Most of our animals have been rescued from feedlots and auctions; we do our best to offer helpful and honest information about each animal, including known history and potential problems. Your best bet is to come out and meet the horses - they will steal your heart! As a rule we don't get a lot of information on these horses when we get them. Most people are amazed to learn that when these horses go through the auction they typically are run through without any background information. Quite often no age is given, definitely no information on breeding in provided (and rarely makes a difference anyway - lots of papered horses end up going to slaughter) and sometimes even the gender is in question! Therefore we cannot warrant the suitability or training of any of our horses. However we do accept the return of any horse that we adopt out that does not work out, for whatever reason. Please Contact Bear Valley Rescue for directions, or if you would like more information on any of the horses. Read our adoption guidelines on the 'adoption policies' page and submit a completed adoption questionnaire if you are interested in adopting one of our horses.
TRACS (The Responsible Animal Care Society), through a generous grant from the Vancouver Foundation, has launched 'Horse Protection Innitiatives', an adoption assistance program and euthanasia assistance program, in the hopes of helping to increase horse adoption through rescue societies and to assist owners in covering the cost of euthanasia of old or sick horses in order to keep them out of slaughter facilities. Please click here for more info. Click here for updates on some of the horses and what's been happening around the rescue. *All adoption fees for colts includes gelding.
(Click on the thumbnail image to see a larger photograph of each horse)
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The Herd |
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Foxy#2 is a chestnut, 2007 QH mare. She is not halterbroke but is very friendly and quiet. She is sound and healthy, ready to start. |
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Fontaine is a bay, 2011 weanling colt, can be registered with AQHA. |
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Donovan is a bay, 2011 weanling colt, can be registered with AQHA. |
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Carter is a bay, 2011 weanling colt, can be registered with AQHA. |
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Preston is a black, 2011 weanling colt, can be registered with AQHA. |
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Flint is a black, 2011 weanling colt, can be registered with AQHA. |
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Mellow is a black (or dark brown), 2011 weanling filly, can be registered with AQHA. She does have a small hernia that we may have banded once she's halterbroke. |
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Dusky is a bay, 2011 weanling colt, can be registered with AQHA. He is very quiet. |
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Golddust is a black (or dark brown), 2011 weanling colt, can be registered with AQHA. He does have some contraction in his rear feet right now, we're hoping he'll straighten out as he grows. |
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Bird is a blue roan, 2010 yearling filly. She is AQHA registered (WT Nike Quarter Blu) and quite shy. |
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Somber is a black, 2010, registered QH (WT Black Knight), gelding. He is friendly. |
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Remi is a bay, 2010, registered QH (WT Peptos Bay), gelding. His is friendly. |
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Fritzy (Fritzy Blue Hancock) is a 2000, blue roan, registered QH mare. She is exposed for 2012, though we don't know yet if she's pregnant. If she is, she won't be adopted out until her foal is weaned next year. She most likely has been a broodmare all her life. She is halterbroke and nice to handle. I don't think she's too old to start a new career. |
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Twobits (Podocos Twobits) is a 1994, registered QH mare. She is exposed for 2012 but we don't know if she's pregnant. If she is, she won't be adopted out until her foal is weaned next year. She didn't have a foal in 2011 (or lost it early on) as far as we can tell. She also may have some soundness issues. If she does we'll move her to our foster program. Twobits is friendly and nice to handle. |
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Burton is a very nice, 2011 palomino weanling colt. Looks like he'll be quite tall. He can be registered with AQHA. |
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Traveller is a tall, 2011 weanling, buckskin colt. He does have a small hernia that will be banded when he is gelded. |
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Popcorn is a palomino paint, 2010 yearling colt. He is very friendly, and one of his eyes is half blue. |
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Cooper is a cute, palomino paint, 2010 weanling colt. He is very friendly, has 2 blue eyes. He can be registered with APHA. |
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Harley is a big 5 year old black gelding with 1/4 draft breeding. He is halterbroke, has been sat on but not saddled. He is very nicely built, just needs more time spent on him to teach him some manners. |
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Skyler is a 7 year old sorrel gelding, has Suffield mustang breeding. He has been saddled and sat on but that's about it. He is foot broke and has been trimmed, is pretty good to handle. |
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Disco is a 2009 filly, an owner surrender and was originally rescued from the Ft. Mcleod slaughter plant. She does have a big brand across her right shoulder from the slaughter plant. She is halterbroke and footbroke, very flashy. She's settled in now and is very friendly. |
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Leyla is a very tall, young standardbred mare, born 2007, about 16 HH. She is not broke to ride but she was raced and is pregnant as well, due sometime in February we believe. She is not dominant and is nice to handle and be around. |
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Neeka is a very tall, young standardbred mare, born 2007, about 16 HH. She is not broke to ride but she was raced. We do not think she is pregnant. She is nice to handle but is a dominant mare in the herd. |
