Sometimes when we are quiet on social media, it means we are REALLY busy behind the scenes! We know you understand and truly appreciate the trust you put in our organization. Currently we have 67 horses under our care. We are hoping to be able share more of their stories in the coming months!
Peaches is a good example of a horse who we needed to quietly care for and adopt out without sharing much of her story. She came to us in April of 2019 as one of 34 horses seized in Lebanon by the Linn County Sheriffs Office. We gained legal ownership of her in August of 2019 but could not share her intake photos or information about her condition until the case was completed over two years later!
When we commit to taking on cases such as this, our priority is first to the individual horses, then to protecting the integrity of the case. We want to prevent this type of neglect from continuing to repeat itself. To do this, evidence such as photos and descriptions of the conditions and health of the animals is restricted to court use only.
In Peaches case, she was one of 9 little POA yearlings that were confined in a paneled off pen at the base of a hill. After months of heavy rain, that pen became a super deep, sloppy mud pit. The little yearlings were standing in mud that came up past their bellies. There was a horse trailer with its back door open, stuck inside the pen. That trailer served as the only place these poor little things could get up out of the mud.
The yearlings became nicknamed the “Maraca Mudballs” because as we directed them out of their pen and into our trailer, their giant mud balls hanging on their bellies bounced together and made loud sounds very similar to group of maracas being shook around. We can honestly say we had never seen or heard anything quite like it before.
Peaches was estimated to be between 8 to 12 months old at intake. That means that she is now just over 3 years old. At the time of intake, she had a body score of 3, was covered in dirty matted hair, mud, rain rot and lice. Our amazing foster homes spent countless hours grooming and bathing these little ponies to get their skin and hair back to good health.
Peaches is now in an amazing home and has blossomed into such a gorgeous girl!
Update photos like this remind us of how much we can all do when we work together. Donors, law enforcement, district attorney’s, veterinarians, foster homes, adoptive homes, trainers, partner rescues and all of us at SEO are working together as a team to help create real change in our
community. Be proud of what you help us accomplish!
Sound Equine Options (SEO) was founded in 2009 to assist the growing number of neglected and abused horses in our community. Our mission is to save the lives of horses through support, education, rehabilitation, training and adoption.
A licensed rescue focusing on ending the cycle of abuse, neglect, abandonment and suffering for local horses, SEO assists with law enforcement cases, often in partnership with Oregon Humane Society.