Heartbeat Farm & Rescue Sanctuary
In 2014, Steve & Kate Gamble began to rescue several animals from a life of neglect or abuse. From that point on, they dedicated their farm property in Aiken, South Carolina to becoming the last stop for these beautiful displaced animals. To date they have taken in horses, donkeys, goats, cows, pigs, chickens, feral cats, and even a tortoise.
Many of these rescue animals were on the road to slaughter, unnecessary euthanasia or saved from a life of neglect and/or abuse.
The rescue sanctuary has also rehabbed several abandoned dogs that were either dropped off or wandered onto the property emaciated and sick. These dogs were brought back to health and placed into good homes where they would receive the love they all deserve.
There are currently 50 animals in the sanctuary.
At the Heartbeat Farm Rescue Sanctuary, they are provided a safe and loving environment, excellent nutrition, proper vet care, and socialization.
The cost of running these rescues can be overwhelming, between vet fees, feed, and shelter. Anything donated to the Rescue Sanctuary can go a long way to help change the lives of these precious animals forever.
Nester-
Nester came to us four years ago when I got a call from a woman who I met through a site on Facebook called blessing one another. She needed some toys for her grandchildren who were going to be visiting for Christmas. It was a delight to answer that need. Dot and I became friends after that day, not just on Facebook, but through text and calls as well. Dot called me one day to tell me that her brother-in-law needed someone to rescue his farm animals. Apparently, his wife left him and left behind all her beloved animals. He continued to feed and care for them in hopes of her retuning, but that never happened. He simply could not do it any longer, as he was up in age, and had health problems. Steve and I went to visit his farm and saw the situation. We advised him to sell two of the three horses, that were in great shape, very young and were still very much able to be productive and lead a full life. The remaining animals were a goat, a giant pig, two minis, an older horse named Dusty and Nester, the Donkey. We took all of them except the two horses that he sold and the gigantic pig, that was sent to another rescue. The minute that I met Nester, I knew that he would quickly become a farm favorite, as his personality was larger than life. He was also gentle and sweet, wanting hugs more than treats. When Nester first came to our farm, he had to be put in a separate paddock, just like he was at his previous farm. He had never been castrated, and so his zeal, shall we say, annoyed all the other horses. They got so upset with his constant need to mount, that they end up hurting him. He is too old at this point to neuter him, so sadly, he is always in his own space. But because he is so social, we allow his paddock to but up against the other horses, so he can at least feel close to them. When anyone is approaching, no matter where Nester is in his vast acreage, he comes running with his distinctive honking to greet you. Even if a neighbor comes by or a guest, drops in, he greets them like they are his very best friend. He is a goof ball, a showoff, and one of the most loving animals I have ever had.
Pumpkin-Mini Horse
What a character our Pumpkin is. She is the only equine on the property that has complete freedom to free range and graze to her hearts content all day long. (yes, we lock her up at night). She is like having another dog.
Pumpkin was listed on Equine Rescue of Aiken, and while I loved the look of her (a miniature version of Charlotte), I knew that we were at our limit with animals for now, so I passed her by. She came from a life of extreme neglect, and I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I wanted her here to flood with love, but I had to stick to our commitment to slow things down. Besides, she was already at the Equine Rescue and getting great exposure for an adopter. Someone would love on this girl soon enough.
It's so funny how things work out. Several months later this couple moved in next door to us. They were renting our previous neighbor’s house, and they had several minis that he used for driving. They also had Pumpkin. The woman and I became friends, and when I saw Pumpkin at her barn, I commented that I had initially been interested in Pumpkin but knew that she would find a good home, so I didn’t pursue it. She immediately asked me if I wanted her. What? Why? My heart began to pound, and I was already picturing Pumpkin down at my house grazing in my front yard in the sunshine. She explained that they never should have gotten Pumpkin because she didn’t’ take to driving and didn’t fit in with their other minis who were their driving team. She went on to say that her husband was very ill, and they were considering moving to Scotland, his homeland. Within a few minutes, I had a halter on Pumpkin, and I began to lead her down to my farm. She was so tame, so loving and so graceful and she walked beside me.
Today she is spoiled, naughty, pushy, stubborn, and an absolute joy in our life.
Brownie and Macho Man
These two minis came to us from a semi neglect situation. Friends of ours called us about their neighbors mini horses that they no longer wanted. When I went to see them, I saw that the owners were trying to care for them, but for whatever reason, no longer could do so. They were living in a very small paddock with two donkeys, and were not friendly or socialized at all.
