Sean C. Morgan
Four horses rescued by Linn County deputies from an animal abuse situation are well on their way to recovery.
The horses, including two mares, a foal and a gelding, were placed in the care of two Linn County families. One mare and the foal are receiving care in the Central Linn area. The gelding, Willy, and a pregnant mare, Red, are receiving care from Bruce and Barb Nix of Sweet Home.
The animals were recovered from Three Springs Ranch on Feb. 18. Owner Richard Stevens, 58, was charged with two counts of first-degree animal neglect and one count of second-degree animal abuse. Melissa Leeann Corliss, 31, was charged with first-degree animal neglect.
“They’re doing good,” Barb Nix said of the horses. “I went over and saw the other two on Thursday.”
No one thought the pregnant mare would survive, Nix said, but she is getting stronger and healthier. The only question is whether she will be strong enough to give birth.
“I think she will,” Nix said. “I’ll see when she foals if she’s going to be strong enough to foal.”
The horses’ tailbones and backbones show clearly in photos taken 10 days after they were rescued. Willy had been hobbled and sustained cuts on his legs trying to break free from the restraints. Both Willy and Red had fur coming off in clumps where their skin and fur were rotting from malnutrition. Willy’s hooves were in poor shape, with abscesses. Both were dehydrated and starving.
“We basically built them up so they could eat alfalfa,” Nix said. Now they’re eating grains twice a day with vitamin supplements.
“(Willy’s) still down in weight,” Bruce Nix said. “But his personality is coming back. He’s a pistol.”
“He’s fun,” Barb Nix said. “Every horse has its own personality, like kids.”
She talks to the horses that way too.
“I’ll put your blanket on and turn you out in a minute,” Nix told Willy while examining Red. “You’re not going out without a jacket.”
Nix and other families take neglected animals free of charge to the county and nurse them back to health.
“When you do foster care for horses, you eat through a lot of cash,” Nix said. She and her husband do it “to save them. I don’t like to see them abused or neglected. I guess you get satisfaction out of seeing them get better.”
Nix has been around horses almost all her life, she said. “I just love riding them and taking care of them.”
She is a member of the Sheriff’s Posse. Bruce Nix is a lieutenant on the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue. In his spare time he restores saddles and works leather.