HITM: Jamie goes One on One with Nelda from Horse and Hound Rescue. We all have heard her talked about on the show for years, now we get to meet her and learn about her back story and how the rescue came to be. What a fascinating life she has led. Listen in...
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HORSES IN THE MORNING Episode 3790 – Show Notes and Links:
- Hosts: Jamie Jennings of Flyover Farm and Glenn the Geek
- Title Sponsor: WERM Flooring
- Pic Credit: Horse and Hound Rescue
- Guest: Nelda from Horse and Hound Rescue
- Additional support for this podcast provided by: My New Horse, Equine Network and Listeners Like You
Time Stamps:
08:52 - The Journey to Rescue: Nelda Kettles' Story
19:23 - The Journey of Rescue and Rehabilitation
32:08 - Challenges and Rewards of Volunteer-Based Rescue Organizations
45:06 - The Future of Horse and Hound Rescue
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
You are listening to the HorseRadio Network, part of the Equine
Network family.
What a beautiful day forhorses in the morning.
You are listening to thenumber one horse podcast in the world.
Here is your entertaining lookat the horse world and the people
(00:24):
in it.
Hey, everybody, I'm JamieJennings from Norman, Oklahoma, and
you're listening to Horses inthe Morning on the Horse Radio network
for Monday, October 6th.
And it's cool.
This is a special one on oneepisode brought to you today by Worm
(00:44):
Flooring.
Good morning, horse people.
Well, truth be told, Glenn andI are both off this week.
Glenn is visiting Ashley inNew Mexico for the big balloon fest
and I'm currently doing myMonty Roberts intro clinic.
I'm teaching it at the farm.
So we have a special week ofshows for you.
So I've pre recorded some oneon one episodes with some of my favorite
(01:08):
people.
And you all know about Horseand Hound Rescue foundation.
So I would like to welcomeNelda Kettles to the show.
I'm so pleased to be sittingdown with my dear friend Nelda Kettles.
She is the owner and founder,along with her husband Larry, of
Horse and Hound Rescuefoundation, who I've been lucky enough
(01:30):
to have a relationship with since.
Can you believe it's been that long?
Oh, my goodness.
No, actually, 2018, because Iadopted my first horse from you.
Lost my Way Groot, as we call him.
And he was my makeover horsein 2019.
So actually it's been 2018.
(01:50):
And Jesus Melda, the horsejust keeps coming back.
I was just thinking that.
He keeps popping back like abad penny, doesn't he?
Four times now.
This is time number four.
He's been back here.
So, yeah, he is a.
He's like a bad penny.
He just.
I can't figure out somethingfor him, but I guess he just likes
it here.
It's all your fault.
Thank you very much.
(02:11):
And he was, he was incrediblylucky that you chose him.
Absolutely.
Oh, gosh.
I remember that first time Iwent out there.
So I come out to Horse andHound and I don't know anybody in
Oklahoma, but somebody onFacebook had mentioned your rescue
and I remember calling you andsaying, I'm looking for a horse.
I'm looking for somethingaround 16, hands under 10 years of
(02:35):
age.
And I. I didn't even reallyhave a goal for the makeover at that
point.
And I said I wanted sound.
I want it to be gelding.
I want it to be, you know,like, I gave you like three or four
parameters.
And do you remember what yousaid to Me?
No.
You said, oh, girl, you'regonna be a kid in a candy store out
here.
(02:57):
Well, this is true.
I do get calls of peoplewanting a 14 or a 15 hand horse and
I say, this is not the place.
This is absolutely not the place.
Thoroughbreds do not tend tobe that.
So yes, when I get somebodyactually looking for the correct
size makes me very happy.
Yes.
Yeah, I was like 16 to 18.
(03:18):
I don't care, I don't care howtall, I don't really care how old.
I just wanted to be able to event.
And so we ended up getting,getting Baby Groot, as we called
him then.
And you know, it's, it's kindof been going on ever since.
So one of the things I wantedto ask you is, you know, when I came
out there and tried him out, Iput probably five or six horses in
(03:40):
the round pen, moved himaround a little bit.
And I think you were talkingto my husband at this point and he
mentioned something aboutMonty Roberts and of course you were
like, I love Monty Roberts.
And so how did it morph intous going.
And I'm going to get to thebasics, but how did it, how did you
choose me to become asatellite trainer for you?
(04:05):
Well, it's kind of a no brainer.
You know, your, yourbackground, your empathy with the
horses, the fact that, thatyou knew how to move the horse, you
knew what to look for in thehorse and simply your relationship
with the horses, that's,that's very easy to see.
(04:26):
And that is probably one ofthe best decisions I've ever made
for Horse and Hound, is tohave you as the trainer of these
horses because they deservethat second chance.
And that second chance dependsprobably 90% on the training that
(04:48):
they receive.
If, if you adopt a horse outto somebody and not that you are
training a finished product atall, but giving them the basic beginnings
to be whatever that adopter islooking for.
And if that beginning isn'tthere, then that horse most likely
(05:10):
is not going to work out forwhat the person is looking for and
is likely to come back toHorse and Hound.
Because the whole, the wholeidea is to fit the adopter and the
horse and you don't know whatthat horse wants to be until you
have somebody working withthat horse that can give me a good
(05:32):
idea and give the adopter anidea of what this horse wants to
be.
Well, that's, that's a nicecompliment that, because I know you've
made a lot of decisions withHorse and Hound.
So let's, let's back up alittle bit.
Like, what is your, what, whatis your origin story?
Where did you grow up and didyou have horses growing up?
(05:52):
Absolutely not.
City girl grew up in Oklahoma,but city girl didn't, you know, of
course, had the, the littlegirl love of horses and the insurance
agency.
After I graduated from collegeand I was in Kansas City and working
for a large insurance agency,and that's where I met Larry.
(06:15):
But the love had always been there.
And after Larry and I gotmarried, I don't know, out of the
blue, we decided to get aquarter horse, running horse.
And we ran quarter horses fora while and then morphed into the
thoroughbred.
And then we gave up insuranceand came to Oklahoma and started
(06:38):
breeding thoroughbredracehorses and running at Remington
Park.
Oh, my gosh.
So you were just some citygirl and this city boy comes in,
swaggers up, you know, he.
And he starts sweet talking you.
That's absolutely the way youget into thoroughbred race horses.
Right?
(06:59):
But he is, he's such a sweetman, and I could see him having a
little bit of a silver tongueand sweet talking.
Didn't you get.
Oh, yes.
Oh, yes.
You moved to Oklahoma and you started.
I mean, you kind of went from0 to 100.
Yes, yes.
You might as well jump in withboth feet and, and go for it, right?
(07:21):
At one time we stood and hadabout 30 broodmares.
So in that way, I was readyfor having the 30 and 40 horses in
the rescue all the time.
So I knew that I would neverhave a minute to myself and the life
would be dedicated to, to thefantastic thoroughbred racehorse.
(07:46):
So you had a breedingoperation and you stood stallions
and then you race horses and,and at one you decided that you were
done with that.
And then you decide to talk tous about the, the kind of.
The end and then of the racingand breeding and then the transformation
(08:06):
into the rescue.
Well, unfortunately, Larry'shealth made the decision of stopping
breeding and running.
Just started having some, somehealth issues.
So we decided to end thebreeding operation and the running
operation.
And actually we were asked byseveral of our friends, trainers
(08:31):
and owners at the track to gointo the rescue situation because
they wanted an option becausethere really wasn't much of an option
in Oklahoma for the horsesrunning well enough to keep in training
or that were injured enoughthat they couldn't go on.
(08:52):
So Larry and I decided to, tocreate Horse and hound Rescue in
2016.
And that's how it happened.
And I had no idea what I wasjumping into.
But, but it's it's incredibly fulfilling.
It, you know, these horsesgive their all on the track and when
(09:15):
they're all isn't enough orlike I said, or if they have an injury
or something like that, thenthey deserve the second chance to
go into another career thatthey deserve and that they can excel
at.
So how many horses did youhave when you were doing the breeding?
(09:37):
Kind of like, I mean, I knowit's a floating number, but how?
20, 40, 60, 100.
What did you have?
Probably about when we had thefour stallions, probably about 25
broodmares.
Okay, so I'm trying to piecethis together.
So Larry's health declines andhe can no longer work with the horses.
(09:57):
So then you double that numberand you're doing all the work.
I didn't say I was smart, did I?
It's true.
It's true.
So Nelda, you only not onlyhave all these thoroughbreds, you
have around 40 thoroughbredsat any given time, plus or minus.
(10:17):
Usually plus.
Plus.
And then you decided to starta senior dog rescue sanctuary.
How did that happen?
Well, unfortunately, Oklahoma,like several states, has a bad situation
for senior dogs.
(10:40):
The dogs I take in, usuallytheir owner has passed away or had
to go into an assisted livingsituation and the rest of the family
just isn't set up to take thatdog in.
