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On May 1, San Diego Humane Society served a search warrant on Villa Chardonnay, an animal sanctuary in Julian. This became the largest animal neglect case in the history of the organization. On June 24, six of the horses rescued by San Diego Humane Society were transferred to our care. Two additional horses arrived on June 28.

The group included a bonded trio of blind geldings who needed to stay together, a mare with significant ringbone and a mare and gelding with suspected laminitis. A bonded pair of blind Belgians arrived separately. All of these horses require specialized care.

Unfortunately, the happiness of this announcement is accompanied by tremendous heartache. During quarantine, we were unable to successfully manage the buckskin gelding's pain. X-rays, accompanied by the collaborative evaluation of our veterinarian, Dr. Rivett, and two talented farriers, confirmed that the only option for Buck was to end his pain with humane euthanasia.

In spite of this painful loss, we are honored to welcome these seven brave souls to Horses of Tir Na Nog. All of them deserve proper care, safety, and compassion after such a long journey of neglect. 

The new residents have been doing very well. Five of them have found sponsors and names.

The three blind geldings are Aladdin, Genie, and Abu. These boys now reside next to our Burro Brigade. They are very bonded and spend every day by each other’s sides. They love people and are very curious of their new neighbors. 

We were worried that Aladdin and Genie may have had Cushing's Disease, but we are happy to report that they their bloodwork showed no signs of Cushing's.

Genie, the palomino draft cross, does have insulin resistance. We are starting him on a medication called Ertugliflozin. This will be our first time using this medication. We are hoping to see good results for Genie. Keep an eye out for updates on his progress.

The Belgian mare is named Ronnie. She and the Belgian gelding are corral-mates with Bubba, their new "seeing-eye" horse. Ronnie was very underweight when she first arrived. Though she has muscle loss on her right side, she has gained a significant amount of weight and we are so happy to see her progress. 

The bay mare has been named Mary Roberta. She has Navicular disease. It is a degenerative condition that causes chronic forelimb lameness. Despite this diagnosis, Mary has been thriving. We are able to manage her comfort with medication and farrier care.

The golden Palomino has moved in with Windansea and the two have become good friends. Though next door neighbor Phoenix is certainly jealous of the attention they have for each other. Despite the Palomino's advanced ringbone, she is living comfortably thanks to medication and farrier support.

It is thanks to you that we are providing lifelong care for these new arrivals. You are the heroes of this story and we are so fortunate to welcome these amazing horses to our sanctuary. THANK YOU!