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Beauty's Haven Farm & Equine Rescue
Where Life Begins, Again!
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The Story of "Sahir Pegasus," a.k.a. "Magic".
Scroll down for updates.
In
March 2007 we helped an Arabian that has had a very hard life.
His owner took him in trade for a bill that was due him about 2 months
prior but had been unable to do anything with the stallion. He
said the horse was to be used as a teaser stallion but was too
unmanageable. When we went to look at the horse he looked like his
spirit had been broken. Humans have not been kind to him. He
had injuries - rope burns on his face, legs, and around his neck, an
injured stifle, very tender areas on his body, and a lump on his rump.
When the owner was trying to halter the horse the first day I saw him
the horse was petrified and backed into a corner and looked very small
and afraid - literally shaking from head to toe. He arrived at the
rescue on March 4th.
We named him Sahir (means powerful magic) Pegasus and we call him Magic.
We need to have Magic vetted, his feet and teeth need to be done, he needs
a coggins, vaccines,
and he needs to be treated by the holistic vet.
There is something special
about Magic. We're glad he is
here, safe - where we can help him regain his dignity and learn that humans will not be bad to him again.
Thank you to everyone that has sent good thoughts, emails, prayers, and
donations.
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*Photos
not to be copied without permission.
03/02/07: Magic before he arrived.
He had been treated very badly by humans - mentally and physically.
We're now trying to help the Paint gelding in the above picture.
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03/04/07: The day Magic
arrived.
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03/04/07: Welcoming
Magic.
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03/04/07: Magic accepting a treat - seeming
relieved to be here. Very good.
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03/04/07: Magic standing tall and taking in his new
surroundings.
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03/08/07: Magic's feet haven't been trimmed in a long, long time.
Magic enjoyed the many times I visited and gave him carrots today.
He doesn't seem to know what other treats (apples, peppermints, etc.)
are and wouldn't eat them.
He followed me around his pen for a bit which I consider very good
progress.
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03/11/07: Enjoying the sun. It's wonderful to see Magic
relax enough to do this.
Yesterday Magic enjoyed some carrots and once, instead of approaching me
and staying about
18" away, he came to within about 2"! He even let me rub
just a little down the left
side of his face!
This was a major accomplishment!
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03/11/07: Magic and Sparky - becoming friends.
Today we had another accomplishment. Magic came closer for his
carrots today and once again
and he didn't shy away - he let me rub my hand down the entire right
side of his face!
This is unusual because since he first arrived, he has been very
protective of his entire right side.
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03/17/07: Isn't this a handsome nose? Magic is fine taking
treats and letting me rub his nose.
It was windy today so we didn't make much new progress.
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04/02/07: The halter is on! He managed to get his halter off
2 days after he arrived and we've been
working on getting another on him and on his trust issues for a few
weeks now. Magic is very afraid
of ropes and straps and is terrified of anything that looks like a rope
or halter. It's so bad that I have to
wonder if perhaps he's been beaten with them? Yesterday when I
went out to spend some time
with him I looked at his feet and said "that's it Magic - your feet are
horrible long pancakes and we
need to get them trimmed. To do that, we need to get a halter on
you and that's what we're going to do
tomorrow." He just looked at me like "yeah, right!" This
morning it took 2 hours of patience and about
1 1/2 hours of sweat from both of us . But he got up the courage,
while shaking terribly,
to stand perfectly still and accept the halter. WHEW! I'm so
proud of him!
Isn't he just beautiful??!!
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04/06/07: The farrier came today but Magic was just too nervous.
The farrier will be back in 3 weeks
and we'll give it a try then. Until then, we'll be working with
Magic everyday - trying to continue to build up
his trust in humans again. Whatever happened to him had to have
been very terrifying.
It is very disturbing to see him so nervous when humans are around.
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04/07/07: The Paint, CJ, mentioned above arrived today! We
put him in the paddock next to Magic and
it appeared the remembered each other. They ran the fence line for
a bit and then went nose to nose and then went back to grazing. We
hope Magic told CJ that he'll be treated good here and that he has
nothing to fear.
