Residents | Rainbow
Bridge > Forrest
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Forrest with
friend Purple Cow
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Forrest with
his first family
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Sheba, Forrest & friend
Purple Cow
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Forrest: The Sweet
Forrest, just like the character he’s named after from the
movie “Forrest Gump,” had a rough beginning. Shortly
after birth his mother, quite a large Black Angus cow, rolled over
on Forrest injuring him. The family he was born into helped him
to recover in any way they knew how but Forrest’s back legs
did not work well. They finally were able to get him walking by
gently holding him up by his tail but as he got heavier and heavier
he wasn’t able to stand or walk on his own. The family called
Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and asked for help.
Best Friends doesn’t take cattle but as it happened Executive
Director Laura Bradshaw was visiting the Horse
Haven office that day and she spoke with the family. There was
promise in his ability to walk; again because when he was lighter
he had figured it out more or less. Time was of the essence,
though, as he could grow to a thousand pounds or more. If he
couldn’t get up and walk before too long, he might never
be able to. They made arrangements to meet at Best Friends, as
Healing HEART Sanctuary had just started and we were not yet
in our Kanab location. Laura came in from Los Angeles.
He was a very sweet calf who was comfortable having lots of
people around due to people helping him with his handicap since
he was young. The family was sad to let him go but they wanted
him to have the best chance at life he could get.
Once back in Los Angeles Laura found a volunteer, now Board
Member Heather
Bryer, who
adores animals and agreed to help Laura rehabilitate Forrest.
It took two people to lift him, plus Heather agreed to help Laura
build him his very own calf float. A cow float is a box that
can be filled with water and hold a cow in an upright position
until their legs can strengthen under them. Both spent many hours
between them building the float and massaging and flexing his legs.
His way of showing his appreciation was to lick your arms or
legs. He was so sweet you just couldn’t let him know he
was taking your skin off with his very scratchy tongue. You just
grinned and beared it because it meant so much to him.
One of the happiest days of his life, as well as for both Heather
and Laura, was when they filled the calf float for the very first
time. Forrest was a little afraid at first as the water rose but he
very quickly realized he could stand in the water. He spent about
an hour in the float and loved every minute of it. He felt like
a true steer! After they emptied it, Forrest actually stood on his own
for the longest time. Heather and Laura were nearly crying, as
it was so wonderful to see! They knew that this would be the thing
to get him back on his feet.
Sadly, they would be crying for real the next day when poor
Forrest crossed the Rainbow Bridge. He had been having a problem
with bloating which is a filling up with gas, a chronic issue from
his injury. Luckily Laura was able to help him release it whenever
it happened. She was away this time, though, and he passed. They
were told later that his intestines were all messed up and had
begun twisting.
At least he got to be normal for about 10 minutes and stand
like a true steer, on his own. During that time he was whole,
and all was right in the world. Forrest passed to the Rainbow
Bridge in 2003.
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