Pipsqueak Paddocks Miniature Horse Haven Society

 One day shy of December.  A lovely month that will bring about the start of longer daylight, my birthday, my daughter's birthday, Christmas, and possibly some snow... just a little is nice.  Hopefully it will also include some adoptions for those Minis who are ready to go, and more healing for those who are still in rehabilitation.  We've got five new Minis in, as of last weekend.  Luckily, our November Auction Auction was a huge success, raising nearly $2000!

We picked up Juliet & Jig, Whiskey, Delta and November.  All were suffering from varied neglect.  

Juliet is emaciated.  She is only two years old, and has a three month old foal at foot.  She was not provided with adequate nutrition to finish growing herself, let alone forming and nurturing a new life.  Jig is malnourished and has a very unhealthy coat.  He does have some spark though, so we are hopeful that he will make up for lost time now and reach his full potential.

Whiskey has some major dental issues.  The vet lifted one rotting tooth out and pulled another.  He's out about half a dozen teeth in all and now gets what I call "seven layer dip" for his meals.  Layers of soaked hay cubes, various pellets, vitamins and other supplements all topped with grated carrots.  LOL

Delta's teeth have likely never been tended to.  She had contstantly lacerated cheeks from all of the sharp edges in her mouth.  The vet could not even reach in there until she took some of the sharps down - it would have been too dangerous.

And November had very overgrown hooves.  One more trim and they should be okay.  Here's what the farrier took off the first time...

Hiya folks!

Well, things are chugging along nicely.  Harvey has been Adopted!  Kitty, Oliver and Snowboot are also spoken for and heading off to their new homes shortly!

We are ramping up for our big fall fundraiser, the November Auction Auction.  We've got many wonderful art pieces that will be up for auction starting on November 18th.  Please let any of your artisan friends know that we are still accepting donate art to help the Minis!  We've got metal art, textile art, drawings, paintings, photography and much more!

The Minis are doing very well.  I am just not used to having such a healthy bunch.  They are all having fun on their walks and mingling together in the "big paddock" on nice days.  Our volunteers are doing a wonderful job keeping the place neat and tidy, and keeping the Minis entertained.  We would like to thank one of our main volunteers, Megan, for all of her time and efforts as she is sadly moving away.  We will miss you Megan, thank you so much for the time you spent here with us and the Minis.

Here's a photo of Echo and Spotacus getting to know each other.

Hiya folks!

My apologies for slacking off in the Blog department.  My life has been... interesting... lately, but things are moving along.  I won't go into detail here, but feel free to ask.  Sufficed to say that my life has completely turned upside-down, but with a little bit of sorting out - it will be better in the end.  I did cap off the misadventures with a much-needed trip to Disneyland, so it's all good!  LOL

We just had a wonderful weekend in our booth at the Mane Event!  It was lovely to see all of the familiar faces, get updates on adopted Minis and meet many new prospective Adopters.  We have got a terrific batch of Minis who are now ready to go.

Frodo has been adopted and is VERY much loved in his new home.

Willow, Posy, Chicory, Snowboot, Jet, Spotacus, Oliver Twist, Kitty, Bunny, Harvey and our newest arrival, Echo, are now all up for Adoption.  This is a very diverse group, including some registered and with a lot of driving potential!  I am excited to see what homes will soon come up for them.

Here's a funny shot of Kitty and Bunny from last week...

 Wow... it's starting to get busy around here again!  I'll just start by going through the last post and updating from there...

Willow's Adoption fell through unfortunately.  However, she is heading back to her old foster home where she did so well and we'll see what happens from there.  

Bramble was Adopted!  He went to a terrific new home where he's now friends with a giant-sized replica of himself.  LOL

Chicory is doing quite well.  He thinks Posy belongs to him now and he loooooooves her!  LOL  She is doing very well herself and lets him dote on her.  They're a cute couple.  She is up for Adoption now as well. 

Snowboot, Jet and Frodo are still hanging around, but Napoleon has been Adopted and is already great pals with his new twin.



We had a new arrival last week named Spotacus!  He is a very sweet boy who has now been gelded.  He is double registered and well suited for driving!



And then today, we went to Kelowna to pick up four Minis who were headed for auction until the nice folks heard about us and thought we were a better alternative!  They are real sweethearts!  Oliver Twist, Harvey, Kitty and her little filly who we've named Bunny in honour of her great-grandsire who just passed away last week.

Well now - it's September!

So, hopping right to it... Yes indeed!  Savannah has been adopted and is Sierra's new BFF.  It took a little bit, but they are now good pals as predicted.

Willow is virtually adopted... just waiting to finalize things.  We're very excited for her.

