Crane Mountain Valley Horse Rescue, Inc.

A HANDFUL OF SUCCESS STORIES
MADE POSSIBLE BY
OUR GENEROUS DONORS
(Since 2003, we've helped hundreds of
horses find happy new beginnings.)

Sabrina - From Sabrina's new mom:  "I got one of the most amazing horses I have ever met from Crane Mountain Valley Horse Rescue, Sabrina, or as I call her, Baby Brina, is fitting in marvelously with my other two horses. She's found her place for the most part, except when she tries to take Tessa's (17 hh absolute tank of an Oldenburg quarter horse) stall haha. Sabrina runs straight up to me whenever she hears my truck pull up and she'll follow me around and do anything I ask of her. She's unbelievably smart as well, I'll tie her up to grab something really quick and all of the sudden she's right next to me! I'll sit in the pasture and she'll graze all around me and not leave my side. Yesterday we found out Sabrina absolutely loves the water, she likes to splash around and blow bubbles. I've never seen a horse stand on land and put their muzzle into the water and blow bubbles, it's really funny to watch she's also great on trails! She kept fighting me to go down to the creek though xD She's so docile and sweet, but she won't let anyone ride her but me but she'll let me get on her bareback and ride her in a halter and lead rope and if I keep her in the arena, she'll even go tackless and she's amazing!! She listens to leg commands and voice commands and she's just so eager to please. Thank you so much for allowing us to take Sabrina home with us, we couldn't have asked for a better horse, she's so amazing and we all love her so much!"

Popeye - Popeye was rescued from horrible abuse and neglect in 2003.  Afraid of people and emaciated when he first came to the farm, Popeye stole our hearts.  Popeye has come the furthest of any of the horses we've saved.  Once a horse that would sit down like a dog and close his eyes waiting to be hit when you'd simply swat a fly, Popeye is now gracing the show ring as a western pleasure horses, english show horse, and more.  He's won more ribbons and grand championships than we can count.  He's also the inspiration behind the video on the VIDEO page.  Check it out.

T-Bone and Scooter - T-Bone is a registered paint and Scooter is a registered QH who were rescued from slaughter.  They were two of our first rescues when we were still in Thurman.  T-bone was adopted first by a wonderful family who has since become our dear friends.  A few years later, they added Scooter to their family.  These are two lucky boys.  Here is a recent letter from their mom. 

Dear Eddie and Nancy

I hope you both are doing well. We are happy to hear Eddie is doing better.

I am happy winter looks to be finally over. The horses are looking forward to being out on grass and in the warm sun. I finally got a few pictures together for you to see both of the boys. T-Bone is doing really well. He is as sweet as ever. Now that his door to his stall can stay open he is back to watching the TV set in the house. He loves to watch TV. Scooter is my wild man. He would rather do barn chores then go riding. I think I did mention he liked to sweep and pick up after me. I was struggling to pick up a heavy muck bucket that I was using to clean his stall. He came over and lifted one side of the bucket by the rope handle and carried it to the wheel barrow and dropped it in for me. Also, in one of the pictures he has a stick in his mouth. He was watching me cleaning and picking up branches in his winter paddock, he started to help and brought me ranches from the other side. I was really happy to catch the photo. He is absolutely the most
helpful horse I know.

We hope to get up there soon to visit.

Love Chris

Sam - We rescued Sam from slaughter in 2003.  He was used at
a summer camp for kids and when summer was over, the whole
herd was sent to slaughter to avoid having to pay for the cost of
their care over the winter.  In the spring, the camp would buy new
horses, and start the cycle over again.  Sound horrible?  The care
of the horses while at camp didn't seem to be all that grand either.
Sam was underweight when we bought him and he was wearing
only one shoe which his hoof had grown around.  Here's a
report from his new family shortly after Sam was adopted.

Atticus - Atticus was rescued from slaughter in 2004.  When we brought him to the farm and turned him loose in the field, Atticus ran to the far end of the field where he stayed for weeks.  He would not let us approach him and cowered in fear every time we got near.  Every day we put his feed out, first starting in the back of the field, then inching our way toward the barn.  Atticus watched the other horses, and sensing their comfort with us, day-by-day, he made his way closer to the barn, but still kept his distance from anything with only 2 legs.  One day in summer, when the flies hatched, we sprayed all the horses, but Atticus.  Within minutes, every fly was on Atticus and he ran and trembled in fear as the tiny creatures hovered and landed on him.  We took out our power sprayer, pumped it up and sprayed Atticus from about 10 feet away.  It didn't take him long to realize that what we had just done rid him of the pesky flies.  The next day, he waited at the barn door for his grain. The following day he came in the barn for the first time and walked into the stall we'd left open for him to choose at will.