They hadn’t been groomed in a while, and their feet needed a good trim. However, they seemed well fed and health in all other respects. So we took them. It didn’t take long to socialize Brownie, but Macho wasn’t having it. He wanted to stay alof and unattached.
They quickly adapted into the herd with Sissy, Baby and Jake. Today they are happy and healthy and enjoying well over an acre of paddock loaded with grass and sunshine. They will live out their days here at Heartbeat Farm.
Baby & Sissy came with no name, which is the case with many rescues and of course ferals. They were both. One day I saw an ad on Facebook for a beautiful Stallion Mini Horse for $100. I was not in the market for a horse, and I don’t by them, I rescue them, and if there is a re-homing or adoption fee, of course I pay it if it will save an animal from a life of abuse or neglect. But something was so odd about this add. The Photo was blurry, and showed only his face, which by the way was beautiful in every way. He had a balloon tied to his neck, and between that, and the way the add was strangely worded led me to immediately contact the woman and ask if we could come and see him. We agreed on a time, and I convinced my husband to hook up the horse trailer and come with me over an hour away into GA to check out this little guy. He knew once I asked him to hook up the trailer we were not just going to ‘check him out”, but he would most likely be coming home with us. When we pulled up there were two beautiful mini horses with a deep chestnut coat and thick, lush blond manes sitting in a large dog kennel on the front lawn of this run-down farmhouse. We got out of the car and saw how wild they were, not to mention stir crazy from their cramped quarters. There was clearly tons of open land all around and a few larger, older horses in the back. The mare was in pretty good shape, but the stallion, was clearly not. He was dwarfed in his rear quarters to start with. Dwarfed is a condition that happens when people try to breed animals, especially mini horses, to get then even smaller, they’re also usually inbreed. He looked like half horse half pig. Steve’s immediately response to me (not knowing which was the stallion) “I guess were here to get the deformed one?” I sighed and simply said, “Yes, I believe we are, and I want the mare also”. They were clearly bonded and desperately in need of a new life.
The elderly woman and her husband came out, him with a cane to help him walk, and her with a cane as well, but it was not going to be used to walk as I came so soon find out.
First, I asked her the names of the minis; she called the deformed one “the small one”, and the Mare she simply called ‘the sister’.
I told her that we were prepared to take both, and she quickly snapped “well the girl is $500.” “Well then” I responded, “can you give me some history on this pair? They appear very wild and so I am questioning your price.” “Cause she’s pretty and everyone wants a pretty horse, I have lots of people calling me about her, so If you want her, give me $500 cash right now, along with $100 for this one”, as she pointed her cane over at the small one. Steve quickly pulled me aside and said no way are we paying $500 for that horse” … let’s just take the deformed one and go”. I was upset that he kept calling him that but understood his frustration at her attempt to extort money from us. I kept trying to reason with her, I wanted to tell her that that the horses were clearly neglected, but I never take that path with people…no one really knows the story behind anyone’s life, and I didn’t need her as my enemy, I was here to save a horse and not be turned away, they might not ever get this chance again. I questioned her also about the horses in the back, but she was truly getting annoyed, so I handed her the $100 for “Baby” and said I could give her another $100 because that was all I had on me for the sister. “Nope, just back the horse trailer up to the kennel gate and let’s get him loaded”. I asked if he was at least halter trained and she looked at me like I had three heads. She jumped into the dog kennel and began to beat Baby with her cane to move him into the trailer. It all happened so fast Steve and I were in complete shock that we let this happen right before our eyes. He Bucked, reared, tried to bite her, it was awful. She just kept hitting him. The halter I brought was too big and he was adamant not to have it on, therefore there was no way to secure him in the trailer, so between the three of us, I rigged a halter from a lead line and secured him the best I could. Dropped a hay net in front of him and he began to go to town on it. He acted like he hadn’t had hay in a long while.
We closed the door and drove away. I was near tears, and my heart couldn’t stop pounding. “We’re coming back for Sissy!!” “Who?” Steve wasn’t quite recovered either from the ordeal. “The Sister, I’m naming her Sissy, and I am going to find a way to get this woman her $500 and save her life, besides Baby needs his sister and she needs him.” Who’s Baby”. I just sighed as we drove the next 90 minutes listening to Baby buck and howl all the way home.
Three days later, I had not stopped thinking about Sissy, and then the phone rang. “hey, you still want this nasty mare?”
“Yes, Yes, but not for the money you’re asking.” I was both shocked and excited. “Give me $100 but you have to come today”. The rest is history. After weeks, and many months of Sissy and Baby biting and kicking us every time we tried to work with them, today they are different horses. They are happily running free on 10 acres of paddock shared with two other rescue minis and one rescue donkey.