Twilight and Sunset finally got to go home.  They have a beautiful, brand new facility and a terrific family!



Bramble and Chicory are both now up for adoption.  Chicory just had his second dental session this past week and is finally "spike" free!  He has just got to feel SO much better now!  He's put on nearly 20 pounds already!  Bramble is continuing to lose weight and his feet seem to be better.  We'll be letting him mingle with the herd if he's up to it.

Posy is peppy, but a sweetheart.  I think she is ready to be put up for adoption any day now.  

Snowboot is still over at Deb's and doing very well.  He's got a little buddy now who is teaching him what's what!



Jet is now my project.  He and I had a lesson over at the Jonathan Field Horsemanship Centre last week and I am hoping to be able to help him through the last of his fear issues.  He is a very fun horse to work with - never boring!  LOL

AND, we have some more familiar faces back in town!  Through no fault of their own Napoleon and Frodo have come back to find new homes.  

Okay... definitely time for a recap of the past month!  I do hope that you are following us on Facebook for daily fun!

Let's go...

Petal!  She had her final blood test and was given a clean bill of health!  The very next day, someone came, saw, loved, and took her home!  Awesome!

Finch!  He's off and running, loving his new home and his new bff Disco!



Prairie was lucky enough to be able to go back to his heartbroken owner who had had to surrender him a few months ago.  Things changed for her in the interim and she was able to have him back.  Savannah is currently fostered with Sierra(Sara) and if things go well there, I think she'll become a permanent addition!

Willow is still hanging out here, though she does have some prospects.  She's such a lovely girl!  Here she is after a bath the other day.



Twilight and Sunset are still awaiting their new digs to be finished, but that should be any time now and then they'll get to go home.

Bramble and Chicory are both doing well.  We trucked in some bark mulch to give Bramble a soft pen as he was very sore from hauling his extra 100 pounds around and our footing was harder than the grass field he was used to.  Bramble has already lost 15 pounds and I'm about to put him up for Adoption now that he's up to date on everything.  Chicory just needs one more dental session at the end of the month and then he's good to go as well.  He's putting on weight nicely and looks SO much better already!  He's got a girlfriend now, a new one named Posy.  He lets her share his hay cubes and they both always have their little faces stuffed in his bucket at the same time.  LOL  She's turned out to be a real doll.

Here's a photo of a very happy Bramble...



Snowboot is now being fostered at Deb Harper's place.  He needed some R&R and to get away from the ever changing stallion population here.  He's finally settling down now and learning how to just be a horse.  It won't be long now before he's ready to be Adopted!  Here he is with his first real friend...



And finally... the black came back, he just couldn't stay away!  It's Jet!  After some wonderful time up in the Okanagan, our little misfit is back here and up for Adoption again.  He is just a lot of horse in a little package and not suitable for children to be around.  He's a very fun boy though and would make a terrific NH partner!

Well... just got finished with a few hours with the vet and farrier.  Had a quick minute to grab lunch in between the two.  LOL

Let's see... first off - Petal is not pregnant.  Yay.  She had some interesting dental issues that were causing her some pain and discomfort, but they are taken care of now.  Her mysterious illness has not bothered her since her arrival.  We will be doing one more blood test in a couple of weeks to check her levels and hopefully they will show that she is fine and dandy and we can write it off as a passing virus or something that she ate that was poisonous.  She is great pals with Willow and a real sweetheart with people of all ages.  She loves attention and comes when she's called.

Finch had his booster shot and he's all ready to go to his new home.  He's putting on weight nicely after being purged of hundreds of worms.  I've never seen so many worms come out of one little horse!

Now for the two new guys.  Luckily for "Bramble the Vast", he only had a little stretching of the lamenai and he's not actively foundering.  Phewf!  His teeth needed doing, but were not too bad.  So, they got done as well as his tetanus shot, worming and powdering.  

However, poor Chicory has been living in torture for years.  It's likely that his teeth have never been done and they were horrendous.  His front spikes were about 1.5 inches tall.  The upper back teeth were formed into spikes about two inches long and were boring holes right down into his lower jaw.  The sides of his arcade were sharp.  So, every time he moved his jaw, he was slicing the inside of his mouth and impaling his gums and possibly even down into his jawbone.  Eating was mechanically difficult and physically excruciating.

This is what the hay looked like after he tried to eat it, this is called "quidding".  He would end up spitting out great wads of hay because he could not chew it up enough to swallow it...



But, he had to try time and time again because he was starving... those are all "quids" laying on the ground.



Click on their names to see more photos.  Bramble needs to lose about 100 pounds and he'll be fine.  Chicory will be having more dental work done in August and he needs to gain about 30-50 pounds.  Their feet came round nicely... though they started out as this...  