We moved Atticus to Westport with us and were contacted by a man who had recently lost his equine friend and fell in love with Atticus's story.  He was new to riding and very green.  We told him that Atticus needed to build a bond with one person to regain the trust he had lost in humans.  Committed to making Atticus his partner, for the next several months he came almost daily to work with Eddie and Atticus.  They started with ground work before attempting to saddle Atticus to build that trust and bond.  It didn't take long for Atticus to feel the love and commitment of his new friend.  Atticus also knew that Eddie would never put him in harm's way. 

Atticus looked forward to the visits from Gary, and would come to greet him when he pulled in the driveway.  Atticus knew the sound of his truck and what it meant.  After earning Atticus's trust, it was Gary's turn to put his trust in Atticus and climb aboard.  As a green rider, Gary first had to let Atticus carry him to find his balance while Eddie worked them together as one in the round pen with no bit, just balance and a rope halter.  Through Eddie's coaching and gentle guidance, Atticus and Gary forged a partnership based on mutual trust and respect, so much so that Eddie simply added reins to the rope halter without a bit for Gary to try it alone.

When all three felt that Atticus and Gary were ready to make the journey "home", Eddie brought Atticus to his new home.  Gary and Atticus continued to work on building that unbreakable bond, and today they trail ride around the Adirondacks as one, with only the rope halter and reins. 

MAGGIE MAGEE - Maggie Magee is a story of horse lovers uniting to save a life.  In June 2004, we received a call from a trainer at Saratoga Harness track about a 3 year old mare in the neighboring barn to hers who put her hoof through a chain-link stall gate and tore her leg wide open.  

If you can visualize chain-link and imagine the force of a kicking horse, Maggie’s leg went through and bent the fence to create a trap that made it impossible for her to pull her leg back out.  No one is sure exactly how long she’d been like that before someone found her.  She was cut out of the fence and left in her stall to heal without medical treatment. The wound developed proud flesh and her range of motion was at risk.  A vet was called.  The owner was told that surgery was required, but Maggie would never race again.  Maggie’s owner told the vet to destroy her. The call to us was to ask us to save her.  We had 24 hours to get her out of the barn before she was to be put down. We explained our program to the woman who called for our help, that we operate on donations and would need to raise the money for Maggie’s surgery.  She quickly responded that she would pay for it if we would rehabilitate her post-surgery.  We were so moved by her deep concern for Maggie and her willingness to step right up, we signed on to the team.

A week later we picked Maggie up from the track fully bandaged and ready to go.  Her caregiver cried.  She had become so attached to this sweet girl in the short time she cared for her that she quietly asked; “How do you do it?  How do you devote your time to healing and helping them, and then let them go?” 

Band of Heroes - "Beau" - Beau is a 5 year old off-the-track thoroughbred who was donated to our program in 2003 after two bowed tendons ended his racing career.  The caring breeder who donated him to us understood that his rehabilitation would be extensive (over one year) and what that would cost our program.  He donated a year's endowment to cover Beau's expenses, for which we are deeply grateful.  Beau was with us for 14 months; one year of rehabilitation and two months of retraining.  We'd like to share a letter that we just received from Beau's new mom, Stacey.  This photo is of Beau and Stacey proudly displaying their championship ribbon from their first show together this past May.

"Hello,

When my brother heard that I was showing a horse that used to race on the
track in a Western pleasure class, he thought I was crazy.  After we
received champion, my brother came up to Beau and I and said "I am really
proud of the two of you.  Both of you have come so far."  I hope you can see
in the picture how proud we are, as a team.

I remember the first time I came to the rescue.  I actually had made the
appointment to come see another horse.  When I got there, Eddie told me
about Beau and then brought me in to see Beau and the other horse.  The two
horses were both in stalls in the barn.  I first went and looked at Beau.  I
just stood there not really understanding what I was feeling.  After a few
minutes, I went and looked at the other horse, Scooter who I saw was
successfully adopted, which makes us very happy.  But as I stood there
looking and of course admiring Scooter, I found myself wanting and needing
to go back over to Beau.  I didn't know why but that was the overwhelming
feeling I had.  So I did.  When standing with this horse, I felt happy,
accepted, at peace, and loved.  We ended up taking Beau outside.  He was
breath-taking.  I spent over 2 hours with him that day.  On my way home,
which was a 3 hour drive, all I could think about was this horse and wanting
to go back to him.  The following weekend I went back up and the weekend
after that and so on.  I drove up almost every weekend to see him from the
end of July to the beginning of October.  October is when Eddie and Nancy
brought my Beau home.

