W A R ADIKYRIE
(Adiel's Stetson X W A R Valkyrie)
2002 black mare

I have been a member of the Yahoogroup Forever Morgans since it was formed 4 or 5 years ago. Forever Morgans is an organization of Morgan enthusiasts who rescue Morgans who are in dangerous situations. Due to overbreeding and the downturn in the economy,  there is a seemingly never-ending supply of horses streaming through various  auctions nationwide. Often the Forever Morgan "saves" are from what is termed a "kill lot"- a horse broker who buys horses cheaply at auction, tries to flip them within week or so for a profit, and if that doesn't happen, sells them to slaughter, which nets him a profit as well. One such broker operates in SE Pennsylvania and purchases horses from the New Holland auction each Monday.

The rescue Another Chance for Horses, headed by Christy Sheidy,  goes to this broker's barn the following day and videos and photographs the available horses and puts them on their website and Facebook page in the hopes of getting them a home- instead of a one-way ticket to a Canadian slaughterhouse. While I'd been tempted by some of the Morgans that came through this particular broker over the years, I already had 7 horses and really did not need another. So to keep my rescue instincts in check, I told myself if  "the one" ever came through that fit my criteria- female, black, pretty, sweet, correctly put together and from bloodlines I like and use in my small program- that would be the ONE horse I'd have to make room for. Fat chance it would actually happen, right?

AC4H's Morgan listings from this particular broker appeared on the Forever Morgans list late Tuesday night, November 8, 2011. There were FIVE Morgan mares this week, and one of them caught my eye instantly- W A R Adikyrie. She was black, she was pretty and her prefix stands for the Warner Angus Ranch of Kansas, well known breeders of beautiful old type black Morgans and other black livestock. The note that her Amish owners had sent with her to auction seemed to indicate she was sweet as well:


Next I checked out "Kyrie's" other pictures and the information that AC4H had on her. My heart started racing when I saw that her sire was Adiel's Stetson, a beautiful black stallion I had much admired- and wanted to breed a mare to- before his too-early death from colic. Stetson was from the same breeding program that produced Adiel's Casino Gold, bloodlines we have used here in the last ten years with much success. Kyrie's dam was W A R Valkyrie, a well bred black mare from the older WAR lines. I hurried to the AMHA's online registry database to look up the rest of her pedigree, and discovered it was, as I had hoped, 100% Foundation.

I was sunk- this one had ticked all my boxes! I quickly emailed my friend Suzanne Edmonds, who is on the Forever Morgans board of directors. She told me to send in an adoption application for "Kyrie", which I did immediately. I knew once other people had seen this mare that someone would want her... probably many someones. That indeed proved to be the case, and for the next few days I fretted, hoping I'd be the lucky person to be approved as Kyrie's new owner- and that meanwhile, no one else would just buy her outright. I did not sleep much, wondering why I was doing this when I already had 7 horses - and this one might have unknown problems- but at the same time knowing it somehow was meant to be. Meanwhile I spread the word about the mare on Facebook and my Morgan Colors Yahoo email group. Donations came pouring in for her, many from friends who knew how much I hoped to adopt her, and to whom I am extremely grateful for their generosity. There is no way I can ever thank you kind folks enough.

By Friday, enough had been raised that Kyrie was safe (and with a cushion to spare!), as were all the other Morgans at the broker that week! And, Forever Morgans had checked all my references and I was approved as Kyrie's adoptive home!

Kyrie next went into quarantine at Cindy Kingsboro's farm in Manheim PA. Cindy sent many updates, photos and videos over the three weeks that Kyrie was in her excellent care- thank you Cindy!  Kyrie is exactly as the note that was sent to auction with her stated- kind and gentle. She gets along with everyone, is quiet for hoof trimming (a good thing since I will be doing that duty now!) and has a very sweet, somewhat timid personality. She may have been taken to auction due to her left hind leg, which is swollen.  Once Kyrie was seen by our vet we learned the swelling is from scar tissue due to an old, badly healed supensory injury. She is not currently lame and should be fine for light use.

It's always wise to isolate new horses until you are sure they are not carrying any respiratory or other infectious diseases, and until you can get them thoroughly dewormed.  We ended up building a paddock especially for Kyrie, which you can see here, to serve as her temporary home until she goes out with the rest of the herd in a few months.

