Horsie Halloween! (But First, 1 Day Open Shelter Event)

Welcome back! Before we get started with our Halloween fun, I want to applaud all the Wisconsin horse rescues and volunteers that participated in the 1 Day Open Door Shelter Event on October 22nd. This event allowed owners to surrender their horses for any reason, no questions asked. 49 horses were brought in, including the whole spectrum of rescue horses: healthy weanlings, severe neglect cases, wild but healthy adult horses, well-trained horses, and lovely seniors. All horses were distributed among participating horse rescues, where they will be cared for until they are ready for adoption. You can find a short video from the event on Facebook.

This kind of event is so incredibly wonderful and important. If not for this event, dozens of horses would be suffering in some people's back yards right now. Thanks to those who stepped up to do the hard work, they were either humanely euthanized with loving care, or given a chance at a great new life.

THANK YOU to:

Organizers and veterinarians: Horse Plus Humane Society, The Right Horse Initiative, Dr. McKichan and Dr. Sholts of Dells Equine Vet Service LLC, and Dr. Lorenz of Capitol Performance Veterinary Services.

Midwest Horse Welfare in Pittsville, WI, which helped host this event in Neillsville, WI.
 You can see pictures and descriptions of the ten horses they took in here. They will be taking in one more, as soon as they can convince the mare to get in a trailer! (We've all been there.)

Amazing Grace Equine Sanctuary, in Elkhart Lake, WI, which took in three horses from the event. See photos of those on their facebook page.

Pony Tales Refuge & Rehab, Inc, in Colfax, WI, which took in nine horses from the event. You can read descriptions and see pictures of those horses on their web page or in this Facebook post.

Beautiful Hearts Rescue, in Shell Lake, WI, which took in horses, but has not yet posted updates.

Please check out each one of the rescues listed here. If you can't donate, you can still "like," share, and spread the word about the good work they're doing.

Now on to...

Horse Halloween!

I love Halloween, don't you? Let's jump right in to the best and worst costumes, plus a gallery of the gruesome.

Best Halloween Costumes

WOW! These skull and gypsy ensembles were created by Horse Costumes by Pamela, based in MA. Don't have Facebook? She's also on Pinterest.

AMAZING. It looks like a painting, but this is totally real. Designed by Blythe Brown of Historic Runnymede Farm, and worn by Bria Shorten. This costume won a World Championship in Friesian Period Costume. You can see a gallery of Friesian photos on their Facebook page. Warning: You WILL be jealous. Side effects include drooling, heart palpitations, and mood swings.

Oh. My. God. This is the cutest thing on earth. It's a Push-Me-Pull-You dressed up for Easter!

Worst Halloween Costumes

Last minute, much? If the guy was wearing a jersey and padding, this could be OK.

Zebra body paint: do it right and you're good to go. 

Do it wrong, and all you've done is paint weird, ugly stripes on your sad horse.

Actress Nina Dobrev and a friend dressed up at Leonardo Di Caprio and the gutted horse from The Revenant. Ew.





























Gruesome Gallery

This horse skull was found in western Nebraska. This poor young horse was abandoned, left to grow out on the range, until its too-small halter became deeply embedded, eventually killing it.

Archaeologists recently discovered a sit in Fengxian, Shaanxi province, China, where thousands of horses were sacrificed in honor of emperors. It's nicknamed "the Blood Pool."

This zombie/demon pony is actually edible. The life-sized cake was created by "Miss Cakehead," and drips rum from its nose! See a full gallery of pictures here.

Need more spooky stuff? Check out my Haunted House of the Horse, Haunted House of the Horse II, and Horse Superstitions.