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Rescue mission: Dusty Trails helps rehabilitate, socialize horses saved from lives of abuse or neglectMay 02, 2010 (Montgomery Advertiser - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The horse looked dead. She lay flat and immobile with legs outstretched in the dirt, open sores -- many in fected -- on her joints, bones protruding from her body, a mangy coat. Tumbleweed had attached itself to her; she no longer cared. The mare seemed a hopeless case. But Monika Orendorf named her Miracle. It was the middle of the night, on a piece of land off a back country road. This wasn't the first time she'd seen a ne glected or abandoned horse in this same position. It wouldn't be her last. "Everyone told me, 'Don't give her a name. She won't make it,'" Orendorf said, stand ing in a vast pasture where healthy, robust horses spend their days, having gone through hell at the hands of people who just stopped caring for them or, worse, abused them outright. "I wasn't just going to call her 'the mare.' I named her Miracle." Orendorf knew there was hope when the horse lifted her head ever so slightly, looked di rectly at her and let out a scream. There was still life in her. Now, the bay-colored Miracle is one of those horses in that rolling stretch of green grass, a beauty, with only a scar on her left hind leg remaining from her ordeal. It takes a bit of cajoling before she saunters up to Oren dorf and a couple of visitors. Like most horses here, she is wary of people. She had only sporadic contact with people, at best, before she was brought here. She is just one of 24 rescued horses now living in the pas tures outside Orendorf's south Montgomery home and the acreage of her next door neigh bor, who lent the space to help out. Orendorf, with her husband, Wyatt, runs Dusty Trails Horse Rescue, a 501c3 nonprofit. The goals are simple: Rehabilitate and socialize horses that the Montgomery Humane Society has seized due to owner aban donment, abuse and neglect. Find people -- those who know how to care for a horse, who have the resources to do so -- who will adopt them. In the five years since it started, Dusty Trails has res cued more than 65 horses from across the state, with medical is sues ranging from mild to life-threatening. The economic downturn brought a slew of these cases. Even now, Orendorf answers calls from horse owners who want to surrender the animals to her care. But each time she has to explain -- there isn't enough space or resources for more horses. The need for the rescue's serv ices has overwhelmed its finan cial capabilities. That doesn't mean people don't care; late last month there was a benefit trail ride. Orendorf said enthusiasm was abundant. The number of riders and the funds raised were not. Volunteers, many of them from Maxwell Air Force Base, come out to help with fencing and clearing. She said such help is crucial. But the Orendorfs need sup plies, they need experts such as farriers -- specialists in caring for horses' hooves -- they need volunteers who have experi ence, who know their way around a horse. They need mon ey. A vital need They need to keep doing what they're doing, said Deputy Scott Hill, an investigator with the Montgomery Humane Society. He said his division is constantly fielding calls about horse neglect and abuse -- from neighbors, pass ers-by, even friends of the horse owners. He said now the humane socie ty team investigates about 25 to 30 horses a month. That's a three-fold increase from the investigations that took place two years ago. "It has increased severely," he said. Officers arrive at the scene as soon as they receive a call. They try to locate the owner, but even if the owner can't be found they in vestigate the horses and their liv ing conditions. In order for them to seize a horse, those conditions must be dire. They check to see if there is an adequate food supply. Is there enough fresh water for the horses? (A horse can drink up to five gallons of water a day.) They look at the state of the enclosures or pastures where the horses are kept. "We've seen them in 10-foot-by-10-foot stalls full of feces and urine, muck and mud up to their hooves, no food, no water, for several weeks," Hill said of the most extreme cases he and his team have witnessed. "Imagine the worst possible en vironment. We've seen it." The next step is looking at the horses themselves. There is a measure called the body condition score. A horse that scores five is in the least amount of danger. A horse that scores one is in a life-or-death situation, Hill said. Though many horses found score one or two on the scale, sur prisingly few have been eutha nized -- only one or two in the last couple of years, Hill said. But that number would quickly soar if it weren't for horse rescues, he said. The Montgomery Humane Society already is overcrowded with homeless dogs and cats, and there are no facilities there to ac commodate neglected horses. They would just have to be put down. Dusty Trails, along with other rescues including Southern Oaks Equine Rescue in Pike Road, have the space and the help these other wise doomed horses need. The Orendorfs arrive at the scene of a seizure and pick up the horse, take it to their facility and provide medical care, working with area veterinarians including Susy Lang and Sean Custard. They document the progress of the horses. Often, Monika testifies in court on behalf of seized animals with pictures, video and written documentation of the horses' im provements while under her care. "They take on so much of the cost of care themselves," Hill said. "They help control my budget, and they have their own budget. I can't say enough about them. We'd be in a very tough spot without them." Complicated issue Most horse neglect cases in volve one or two horses that their owners simply can't afford to keep. But there are exceptions. Last June, investigators were called to the scene of a farm where 20 horses were in extreme peril. It's easy to demonize the owners, and at times that's warranted. But not every time. The 20 horses belonged to a rough-stock breeder (horses that are used in rodeos, for instance). "He had recently lost his job and just became overwhelmed," Hill said. "A lot of people who own ani mals are prideful. They don't know that we can help them, or they are afraid to ask for help be cause they're afraid of being prose cuted. "Normally, we try to educate them first, before we prosecute, and if education works, that's great. If education does not work and the owners do not make an at tempt to change the conditions the animals are in, we do look at prose cution." Horse abuse is prosecuted un der a cruelty to animals statute, a Class B misdemeanor with a pun ishment of a maximum of six months in prison and a $3,000 fine. The former owner of the 20 horses signed the animals over to the Humane Society, knowing he could not provide a decent life for them. Not anymore. A mission Miracle isn't the only miracle that's taken place at Dusty Trails. Every horse here has a story, and Monika Orendorf knows them all. When Shiloh was rescued, he looked alarmingly like Miracle -- on the brink of death. The dark bay horse is small for his age -- about two years -- and he won't get much bigger because of his treat ment early in life. He reluctantly approaches when Orendorf offers a bit of kibble. His gait is confi dent; he looks proud. There is hope for these horses -- some will make excellent riding horses, Orendorf said. Others, whose carriage is elegant and re fined, might eventually become dressage competitors, in which de portment and obedience is judged and rewarded. There is ample room and shel ter for these horses, but a lot needs to be done. Untended fields, the next phase of the rescue's expan sion -- once supplies and knowl edgeable volunteers somehow ap pear, with any hope -- spread toward the east. Monika Orendorf came to love horses as a young girl in Germany, where "you had to be a millionaire to own a horse." But she leased them and rode as much as she could. When she came to the U.S. for an extended time, she bought her own. Upon her return to Ger many, she used the money from the sale of her house to transport her horse overseas. When she returned to the U.S. for good, she knew this was her mission. The horses are her life. She still loves nothing more than riding. Saddles are stacked up on her front porch, but seldom used; there's little time for anything but caring for the rescued horses. Peo ple don't know the details, like chipping ice away from the horses' shelter last winter, or ensuring there is enough quality hay to feed the brood that lives here. The newest arrival is Dublin. Recently gelded, he resides in an enclosure beside the Orendorfs' house. He's put on a lot of weight since his arrival two weeks ago. But his ribcage still protrudes from his body. "He needs to put on about 100 more pounds," Orendorf said. Just then, he sunk his face into a thicket of clover, coming up chomping with leaves and flowers protruding from his mouth. It'll only be a matter of time. To see more of the Montgomery Advertiser, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Montgomery Advertiser, Ala. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. 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