Rescued horse gets second chance at the good life
Published: July 10, 2007
It’s been almost a year since Ugly Betty was taken to the slaughter auction in Brush. Her teeth were in bad shape, her hooves were overgrown and she was severely underweight.
Then Ugly Betty got a lucky break.
If you saw the brown filly today, she’s wearing a shiny coat and new shoes, and her weight has increased to show her curves off better.
Ugly Betty even got a new name — Ninna. Now Ninna lives in rural Kersey with three other horses, where her new owners are taking care of her, and she’s much happier than before.
“She wasn’t active enough when we first got her,” said Carol Bishop of Evans. “Now, she kicks up her feet in the pen and runs with her head and tail up high. She looks like she’s flying.”
Bishop got Ninna from Carrie Terroux of Greeley, who offered a free rescue horse in the Tribune’s classifieds ads.
Terroux said she rescued the horse from the Brush slaughter auction by outbidding the slaughter buyer and taking the horse home for $15. Terroux took care of Ninna for several months and gave her the temporary name Arkansas while the horse gained weight. Her name followed another horse she had rescued from a Weld County farm, named Mississippi.
Once the brown filly started to improve in health, Terroux set out to find her a good home.
“She’s such a sweet girl,” said Terroux. “But she’ll never be a good riding horse because she’s so small.”
Eventually, she ran across a family who had the ability to take care of the horse. But hard times hit the family and they asked Terroux to take the horse back.
Again, the horse was without a permanent place to stay. That’s when Bishop came into the picture.
“I saw her in the pen, and I said, ‘My God, why couldn’t someone help out that horse,’ ” she said. “Her front feet were turned out where she was almost walking flat-footed.”
Since she’s been placed with the Bishop family, she’s improved dramatically.
Ninna was given her name by Bishop’s five grandchildren, because it sounds like Bishop’s nickname, Nana.
The horse used to be skittish, but that’s improving too.
“At first, she wouldn’t load in the horse trailer,” Bishop said. “And then she wouldn’t let us lift her feet.”
Bishop said Ninna has gotten to the point where the farrier can work on her feet. Since her hoofs were overgrown, she will be getting a special set of rubber shoes with a wedge on them to help her walk.
She’s being corralled now so she doesn’t run with the other horses and lose the weight she has put on.
On weekends, she is usually groomed by Bishops’ grandchildren or other family members. When they first groomed Ninna, clumps and clumps of hair fell off the horse, said Bishop.
The family is working at fencing off a larger piece of their pasture for Ninna, so she can run more often. But until she puts on more weight, she’ll have to wait.
“She loves running, jumping and being around the other horses,” Bishop said. “This is the last place she’s going. She’ll be here until she’s old and gray.”
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