Hoof & Heart of Southern Michigan

06/01/2025

Looking for help this Tuesday loading aproximently 200 donated hay bales in Davison, MI and unloading it here. Will feed humans between loading and unloading plus $50 for the time and effort. Day starts Tuesday at 10AM at the rescue and ends after the hay is unloaded in our storage location in Devereaux (thanks Rachelle!!!!) and we return to the rescue (estimated 6-7PM) Please message the page if you can help.

06/01/2025

Such an important message regarding horses who are bonded. We experienced it twice last fall with horses who were new to the rescue, but who had been with each other their whole lives--Vera, who lost her sister Autumn for whom she'd been a protector for so long, and Shadow who lost her beloved Splash. We are starting to think already about when we have to say goodbye to Bear and Destiny will be left behind. They grieve even as we do, and it is important to consider the companions when we have to say goodbye.

I hope you look at this photo closely and then, I hope you look at the photos in the comments below with open hearts and minds and feel the beautiful bond between Wren and Levi.

Yes, these images may be heartbreaking - they capture a depth of feeling, a baring of souls and a sadness that may be hard to behold. But more importantly, we hope they are enlightening - visible proof of the need for animals to be allowed to say goodbye to those they love.

Indeed, animals have friendships and relationships just like us and they deserve to be honored and respected. It is our job as guardians to do right by both the animal we have said farewell to AND those that are left behind. Sadly, common practice leaves so many lives in anguish wondering what happened to their companions and that is such an unkind and uneccessary burden that we can almost always prevent.

Every life deserves the opportunity to say goodbye and we, collectively, the guardians of these lives should be doing all we can to bring comfort and peace to those left behind. Lives like Wren.

Here at Tomten we know that animals grieve and like us, they feel loss deeply. We believe that they each deserve the opportunity to understand where a friend has gone and so we purposely bid farewell to the lives we love with their friends nearby.

Wren was in the pasture with us as Levi left us and calmly stood close watching closely with Laima at her side. There is no doubt their presence was a source of comfort for him and after he passed we stepped back allowing Wren as much time and access as she needed to process and to grieve. No, that would not eliminate her heartbreak but it would bring a sense of closure that will help her in the days and weeks ahead.

She knew he was gone before she approached him, but still she touched him kindly, standing there beside him quietly before walking off just a few steps and grazing beside him. Later, she left him to rest in the spot he had napped in earlier that morning and it was obvious she was processing, grieving and coming to terms with his goodbye.

Yes, it was heartbreaking to watch but it was also peaceful and far, far more kind than leaving her with nothing to call longingly and concerned from over a fence wondering where her friend was and living never knowing, never having the chance to understand. That, would be unforgivable and so very, very unkind.

I know posts like this are hard for some people and there are indeed folks who believe photos like this should not be posted on the internet. But I ask, why? Why should we be afraid of sharing beautiful moments between friends, offering closure for our followers and perhaps, offering insights that may help them and their animals? We will all leave this earth and lose loved ones, for all our sakes, I hope we are surrounded by kindness at those times.

It is my genuine hope that posts and photos like this encourage thought and compassion for they are written and posted with love. Perhaps someone reading this will bring both dogs to the veterinarian the next time they must sadly say goodbye to one or, bring their beloved cat home so the other cat can understand what has gone on and process. Perhaps others will not lead their horses to the spot of burial, away from their friends, but they too, will bid farewell in the pasture and allow every life the time they need to understand.

I hope we all continue to find ways to be more, do more and give more to the animals who give so much.

Our time is short on this earth and we must embrace compassion. General practices do not always have the best interest of our beloved friends in mind and we must. I hope posts like this can change that. If it brings comfort to just one animal who is left behind, well, than my words are worth it for those lives are no less deserving than you or I. Human or animal, we should all be afforded opportunities to say goodbye.

As for Wren, she is with Sassie and Dancer and while we know her heart longs for Levi, she has found comfort in knowing and the presence of other lives nearby.

