Giving Blind Horses A New Vision On Life
Gray QH Mare
Lea was born blind in both eyes May 22, 2011. The WSU vets told us that euthanasia was her best option and to never train her to ride. To this day, she has been trail riding, backcountry riding, barrel racing, herding cattle, and the list goes on. She has a sassy, jealous personality and hates being left alone but is so willing to please and truly enjoys running full speed through pastures and chasing cows! Lea is truly what started LES Haven, without her, this nonprofit wouldn't exist!
Blue Roan QH Mare
Sadie is a quarter horse blue roan and we inquired her in May 2018. She is completely blind in her left eye and 90 percent bind in her right. When we first got her, she was very head shy, pulled when tied, and would spook often due to the process of going blind. Now, she is very calm and loving. She enjoys working cattle and riding alongside her best friend, Lea.
Bay Roan Mustang (mix) gelding
Rio, 6yrs old, came to us in the spring of 2022. He is blind in his left eye and going blind in his right. He went through owner to owner from the age of 4 to 6, we were actually supposed to get him in the winter but we never heard back from the owners who had him then. After meeting our lawyer to start our nonprofit, his niece had him (two owners later)! Rio had major trust issues, was very head shy, and had endured enough abuse in his past. He has been trained to ride, however, due to the severity of his abuse, he has a huge lack of trust with anyone on him. We are currently working on building more and more of his trust and going by his pace for training. He absolutely hates apples but LOVES treats and his face rubbed! The more he receives affection, the more he relaxes and is in your pocket!
Buckskin QH Gelding
Spirit came to us the beginning of fall 2022. He recently has been diagnosed partially blind in both eyes and is in the process of working through his condition. He loves affection but most definitely loves food. He is a big boy, standing a little over 16 hands. He acts tough and likes to test, but once established, he is a complete sweetheart. Spirit is very alert to his surroundings and takes a little bit to open up on each ride we go on. He used to be ridden mostly on trails and loved it, however due to his blindness, he had a few major spooks. Therefore, our major goal is to build his confidence back up and get him back on the trail!
30 +/- Buckskin QH Mare
Hope was our very first kill pen save out of Kemp, TX. She was rescued on January 7th, 2023. completely blind, very emaciated, and neglected. We initially thought she was not going to make it. In due time, she slowly started to gain weight, due to Montana's cold and unpredictable weather, we did not haul her until she built enough strength. By the middle of March, she was home in Montana. We do not know her exact age and history, from what a couple of vets have told us, they suspect her to be in her very late 20's. despite her age, today she is our strongest, and toughest horses we have on this ranch. Her turnaround and resilience will give anyone hope to never give up!
Black/ White Tennessee Walker Gelding
Roughly 18 years old, Texas was another dump at the kill pen in Bowie TX, along with his brother/ buddy, Tucker. Texas has ERU (Equine Reacquiring Uveitis AKA Moon Blindness). He had major separation anxiety and would do anything he possibly could to get to his brother by either hurting himself or whoever was handling him. Nothing was working to train him away from this behavior and we made the last resort to separate him from his brother. Today, he is a very confident calm horse and is one of the sweetest and loving horses we have here.
Black/White Tennessee Walker Gelding
Tucker, roughly 18 was saved from a kill pen in Bowie, TX beginning of January 2023 along with his buddy and brother Texas. He also has ERU and his one left eye has detached and does not cause him pain. Tucker is a very sweet boy and is probably the lowest of the pecking order. Like his brother, Texas, he also had bad separation anxiety. However, unlike Texas, he was able to come out of it fairly easy without separating. Other than that, he is sensitive to the touch but when he knows you are there, he is very in your pocket.
Bay Thoroughbred Gelding
Saved from the a kill pen in Kemp, TX, Remi was our Valentines save February 14th, 2023. Thrown in a pen full of other strange horses, his head tilt amongst them, stood out knowing he is completely blind. At only 5 years old, he has previously raced a few horse races and has won one third place! He has cataracts in both eyes and we do not know how he went blind. He is a true Romeo and the biggest affectionate horse we have here. If you love affection, he is your guy to hug and love on!
