Hi All,

In feline news, my sister and her hubby were visiting last week.  We were walking down the driveway and Tami (my sis) heard a strange whining shrieking noise.  I thought is was the baby at first, as she squeals at me, but apparently that was not the same noise.  While we were watching TV, Matt noticed Soldier locked on to something.  His behavior was enough to intrigue Matt enough to get up and look.  "Oh my gosh, there was a mountain lion out there".  Although he was sure of what he saw, we checked the surveillance camera, hoping that he was mistaken.  Unfortunately he was not, and the video showed a mountain lion hanging out and heading toward the baby area.  It appears to be a young cat, but his footprint was about the size of a large orange.  PTL that Matt stood up and put his hands and head to the window, because when the cat saw him, he turned and headed away from the baby area.  So we had to run to Lowe's and pick up "mountain lion proofing" for the outside "nursery stall".  If it isn't one thing it is another :)  Please say your prayers that we do not have a repeat incidence of what happened to DaBubbles.

Just wanted to give you a quick update on Lil Bit and Annie.  These two have become pretty much inseparable, except for a short time every evening when Lil Bit hangs out at the fence with DaBubbles.  This ritual also extends to Annie having her little hissy fit.   She will race around madly, bucking and kicking and making little screachy noises, stopping to rear up dramatically to show her displeasure.  She is so jealous when Lil Bit is paying attention to DaBubbles instead of her.  She will run right up to him and stop about an inch away and he completely ignores her.  So she will run around and rant and kick and buck some more.  It is quite comical as it is so very obvious that her little nose is out of joint.

The two of them sleep cuddled up, usually with their legs intertwined or nearly on top of each other, much like Mikey and Ikey did.  It was interesting, although kind of sad to me as during Janie's last days, both of these babies would stay close together as far away from her as they could.  If Janie was resting, Annie would want to go over and pound on her.  So we had to keep them apart.  I wonder if it was just jealousy or if it was because poor little Janie was not "viable".  It makes you wonder how young these little ones realize the need for "survival of the fittest".

Both Annie and Lil Bit have been having a few health issues.  We are still trying to get their guts "happy and working smoothly".  I think we are getting much closer.  Lil Bit still moves a lot like a newborn, and it seems like his little brain is taking a bit longer than normal to "wire itself", but he seems to be improving every day.  Annie is extremely feisty and gets her "manners lessons" every day.  Lil Bit is struggling with the whole halter, leading thing, although we did make great headway today.  He seems to be frightened or get nervous more easily than most babies if he doesn't understand something and it just takes him a bit longer to "get it".

We are missing Texas a great deal, but from all reports from his new mama Karen, he is continuing to thrive.  Running Bucket, the baby that we were so lucky to have hook up with a nurse mare down in Anderson also continues to thrive.  She is in a beautiful place with hundreds of acres to play on.

So that is the latest from Chilly Pepper - Miracle Mustang.  The former FABULOUS FIVE is now down to 2 babies who are still fighting to get on the "thriving list".    We appreciate your support, and if anyone out there has an enclosed trailer that would be good for picking up babies in bad weather and would like to donate it or help us out with the price, we really need one that we could use when the weather is bad.  Last time we picked up the 3, it was snowing like mad, and that was May 10.  Please remember that all donations are tax deductible and the better our equipment, the better we can care for these little ones.  God bless!


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THANK YOU FROM ALL OF US!

Matt, Palomino & The Gang


Chilly Pepper - Miracle Mustang
Equine Rescue & More -
Rescue/Rehab Project LRTC

www.chillypepper.weebly.com
www.whmentors.org


P.S. Some pix of Annie and Lil Bit and the new "nearly lion proof" outdoor nursery unit, (we still have to work on the bottom)  complete with my new bed :)

LIL ORPHAN ANNIE AND LIL BIT are still fighting their infection. (Was asked for an update). Both of them are on antibiotics and Annie has a bunch of lumps under her throat and jaw. We are praying it is nothing too serious, and treating them under Doc's orders. Please say your prayers for them. Both seem to be feeling pretty decent and are still eating and drinking very well. But they definitely need lots of prayers. Me too lol

Janie is a baby that we picked up along with 2 others on May 10, 2014.   She could barely stand and we could only pray that we would be able to help her.  Unfortunately, her time with us was short, but she knew tremendous love and gave tremendous love, along with thousands of milky gooey kisses for her mommy.  We had to do what was best for her and she is at peace, wrapped up in the arms of God's angels in heaven.  Many of you know her story already, but this is the last updates for her.  She passed in my arms, peacefully and surrounded by love.  We tried every possible thing for her and went far beyond what we probably should have.  In the end it was about her, like it should be, and the choice was made to put her first, even though it broke every tiny piece of Matt's and my heart.  He goes through the pain just like I do, and sometimes it is almost too much to bear.  But we both treasure every single second we got with her, and now are asking for prayers for Annie and Lil Bit as they fight infection and struggle to get through and grow to be healthy happy horses.