06/01/2025

A GOOD END TO ANOTHER BUSY WEEK

We got some cute pictures of Zoey and Apollo enjoying life in their new home with their adorable goat friend. (First 3 pictures) Queenie went to be fostered by Therese and it looks like she is getting on well with the rest of her herd. (4th picture--she's a really tall STB mare, but she looks like the small one in the group) Then after feeding this morning we took Star of Jackon and Pleasure to Please to their new home in the greater metro Detroit area. (Last picture) Cassie will be joining them shortly, but we have a vet appointment Monday and I want the vet to check Cassie's bloodwork, because she's been eating three mashes a day and still isn't putting on the weight we expected after having her rotten teeth removed and getting a shot of Excede about three weeks ago. So maybe we have more work to do to shut down an infection, or maybe something else is going on. But I want to be sure she is on the right track before we place her and we didn't draw bloodwork at the last visit, because after treating the two rotten teeth, we assumed that would take care of everything. She is eating well and seems to have lots of energy, so that is good even if she isn't putting on weight as quickly as I'd like to see.

Cassie's been enjoying being up in the stall area with her new buddy Rockey who was a recent owner surrender who didn't work out as his original foster home, but he's enjoying time with Cassie and once she leaves, he'll go in the bigger field out back with Shadow, Butch, Honey and Robin. On a side note, except for Robin who likely needs another EPM treatment, we are looking for experienced volunteers to work with each of those horses. Butch is a gentle older STB who likely did not have much time under saddle, but we are hoping will be at least a light use riding horse as he moves out sound and had no noted medical issues upon intake. Shadow was a riding horse but it's been about 14 years. Honey is a nice TB mare who we used in lessons for a while, but she has a few bad habits that need to be worked on. Also Cobra and Parker, both nice STB riding mares would benefit from having someone spend time working with them and exercising them a bit. They are both nice riding and driving horses, but older. Cobra just turned 28 yesterday, and Parker is in her early 20s. Still nice athletic mares though who could use a little exercise.

Thank you Therese, Kevin and Sandra for opening your farms to rescue horses. Thanks also to Kevin for helping with feeding this morning so we could get on the road more quickly. Fortunately, Star and Pleasure were great for their vaccines and we were done with shots and loading in under 10 minutes. Tomorrow we hope to get Thumpem N up on our Springport pasture where he will be the 6th horse in that group. Then we'll be working on moving a few horses around and repairing some fences and shelters around here.

Thanks for supporting your local horse rescues.

05/28/2025

A BUSY WEEK WITH LOTS OF NEW HOMES
We had a busy week last week. In addition to the stress of Bertha going down, and moving 5 horses to pasture in Springport, we had eight placements last week, although two were previously adopted horses that returned to their owner who had experienced medical issues that required their return last winter.

First, two of our newest residents found their home. The adorable little mini paint mare, Zoey, who is mostly blind, and her younger (and bigger) mini buddy Apollo found a wonderful home. There are other animals in adjoining pens, and they have a wonderful family to love them, but it’s also great that they get to stay together. Thank you Bonnie and family for opening your hearts and farms to Zoey and Apollo.

Then Johnny and Jasper went back to their home. They are two older STB geldings who were adopted about 6 or 7 years ago. When their adopter had medical issues that caused physical limitations, they came back to overwinter with the geezer herd at the rescue. They were excited to get back to their home and the fresh grass on the field as I’m sure they thought the first cutting hay was getting a little stale. Thanks Penny for taking good care of your boys.

One of the best placements in a long time was our beloved Buddha Baby. He is an older STB gelding who harness raced and had more earnings than any other racehorse on the farm besides Thumpem N. But he had a crash or an accident at some point before he ended up in a killpen that left significant lacerations on a hind leg and caused him to be somewhat off behind. He also requires a mash diet. But he is the best broke horse—and he has been wonderful to have at the rescue. In the winter he always got the crappy little pen with the tiny shelter down by the water pump because he was so well-behaved and we could trust him to not break out or mess with the already-damaged fence. He got a wonderful home with another older horse, beautiful pasture and experienced horse lovers who will give him the one-on-one attention he has always deserved, but is hard to get on a farm with 60 other horses. We’ll miss him a lot, but are so happy for him. Thank you Barbara and Bob for welcoming Buddha to your farm.

Then little Leroy, the feisty 30ish pony somewhere between a mini and a Shetland size also found a wonderful home on the east side of the state where he is a companion to a senior donkey. He too got a lovely farm and an experienced and loving owner. Thank you Paula for giving Leroy a home.

Finally, on Friday two of our beautiful mares in the back pen got to go home. Rin is an older STB mare who has an old hock injury that keeps her from being rideable. She has been here almost two years now and after her buddy Nacho got adopted she never really had a bestie at the rescue. But now she has a loving family and a senior friend like her. Thank you Kathy and Brad for welcoming Rin to your farm.