And animal control, if youtake a senior dog into animal control,
they are not considered adoptable.
(11:02):
They are simply put to sleep.
And that's not fair to thatdog that has only known love all
its life.
And we're situated out here on50 acres.
So we just decided that wewould help as many of the old dogs
that we could and let themlive their life out here with us.
(11:26):
And it's great for making thoroughbreds.
Dog broke.
Nobody leaves here that isn'tdog broke.
That's very true.
I've not had one that has beeneven afraid of a chicken.
They just, they don't care atall because like you said, they're
used to it.
So you've got, I alwaysdescribe driving into horse and hound
(11:46):
is like you pull in and it'slike the island of Misfit toys comes
running up to you.
There's like three leggeddogs, one eyed dogs.
You know, they came hobblingup and some of them are, I mean,
they're so exuberant and theyjust love life that' they have.
And then I, I drove.
I remember asking you onetime, I'm like, how come there's
(12:07):
all these dogs loose runningaround and there's all those dogs
that are in that, you know, Imean, it's, it's like in a paddock
that's fenced off and.
And your answer was, well,those are the blind ones.
I'm like, oh my God.
And, and the deaf ones.
Right?
And the deaf ones.
Because the deaf ones don't know.
People are fantastic aboutwhen they do come in, they are met
(12:30):
with our welcoming committee.
So of course the sensors onthe cars and trucks go off like crazy.
And people are very good atbeing cautious about letting the
dogs know that they're going.
But, but the blind ones andthe deaf ones can't get out of the
way.
So they, they do have to stay up.
(12:51):
Yeah, I love it.
I mean, what a heart to, toopen your home to, I mean, all these
dogs.
So I guess wait, before I getto my next question, we have to break
for a commercial.
And we'll be right back.
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That's WermFlooring.com well,speaking of all of.
These dogs and all of thesehorses, what do you think is the,
(13:55):
the your most favorite part ofhaving all of these?
Let's start with horses.
What's the best part of havingall these horses?
Well, the best part of courseis we are about to enter our 10th
year and we are about, oh,about 20 horses away from adopting
out 600 horses.
(14:17):
And that makes us feelfantastic that we have been a small
part of finding a good homefor 600 horses that otherwise might
not have had that opportunityto go on and do great things.
They've done everything fromtherapy horses with a ministry to
(14:40):
event horses, jumpers, just afamily loved pet.
And in fact the, the 250thanniversary of the army where they
had the parade in WashingtonD.C. the Fourth Seal Army.
Two of the swing horsespulling the caisson were horse and
(15:00):
Hound adoptees.
You're kidding me.
That's amazing.
And what is even more amazingabout that is a horse called Morse
Code had been ruled off a track.
His behavior was just so bad.
He came out here a basket caseand he is now one of those swing
(15:21):
horses, you know, cannonsgoing off around him and you know,
an entirely new horse.
So that, that makes usincredibly happy.
I know, I remember Morse Code.
He came here to get some ofthat foundation work we were talking
about.
And.
Yes, Honor code, baby.
Yeah.
You have all the.
(15:42):
That's amazing because peoplesay thoroughbreds, you can't, can't
do that with them.
You simply can't.
And here they are, you know,representing the army.
It's unbelievable.
So with that being said, youhave all these wonderful things.
What is the most challengingpart of having 40 plus thoroughbreds
on your, in your yard?
(16:04):
Well, I think of course theworst part is the one that come in.
The ones that come in with,with injuries that just will never
allow them to, to go on.
So basically, you know, we tryand retry and they simply become
(16:24):
companion horses and justagain, like the dogs live out their
lives here.
But it's, it's incredibly sadthat a, you know, a four or five
year old horse is, is at thatpoint where, where he doesn't have
a second chance.
That's, that's the sad part.
Well, the, the second chanceis unbelievable.
(16:46):
People like you have the, Iknow it's called the backfield and
you put them out in thebackfield and they get to live in
a herd of other hors.
That's a better life thanbeing on.
I mean, you know, honestly, Ialways say it like ends up gonna
end up on a truck to Mexicoand they, they are not going to end
up on a truck to Mexico ifthey go through Horse and Hound.
(17:07):
And that is one of my favoriteparts and probably one of the most
encouraging things I can tellpeople when they're interested in
adopting is, you know, oncethey have that Horse and Hound kind
of stamp on their passport,they're good for life.
Like, they can come back.
You are, you're like me with Groot.
I mean, my God, we'll justkeep taking them back.
(17:31):
Yes, absolutely.
If you come to Horse and Houndas a horse and if you're adopted
and the adoption doesn't workout, or if anything happens, the
horse always can come back toHorse and Hound no matter what.
What the reason.
Yeah.
And hopefully they come backin good shape, but I know sometimes
(17:53):
they don't.
And you have to work with themall over again, you know, and that's,
that's sadly part of it.
You just can't control everything.
You do get a few of thosereturn customers, don't you?
Yeah.
You've worked with a fewseveral times.
It's true.
We got this one back.
We need you to fix them again.
Right, right.
(18:13):
Send them on.
Send them on.
You got it.
With all the dogs.
What plus and minuses ofhaving all these dogs, the best and
worst, worst.
Parts, the con, the huge con,is that you have no time of your
own.
The, the horses and the dogsare a 247 situation, and the time
(18:34):
is simply taken by them.
So if you're, if you'relooking for any personal life, don't
run the rescue like I dobecause it's just, it's just too
much at times.
We always joke and, and we'vegone through a whole thing with our
listeners of trying tophotograph you're, you know, when
(18:56):
you're sitting in the bathroomand there's like five phases staring
at you?
Yeah.
When you go to sit down thebathroom and they're like 25 dogs
staring.
At you, it's about that bad.
And, and the joke around hereis that you cannot take a picture
of a horse without three dogsphotobombing at least.
But it's gotta be so rewarding.
Speaking of the pluses, it' tobe so rewarding to have these guys,
(19:19):
heartbreaking to lose thembecause they do come as seniors.
But.
Yeah, that's, that's the tough part.
But, but like I said, most ofthem have been loved all their lives.
And that loyalty to you, andthere's nothing better.
Yeah, absolutely.
So as you've been coming alongwith this rescue you started forever
(19:43):
ago, and as you've gone along,I feel like you keep adding accreditations
that you have, like, differenttalk about what, what, what accreditations
you have, how important theyare and what they've meant to you.
Well, of course, ThoroughbredAftercare association is great.
They, there's a lot ofpaperwork and they do a lot of inspections,
(20:07):
which I think is absolutely fantastic.
Because if you want to be arescue, you need to know what you're
doing and you need to be doingit right.
Thoroughbred Aftercare TAA isfantastic in helping provide resources,
in providing ideas, and if youhave any issues, somebody is always
(20:32):
there to work through theissue with you and give you support
and help.
Aspca.
Right.
Horse, again, is very good onhaving resources, on helping transport
horses across the U.S. for youand helping with that thoroughbred
Charities of America is very good.
(20:55):
In fact, they sponsor theRetired Racehorse project that you
went to that year.
And there's just a lot oforganizations out there.
On the bad side, of course, isall that paperwork taking up all
that time, but it's good.
And in fact, even Remingtonpark this year we're very proud of.
They finally instituted aprogram called Ring the Bell.
(21:20):
And after a horse wins a race,the owner, trainer, or jockey can
ring the bell in the winner's circle.
And when they ring the bell,they promise to donate a certain
amount to aftercare, which isthe first year they have done this.
(21:41):
And so far, it's fantastic.
We're getting about.
I think about 70% of thepeople that win a race are ringing
the bell, so that's going tobe great.
Well, we're gonna up thatnumber because I'm gonna start standing
right outside the WinterCircle at Remington.
I'm kick them in the shins ifthey don't ring it.
There you go.
I like that.
(22:01):
Turn around, get back in thereand bring that.
Yes, yes.
It's fantast.
You know, like I said, thatthere is a lot of support which is
greatly needed.
You know, I think that, you know.
Looking back from my childhoodwith racehorses until now, like,
what a change in the world forthese horses.
(22:23):
It is very good that there arethese organizations and there are
these groups and there is thatsupport because it's always been
greatly needed and now it'sout there, which is fantastic.
So, speaking of Remington,Remington is in full swing.
They just opened last week.
(22:44):
And I know that typicallyRemington season can get pretty busy
for you, so we'll talk aboutthat in a second.
But when you think back, youknow, are you.
You like.
Okay, it's coming up on August.
Are you really trying to get ahorse's adopted out?
So you have spaces, or do youhave to turn horses away?
(23:04):
How does that.
You know, actually, August isusually a bad month for us, getting
adopted horses out becauseit's hot, it's miserable, everybody
is suffering from the weather,but we have had a great month.
We've adopted out six horsesso far this month, which is great.