Bay/White Paint Mare
Faith was saved from a kill pen in Kemp, TX and currently resides with Kim Simpson in Winnsboro, TX who has helped us tremendously with a lot of our kill pen saves. She is only 5 years old with a tumor in her left eye which pushed her eye back. We had that, along with the eye removed. We plan on training her to see what she is willing to give.
Sorrel/ White Paint Mare
This sweet pony was saved from a kill pen in Kemp, TX. She was a very gentle mare and was able to ride. She was originally diagnosed with ERU. We had plans to have her for our boys however due to the increased amount of swelling in such a short time, it turned out that she had cancer. Her eye and the cancer was removed right away. At the time of removal, the vet believed that all the cancer was removed but was not sure if it was imbedded in the bones and tissue. Due to how much had to be removed, the vet was unable to close the eye shut due to the lack of skin available. For the first week, the eye did not swell up bad and looked like it was healing well. A week later, It turned for the worse. Once the bandage was removed, There was a mass that almost looked like a eye ball was formed. Unfortunately, this mass was cancer and was very invasive. It was severely rapid in growth and the vet knew that it was deeper than we all had thought. As hard as it was, she was ready to go and we gave her the peace that she needed.
Dark Chestnut Reg. Paint Mare
Duchess was also rescued from Kemp, TX in a kill pen May 26th, 2023. She is 18 years of age and had ERU in her right eye. She is very gentle and broke to ride. We had additional training done to retune her and she is more go than "whoa" This girl truly loves to run!
Dun/ White Paint gelding
Abel who is roughly 18 years old was a home surrender and agreed to take him as a sanctuary horse. He has ERU and had damaged his left eye severely where it got badly infected. We had his damaged eye removed. Unfortunately, the eye removal caused nerve and muscle damage to his face. Although healed and not affected by it, his face is flat on his left side. This horse must have had a lot of training and knows quite a bit of reining. Abel is more whoa than go, and loves to go on casual rides. Despite his face, he truly is a spectacular, good looking horse.
unknown breed Grulla gelding
Smokey was saved from a horse trader in Oklahoma June 26th, 2023 and was unhandled and wild. His left eye and left hip was badly damaged and he was severely lame and malnourished. We later discovered that he was abused and neglected during his time at the horse traders. We brought Smokey to our Montana ranch, he was very fearful but curious. Once the trust was built, I got him halter trained, he learned to be handled, his feet picked up and trimmed, lunged, blanketed, and is now in your pocket! Due to his hip, our vet is not sure if he will be rideable. In the meantime, we will go by his willingness and timing and give him plenty of love and treats!
Rocky Mountain Gelding
Dandy, or also known as "Dandy-lion" as our boys call him, he is about 20 years old, he has ERU and had his eye removed on his right side due to an injury after his blindness. He was a home surrender that we picked up from Grand Junction, CO on Oct. 7th, 2023. His teeth were grinned so far to the point he was unable to eat his hay and came to us underweight. A extremely gentle boy, he is certainly in your pocket and will continuously follow you around. Now that he has gained most of his weight back, we look forward to the many adventures we will get to have with him!
Cremello Mare
Rescued from a kill pen in Stroud, OK on Dec. 21st, 2023, Holly had a severely injured leg that was extremely infected and swelled. Currently under Kim Simpson's care, she took her in the vet right away to start her recovery. Her recovery will be long but her leg is healing rapidly fast! She had her right eye removed prior to her being at the kill pen, so we suspect that she was loved before. We are unsure of her past or how she was injured. We do know, she is a very sweet mare and is easy to handled. She is spunky and playful and does not seem to acknowledge her leg is injured. We do believe she knows quite a lot and may have been well trained before she was dropped off at the lot. In the meantime, she will stay comfortable and heal that injury of hers.
II Corinthians 5:7
