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 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.

- To see the horses who have found foster homes, click here.

Saffron is a pretty little red & white bald-face weanling filly. She has a small umbilical hernia that we will have banded. She has crooked legs but we hope she will straighten out some as she grows.

Mercy is a little bay filly with very crooked front legs. Like the filly above we hope she will straighten out a bit.

Zaz is a middle-aged Arabian gelding who was surrendered to us by his owner. He is very friendly and quiet, broke to ride, but he does have lameness issues in his left front foot which prevent him from being ridden.

Cecil is a purebred QH gelding. We purchased him at auction as a weanling. Cecil was a bilateral cryptorchid, meaning neither testicle dropped, so he had to undergo major surgery to be gelded. Cecil also suffers from moonblindness which is an autoimmune disease. Because we've been able to treat his moonblindness quickly, he hasn't had any permanent scarring in his eyes. Stress seems to be a major trigger for his moonblindness. He has had 1 major and 2 minor episodes. Cecil is very quiet and friendly, has grown into a nice tall boy and would still make a good riding horse for someone willing to put the time into him.

Minx is a very cute, flashy young mare. She is unfortunately genetically unsound in her front feet. She makes a really nice pasture ornament but she is quite feisty however!

Tilly is a dark bay TB mare, born about 1997. We purchased her from a breeder in 2011 to prevent her going to auction. She was pregnant, bred to a paint stallion and she foaled out on June 7th (see Angel on adoption page). She has an old injury to one back leg that has left quite a scar but it doesn't bother her. She is halterbroke.

Graycey is a pretty grey and white paint mare, born about 2002, from the same situation as Tilly. She was pregnant, bred to a cremello QH stud. Her foal, Sabre, has already been adopted. Graycey also has an old injury to one back leg that has some proud flesh, though it doesn't bother her.

Sarcee is a Thoroughbred mare, registered name Exclusive Victory. She was surrendered to us a number of years ago by an outfitting company because she had a serious injury to her back leg. With the help of a couple of good fosterhomes, her leg healed up and she was adopted out. However in 2011 she started to have trouble with stocking up, in the same leg as her previous injury, so she was returned to Bear Valley.

**SPONSORED BY SHARON NEARY** Red is an older (mid-late 20's) hanoverian gelding. He is healthy and sound, but he does have a tracheotomy. It doesn't require any special upkeep though he does sound a little strange when he runs, snorts or whinnies! Old Red also has a bladder control issue.

Farrah is a pretty 2008 palomino QH filly. She had joint ill as a foal and it manifested in her feet as she got older. Her one front foot it quite badly foundered though her other feet have managed to recover quite well. She needs regular farrier work on her bad foot. She is a bit shy but halterbroke and good for the farrier.

Lexus is a big bay Thoroughbred mare, born 1994. She was a broodmare and was never raced. She is very friendly, halterbroke, good for the farrier.

Raffy is a nice tall 2006 AQHA registered gelding. We purchased Raffy as a 2 year old from a breeder to prevent him being sent to auction (and subsequently, slaughter). He has a crooked back foot and is not sound so may not be suitable for riding at all. Raffy was out on foster for the summer of 2010, where he learned to lead better and stand tied, to enjoy being groomed and have his feet handled and trimmed. He learned spray bottles aren't so scary, and that if he walks on a tarp it won't swallow him. He learned he gets fed treats inside the trailer and that if he's naughty he gets put to work on the lunge line. He does favor that twisted right hind, some days more than others, but not in a severe way.

Lilly is a 2008 sorrel filly that came in as an owner surrender in 2010. She is very friendly but hasn't had much handling yet. She was a bit knock-kneed in front but is filling out and straightening up a bit as she grows. With training she would still be suitable for light riding.

Tivio is a beautiful 3 yr old registered QH filly purchased at auction in 2010. She is not sound though we don't know yet what her issue is. She was pregnant when we bought her at auction and she foaled May 8th, 2011 - Sterling her foal is on the available horses page. She is very friendly and nice to handle.