But, yes, we do know thatAugust is when Remington gears up,
(23:29):
and we know that we're goingto start getting a bunch of horses
in.
And I have the.
The cutest little baby for you.
He is in rehab.
It'll be a while.
But he's a 3 year old and heis 17.
2.
Oh, why is that a baby for me?
You know, I'm five.
He's just going so tiny.
You know, he's so tiny.
(23:50):
And I don't think yourmounting block is not going to be
high enough.
You're going to need a ladderbecause you are rather height than
not advantaged.
And he is already 17 2.
So that's amazing.
It's going to be a problem.
Three years old.
Oh my gosh.
Well, that's why we have farm girl.
I have a new assistant.
She's brave and young and dumb.
So it's perfect.
(24:10):
Good, good, good.
I do want to take.
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So as we were talking before,there's a 3 year old 172 hand monster
that is waiting for youlisteners to adopt.
(25:15):
What's, what's the horse's name?
His name is Okie.
Joker Okie.
Oh, and it's an Okie too.
Come on.
Well, actually this is not oneof those.
Okie is now being used by alot of owners and trainers in their
names.
So he is an Erictor horse.
But, but he will be a whilebecause he does have a attendant.
(25:36):
So he'll be in rehab forseveral months before he's ready
for you.
Well, and that's my nextquestion is when a horse comes to
you off the track, what istell everybody kind of what the,
the first day to adoption daykind of looks like.
What's a time in, in the lifeof a thoroughbred at Horse and Hound?
(25:59):
Okay.
When the horse is acceptedinto the program, the trainer will
tell us if the horse has any issues.
If the horse is simply slow,his progress is going to be a lot
faster through the programthan if the horse has like a tendon
or a knee sort of injury.
They are initially alloweddowntime to kind of just forget their
(26:24):
routine of going to the trackevery day and running.
So we just give them downtime.
And of course, any horse is an individual.
So with some it can be amatter of weeks, some it might be
a Month, might be two months.
And then we go from thatdowntime to ground manners.
(26:49):
The biggest thing on athoroughbred racehorse that people
don't comprehend is standingsteel to be mounted.
They're just not taught that ajockey exercise rider is thrown up
on the back of the horse.
The horse isn't standing still.
So we work on their groundmanners a bit.
(27:10):
And then I call Jamie and say,you know, will you be around?
Are you ready for another one?
And they go to you.
And of course that time frameagain is entirely dependent upon
the horse as to how long theystay with you.
(27:31):
It's true.
Some, some stay for, you know,I mean, heck, some of them, one has
been adopted the same day.
It came to me because I posteda pretty face picture, you know,
so you never got what's gonnaresonate with people.
It's either I find that theyget adopted from my house when I
do one of two things.
Either I post a really prettyface picture and somebody falls in
(27:53):
love with the horse's face, orI've gone through all the training
and I'm cantering it around inthe arena.
It's like the second somebodycan sees it cantering politely, then
it gets adopted as well.
So that is definitely the, thetwo times I think so when, when they've
gone through all this downtimeand then they've gone to either me
(28:14):
or I know you have someamazing volunteers there.
When somebody puts in anapplication, what, what then starts?
Well, the application ofcourse asks for references.
We want to know that theperson knows what they're getting
into.
Adopting a horse is not cheap.
(28:36):
You have to have the, theresources to care for a horse.
You have to know.
We adopt to a few first timehorse people, but very few.
Because honestly, in myopinion, if you're getting a first
time horse, an off trackthoroughbred isn't one that you want.
(28:57):
Now it's not that they arehigher or anything else.
They just tend to be to need alittle more care.
Less educated horses and lesseducated people.
What, what did they say?
Green on green makes black andblue, you know.
Yes, yes.
Yeah.
And, and I, I do love thatthat has been kind of your, your
(29:19):
stance this whole time islike, no, this is not the horse for
you.
Because like you said we'vetalked about before is you get these
horses adopted out and if theydon't go to the right person, they're
going to come back and they'regoing to come back farther behind
than they were when they left,you know, so it's important.
It's not Just about pushing ahorse on people.
And, and when people come outhere, it's really strange when for
(29:42):
them, if they've been horseshopping, I'm not pushing this horse
on them.
I'm gonna tell you withintegrity everything that I know
about this horse, which iswhat you're gonna tell everybody
about this horse, and thenthey can come and see if it's gonna
be a fit or not.
And I would like to take thismoment to thank all of the amazing
(30:03):
listeners of this podcast whohave not only just donated or I think
a couple winters ago, it waslike crazy cold.
And everybody mailed you blankets.
Horses.
Yes.
But yes, also the people thathave adopted.
Right.
And, and like you said, if itisn't a good fit, we will tell them
(30:24):
we don't think this will be agood fit.
You know, you might look at adifferent horse or wait and see if
we have a different horse orgo to another rescue because we don't
want to set that person backin their look for a horse and we
certainly don't want to setthat horse back.
And it's, it's just, you know,simply education.
(30:46):
And yes, your, your, yourpeople have been great.
Your listeners have been fantastic.
We got lots of blankets andthat was crazy cold and I don't even
like to think about that winter.
Your listeners have beenfantastic in donating blankets and
(31:06):
donating cash and in adopting horses.
They made up a huge portion ofthat 600 that we are getting close
to.
I told Nelda that you guys,what we needed to do was to get a
map of the US and like pushpin map so we can put push pins where
(31:27):
all the horses have gone.
Because through just the, thepeople listening, we've sent horses
to California, Rhode Island,Florida, Illinois, what, Idaho.
I, I mean there's so manyhorses that mind that have left here,
what.
Montana, Colorado, Texas, of course.
I don't think there are awhole lot of states that we haven't
(31:48):
sent horses to.
And it, it is amazing.
But you know, you guys are great.
What can I say?
Well, you are kind of knownfor having a volunteer only staff,
which is helmed by you, ofcourse, because you're never not
doing something with a dog ora horse.
What are some of the biggestchallenges and, and rewards of an
(32:12):
organization that relies onlyon volunteers?
The pluses is that thesepeople really want to be here.
It's not that they are gettingany financial gain because they're
not.
They are here because theylove the animal and they want to
help the animal and they are aDedicated, fantastic group of people.
(32:36):
The cons, of course, are thosesilly people have to have a job to
make a living, so we kind ofhave to work around their schedule,
you know, so it's.
It's definitely that justdepends on.
On when they're not working intheir real job to come out here.
So.
Darn people.
How dare they?
I know, like, work for a living.
(32:58):
Crazy.
So what are some of the, like,now that Remington is in, are you
getting inundated with horsesneeding homes?
Yes, yes.
We got.
We've taken in.
Since the meet started, likeyou said, just about a week and a
half ago, we have taken in eight.
(33:19):
So, yeah, it's.
It's going to be.
And.
And like I said, the beginningof the meet is when the trainers
are kind of finding out thatthis horse doesn't want to be a racehorse.
This horse isn't fast enoughto be a racehorse or they come up
with.
With the injuries.
So we.
We've gotten that initial input.
(33:41):
Hopefully it'll slow down alittle bit, but.
But like I said, we were luckyenough in August so far to have adopted
out six, so knock on wood thatit keeps kind of leveling out like
that.
Yeah, absolutely.
So I don't know if anybodyknows this, but horses that come
off the racetrack that thenjust get downtime.
(34:02):
They eat a lot.
Oh, my God, a lot.
I. I know we've talked aboutthis before, but I don't really understand
what happens every once in a while.
Like, every week you have togo to the airport to pick up food.
What does that mean?
Oh, that's.
That's for the dogs.
There is a.
A group, a great group calledGreater Goods Charities, and they
(34:28):
get, like, if.
If you get a.
A shipment from Chewy and youdon't like what you got, or if it
was hurt in.
If it, you know, a bag was to.
In transit, then you send itback to Chewy.
Chewy donates all that toGreater Goods.
And if some.
If a dog food has happens tohave, you know, something mislabeled
(34:51):
or something, then that'swhere we get greater goods.
Tells us they have such andsuch, and we only have to pay shipping
for it, so that's great.
So we go down and get like apallet or a ton of dog food, and
we only have to pay, like, youknow, a few hundred dollars, whereas
you would pay a lot more for that.
(35:12):
But of course, it just depends on.
On the trucks that, that theydo get from Chewy or from Purina
or from whatever.
But yes, we also have to drivedown by the airport to pick it up.
But it's a great program.
I always wondered why you hadto go to the airport to get dog food.
Yeah, that's why.
(35:33):
That's why you have to go there.
And occasionally, you know,Chewy also does horse supplements
and, you know, stuff like that.
So we get a little horse stufffrom them.
Not a whole lot, but I'm veryhappy when we get the horse supplements
from them.
Well, I will tell you that that's.
Chewy is a sponsor, actually,so we are thrilled to hear about
(35:54):
that.
And Purina is a sponsor too.