Adiel's Stetson	Sweet's Classy Zip	Sweet's Classy Boy
		Sweet's Dixie Donna
	D's Ebony Lady	T-Bone Bimbo
		Sweet's Jo Jo
W A R Valkyrie	W A R Monzda	Western Mansfield
		DD Dina Belle
	W A R Toscadero	WAR Omega Bird
		WAR Tosca Tola

One of the many pictures that AC4H posted of Kyrie. This one was amazing to me- as a friend very astutely commented, "how many horses can wear two crappy, poorly adjusted halters and STILL look so pretty headed?" Kyrie's quality definitely came shining through! Photo courtesy of Christy Sheidy and AC4H.


Many of the horses that come through New Holland are worn out and look pretty bad. They are often very thin and with muscle development in all the wrong places from the odd postures they adopt to avoid pain. Kyrie actually looked pretty good, considering her previous job, and though her legs show signs of use, she appeared to have been well taken care of. Photo courtesy of Christy Sheidy and AC4H.


A cute and funny video taken by Cindy Kingsboro, who fostered Kyrie through her 3 week long quarantine at her farm in Manheim PA. Kyrie has personality, for sure!


November 16, 2011- Kyrie and Polly Trout, a friend of Cindy's, giving Kyrie some grooming and love. Kyrie had been at Cindy's for two days when this was taken. I am sure she thought she'd died and gone to heaven!


November 19, 2011- Kyrie and her friends Skye (Paint) and Charlie, who are owned by Cindy and were New Holland rescues just like Kyrie.


November 23, 2011- Kyrie getting her road shoes removed and a trim. She was very well mannered, a good thing since an old lady (me!) will be her farrier now! Her hooves (particularly the fronts) will have a long recovery period to de-contract and for the frog to widen and become thrush free. She will never wear shoes again!


Kyrie on her way to Georgia, December 5, 2011. Pine Valley Acres Transportation, based out of New Jersey, brought her to us. We recommend them highly- if you need great hauling at a great rate, contact Kyle at Pine Valley Acres! Kyrie arrived happy and feeling good!


December 6, 2011- Kyrie in her new pen shortly after arrival, already digging into her hay- she is a MORGAN after all!


More of Kyrie on her homecoming day. We have a rain system moving in so better pictures will have to wait a few days. Excuse the red clay- she's a Georgia girl now!


I know I will be taking many pictures of this pretty head!


December 13, 2012- Kyrie has been here one week today. She has settled in like she's lived here forever. Her favorite thing to do besides eat is stand in the warmth of the sun in a spot on a small hill in her paddock.


December 16, 2012- My friends Doug and Susan Norton, fellow Covington residents who live about 5-10 minutes from us, came to meet Kyrie and Rosie (who they hadn't seen yet). Doug and Susan own some amazingly beautiful Saddlebreds, one of which I was fortunate enough to show for them 20-some years ago. It was a beautiful day, 70 degrees and sunny- can't beat that for December weather! Kyrie is a bit apprehensive at first with new people but she warms up quickly. We are looking forward to more visitors over the next few weeks!


I didn't have any pictures of me with Kyrie yet, so Susan kindly took these pictures for me :-)


12/19/11- On my way to the barn last night I noticed Kyrie on the hill in her paddock, silhouetted against a beautiful sunset. I went back in the house for the camera and tried to get a shot of her whole body, but there were too many trees and fence posts in the way to make a clean outline. I managed to sneak into the paddock without her coming to meet me at the gate, and got a couple good pictures of her head with the colors of the sunset behind her. I was pretty happy they actually came out!

 
1/1/12- Kyrie has been in her quarantine paddock for almost 4 weeks. The fill dirt in the ditch in her paddock became saturated after heavy rains and incredibly sloppy. I know in some places horses live like that much of the year, but I couldn't stand it. Poor Kyrie had tried her best to stay out of the mud long enough. Since most of her round bale was finished, I figured it was time we quit calling her The Swamp Thing, LOL! After a quick hosing of her legs, here she is in her new paddock, a much drier environment- grass! Lots of new sights for her in here! This will be her home until spring, when we'll get her in with the rest of the herd.


The lighting was crappy today (overcast and gloomy) so I just took lots of pictures figuring most of them wouldn't come out any way. I was right :-( But this one I took of Kyrie was kind of cool, with the backlighting from the setting sun.