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04/26/07:
I was so proud of Magic today! He
will normally come over to me when I enter his paddock, especially if I
have carrots. Then after a carrot or two he'll let me take him by the
halter and put a lead rope on him. With, or without a lead rope, he
will follow me all around. We've been working on leading and he's doing
good. Today he came over and I just took him by the halter - before the
carrot! A big change from yesterday - we had a couple visitors and he
wouldn't let me take him by the halter no matter how many carrots I
had!
He'll
let me work my way down his neck now on both sides. Today when we were
done I took the lead rope off and when I walked away I rubbed all the
way down his past his neck, all the way down his shoulder and it seemed
like he didn't realize what I did until after I was already about 3'
away. I was smiling from ear to ear! Now, if I could only get to his
tail to get that big tangle out!
It's going to take lots of time for Magic to heal. His scars and
emotions run deep. I'm not sure he'll ever get past some things
that have been done to him, but we'll give him all the time and patience
he needs to get better. He's got a lot of love and care in his
eyes. He truly wants to trust. It's too bad humans have done
such bad things to him to make him this way.
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05/22/07: Beth Phillips, from
New Vision
Farm, visited Magic today and you could tell he wanted very
badly to trust her enough to take the treat from her hand. He
wants to trust, he really does. I stood in the paddock with them
and kept assuring Magic it was ok. Beth was very, very patient
with him and, well, here's what happened - in Beth's words:
"This picture is of me feeding Sahir Magic a piece of carrot.
Magic is "my" adopted Arabian stallion from here -well, not really
"mine" but Theresa allowed me into his paddock today. He shakes
with utter terror when anyone approaches - he was badly beaten with a
board, and people equal pain in his mind. He will allow Theresa to
touch him, but only her. I was blessed to have him even come to me
at all. You notice I am in a crouched position, and I have my eyes
lowered......... You can't see it in the picture, but he is
trembling all over............."
Thank you Beth for taking time with
Magic and being patient with him. His taking a treat from you
today was a major accomplishment! He's been traumatized deeply
throughout his life. I don't think he ever knew kindness before he
came here but he will learn it, no matter how long it takes. He
will have a much harder time with men but that's ok, we won't push him.
We'll take each day at his pace. With all he's been through, I'm
surprised he even wants to forgive humans - and I do believe he does
want to trust.
Thank you also Beth for opening your heart and home to Laddie, an
elderly Arabian gelding. Laddie is a good boy with a huge heart. He
appreciates anything and everything that is done for him. His bad
knee makes him a "pasture ornament" but that didn't matter to you - I
know he will live out a good life full of love and care with you.
Here's a picture of Laddie with Beth and her neighbor, Dell.
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06/06/07:
Today was pretty busy here with the vet,
farrier, and dentist. I wish I had good news on Magic, but I don't.
Before anyone arrived I put a lead on him and he was fine. We played
with his ball and walked around a bit. The vet arrived and came up to
sedate (knock him all the way out) him. I had him in the large area in
his paddock to make sure he wouldn't hit anything going down and injure
himself. But, it became obvious as soon as the vet came into our
space Magic was uneasy. He started running around, still on the lead.
He got so upset, I let go of the lead and asked the vet to stand in the
corner, which he did. I opened up Magic's other 1/2 of his pen where he
could go into his stall. I asked him to "go home" (into his stall) and
he did. I went in and took him by the lead again and calmed him down.
After a few minutes the vet came in, taking his time, and
talking softly, but Magic was too afraid. Magic started shaking and
wanting to flee and the vet got uneasy, thinking Magic could run me or
him over at any time. I asked the vet to leave the stall and let me
give Magic the cocktail. I had a spinal cord injury 10 yrs ago and
can't feel a thing from my neck down. So finding the vein in the right
spot with my fingers is impossible and Magic's neck is so muscular I
can't see it. However, I asked Magic to calm down - and he did - I was
so proud of him. He stood still, keeping his eyes on me, and he
kept one ear on me (his other ear was on the vet outside of the stall).
