Name: Ellie Mae

    Type: Draft Mule

    Color: Sorrel

    Markings: Blaze

    Sex: Mare

    Birthday: 11/27/1993

    Name: Trudie Lou

    Type: Draft Mule

    Color: Grey

    Markings: None

    Sex: Mare

    Birthday: 11/27/1998

In January 2019, a group of eight draft horses ended up in the Bowie, TX kill pen. They were being discarded by their owner who no longer wanted them. As those of us in the equine rescue world so often see, after a lifetime of service to their humans, these sweet old souls were being dumped for a few bucks. Most of the drafts in the group were in poor condition. Celine Myers of the Ark Watch Foundation decided to rescue at least two of this pitiful group and determined that a very large grey draft molly mule and a slightly smaller sorrel draft molly mule had been used as a carriage driving team. Celine, with a very heavy heart knowing that she could not save them all, pulled the driving pair of mollies.

She named the grey mare “Trudie Lou” and the sorrel mare “Ellie Mae”. The girls were transported to Reata Equine Hospital in TX to be examined and treated for possible respiratory illness. The two mollies arrived very hungry – a good sign that they felt well enough to eat. They were older then their kill pen listed ages. The vet aged Trudie Lou to be 21 years and Ellie Mae to be 24 years old. Bloodwork indicated both girls were dehydrated and an ultrasound of their lungs showed that both were suffering from pneumonia. Both girls were treated for several weeks and the pneumonia resolved. About two months into their stay at the Texas vet clinic, Trudie Lou began having some problems with her front hooves. What was initially thought to be thrush, a biopsy would confirm to be canker which is a horrible cancer-like disease that affects drafts. It took several months of intensive treatment for Trudie Lou’s canker to resolve. Although Ellie Mae didn’t develop canker, for weeks her feet were treated for thrush as a precautionary measure.

Celine, meanwhile, was trying to secure sanctuary for the girls at the Black Beauty Ranch in Texas, but this wasn’t possible. When Red Bell Run was approached, we agreed to take these two gentle giants and give them the care and retirement they deserved. Thanksgiving week of 2019, eleven months after being rescued, Trudie Lou and Ellie Mae arrived at Red Bell Run.

Unfortunately, Trudie Lou’s canker would return. However, our vet was able to place her in a trial for a medication that eventually resolved the canker. It was an arduous four months of treatment, bandaging and intensive care, but today Trudie Lou is canker-free and has been for several years. Dear Ellie Mae suffers from several allergies and requires constant monitoring and treatment for her skin, especially in the spring and summer months. Through it all Trudie Lou and Ellie Mae have remained the sweet, gentle-natured molly mules that so typifies these wonderful equines.

Today, Trudie Lou is 24 years old and Ellie Mae is approaching 30. Both have some age-related issues now including Cushings and arthritis, but are doing well. They happily live at our Sunset Ridge barn, spending their time enjoying each other’s company, grazing and lazing their days away being doted on by our staff and volunteers. 

    Name: Ernest

    Type: Mammoth Donkey

    Color: Grey

      Markings: None

    Sex: Gelding

    Birthday: 1/1/2009

Ernest was saved because a group of rescues worked together to save him – and 43 others. Here is their story:

Celine Myers of the Ark Watch Foundation heard about a group of 44 donkeys in danger of going to slaughter in Beebe, AK. She reached out to Tia Bonkowski of Turning Pointe Donkey Rescue to see if she would be willing to help. Tia knew of the kill buyer and was willing to act as liaison with him on Ark Watch’s behalf. Celine also asked Tia to reach out to the Humane Society of North Texas and see if HSNT would be willing to take the donkeys in, care for them and adopt them out, if a grant could be secured to help cover the costs. Fortunately, HSNT agreed to take the group of 44 donkeys.

