Big thanks to Jory Rand for spending the afternoon with Olaf The Giant at Red Bucket Equine Rescue this afternoon. Please enjoy Olaf’s interview….and feel free to share! Please let us know what you think!

By Jory Rand

Friday, December 26, 2014

CHINO HILLS, Calif. (KABC) —
Thanks to a young woman and a local animal rescue group, a horse that was abused and over-worked has a second chance at life.

“He was crippled, he could barely move. He was in a lot of pain,” said Susan Peirce with the Red Bucket Equine Rescue.

His owners, no longer having any use for him, simply stopped feeding him, and put him up for auction.

Destined for slaughter, Olaf found a savior in a young woman named Katie. She saw Olaf, emptied her bank account to buy him, and began nursing him back to health.

Part of that process involved taking him to the Red Bucket Equine Rescue in Chino Hills. “She rescued him and asked us to do the rest,” Peirce. “He’s gained an additional 300 pounds and he’s doing great. We’re glad to have him.”

Olaf is by far the largest horse at Red Bucket, and he may get the most attention, but he’s far from the only one. Red Bucket currently has more than 100 horses on-hand that have been rescued and even one, blind in one eye donkey named Joey.

“We get horses in that have been used to bait dogs for dog fights, that have been starved intentionally, and then we dig them out of the river beds,” said Peirce.

Red Bucket recently placed their 157th horse, but they still have to turn down between 50 and 100 horses per week. It’s not from a lack of effort from the team of dedicated volunteers, some of whom put in 60 to 70 hours per week for free.

Right now, Red Bucket’s 2015 budget is only covered through February. If you’d like to donate, visit www.redbucketrescue.org.