So what's really fantastic isyou've got all of that happening.
And you know what?
Like, like, it was like thefirst time when I.
When I got a horse from you, Iadopted Groot or Drax or something.
And.
And I said, well, what does it eat?
And you said, anything.
(36:15):
It's anything because they getwhat is there.
And.
And my local feed store.
Oh, my God, Nelda, I have hadwords with these people 6,000 times.
They have a whole section offood, like they.
That has ripped bags and theyoffered it 10 off.
And I'm like, yeah, clearlynobody is going to buy for just the
(36:37):
measly, you know, $50 off of abag discount food.
I'm like, let me take it.
And I'm heading to the rescue now.
Let me take it.
And they will not give it to me.
And how cool it is that Chewyis like, eh, well, just.
They donated.
That's fantastic.
Or they did give it at a superreduced rate.
(36:58):
I will tell you that.
That 10.
I was like, there's nobodythat buys that.
And they were like, like, wesell it as soon as it gets in here.
I'm like, no way.
I. I have seen that in stores,and it amazes me too.
Yeah.
And.
And we are so thankful topeople like Purina and Chewy that
donated and greater good chipsin that food.
(37:20):
And there is no way I couldfeed 50 dogs and pay retail for dog
food.
It's just anybody that buysdog food knows how outrageous it
is.
Along with horse feed also.
So.
Yeah.
And.
And horse feed for racehorsesis even extra so.
Yes, yes, you.
You do have to feed them a bunch.
(37:42):
Let's.
Before we get to.
To wrap this up here, what is.
What is.
If you are thinking of in thehorse world, a super successful.
Like.
Like, like, okay, I had thatpony Taco Tuesday, and I think that
someday when I die and I gowherever I'm gonna go, that's what
somebody's going to talk to meabout, be like, you know what, you
(38:03):
did good.
Because I could not be prouderof Taco Tuesday and where he ended
up.
And it's like one of thosethings when I go to heaven, that's
what they're going to talk tome about.
What do you think that they'regoing to talk to you about when you
go to heaven?
I think maybe the horses thatwe have sent to be therapy horses,
(38:24):
we donate.
Well, in fact, we adopted one17 hand thoroughbred to a lovely
family in Stillwater.
Their child was.
But he was still a child, waslike 25 and he's autistic and down
(38:44):
syndrome, non verbal.
And we put him in the roundpen with this horse and he relaxed
and we put him on top of this horse.
And it was an instant bond.
He was calm.
His mother let him around onthe horse and they had the horse
(39:05):
for, I want to say like eightor nine years.
And the horse did have anissue and pass away, but that was
the best fit I think I haveever been part of.
Wow.
Horses reading intention, youjust, you can't argue with that,
especially when you hearstories like that.
(39:26):
Right.
It was just so immediate.
And, you know, you're lookingat this big 17 hand horse and this,
like I said, down syndrome andautistic, and they just clicked.
And.
Yeah.
And his mother says, you know,he took care of that horse.
He went out every morning andhe fed him.
And that's, you know, that's awful.
Awesome.
(39:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
So 50 dogs, 40 horses, morecoming in every day.
I'm assuming you could usesome help.
And I couldn't have got you toagree to this if I didn't.
Didn't at least try to getpeople to help you more.
So if they, if people listento this and they're like, I want
(40:06):
to adopt a horse, I want tomake a donation again, you guys,
when just backing up a little bit.
When we talked about thoseaccredited organizations, it's basically
like a giant umbrella thatthey have and Nelda has chosen to
get under this umbrella.
And when you're under thatumbrella, there's a whole lot of
things that have to happen foryou to be allowed in there.
(40:30):
So when you are looking at arescue, and sometimes we have to
do finger quote rescue,because there you.
Sometimes you go to a rescueand you're like, oh my God, if this
is the rescue, where the hellwere they?
Because this is terrible.
You know, it's not like thatat Horse and Hound and it's not like
this under, at these blanketedorganizations through these.
(40:52):
The accreditations that shehas to get there are a lot of work.
And I mean, I've had my houseinspected and my farm inspected just
because I'm associated with them.
So it's a lot of work.
So when you are looking towork with an organization, do look
for those accreditationsbecause they matter, because they're
hard work and you can't justput up a sign and, and be a rescue
(41:15):
and be accredited with these.
So all that being said, Neldaand Horse and Hound Rescue foundation
has all of thoseaccreditations, so your money is
well spent.
If you do want to make adonation or if they want to look
at adoptable horses, Nelda,where can they go?
You can always go to ourwebsite, which is www.horse and houndrescue.com.
(41:40):
and, and our horses are alsolisted under the ASPCA.
The right horse we're listedon there.
And that's the easiest way tosee the pictures of the horses and
a little bit about them andthen just, you know, contact us.
And we love to talk about our horses.
(42:02):
Yes.
Call me.
I'll talk to you, all of you,about Sharp Rocket, who is apparently
going to live here forever ashe completes his post kissing spine
rehab.
Oh, my gosh, Neld, if this hasbeen so much fun, watching him go
from stumbling over a pole onthe ground too.
I don't know if you saw thevideo I posted just a couple days
(42:23):
ago and he's like gracefullyskipping over it.
He now sees me bring thatyellow pulse machine out and starts
dancing in the cross ties.
He gets so excited.
I pulsed him last night.
I quit posting picturesbecause it's just the same thing
over and over again.
It's like pulse, pulse, redlight, poll, work, pull.
You know, until tomorrow he starts.
(42:44):
He'll work.
You know, we're going to startdoing a little bit of that.
But it has been superrewarding to see him.
And I know if you guys don'tremember, we got Nelda got that grant
because of this podcast to getsharp pocket surgery.
So what was that one again?
It was Homes for horses andZoetis and that.
(43:05):
In fact, you were the one thathad told me about it.
And they were very easy towork with and paid for his surgery.
And now that he's in rehab, heis able to live up to his potential
because he is a super nicehorse and otherwise he would be in
that companion pasture livingout his life as a companion horse.
(43:29):
And he is so much more than that.
He is.
He's a character and so heactually, I think I'll be able to
start him under saddle inabout a week and a half, just slightly
slowly.
But it has been reallyrewarding to work with him.
And.
And he's definitely acharacter and a little bit of a butthead
around poor little Butters.
(43:50):
He thinks that Butters is just trouble.
Just get him away from me.
I don't like that little baby horse.
It's a weird color.
That's not a thoroughbred, right?
No, no, Steph, that's not a thoroughbred.
Get that thing away.
Comes in a wrong color.
What.
What is your PayPal?
Because if anybody's listeningand they're like, don't have time
to go to the website, PayPalis a great way to send in a donation.
(44:13):
It is 501C3.
Everything is tax deductible.
And I think it's.
What is it at?
What.
What's your PayPal?
Do you remember?
Not really.
All I know is that it's thedonate button on the website.
So you have to go to the website.
I really don't know, but it isthe donate but button on the horse.
Yeah, Horse and Hound Rescue.
And I always post all thehorses that I'm working with as well
(44:36):
on my Flyover Farm Facebook page.
So check that out.
And Nelda, is there anythingyou would like to leave with us?
Just a big thank you for allthat you do.
You know, you have done agreat job in educating people and
in spreading the word of thegreat horses that are out there that
(45:01):
just need a little help.
So one more thing.
What is the future of Horseand Hound?
Well, luckily we have myLarry's son and daughter in law are
going to take over Horse andHound when I finally give up the
(45:21):
ghost.
And Barb has been with theGeorgia Humane department for years.
And Jay, Larry's son, was avet tech.
So they are maybe not as crazyabout rescue as I am, but they are
well equipped to carry forward.
(45:43):
Oh, that's fantastic news.
Yes.
Well, it might be becauseChad's like, you know, if this turnpike
comes through here, we'regonna have to move.
We need to look at somewhere.
Where do you want to go?
And I'm like, I'm not leav.
Horse and hand is done.
That turnpike is crazy.
Definitely.
But.
But yeah, I. I feel.
I feel good that there is abackup that if anything, you know,
(46:07):
life is never a guarantee.
Right?
So I do.
I'm so glad that there is a.
A backup that if anything, youknow, would happen that it is taken
care of.
Stuff you're leaving a legacy,a leg.
And, and you didn't start outcrazy in horse rescue too, so maybe
it will they'll get the bugand, and march forward and make it
(46:28):
even bigger.
So entirely possible.
Yeah.
Thank you so much for comingon Horse and houndrescue.com check
him out on right horse on Facebook.
All of the things.
And thanks to all the listeners.
We have listeners thatvolunteer for you that listen now.
We have owners of racehorsesthat people have gotten from listening
(46:50):
to the podcast and people thathave generously donated and all of
that is appreciated by so manypeople and so many animals.
And Nelda, thank you for youand Larry opening up your house and
your hearts to all of theseamazing, amazing animals.
