From Hooves & Paws Rescue, Inc.

This story is in honor of a horse we rescued May 6, 2007.

Betsy was in the newspaper. The ad read “Free Horse”, foundered, older mare, kids can ride.

This caught the eye of one of my volunteers. So she brought it to me and said, what do you think? I immediately called the phone number listed. I spoke with a man, not too friendly, but I should have known that after reading the ad.

We of course said we would take the mare. I asked when we could pick her up. Again the man was very rude and said, just come and get her but I don’t want to deal with any sheriff’s or cops.

I knew at that time she was in trouble. It was raining very hard and we loaded our trailer and headed out.

What we found we had not prepared for. Standing alone with no food anywhere was an old mare about 26 and her head was hung low almost touching the ground. I spoke softly to her and told her it was going to be ok. We would get her out of this horrible place. She appeared to understand. We haltered her and put a lead on her. We asked her to walk on toward us. She could not move. She was so sick and her hooves were so sore from standing on a cement floor she just looked at us as if to say, “help me”.

I ran to get some hay out of our horse trailer. As I was running toward the horse trailer my husband yelled wait, she is trying to follow you. I grabbed the hay and headed back toward them. I said to my husband we need to give her a new name to give her a new start. We did not care how old or sick she was she needed a chance. I said to my husband, how about “Betsy”? He agreed she looked like an old sweet Betsy.

Betsy struggled with every bit of life in her to move her old, tired legs. She cracked and barely moved her feet. We continued to tell her what a good girl she was and that we were there to help her. She seemed to understand as she struggled to walk.

When we finally reached the trailer she looked inside. We knew this was not going to be easy to load Betsy in the trailer. She struggled to lift her feet. I helped her lift her front foot while my husband pushed from behind and finally she was in. We shut the door and said let’s go home Betsy.

We called the Vet along the way and asked him to meet us. He walked in the horse trailer to look Betsy over. His reaction was “oh boy” she does not look good. I said let’s try and save her, she deserves a few good years at the rescue of love, good food and a soft bed. He said let’s try it and see how she is in (24) hours.

When we got back to the rescue we tried to unload her. We did not want her to fall getting out, as she was so weak. We held her as close to us as possible and told her she was going to be ok. We all three jumped out of the trailer together. We headed for the Horse’s gate and she looked at us as if to say to us “I’m home! We made her a bed in the barn. All of the horses came in to see her. Shooter our old gelding who was a rescue and now a forever resident, stayed with her the longest.

The next morning Betsy appeared a little better. She was eating her hay. We left for work when a volunteer arrived to stay with Betsy.

At 9:10 I received a phone call from our volunteer. She said Betsy had gone down and was coughing. I called the Vet and headed home. When I arrived there were several people standing in the barn with Betsy including Shooter. The Vet said Betsy was in a lot of pain and we should let her go. I crawled through the fence into the stall to talk to her. Finally I told the Vet I was ready and I knew Betsy was to. The Vet gave her the first shot. She looked at relaxed but did not go down. The Vet said sometimes this happens when a horse has learned to be strong and survive through abuse. The next shot the Vet gave Betsy she went down. I held her head in my lap and told her we all loved her and that she was going to a better place where there was no more pain.

Betsy crossed over Rainbow’s Bridge (20) hours after she arrived at the rescue.

Although we only knew Betsy for (20) hours we loved her with all our heart.

Betsy, we will miss you. We will meet again. Please wait for us.

Betsy’s story is not uncommon. We receive as many as (40) calls a week at our rescue asking us to take in a horse or large breed dog that is either elderly or needs a place to call home.

We also get many phone calls asking us to check on a horse or dog as people see them being neglected or abused.

In order for us to continue to rescue horses like Betsy we need your help. We are at our limit right now with horses and large breed dogs. We are full! We need your help to expand. Donations are critical.

Can you help with a monthly donation? We can’t do this without your help.

Right now there is animal that needs us. We have to be able to help them.

Donations can be made directly through our web site. Or, they can be mailed to the address listed below.

Thank you for any help you can give us at this time.

Yours truly,

Bill & Genea Stoops
Owners
Hooves & Paws Rescue, Inc.
“A Place To Heal”
www.hoovespaws.org
27821 US Hwy 34
Glenwood, IA 51534
712-527-3721

Hooves & Paws Rescue, Inc. Is A Non-Profit 501 (c)(3) Corporation

“All Donations Are Tax Deductible”

We have attached pictures of Betsy as this is what we see each day in the work we do. She did not deserve this and we want to help others like Betsy so they do not suffer this type of abuse ever again.
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