neutered. Nicola has remedied all four of their problems, and they now spend their days with the other two pigs, or with the goats, lamb and one of the llamas. I'll admit that Morris is my favourite - he's super sweet and very friendly.

Ah…… another relaxing evening at the rescue :)