Bear Valley Rescue

Bear Valley Rescue: Available Foster Horses

These horses are looking for temporary or permanent foster homes that are willing to provide the extra special
care they need. Care expenses can also be tax-receipted. Check out the sponsors and benefactors page for a list
of current sponsors.

Please email or call if you are interested in sponsoring or fostering one of these special horses.
Please note that these are horses that require special care or are best as companion animals only.
None of these mares will be fostered for breeding!

- Please Contact BVR for more information.
- Please click here to learn about fostering a horse.
- To see the horses who have found foster homes, click here.

Red is a 2008 sorrel QH gelding. He has a crooked front leg and is a bit club-footed on his bad side as well. We're trying a dyna-splint on him, see if it'll straighten out at all. He gets around fine now, though he may develop some arthritis in his bad knee when he gets older. He is well halter broke and nice to handle, very friendly.
Storm is a big bay gelding, over 30 years old. He was given to us by his owner because they were moving out of the country. We were quite shocked though at his condition when we picked him up. He was very thin, probably has poor teeth and so many people don't realize that older horses need special feed if they're not able to keep weight on eating hay in the winter. He's on mash now and his condition has improved a lot. He sure loves his mash!
Toby is a cute little paint gelding, born about 2002. He has a sway back. He is supposed to be broke to ride, Meaghan sat on him and he seemed okay but he'll still need to be evaluated some more. He is quite flat-footed on his fronts, but he's improved with some proper trimming.
*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Kiwi is a gorgeous reg. QH filly, born Jan, 2008. She was born blind however. She is very nicely halterbroke, picks up her feet, knows some voice and touch commands. I really have to commend her breeders for taking the time to handle her and teach her. So many horses' lives would be better if they were properly handled from a young age. We will have her eyes looked at, as they are so atrophied that they are quite runny and may have to be removed so they don't cause her discomfort.
*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Gypsy#3 is a 3 year old underweight black filly. She is shy, probably hasn't had anything done with her, though she is halterbroke. She has very bad arthritis, probably genetic, in her knee. She is pregnant, so we're doing what we can to keep her as comfortable as possible, but unfortunately there's so much damage to her knee already that we'll most likely have to put her down once her foal is weaned in the fall. *UPDATE May 1/10 - Gypsy foaled this morning, a pretty little bay filly!
Fox is a mare we purchased at auction several years ago. She was pregnant at the time, and they brought her through the auction with a saddle on, but no rider, which was a pretty good indication that she was probably not well broke! She had a healthy foal (Koko), who was adopted out to a great home. Fox has been adopted out a couple of times but keeps coming back, as she is just not quiet and trusting enough to be a good riding horse. So now she'll be available only as a companion horse, she is very nice though it takes a lot to gain her trust even on the ground. With her build and big feet, she may even be a wildie.
Rebel is a 6 year old dark brown QH gelding. He has a bone chip in one foot that occassionally causes lameness so he's not sound for riding. He is halter-broke, quite, nice to handle.
Joanie is a pretty buckskin mare. She was an ASPCA seizure as she was extremely underweight and had just had a foal, and also had a serious injury to her back leg that had not been treated (She is from the same place as Pepper). She spent 4 months at a treatment clinic where at first they were just trying to keep her going long enough for her foal to be old enough to be weaned (at 2 months), at which point they were going to put her down as she was not responding well to treatment and she was hard to handle. Mike convinced them to give her another chance and fortunately she improved enough both in treatment and handling that they decided to not have her put down. Now that her foal has been weaned (and adopted by someone at the clinic), we have Joanie here to continue treating her leg. Her hooves are in bad shape and she was underweight but she is quite friendly now and we hope at some point she'll be well enough to be adopted out. I'm not sure of her age.
Cosmo is an older roan gelding we bought at auction. He is back from his foster home for the winter as he has trouble keeping weight on during the winter. He is a real sweetheart but has navicular or arthritis in his front feet and is on bute suspension which really seems to help.
*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Rain is a 4 year old reg. QH filly, born here at Bear Valley to our rescue Lady (see Rainbow Bridge page). Rain was adopted out as a weanling and suffered a serious injury to her shoulder as a two year old and was returned to Bear Valley as a three year old. She has been out on pasture since coming back and has become almost sound. She has a lot of scar tissue built up in her shoulder. She is looking for that special foster person who would be willing to take the time to work with her shoulder, stretching and massaging, which may with time improve her soundness and make her suitable for light riding. She is halter broke and nice to handle.
*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Buddy is an old (28-30 yrs old) appy gelding, with cataracts in both eyes. He might be able to see a little bit, but not much. Also he is a bit deaf. He is very sweet though, loves to be scratched. Buddy will be a permanent resident here as it would be too stressful for him, due to his poor eyesight, to be moved.

