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. 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. *PLEASE NOTE - Most of the horses that are fostered out on summer pasture are still available for adoption and will be returning to the rescue in the fall. If you are interested in one of these horses we can still make arrangements for you to see the horse. (Click on the thumbnail image to see a larger photograph of each horse)
*July/10 - We've been able to lower most of our adoption fees! Thanks to our many supporters, we no longer have to rely solely on adoption fees (and our own pockets!) for most of our funding. While we would be happy to be able to give the horses away to good homes, we feel that unfortunately when people get something for free they tend to value it less, and we don't want our horses going to homes where people are just looking for a 'free' horse.
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The Herd |
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Hunny is a very pretty dun filly, a nice QH type about 15 hh and 2 - 3 years old, one of 9 ASPCA seizures that we have out of 27 in all that came in together. She had a halter on and was very flighty at first, but I have now been able to remove her halter and she does stand to be petted. She is very friendly now, not headshy, can lead her around a bit with a piece of twine. *UPDATE - July/10 - Hunny has gone out for training. |
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Gus is an older paint gelding, about 16 HH. He was an ASPCA seizure, very underweight. He is probably well broke but he needs to put on some more weight before he can be evaluated. He has scratches quite badly though it is clearing up slowly. He also has exhibited a bit of soreness in one front hoof that will need to be evaluated. |
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Babe is a paint mare that was an ASPCA seizure. A very unfortunate situation in that she was originally abopted out from Bear Valley, she was one of our first horses, a pmu rescue. She doesn't appear to have been worked with at all, was halter broke but probably nothing else. |
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Libby is a bay paint filly, Babe's foal from 2 years ago, also one of the ASPCA seizures, very underweight when she came in. She is unhandled, not even halter broke yet. |
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Zeke is a brown curly gelding, another ASPCA seizure from the same group. He is approachable, though probably never been haltered. He is about 14 hands, 2 years old. |
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This is a black mare from the ASPCA, can be touched but don't know if she's halter broke yet. She doesn't mind being petted now, doesn't seem to know to give to pressure but doesn't mind have a rope around her head. She's a nice Thoroughbred type mare, probably young, maybe 4 or 5 years old. |
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This is a grey arab mare, also from the ASPCA. She can be touched but don't know more about her at this point. |
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Tucker is a big roan gelding from the ASPCA seizure. Doesn't appear to have ever been handled, or else was handled badly, as he runs in the other direction the minute he sees you looking at him! Has a huge matt in his tail that I'm just itching to cut out. |
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Romeo is one more of the ASPCA seizures. He is gorgeous, a very unusual dirty palomino colour with white markings in his coat. He's also a curly horse. He is easy to catch and halter, very well-mannered for a stallion. Doesn't pick up his feet though. He has been gelded and we'll see how he is once the testosterone gets out of his system! |
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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Foxy is a paint/TB cross mare, dark buckskin in colour, not sure of her age yet, probably 6 or 7. She has had 90 days training but was recommended for an experienced rider only, definitely not a children's horse. She is quiet and nice to handle, good with her feet. |
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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Rascal#2 is a registered QH gelding, born 2007. He has had ground work done and some training under saddle. He is very friendly and quiet. |
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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Dalton is a smaller black 2007 gelding. He has had ground work done and some training under saddle. He has one part-blue eye and is friendly. |
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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Apache is a gorgeous 5 year old black and white paint gelding. He was adopted out for a year, had a lot of work done on him, knows some tricks, has been saddled and ridden. He is still very green-broke though, needs someone to spend more time on him as he is still nervous in certain situations. |
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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER - Thanks Ashley and Dan! Jigger and Brandy are 2 older (about 18 yrs) miniature horses. Jigger is a dark bay gelding, very friendly. Brandy is a paint mare, shy but still very sweet. |
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**ADOPTED** Ebony Lace is a beautiful 2007 black QH filly. She was rescued from auction by us as a weanling and was adopted out for 2 years. She's come back to the rescue as her adopter moved out of province and couldn't take her. She is very quiet, very friendly. She's green broke, has been to the mountains once. |
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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Shasta#2 is a pretty little paint mare, 5 years old, has 30 days training on her (or so we have been told). She is very friendly and quiet, about 14.2 - 14.3 HH. |
 | Millie is a cute little sorrel filly, born 2009. She was rescued by someone when she was weaned too soon and sent straight to the auction, where only the meat buyer was bidding on her. She was fearful, especially of men, and will need a lot of patient work to get her over that. She is healthy and doing nicely, is halterbroke, has settled down a lot, is not nearly as flighty as she was. We've been able to trim her feet now too. |
