This is how I found her.  Tied to a post.  No food.  No water.  No shelter.

At the time, I was on the board of Dark Horse Rescue.  We received a complaint about 2 neglected horses, a mare and her foal.  Since I lived the closest to the area, I went to check out the situation.  My initial investigation consisted of a drive by and photographs to confirm that there was indeed a case of neglect.  As crazy as it sounds, people will actually fabricate stories like these in an attempt to get another individual in trouble with the law.

There she was.  Just as the caller had described.  Emaciated and depressed.  Her foal was no where in sight.  I snapped a few pictures just before dark and headed home.  The next morning I phoned the local Sheriff's office, shared the pictures with the deputy, and asked for assistance with getting an order to seize them.  He said he would ride out to the residence to investigate for himself and get back to me.  Several hours later my phone rang.  The deputy said he would not tolerate that kind abuse in his county and was happy to help remove the horses and place them into our custody.  We agreed to meet the next afternoon with my trailer at the ready.

The mare was a complete angel.  She didn't fight.  She didn't run.  It was as if she knew why I was there.  She happily jumped into my trailer and began to call for her baby to help coax him in.  The colt, on the other hand, wasn't going to have it.  Of course, he had never been touched.  Never worn a halter.  Never seen trailer.  After what seemed an eternity, we finally got him loaded.

As I was loading up my equipment, I noticed an emaciated Chihuahua mix hanging out by my truck.  I bent down to talk to him and he was elated that someone was finally paying him some attention.  I picked up him, walked over to the deputy and said I'm not leaving him here.  The deputy agreed and about that time we noticed 2 other dogs that were tied up near the house.  As we approached the dogs, we  discovered the cats who were coming out of the wood work - hungry, skinny, and several very sick.  We looked at each other and said simultaneously that we would back tomorrow for the rest of the animals.

The next day I returned with the President of the rescue in an SUV packed with kennels.  The deputy met us and brought reinforcements as he had decided to press charges on the owners and place them under arrest.  We rescued a total of 2 horses, 4 dogs, and 8 cats.

The mare was named Cheyenne and her colt was named Warrior.  Both have since been adopted to excellent forever homes.  The 4 dogs were also adopted, 2 of which were adopted by Priscilla Presley.  7 of the 8 cats were adopted.  1 was fatally ill. 

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