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Sky#2 is a very tall, young standardbred mare, born 2007, about 15.2 - 16 HH. She is not broke to ride but she was raced and is pregnant as well. She is fairly dominant but nice to handle. |
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Gracy is a young standardbred mare, born 2004, about 14.3 - 15 HH. She is not broke to ride but she was raced and is pregnant as well. She was quite underweight but is improving. She is nice to handle. |
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Kane is a very nicely put together rose grey 2009 gelding, possibly QH/welsh cross, will probably grow to 14 - 14.2 HH. He is not halterbroke but is getting friendlier every day. |
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Noah is a nice 2010 QH sorrel gelding. He hadn't been handled at all when he arrived but he's already been haltered and done a bit of leading, is friendly and no longer shy. |
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Tucker is a big roan gelding, born about 2006. He is extremely fearful and flighty, hasn't had any work done with him as far as we know. He was an ASPCA neglect seizure in 2010. |
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Cass is a nice bay filly, born 2008. We bought her at auction in 2008 as a weanling. She was started in 2010 under saddle, is a bit nervous but just needs some more time spent on her. |
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*ADOPTION PENDING* Trouble is a flashy bay paint filly, born in 2007. We bought her at auction in 2010. Her registered name is Troubled Memory but her papers went missing from the auction. She is halterbroke and good for the farrier. |
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Duke is a cute sorrel gelding we bought at auction in 2010. He was born in 2008 and is halterbroke and footbroke. He is very calm and quiet and will be easy to start, would make a great kid's horse. |
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Bella#2 is a bay mare, born 2006. Her dam is Holly. Bella is halterbroke, friendly, pretty good with her feet. She did have some sort of soundness issue in 2009, may have foundered. She does seem a bit forward in the shoulder and has some stiffness in her front end that may be from a pasture injury. We will evaluate her further and she has improved over the last couple of weeks already. Her previous owner did say that she'd had her 3 yr old child sit on Bella's back without any concerns. |
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Fleury (Keep On Gabben) is a grey, 16HH TB mare, born 2004. She has an old stifle injury and as result is sound at a walk only. She is well broke and very friendly. She does have a bit of a sway back. |
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Sylvia is a sorrel mare that came from a meat pen in Manitoba. She's probably foaled before, was pretty skinny when she arrived and most likely isn't even halter broke. However she's filling out and getting used the activity around here. Not sure of her age but she's definitely under 10, isn't too old to start. |
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Sterling is Tivio's foal (Tivio is on the foster page), born May 8/11. He is not very big yet, not sure of the size of his sire but Tivio is only about 14.2 if that, but he's beautiful, with lots of chrome! I'm pretty sure he's registerable. |
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Gypsy#4 is a 1996 Arab mare, purebred but no papers, an owner surrender. She is supposed to be halter broke but you can't catch her! We'll have to work on that. She is approaching us now and has taken treats a couple of times. |
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Bo is the 2006 Arabian stallion foal of Gypsy #4. He is an owner surrender, not halter broke, hasn’t been handled at all yet. We have him in a smaller corral and are working on gaining his trust so we can get him halter broke, then gelded. This young man is absolutely gorgeous with huge liquid brown eyes. With the right person in his life he’s going to be something really special. *update June/11, Bo has been started on halter training and has been gelded! |
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Crystal is a 2010 sorrel grade QH filly, with a blaze and white stocking on her hind legs. We purchased her at the auction. She is friendly and has been halterbroke and is working on leading. She has been trimmed now as well. |
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Princess is a 1996 registered QH palomino mare. Her registered name is “Rich MS Poco Doc”. Sire: “Doc N Kitty”. Dam: “Miss Silent Poco”. Her sire was a point earner - in cutting and working cow horse events. Her sire’s sire (“Doc’s Rickashay”) was a money earner in reining, cutting, and halter events. Princess was purchased at auction. She was only ever used as a broodmare before we got her and is still quite shy of people, but has become much friendlier since she‘s been here. She is perfectly sound. She was supposed to be pregnant but either hadn't caught or aborted as she came into heat this past spring. |
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Zeke is just the most unique little guy! He is a 2008 brown Curly gelding, barely 14hh, another ASPCA seizure. At first he was very shy and we thought he had never been haltered before - but he is so very quiet now, he can be petted and led. His coat is hypoallergenic, and feels like crushed velvet. It is unlikely he will grow to be much more than 14hh, and with his personality, it seems likely that his future may be that of a kid's pony. He needs someone who will put in the time to train him to be the best kind of kid's pony he can be! |
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Alix is a black thoroughbred-type mare, no papers, about 15.1/15.2hh. She is another ASPCA seizure. We are not sure of her age but she is halter broke. She is a little shy but friendly - a sweet girl. She had really bad hooves, overgrown and with cracks. She was sedated and trimmed up really well in April so we've seen a real improvement in her feet. |
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Phoebe is a very beautiful grey Arabian mare, also from the ASPCA. No papers. She is halter broke but doesn’t appear to have had any other work done. She was pregnant but sadly lost her foal. She was very flighty at first, but is getting more and more curious about people, is halterbroke and leads. |