 | *FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* - Thanks Steve and Patti! Misty is a 3 ro 4 year old sorrel filly. She is very underweight but is friendly. Don't know yet what, if any, work she's had done with her. Misty and Gypsy (on the foster page) came from a divorce situation, where the husband decided he'd feed 'his' horses, but not 'hers'. Misty is probably pregnant. *Update Apr 24/10 - Misty had a healthy foal this morning! His name is Winston, he's an appaloosa colt, sorrel with a blanket on his bum. Very cute! |
 | Zahara is a pretty Arab/warmblood cross 2008 sorrel filly. She is very friendly but not handled much (if at all) at this point. Her feet are in bad need of a trim and she was a little underweight. She is fairly tall for her age. |
 | Sheba is an Arab bay mare, about 8 years old. She's only been a broodmare, hasn't had much else done with her. She's a bit fearful and can be disrespectful of your space as a result, but once she's haltered she's surprisingly well-mannered. |
 | Saphira is a pretty 2008 Arab bay filly. She probably has not ever been handled, but she's quite friendly now. |
 | Kiki is a 2009 chestnut Arab cross filly. She was an ASPCA seizure. Kiki is very friendly and sweet, she has had her feet trimmed once and she's putting on weight nicely. |
 | **ADOPTED** - Thanks Maria! Senator is a 2 year old dark bay Thoroughbred colt (he went through the auction listed as a filly!). He is an ASPCA seizure, extremely underweight. He is quiet and friendly though, is already close to 16 hands high. He has been gelded. |
 | *FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Emily is Trey's foal. She was born in 2008. She was very crooked when she was born but has straightened out nicely. She does still seem a bit weak in her right hind but should strengthen up as she grows. We believe Sunchild was the stud as Emily has all the appaloosa traits. She's going to be small, about Trey's size (14.2ish). She is very friendly, halterbroke, but has some issues in picking up her back feet, most likely relating to the weakness. Depending on how she grows, she may be moved to the foster page. |
 | Kitch is a very nice appaloosa gelding, born 2007. He is very powerfully built for his age! He is halterbroke and about 15 hands, very friendly. |
 | *FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Min is a chestnut warmblood/Arab cross mare, born 2003. She's about 16 HH, has had 2 months of professional training under saddle, but she is supposed to be quite spirited. She does need her feet trimmed and we'll have to see how she is to handle, though she was good to load and trailer and is very friendly. |
 | *FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Santina is a sorrel Arab mare (born Mar 31/97). Tina is about 14-2 or 14.3 hh, is friendly and loaded and trailered well. She was just a broodmare but is well halter-broke, so would probably be worth trying to start. She has been bred numerous times since she was 2 though, which probably hasn't done her much good (slight sway back). She's supposed to be very well-bred though we didn't get her papers. |
 | Josephine is a belgian cross mare. She was adopted out but returned to the rescue for financial reasons. She was originally one of the 'Gibbons' rescues from a couple of years ago. She came with a foal at side and was also pregnant. Both her foals were since adopted out. As I recall, she used to be quite shy, probably hadn't been handled much but I'm pretty sure she was at least halterbroke. Since coming back she does seem quite shy still but has settled in quickly and will let me approach her already. She came back quite underweight as well, but is looking better every day. Her age is probably somewhere between 10 - 15 years old. |
 | Annie is a pretty buckskin paint mare. She was also 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. |
 | *FOSTERED* Smudge is a 2005 registered solid-coloured grey paint gelding, about 15 HH. We rescued him as a weanling and he was adopted out but came back for financial reasons. He is very nicely built, is halterbroke, trailered well, but he is not broke to ride yet. Also does not pick up his feet, needs a lot of work with that. He is supposed to be very people-friendly and he does seem to be so but he needs to learn some manners as he will intrude in your space if you let him. |
 | *FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER - Thanks Vicki and Daniella! Bogey is a previous Bear Valley rescue returned for financial reasons, born 2004. We originally bought him at auction as a yearling, where they said he was Suffield mustang breeding. He is very handsome, has grown into a nice boy. He's about 15 - 15.1 HH. He is broke to ride but his previous adopter said he has been known to buck with an inexperienced rider. He is well halterbroke and loads and trailers well. Update May/10 - Bogey gone out to foster for the summer to be worked with. |
 | Morley is a BVR rescue who originally came from the auction. He is a 2006 light bay gelding, quite tall, already about 15.2 - 15.3 HH. He's probably at least part thoroughbred, he's
got a slim build and very long legs. He's finally filling out and growing into those legs! Morley is very quiet, halter-broke, nice to handle, leads really well, not at all herd-bound. |
 | *FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* 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 scar. He was very good while we wrapped his leg. |
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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Pepper is a 2006 palomino gelding. He was an ASPCA seizure due to neglect, very thin and still a colt. We had him gelded right away. He was a bit shy but is halter broke and ties. Haven't tried working with his feet yet, though they're not in bad shape considering he's probably never had them done. He was very good to handle for the vet when he was gelded. Pepper has been saddled and sat on once. |
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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Allie (#3) is an appendix QH mare, born 2004. She's just been started, 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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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Rigby is a wildie 2008 dark bay gelding. He is probably going to be not that tall but he's got legs like tree trunks and the biggest knees I've ever seen and he has that wild horse stockiness as well. He was extremely flighty but with a lot a time and patience on the part of our volunteers he has really come a long way. He has been haltered, led and is now very friendly. |