I always say that, you know,if it weren't for racing, I would
have, I wouldn't have had suchnice horses.
(47:11):
So let's let, let's, let'skeep taking care of them.
Well, thanks Nelda for joining us.
And you guys stay tuned thisweek as Wednesday and Friday we will
be back with more one on one.
Tomorrow is the American HorseCouncil episode.
Thursday is the nrha.
Everybody have a great day.
(47:32):
Spay, neuter and guilt.
You are listening to the HorseRadio Network, part of the Equine
Network family.
What a beautiful day forhorses in the morning.
You are listening to thenumber one horse podcast in the world.
Here is your entertaining lookat the horse world and the people
(00:24):
in it.
Hey, everybody, I'm JamieJennings from Norman, Oklahoma, and
you're listening to Horses inthe Morning on the Horse Radio network
for Monday, October 6th.
And it's cool.
This is a special one on oneepisode brought to you today by Worm
(00:44):
Flooring.
Good morning, horse people.
Well, truth be told, Glenn andI are both off this week.
Glenn is visiting Ashley inNew Mexico for the big balloon fest
and I'm currently doing myMonty Roberts intro clinic.
I'm teaching it at the farm.
So we have a special week ofshows for you.
So I've pre recorded some oneon one episodes with some of my favorite
(01:08):
people.
And you all know about Horseand Hound Rescue foundation.
So I would like to welcomeNelda Kettles to the show.
I'm so pleased to be sittingdown with my dear friend Nelda Kettles.
She is the owner and founder,along with her husband Larry, of
Horse and Hound Rescuefoundation, who I've been lucky enough
(01:30):
to have a relationship with since.
Can you believe it's been that long?
Oh, my goodness.
No, actually, 2018, because Iadopted my first horse from you.
Lost my Way Groot, as we call him.
And he was my makeover horsein 2019.
So actually it's been 2018.
(01:50):
And Jesus Melda, the horsejust keeps coming back.
I was just thinking that.
He keeps popping back like abad penny, doesn't he?
Four times now.
This is time number four.
He's been back here.
So, yeah, he is a.
He's like a bad penny.
He just.
I can't figure out somethingfor him, but I guess he just likes
it here.
It's all your fault.
Thank you very much.
(02:11):
And he was, he was incrediblylucky that you chose him.
Absolutely.
Oh, gosh.
I remember that first time Iwent out there.
So I come out to Horse andHound and I don't know anybody in
Oklahoma, but somebody onFacebook had mentioned your rescue
and I remember calling you andsaying, I'm looking for a horse.
I'm looking for somethingaround 16, hands under 10 years of
(02:35):
age.
And I. I didn't even reallyhave a goal for the makeover at that
point.
And I said I wanted sound.
I want it to be gelding.
I want it to be, you know,like, I gave you like three or four
parameters.
And do you remember what yousaid to Me?
No.
You said, oh, girl, you'regonna be a kid in a candy store out
here.
(02:57):
Well, this is true.
I do get calls of peoplewanting a 14 or a 15 hand horse and
I say, this is not the place.
This is absolutely not the place.
Thoroughbreds do not tend tobe that.
So yes, when I get somebodyactually looking for the correct
size makes me very happy.
Yes.
Yeah, I was like 16 to 18.
(03:18):
I don't care, I don't care howtall, I don't really care how old.
I just wanted to be able to event.
And so we ended up getting,getting Baby Groot, as we called
him then.
And you know, it's, it's kindof been going on ever since.
So one of the things I wantedto ask you is, you know, when I came
out there and tried him out, Iput probably five or six horses in
(03:40):
the round pen, moved himaround a little bit.
And I think you were talkingto my husband at this point and he
mentioned something aboutMonty Roberts and of course you were
like, I love Monty Roberts.
And so how did it morph intous going.
And I'm going to get to thebasics, but how did it, how did you
choose me to become asatellite trainer for you?
(04:05):
Well, it's kind of a no brainer.
You know, your, yourbackground, your empathy with the
horses, the fact that, thatyou knew how to move the horse, you
knew what to look for in thehorse and simply your relationship
with the horses, that's,that's very easy to see.
(04:26):
And that is probably one ofthe best decisions I've ever made
for Horse and Hound, is tohave you as the trainer of these
horses because they deservethat second chance.
And that second chance dependsprobably 90% on the training that
(04:48):
they receive.
If, if you adopt a horse outto somebody and not that you are
training a finished product atall, but giving them the basic beginnings
to be whatever that adopter islooking for.
And if that beginning isn'tthere, then that horse most likely
(05:10):
is not going to work out forwhat the person is looking for and
is likely to come back toHorse and Hound.
Because the whole, the wholeidea is to fit the adopter and the
horse and you don't know whatthat horse wants to be until you
have somebody working withthat horse that can give me a good
(05:32):
idea and give the adopter anidea of what this horse wants to
be.
Well, that's, that's a nicecompliment that, because I know you've
made a lot of decisions withHorse and Hound.
So let's, let's back up alittle bit.
Like, what is your, what, whatis your origin story?
Where did you grow up and didyou have horses growing up?
(05:52):
Absolutely not.
City girl grew up in Oklahoma,but city girl didn't, you know, of
course, had the, the littlegirl love of horses and the insurance
agency.
After I graduated from collegeand I was in Kansas City and working
for a large insurance agency,and that's where I met Larry.
(06:15):
But the love had always been there.
And after Larry and I gotmarried, I don't know, out of the
blue, we decided to get aquarter horse, running horse.
And we ran quarter horses fora while and then morphed into the
thoroughbred.
And then we gave up insuranceand came to Oklahoma and started
(06:38):
breeding thoroughbredracehorses and running at Remington
Park.
Oh, my gosh.
So you were just some citygirl and this city boy comes in,
swaggers up, you know, he.
And he starts sweet talking you.
That's absolutely the way youget into thoroughbred race horses.
Right?
(06:59):
But he is, he's such a sweetman, and I could see him having a
little bit of a silver tongueand sweet talking.
Didn't you get.
Oh, yes.
Oh, yes.
You moved to Oklahoma and you started.
I mean, you kind of went from0 to 100.
Yes, yes.
You might as well jump in withboth feet and, and go for it, right?
(07:21):
At one time we stood and hadabout 30 broodmares.
So in that way, I was readyfor having the 30 and 40 horses in
the rescue all the time.
So I knew that I would neverhave a minute to myself and the life
would be dedicated to, to thefantastic thoroughbred racehorse.
(07:46):
So you had a breedingoperation and you stood stallions
and then you race horses and,and at one you decided that you were
done with that.
And then you decide to talk tous about the, the kind of.
The end and then of the racingand breeding and then the transformation
(08:06):
into the rescue.
Well, unfortunately, Larry'shealth made the decision of stopping
breeding and running.
Just started having some, somehealth issues.
So we decided to end thebreeding operation and the running
operation.
And actually we were asked byseveral of our friends, trainers
(08:31):
and owners at the track to gointo the rescue situation because
they wanted an option becausethere really wasn't much of an option
in Oklahoma for the horsesrunning well enough to keep in training
or that were injured enoughthat they couldn't go on.
(08:52):
So Larry and I decided to, tocreate Horse and hound Rescue in
2016.
And that's how it happened.
And I had no idea what I wasjumping into.
But, but it's it's incredibly fulfilling.
It, you know, these horsesgive their all on the track and when
(09:15):
they're all isn't enough orlike I said, or if they have an injury
or something like that, thenthey deserve the second chance to
go into another career thatthey deserve and that they can excel
at.
So how many horses did youhave when you were doing the breeding?
(09:37):
Kind of like, I mean, I knowit's a floating number, but how?
20, 40, 60, 100.
What did you have?
Probably about when we had thefour stallions, probably about 25
broodmares.
Okay, so I'm trying to piecethis together.
So Larry's health declines andhe can no longer work with the horses.
(09:57):
So then you double that numberand you're doing all the work.
I didn't say I was smart, did I?
It's true.
It's true.
So Nelda, you only not onlyhave all these thoroughbreds, you
have around 40 thoroughbredsat any given time, plus or minus.
(10:17):
Usually plus.
Plus.
And then you decided to starta senior dog rescue sanctuary.
How did that happen?
Well, unfortunately, Oklahoma,like several states, has a bad situation
for senior dogs.
(10:40):
The dogs I take in, usuallytheir owner has passed away or had
to go into an assisted livingsituation and the rest of the family
just isn't set up to take thatdog in.
And animal control, if youtake a senior dog into animal control,
they are not considered adoptable.
(11:02):
They are simply put to sleep.
And that's not fair to thatdog that has only known love all
its life.
And we're situated out here on50 acres.
So we just decided that wewould help as many of the old dogs
that we could and let themlive their life out here with us.
(11:26):
And it's great for making thoroughbreds.
Dog broke.
