Healing Hearts, Hooves and Paws

06/08/2026

Mr. Lenny right there in the middle! He went on a trial yesterday so 🤞🏼 it works out!

This last weekend, some of our crew participated in the Hunt Pace at Mooseheart. It was the first for a few of our horses and a few of our riders, but everyone was brave and had a great time! We covered a little over 6 miles, crossing big open fields and winding our way through the woods! Our group was large, so we had to split into two, but we both got close to the optimum time taking home third and fourth place! Thank you to the Wayne DuPage Hunt for hosting!

06/07/2026

And Shine brought her two babies into the world yesterday! Girl just got it done on her own! In honor of their mama, meet Dazzle and Princess Sparkle.

We’re thinking we should maybe host a baby shower??? What do you think? Two more momma’s to go…

06/06/2026

Ugh. So we are having zero success at fundraising for this puppy's surgery. And now today she has to go into the ER as her toes are swelling so she needs to be rewrapped. We WILL talk to the surgical center about covering this cost as it seems RIDICULOUS that their wrap job leads to problems in less than 48 hours and forces us to incur even more cost to fix it.

We won't survive as a rescue if we have to keep underwriting more than 50% of our costs. That's just reality.

If you can share the original post for this pup, we appreciate it.

We still have hay to buy and two undescended stallions to get gelded. That's all like $20k.

Winnie came through surgery like a champ! Is this the tiniest cast you've ever seen? She had a rough night- cone, activity restriction, pain mgmt, etc.

Our total was $4,144. We'll post a detailed invoice. We'd greatly appreciate any donation support for this expense as it was a big one but necessary for this tiny girl. As of last night, we've raised $499. Long way to go.

Our PayPal is [email protected] and Zelle is 815.900.0430. Venmo in the comments.

06/04/2026

Winnie came through surgery like a champ! Is this the tiniest cast you've ever seen? She had a rough night- cone, activity restriction, pain mgmt, etc.

Our total was $4,144. We'll post a detailed invoice. We'd greatly appreciate any donation support for this expense as it was a big one but necessary for this tiny girl. As of last night, we've raised $499. Long way to go.

Our PayPal is [email protected] and Zelle is 815.900.0430. Venmo in the comments.

06/03/2026

We really need someone who can either volunteer or work a couple hours each evening, flexible between 5-8.

Chris does some early morning chores for an hour, then we have a fabulous barn mgr until early afternoon.

But then Chris is doing turn in for horses and goats, putting up the ducks & cleaning the coop, throwing hay and filling buckets and switching horses in the barn lot(we do some night turnout) and cleaning two stalls for the night turnout horses. And then does night check.

But works her FT job at least ten hours a day. So it leaves little time for working horses, working with foster dogs, coordinating rescue activities and taking care of the property. So taking the basic every day chores off her plate will free up a couple hours for all the other stuff.

Know anyone? Must have good experience with horses. And be reliable.

Pics of the everyday cuteness on the farm.

06/03/2026

Update on the sweet puppy we introduced you to last week. Now named Winnie, we have consulted with both the UofI and Veterinary Orthopedic Center in IN.

The good news is that it's fixable! The bad news is it's not inexpensive. 😵‍💫

Winnie is heading out to the Veterinary Orthopedic Center today for surgery. The estimate is $4,400-$4,800. No vet thought amputation was necessary as it's "easily" pinned. She is so young we want to set her up for a healthy long life so we are committed to the surgery.

But we really need to fundraise for the cost - this is a big hit when we're starting the hay buying season and dentals are coming up, etc. If you can support Winnie's surgery, we would greatly appreciate it.

Our PayPal is [email protected] and our Zelle is 815.900.0430.

🤞🏼 and 🙏🏼 for good outcomes today.

Please share!

06/03/2026

And.....Dottie had her babies last night at approximately 7pm. Two girls! Names pending. It was a little drama trying to get nursing underway but both girls seem to be nursing well today!

06/01/2026

Hey guys - really really need a foster-to-adopt or foster home for this most perfect young lady. Pet home, she's not a farm dog and has not been exposed to livestock. GP/Lab perfection. ❤️

06/01/2026

It's been crazy busy on the farm since Mother's Day so we'll try to catch everyone up over the next few days.

First - welcome to Daphne and Davey, born May 13th. We knew there was a chance some of the goats we took in were pregnant and while we were waiting to have it confirmed, Edith popped out two itty bitty babies! Probably a pound each at birth(first few pictures). They have been doing well with mama and running around like the little crazy cute fools baby goats are! They love jumping on the tire lady bugs in the goat pen. Right now, they are locked in the pen with mama during the day while the other goats are out and about and then locked up in a stall at night. They're sooooo small, we're taking no chances!

And we are now calling that stall the maternity ward. The vet confirmed that ALL the new goats except Darla are pregnant. It was a shocking day when it was confirmed even though we were pretty sure on three of them just visually. So Dottie, Dory, Shine and Luna are all pregnant( pics of the moms-to-be last). Luna isn't as far along so she's hanging out with the other goats but the other mommas-to-be are in goat pen lock up with Edith and her babies so they have a quieter, safe spot when they're ready to release their babies. It's going to be a crazy few weeks around here.

There will be lots of baby goat spam once all these babies hit the ground.

We're looking to add a small shelter next to the goat barn (in the pen) before winter to ensure enough inside cozy space during the colder months. Give us a heads up if you see a great deal on a 8x10! Charcoal gray and black!

05/31/2026

'It's the season to start "watering" the horses! Rayme is sooooo pushy about it and wants the hose all to himself.