Abe and Starlight: The Backstory
In April, Hanaeleh posted that we were trying to save two baby foals who were going to be sent to slaughter. Their mothers had already been shipped 🙁 and these babies had literally hours before they were going to be put on the truck to Mexico (laws state that any horse six months or older can be sent to slaughter).
Obviously this is one of the many, many reasons we are pushing for the passage of the SAFE Act. Please send your legislator a letter saying you support the SAFE Act here.
With your help, we managed to save the two babies, as well as a mule from being put on the slaughter truck. You can read about their rescue here.
A month later, however, the foster home who offered to help these guys noticed that there were two MORE young horses (18 months old) who were also set to ship to slaughter. With the help of a very kind individual who paid for their bail and transport, she was able to save those two young horses as well.
We have been working with the foster home to gentle these horses and the mule, and we were making some progress, although very slowly. With Elizabeth only able to get out to the foster home a few times a week for short periods, we decided that it would be best to at least send the mule (Abe) to a trainer who could devote more time to his training.
The next question was what would we do with the other Mustangs? When we approached the foster home, she said that she had fallen in love with the babies, and wanted to adopt them as her own! She could only keep three of them, however, and so we sent one of the fillies, Starlight, to the trainer along with Abe the mule.
Starlight and Abe have been at the trainer’s for about six weeks and have been making excellent progress! Both of them are able to be approached, haltered, groomed, and tied. They had their feet done last week and the trainer said that they did very well! They walk into the trailer, and the trainer has been doing some sensory training with both of them.
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- Starlight
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- Abe
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- Starlight at the tie rail
Abe and Starlight are now looking for their forever homes.
Abe is about three or four years old, and is a pony-sized mule. He is doing well with the trainer, but still requires an experienced handler, and someone with experience with mules or donkeys would be a plus.
Starlight is about two years old now, and we believe that she is a Quarter horse/Mustang cross. We are looking for someone with experience with training young horses, and who can finish her training while she grows up. Anyone who adopts her will need to agree to continue her training, and also agree to wait to ride her until she is at least three years old.
All of Hanaeleh’s horses have a $1,000 adoption fee, and we retain a first right-of-refusal for all of our horses, and all of our horses are microchipped, so please no flippers. Because both Abe and Star are currently at the trainer’s right now, we are unable to have prospective new owners come out to meet them at this time.
If you would like to adopt Abe or Starlight, please fill out our horse inquiry form here.