Filming for Totally Wild. Jo M, Stacey, and Bojangles
Charlie’s Angels Horse Rescue will be featured in a second television appearance on the children’s show, Totally Wild, coming up soon!
The story, entitled Bojangles Rescue, will be going to air on Tuesday 28th February at 4:00 pm on Network Ten and features Bojangles himself, his foster mum, Jo M, and President, Jo S.
Tune in to see our gorgeous little man!
Oscar, an LBE in the Parelli system
When I was a school teacher, it was drummed into us to always remember that no two students learn exactly the same way. Some would be primarily auditory learners, some visual, some kinaesthetic, and so on. Planning lessons to suit a range of students’ learning styles is always in the back of a teacher’s mind. Yet when it comes to our horses, I think many of us fall into habits of communicating with our horses the same way. For example, if I put pressure here, you should respond this way. If I try to worm you this way, it should work, because that’s how I’ve wormed all my horses. If I want you to pick up your foot, I only have to pinch here and you should respond quickly.
But what if our horse doesn’t understand us? And what if we don’t understand our horse? And if we understood a horse’s learning style and personality (or ‘horsenality’ as Parelli calls it), would it help us get along better with our equine partners?
Sadly, a lot of abuse, neglect and ‘throwing away’ of horses occurs because the person involved simply doesn’t have the knowledge or insight into why the horse is behaving as he is. Fortunately, there are now systems that can help us navigate through perceived horse problems to a place of mutual respect.
Just as there a variety of ways to analyse your own personality, there are also several systems available to look at your horse’s personality and, consequently, the way he sees and understands the world, the way he tries to communicate with you and the way he learns.
Pat Parelli says that horses predominantly fall into one of four horsenalities: Left Brain Extrovert, Left Brain Introvert, Right Brain Extrovert and Right Brain Introvert. The Extroverts tend to have ‘more go than whoa’ whereas the Introverts tend to have ‘more whoa than go’. The right-brained horses tend to be more submissive and fearful, whereas the left-brained horses tend to be more dominant and confident. (See www.parellinaturalhorsetraining.com for more information.)
Jo McInnes created a horse and owner personality decoder that groups horses into four basic ‘colours’: Blue, Red, Yellow and Purple. Blue horses are quick learners and expressive horses that like to play. Repetition drives them mad. Red horses are sensitive and emotional and are very willing as they like to avoid pressure. They can also be fearful and have a tendency to worry. Yellow horses internalise feelings until they boil over. Trust is very important to these horses. And Purple horses are what are generally known as a ‘bombproof’ horse, unflappable and reliable. But this also means they can be defiant and stubborn. (See www.holisticequitation.com.au for more information.)
And Madalyn Ward (DVM) groups horses into five elements, based on the Traditional Chinese Medicine approach of constitutional typing: fire, earth, water, wood and metal. She says that Fire horses love to be the centre of attention and make the perfect show horse. Wood horses are the ultimate competitors and must be kept active or will begin bad habits like kicking or biting. Earth horses are solid citizens that love respect and food and can be the dependable lesson horse. The Metal horse is a hard worker who can take big and tough demands — think, hard-working stock horse. The Water horse can be a wonderful show horse, performing well in tasks that require animation and excitement, but can be frightened easily and require calm, steady riders to help them through. (See www.holistichorsekeeping.com for more information.)
Understanding your horse’s base personality and emotional and intellectual processes can help you both to develop a stronger connection and respect for each other. We are lucky to be living in a time in which we have such a large array of resources for us to take advantage of, and how much more improved a horse’s life can be with such information at our fingertips.
Joanne Schoenwald, President
Fraser, Millie, Holly and Bo, Feb 2012
Bo’s been having a bit of a rough trot lately. He had a serious bout of colic that required urgent veterinary attention and the following day he was still flat and running a temperature so the vet had to come back and take bloods. There was some concern for his liver function, but that’s been given the all clear.
The blood tests showed he had an infection of some sort and the vet thinks it’s likely it’s coming from ulcers in his gut. Ulcers are very common in orphan, formula-raised foals. So he’s also on ulcer medication. The treatment for his infections involved four injections of antibiotics a day! Poor Bo 
And poor Jo M, who hates giving injections and had to inflict him with them. Bo doesn’t have a lot of rump to inject into so it’s pretty stressful all round.
He’s had further blood tests that show his infection is better but he is lacking in iron. The vet is assuming at this stage that it’s due to a heavy worm burden (courtesy of Holly and Fraser), despite the fact that Bo’s been wormed and wormed and wormed according to the vet’s recommendations. He’s to be wormed again and given an iron formula to see if that corrects the problem. We’ll also be looking into a manure worm count and the relationship between his ulcers and the low iron to try to get to the bottom of it.
At Charlie’s Angels Horse Rescue, we know how hard the people behind animal charities work. And we’re constantly encouraged and inspired by the many animal welfare groups out there (who are almost always entirely run by volunteers, like us). So we like to support them and help spread the word of their good work.
