In early fall of 2016, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s office received a call about two horses abandoned on someone’s property in the quiet town of Harmony, California. The Ag deputy arrived at the scene to find two beautiful little paint mares in need of some attention. The property owner informed the Ag deputy that after his tenants were evicted from the property, they moved and left their two horses. The horses were not in horrible condition but were a little too thin and needed hoof care.

The horses were seized by the Ag deputy and taken to the holding pens at Animal Services in SLO County. The owners were eventually located and requested that their horses be returned to them. Unfortunately, the owners were unable to show that they could take appropriate care of the horses and were forced to surrender the horses to Animal Services.

Kai was seized by San Luis Obispo County Animal Services in December 2018 along with 34 other horses, all in poor condition. Redwings assisted the county in care recommendations and agreed to take the three horses that were in the worst condition.
A few months later, Redwings agreed to take three additional horses from the case, including Kai. Kai was in good body condition when she arrived at Redwings but was almost feral, and we were unable to handle her. She also has a very bad clubbed foot that was in need of farrier work.
Over the next few weeks, the staff worked with Kai every day to get her more comfortable with people. After just four weeks at Redwings, Kai was doing well enough that we were able to have her hooves trimmed. Kai is still very shy and does not trust new people.