Mississippi Horses

09/04/2026

Sometimes you just need a little comic relief when things get heavy. ❤️

Thankfully, these two never fail to provide it. 😂

Loki and Rowdy are at it again… fussing over Malibu, while Malibu strings them both along. 😂😂💕

09/04/2026

There are moments in rescue that break your heart… and moments like this that leave you in awe. 🩶

One by one, we let the horses walk past Mocha to say goodbye. She had recovered from the ivermectin episode last week but the heaves came back with a vengeance. It was time.

Some stopped. Some lingered. Some seemed to understand in their own way that she was gone.

Latte was the last.

She stood back for the longest time before finally walking over to see her.

Mocha and Latte came to us as strays, and we believe Mocha was her mom. Whatever their story was before they found us, life had not always been kind.

After saying goodbye to Mocha, Latte walked over to me…and let me pet her.

This is a mare who came to us unhandled and extremely defensive of people. We’ve been slowly earning her trust, but in that moment, it was touching that she came to me.

Maybe she needed reassurance. Maybe she was looking for comfort. I don’t know.

If possible, it’s good to let them say goodbye. They understand loss in their own way, and allowing them to see and smell their friend can help them understand they’re gone. ❤️

Mocha is the second horse with heaves we’ve had to put down this week. This heat has been brutal. Her euthanasia and burial was $760. Thanks to everyone who helped yesterday, we only owe $328 of Nash’s $728 bill.

You just helped us with Mocha’s emergency vet bill, and we hate to ask again—especially after $2,300 in unexpected tractor repairs already put us over budget. But if you’d like to help with Mocha’s final expenses, we would be so grateful. ❤️

09/03/2026

For all of you who want to save horses - please know that just bailing them from a bad place is just the beginning. Where does the horse go after the save? Is it re-homed as is or do they have a plan for each horse - what their needs are, what they will be happy at doing, how much more training do they need to reach their full potential. That last part is the most important. Too many rescues just turn them back out in the world and guess where they end up.

With us.

This sweet boy is one of those horses.❤

Nash was “rescued” from auction, adopted out to a family who learned later the horse came from bucking stock. They only learned that after he threw someone pretty badly.

Of course the only story we heard was that he came from an auction, was a bucker and could we take him. Once they showed up with him is when we heard he was fund raised for by another rescue. I would not have taken him had I known that. But they said they didn’t want him to hurt anyone else, they wanted to see if our trainers could help him so he could have a better life. Ugh. Okay, they had driven a long way, so we took him in and we love a good challenge.

I don’t remember the exact details but I think the final verdict was that he had a sore back, possible kissing spine, not really sure. But he was sweet and he deserved a place somewhere as a companion or in our sanctuary.

We’ve looked out for him all these years, he’s won the hearts of many along the way. Some of you sponsored his expenses so that he could stay at his final home. Sadly he has been suffering for heaves and this summer, nothing they did relieved his symptoms. 💔

Thanks to everyone who was a part of his journey. He had a great few years thanks to your generosity. Fly high sweet boy.

If you'd like to help with his final costs, we'd greatly appreciate it! His burial fee was $350 and vet bill was $378. THANK YOU!

09/02/2026

This was Nico. 💕

I wanted to share this beautiful video of Nico performing at liberty with his trainer during the Heart of the Horse Trainers Challenge.

Since sharing Nico’s story, some have assumed that because he was diagnosed with HYPP and MYHM, he must have been suffering and should never have been worked.

That simply wasn’t what we were seeing.

Nico was under veterinary care, on medication and carefully managed. His trainer was actually the one who first noticed something wasn’t right after she began working with him, which led to the testing and his diagnoses. Once those conditions were identified and managed, Nico was doing incredibly well.

And this video shows something else that is important to his story:

Nico had a remarkable connection with his trainer. What you’re watching is liberty work. There are no ropes holding him there. He is choosing to stay engaged with her, listen to her and work with her.

Nico came from a kill pen and had spent about a year with another rescue before coming to us for the Challenge. At pickup, he did go after volunteers. But aggressive or defensive behavior isn’t unheard of in horses coming from difficult or uncertain backgrounds.

Over the months that followed, we believed those behaviors were behind Nico. He became a beautifully trained horse who worked cattle, trail rode, competed and developed the partnership you see here.

That’s why I don’t believe we can simply say, “Nico had HYPP and MYHM, therefore that is why he eventually attacked.” His diagnoses were part of his story, and they absolutely had to be taken seriously and managed appropriately. But they don’t give us a simple explanation for everything that happened.
And that is perhaps the hardest part of Nico’s story.

