He was at least 25 years old when we rescued him, thanks to a call from someone who cared. He was clearly starving, dehydrated and hurt…left to die in a riverbed, so utterly abandoned that they had even removed his halter. He had nothing, other than the fresh raw rope burns that painfully marked his back pasterns and weepy infected eyes from the barrage of unrelenting flies.  He thrived under our care, gaining over 300 pounds, a deep gloss to his coat and a clarity to his now bright eyes. We named him Bilek, after our good friend, neighbor and generous donor. This weekend during a pasture check, Bilek happily (a wee bit stiff, but definitely thrilled with his life) trotted around the pasture with the other geldings stirring it up a little….he even threw in a few bucks just to let us know…he is alive!