 LOL... a whole month without a Blog entry... so sorry about that!  You'll have to forgive me though, I was existing, not really living!  LOL  I am VERY happy to announce that Twilight had her foal on June 25th at about 1:30 in the morning.  We are so very pleased to introduce "Sunset Glow"!  I have been getting wonderful amounts of sleep ever since and am feeling quite human again!  



So... the rundown on the rest of the gang...

Magpie - Adopted and loving it!
Willow - Still here and I just can't imagine why!  She is the cutest, sweetest little thing around... just waiting for a family to call her own!
Prairie and Savannah - Are at a wonderful foster home until their potential Adopters can make the trek down to meet them and hopefully take them home if all goes well.
Bravo - Adopted and ruling the roost!
CloudWalker - Adopted and breaking hearts wherever he goes!
Snowboot - Still getting over his mysterious cold-like symptoms.  He had a head x-ray and all, but no conclusive diagnosis.  He is much, much better though and I hope to have him up for Adoption this month.

We had a new arrival, a little guy who was seized by the SPCA earlier this year.  Finch has now been gelded, had his teeth done and is recovering well!  His Adoption is already pending!

And then just a couple of days ago, we had another new arrival.  Petal seems to be an absolute doll.  She has had many homes the past while and was about to be sold again when she fell ill.  They were not prepared to spend any further money after the initial vet visits and blood panel, so she was in danger of being put down.  Luckily, a gal at the barn had heard about Pipsqueak Paddocks and everyone was quite happy that she could come to us here.

We would like to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to everyone who has spoken highly of us and helped to spread the word that there is an option for unwanted Miniature Horses in BC!  

We are running a new fundraiser with Petal as our star.  Come and see how you can help "Petal's Forget-Me-Not Garden" grow this summer!  We would love to keep our live web-cam up and running, and keep our barn full of Minis who need our help!  If you have enjoyed watching the mares and foals so far this year, please consider helping to keep the "window" into Pipsqueak Paddocks open. 

This is beautiful Petal.

LOL... I am rather sleepy.  Twilight is due any day now and then my life can get back to as "normal" as it gets!  LOL  She is soooooooo close!  All signs point to anytime.  Her Adopters came by for a visit yesterday and they are very excited to meet the foal and then get them home as soon as they can travel the short hop.  They are just putting the finishing touches on a brand new barn, so Twilight and baby are in for a treat!

Lots has happened this month... let's see...

Cinnabar has been Adopted!  A wonderful home with all the love, patience and kindness that he needs!  We are so thrilled that he has a wonderful new family to call his own!  He has had an incredible journey!



Magpie is toodling around and just being a horse.  She still really enjoys her leg massages and cookies!  She will be going to her new home next week I think.  We are so proud of our little mini-miracle!  Willow, Magpie and Mulligan are hanging out and they keep each other moving.  Willow can be bossy, but she and Mully play all the time.  Willow is still waiting for a family of her own.

Cream and Sugar have been Adopted together by their foster family.  Yes, it was an evil plot on my part.  LOL

We've had a few new arrivals!  Prairie and Savannah are a pair of large B-size Minis who would like to be Adopted together as a driving team.  They have someone very interested who is coming to meet them later on in June, so we do hope that pans out for them!  

Bravo, CloudWalker and Snowboot are three stallions... or rather, WERE three stallions who came here on Sunday.  They were gelded today and will now have some time to recover.  They are all very nice boys who will be wonderful geldings!  No major issues or health concerns, so they'll be up for Adoption pretty quick methinks.  Bravo is pure whipcord, a very active but teeny-tiny little guy.  CloudWalker is a very sweet and naive yearling.  Snowboot is a tiny little tank of a fellow.  He is around 16 years old and has he ever got HAIR!  His mane would rival any Friesian's!  LOL

 So, you know how your horse is always trying to tell you that certain things are capable of eating them... like the crosswalk lines, or a puddle, or some such thing... well, today the Minis were right!  It COULD have happened!  LOL



We had two beautiful maple trees donated and placed in our biggest paddock to provide some shade for the Minis!  It is quite a cool process to witness!





Just look at all of that wonderful shade already!



***These trees are NOT toxoic, don't worry.  It is the Red Maple (acer rubrum) that is poisonous to horses, as well as some other types of common maples.  The Red Maple is actually GREEN in the spring/summer.  They can have gallic acid in the wilted leaves.  Peach, plum and some other fruit trees (of the genus prunus) can have cyanide in the wilted leaves.  Our paddocks are scooped daily and any fallen leaves will be removed, even though they are not toxic.  The trees will have fences put around them to protect the bark and trunks.  Thanks for your concern!