This horse was named Coal for her colour and the road beside which we found her pacing back and forth. (Coal Camp Road). She was on her own out in the forestry.
The old mare was either abandoned or got loose and strayed from her owners. Coal was not in very good shape when we rescued her. She was malnourished and chewed up a bit by wild horses in the same area. In fact, the caller who reported her to us stated that the wild horses had her on the ground at one point, and he feared for her safety. A domestic horse does not usually fair well in the wild as they are used to human intervention for feed and care and are conditioned to the confines of a pasture without much threat from wolves or other predators. Wild horses in turn do not readily accept domestic interlopers, perhaps because of the human scent on them, but also the mustangs have their established territories. Even domestic mares do not necessarily receive preferential treatment, as was the case of Coal. ¼br /> The actual rescue was uneventful, we spotted the horse beside the road and quickly determined she was indeed domestic, hence Bob and I approached her with a bucket of oats and set it down in front of her and then Bob slipped a halter on her. I then lead her a half mile to the nearest gate where Bob waited with truck and trailer. Although this was public land, it is fenced in some locations and this happened to be one of those places. I believe that the fence also prevented Coal from getting out on the highway, which would have also been a danger to her and motorists.¼br /> Upon close inspection, Coal was gaunt, her coat was rough and dull and she had several nasty bite marks on her hind end, hip and front shoulder, which would likely become permanent scars. So we hauled her home and cared for Coal for a month and during that time she had good hay,
Hoffman’s Horse Mineral and sweet feed. Coal had also been de-wormed and had her hooves trimmed. She had a slight eye infection and so I gently washed her eyes with a mild saline solution and proceeded to bath her after that and brushed out with a shedding comb and other brushes. I spoke quietly to her and reassured her and gently touched her trembling body, she cautiously turned her head to look at me with a puzzled and hesitant expression. Nevertheless, she allowed me to proceed with her grooming and when I was done brushing her all over she placed her head in my hands and let out a big sigh. Tears welled up in my eyes at this display of relief and gratitude she obviously felt. The poor abused soul had not been treated with gentleness and kindness for a very long time. Within a month her coat went from dull to glossy and she put on a healthy amount of weight, slightly overweight, pleasantly plump. ¼br /> 
Being convinced she was used to a rider, I put a saddle and bridle on her without any resistance on her part. She even dropped her head for the bridle. I was pleased to find out that she was a quiet ride, light on the reins and had a smooth, long energetic pace. At one point she slowed her gait and turned her head to make sure I was okay and able to correct my balance. Not many horses will be that accommodating. She preferred the company of women to men as she was likely roughly treated by a man, her last owner. Because of her gentleness and maturity I thought she would have likely made a good babysitter as well. Coal was not a spring chicken, she was in her late teens as determined by our Ferrier, but still had plenty of energy in the saddle and otherwise. She had a very sweet and mild-mannered, shy disposition. Coal loved to be loved and at one time was well cared for as she relished horse cookies and being brushed and fussed over.¼br /> The mare had likely been arena rode and has been tailored a lot, as she backed up nicely out of a stock trailer. She was a well-trained saddle horse and would also have made a lovely equine companion as she got along well with my two young geldings, one of which is our rescue horse Wyley the Wildie.¼br />
As we reported finding Coal to the Authorities, she had to, under the law, be seized under the “Stray Animals Act” and accordingly went through public auction since no one reported her missing, or claimed her when advertised as found.
Bob and I followed the Livestock Inspection Service to the auction mart and had to re-rescue her, this time, by out bidding the meat buyer at the Innisfail Auction Mart.¼br /> This nail biting experience took six hours of waiting for her to go through the ring and during that time we watched other horses be sentenced to death. Most of these horses were young and healthy and their only crime was not being saddle trained yet. One horse had an eye that was swollen shut due to an infection that had not been treated in time, or the owner hadn’t bothered at all trying to deal with.
I had to sit on my hands, so as to not purchase any other horses, we had only temporary room for one more horse, and that one was Coal. I would check on her in her pen frequently, and she was very despondent and would not come up to the front of the bars that held her, to see me. Her demeanor was of complete defeat and depression. Coal had her head downcast and eyes half closed, accepting her lot in life after fighting so hard to stay alive in the wilderness. She thought it was the end, but was very glad to see us when we had the purchase papers in one hand and halter and lead shank in the other, and threw the gate open to release her. She knew her bail had been met and couldn’t wait to get out of there, she followed quickly and quietly behind Bob and scrambled quickly into the trailer, anxious to go home. We unloaded her in the dark and she was pulling Bob along by the lead to the entrance of her familiar paddock. If she could speak she would have said, “Let me in there fast, before they notice me missing.”¼br /> It was decided prior to rescuing Coal that she would not be kept for ourselves, but we would find her a good home, so a few days after her second rescue we advertised her on Northern Horse.com and she was sold within 24 hours. Colleen Brown of Cochrane Alberta adopted her and promised to provide a permanent retirement home for Coal. Colleen has contacted me a few times since then to tell me of Coal’s progress. Six days after Coal went to her new home Colleen wrote:
“Good morning Doreen: Thought I’d just drop you a line to let you know that Coal is doing just fine. I can’t tell you how much I love her. She is such a good girl on the ground and has so much sense. The German shepherd thinks he must protect me from strange animals and ran around her feet trying to get himself between her and I while I was grazing her on a line. She simply assessed the situation and decided to ignore him and continued grazing. I haven’t ridden her since bringing her home, as I wanted to bond with her first. She is such a kind girl. Thank you so much for introducing the two of us, I know we are going to be best friends.”¼br /> Today, July 23, 2008, I spoke with Colleen on the telephone some six weeks later, and she says that Coal is still doing great, and that she is a fast paced horse that doesn’t like to walk much, she prefers to canter when ridden. Coal insists on being the lead horse when Colleen and her family go for trail rides. Colleen says that Coal doesn’t act like an old grandma horse, she has plenty of life and energy left in her. On one ride a deer came bounding out of the ditch in front of them and bounced away which did not perturb Coal either. She seemed pretty bomb proof.
Coal is settling in nicely with Colleen and her husband Ian and has five other senior horses as pasture mates.