This month, the friends we’d like to introduce you to look after some of our smallest animal friends–friends too often overlooked as being “just birds”. Budgie Snuggler is a Brisbane based organisation that provides sanctuary and assistance to birds of all sorts, both domestic and wild.
“We rescue and care for any bird, no matter what circumstances or species. As our small group is made up of licensed wildlife carers, many of the birds we care for are injured or orphaned wild birds that we rehabilitate and release. We also provide a loving “forever home” for pet birds that are surrendered by owners who can no longer take care of them.”
Please visit their website and check out their wonderful work!
Anastasia
I think when it comes down to it most of us seek to feel safe, loved and valued. And I believe animals are looking for the same thing too, especially in old age.
When my grandmother died, I felt such profound loss, not just of her and our relationship, but of her knowledge. All the things I ever thought I might ask, every story I never heard, every bit of wisdom not shared was gone.
Lately, I’ve been appreciating being ‘in the moment’ with my older animals — my cat, Jasmine, of 16 years, and my horse, Anastasia, of unknown years but undoubtedly a great many. Anastasia, in particular, seems to be coming towards the end of her grand life—a life I’ve known for only a year and a half.
I rescued Anastasia from death in August 2010. (I did it personally, as Charlie’s Angels has a policy of not dealing directly with doggers or horse dealers, horse sales aside.) She was set to be slaughtered for, what I can only assume, were reasons pertaining to her age. When my friend, Jane, picked Anastasia up from the slaughterhouse holding yard, body parts from her fellow equine friends lay scattered on the ground. Anastasia was next in line. It’s a fate I see and hear about all too frequently.
Why do people abandon their aged animals right when the animal needs them to stand up for them the most?
People have their reasons, such as that the horse is ‘no use’ any more, or because of finances. It’s true that Anastasia costs more to care for than my young horses. I support her arthritis with supplements and her immune system with herbs. And as she is less mobile than the others, she tends to hang around the house so I can feed her from the shed, rather than forage with the others.
But what I get back from Anastasia is unquantifiable. For those who believe that a horse needs to have ‘a use’, I would argue that aged horses have a tremendous amount to offer. They’re generally more patient and less reactive (therefore less likely to injure a child). They’re generally less active and therefore less likely to break down fences or be a nuisance. They have a lifetime of experience that makes them wonderful for nervous adults and children alike.
Perhaps more importantly, they also offer us the chance to appreciate life in all its stages, teaching us to see beauty and value at any age. What a wonderful gift to teach our children! What wonderful lessons to share about commitment and honour and relationships.
And wouldn’t it be nice to think that when we’re old and needing extra support that others might see the same value in us as well?
In a culture obsessed by youth and vigour, our aged populations all too often get the short end of the stick. Animals reflect back to us so much about ourselves and if we have a throw-away attitude about our aged animals then chances are we might have the same attitude about our aged people too. (And you know what they say… what goes around, comes around.)
In my work for Charlie’s Angels, I often receive emails or phone calls about an aged horse that is no longer any ‘use’, that the person wishes to give away or send to slaughter. The person asks me, exasperated, ‘but what else can I do with it?’ I take a deep breath before gently suggesting that perhaps they might consider loving and caring for it for the rest of its life. (I’ve yet to have the person change their mind, and so I then do my best to help re-home the horse.)
Anastasia may be heading towards crossing over, but I couldn’t feel more honoured to be sharing this phase of life with her. She approaches each day with patience, acceptance and wisdom. She knows how to look after herself; she knows how to manage her physical limitations (without complaint); and she is a reservoir of unimaginable life experience. All that wisdom that is there, just waiting for us to take the time to listen to.
Our home is truly more rich and blessed to have had Anastasia in it.
My wish for the senior animals of the world is that they are honoured, loved and cherished in their later life, just as we all hope we will be one day too.
Joanne Schoenwald (President/Founder, Charlie’s Angels Horse Rescue)
Help us Tow our Beautiful Float
Want something fast, free and simple you can do to help us win $5000 and put us a long way towards getting a four-wheel-drive?
Vote for us in this month’s Sunsuper Dreams competition. The dream with the most votes wins. Simple!
Please visit our webpage on the Sunsuper Dreams site and vote today. And please share with your friends.
You might also like to visit our special little video on YouTube that we’ve made for the cause 
Thank you for helping us make our dream a reality
Shona, day 1, two-month-old Ruben at foot
Well, this is big news.
Shona and Joleena are our longest-term residents, having been with us for two years, as our first rescues after the initial dogger yard rescue of four horses that began this charity. We rescued them from a slaughterhouse holding yard, along with their two-month-old colts at their side. They had come from an intensive breeding program and came with evidence of serious and prolonged trauma and an exceptional fear for humans.
Joleena, training with Kerryn Armstrong (pic by Jacinta Armstrong)
While their colts grew up beautifully, and we weaned them, gelded them and found them wonderful homes at six months of age, Shona and Joleena went on to become our most challenging behavioural cases. Physically, they healed well and proved to be robust horses. Emotionally and psychologically, these girls carried some very big scars.