I am typing this while waiting for our vet to get here. Then I will push the post button. Vet was here and Janie is no longer suffering or in pain. Her beautiful little soul is free and she can run freely in heaven with no pain. Her condition was not "fixable" and she would never be free from the horrible joint pain. It wasn't fair for me to keep hoping she would get better when she so clearly wasn't. God gave her a little bit of happy time to play with the other two this morning, but she has been down ever since, and was down about 47 out of 48 hours this weekend. The infection is reeking havoc on her and Doc said even if we got rid of the infection this second, she never would have gotten better and would have always suffered. This was not something that they could physically treat as so much damage was done. Her mama knew and that is why she was rejected. She had a problem internally with her umbilical site. (We could see it on the ultrasound) We had to let her go to make it right for her. This is the hardest part of what we do, but sometimes our job is just to love them while they are here and make sure they leave this world safe in our arms without fear. My heart is in a billion little pieces and it makes me physically sick when we can't help them......

From Chyrle Osborne: Today (3-17) Bucket has been with us 6 days. Everything has been going so well. That I thought it was time for my 2 mares foals to meet. The black and white mare, Lexie is Mia"s 1st foal. So that kinda makes Bucket Lexie's sister. It was a family meeting. Cisco' Lexies foal is 3 days older then Bucket. So I spent a little time brushing every one and picking up the foals feet. Bucket seems to be getting darker.

As I hang out with Janie today, my heart is breaking, as this will most likely be our last day together UNLESS WE GET A MIRACLE TONIGHT. She is very uncomfortable and even though we have her on pain meds, she is still having pain and can't seem to relax. She has been pawing and shaking her head and flipping her tail back and forth like crazy. She doesn't appear to be able to get comfy right now. She actually had about a little time where it looked like she was trying to play earlier today. My hands are shaking so I can barely type as I think about losing our little angel Janie. She is so beautiful and looks right into your soul with those great big eyes. My heart feels like it is being torn apart. On one hand you so desperately want to find an excuse to keep trying. But it is not fair to "pretend" when she has been declining since we got her. We knew she was going to be a miracle if she made it, and the first vet called it in an instance. He is very familiar with mustangs and their babies and knew as soon as he heard what was happening. So please keep praying. I know we could have a miracle....

News is not good. Lil Bit's wound on his neck looking good and we are keeping the infection away. Vet is pretty worried about what his bloodwork is going to say though. He is still extremely critical. Janie is in dire straights. We need prayers like never before. Her joints are septic - she had issues with her umbilical site internally. We were actually headed out to put her down when the 2nd vet said we have a very slim chance of improvement. She then pointed out that we already had a catheter in place so we didn't really have anything to lose. Her chances are extremely slim and our hearts are breaking. On top of that, the vet bill was well over a $1000 after the donations that we received. God bless you and thank you so much for all who donated any amount. Sometimes I don't think I can keep doing this. There is so much pain involved, not to mention the added stress that comes with it financially. I wish I was rich and we could afford every little thing that these babies need on their own, but we aren't, so we do the best we can and love and appreciate all those who are part of this.

Hopefully we found the culprit for what was making Lil Bit so sick. He had some sort of puncture wound that was sorely infected. He was so tiny and so skinny that his skin covered the wound even when you ran your hands over it. (Still feel so totally bad for not finding it sooner ). Anyway, we got him all cleaned up and medicated so hopefully he will be feeling better quickly.

Need lots more prayers. Lil Bit has a 2" deep hole in his chest. We are treating it and he is already feeling a bit better (He kept us all up last night while he played and he hates my guts now cuz I cleaned his owie). But he is still struggling and really weak. Janie can barely walk again today. She cannot use her hind leg at all right now. Please pray there is no spinal or permanent injury. She is also running a high fever. We are treating her and doing everything we can, but she needs major prayers. She is resting quietly in the stall right now, and we are watching her constantly, but they both need prayers!!! Thank you - these babies are beyond precious and need to feel better quickly............