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Sugar is a pretty little bay 2010 grade QH filly. She is Gypsy 3’s foal (Gypsy 3 is on the foster horse page). Sugar is very friendly. She has been started with groundwork, haltering and leading. A very quick learner! She has also had her feet trimmed. |
 | Sheba is a bay Arabian mare, about 8 years old. She is registered, but her papers didn’t come with her. She’s only ever been used as a broodmare, hasn’t had much else done with her. She was a bit fearful at first but has settled down a lot. Shows that she has some manners once she has a halter on. Has had her front hooves trimmed. |
 | Saphira is a pretty bay 2008 Arab filly. She has not had much handling, but she is quite friendly. Follows you around and has a big personality! Saphira loves bum scratches and has started picking up her feet. Her half sister was adopted last year and was very easy to train. Has the athleticism to do pretty much anything - will make a fun riding partner for someone. *Update Aug/11 - Saphira has been haltered and is starting groundwork - Thanks Susanne for working with her. |
 | Emily is Trey's foal. She was born in 2008. She was very crooked when she was born but has straightened out nicely. We believe Sunchild (see adopted page) was the stud as Emily has all the appaloosa traits. She's pretty small, about 13.2 or 14 HH at most. She is very friendly, halterbroke, but has some issues in picking up her back feet. |
 | Annie is a pretty buckskin paint mare. She had been adopted out once but was returned to Bear Valley for financial reasons. I recall when we originally bought her at auction they said she was from bucking horse stock. We did not know if she'd ever been handled, but she was pregnant and when she foaled out she had a retained placenta and I had to halter her and work with her to get her placenta out and she was very good at the time. Not sure of her age, she may be anywhere from 8 to 15 years old. |
 | Joker is a returned Bear Valley horse, he came back because he cut his leg. He is a 2006 bay roan gelding, quiet and friendly, about 14.3 HH. He had a serious wire cut to one hind leg which healed up nicely, though he does have a minor scar. He was very good while we wrapped his leg. Joker was out in 2010 to be started, he has been sat on and led around with a rider, is a bit skittish when first mounted so needs to be worked with a bit more and taking it slow on mounting. |
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Allie (#3) is an appendix QH mare, born 2004. She was started as a 2-3 yr old, needs an experienced person to finish her. She's going to be a nice athletic horse. She is good to halter and catch. |
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Busty is a beautiful palomino QH mare, born 1998. She hasn't had a lot of work, was supposedly started as a 2 year old but bucked someone off and they never went further with her. She's just been a broodmare, which is not to say she can't be worked with and started again. She is sound and very nice to handle on the halter. |
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Claire is a very sweet little chestnut 2008 filly. She had a very serious injury to her left eye as a yearling and has lost the sight in it though we managed to save the eye itself. She was a wonderful patient in spite of what must have been a very painful injury. She can be registered with AQHA. She's out with the herd and has adapted quite well to having sight in only one eye. Has had her feet trimmed and is halter broke. |
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Blondie is a beautiful palomino mare. She is Slinky's dam and was fostered out for a short time. We're not sure of her age, but she was probably born about 2002. She is shy of people but once haltered is supposed to be pretty nice to handle and she seems to know some round pen work. |
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Trey is a young bay mare (born 2005?) that was a starvation rescue, pregnant but still managed to have a healthy foal in 2008. She was fostered out for a short time. She is halterbroke but that's it. We'd been told you can pick up her front feet but she kicks when you try to handle her back ones, but we've had her trimmed all around now. She's smaller, about 14.3 hh, but has regained her health and is doing well. She is a very dominant mare in spite of her small size. |
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Raffles is a 2004 returned BVR horse. We bought her from a horse dealer as a yearling. She was extremely thin when we got her but she regained her health quickly. She was adopted out for a year but came back because her adopter had trouble with her training. She is quiet and well halterbroke, needs some work with sacking out, she was nervous of some basic things like rope around her legs, and fence posts. She's good for the farrier. |
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Kara is a beautiful grey mare, born about 2003. She is a return to Bear Valley as she was adopted but she has a lot of fear issues that her adopter was not able to work through. It appears she has a lot more fear of men than women as well. She is halter broke but that's about it. She needs someone that is willing to spend a lot of time starting to just get to know her and taking is very slowly from there. I can now walk up to her and throw a piece of twine around her neck and lead her around, which is quite a lot of progress! |
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Abby is a very pretty sorrel Arab-type mare, born about 2003-4. She foaled a mule baby on April 22nd/08. She's missing the tips of her ears. She was completely unhandled but is now friendly. |
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Gypsy is a beautiful chestnut mare, lovely red colour. She's quiet and halterbroke. She had a foal at side and had been bred back as well. Her first foal, Link, was adopted out and she had her second foal on Oct 11/08 (Donner). She is good for the farrier. |
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Zen is a beautiful palomino Paint mare. She is unhandled, not even halter broke, but is familiar with people. Not sure of her age, maybe born 2003-4. She came with a foal at side in 2007 at auction and was bred back as she foaled again in 2008 (Nightshade is her foal from this year and Pearl is the foal from last year). She finally will take treats from my hand but still is very shy. |