Red is a 2008 sorrel QH gelding, an owner surrender. He has a crooked front leg and is a bit club-footed on his bad side as well. We tried a dyna-splint on him, but he was already too old for it to make a difference. 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.

Toby is a cute little paint gelding, born about 2002 that came in as an owner surrender in 2009. He has a sway back (genetic). 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.

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 have some wildie stock in her.

Joanie is a pretty buckskin mare. She was an ASPCA seizure in 2009. 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 (Pepper, who has since been adopted, is from the same seizure). 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. After her foal was weaned (and adopted by someone at the clinic), we brought Joanie here to continue treating her leg. Her hooves were 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. We've even been able to trim her hooves now. I'm not sure of her age.

Cosmo is a well-broke, older roan gelding we bought at auction in 2007 by bidding against the meat buyer. He is a real sweetheart! He has a bit of a thyroid issue and needs extra feed to keep his weight on in the winter, and has navicular or arthritis in his front feet which makes him sore some days.

Rain is a reg. QH filly, born here at Bear Valley in 2005 to our on of our first rescues, Lady, a QH PMU mare (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 and 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. She also had trailer-loading issues that she has now overcome.

Biscuit is a 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.

Monkey is a nice quiet little 2007 sorrel gelding, registered AQHA. He had a bad run-in with barbed wire as a yearling and seriously injured his hind leg. His previous owner surrendered him because she wasn't able to deal with his injury. 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 developed. Now, after 3 years, he's finally pretty well healed up in that leg. Unfortunately he did develop ringbone as a compensation injury to his other hind pastern.

Sasha is a beautiful paint mare (registerd name Im Extra Special) who was a broodmare. She was purchased and donated to the rescue in 2008 to prevent her going to slaughter. She is quite shy and is not sound.

Dru is a Thoroughbred mare (registered as 'Drouilly's Girl') born in 1991. We purchased her at auction in 2007 by outbidding the meat buyer. She is nice to handle but a little shy, loves to be brushed. She was also raced as a 2-3 year old. Dru was pregnant when we bought her at auction but sadly she lost her beautiful foal Eddie on June 14/08.