Nobody leaves here that isn'tdog broke.
That's very true.
I've not had one that has beeneven afraid of a chicken.
They just, they don't care atall because like you said, they're
used to it.
So you've got, I alwaysdescribe driving into horse and hound
(11:46):
is like you pull in and it'slike the island of Misfit toys comes
running up to you.
There's like three leggeddogs, one eyed dogs.
You know, they came hobblingup and some of them are, I mean,
they're so exuberant and theyjust love life that' they have.
And then I, I drove.
I remember asking you onetime, I'm like, how come there's
(12:07):
all these dogs loose runningaround and there's all those dogs
that are in that, you know, Imean, it's, it's like in a paddock
that's fenced off and.
And your answer was, well,those are the blind ones.
I'm like, oh my God.
And, and the deaf ones.
Right?
And the deaf ones.
Because the deaf ones don't know.
People are fantastic aboutwhen they do come in, they are met
(12:30):
with our welcoming committee.
So of course the sensors onthe cars and trucks go off like crazy.
And people are very good atbeing cautious about letting the
dogs know that they're going.
But, but the blind ones andthe deaf ones can't get out of the
way.
So they, they do have to stay up.
(12:51):
Yeah, I love it.
I mean, what a heart to, toopen your home to, I mean, all these
dogs.
So I guess wait, before I getto my next question, we have to break
for a commercial.
And we'll be right back.
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That's WermFlooring.com well,speaking of all of.
These dogs and all of thesehorses, what do you think is the,
(13:55):
the your most favorite part ofhaving all of these?
Let's start with horses.
What's the best part of havingall these horses?
Well, the best part of courseis we are about to enter our 10th
year and we are about, oh,about 20 horses away from adopting
out 600 horses.
(14:17):
And that makes us feelfantastic that we have been a small
part of finding a good homefor 600 horses that otherwise might
not have had that opportunityto go on and do great things.
They've done everything fromtherapy horses with a ministry to
(14:40):
event horses, jumpers, just afamily loved pet.
And in fact the, the 250thanniversary of the army where they
had the parade in WashingtonD.C. the Fourth Seal Army.
Two of the swing horsespulling the caisson were horse and
(15:00):
Hound adoptees.
You're kidding me.
That's amazing.
And what is even more amazingabout that is a horse called Morse
Code had been ruled off a track.
His behavior was just so bad.
He came out here a basket caseand he is now one of those swing
(15:21):
horses, you know, cannonsgoing off around him and you know,
an entirely new horse.
So that, that makes usincredibly happy.
I know, I remember Morse Code.
He came here to get some ofthat foundation work we were talking
about.
And.
Yes, Honor code, baby.
Yeah.
You have all the.
(15:42):
That's amazing because peoplesay thoroughbreds, you can't, can't
do that with them.
You simply can't.
And here they are, you know,representing the army.
It's unbelievable.
So with that being said, youhave all these wonderful things.
What is the most challengingpart of having 40 plus thoroughbreds
on your, in your yard?
(16:04):
Well, I think of course theworst part is the one that come in.
The ones that come in with,with injuries that just will never
allow them to, to go on.
So basically, you know, we tryand retry and they simply become
(16:24):
companion horses and justagain, like the dogs live out their
lives here.
But it's, it's incredibly sadthat a, you know, a four or five
year old horse is, is at thatpoint where, where he doesn't have
a second chance.
That's, that's the sad part.
Well, the, the second chanceis unbelievable.
(16:46):
People like you have the, Iknow it's called the backfield and
you put them out in thebackfield and they get to live in
a herd of other hors.
That's a better life thanbeing on.
I mean, you know, honestly, Ialways say it like ends up gonna
end up on a truck to Mexicoand they, they are not going to end
up on a truck to Mexico ifthey go through Horse and Hound.
(17:07):
And that is one of my favoriteparts and probably one of the most
encouraging things I can tellpeople when they're interested in
adopting is, you know, oncethey have that Horse and Hound kind
of stamp on their passport,they're good for life.
Like, they can come back.
You are, you're like me with Groot.
I mean, my God, we'll justkeep taking them back.
(17:31):
Yes, absolutely.
If you come to Horse and Houndas a horse and if you're adopted
and the adoption doesn't workout, or if anything happens, the
horse always can come back toHorse and Hound no matter what.
What the reason.
Yeah.
And hopefully they come backin good shape, but I know sometimes
(17:53):
they don't.
And you have to work with themall over again, you know, and that's,
that's sadly part of it.
You just can't control everything.
You do get a few of thosereturn customers, don't you?
Yeah.
You've worked with a fewseveral times.
It's true.
We got this one back.
We need you to fix them again.
Right, right.
(18:13):
Send them on.
Send them on.
You got it.
With all the dogs.
What plus and minuses ofhaving all these dogs, the best and
worst, worst.
Parts, the con, the huge con,is that you have no time of your
own.
The, the horses and the dogsare a 247 situation, and the time
(18:34):
is simply taken by them.
So if you're, if you'relooking for any personal life, don't
run the rescue like I dobecause it's just, it's just too
much at times.
We always joke and, and we'vegone through a whole thing with our
listeners of trying tophotograph you're, you know, when
(18:56):
you're sitting in the bathroomand there's like five phases staring
at you?
Yeah.
When you go to sit down thebathroom and they're like 25 dogs
staring.
At you, it's about that bad.
And, and the joke around hereis that you cannot take a picture
of a horse without three dogsphotobombing at least.
But it's gotta be so rewarding.
Speaking of the pluses, it' tobe so rewarding to have these guys,
(19:19):
heartbreaking to lose thembecause they do come as seniors.
But.
Yeah, that's, that's the tough part.
But, but like I said, most ofthem have been loved all their lives.
And that loyalty to you, andthere's nothing better.
Yeah, absolutely.
So as you've been coming alongwith this rescue you started forever
(19:43):
ago, and as you've gone along,I feel like you keep adding accreditations
that you have, like, differenttalk about what, what, what accreditations
you have, how important theyare and what they've meant to you.
Well, of course, ThoroughbredAftercare association is great.
They, there's a lot ofpaperwork and they do a lot of inspections,
(20:07):
which I think is absolutely fantastic.
Because if you want to be arescue, you need to know what you're
doing and you need to be doingit right.
Thoroughbred Aftercare TAA isfantastic in helping provide resources,
in providing ideas, and if youhave any issues, somebody is always
(20:32):
there to work through theissue with you and give you support
and help.
Aspca.
Right.
Horse, again, is very good onhaving resources, on helping transport
horses across the U.S. for youand helping with that thoroughbred
Charities of America is very good.
(20:55):
In fact, they sponsor theRetired Racehorse project that you
went to that year.
And there's just a lot oforganizations out there.
On the bad side, of course, isall that paperwork taking up all
that time, but it's good.
And in fact, even Remingtonpark this year we're very proud of.
They finally instituted aprogram called Ring the Bell.
(21:20):
And after a horse wins a race,the owner, trainer, or jockey can
ring the bell in the winner's circle.
And when they ring the bell,they promise to donate a certain
amount to aftercare, which isthe first year they have done this.
(21:41):
And so far, it's fantastic.
We're getting about.
I think about 70% of thepeople that win a race are ringing
the bell, so that's going tobe great.
Well, we're gonna up thatnumber because I'm gonna start standing
right outside the WinterCircle at Remington.
I'm kick them in the shins ifthey don't ring it.
There you go.
I like that.
(22:01):
Turn around, get back in thereand bring that.
Yes, yes.
It's fantast.
You know, like I said, thatthere is a lot of support which is
greatly needed.
You know, I think that, you know.
Looking back from my childhoodwith racehorses until now, like,
what a change in the world forthese horses.
(22:23):
It is very good that there arethese organizations and there are
these groups and there is thatsupport because it's always been
greatly needed and now it'sout there, which is fantastic.
So, speaking of Remington,Remington is in full swing.
They just opened last week.
(22:44):
And I know that typicallyRemington season can get pretty busy
for you, so we'll talk aboutthat in a second.
But when you think back, youknow, are you.
You like.
Okay, it's coming up on August.
Are you really trying to get ahorse's adopted out?
So you have spaces, or do youhave to turn horses away?
(23:04):
How does that.
You know, actually, August isusually a bad month for us, getting
adopted horses out becauseit's hot, it's miserable, everybody
is suffering from the weather,but we have had a great month.
We've adopted out six horsesso far this month, which is great.
But, yes, we do know thatAugust is when Remington gears up,
(23:29):
and we know that we're goingto start getting a bunch of horses
in.
And I have the.
The cutest little baby for you.
He is in rehab.
It'll be a while.
But he's a 3 year old and heis 17.
2.
Oh, why is that a baby for me?
You know, I'm five.
He's just going so tiny.
You know, he's so tiny.
(23:50):
And I don't think yourmounting block is not going to be
high enough.