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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Donner is Gypsy's foal, born Oct/08. He is friendly, has been haltered and we've worked with him a bit. He'll be pretty big, is full brother to Gypsy's foal from 2007, Link (picture on 2008 adopted horses page). He has been gelded. |
 | *FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Meeko is a handsome bay roan gelding. He was born to our rescue Reba in 2008. He can be registed as a QH. He was a bit flighty with some attitude, but thanks to our brushing volunteers he's really come a long way, just LOVES to be brushed! He has a really cute baby-doll head. He has been haltered and had his feet trimmed. |
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Nelson is a little 2008 gelding. He was very flighty but has settled in now. He's not very big yet but he has a nice strong build, feathery legs but the tiniest little hooves. He is of wild horse breeding. He has been haltered and led and had his feet trimmed. |
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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* 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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Prism is a nice sorrel 2008 QH colt. We got his papers in the mail a few weeks after the auction, so he is in fact registered. He's been trimmed. Very nice colt, is starting to grow! Prism was a cryptorchid (retained testicle on one side). He's now been gelded. UPDATE - July/10 Prism has gone out to have ground work started. |
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Ellio is a registered sorrel 2008 QH gelding. He's a nice big boy, very quiet, lovely face. Has had his feet trimmed twice now. He's really one of my favourites! UPDATE - July/10 Prism has gone out to have ground work started. |
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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Easy was a smaller yearling bay gelding, probably weaned too young (born June 25th/08, which is pretty late). He is QH/paint cross. Is nice and quiet to handle, has been haltered and trimmed, very 'easy-going'! He's going through a growth spurt so he may end up bigger than I thought. |
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Chet is a nice bay, 2008 QH gelding. He can be registered. The tips of his ears must have frozen off when he was born. He's pretty quiet and friendly, has been trimmed a couple of times. Growing as well, should be over 15 hands. Really likes being brushed! |
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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Cass is a solid bay 2008 filly, grade QH. She's the only one of the youngsters that hasn't been handled at all yet, she was very flighty (climbed the metal gate to get away, the first time we tried deworming her) but over the winter she has settled down a lot, can be petted and touched all over. Another success story as a result of our great volunteers I think! |
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Cecil is a big sorrel 2008 gelding from the same breeder as Jules (who's been adopted). He can be registered with AQHA. Has been trimmed. He's one of the bigger yearlings, will be a nice size. Looks like he may roan out. Cecil had an episode of moon-blindness which may have left some small amount of scarring in his eyes but it doesn't seem to have compromised his vision at all. |
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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Claire is a very sweet little chestnut 2008 filly. She had a very serious injury to her left eye 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. |
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Pup is a chestnut 2008 gelding from the same breeder as Claire. He can be registered with AQHA. Very quiet and friendly, has been haltered, leads, and has had his feet trimmed. Really nice to handle, he was small as a baby but is really growing now. |
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Eclipse is a sorrel gelding, born 2007. He is very beautiful but had never been handled when we got him. He's extremely flighty. UPDATE - July/10 - Eclipse has gone out for training. |
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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Spencer is a beautiful little bay 2008 gelding. He hasn't been worked with much but is friendly. He's had some more handling since he was gelded this spring. |
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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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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* 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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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Raffles is a 2004 returned BVR horse. We bought her from a horse dealer. 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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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Dodge is a gorgeous 2006 AQHA registered sorrel gelding. He had a bad experience (someone 'cowboyed' him) when he was younger and as a result he was very afraid of people. He is now very friendly and pretty quiet. Has had his feet trimmed now too. He was used for a ground work training dvd by Gord Searle, he did very well! |
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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. Don't know much else about her, but she's very shy. Also she's missing the tips of her ears. |
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*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Gypsy is a beautiful chestnut mare, lovely red colour. She's quiet and halterbroke, but we don't know much else about her. 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 has had her feet done and was good for that. |
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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. |
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Shay is a TB/QH cross bay filly, probably born 2005ish. She is halterbroke but had a lot of fear issues - no aggressiveness but definitely scared of something. It took several months before she'd take a treat from me. She has had some work done with her now, she's had her feet trimmed. She was very shy on her off side but we worked through it and she's much less fearful now. I can walk up to her and catch her without too much trouble, she listens well, knows 'stand' now. She's a nice compact little horse with fine legs and good feet. |