Stories of Epona
This is just the beginning of the collection of faces that have been, still are and will forever be a part of Epona Horse Rescue.
Dolly
Mickey and Stormy
Dolly...
They had the nerve to ride her in the sale ring to prove she was broke... 200+ pounds underweight and so sad. My vet estimated her age to be between 25 - 27 from her teeth and the brands on her.
Here is the e-mail that Dolly's foster home got in August 2005 - Some parts were removed for privacy reasons.
Subject: The Grey Mare
Date: August 20th, 2005
We were really surprised to receive your letter. In responce to your questions, yes, we did breed a mare that matches the description you sent in your letter. Her name is Nicoles Dream Dancer. Her sire was a quarter/arabian 15 H.H. and was steel grey. Her dam was an Angloarabian 15.2 1/2 H.H. and she was a dapple grey. We bred her in 1978 for our daughter, Nicole, who was 11 at the time. Dancer was trained to ride both English and Western and our daughter won countless ribbons and trophies with the mare. They were a good pair since Nicole had blonde hair and blue eyes and Dancer was nearly white, as grey as she was.They were inseperable for years. Dancer did the barrels and could jump 3 feet and seemed to enjoy it as much as Nicole did.
In 1984, the mare suffered a hip injury in a trailering accident and couldn't show anymore. So, we tried to breed her in hopes of replacing Dancer with another show horse for our daughter. Dancer had a C-section in 1985, the foal did not survive and Dancer was not bred again.
Our daughter was accepted at UNL in 1995 in pre-law and when she moved to Nebraska in 1996, she took Dancer with her. Unforunately, in 1998 Nicole was killed by a drunk driver and her boyfriend took the horse, her car and all her belongings and left. We just assumed he either kept the mare for himself, but in all likelyhood, he sold the mare and we thought she had been slaughtered . We didn't pursue finding Dancer at the time because our grief was just too much. Nicole was our only child and she was adopted so it took us several years to deal with the loss. We were surprised to hear she had been rescued from slaughter by your friend (Epona Horse Rescue) and we are so thrilled to hear Dancer is alive and well and loved by a sweet little girl again. We don't mind if you mention Dreamer's story on the websites. We would like to be known as only Lillian and James of Califonia. Please keep up the work that you and your friend are doing with the horses.
God's creatures should have people like you who will care for them.
Sincerely,
Lillian and James
Mickey and Stormy...
The Minnesota Boys
Meet Mickey (Solid) and Stormy (Tobiano), the two stallions who came from Minnesota to become part of the Epona herd. Due to poor health of their owner, these boys were donated and made available for adoption after gelding.
Mickey was 5 years old and Stormy was 3 years old. They are half brothers and have never been separated. The boys were gelded on September 16th, 2005. Stormy was gelded, but Mickey retained a testicle and needed further surgery. They did great.
Mickey is now a cowhorse (adopted by Brody) in Broken Bow.
Stormy was adopted to a loving home but died of colic in August of 2006. He will be missed greatly.
Glory
Glory...
This beautiful little girl is Glory. She is Mickey's last baby. She came to Epona in November of 2006. Glory has been adopted and is loved by her new family.
Dolly's first arrival
Dolly in Mid-August
Dreamer
Dreamer...
This steel grey filly stood sad and hurt in the back alley stall of a small sale barn. The blood dripping from a wound to her head sustained after her arrival and no one seemd to care. Tall, elegant, scared and in obvious pain, I knew she had to come home with me. The only other person who wanted her was the kill buyer - so the bidding done, she came home with me.
The vet cleaned up the very deep wound and stitched it closed. It is very deep and there is some muscle damage, but the vet believes she will heal okay. Dreamer is a sweet but pushy young lady who needs to learn people are her friend and will no longer hurt her.
Update: June 21st, 2005: Dreamer died at approximately 8:30 AM.
Faces Forever A Part of Epona
