Our Rescues

Annie and Helen

Someone once recommended to me that I should write a letter to Annie and Helen and tell them everything I love about them.  I get as far as "Dear Annie and Helen" . . . and then I fall apart.  I am not sure what it is about these two that have such a hold on my heart.  I imagine it may be in part because of their disability.  As many of you know, I interpret for the deaf at various Boston colleges, and I see firsthand the extra challenges and adversity my students face. 

I cannot begin to fathom being a 2,500 pound prey animal with no sight.  My emotions for Annie and Helen do not consist of pity.  They are emotions that consist of admiration and awe.  Their lives are so compelling to me.  On Christmas Eve day 2015, my niece texted me to ask if I had seen the YouTube video of the two blind Belgian workhorses needing to be saved from slaughter.  My first thought was, It's Christmas . . . impossible.  My second thought was, It's Christmas . . . peace, hope, and love.  These two needed peace, hope, and love!  

I am more than blessed to belong to a family who believes in helping animals in need, so we pooled our resources and brought these two beauties home.  The day after coming home, I remember Annie laying down flat out on top of her huge fluffy hay pile in the middle of the paddock area as she realized she and her dear friend Helen were safe from harm and never needed to worry again.  I think she had me figured out from day one.  That Heidi, she is going to give us everything we need to gain and maintain our health and strength.  Yes, Queen Annie, I would gladly give my life for you and sweet Helen.  What an honor taking care of them has been for me!

Please note: Annie and Helen were released with love and kindness on October 16th, 2020. They both had some pressing health concerns. Although we miss their physical beauty here on the farm, we feel their loving spirits every day . . . We love you today and always, Annie and Helen!!!

Freddie Mercury

Freddie, similar to his friend Gregory, is a Standardbred and lived the same life path as Gregory (racing and then pulling buggies for the Amish). However, Freddie found himself in the kill pen, with an exhausted body and mind, much earlier than Gregory.  He is only in his mid teens.  Smokey Chestnut Farm rescued him in the spring of 2019.  I was struggling to find a fitting name for him.  I did not know him well.  I just knew he was different . . . a bit aloof, not particularly fond of people, eccentric in his physical structure and mannerisms and intriguing and soulful and intelligent all at the same time.

He would self soothe by bobbing his head and stepping back and forth.  Animals experience trauma in the same ways people do.  Some animals "easily" forgive and forget (GREGORY!!!). Others hang on to their past.  They say it takes rescued animals on average six to 12 months to settle in and feel safe.  It has been about a year now that Freddie Mercury has been with me, and he is slowly taking down some of the barriers.

He and Gregory are the best of friends, and I think it is Gregory's relaxed nature that is helping Freddie on his journey of healing!  I honor Freddie "where he is now" and tell him, It's okay, you don't NEED to like people . . . Often I don't either!!! Haha!  We here at SCF love Queen and Freddie Mercury, the musician, and Freddie Mercury, the horse!  Both Freddie's . . . you rock!!!

Most Standardbreds live the life of racing for a few years and then are sold to pull buggies for the Amish taking families everywhere they need to go.  This entails running on the hard pavement and competing with cars and trucks . . . facing all the environmental elements (extreme heat, rain, cold, ice and snow) including pollution from all the vehicles passing them by.  When I saw the video, that was it for me.  I thought, I don't know how I can pull this off financially, but I also knew if I did nothing to help him I could and would NEVER forgive myself.  I did not know whether he had five days to live or 25 years to live, but I did know that, they were NOT going to kill him!!!

Harvest Moon and Oreo

Two years ago, I saw on social media via video a horse in a kill pen in Missouri that could hardly breathe and she was heavily lactating.  My first reaction was, wow, that must have been really pleasant delivering a baby when you can barely catch your own breath.  She was weak and thin and unstable.  I could see that others felt the same concern that I did, and that is why everyone was putting in whatever spare change they could find to at least remove her from that situation and have her euthanized if necessary.  Because I paid her remaining bail necessary to get her out, she somehow magically became mine!!!  Mine, oh, mine . . . What a gift to myself!!! Transportation was arranged and she made it safely to quarantine by the light of the full Harvest Moon.  Thus, her beautiful name.  

When she was in quarantine, she met the sweet/fresh, cute/develish (you get the point!) mini horse we named Oreo.  What a team they became . . . inseparable!!!  It was clear while in quarantine that Harvest had no intentions of giving up on her life.  She became stronger and stronger, and so it was time to get her home to Massachusetts to see how we could best assist her and her lack of breath.  Upon scoping her, our vets, Dr. Kendyl Foristal and Anne Schwartz, determined that her airway was almost fully constricted and that surgery was her only hope of survival.  So off she and Oreo went to Myhre Equine Clinic in Rochester, New Hampshire where she underwent two surgical procedures to open up her airway enough to let her breathe comfortably.  They even let Oreo stay with her for comfort measures!

In fact, when surgery was completed, Harvest heard Oreo calling for her from the back of the clinic, and the assistants said they had all they could do to restrain Harvest from running them over to get back to Oreo, so they decided (I mean Harvest decided!) it was best to let her recover in the stall with Oreo.  To say she is strong willed is an understatement!  Many people who come to visit our rescue are very drawn to Harvest.  She has "a way" about her . . . She has undergone adversity and still insists on drawing from her inner strength and makes the compassionate choice to share that inner strength with others who are open to receiving it.