Bunny

I really don’t know very much about Bunny’s early history. I do know that the woman who bought her years ago said that her papers were lost in the shuffle of transport and never tracked down, so that she never knew what her name really was. The name Bunny was given to her because of the way she held her ears at the time.
In 1995 there was a massive barn fire at the farm. What was once recorded as the longest barn in New England was totally destroyed. Unfortunately, several horses lost their lives in this fire. Bunny was one who survived, but as you all know not without injury. She had extensive burns on her back which left scars of which she carries today. After 13 years she still has issues with her back and has not been ridden since but instead has been used as a broodmare.

When I met Bunny she was very head shy and not very trusting of people. Sometimes she would just get this wild look in her eyes and it just tore at my heart wondering what she was remembering. Occasionally she can be a bit grumpy but it might have to do with her back and the issues she has with that. She really is a sweet girl and once she gets to know you she is much better at trusting.

When we started helping out at this farm in April ’07, it was basically a brood farm. Their hired help had quit and the barn manager had developed some medical issues and was in the hospital. The woman wasn’t sure when he would be back, so we were asked if we could feed for her until she figured out what she was going to do.

Just as we began, we learned that the humane society had been called and that the owner was desperate to get things looking better so she wouldn’t lose her horses. Another woman was called to come in and do evaluations of the horses to see what type of feeding program they should be placed on to help them gain weight. Bunny was evaluated with a then body condition score of 1. The owner said that it was the fault of the last person who had been doing the feeding for her. Well, the last person had actually been an animal control officer in another town and had quit after working there several months as the owner wouldn’t let her feed them in the way she knew the horses needed to be fed.
There were a total of 16 horses there at the time, five of which were pregnant mares.
Our first thought was “Yes we’ll help” as some of the horses looked horrible, and Bunny being one of them.

Early May 07

Stall on the farm -

One of her many foals Her name is Rosie and her sire was a TB- Dam Bunnie. Last I heard she is gone from the farm pretty recent. I keep looking for pictures in hopes of not finding her on the AC4H page. Here is the last picture I have of her. She was born April of 06.

As my husband and I started working with the horses, I would try to touch Bunny, just to say hello while she was in her stall. She’d go right to the back of the stall and stand in the corner, sometimes trembling. We started taking extra time with her to show her she could trust us. Even just putting the water hose over the door to fill her bucket would send her into a panic. At this point Bunny wasn’t being let out of her stall because it was thought that once the door was open it wouldn’t be able to be shut again because the waste in there was so deep. This would be one of our jobs in addition to feeding, to get all the stalls cleaned and to start letting the horses go outside.

As time went by Bunny would meet us at the stall door and I could even put the hose over to fill her bucket and she wouldn’t back away in fear.
After several months of working every day with the horses, building there trust in us and bringing their body weights back to a reasonable level, the owner began wanting to cut back on things like grain, hay and shavings. This, combined with a few other problems showed us that it was time to leave. We just couldn’t be associated with the farm seeing that things were starting to go backwards again.

Needless to say I have missed Bunny and the other horses that we were with seven days a week, and the five foals that were born while we were there.
You can imagine how I felt when one day on the AC4H updates; I saw a picture and thought, “No, it can’t be!”

At that time it was thought that this Arabian mare had severe rain rot. I took a look at the picture of her back and I just knew, but I didn’t want to believe. So I let it go a couple of days. It haunted me though, thinking this could be Bunny. Finally I had to say something to Christy about Bunny being in a barn fire and that I was sure this was her.
Well yes, as we all now know, it was Bunny. So poor Bunny has been through a lot more than what is stated here. I am just so thankful that Christy is doing what she is doing for these horses.

Another thing that AC4H does is takes pictures of horses that are found at the broker’s lot to help give them a chance of being saved. She places them on her website. This is where I saw the picture of Sir Harry, a horse that had been born at the same farm that Bunny came from although the breeder wasn’t his last owner. I knew we had to save him. When he came home to New Hampshire, Bunny came as well for fostering and to wait for her new home.

I don’t want to think of what was going to happen to this poor girl. At least now it’s a happy ending for Bunny; once again thanks to Christy of AC4H. Please forward Bunnie's story to help prevent others from winding up the same way and to assist in finding a forever home for Bunny where she will be allowed to live out the rest of her life with love and tender care that she deserves.

Christy Sheidy, Co-founder
Another Chance 4 Horses, Inc.
www.ac4h.com or call 610-621-5290
donation options: http://www.ac4h.com/dpoptions.htm
Shop to donate - help horses: http://www.ac4h.com/Fundraising.htm