They still hate halters, the Ferrier, being loaded and even grooming, but they tolerate it because they love their life and deep down truly know that they are home.
Charlotte-
My sweet Charlotte. Charlotte came to me through Equine Rescue of Aiken, where I got Banjo a few years earlier. I saw her on their Facebook page and felt an instant connection. First, she was a stunning, large brown and white paint, and second, she was a Tennessee Walking Horse. My dream horse. I never thought my dream horse would be a mare, I was more of the gelding type, but she not only caught my eye, but my heart as well. Her story was a sad one; she was found wandering around the property of her owner who had passed away, and no one knew that Charlotte existed or was even back behind the house. It wasn’t until realtors came in to clean up the property did anyone discover her. She was frightened and in bad shape, but once she went to Equine Rescue, she got all the help and rehabilitation she needed before even coming to my farm.
Today Charlotte is the female boss of the other horses (except Bubba), and just loves her life. Watching her gate as she comes across the paddock to greet me is a sight to behold.
Cookie Monster
Cookie was discovered in the woods of Virginia, feral and afraid. A local rescue group there capture her and brought her back to their farm to help her accept the love and attention that she needed. This took many months of care and medical treatment as well as getting her to not be totally afraid of everything and everyone that came near her. The rescue group from Virginia wanted to get her into a sanctuary where she could spend the rest of her days just being surrounded by love and security. So, without hesitation, we took in Cookie. She has come a long way, she will take treats (of course Cookies are her favorite) ….and if she totally trusts you, she might let you pet her, but she still has a bit of wild in her spirit. She is easily bullied by the other horses and keeps to herself most of the time. I look forward to the day when Cookie is totally comfortable with everyone around her. But for now, she is free to be herself and just enjoy the green grass and mountains of fresh hay and never has to worry about fending for herself again.
Bubba – Chestnut Horse
One day I received a Facebook message from someone I went to High School with. While we were not friends in High School, I did remember Don, and had also recently become his Facebook friend. He must had seen my posts about my rescue sanctuary and said he had a request he would like me to consider. He told me that he and his wife had this friend who lost her husband a year ago from cancer, and she was now dying of cancer herself. Her name was Pat, and she had a horse that she wanted to rehome and be sure that he was in a safe place where he can live out the rest if his days. Of course, I was moved and immediately wanted to help. He then went onto say that the horse had one issue, he was a cribber. I horse who cribs (without going into detail), and damage fences and barn with chewing the wood. I honestly had no problem with that. When You open a rescue, it is certain that most of them would come with issues.
Later that day I called Pat and we hit it off right away. We chatted for over an hour, and everything just felt right. Not long after that we were on our way to Atlanta to pick up Bubba.
We planned to spend the night at Pats and go out to a fun local bar with Don and his wife Kelly. The new friendships were priceless, and I knew that Bubba was our connection to better days ahead for everyone, even Pat.
That was 9 years ago. Pat has been gone now for three years, and Bubba is still thriving on the farm. He is a big ole goof ball, plays well with the other horses, and is a wonderful trail horse. He still Cribbs, but that okay with me, I bite my cuticles, we all have vices. I think of Pat often, especially if I am with Bubba, grooming him, or just hanging out at the barn with him. She lives on in him.
The Goats
Consisting of Pigmy, Nigerian Dwarf, and Fainting Goats, our heard just started out with two; Chewy and Obe. Soon they gave birth to Sky. These three were fainting goats and brought lots of laughs to the farm with their “faints”. They don’t actually faint, but when they are frightened, their legs go stiff due to a hereditary condition that is called ‘myotonia congenita’, they fall over as though they have fainted.
After a while, we added Nigerian Dwarf goats, and two pigmy goats. Some were rescues, some were purchased. It was a joy to welcome the baby goats, also known as “kids”, and watch our herd grow. However, our herd got so big, that we ended up finding homes in nearby farms, and another sanctuary. We hope to have milk production again in the future, and make soap, and other household products for the farm.
Other fun names we have had for our herd:
Laverne
Shirley
Elsa
Anna
Bambi
Penny
Spirit
Stinky
Bella
Patti
Princess
Ben
Jerry
Holly
Clayton
Cleo
Ceasar
Jake – Mini Donkey
One day while looking on Craigslist for farm supplies, a photo of an adorable miniature donkey laying in the middle of a dirt road popped up. I clicked on it and saw that this beautiful guy was up for adoption. I was not in the market for a donkey, but we were just starting the farm, and I thought that he might be a nice addition. The add read something like this:
“Need to rehome our donkey to a farm where he will have room to roam. Friendly, has a limp, but otherwise healthy. Rehoming fee will apply.” I immediately called the number and left a message as well as sent an email. Something told me that this guy belonged at Heartbeat Farm.