Sometimes you can do everything you know to do. You can provide veterinary care, training, medication, proper management and love—and still not have all the answers.

This is the Nico his trainer knew. This is the horse she loved. And this beautiful connection is one of the reasons what happened later was so heartbreaking. ❤️

Stories like this make it incredibly hard for those of us in horse rescue. Even with the best veterinarians and the best trainers, some horses just can’t be fixed. 😢

09/02/2026

Bugs 💕

If horses could talk…

Bugs was saved from a kill pen by another rescue. They had him for two years, but despite their best efforts, they weren’t able to get him safe enough for adoption.

We offered to take Bugs for the Heart of the Horse Trainers Challenge, with the agreement that if he wasn’t chosen by a trainer, he would return to them.

He wasn’t chosen.

But our evaluation told us something important: Bugs had been handled before. He knew things. Whatever happened in his past left him with an incredible fear and distrust of people. If he could tell us that story, we would probably be horrified. Horses with this type of damage can be the hardest to train and can take years to become safe for the average person - if ever.

We were honest with the rescue that we didn’t feel sending him back was in his best interest or theirs. But if we were going to continue helping him, we needed a trainer willing to take on a horse like Bugs.

Thanks to our amazing supporters, we were able to raise enough funds to send him to Munday Morning Acres for two months.

With consistent daily handling, they were able to earn his trust and started him in the right direction. ❤️

But he was a long way from being safe for the average person to adopt. He was far from being one that our volunteer trainers and young riders could handle.

After much discussion about his future, the Mundays said they really believed in him and wanted to continue to work with him. So they officially adopted him so they could continue his journey toward healing. 😊

He’s had some time off so Patrick plans to take him back through his training steps and this time we get to follow along.

If you were a Bug’s fan or just love to see how training can change a horse’s future be sure to follow .

This is why we are so grateful for our network of trainers who are willing to take the hard cases. They are the reason so many horses get second chances. 💕

09/02/2026

This is our farrier, David Gray, back when he trained horses. This is Dumas, a TWH mare who we took in for the Sunflower County Sheriff Dept. She and other horses had to be cut out of their stalls because the manure was so deep they couldn't open the doors. We had two horses in the Parelli World Tour held in Tunica to show the different horse-analities. It was really cool and the Parelli’s were so nice and down to earth.

Dumas’ adoptive mom contacted me the other day and asked her age and I said I'd have to look back to see. This was 12 years ago and she had a 3 year old baby when they were rescued.

Dumas was shown in racking classes before her owner abandoned her.

This is footage of our rescue horse, Dumas, with her trainer, David...

09/02/2026

Mr. “Run You Over” is turning into quite the gentleman, and I’m finally comfortable with our volunteers handling him. Everyone is already falling in love with this big boy. ❤️

I’ll admit, everyone was a little leery today after watching the horse attack video that’s gone viral from the Colorado Horse Rescue Network.

We get in some pretty messed-up horses that other people don’t want to deal with, and I’m always lecturing our volunteers that horses can—and sometimes will—come at you. Especially horses that have little fear of people and have never been taught to respect human boundaries.

Keep in mind, we often take in the difficult ones—the horses from terrible situations that others have already given up on. Good, well-trained horses are a rarity and they don’t usually don’t need rescuing.

Safety always comes first.

Now that we’ve spent some time with Mr. “Run You Over,” we know there’s a really good horse underneath all that pushiness. He’ll absolutely test you if you give him an inch, but that’s okay. We know what we’re working with.

We have our work cut out for us, but I think this big boy is going to make one heck of a partner for someone. ❤️

09/01/2026

This Saturday’s Speak Horse session will focus on safely sending a horse through a gate, into a stall, and through and around obstacles.

Prime gave us a powerful reminder this morning of why these skills matter.

His usual handler, Linda, wasn’t there today, and Dave had asked us to get him out and exercise him before his MagnaWave session.

Jeff was leading him through the gate when Prime suddenly bolted — and nearly ran right over me. We brought him back and tried again…and he bolted a second time.

Prime isn’t a mean horse. He wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. But a 1,000-pound horse doesn’t have to be mean to seriously injure someone.

So instead of continuing to fight him through the gate, we spent about 15 minutes working him with sending exercises. I put him on the lead line until he would walk calmly around me in both directions. Then I calmly sent him through the gate.

I think he had seen Melissa drive up, his favorite person, and was a bit excited. 😉

This Saturday at 9 am, learn how to handle moments like this before they become dangerous. Limited spots! It’s $10 to hold your spot and $35 for the session.