*ADOPTED - Thanks Maria!* Sonata is a draft/paint cross mare, 4 years old, bred for a 2010 foal. She seems quite skittish but she is supposed to have 30 days riding on her. She has one blue eye, is very strongly built but not that tall, about 15 hands. Once her 2010 foal is weaned she will be available for adoption.

Bennie was rescued by our farrier, she purchased him at the auction. He was extremely underweight, one of the worst cases we've seen, and had pneumonia. He's older, mid-twenties perhaps, supposed to be well broke (they actually had a saddle on him with 2 kids riding him at the auction) but when they're this bad they wouldn't have the energy to be anything else! He was also infested with lice. Now that his health has improved we were able to get his teeth floated. No wonder he was so thin, he only has 4 of the 12 molars he should have in his bottom jaw. He is very sweet and really looks forward to his mash. He probably had an injury to his neck at some point, he has quite a stiff muscle-mass in his neck and you can see from his pictures that he tends to turn his head towards you but he doesn't bend his neck. We believe Bennie suffered a stroke over the winter of 2009-2010, but he seems back to normal (normal for Bennie!), though he now appears to be developing a cataract in one eye, which may be from the stroke.

Cash, (Give Her Cash), is a registered QH mare, 24 year old granddaughter of Dash for Cash. She had 6 races herself as a youngster. She has arthritis in her knees and she's now getting acupuncture which really is helping a lot.

Cracker, (Dewy Dot San), is a 30 year old registered QH mare. She's very quiet and friendly but has arthritis. A really nice old girl. She's getting acupuncture for her arthritis and it's really helping.

*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER - Thanks Ashley & Dan! Sally is an older (mid twenties?) palomino QH mare. She is very nice, quiet, broke, but has a pinched nerve or something in her back that is aggravated if she is ridden.

Satin(#2) is a beautiful black yearling filly, half Qh/half paint. She had a serious barb-wire injury to one front foot as a weanling. Her hoof is quite deformed so she'll need continuous farrier work as she grows. She had a bit of infection in it and was favouring it quite a bit but she seems much better now and with some work she may end up okay. She is quiet, halterbroke, friendly. She's been trimmed a number of times now and her hoof is starting to improve in shape.

Slinky is a yearling mule. She has some issue with her back or hind end, exhibits some weakness. She used to lie down quite a bit and had trouble getting up, but this winter she seems to have improved immensely. She'll probably never be ridable but she is very sweet and has a lovely face! She will take treats but is very cautious. I've been working with her a bit lately and now she'll let me pet her all over. Once she's halter broke we'll have a chiropractor or the vet check out her back.

*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Reba (Jim Jim Reba) is a reg. QH mare, came from Washington through the auctions. Her foal is Meeko on the adoption page. Reba is very shy, not used to being handled, though she is halterbroke if you can get the halter on her. She is not used to have her feet trimmed either, so they're not in very good shape. She will finally take treats from me and come to me and I can even walk up to her and catch her, sometimes.

*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER* Biscuit 6 yr old Thoroughbred bay gelding. He has a badly swayed back (genetic), but is friendly and quiet. Only just halterbroke, he needs more work with picking up feet, etc, but he's a nice horse to be around.

*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER - Thanks Ashley & Dan! Lucky #2 is a 25 yr old bay gelding. He is well broke and quiet, very friendly. He has a lump at his throat that is a thyroid condition. His teeth were a mess, we've had 3 pulled but they're all really bad and he's had more dental work. He requires a mash diet as the teeth he does have left don't meet up in his mouth. We found out from a previous owner that he is a reg. Arab.

Monkey is a nice quiet little 3 year old sorrel gelding, registered AQHA. He had a bad run-in with barbed wire as a yearling and seriously injured his hind leg. He is healing slowly. He is very nice to handle due to all the care he's required during his recovery. For the first year that we had him, we wrapped his leg continuously and finally got rid of all the proud-flesh that he had. Now we're going to leave his leg unwrapped and see how he does.

*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER - Thanks Stacey! Raffy is a nice tall 3 year old AQHA registered gelding. He has been halterbroke and is friendly but requires some more groundwork. He has a deformity in one hind pastern so may never be sound, though as he grows and his bones fuse he may become sound enough for some very light riding. It certainly doesn't slow him down when he's galloping around the pasture. May/10 - UPDATE - Raffy has gone out for a couple of months to be worked with! - He's doing really well, picks up his feet now!

Dru is an 20 year old Thoroughbred mare (registered as 'Drouilly's Girl'). She is nice to handle but a little shy, loves to be brushes. She was raced as a 2-3 year old. Dru was pregnant when we bought her at auction by bidding against the meat buyer. Sadly she lost her beautiful foal Eddie on June 14/08.

*FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER - Thanks Ashley & Dan! Pet is a beautiful 33 year old registered palomino Quarter Horse mare, goes back to Kilobar and King Leo Bar on her sire's side. She
is too old for riding but is very sweet. She needs extra care because she doesn't have much left in the way of teeth. Due to her age Pet is another one that will remain at Bear Valley. Thanks Nancy for 'virtual fostering' Pet!

	Red is a 2008 sorrel QH gelding. He has a crooked front leg and is a bit club-footed on his bad side as well. We're trying a dyna-splint on him, see if it'll straighten out at all. He gets around fine now, though he may develop some arthritis in his bad knee when he gets older. He is well halter broke and nice to handle, very friendly.
	Storm is a big bay gelding, over 30 years old. He was given to us by his owner because they were moving out of the country. We were quite shocked though at his condition when we picked him up. He was very thin, probably has poor teeth and so many people don't realize that older horses need special feed if they're not able to keep weight on eating hay in the winter. He's on mash now and his condition has improved a lot. He sure loves his mash!
	Toby is a cute little paint gelding, born about 2002. He has a sway back. He is supposed to be broke to ride, Meaghan sat on him and he seemed okay but he'll still need to be evaluated some more. He is quite flat-footed on his fronts, but he's improved with some proper trimming.
	FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER Kiwi is a gorgeous reg. QH filly, born Jan, 2008. She was born blind however. She is very nicely halterbroke, picks up her feet, knows some voice and touch commands. I really have to commend her breeders for taking the time to handle her and teach her. So many horses' lives would be better if they were properly handled from a young age. We will have her eyes looked at, as they are so atrophied that they are quite runny and may have to be removed so they don't cause her discomfort.
	FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER Gypsy#3 is a 3 year old underweight black filly. She is shy, probably hasn't had anything done with her, though she is halterbroke. She has very bad arthritis, probably genetic, in her knee. She is pregnant, so we're doing what we can to keep her as comfortable as possible, but unfortunately there's so much damage to her knee already that we'll most likely have to put her down once her foal is weaned in the fall. *UPDATE May 1/10 - Gypsy foaled this morning, a pretty little bay filly!
	Fox is a mare we purchased at auction several years ago. She was pregnant at the time, and they brought her through the auction with a saddle on, but no rider, which was a pretty good indication that she was probably not well broke! She had a healthy foal (Koko), who was adopted out to a great home. Fox has been adopted out a couple of times but keeps coming back, as she is just not quiet and trusting enough to be a good riding horse. So now she'll be available only as a companion horse, she is very nice though it takes a lot to gain her trust even on the ground. With her build and big feet, she may even be a wildie.
	Rebel is a 6 year old dark brown QH gelding. He has a bone chip in one foot that occassionally causes lameness so he's not sound for riding. He is halter-broke, quite, nice to handle.
	Joanie is a pretty buckskin mare. She was an ASPCA seizure as she was extremely underweight and had just had a foal, and also had a serious injury to her back leg that had not been treated (She is from the same place as Pepper). She spent 4 months at a treatment clinic where at first they were just trying to keep her going long enough for her foal to be old enough to be weaned (at 2 months), at which point they were going to put her down as she was not responding well to treatment and she was hard to handle. Mike convinced them to give her another chance and fortunately she improved enough both in treatment and handling that they decided to not have her put down. Now that her foal has been weaned (and adopted by someone at the clinic), we have Joanie here to continue treating her leg. Her hooves are in bad shape and she was underweight but she is quite friendly now and we hope at some point she'll be well enough to be adopted out. I'm not sure of her age.
	Cosmo is an older roan gelding we bought at auction. He is back from his foster home for the winter as he has trouble keeping weight on during the winter. He is a real sweetheart but has navicular or arthritis in his front feet and is on bute suspension which really seems to help.
	FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER Rain is a 4 year old reg. QH filly, born here at Bear Valley to our rescue Lady (see Rainbow Bridge page). Rain was adopted out as a weanling and suffered a serious injury to her shoulder as a two year old and was returned to Bear Valley as a three year old. She has been out on pasture since coming back and has become almost sound. She has a lot of scar tissue built up in her shoulder. She is looking for that special foster person who would be willing to take the time to work with her shoulder, stretching and massaging, which may with time improve her soundness and make her suitable for light riding. She is halter broke and nice to handle.
	FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER Buddy is an old (28-30 yrs old) appy gelding, with cataracts in both eyes. He might be able to see a little bit, but not much. Also he is a bit deaf. He is very sweet though, loves to be scratched. Buddy will be a permanent resident here as it would be too stressful for him, due to his poor eyesight, to be moved.