She called me back and gave me an address to come see him. Since we were out in our car, and nearby where she was, we decided to drive over, and if it worked out, I could come back with the horse trailer the next day. We pulled up to a yard with a horse and a limping donkey behind a fence that didn’t look very secure. As we knocked on the door of the very run-down trailer, we could hear a dog barking and as the sound of him got louder, we see him coming from the back of the house. He freaked us out, and we were trapped on the small porch, so unless someone opened the door and let us in, we were close to being attacked. I tried to calmly talk to the dog who was at this point baring his teeth, but he was not buying it. I kept knocking on the door, but no one was answering. Suddenly from around the back of the house appeared a small child who called the dogs name and he backed off. Right behind her was a woman with a baby in her arms, who was also calling the dog. After we let out a sigh of relief, she said that she was going into the hospital and needed him gone asap. I told her that we would be back the next day to get him and left. We could see that she was not in a good way. She said that she didn’t live there and was leaving the next day, so she had to have Jake gone.
The next morning, I called a friend of mine to come and help me since my husband was unavailable, I also had my 8-year-old grandson with me. We set up the horse trailer with hay and feed and we headed 40 minutes back to the Jake and sick woman with the two small children. I stopped at the ATM to get the $150 rehoming fee and when we pulled up, I was surprised to see the horse gone, as was the only car that was in the driveway the day before. I called her and there was no answer. The Jake was roaming the property and not contained at all. I wasn’t sure at that point if he got out of this poor excuse for a fenced in area, or he was let out. Either way he was not going to be easy to catch now. Before I went to the door, I told my grandson to stay in the truck (thinking of the dog), and then made my way to knock on the door. No answer, no dog, no people. I tried to call her, but it kept going straight to voicemail. I left her a message that I hoped that she was okay, and I would be taking Jake, and would she please leave me a message as to how I could get the money to her. I suddenly became worried that maybe Jake didn’t really belong to her, and I was now stealing someone’s donkey. It all seemed so sketchy, but we proceeded to chase and halter him. He put up great resistance, as seen in the photo, and it also began to rain, so this was becoming harder and harder to accomplish. However, in the end we got him loaded and off we went. Days went by before I heard back from the woman. She left a message that the Donkey was $350 not the $150 that I was originally told, but because her situation was obviously so bad, I didn’t say a world and sent her the money. Jake was worth it. He needed a good home, and I had one to give him.
The limp that he had I found out was from poor nutrition, and today he walks, runs and is living his best life.
I often think about that sweet little family who appeared from behind the run-down trailer calling off the pit bull that wanted to take a bit out of me. I felt that they needed rescue just as much as Jake did, but there was little I could do except give her some money to help her along. I pray that their life is better today, and that somewhere along the way they got the
Kisco-Sulcata Tortoises
Kisco is one of the few on our property that is not a rescue animal.
Ever since I was a child I have been obsessed with turtles. They have always fascinated me. They have shown up many times in my life to give me signs of encouragement, or confirmation. When we first moved to Aiken, and as we pulled into the spot where our new house would stand, we noticed a ray of sunshine in the distance that was piercing down on a big brown spot. As we got closer, there basking in the sun was a large turtle that apparently had made its way from our pond. The perfect welcome sign!
Just a few months after moving into our home that was finally built, I saw an ad on Facebook of a local gentlemen who raised Sulcata Tortoises. The day I went to get Kisco I was expecting a tortoise at the least the size of a football. I knew that they grew to be a few hundred pounds and live to 120. But instead, a tiny circle the size of a quarter was placed in my hand. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to care for this fragile little creature, but it wasn’t long before he was bigger, and then one day too big to even lift. He is smart, knows my voice, and will bite my big toe if I forget that I am not only standing barefoot next to him, but have red nailpolish on, and to Kisco, this is a big juicy strawberry.
Sulcata Tortoises Fun Facts:
· They are the third largest tortoise in the world, and the largest tortoise on the African mainland.
· They are very strong animals and can move just about anything that is not nailed down.
· They do not hibernate like other species of tortoises.
· They can live up to 120 years.
· They eat grasses and leaves, vegetables, and some fruits.
· They don’t swim like turtles.
· They are friendly and smart and learn your voice.
· These tortoises can reach a size of 36 inches in carapace (shell) length and weight of 200 pounds.
