UPDATE: Haven and Cullen’s New Foster Home

This past week we moved Haven and Cullen from their first foster home to their more longer-term foster home. They will stay at this home until June when they go to their forever home with one of our graduates of our veterans EAC program!

Before we moved them, however, we had the vet out earlier last week to give them their second set of shots. The vet said that they were looking better and verified that they were in their mid to late 20s. Other than that, she was happy with the progress both horses were making!

When we went to move the horses, we took Cullen out of his stall first, and allowed Haven to follow. We parked the trailer on the street (we are in a canyon community), and we walked them down the driveway. Both horses were excited to get out of their stalls, and we kept having to slow them down and take care on the driveway as it sloped downward. Quite a difference from when they first arrived, barely able to walk.

When we got to the trailer, we were concerned that Haven would have difficulties getting into the step-up trailer because of her knee, but she walked right in with no problem at all! Cullen followed right after her with no issues, and we were off!

The horses traveled well to their foster home (about 20 minutes away) and got out of the trailer without an issue. We tried to turn Haven around in the trailer to see if it would be easier to hop out front-first, but she looked at us like, “I know how to get out of a trailer, thank you very much,” and backed right up and out of the trailer. We walked them to their new stalls, where they investigated them. Cullen rolled immediately in his shavings! We gave them a little food, which they both appreciated, and seemed perfectly content as if they had lived there forever. They are such great horses- so sweet, with no drama at all! We wish all of our rescues were as easy as these two!

Haven and Cullen will get a LOT of attention over the next few months- they will be groomed and turned out by people working on getting their certification in Equine Facilitated Coaching and Wellness, so they will get a lot of comfort and love.  There is an arena right next to their stalls, so they can be turned out everyday without having to walk very far.

Both Haven and Cullen are still getting fed small amounts of food multiple times a day. Haven is looking very good and is close to being at a normal weight. Her knee is still bothering her, but the injection seemed to help a lot and she gets around well. Cullen is gaining weight, but he is still hundreds of pounds underweight. We need to be careful about his diet to make sure he continues to gain weight, but at an appropriate weight as to not put too much stress on his internal organs. Thankfully he seems to be eating well!

Both horses will get their feet trimmed again in about a week, and will get their teeth done in about a month or so when they are strong and stable enough. Otherwise, we will continue to feed them and love them and watch them improve!

Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to help these two! From their first foster mom, Debbie K. and her daughter, to Leslie, who came out almost everyday to give them their mid-day meals, to Kelley, who picked them up and is fostering them, to her neighbor who is allowing them to stay in his stalls, and all of her mentees who are helping to take care of them- and, finally, everyone who has helped donate towards their care- we thank you very, very much, because without everyone’s help these two would not be alive today.