09-15-08

We want to answer a few questions we've been receiving about the hay barn.


The primary question we receive is why don't we buy a cheaper barn off of Craigslist? (Thank you everyone for the suggestions and emails! You may very well send us the perfect one.) The reason we are looking into purchasing this particular barn is the sides are straight up and down, with a high roof, which will enable a hay squeeze to drive a full square of hay and set it right down, making the actual handling of the hay reduced to nothing until it is time to feed. A barn like this will enable us to store the maximum amount of hay for the roof size. The oval shaped roofs would greatly limit the amount of hay.


The second most popular question is: Why not get a barn with sides? Great question! The sides will be very easy to put on later, and for this winter we are planning on tarping the side that the wind blows from, so no hay will be ruined due to the elements. This barn is the best price for the most amount of hay storage that we have found, but please keep sending us suggestions and ideas! We would love to have a 150x75 foot fully enclosed barn, but we want to use the most economical solution possible so that more funds can go towards directly saving lives.


Ann Marie was out working with Sierra and she donated $50 towards the hay barn! Thanks so much for putting our Hay Barn fund at $2,552.

We got some great updates on adopted horses over the weekend. First up, Sadona's adopter sent a quick note and a picture. "Sadona is doing great and we are taking her horse camping this weekend." This little mare came from the June auction rescue, and now she is a little girls best friend.

Dakota Boy (Buddy) and Dakota Girl are very well loved too. "They are doing great and Dakota Boy has put on a lot of weight and is trotting all around with Faith. Dakota Girl is as sweet as ever." Dakota Boy sure is looking great, he was rescued at the June auction and is definitely looking sleek and happy.

Next update is about Rowdy and Glory. Both horses are doing great, Rowdy is definitely living up to his name and is quite the rowdy little guy. They were both rescued from the March auction. Glory is on the right, Rowdy on the left.

The change is amazing with some love and care! This is Glory after we rescued her. Bewildered, confused, with a scruffy wormy coat. Now her and Rowdy live happily in their new home, roaming around together forever. Jennifer G donated the funds to save these little horses, thank you for saving their lives Jennifer!

Nooks mommy came out and played with him again today. We are making arrangements for her to adopt Nook soon, and then foster his mommy until he is weaned.

Annette and Kimmy came out and cleaned stalls, did adoption applications, and made themselves very useful!

Becky purchased a horse at the auction that came up to the rescue last night in the big trailers. She drove up today with her trailer to pick up her sweet old mare. Upon spending some time with her, Becky came to the realization that she has severe founder in her fronts, and lameness in one of her hind legs. So really, sadly enough she only has 1 good leg to stand on, and her x-owner dumped her at the auction to get a few dollars instead of doing the right thing and having her humanely euthanized. Becky decided to surrender her into the Last Act of Kindness program and has requested humane euthanasia rather than an adoption option. Obviously this girl is in immense pain, so we will keep her as comfortable as we can, give her lots of good food and treats, and let her pass peacefully on. It's something her owner should have done for her instead of dumping her at the auction for the KB's to pick up.

Deb was out working and evaluating horses bright and early this morning. The horses really enjoyed being groomed and loved on. Yesterday was so stressful for them, but we're glad they could hang out and we could let them settle in and know that they are safe.

Towards the end of the day when the stalls were clean and the applications were done, Annette settled down under the shade maker on the swing with the soon to be worlds largest horse rescue twin ball.

Many of you have heard about Fugly Horse of the Day blog. Today's blog dealt with Days End Horse Rescue, a leader in the horse rescue industry on the eastern part of the US. They do an amazing work and have been rescuing since the 80's. They were recently public ally attacked for their euthanasia policy, which is similar to ours, and Fugly dealt with the issue today. Click here to read the blog post, but we must warn you, she uses mature language when writing her blog. She brings up some good points such as:

"The last thing a decent rescue needs is some wacko running around the internet bashing them for actually making responsible choices and not being death-phobic ninnies... We are going to have a lot more euthanasia until people stop: 1) breeding low end horses 2) failing to train effectively and appropriately (for ALL levels and prices of horses) 3) failing to provide proper care (nutrition, feed, deworming, etc.)"

There is nothing harder than rescuing a horse, knowing that most likely there is no one that will step up and adopt the poor bedraggled horse, and knowing that we will be the only love it ever knows. Knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that the kindest thing you can do is allow it to pass on peacfully, but grateful in the knowledge that we saved it from the most brutal and inhumane legal ending. If someone took a knife and attacked their dog like horses are attacked in a slaughter house, they would be put in jail. Every 5 minutes a horse is slaughtered in Mexico or Canada. If we can give a fraction of those horses a peaceful ending, we will have made a positive difference. Please join us in making a difference in horse lives.