When my daughter's beautician heard we were looking for a barrel horse, she offered us her 12 year old QH mare for $3500.00. We met that Saturday at the farm where the horse was being boarded.
My 2 young daughter's & I waited by the riding arena while my daughter, Cortney, & the beautician went out back to get "Annie". They brought back a plump mare but she appeared to have no barrel knowledge. At this time, a large woman came screaming "Get OFF that horse!" The horse was 30 yrs old... was the wrong horse. Boy did we feel stupid. As Cortney QUICKLY untacked the horse, I explained that the beautician had brain surgery a couple years ago & had major mental problems because of it. She calmed down & pointed them to the right horse.
As they brought "Annie" to me, I quickly realized why the beautician had dropped to her knee's 3/4 of the way to the horse. Instead of crying, I turned into a raving lunatic and was thrown off the property. Before leaving, we did manage to take this poor mare into a stall & find her some food, water & hay. This poor horse struggled to walk. She was so weak, she just hung her head low and had no spark of life left. Cortney said Annie was trying to hide under the only tiny shade "stick" in the pasture, because her rain rot was SO bad that the sun was burning her bare back!
We left the farm in disgust & called the beautician who agreed.... both the farm owner and the beautician were to blame, and we decided to call animal control. The beautician told us she owed board to the farm but wanted to give the horse to us, if we would try to save her life. Once Bill, a friend of my daughter's, heard Annie's story, he agreed to help. He called one of his buddies at the SPCA & was told if we got caught on the property we would be in trouble, but once off the property.... we should be OK. We all agreed to take the chance as the horse was running out of time... FAST.
We went back to the farm about midnight that night. We pointed the truck/trailer toward the exit & prepared the trailer quickly & quietly. Half way down the barn, we ran into a farm hand. We said "hello" and shuffled past him as quickly as we could. I turned back to see him dialing the phone and knew he was calling the owner. When we rounded the corner, Annie saw us & started to talk to us. We whispered "shhh, we're here to save you" and she shut right up. She did not know us, but she knew WHY we were there. Other than her bones cracking when she walked, she never made a sound getting to the trailer.
Once we got to the trailer, we saw headlights coming down the long pasture lane. We KNEW it was the owner & we were running out of time. By this time, Annie was to tired to lift her body into the trailer. She kept trying hard, but just kept scraping the skin off her front legs. The farm owner was 1/2 way to us and our hearts were pounding. My daughter and I got underneath Annie & lifted one front hoof at a time onto the trailer. Then we locked our arms around her butt and pushed her up into the trailer, while Bill was pulling her from the front. The farm owner was almost there! We all scattered, only able to close one trailer door, trying to get into the truck and off the property. We flew onto the road with the trailer doors flapping and dust flying! Our head lights met at the drive way entrance, but we were on the road first. WE HAD MADE IT! We could finally breathe. We stopped about 2 blocks down the road and secured the trailer and checked on Annie. She was weak, but she was a trooper.
Our vet met us at our barn and scored Annie a number ONE & was amazed she was still alive. She also said Annie was over 20... NOT 12! Annie laid in her new cool stall with fresh water & food for days. It was amazing that she still trusted and loved people like she did. It didn't take long before the spark of life came back into her eyes. I'm glad the vet forgot to tell Annie that she wouldn't make it because 6 months later... she looked amazing!
Sadly, a little over 2 years later Annie started having seizures and had to be put to sleep. She will forever be in our hearts and prayers! We love you Annie!
