'Joe'

Joe was one of our first rescues.  We purchased him in Feb, 2004, for 35 cents per pound, from a local horse feedlot where he was going to be shipped to slaughter.  When we first got him we thought he was very old  and we were going to bring him home so he could die in peace.   It turned out, after an examination by our vet, that Joe was in fact only about 2 years old, but he'd obviously had a very rough start to his life.  He had been gelded so brutally that he had lumps of scar tissue in his groin.  At some point he'd had a string left tied around his neck which resulted in a permanent white scar.  He had a pretty serious scar on his bag leg from an injury.  He also had edema in his chest from fluid build-up around his heart.    It was a battle to get Joe back to health but within a year he was doing very well.  Tragically, with all the neglect in his past and his health issues, Joe was only with us for 4 years, but he is a horse that will remain forever in  our hearts.