I got the vein the FIRST try - it was as if Magic led me to it.
Then the vet moved to the right and Magic caught sight of him just
outside the front of the stall and he moved left. I couldn't keep the
needle in him - it slipped out.
My plan had been to get the needle inserted, have the vet leave the
area, lead Magic back out of his stall into the large area of his pen,
insert the syringe back into the needle, and let him go down, and then
have the farrier, vet, and dentist come up and work on him. Well, after
all of this he was just too anxious and stressed. I had the vet leave
to go work on Nick and others at the barn and I stayed with Magic to
calm him down again, which he did. This is the kind of horse that would
end up being put down without someone that understands what he's been
through and the patience to help him work through issues that humans
have caused. After the vet and farrier left I had a little cry - Magic
has been so traumatized in his lifetime. To try to fix what humans have
done to him is going to take a long time. I think Magic is supposed to
be here and I can't give up on him. I'm not sure why he is supposed to
be here but that will come with time. He's got a lot of love he wants
to share. He wants to trust, he does.
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06/10/07: We had a visitor today. Susan came out to meet
Nick, visit with Dr. Das, and to spend some time with Magic. I
went into his pen and invited Susan in with us. Magic didn't run
around or get crazy like he normally does with others. He was
calm, not exactly comfortable, but he was ok. Susan offered him a
carrot and after thinking long and hard about it, he stretched out his
neck and took it! He took a couple of them. It was another
huge accomplishment for Magic. It's important that he learns to
trust other humans.
I had to laugh at him a couple of days ago. I left his pen and as
I was walking away I heard the chain on his inner gate jingle. I
kept walking because I thought it was the wind. The jingle got
louder. I looked up and it was Magic. He was using his nose
to move the chain around to get my attention. Once I looked up at
him he picked up his lead rope and started swinging it around!
This was such a HUGE thing for him to do. You have to understand,
Magic has been petrified of ropes. He has rope burns on his body.
Ropes are used for horse tripping. It is easy to understand why he
would dislike them so much. For him to do what he did - pick up
the rope and play with it like he did - I was just so proud of him!
He IS making progress and he IS very intelligent.
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08/09/07: Magic is making slow but steady progress. He has
such a kind heart but is still untrusting of humans.
It's been so hot here we put a garden hose with a mister nozzle on the
end of it in his paddock on one of the posts. To our surprise he
loved it! He stood in front of it and made all sorts of faces - it
was hilarious! But he was still afraid of the garden hose itself.
I decided to take it one step further - hose him off and prepare him for
getting a good bath. Well, he reacted to the hose like he did
ropes when he first got here - petrified! We worked through that
and now he is comfortable after the first 10 seconds or so of being
hosed.
I recently introduced him to grooming items and he
didn't seem to mind them after the first few seconds. I think he
saw them as an extension to my arm. He now lets me rub him to his
shoulder and down midway on his leg. He still needs his feet
trimmed so I'm trying to work my way to his foot. It's is going to
be a bit difficult - he doesn't trust anyone else to hold him and when
anyone else is around he's "on guard". But this too is getting
better. He'll take carrots from almost anyone now as long as they
are on the other side of the fence and in a few occasions he has
accepted a treat from a visitor while I'm in his paddock with him.
He sticks his neck out like a giraffe to get them - but that's ok - it's
progress.
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08/22/07: Galadriel and her husband, John, visited today.
Magic was very good for them - he took a carrot from Galadriel, calmly.
And what was a huge step for him was taking a carrot from John - even if
it was through the fence! Galadriel is very patient and calm -
Magic picks up on that and it helps him to stay calm. This was the
closest he'd come to another person without stretching his neck out like
a giraffe. I stood by and encouraged him. I was very, very
proud of him.