Rin rode out with Esther, our beautiful older grey mare of unknown breed, who has been a wonderful companion twice before and was blessed to find another companion animal home on a beautiful farm with a wonderful lady who knew she wanted Esther even before she met her. Esther will even get to keep the same farrier. Thank you Tammy for giving Esther a home.

Thanks also to everyone who supports our mission and helps provide second chances to horses who need a soft landing. Thank you for supporting your local horse rescues.

05/24/2025

FIRST ON THE FIELD

We had lots of help this morning. Thank you Jamye, Kevin, Nora, Penny and Philip. We were able to get the first four horses to pasture before noon, got feeding done and a half pallet of feed unloaded. Louie and TJ were first on the field, and Louie fully intends to be the herd leader. But when they got there, TJ just jumped right into grazing those spring grasses. Louie ran about checking the field and calling out "Where is my herd? Your leader is here." Or so it seemed if I were doing equine translation.

In the very next load came Sports Investor and Speedy T who had finally, after about a week, just started to make peace with the TB mare boss of the pen we had moved them to, so that they were finally able to be granted access to the round bale. I am sure they will quickly realize that the pasture is better. They were there last year and did well also.

Thirty three year old Punch will go next (he's the oldest horse we have who doesn't require a mash) and we are still trying to figure out who the last 1 or 2 on this field will be. But we are grateful the weather warmed up today and we were getting horses onto pasture. Along with the 7 horses who went to new homes this week (more on that in another post or two), this should start to make a dent in the overcrowding at the main rescue so we can work on cleaning pens and repairing fences and shelters.

Thanks for supporting your local horse rescues

05/23/2025

NOT HER DAY TO GO

We took in an owner surrendered blind pony named Juno last night around 7pm. Everyone around the farm was fine, but Juno seemed stressed hearing all these unknown horses munching or neighing around him, so at 830pm I went out to check on him again. Bertha was sitting down at the round bale in the next pen and at first it seemed normal, but then she started to moan.

I went to check on her, and she was down in a bad way, on that bad stifle that took 8 people to flip her over and pull her up a couple of times last winter. And she has needed help getting up a couple times recently although she is usually able to sit in positions that she can get up with minimal help. We had hoped to give Bertha a lovely last summer, but she could not get up. We could not get her up, and with the fence right behind her she was not in a position we could roll her off that bad leg even if we called 6 other people to help. So we sat down with her comforting her and called the vet and asked if she could come out to euthanize one of our hospice mares. Dr. Courtney arrived about an hour later and it was dark now so Randy had set up workshop lights in a tree and brought the lanterns. Bertha would flail whenever the vet came toward her with the needle and getting a vein was impossible. I remembered how we originally were going to do stifle injections for her, but even with the vet doing it, it was very dangerous so we stopped after the first session. We do not vaccinate Bertha. Bertha does not like needles.

With Dr. Courtney and Randy trying to hold her head down (she'd been full on down with her head down much of this time) she still would not stay down, so the vet gave an IM injection of sedative. Takes longer, but at least it should calm her down. After about 20 minutes Bertha flailed one or two last times and rotated 90 degrees. Now her head was in the fence but she was still down on that bad hip. We tried again and there was another 90 degree or so turn and we were all now away from the bale in the mud. Bertha seemed like she was getting more tired now and we moved in to comfort her. Dr. Courtney stroked her head and felt for her jugular (or at least some vein in her neck) and got ready to move in with the syringe with the blue fluid. Randy held the rope and I held the lantern speaking softly to try to comfort Bertha. And then the needle touched her neck. Dr. Courtney flew one way. Randy the other. I was stunned as all of a sudden in a flash of commotion with mud everywhere, Bertha was up standing in mud nearly to her knees.

We walked her up the hill to the shelter. Put the coral panels back up as barriers to keep her in like we did when we moved her there during the winter. And we left her around 1030 that evening quietly munching hay. Although everyone got muddy, and tossed about a bit, both the horse and the humans are ok.

I have attended the vet assisted euthanasias or more than 40 horses over the years. We have had many get up with human assistance at the last minute, when we had almost given up. But this was the first time I'd seen a horse unable to get up at all with human assistance, down laying on a very damaged leg, fly to her feet at the touch of the needle.

