Rescued horse found 400 pounds underweight now up for adoption in Geauga County

RUSSELL TOWNSHIP, Ohio - In a cozy stall in Montville, Zoey, a white 14-year-old Arabian horse looks for her close male friend, Baumer, in the stall next door. He hasn't returned from the snow-covered fenced corral yet.

She's a notorious flirt with Baumer.

Zoey is temporarily in Montville Township, Geauga County, as a fostered horse in a huge barn facility specializing in Clydesdales. Adrianne Johnson, a professional horse trainer and the office manager at Rescue Village in Russell Township takes care of her daily needs, along with others in a co-operative effort to ensure Zoey's future success.

Two years ago her life was anything but successful. She was found during a raid in Huntsburg following a tip about animal cruelty and neglect. Two horses were found starved to death next to her on New Years Eve 2010.

"The other horse had Styrofoam and gravel in its stomach. She had it in her teeth. She was about 400 pounds underweight and had sores on her body. She had not been bathed in who knows how long," Johnson said.

Geauga Humane Officer Christian Courtwright said it was one of the worst cases of neglect and cruelty he had seen in a few years. And he has seen plenty.

"The first couple of months she was here it was all rehabilitation because she had lost probably half of her body weight. She was just a skeleton when we got her, but we were able to rehab her," Courtwright said.

It took almost seven months to bring her weight back up. Her exuberance for life and a seemingly acute awareness of her second chance at life can be seen by her quick trot in her foster home's indoor arena.

The Humane Society and Rescue Village is hoping an experienced rider and  attentive owner will come forward to adopt her. Johnson said Zoey has a lot of life and love left in her still quick-paced, muscular body.

"She's very happy here. I think the only thing missing is that single owner," said Johnson. "With a horse you kind of need to know what you're doing. They live a lot longer now. A horse can live upwards of 30 years, so it's a long investment."

Zoey is a horse with an attitude bent on pure survival in a world that hasn't given up her.

"We call her a sassy princess most of the time. She wants to be close to her friends and she's very vocal. She neighs a lot, she makes a lot of noises," Johnson said. "Alertness is part of her Arabian breeding, but a lot of it is just her. She just has her own kind of spunk."

To seek information on Zoey's adoption call Rescue Village at: 440-338-4819 Ext. 11 Or go to: www.geaugahumane.org