Beauty & Eddie, Cherokee & Butterscotch

RUNNING WILD & FREE IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER FOR HORSES 

Before
 
Horses running loose are a sure sign of trouble - at least that's how the law sees it, as well as most horseowners. One horseowner, however, saw no problem with letting his horses run loose, with the consequence that they were chased by teenagers on dirt bikes who considered this a good time. Fortunately for the horses, a neighbor complained to the police and state's attorney about the horses running on his property, and something was finally done. On June 1, 2002, the horseowner was served with a notice of violation of the Illinois Domestic Animal Running at Large Act. On July 3, 2002, when the horses were still observed to be running loose, they were impounded.

The two mares, each nursing a foal, came to us on the day they were impounded, and we placed them in a pasture of their own, quarantined from the other horses. We called the bay mare Beauty and the chestnut Cherokee - Beauty's foal was christened Eddie, and Cherokee's was called Butterscotch. The horses were very shy of people because of the abuse they suffered, and it was weeks before they worked up the courage to enter the lean-to shelter in their pasture. 
 

After 
  
It was nine months before HAHS finally won permanent custody of the horses. Finally, on March 6, 2003, we had the chance to bid against their former owner at a public auction for the right to care for the mares and foals. We won the auction by bidding with the lien money for our care of the horses, and were awarded custody of all four horses.

And just a few months after that, the four horses became five - although we didn't know it at the time, Cherokee was pregnant again when they were impounded! She gave birth to a healthy colt in mid-May of 2003, the spitting image of both his mother and his sister. Today the horses are slowly learning to trust people again. Butterscotch, Eddie and the foal are more accepting of people than their moms, who are still a little shy. Beauty in particular is quite wary of people, but she has started to realize that not all people are bad. And Butterscotch has adjusted so well that she seems to have forgotten her past trauma - she is now completely fearless. In time, maybe even the older horses will become as trusting as she is.