Bertha is still on our hospice list because we don't want her to have to go through another winter on that bad leg. But she wants to fight, and she decided she will die another day.

Of course, she'd put her foot through the second rung of the coral panel by time we got out there in the morning, forcing us to take the fence down and then she bolted down the hill again. She and her best bud Red Star are probably going to take over Roxy's double stall and Adam's stall today to try to keep this from happening again--at least until we can get some horses on pasture and have a chance to rake or remove some of the mud going down that slope.

It has been a crazy week around here with 7 placements, one intake, and getting ready for pasture in addition to all the regular chores involved with caring for more than 60 horses. But this morning, I am grateful Bertha is still with us.

Thanks for supporting your local horse rescues.

05/22/2025

Help Needed! Hoof and Heart has been offered a wonderful donation of 2000 square bales of hay. The catch: The hay is in Davison (near Flint) and has to be removed in two weeks. We have a wonderful volunteer that has offered to store the hay and we have a truck and trailer to haul. What is missing is folks to load the hay in Davison and unload the hay here. The first trip of several will be next Wednesday. Know anyone with a big heart and a strong back? Please message us!!!

05/18/2025

AROUND THE RESCUE

We had a busy week at the rescue with a farrier and vet day on Tuesday. Dr. Hilary and her vet techs did dentals, intake exams, sedated horses for the farrier, and did 7 coggins for horses who have upcoming placements. The bloodwork for Theo, our recent QH intake who the vet body scored at 1, came back good so we will work on treating his rain rot, look into options for a sarcoid he has, and he had a dental, a tooth removed, and is loving his mashes so hopefully will put on some weight this spring. Cassie had a couple rotten teeth, one of which was removed, so she is on antibiotics out of concern that the infection and bad teeth are behind her recently dropping some weight. She, Pleasure and Star of Jackson have a placement so we are monitoring her closely for the next week or so to be sure she is doing ok on regular feed and won't need a mash after her dental.

Sand Fanci, a 20 y/o killpen STB mare came in this week and she is doing well--has arthritis in her LH hock and fetlock but otherwise seems healthy. Babe is back for a short visit to assess a recent soundness issue. It's not a reoccurence of her EPM, but she did have bruised soles on her front feet and we are watching to see if they will abscess and that may have played a role in her being off. Baileigh saw the vet and got some corrective shoeing due to her extremely thin soles and laminitis history. Our goal is to get her back to barefoot and in her boots, but it may take a month or two.

Finally, our pretty Esther found a new home this week. She has been a wonderful companion to several other horses and she has a great new home with lots of pasture, lots of love, and she gets to keep the same farrier. So, we are happy for Esther. In addtion to Esther, Leroy, Zoey and Apollo are scheduled to go to their homes this week.

Thanks to all who donated toward our vet fund this week--it really helped because we got soooo much done in a 4 hour visit. Thanks also to everyone who volunteered this week. We are grateful for your support.

Thanks for supporting your local rescues.

05/07/2025

UPDATE: Sand Fanci was bailed and she has already been transferred to a farm in Ohio, and Randy is scheduled to head out early tomorrow (Monday, the 12th) to pick her up. We will be calling her "Sandi" as we already have a Fancy, and I am the only one who calls Sandman by the nickname "Sandy." So, we are praying for safe travels and that Sandi will be joining our herd tomorrow evening. That would have her here in time to have her intake exam at our farm call on Tuesday. Thank you to all who donated to save her, or who donated to our vet fund campaign.
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This is the sweet old mare who will be joining our herd if she is bailed from the PA killpen. (Randy will pick her up in Ohio) She is 20 y/o and said to be "a little off behind" but she took a rider well, and our hope is we can find her a retirement home where she doesn't have to do much more than be a companion or lead some grand kids around. Donations can be made on the SRF link or to our Paypal account at [email protected] or venmo Please mark any donation for Sand Fanci or "Sandi" to ensure it goes toward her bail instead of vet expenses.

Thanks for supporting your local horse rescues.

