#1361 SAVED! Now We Need A Name!

Last night, my mom looked at me and asked if we were crazy... The answer? An undeniable yes! But we can't both help but be really excited!

See, between myself and my mother, we already own and personally care for five horses. I'm most definitely the crazy horse lady on the radio! But honestly, I wouldn't give them up for anything. Plus, it's what my mother and I do together that is 'ours' and has been since I was in diapers.

I get tons of messages and am regularly tagged in posts online about horses that are abused or neglected. It hurts my heart not to be able to help as much as I'd like. When you already have happy, healthy horses, introducing one with possible health problems can endanger their health. I help where I can and share the ones I think are appropriate to the people I know. After all, we all know if you share too much on social media, it quickly becomes background noise.

But yesterday, my husband of all people, tagged me in a post regarding a horse at the Kaufman Kill Pen in Texas. I don't know what it was about #1361, but I knew we had to do something. #1361 is an 8-year-old flea bitten grey Arabian mare... who reminded me so much of the two Arab mares my mother and I had in my early years that it took my breath away. I know that #1361 isn't my first real horse Annie or my mother's beloved Athara, but she could be just as special in her own way. It turns out I was willing to take that chance!

I've always felt bad that my mother sold her dear Athara to get me a new show horse as a youth. When I moved back to Louisiana in 2004, I even did my best to track her (Athara) down to buy her back for my mother, but it had been too long.

I'm not sure if this is to easy a guilty conscious or not, but I whipped out my credit card and I bought her for my mother after showing her the mare on Facebook. I spent the afternoon tracking down veterinary care and a transporter willing to bring her to our farm... We didn't have any time to lose. #1361 was scheduled to ship to Mexico today at 5pm. I don't think I have to tell you what would have happened to her at that point.

#1361 will be here today and we have our vet on standby. I pray this mare doesn't have any health issues we can't handle. For the next two weeks, she'll be in a field by herself in 'quarantine' to protect our existing horses. We can't bring her into the barn without fear of exposing our others, but as I told my mother, it's better than being on a trailer to Mexico and is the best for both #1361 and our sweet Neal, Pressure, Captain and Paisano (Sunny is still at Holly Hill with her new baby!)

So, here's the catch. We don't know a thing about this mare other than what you've already read and neither do the volunteers at Kaufman Kill Pen. We have no idea about her history or even her name. Will she be timid like so many others who have had a rough go of it or will she bold and fearless like many of her breed? We don't want to name her Athara or Annie, because she's her own 'horse.' My mom kind of likes the name Lilly or maybe even Mariah, but isn't sold on either. What do you think? Take a look at the pictures and let us know if you have any suggestions! I promise to keep everyone up to date on her progress, so keep checking back!