As I stood watching Janie in the nursery, tears streamed down my face. My throat hurt so badly I couldn't breathe, and my heart was breaking for this beautiful little girl who was trying so hard to fight the good fight. Today was a really rough day for her. She couldn't use her left leg this time. Yesterday she couldn't use her right leg. She was still running a fever and yet shivering from the pain. I waited anxiously for the pain meds to kick in. Finally, she stopped her shivering. After awhile she looked at me and gave me the "get me up" whinny. I helped her up and she drank some milk. Prior to this she would call me and want to drink her milk lying down. After awhile she tried to lay down. She was literally doing headstands as she simply could not get her hind end down. It was so heartbreaking to watch. After about 4 or 5 attempts I simply lifted her up and laid her down. All the while the terror in my heart nearly choking me. Doc warned me that if she has the shifting lameness (not sure the exact title), she may not win that fight. All I could think about was how many folks were out there praying for her and that is what can save her........ A few hours and many tears later, Janie popped up by herself to get one of her middle of the night feedings. PTL! This morning she is pretty bright eyed and I have only had to help her up once. She is far from out of the woods yet, but I am hoping and praying that the antibiotics are doing their job. She is full of love and definitely not wanting to leave, but if and when she lets me know, I will respect this little one and do what we have to do. However, I am continuing to pray and asking all of you to please keep up the good work because she walked up to me with those big doe eyes looking deep into mine and gave me her milky ooey gooey good morning kiss. She wants to be here and we need to make it happen!! THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS! (please note that I will not let her suffer needlessly and if the pain was too much we wouldn't leave her in it)


Janie this morning. Hard to believe that her back end could be having so much trouble when you see that beautiful little face and those amazing eyes. What a love!!!

New blankies thanks to Auntie Sharon

We use fresh goat's milk whenever we can get it and love using it, and a healthy foal nursing a goat would be great. However, we do not get "healthy" babies, and unfortunately I do not have the time to take care of or milk the goats when there isn't a baby that is nursing. Many, if not most, of the babies we get are not even able to stand and nurse and we would still have to bottle feed until they were well enough to be able to stand and nurse. I am all for goats milk, I simply do not have the time to invest in milk goats. Anyone who wants to raise goat milk and provide it for the babies would be much appreciated. I do not have time. Out of all the babies that we had, only one of them was healthy enough to be able to be matched up with a nurse mare. The foals we get are not regular orphans for the most part, and most of them are orphans that the band has tried to kill due to unknown health reasons and when we first get them you are working around the clock literally.


HELP NEEDED FOR JANIE AND LIL BIT! Hey guys, Janie and Lil Bit need some help financing their trip to the vet. We almost lost Janie last night.... Not sure how much it is going to be, but we are heading out right now. We have reached the point where we need to do even more than we are doing right now. The phone number at Crossroads is 530 365-3685 if anyone wants to help these little ones. Unfortunately, these babies don't come with a checkbook!!! and mine isn't worth much lol But they still deserve the very best care - I think! So thank you once again for helping these little ones!

Please send more prayers. Lil Bit is hanging in there. He is still totally weak and exhausted and spends most of his time down. However, we are also really worried about Janie. When we got her she could barely stand, and we carried her into the house. She needed some help getting up, but could do so on her own. The next night she could not get up by herself what so ever. I was up all night helping her get up so she could potty and get her milk. The next day she frolicked about for a few minutes here and there - which is when we videoed, and that night she needed help getting up and down randomly throughout the night. Yesterday she would play for a few minutes, although somewhat clumsily, but by late yesterday afternoon she couldn't even walk on her leg. She was down for a very long time so we had to help her up. Her leg was swollen and she was in a great deal of pain. We treated her last night and this morning she is so very much better. She is still down and resting quietly with her brother, but the swelling is way down and she is using it. We know she was either stomped or kicked, and she has a few scrapes and owies to go along with those bruises. We are pretty sure that (kind of like us), she got to feeling pretty darn happy and over did it. But we do know that there is an injury there that could be a pretty big problem for her (one of many?) and we need to monitor it carefully and we need lots of prayers for her! Y'all are awesome and I know you can help her out, and do not forget Lil Bit. Every day he is here is a blessing and miracle!