You're going to need a ladderbecause you are rather height than
not advantaged.
And he is already 17 2.
So that's amazing.
It's going to be a problem.
Three years old.
Oh my gosh.
Well, that's why we have farm girl.
I have a new assistant.
She's brave and young and dumb.
So it's perfect.
(24:10):
Good, good, good.
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So as we were talking before,there's a 3 year old 172 hand monster
that is waiting for youlisteners to adopt.
(25:15):
What's, what's the horse's name?
His name is Okie.
Joker Okie.
Oh, and it's an Okie too.
Come on.
Well, actually this is not oneof those.
Okie is now being used by alot of owners and trainers in their
names.
So he is an Erictor horse.
But, but he will be a whilebecause he does have a attendant.
(25:36):
So he'll be in rehab forseveral months before he's ready
for you.
Well, and that's my nextquestion is when a horse comes to
you off the track, what istell everybody kind of what the,
the first day to adoption daykind of looks like.
What's a time in, in the lifeof a thoroughbred at Horse and Hound?
(25:59):
Okay.
When the horse is acceptedinto the program, the trainer will
tell us if the horse has any issues.
If the horse is simply slow,his progress is going to be a lot
faster through the programthan if the horse has like a tendon
or a knee sort of injury.
They are initially alloweddowntime to kind of just forget their
(26:24):
routine of going to the trackevery day and running.
So we just give them downtime.
And of course, any horse is an individual.
So with some it can be amatter of weeks, some it might be
a Month, might be two months.
And then we go from thatdowntime to ground manners.
(26:49):
The biggest thing on athoroughbred racehorse that people
don't comprehend is standingsteel to be mounted.
They're just not taught that ajockey exercise rider is thrown up
on the back of the horse.
The horse isn't standing still.
So we work on their groundmanners a bit.
(27:10):
And then I call Jamie and say,you know, will you be around?
Are you ready for another one?
And they go to you.
And of course that time frameagain is entirely dependent upon
the horse as to how long theystay with you.
(27:31):
It's true.
Some, some stay for, you know,I mean, heck, some of them, one has
been adopted the same day.
It came to me because I posteda pretty face picture, you know,
so you never got what's gonnaresonate with people.
It's either I find that theyget adopted from my house when I
do one of two things.
Either I post a really prettyface picture and somebody falls in
(27:53):
love with the horse's face, orI've gone through all the training
and I'm cantering it around inthe arena.
It's like the second somebodycan sees it cantering politely, then
it gets adopted as well.
So that is definitely the, thetwo times I think so when, when they've
gone through all this downtimeand then they've gone to either me
(28:14):
or I know you have someamazing volunteers there.
When somebody puts in anapplication, what, what then starts?
Well, the application ofcourse asks for references.
We want to know that theperson knows what they're getting
into.
Adopting a horse is not cheap.
(28:36):
You have to have the, theresources to care for a horse.
You have to know.
We adopt to a few first timehorse people, but very few.
Because honestly, in myopinion, if you're getting a first
time horse, an off trackthoroughbred isn't one that you want.
(28:57):
Now it's not that they arehigher or anything else.
They just tend to be to need alittle more care.
Less educated horses and lesseducated people.
What, what did they say?
Green on green makes black andblue, you know.
Yes, yes.
Yeah.
And, and I, I do love thatthat has been kind of your, your
(29:19):
stance this whole time islike, no, this is not the horse for
you.
Because like you said we'vetalked about before is you get these
horses adopted out and if theydon't go to the right person, they're
going to come back and they'regoing to come back farther behind
than they were when they left,you know, so it's important.
It's not Just about pushing ahorse on people.
And, and when people come outhere, it's really strange when for
(29:42):
them, if they've been horseshopping, I'm not pushing this horse
on them.
I'm gonna tell you withintegrity everything that I know
about this horse, which iswhat you're gonna tell everybody
about this horse, and thenthey can come and see if it's gonna
be a fit or not.
And I would like to take thismoment to thank all of the amazing
(30:03):
listeners of this podcast whohave not only just donated or I think
a couple winters ago, it waslike crazy cold.
And everybody mailed you blankets.
Horses.
Yes.
But yes, also the people thathave adopted.
Right.
And, and like you said, if itisn't a good fit, we will tell them
(30:24):
we don't think this will be agood fit.
You know, you might look at adifferent horse or wait and see if
we have a different horse orgo to another rescue because we don't
want to set that person backin their look for a horse and we
certainly don't want to setthat horse back.
And it's, it's just, you know,simply education.
(30:46):
And yes, your, your, yourpeople have been great.
Your listeners have been fantastic.
We got lots of blankets andthat was crazy cold and I don't even
like to think about that winter.
Your listeners have beenfantastic in donating blankets and
(31:06):
donating cash and in adopting horses.
They made up a huge portion ofthat 600 that we are getting close
to.
I told Nelda that you guys,what we needed to do was to get a
map of the US and like pushpin map so we can put push pins where
(31:27):
all the horses have gone.
Because through just the, thepeople listening, we've sent horses
to California, Rhode Island,Florida, Illinois, what, Idaho.
I, I mean there's so manyhorses that mind that have left here,
what.
Montana, Colorado, Texas, of course.
I don't think there are awhole lot of states that we haven't
(31:48):
sent horses to.
And it, it is amazing.
But you know, you guys are great.
What can I say?
Well, you are kind of knownfor having a volunteer only staff,
which is helmed by you, ofcourse, because you're never not
doing something with a dog ora horse.
What are some of the biggestchallenges and, and rewards of an
(32:12):
organization that relies onlyon volunteers?
The pluses is that thesepeople really want to be here.
It's not that they are gettingany financial gain because they're
not.
They are here because theylove the animal and they want to
help the animal and they are aDedicated, fantastic group of people.
(32:36):
The cons, of course, are thosesilly people have to have a job to
make a living, so we kind ofhave to work around their schedule,
you know, so it's.
It's definitely that justdepends on.
On when they're not working intheir real job to come out here.
So.
Darn people.
How dare they?
I know, like, work for a living.
(32:58):
Crazy.
So what are some of the, like,now that Remington is in, are you
getting inundated with horsesneeding homes?
Yes, yes.
We got.
We've taken in.
Since the meet started, likeyou said, just about a week and a
half ago, we have taken in eight.
(33:19):
So, yeah, it's.
It's going to be.
And.
And like I said, the beginningof the meet is when the trainers
are kind of finding out thatthis horse doesn't want to be a racehorse.
This horse isn't fast enoughto be a racehorse or they come up
with.
With the injuries.
So we.
We've gotten that initial input.
(33:41):
Hopefully it'll slow down alittle bit, but.
But like I said, we were luckyenough in August so far to have adopted
out six, so knock on wood thatit keeps kind of leveling out like
that.
Yeah, absolutely.
So I don't know if anybodyknows this, but horses that come
off the racetrack that thenjust get downtime.
(34:02):
They eat a lot.
Oh, my God, a lot.
I. I know we've talked aboutthis before, but I don't really understand
what happens every once in a while.
Like, every week you have togo to the airport to pick up food.
What does that mean?
Oh, that's.
That's for the dogs.
There is a.
A group, a great group calledGreater Goods Charities, and they
(34:28):
get, like, if.
If you get a.
A shipment from Chewy and youdon't like what you got, or if it
was hurt in.
If it, you know, a bag was to.
In transit, then you send itback to Chewy.
Chewy donates all that toGreater Goods.
And if some.
If a dog food has happens tohave, you know, something mislabeled
(34:51):
or something, then that'swhere we get greater goods.
Tells us they have such andsuch, and we only have to pay shipping
for it, so that's great.
So we go down and get like apallet or a ton of dog food, and
we only have to pay, like, youknow, a few hundred dollars, whereas
you would pay a lot more for that.
(35:12):
But of course, it just depends on.
On the trucks that, that theydo get from Chewy or from Purina
or from whatever.
But yes, we also have to drivedown by the airport to pick it up.
But it's a great program.
I always wondered why you hadto go to the airport to get dog food.
Yeah, that's why.
(35:33):
That's why you have to go there.
And occasionally, you know,Chewy also does horse supplements
and, you know, stuff like that.
So we get a little horse stufffrom them.
Not a whole lot, but I'm veryhappy when we get the horse supplements
from them.
Well, I will tell you that that's.
Chewy is a sponsor, actually,so we are thrilled to hear about
(35:54):
that.
And Purina is a sponsor too.
So what's really fantastic isyou've got all of that happening.
And you know what?
Like, like, it was like thefirst time when I.
When I got a horse from you, Iadopted Groot or Drax or something.
And.
And I said, well, what does it eat?
And you said, anything.
(36:15):
It's anything because they getwhat is there.
And.
And my local feed store.
Oh, my God, Nelda, I have hadwords with these people 6,000 times.
They have a whole section offood, like they.
That has ripped bags and theyoffered it 10 off.