Along the way they spent time with Kerryn Armstrong and Lillan Roquet, qualified Parelli instructors from Intuitive Connection, and while they did progress, their futures seemed to fall into one of two directions: find an exceptional, advanced Parelli home to go to in order to continue their development, or find a permanent retirement home where they could live their days as naturally roaming horses but still with the routine management and care (feet, teeth, worming etc.) that all horses need.
Shona and Joleena, best friends
We’d been offered several homes over their time, where they could run free as wild horses on huge properties, but we wanted more for them than that. At times it was very difficult to turn down these offers, as we tried to balance their needs and preferences (and their preferences were clearly that they’d prefer not to engage with people), with their potential, their lifespan, our ability as a charity to provide what they needed, and what we as humans considered ‘best’ for them.
This week, we received a remarkable offer. Gaye Harvey, from Horse Heaven, has been a supporter of Charlie’s Angels since we began. Her exceptional, professional agistment and training property near Stanthorpe includes a 500 acre retirement paddock. But she also continues to manage the welfare of those retired horses, ensuring their feet are regularly done, their teeth are done and they are wormed and vaccinated. The horses are carefully monitored daily and any injuries or weight loss corrected immediately.
In short, this is exactly what these girls need. It was also of top concern for us that Shona and Joleena were able to go to a forever home together. As they are such good friends and have obviously been through so much, we didn’t want to separate them if it was at all possible.
For these girls to find this forever home, of this quality, is one of those miraculous events that happen for us every now and then that affirm that we’re doing the right thing. Our emphasis is always on quality not quantity. We are not interested in ‘turning over’ horses just to make ourselves look good. We are prepared to hold onto each and every horse that comes our way for their entire life if necessary, rather than risk them going to the wrong home. We are not afraid to turn down an offer of a home if it just doesn’t feel right, and we’re proud to say this has given us a tremendously successful horse-placement record over the past two years.
Joleena
We are so very, very grateful to Gaye and her husband, John, for offering these girls a place to finally call home, knowing they will be safe and cared for for the rest of their days. What amazing Angels you are! We’re so proud to have you in our Angel team.
Oscar, Oct 2011
Rescue pony, Oscar, has been adopted into his forever home!
Oscar came to us in September 2011 as a two-year-old stallion with extreme stallion behaviour. His people couldn’t keep him because they lacked the facilities to keep him safely and happily and couldn’t find him a new home because of his stallion behaviour. Obviously, the first thing we did was geld him.
Oscar, mud monster, pic by Michael Battensby
But because Oscar had been left to develop these behaviours, they didn’t go away immediately. At times our journey with Oscar has been a bit bumpy! He killed one of our chickens, took on full-size Brahmin bulls over the fence, tore down fencing to get to mares, and fought serious battles with the geldings he saw as a threat to his ability to manage the mares on the property.
This pint-sized pony was a power rocket!
In his favour, however, was his great connection and response to people and his exceptional intelligence. This was a pony looking for purpose. The challenge here was to find him that perfect home where he would be mentally engaged and challenged and also in a herd situation where he didn’t feel he needed to defend mares and fight geldings. He was never going to be a ‘paddock pony’. Without something constructive to do, he would only make up his own (inappropriate) games to play. And we didn’t feel he was right for riding by children, which narrowed his adoption options.
At training
We sent him to Australian Natural Horsemanship with Ken Faulkner and Kathy Stewart, as much to give him something to do as anything else. In the Parelli system, we’d call his horseanality an LBE (Left Brained Extrovert) and therefore needing essential mental challenge and a strong human partner.
Fortunes smiled on Oscar when he met Doreen, a student of both Parelli and of Ken Faulkner’s, who was at his training camp for a weekend workshop. She fell in love with him and could instantly recognise him as an LBE and her years of experience meant she knew exactly what he needed. Oscar has been welcomed into a wonderful family of natural horsemanship practitioners, who have only other geldings as paddock mates, and who have a dedicated play arena, with balls, barrels etc. for continued horse development and mental challenge. In a nutshell, exactly what Oscar needs.
We wish to thank Doreen and Dennis for offering our littlest man (with the biggest personality) the perfect forever home. We wish you all a long, happy and fulfilling journey together.
Another Angel takes flight
Cute wee Oscar pony has been spending time at Australian Natural Horsemanship in Toogoolawah, working with Kathy Stewart and Ken Faulkner. As you can see, he’s been having a good time!
One of the worms that Holly and Fraser have been passing in their manure.
Lovely Holly and Fraser, who came from the Gympie horse sales, have been riddled with worms. They were passing live worms in their manure when they arrived, have since been wormed multiple times, and are still passing out the dead and dying worms.
It’s truly horrifying. This picture is of one of the worms they have been passing. Their foster mum, Jo M, diligently pulled it out and lay it against an ice cream stick to show you how big it is. But it’s not the biggest that’s come out, not by far.
To have worm burdens at this level is a serious threat to a horse’s health. Heavy worm burdens in horses can lead to recurring colic, malnutrition, poor condition, generalised ill-thrift, diarrhoea and scouring, and even death.
Fortunately, we’ve been able to help Holly and Fraser with their condition.