Ark Watch Foundation covered the funds needed to purchase the donkeys and pay for their transport to HSNT. Red Bell Run contributed to the grant sent to HSNT to be used towards vetting and caring for the donkeys until they could be adopted out. We knew the donkeys would arrive thin and ill with respiratory issues. When the haulers arrived to pick up the first group of donkeys, they reported back that all 44 of the donkeys were in very poor condition. The hauler called to say that there were several donkeys in the group that needed immediate medical attention. One of these was a large Mammoth jack who was terribly emaciated and covered in bite marks from fighting. That Mammoth donkey would be named “Ernest”. All of the donkeys had pneumonia, and the vets started them on medications to resolve it. They were put on a refeeding program to safely reintroduce hay and feed and avoid the possibility of developing Refeeding Syndrome which often kills emaciated animals once they begin eating again if food is not reintroduced properly.

Ernest turned out to be quite the character. Quite handleable, he was very curious about all that was going on at the clinic. He’d pop his big head over the stall dividers and the staff said Ernest really enjoyed watching his neighbors receive their medical treatments. Although Ernest was an intact jack, he did not exhibit any “studdy” behavior. This was quite surprising since the 10 yr. old Ernest had obviously been used for breeding. When Ernest had gained enough weight that it was safe to anesthetize him, he was castrated. The vet reported that Ernest had the largest “family jewels” she had ever seen! Despite this, the surgery went well and Ernest recovered quickly without incident. Thirty days post-surgery, Ernest boarded the Equine Express trailer and headed off to the Red Bell Run Sanctuary in NC. Once at Red Bell Run Ernest quickly settled into his new home. Charlotte, a young molly mule who, sadly, had been orphaned, traveled with Ernest to North Carolina and the two became fast friends on the trip and remain so today. We discovered that Ernest has a decided dislike for dogs (Mr. Waylon, the Red Bell Run Coonhound found that out when he decided to enter Ernest’s pen uninvited and barely escaped)! Other than that, Ernest is a lover, not a fighter, is very well-behaved and spends his days happily grazing with Charlotte who will occasionally convince him to trot a short distance. Ernest’s feet were long-neglected in his previous life, so he requires specialty farrier care, but has become quite the gentleman about it, and is a favorite here at the Sanctuary with his ultra-long ears! 

    Name: Charlotte

    Type: Mule

    Color: Bay

      Markings: Dorsal Stripe

    Sex: Mare

    Birthday: 1/1/2017

Charlotte is one of our younger residents here at Red Bell Run. Her circumstances and the way she came to the Sanctuary is truly a sad story. While she wasn’t technically “abused” she certainly suffered from an uncaring and irresponsible owner who gave her poor mother no training or care. That led to Charlotte and her mother Grace being dumped at an auction and nearly purchased by one of the most notorious kill buyers in the United States.

We were contacted by members of another rescue who were attending the auction and had managed to win the bid for the pair, a stunning grey Quarter Horse mare and a little molly mule who was about four months old, but they didn’t have the facilities to accommodate them since they were unhandleable. The previous owner had let a jack donkey breed the beautiful mare, and while he fed her, never handled the mare or her foal. This meant they received no farrier or vet care and were unvaccinated (so important for foals) and riddled with parasites. The rescue asked that Red Bell Run take them. Because both were unhandled, we sent them to a trainer who specialized in handling wild horses, so they could be halter broke and start receiving the care they needed. 

While Charlotte was able to be handled fairly soon, Grace proved more difficult. They were able to be dewormed (their parasite counts were over 8,000), but to do any other veterinary or farrier care required that Grace be trapped behind a panel and heavily sedated first. The pair were strongly bonded and while Charlotte became accustomed to people, poor Grace never did. Unfortunately, Grace damaged her hoof and before long the infection set up in her coffin bone. Once the trainer realized there was an issue and notified us, Red Bell Run arranged for a vet who was willing to try to go to her to help. Sadly, it was too late and poor Grace had to be humanely euthanized. At this point we arranged for Charlotte to be brought to Red Bell Run. She has settled in and is best friends with Ernest, a huge mammoth donkey who adores her, in our Sunset Ridge barn. Charlotte is turning a beautiful grey like her mother and is quite a character. She loves playing with the water hose and is definitely a mule with all of the quirks of their kind. We love her sassy attitude!