A Rescue From the Brink of Starvation
- Chestnut Arab Gelding
- Entry Date – 8/15/08 at age 17
- Type of rescue – Seizure by Jackson County Sheriff’s Department
- Reason – Starvation victim
- Special needs – None now but was fed special feeds until he regained his proper weight
- Cause and Date of Death – Fractured hip April 21, 2015
Bader and three other Arabs were rescued from a small farm in Central Point on the date of the Equamore Festival in the summer of 2008. Bader and his three-year-old son were stallions and kept in dog kennel size pens without food and very little water. His father had already died of starvation when the authorities arrived. Bader’s three-year-old daughter, as well as the mother of his son, were not as emaciated as they were free to wander in a field of weeds and stickers to graze. After Bader regained his strength, he was gelded so he could be free with all the other horses in the big pasture during the day.
Bader’s gentleness and kind nature have captured the hearts of Equamore’s volunteers, who have watched him tentatively venture into what was to him the vast space of the indoor arena and beyond into the gelding field where he thrives. His rehabilitation continued for two years and then was adopted by Equamore Friend, Colleen Dumont, who now sponsors and rides him under the tutelage of Equamore Executive Director Linda Davis. Bader devotedly follows Colleen without a lead and may one day carry her in an Equamore schooling show. His story is gratifying; for he is the kind of horse we all dream of. His recovery is testimony to what care and stability of environment can do for horses who have suffered neglect and abuse.