	Saffron is a pretty little red & white bald-face weanling filly. She has a small umbilical hernia that we will have banded. She has crooked legs but we hope she will straighten out some as she grows.
	Mercy is a little bay filly with very crooked front legs. Like the filly above we hope she will straighten out a bit.
	Zaz is a middle-aged Arabian gelding who was surrendered to us by his owner. He is very friendly and quiet, broke to ride, but he does have lameness issues in his left front foot which prevent him from being ridden.
	Cecil is a purebred QH gelding. We purchased him at auction as a weanling. Cecil was a bilateral cryptorchid, meaning neither testicle dropped, so he had to undergo major surgery to be gelded. Cecil also suffers from moonblindness which is an autoimmune disease. Because we've been able to treat his moonblindness quickly, he hasn't had any permanent scarring in his eyes. Stress seems to be a major trigger for his moonblindness. He has had 1 major and 2 minor episodes. Cecil is very quiet and friendly, has grown into a nice tall boy and would still make a good riding horse for someone willing to put the time into him.
	Minx is a very cute, flashy young mare. She is unfortunately genetically unsound in her front feet. She makes a really nice pasture ornament but she is quite feisty however!
	Tilly is a dark bay TB mare, born about 1997. We purchased her from a breeder in 2011 to prevent her going to auction. She was pregnant, bred to a paint stallion and she foaled out on June 7th (see Angel on adoption page). She has an old injury to one back leg that has left quite a scar but it doesn't bother her. She is halterbroke.
	Graycey is a pretty grey and white paint mare, born about 2002, from the same situation as Tilly. She was pregnant, bred to a cremello QH stud. Her foal, Sabre, has already been adopted. Graycey also has an old injury to one back leg that has some proud flesh, though it doesn't bother her.
	Sarcee is a Thoroughbred mare, registered name Exclusive Victory. She was surrendered to us a number of years ago by an outfitting company because she had a serious injury to her back leg. With the help of a couple of good fosterhomes, her leg healed up and she was adopted out. However in 2011 she started to have trouble with stocking up, in the same leg as her previous injury, so she was returned to Bear Valley.
	SPONSORED BY SHARON NEARY Red is an older (mid-late 20's) hanoverian gelding. He is healthy and sound, but he does have a tracheotomy. It doesn't require any special upkeep though he does sound a little strange when he runs, snorts or whinnies! Old Red also has a bladder control issue.
	Farrah is a pretty 2008 palomino QH filly. She had joint ill as a foal and it manifested in her feet as she got older. Her one front foot it quite badly foundered though her other feet have managed to recover quite well. She needs regular farrier work on her bad foot. She is a bit shy but halterbroke and good for the farrier.
	Lexus is a big bay Thoroughbred mare, born 1994. She was a broodmare and was never raced. She is very friendly, halterbroke, good for the farrier.
	Raffy is a nice tall 2006 AQHA registered gelding. We purchased Raffy as a 2 year old from a breeder to prevent him being sent to auction (and subsequently, slaughter). He has a crooked back foot and is not sound so may not be suitable for riding at all. Raffy was out on foster for the summer of 2010, where he learned to lead better and stand tied, to enjoy being groomed and have his feet handled and trimmed. He learned spray bottles aren't so scary, and that if he walks on a tarp it won't swallow him. He learned he gets fed treats inside the trailer and that if he's naughty he gets put to work on the lunge line. He does favor that twisted right hind, some days more than others, but not in a severe way.
	Lilly is a 2008 sorrel filly that came in as an owner surrender in 2010. She is very friendly but hasn't had much handling yet. She was a bit knock-kneed in front but is filling out and straightening up a bit as she grows. With training she would still be suitable for light riding.
	Tivio is a beautiful 3 yr old registered QH filly purchased at auction in 2010. She is not sound though we don't know yet what her issue is. She was pregnant when we bought her at auction and she foaled May 8th, 2011 - Sterling her foal is on the available horses page. She is very friendly and nice to handle.
	Red is a 2008 sorrel QH gelding, an owner surrender. He has a crooked front leg and is a bit club-footed on his bad side as well. We tried a dyna-splint on him, but he was already too old for it to make a difference. 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.
	Toby is a cute little paint gelding, born about 2002 that came in as an owner surrender in 2009. He has a sway back (genetic). 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.
	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 have some wildie stock in her.
	Joanie is a pretty buckskin mare. She was an ASPCA seizure in 2009. 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 (Pepper, who has since been adopted, is from the same seizure). 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. After her foal was weaned (and adopted by someone at the clinic), we brought Joanie here to continue treating her leg. Her hooves were 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. We've even been able to trim her hooves now. I'm not sure of her age.
	Cosmo is a well-broke, older roan gelding we bought at auction in 2007 by bidding against the meat buyer. He is a real sweetheart! He has a bit of a thyroid issue and needs extra feed to keep his weight on in the winter, and has navicular or arthritis in his front feet which makes him sore some days.
	Rain is a reg. QH filly, born here at Bear Valley in 2005 to our on of our first rescues, Lady, a QH PMU mare (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 and 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. She also had trailer-loading issues that she has now overcome.
	Biscuit is a 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.
	Monkey is a nice quiet little 2007 sorrel gelding, registered AQHA. He had a bad run-in with barbed wire as a yearling and seriously injured his hind leg. His previous owner surrendered him because she wasn't able to deal with his injury. 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 developed. Now, after 3 years, he's finally pretty well healed up in that leg. Unfortunately he did develop ringbone as a compensation injury to his other hind pastern.
	Sasha is a beautiful paint mare (registerd name Im Extra Special) who was a broodmare. She was purchased and donated to the rescue in 2008 to prevent her going to slaughter. She is quite shy and is not sound.
	Dru is a Thoroughbred mare (registered as 'Drouilly's Girl') born in 1991. We purchased her at auction in 2007 by outbidding the meat buyer. She is nice to handle but a little shy, loves to be brushed. She was also raced as a 2-3 year old. Dru was pregnant when we bought her at auction but sadly she lost her beautiful foal Eddie on June 14/08.