LAKEPORT, Calif. – If 2013 is the year when you plan on adding a horse to your family, three horses are available at Lake County Animal Care and Control.
The three were the last of a number adopted out over the past year, according to Director Bill Davidson.
The last half of 2012 was particularly bad when it came to the numbers of horses abandoned in the county, said Davidson.
“The ones we’ve gotten have required a considerable amount of medical attention,” he said.
However, thanks to the help of veterinarians giving Animal Care and Control discounts on care – including Dr. Michael Witt of Redwood Valley Equine, who works in Lake County one day a week – the horses were able to be tended and made ready for new homes. As a result, Davidson said they were able to place all of the horses that came in.
The three horses now available range in age from 4 years to the early 20s, he said.
Each of the horses is available for a $75 adoption fee once an application is approved and a home site visit is conducted by Animal Care and Control staff, according to Davidson.
There are two Appaloosas, a mare that Davidson estimated is 13 years old and a gelding, named Joe, who is between 20 and 23 years old, Davidson said.
Davidson said the two horses were abandoned by their owner on a rental property in the Middletown area because the owner couldn’t care for them.
Both Appaloosas have had some training, and Joe can be ridden. However, Davidson said Joe – who has leopard markings – had to have one of his eyes removed due to an old injury, so light duty or work with children likely would be more suitable. Joe is big and very gentle.
The mare, a red road, is green broke, and is halter broke and trailers easily, according to shelter staff.
Davidson said the third horse is a black 4-year-old Paso Fino mix gelding.
That horse and three others were brought in from the Middletown area. They had been running loose on several hundred acres in the Jerusalem Grade area, and had to be rounded up by helicopter after their owners were arrested in a drug bust, Davidson said. The three other horses have found homes.
Davidson said the black horse is particularly beautiful, and has been gelded, which improved the horse’s behavior. He is halter broke and loads in a trailer, but does not appear to have been trained to ride yet.
Joe’s identification number is 34718, the mare’s is 34719 and the younger gelding’s number is 34419.
For more information, call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the horses at the shelter, 4949 Helbush, Lakeport.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.