05/07/2025

THEO AND SHADOW AND THE REST OF THE HERD

Although we’ve gotten about 3 inches of rain the last 3 days, and the farm is as mucky as it’s ever been, we did welcome two horses to the rescue on Saturday. We got a message about Theo, whose owner would no longer be able to keep her horses. She’d had him in the care of others over the winter, but Theo had lost weight and wasn’t doing well. When we saw his pictures, we knew we had to help. His owner surrendered him with tears in her eyes, as she handed over the 28 y/o QH gelding with a kind eye. We fell in the love with him the moment we met him. We brought him home and offered him a mash in the round pen, and he just kind of ignored it. He’d just been on senior feed previously and it seemed unusual to him, and plus there was all the stimuli of hearing horses in a dozen different pens around him. But by the time we turned him into a stall for the evening, he “got the hang of it” and quietly ate his mash down over the next hour. We are hopeful he may just be a case of needing a dental, deworming, and a mash diet instead of grain as he quids his hay. But he will be seen at our farm call next week to try to get him on the right track to gain some weight back.

Then Shadow came back. She’s a beautiful paint horse who had been fostered last winter in a home where one of her former companions lived. Shadow lost her companion of more than 20 years last fall after what we thought was colic, turned out to be a hard tumor the size of a soccer ball. She had a hard time adjusting to other herd groups after he passed, and while she seemed to recognize her old friend at her foster home, and did well for a while, he is an older blind horse and she started to bully him this spring, so she is back enjoying her stall at the rescue. She was at least a green broke riding horse once, and we hope to get her in with a trainer for a month or two, in the hopes of finding her a forever home as she is a beautiful mare who loves attention.

We have more horses returning—Babe may have a re-occurrence of her EPM. We will be helping a 20 y./o killbuyer-owned STB mare if the Standardbred Retirement Foundation is able to arrange her bail (we will be sharing her post shortly). We also have several horses on our wait list, including a pony in our own neighborhood. But we have four horses pending placement, and next Tuesday we will have at least 13 horses seen by the vet—recent intakes who need vet exams, a handful of dentals for our older STBs, and the four horses who are going for placement and need coggins and/or veterinary checks. Then there’s Red Star and Bear who will get follow up-exams and Babe who will be examined and tested for EPM. Baileigh will need to be sedated as the corrective farrier will be here, and her soles have gotten very thin again (it’s part of her chronic laminitis issue) and so she will need new shoes and pads. We’re paying off about 3K in vet bills this week, but given the number of dentals (including Theo, Leroy, Adam, Cassie, Secret, Fancy) exams and bloodwork, next week’s visit will be in the $2000 range, and that’s assuming we don’t have any unexpected findings that warrant further diagnostic work like ultrasounds, xrays, or blood work. We’ll also be getting an exam/consult for Little Miss, the Arabian mare who was a recent intake and is suspected to have a granulosa theca cell tumor on her o***y and she may require bloodwork, but Theo and Babe definitely will. Between the sedation and corrective shoes and pads, Baileigh’s cost alone will be over $300 and that’s assuming the vet won’t want new radiographs.

We would be very grateful for any help toward next week’s vet expenses. We’ve set a goal of fundraising $1000 to try to keep our veterinary debt in the manageable range. We will offer the hoodie or tshirt of your choice (existing stock only) to any supporter who donates $50 or more to the vet fund. Our paypal is [email protected] and our venmo is Our mailing address is HHSMI, 2932 Eaton Rapids Rd., Albion, MI 49224 To see the list of available t-shirts and hoodies, you can email [email protected]

We will be reaching out for extra volunteer support in the next few weeks. Between moving horses to pasture and new homes, repair projects related to the March 30 storm, and just trying to clean up the mess from having 60 horses close up in the pens all winter, there is far more work than we and our regular volunteer crew can catch up with. So we will be posting project days and volunteer training for those with an interest in regular or recurring volunteer work. We want to thank Wendy, Joedy, Nora, Kristyn, Jamye, Kandra, Jaimie, Kevin and Charlese who are part of our regular team and have done great work around the rescue the past week—even with the rain pouring down! If you are interested in volunteering, please sign up for an orientation or message the page for more information. If you have construction skills and would like to donate a day or two to help the horses, please message the page and Randy will get back to you. We will work around your schedule if you can donate time to help us rebuild or replace the two shelters we lost in the storm, or the portions of fence that have been damaged over the winter.

Thanks for supporting your local horse rescues.

05/02/2025

Sandman has heard that he is in the Kentucky Derby and he is ready to hop on the trailer and go! For those that like to make a wager, keep in mind he is 28, has no teeth and is not a TB. We are rooting for you, Sandman!