And I'm like, yeah, clearlynobody is going to buy for just the
(36:37):
measly, you know, $50 off of abag discount food.
I'm like, let me take it.
And I'm heading to the rescue now.
Let me take it.
And they will not give it to me.
And how cool it is that Chewyis like, eh, well, just.
They donated.
That's fantastic.
Or they did give it at a superreduced rate.
(36:58):
I will tell you that.
That 10.
I was like, there's nobodythat buys that.
And they were like, like, wesell it as soon as it gets in here.
I'm like, no way.
I. I have seen that in stores,and it amazes me too.
Yeah.
And.
And we are so thankful topeople like Purina and Chewy that
donated and greater good chipsin that food.
(37:20):
And there is no way I couldfeed 50 dogs and pay retail for dog
food.
It's just anybody that buysdog food knows how outrageous it
is.
Along with horse feed also.
So.
Yeah.
And.
And horse feed for racehorsesis even extra so.
Yes, yes, you.
You do have to feed them a bunch.
(37:42):
Let's.
Before we get to.
To wrap this up here, what is.
What is.
If you are thinking of in thehorse world, a super successful.
Like.
Like, like, okay, I had thatpony Taco Tuesday, and I think that
someday when I die and I gowherever I'm gonna go, that's what
somebody's going to talk to meabout, be like, you know what, you
(38:03):
did good.
Because I could not be prouderof Taco Tuesday and where he ended
up.
And it's like one of thosethings when I go to heaven, that's
what they're going to talk tome about.
What do you think that they'regoing to talk to you about when you
go to heaven?
I think maybe the horses thatwe have sent to be therapy horses,
(38:24):
we donate.
Well, in fact, we adopted one17 hand thoroughbred to a lovely
family in Stillwater.
Their child was.
But he was still a child, waslike 25 and he's autistic and down
(38:44):
syndrome, non verbal.
And we put him in the roundpen with this horse and he relaxed
and we put him on top of this horse.
And it was an instant bond.
He was calm.
His mother let him around onthe horse and they had the horse
(39:05):
for, I want to say like eightor nine years.
And the horse did have anissue and pass away, but that was
the best fit I think I haveever been part of.
Wow.
Horses reading intention, youjust, you can't argue with that,
especially when you hearstories like that.
(39:26):
Right.
It was just so immediate.
And, you know, you're lookingat this big 17 hand horse and this,
like I said, down syndrome andautistic, and they just clicked.
And.
Yeah.
And his mother says, you know,he took care of that horse.
He went out every morning andhe fed him.
And that's, you know, that's awful.
Awesome.
(39:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
So 50 dogs, 40 horses, morecoming in every day.
I'm assuming you could usesome help.
And I couldn't have got you toagree to this if I didn't.
Didn't at least try to getpeople to help you more.
So if they, if people listento this and they're like, I want
(40:06):
to adopt a horse, I want tomake a donation again, you guys,
when just backing up a little bit.
When we talked about thoseaccredited organizations, it's basically
like a giant umbrella thatthey have and Nelda has chosen to
get under this umbrella.
And when you're under thatumbrella, there's a whole lot of
things that have to happen foryou to be allowed in there.
(40:30):
So when you are looking at arescue, and sometimes we have to
do finger quote rescue,because there you.
Sometimes you go to a rescueand you're like, oh my God, if this
is the rescue, where the hellwere they?
Because this is terrible.
You know, it's not like thatat Horse and Hound and it's not like
this under, at these blanketedorganizations through these.
(40:52):
The accreditations that shehas to get there are a lot of work.
And I mean, I've had my houseinspected and my farm inspected just
because I'm associated with them.
So it's a lot of work.
So when you are looking towork with an organization, do look
for those accreditationsbecause they matter, because they're
hard work and you can't justput up a sign and, and be a rescue
(41:15):
and be accredited with these.
So all that being said, Neldaand Horse and Hound Rescue foundation
has all of thoseaccreditations, so your money is
well spent.
If you do want to make adonation or if they want to look
at adoptable horses, Nelda,where can they go?
You can always go to ourwebsite, which is www.horse and houndrescue.com.
(41:40):
and, and our horses are alsolisted under the ASPCA.
The right horse we're listedon there.
And that's the easiest way tosee the pictures of the horses and
a little bit about them andthen just, you know, contact us.
And we love to talk about our horses.
(42:02):
Yes.
Call me.
I'll talk to you, all of you,about Sharp Rocket, who is apparently
going to live here forever ashe completes his post kissing spine
rehab.
Oh, my gosh, Neld, if this hasbeen so much fun, watching him go
from stumbling over a pole onthe ground too.
I don't know if you saw thevideo I posted just a couple days
(42:23):
ago and he's like gracefullyskipping over it.
He now sees me bring thatyellow pulse machine out and starts
dancing in the cross ties.
He gets so excited.
I pulsed him last night.
I quit posting picturesbecause it's just the same thing
over and over again.
It's like pulse, pulse, redlight, poll, work, pull.
You know, until tomorrow he starts.
(42:44):
He'll work.
You know, we're going to startdoing a little bit of that.
But it has been superrewarding to see him.
And I know if you guys don'tremember, we got Nelda got that grant
because of this podcast to getsharp pocket surgery.
So what was that one again?
It was Homes for horses andZoetis and that.
(43:05):
In fact, you were the one thathad told me about it.
And they were very easy towork with and paid for his surgery.
And now that he's in rehab, heis able to live up to his potential
because he is a super nicehorse and otherwise he would be in
that companion pasture livingout his life as a companion horse.
(43:29):
And he is so much more than that.
He is.
He's a character and so heactually, I think I'll be able to
start him under saddle inabout a week and a half, just slightly
slowly.
But it has been reallyrewarding to work with him.
And.
And he's definitely acharacter and a little bit of a butthead
around poor little Butters.
(43:50):
He thinks that Butters is just trouble.
Just get him away from me.
I don't like that little baby horse.
It's a weird color.
That's not a thoroughbred, right?
No, no, Steph, that's not a thoroughbred.
Get that thing away.
Comes in a wrong color.
What.
What is your PayPal?
Because if anybody's listeningand they're like, don't have time
to go to the website, PayPalis a great way to send in a donation.
(44:13):
It is 501C3.
Everything is tax deductible.
And I think it's.
What is it at?
What.
What's your PayPal?
Do you remember?
Not really.
All I know is that it's thedonate button on the website.
So you have to go to the website.
I really don't know, but it isthe donate but button on the horse.
Yeah, Horse and Hound Rescue.
And I always post all thehorses that I'm working with as well
(44:36):
on my Flyover Farm Facebook page.
So check that out.
And Nelda, is there anythingyou would like to leave with us?
Just a big thank you for allthat you do.
You know, you have done agreat job in educating people and
in spreading the word of thegreat horses that are out there that
(45:01):
just need a little help.
So one more thing.
What is the future of Horseand Hound?
Well, luckily we have myLarry's son and daughter in law are
going to take over Horse andHound when I finally give up the
(45:21):
ghost.
And Barb has been with theGeorgia Humane department for years.
And Jay, Larry's son, was avet tech.
So they are maybe not as crazyabout rescue as I am, but they are
well equipped to carry forward.
(45:43):
Oh, that's fantastic news.
Yes.
Well, it might be becauseChad's like, you know, if this turnpike
comes through here, we'regonna have to move.
We need to look at somewhere.
Where do you want to go?
And I'm like, I'm not leav.
Horse and hand is done.
That turnpike is crazy.
Definitely.
But.
But yeah, I. I feel.
I feel good that there is abackup that if anything, you know,
(46:07):
life is never a guarantee.
Right?
So I do.
I'm so glad that there is a.
A backup that if anything, youknow, would happen that it is taken
care of.
Stuff you're leaving a legacy,a leg.
And, and you didn't start outcrazy in horse rescue too, so maybe
it will they'll get the bugand, and march forward and make it
(46:28):
even bigger.
So entirely possible.
Yeah.
Thank you so much for comingon Horse and houndrescue.com check
him out on right horse on Facebook.
All of the things.
And thanks to all the listeners.
We have listeners thatvolunteer for you that listen now.
We have owners of racehorsesthat people have gotten from listening
(46:50):
to the podcast and people thathave generously donated and all of
that is appreciated by so manypeople and so many animals.
And Nelda, thank you for youand Larry opening up your house and
your hearts to all of theseamazing, amazing animals.
I always say that, you know,if it weren't for racing, I would
have, I wouldn't have had suchnice horses.
(47:11):
So let's let, let's, let'skeep taking care of them.
Well, thanks Nelda for joining us.
And you guys stay tuned thisweek as Wednesday and Friday we will
be back with more one on one.
Tomorrow is the American HorseCouncil episode.
Thursday is the nrha.
Everybody have a great day.
(47:32):
Spay, neuter and guilt.
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