Before I was brought together with Beau, I felt miserable inside due to some
situations that involved my son and I along with my family.  I found out my
son had been abused by the babysitter.  We were both in counseling for a
year.  We lost my Grandfather, whom was and is one of my best friends.  Then
there were two juveniles who broke into my house and set fire to it in the
basement. Plus I was dealing with a lot of stuff from my past.  I could not
take anymore and looking back now I know I let myself shut down.  I lost my
spark that I always had, I felt like I lost me.

That feeling that I did not understand when I first met Beau was my spark.  
Yes, he is a beautiful horse on the outside, but he is even more beautiful
inside, meaning his soul.  Beau picks and chooses who he will accept, not
because he is mean, but because Beau can see deep into one's soul.  I
believe everything happens for a reason, good or bad.  I believe we were
brought together for a reason.  I have my spark for life back and my son and
I are doing really well.  Just recently an immediate family member passed
away from cancer. Instead of feeling unbearably sad or mad about it, I felt
comfort and love.  The morning Helen passed away, Beau walked up to me in
his pasture that morning and put his head over my shoulder so I could stand
their and wrap my arms around him while I cried.  I felt like he was telling
me it will be okay.  And it is going to be okay.

Beau is an amazing horse.  He has nothing but my respect and love and my
greatfulness for him.  I cherish his friendship, love, strength and respect
so much.

Beau is my bestfriend.
Beau is my "Hero".

Nancy and Eddie, you two are both amazing people.  Thank you.

Stacey

Saucy and Aruba - Saucy is a 15 year old off-the-track thoroughbred who went on to be a brood mare after racing.  We rescued this girl from slaughter.  Aruba is a 5 year old thoroughbred cross mare who was a victim of neglect.  She arrived at our farm underweight with untreated, infected wire cuts on her legs.

They arrived on the same day and became instant friends.  Both have incredibly sweet dispositions and love children.  We are proud to report that they were adopted together, so they could stay friends forever.  This is a photo of Saucy and Aruba in their barn and pasture, built just for them!  We're excited to share that their new mom, and Beauty's mom (another one of our rescues), are also best friends.  We hesitate to call this a "happy ending", as it is really a new beginning.

Big Red - The photo to the right was taken in November, 2003 when Big Red arrived on our farm suffering from neglect.  This 16.3 hand former race horse, who gave his life to humans, was tossed away when his racing career ended, and left to starve.  When we found him, he was several hundred pounds underweight and suffering from internal parasites and rain scald.  Beneath the protruding ribs and missing patches of hair, where open sores bled in the freezing temperatures, we saw a diamond in the rough.  And, a noble guy who deserves a second chance.

The photo on the top is Big Red in July, 2004 at his forever home.  His new Mom calls this gentle giant a "total creme puff", and is proud of her boy.  Big Red, in her presence, stands tall and proud.  Never again will he know the cruelty that humans once inflicted on him. 

REMINGTON - Remington is a 15 year old quarterhorse who is as sweet and gentle as they come.  What was waiting for him was a nightmare.

We found Remington waiting patiently for a new home with a family who would love him and enjoy that he nickers when he sees you, then follows you like a dog.  He had a special light in his eye saying "pick me, pick me".  What he didn't know was that the people bidding on him were "kill buyers".  Remington was hoping for a warm blanket, a comfortable bed, and apple treats.  Instead, what was waiting for him was an overcrowded, slippery stock trailer, with freezing rain whipping in, to sting his eyes and chill him to the bone.  His miserable journey would be nice, compared to the destination --- a slaughter house where he would be hung upside down by his back feet while still alive, to have his throat slit to drain the blood from his body before being butchered.  Fortunately for Remington, we had the ability to outbid the meat buyers.

On Friday, December 12, we delivered Remington to the warm barn, comfortable bed, and the caring home he was dreaming about at the auction.  It was a secret mission ---  Remington was a surprise Christmas present for a 12 year old young lady from her parents.  When she saw us and Remington, there were tears and hugs abound.  On Remington's stall was a Christmas stocking with his name "Remington", and a bow and sign that said "Merry Christmas Corinne".

Remington knew he was home.  Merry Christmas Remington.  We love you.

Update January, 2004:  Remington was the inspiration for the following poem, written by Corinne and published in her school paper.

A Horse's Eyes

As I look into the liquid amber

of my horse's eyes

Falling deeper and deeper into his soul

I am submersed in a sea of knowledge

reflected there

I swim through his thoughts,

and fears,

and cares

As I look into my horse's eyes.

by Corinne Wilson, age 12