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09/01/07: Magic received a package full of goodies from Janet
(BRAMBLES - another FOB'er!) and I can't wait to introduce what was in
the package to him - although, it's going to take some time. He
has new halters, flymasks, and even a flysheet! He is pretty
relaxed now when Blodwyn (another FOB'er!) goes in his pen to clean it
or change his water. He really is calming quite a bit.
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Just look at the kindness in those soft eyes. I was rubbing the
side of his face.
He likes to be a show off at times too and tells me what he really
thinks of some of our time together!
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09/29/07: Today was Magic's Day! Click
here to see
picture and learn more - it was AWESOME!
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10/08/07: I think I found his ticklish spot!
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Even horses like
Valentine's Day!
It's a day to give thanks to those you love.
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Feb 2008: Professional photographer
Carien Schippers made time to
visit with us in Feb 08 and took awesome pictures of Magic. Click
here to visit her site and see them.
They are beautiful!
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04/09/08: Today was the big day.
We made arrangments for a vet (one that has never been here before) to
dart Magic. He needed his feet trimmed, his teeth floated, his
sheat cleaned, and some lumps checked. Based on previous attempts
to do this with routine sedation methods we felt darting would be the
least stressful way to go. Magic has come a long way, but he still
doesn't trust humans. There are a handful of people he will let
touch his nose now and there is one volunteer that he let rub his neck.
He is comfortable with me rubbing him just about anywhere but he doesn't
like me touching his tail. He even lets me pickup his front left
foot at times. I can put the halter on and take it off.
We're really very proud of him.
Back to today. Before the vet arrived I spent some time with Magic
and told him exactly what was going to happen and assured him I'd be
with him the whole time. Do I look like a worried mom? I was
worried about Magic having a reaction to the drugs and any setbacks we
may have because of today's events.
The vet arrived and suggested he lasso
Magic and try to sedate him the routine way. I would not agree and
explained to him why. He did understood and respected our
decision. Once that was done we got to work.
We had a team of folks
that worked together and did a great job. The vet did Magic’s teeth
and cleaned his sheath, Ola did his feet, Katie and I got the
dreadlock out of his tail and we checked him all over for lumps,
etc. He has a small melanoma on his shoulder and we found some old
scars under his chest that are similar to the one on his neck which
made me sad. His feet are SO much better – Ola did a great job.
Everyone did a great job!
Yeah! We cut that
dreadlock out of his tail - finally!
We were all done
before Magic started coming around. Everyone but the vet and I
left Magic's paddock. He had been down for over 2.5
hours. We didn’t want him to come out of it too fast – we were
concerned his mind may have been ready but not his body. He
could wake up and become anxious yet out of control of his legs.
The vet and I discussed how to best help Magic wake up with
minimul stress - I knew I would need help getting Magic to his
feet. Once Magic was on his feet the vet would stay behind
me and when he felt Magic and I would be ok he would leave.
We had to
keep Magic down until he was able to somewhat coordinate his
body. I sat and rubbed on him until he started to "wake
up."
After giving him
time, and seeing some movements, when he was ready - we helped
him get up. He was pretty unsteady but became awake enough to
realize he didn’t care for the vet being around – we didn’t want
him to start getting upset so the vet left his paddock and a few
minutes later left for his next appointment. He was happy, as
we were, that the whole procedure went well.
I stayed with Magic
and helped him keep his balance for awhile. I praised him for
being a good and brave boy and then released him once he
appeared able to stay on his feet. I think it was a good day
and we did the right thing. I was afraid I’d lose some of the
trust we’d built but because of the way it was all done there
was little stress on him and no time for him to really think
about what was happening. We're all very relieved it’s over and
done.
Thanks for all of the
good thoughts and prayers. And thank you to those that helped
cover the vet costs today – it was rather expensive but it was
worth it. He travelled about 65 miles (one way), and was here
over 3 hours, but the bill was a little less then expected – he
gave us a bit of a break.
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Magic and his special
tree. It was donated by a very nice couple but the storm we had on
June 10th uprooted it. Today we were able to put it back in the
ground. Let's just hope it lives.
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