The FABULOUS FIVE at Chilly Pepper - Miracle Mustang, becomes the FABULOUS FOUR, after tragedy turns to joy. The Fabulous five consisted of Texas, Annie, Janie, Lil Bit, and Bucket. However, after the hard work of some wonderful folks and my awesome hubby, Bucket is now matched up with a wonderful mare who lost her little one. The folks who suffered the tragedy of losing their beautiful baby turned their heartbreak into joy and gave Bucket the best possible start to life she could have as an orphan - a new horsey mama. This would always be the best possible outcome for one of our orphans. (The photo of Bucket, who is now called Running Bucket by the youngsters that helped her through the process of meeting and hooking up with her new mama - are courtesy of Chyrle.) THANK YOU TO ALL INVOLVED WHO SPENT THE ENDLESS HOURS TO GET THESE TWO SUCCESSFULLY AND SAFELY HOOKED UP! YOU ROCK!!!!

Hi y'all

A quick update - Matt and I went and picked up 3 more orphans tonight.  We were so blessed that Matt was able to take the one without injuries and help match her up with a mare that lost her foal.  PTL it was a success.

The other two are settled in, although definitely in critical condition.  Appreciate all your prayers and love for these little ones.  Annie is doing well, although a bit miffed, as is Texas, about not being the absolute center of attention.

Lil Orphan Annie needs your prayers. She is not feeling well Been up all night fighting colic. She has improved a tiny bit, but needs lots and lots of prayers. We are making progress, but she is definitely not herself Pretty uncomfortable. So please please send out lots of love and prayers for her!

She is still colicky and not a very happy little girl. However, we have the appropriate pain meds on board (following Doctor's orders) and she is being lubed from both ends, which means I am now covered also. We are doing everything Doc says and I am happy to say that there was a tiny change and a little teeny bit of movement. But that is amazing and a very good sign. (Kind of like when your horse farts when it is colicky) Of course only horse people would be excited about that! She is also staying very well hydrated and drinking on her own again. So THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS AND KEEP PRAYING - CUZ SHE IS NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET! But seems to be heading a tiny step in the right direction?

On Friday, May 2, which just happened to be Matt and my 6th anniversary, we had headed out to take Precious home.  The next day I got a call from Shirley, who had gotten the meds that were needed for Texas' scours.  So Texas and I drove to Susanville to meet her and get his meds.  I have to say PTL!, after 5 weeks of scours, we are actually seeing improvement.   Tex is thriving and growing up strong and healthy.  We have been going a bit nuts trying different things to get rid of his tum tum bug, but we are happy to say that Doc finally found the magic, or so it seems.  The next day we were just getting ready to load up for a very long overdue shopping expedition when the phone rang.

It was our friends Tom and Susan from Whispering Winds in OR.  Susan had rescued a beautiful pony named Little Joe from imminent death, and needed to get it to Oregon.  The poor thing had foundered and his feet were hideous.  He was in quite a bit of pain, and we could not delay his transport to his new home, where he would receive the appropriate care to alleviate his discomfort and get him back on track.  They had driven down with the woman who was going to care for him, when of course, their truck broke down.  It's almost funny how many tails of sadness and woe there are when you are trying to transport a rescued animal.  So we loaded up Tex and jumped in the truck. Once we arrived there, Matt and Tom started working on the truck and we three ladies loaded this beautiful pony "Little Joe" in the back of my trailer, with Texas in the front and headed up past Medford.  Now I will tell you that my lead foot seems to disappear when I am hauling my babies, or any other equine.  I have to say that I am not normally a person that even has to worry about getting into any issues when driving.  If someone is tailgating and needs to get by me in a hurry, I will always let them.  (I cannot tell you how many times Matt had to rush me to the emergency room, and you simply never know if someone truly does have an emergency, so we just let them go by.  It makes things so much simpler.)  However, when I am hauling my babies, it is amazing how fast you can go from calm to not calm.  I absolutely hate it when folks tail gate the horse trailer.  Maybe they don't realize that if I have to slow down quickly to avoid a deer or whatever else jumps out in my lane, that they are going to drive right through the back of my trailer.  They obviously do not know how important our "precious cargo" truly is to us.  Anyway, I turn into Grandma driver, pulling over anytime a couple of cars get stacked up behind me.  But folks do have to realize, when someone wants to pull over to let you by, there has to be enough space between the back of your horse trailer and the front of their car.  You cannot slam on the brakes without sending your critters flying.  They are not seat belted in!!!  So off we went on our newest adventure.  It was a long and slow trip, as I wanted to make sure it was as easy as possible for Little Joe and Texas.  We stopped and let them rest and it was a very successful and happy trip, with neither equine being too stressed out, although at that point any travel was hard for Little Joe.  Of course Texas is already a champion traveler, and he will just lay down when he is tired.  He happily hops right in when we need to go somewhere. :)

