Riding to the rescue

LITTLE ROCK — Jim Brunson still gets emotional when he remembers the day he first saw Grey Lady.

The mare - a racing quarter horse more than 20 years old - was standing forlornly in a small pen next to 40 acres of rich, grassy pasture near Romance in White County.

"That old mare was just standing there ... and she was starving," Brunson says. "She was a sad horse. She was just looking at that green grass, but she couldn't reach it." Grey Lady was among a group of horses so desperately hungry that they'd eaten all the bark they could reach from a nearby tree.

It was all Brunson and his companion, better known as the Rescue Wranglers, could do to control their anger toward the man from whom the neglected horses were being taken.

"The guy [was] out there acting like he was so upset because we were picking the horses up," recalls Jerry Waddle. "And he wasn't missing any meals."

The Rescue Wranglers managed to get Grey Lady loaded into their horse trailer, but she was in such bad shape, Brunson wondered if she'd survive her rescue.

Grey Lady not only survived but, thanks to Brunson and his fellow volunteers, is thriving as she awaits a new owner.

Founded two years ago by Brunson and his now-15-year-old son Dakota, Rescue Wranglers is a nonprofit, all-volunteer group of nine horse lovers whose goal is to protect the animals from abuse, neglect and starvation. They work in conjunction with various law enforcement agencies and the Humane Society of Pulaski County to pick up horses in distress and arrange for them to receive medical attention and safelodging. If the horses cannot be returned to their owners, the Wranglers arrange for them to be adopted by people who can provide good homes.

The organization got its start with Brunson assisting the Humane Society, which needed some volunteers. Brunson then asked Waddle if he felt like helping the society.

"So we started, actually him and I, and then my son got in. And we just decided, 'Hey, you know, we like doing this.' ... And one rescue just kind of led to another."

When a call comes in regarding abuse or neglect of a horse, Kay Simpson, executive director of the Humane Society of Pulaski County, conducts an investigation. (The Humane Society has the authority to seize horses and other animals that are in danger of dying before a warrant can be issued.) If the investigation shows a horse needs to be removed from its situation, Rescue Wranglers handles transportation - "which is great," Simpsonsays. "We've used them many times, and we don't know what we'd do without them."

Rescue Wranglers has rescued and transported 129 horses. Among them was Lovey, a starving mare the Wranglers rescued near Ozark in Franklin County. An untreated infection caused the loss of 6 inches of Lovey's right front leg. Now, Lovey is healthy and wears a prosthesis donated by Snell Prosthetic and Orthotic Laboratory in Little Rock. Lovey's device was the first prosthetic leg created for an Arkansas horse.

Brunson recalls Lovey's rescue, during which he was unable to control his tongue when confronting the owner. "I said, 'Are you people inbred?'"

The owner's response was to ask what that meant.

"I said, 'Never mind,'" Brunson says. "And I think Kay told me something like, 'Jim, you need to kind of calm down.'"

All too many other cases have tested the Wranglers' tempers.

"We've loaded horses up in blankets," Waddle says. "[We] put them on a blanket and drag them up in the trailer" because they're too weak to walk. He recalls horses that were beaten with chains and a mule whose owner had dragged it 1,000 feet down a highway while the mule was tied to his truck.

"That kind of stuff gets to you after a while," Waddle says.

Luckily, there are happy endings.

On a recent Tuesday at Brunson's home near Pine Bluff, several barking dogs help escort visitors to an open-sided barn. Thirteen-year-old Cat, a gentle brown-and-white mare, liveshere. Partitions separate her, two other horses and a few goats.

Cat, along with her 5-month old colt, was part of the group of horses rescued near Romance. New owners were found forthe colt, but Brunson decided to keep Cat.

"When we got her, you could hang your hat on her hip bone [and] count every rib in her," he says, adding that it took close to10 months to transform Cat into the plump, healthy horse she is now. "She's turned out to be one of the best little trail mares in the country."

Rescue Wranglers also works as an adoption agency, helping place unwanted or abused horses in new homes.

"People are calling us all the time, [telling us] 'Hey, I'll give you horses,'" Brunson says. Wranglers works with Give Me a Chance Rescue of Arkadelphia, which helps with placements. In addition, Wranglers provides temporary assistance to owners who find they can no longer afford to feed their horses. The organization will furnish feed and hay for up to 90 days.

Brunson fears that as winter sets in and the price of fuel, hay and feed (currently about $10.50 a bag) rises, the number of neglected and starved horses will increase.

Simpson worries about horses that may suffer because their uneducated owners haven't adequately prepared for the winter months.

In the wintertime, grass doesn't grow, so owners must stock up on hay or horse feed. Too many people assume that if they simply put their horses out to pasture, the horses can fend for themselves, Simpson says. Not true. Not only is there no grass in the winter, but hay runs out, she explains. And in January, hay gets expensive.

She recalls the recent rescue of two horses, Harold and Hannah, that had been penned up with goats. "Goats will eat up everything" - and they had eaten all the grass in the pen, leaving none for the horses. Plus, the horses had not been wormed; worms that invade a horse will steal nutrients from their host.

Harold was just a couple of days away from dying, Simpson says, explaining that when a horse starves, its body feeds on its own muscles. That's why "once [horses have] gotten down so bad it's hard to bring them back," she says.

A HORSE WITH HEART

Grey Lady, Lovey, and other rescued horses roam free in their temporary home, whose location cannot be disclosed for the safety of the horses. Dr.Teresa Medlock, staff veterinarian for the Humane Society, shows off Grey Lady, whose coat is a beautiful mottled color known as "fl ea-bit" gray. The regal old horse is still on the thin side, but that's just a sign of aging, Medlock says.

Medlock also introduces6-year-old Lovey, the threelegged horse rescued in 2007. She's not wearing her prosthesis this day; on some days her stump swells too much for her to wear it, and the prosthesis is being altered to accommodate the swelling.

"Lovey's a special case," says Medlock, who has nicknamed the horse "Love Bug." Normally, horses with damaged legs are euthanized. Because of their weight and the way their legs are formed, they can't function without forelegs. "Lovey had such a heart and she lived about six months before we found her with just the three legs. And she had had such neglect, that we thought we'd give it a try. And she's surpassed everything we could ever ask for."

A key objective of Rescue Wranglers is raising awareness about the plight of abused and neglected horses, as well as getting people to think twice before they decide to get a horse.

"People have got to take personal responsibility for these horses when they buy them," Brunson says. "And it's not a short-term partnership. You're looking at 10, 15, 20 years for some horses," depending on life span.

Horse owners who get in a bind are encouraged to call Rescue Wranglers, Brunson adds.

"If you ... just can't afford to keep [your horses] and us helping you out for 60 to 90 days is not going to do you any good, well, we'll come get them and try to place them because it's a lot easier to place them while they're still in good shape."

To continue its work, Rescue Wranglers needs donations. Hay, feed and money are welcome, as are fencing panels.The hay must be specifi cally for horses, and the feed must be a particular brand. Those wanting to make donations can call the Humane Society at (501) 227-6166 for specifics.

For more information about Rescue Wranglers, go to rescuewranglers.org.