	ADOPTED - Thanks Maria! Sonata is a draft/paint cross mare, 4 years old, bred for a 2010 foal. She seems quite skittish but she is supposed to have 30 days riding on her. She has one blue eye, is very strongly built but not that tall, about 15 hands. Once her 2010 foal is weaned she will be available for adoption.
	Bennie was rescued by our farrier, she purchased him at the auction. He was extremely underweight, one of the worst cases we've seen, and had pneumonia. He's older, mid-twenties perhaps, supposed to be well broke (they actually had a saddle on him with 2 kids riding him at the auction) but when they're this bad they wouldn't have the energy to be anything else! He was also infested with lice. Now that his health has improved we were able to get his teeth floated. No wonder he was so thin, he only has 4 of the 12 molars he should have in his bottom jaw. He is very sweet and really looks forward to his mash. He probably had an injury to his neck at some point, he has quite a stiff muscle-mass in his neck and you can see from his pictures that he tends to turn his head towards you but he doesn't bend his neck. We believe Bennie suffered a stroke over the winter of 2009-2010, but he seems back to normal (normal for Bennie!), though he now appears to be developing a cataract in one eye, which may be from the stroke.
	Cash, (Give Her Cash), is a registered QH mare, 24 year old granddaughter of Dash for Cash. She had 6 races herself as a youngster. She has arthritis in her knees and she's now getting acupuncture which really is helping a lot.
	Cracker, (Dewy Dot San), is a 30 year old registered QH mare. She's very quiet and friendly but has arthritis. A really nice old girl. She's getting acupuncture for her arthritis and it's really helping.
	FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER - Thanks Ashley & Dan! Sally* is an older (mid twenties?) palomino QH mare. She is very nice, quiet, broke, but has a pinched nerve or something in her back that is aggravated if she is ridden.
	Satin(#2) is a beautiful black yearling filly, half Qh/half paint. She had a serious barb-wire injury to one front foot as a weanling. Her hoof is quite deformed so she'll need continuous farrier work as she grows. She had a bit of infection in it and was favouring it quite a bit but she seems much better now and with some work she may end up okay. She is quiet, halterbroke, friendly. She's been trimmed a number of times now and her hoof is starting to improve in shape.
	Slinky is a yearling mule. She has some issue with her back or hind end, exhibits some weakness. She used to lie down quite a bit and had trouble getting up, but this winter she seems to have improved immensely. She'll probably never be ridable but she is very sweet and has a lovely face! She will take treats but is very cautious. I've been working with her a bit lately and now she'll let me pet her all over. Once she's halter broke we'll have a chiropractor or the vet check out her back.
	FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER Reba (Jim Jim Reba) is a reg. QH mare, came from Washington through the auctions. Her foal is Meeko on the adoption page. Reba is very shy, not used to being handled, though she is halterbroke if you can get the halter on her. She is not used to have her feet trimmed either, so they're not in very good shape. She will finally take treats from me and come to me and I can even walk up to her and catch her, sometimes.
	FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER Biscuit 6 yr old Thoroughbred bay gelding. He has a badly swayed back (genetic), but is friendly and quiet. Only just halterbroke, he needs more work with picking up feet, etc, but he's a nice horse to be around.
	FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER - Thanks Ashley & Dan! Lucky #2* is a 25 yr old bay gelding. He is well broke and quiet, very friendly. He has a lump at his throat that is a thyroid condition. His teeth were a mess, we've had 3 pulled but they're all really bad and he's had more dental work. He requires a mash diet as the teeth he does have left don't meet up in his mouth. We found out from a previous owner that he is a reg. Arab.
	Monkey is a nice quiet little 3 year old sorrel gelding, registered AQHA. He had a bad run-in with barbed wire as a yearling and seriously injured his hind leg. He is healing slowly. He is very nice to handle due to all the care he's required during his recovery. For the first year that we had him, we wrapped his leg continuously and finally got rid of all the proud-flesh that he had. Now we're going to leave his leg unwrapped and see how he does.
	FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER - Thanks Stacey! Raffy* is a nice tall 3 year old AQHA registered gelding. He has been halterbroke and is friendly but requires some more groundwork. He has a deformity in one hind pastern so may never be sound, though as he grows and his bones fuse he may become sound enough for some very light riding. It certainly doesn't slow him down when he's galloping around the pasture. May/10 - UPDATE - Raffy has gone out for a couple of months to be worked with! - He's doing really well, picks up his feet now!
	Dru is an 20 year old Thoroughbred mare (registered as 'Drouilly's Girl'). She is nice to handle but a little shy, loves to be brushes. She was raced as a 2-3 year old. Dru was pregnant when we bought her at auction by bidding against the meat buyer. Sadly she lost her beautiful foal Eddie on June 14/08.
	FOSTERED FOR THE SUMMER - Thanks Ashley & Dan! Pet* is a beautiful 33 year old registered palomino Quarter Horse mare, goes back to Kilobar and King Leo Bar on her sire's side. She is too old for riding but is very sweet. She needs extra care because she doesn't have much left in the way of teeth. Due to her age Pet is another one that will remain at Bear Valley. Thanks Nancy for 'virtual fostering' Pet!