Meet Muffin Man; One Of Our Rescue Horses

A neighbor of ours came over and spoke to us about Muffin Man. He had been asked to take down a small shed and fence on someone’s property so that it could be sold and developed.

The only problem was that this old pony had been living there all alone for years and no one knew what to do with him. Our neighbor told the owner he might know someone who would take him.

Of course we said yes, as the pony had no place to go.

When we met him our hearts went out to him. He was very neglected, although I’m sure it was unintentional.

Contrary to what many people think, most horses cannot get adequate nutrition from being left on their own in a pasture. It is also stressful for them to be alone, since they are herd animals. Companionship is even more important to them than food.

Muffin Man was very old, extremely underweight and had severly neglected feet and teeth.

The first order of business was to get him cleaned, groomed and fed and to get an appointment with the veterinarian and farrier.

Horses generally need dental maintenance done once a year and Muffin Man appeared not to have had his taken care of for quite some time…in fact, he only had 8 teeth. They had to extract 2 of those. It was amazing that he was able to get enough nutrients to sustain him!

We put him on a special “soft diet” which he enjoyed and thrived on. Any time his dish was empty he would get more!

Since he had been used to being out all the time we allowed him the “run of the farm” and he was very good about staying mostly in the back yard, grazing and napping.

It was a pleasure to have him here, he was so sweet and wise.

Eventually Muffin Man went to live with a friend of ours and got himself a girlfriend…a beautiful gray Thoroughbred.

He enjoyed several months there. Then one morning our friend found him “down” in his stall, probably due to a stroke.

She had him transported to Cornell University where he rallied briefly. However, he was unable to recover and was humanely euthanized there.

We are very glad that he was able to be taken care of and enjoy the end of his life. He was a wonderful and special pony. It was our honor to be able to help him.

It is sad that so many animals are neglected, often through ignorance of how to properly care for them. We plan to offer educational programs on animal care as part of our efforts to help with the rescue and rehabilitation efforts.

The Needs Of The Rescue

A rescue facility has many needs. Most of these needs require funds and donations are always appreciated and are tax deductible. The horses have ongoing veterinary and blacksmith needs in addition to needing food, bedding and shelter. Ways you can help include:

• Donate funds for veterinary and blacksmith care, rehabilitation, maintaining and building housing and exercise areas.
• Donate feed, bedding, building materials.
• Donate time or labor to help with animal care and farm maintenace.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated by both us and the horses.

If you would like to make a donation now just click on the button below!