We were heading back home around 10 p.m. when I finally got the message for an orphan on my cell phone.  (This is why I ask folks to leave messages on both numbers if we get an emergency baby call, as I actually lost a baby due to the folks only calling my cell and it didn't come through in time.  Was so very sad and heartbreaking.  Am working on getting a better phone next time.)  So I jumped on the phone and called Matt, and we headed back towards California.  Luckily, it made more sense to go straight to pick up the baby, so Matt met me part way there and he took over driving PTL!!   We arrived just before day break to pick up the beautiful "Little Orphan Annie".  She is so small, actually tiny, and Barbara was not sure if she had been "stolen" by another mare or rejected.  Of course there were a few mares that were kicking at her, and so once again, one of our human "horsey angels" risked life and limb to pull out a tiny one in need.  For those of you who have never experienced something like that, it is not only dangerous, but scary.  With a large number of horses it is easy to get trampled if one spooks or drives another one towards you.  Especially if they do not want to give up the little one, and she was in with a bunch of wild mares.  So once again, my hat is off to Barbara who saved this little one's life.  You also have to spend an amazing amount of your time to always be watching so you can spot a newborn born in the midst of a large bunch of wild horses right away.  She was born the day after we dropped off Precious. 

So we loaded her up and headed back home.  She is doing very well, and is learning to buck and kick.  Her legs are still quite wobbly but she is already showing lots of spunk.  Sometimes I think God blesses these little orphans with extra amounts of heart and spunk to help them have the will to live.

We have been lucky with Lil Orphan Annie so far.  Not too many extra expenses as so far she seems to be doing very well.  PTL!!  We appreciate anyone who wants to help get these two little ones on their feet so they can grow up and find their forever homes.  We are going through about 45-50 pounds of milk powder between the two of them each week.  Both are doing so well, and we are also extremely grateful and appreciative for the prayers that keep these little ones alive.  If y'all want to help, you can go to www.chillypepper.weebly.com and use the donation button, or you can go to Paypal and go to [email protected].  Our address is  Chilly Pepper - Miracle Mustang, at 34694 Sidebottom Rd., Shingletown, CA  96088.  We have already had tons of visitors and if anyone else is interested in meeting all the critters and having some R & R, please contact us at 530 474 5197.  This is your rescue and we are so grateful for all of you!

God bless and thank you from all the critters at Chilly Pepper - Miracle Mustang!

THANK YOU FROM ALL OF US!
Matt, Palomino & The Gang

We were helping move a young pony that had been miraculously saved
from death to his new home in Oregon (after our friend's truck broke
down), and I saw my "baby call" last night about 10 ish??

I came home as quickly as I could and Matt met me and off we went to
pick her up.  We got home around 10:00 ish this morning?  Not exactly
sure.

She is named Annie,, after our wonderful horsey angel Anne P that made
sure this nursery was warm and dry for the critter kids.  She was
amazing and made absolutely sure that this was done right.  We
actually call it "Anne's Nursery", and we named this little one after
Anne.  However, Matt put his stamp on the name and her full official
name is Lil Orphan Annie.

Please send lots of prayers for Annie and Texas.  We are going through
lots of baby supplies so we appreciate any and all help with their
needs.  Not quite sure how Annie ended up with no mama, but Barbara
saved her life when she faced of a huge band of mares (some of whom
wanted to kick the little one) and she pulled her out so we could take
care of her.  It is scary and a bit dangerous to face of a large
number of mares who do not want you to take the baby, for whatever
reason.  I am so grateful that there are so many angels like that out
there who face off irritated horses and save these little ones.

Y'all rock.  Please send lots of prayers for Annie and still for Tex.
God bless you guys and thank you once again for all that you do!

Hugs

Lil Orphan Annie comes to Chilly Pepper - Miracle Mustang. Please send lots and lots of prayers for her.......

Got the call at 4:30 am, details coming soon...