4-30-09

The May Auction fundraising is in full swing, the thermometer is currently at $170 out of a goal of $5,000. You can help us help horse.


Some potential adopters came out to see the horses today. She had Roy in adoption pending, and wanted to meet him. He was not what she was looking for, so she looked at the other available horses.

Next Tawnee brought Jake out and they seemed to have a blast together.

She has transferred her adoption hold to Jake. There is a suspicion he may have Cushings, so she generously donated the funds to have Cushings tests done. Once the result are known she will make her decision whether or not to adopt him.

April and Larry came out to help out, but managed to stay away from the camera. We'll get you next time! Jaime came out today as well, and generously donated bags of feed, salt blocks, and...

...worked hard cleaning stalls. Literally removing the rubber mats and washing it down clean! Thanks for your extremely hard work.

As Jaime and Tawnee were cleaning in the tack room, they heard rain start to fall. Tawnee raced out, grabbed the tarp, and started covering the hay. And then the phone rang. Jaime grabbed the camera and took a picture of Tawnee on top the hay pile, with a tarp, talking on the phone. Now here's the funny part. While doing the pictures for the blog, this picture scared Tawnee, with the bulging arm muscles.

But it's not too much of a surprise, as her grandpa is this guy.

Wal-Mart generously donated another cart of feed, and Jason went out to pick it up. We can't thank Wal-Mart enough for helping out our feed bill.

When Jason got back he continued the work on the jail. Yes, soon we will have a jail to lock volunteers in who don't' seem to be working hard enough. We'll hand them a phone and say "Call up your friends to bail you out!"

Dancing Drum is doing great these days. Her leg is healing up beautifully and she is feeling great. She was turned out in the round pen and she decided to show off.

During her first run around the round pen she did a little crow hop.

On the next round it was more of a wild buck.

It's definitely great to see her gain some weight, and have a spirit so full of life. She's a beautiful girl who needs a home.

Once the hoodlum, Dancing Drum, was out of the round pen, it was time for the old men to head out for their afternoon dust bath. Pike and Jack took their time in the round pen a little more serious and enjoyed their dust bath in peace.

Don't forget to read the blog this weekend, it'll be all about the Nebraska trip. You won't want to miss it!

4-29-09

We finally had a minute to sit down and set up May's fundraisers. The Euthanasia clinic was generously kicked off by a large donation by Kelly. It is currently at $833, with a goal of $2,500. The auction fund is currently at $143 out of a goal of $5,000 for the rescue and care of horses that are rescued at the livestock auction.


JT's mommy came out today to take him home. She is so excited to take her little black bundle of joy home at last.

JT was a very well mannered boy and hopped right into the trailer. He is excited to see what his new adventures holds for him. We are missing the little guys at the rescue, William and Angelito left, and now JT. Fortunately Dottie and Macho Man are still here and are doing very well.

Once again the high speed Internet antenna needed some tweaking. The wind seems to knock it out of alignment over time and it just has to be repointed.

Volunteer Jaime has adopted Jack and is going to be giving him a great forever home. Soon his transportation will be arranged and his stall will be available for another rescued horse.

Adrian, who was being fostered, is now at her forever home as well. She is such an amazing looking horse, it is hard to think that just a few months ago she was skin and bones. Thanks so much for giving her such a good foster home Kim and Rico! And thanks to her new forever family for giving her such a great home.

For those of you who are asking about Prince. He is doing very well, we haven't had an opportunity to visit him since we were sent off to Nebraska, but the vet office assures us that he is doing great. We can't wait to go see the little guy again!

4-29-09 (4-28-09)

Sorry we didn't get the blog up last night, but eyelids can only stay open so long. This is the blog for Tuesday, April 28th.

We have some updates on adopted horses. The first update is from Grandole's adoptive family: "He is now well settled in. He seems to be well trained and shows signs of being used for cutting or reining. He is in love with my filly but enjoys spending time with us as well. "



The second update is from Darby's mom: "Darby is doing very well - she is eating lots of groceries and gaining weight. She's a sweet girl but does have some trust issues which we are working on. She loves the pasture. She was even gaiting in the pasture today, she feels a lot stronger. She has a beautiful mane and tail and where she is shedding is a very dark bay."

After the morning chores were done Jason headed out to pick up some horses.

The road just seemed to stretch on endlessly. Back at the rescue Tawnee got a call from a lady: "My husband works in road construction and saw one of your trucks go by. Can you help us with our horses? We've had them 14 years and can no longer afford to keep them." Tawnee explained our program and asked her to fill out equine surrender forms.

Cash was waiting at the first stop. He's a big Thoroughbred his family could no longer keep.

Driving along, Jason managed to snap a picture of a deer hiding in the bushes. What a cutie!

And, it was time for one of many fill ups throughout the day.

The next stop was to pick up Gingles. His adopter was no longer able to keep him, so he was returned to us in great shape. He is such a sweet boy and is very loving. She really loved him and it was hard to say goodbye.

Meanwhile, back at the rescue, fencing had begun again. The neighboring property owner finally came up for a visit and "OK'd" the fence line. He had a surveyor double check our survey line, and it's in the right spot, but his driveway goes between the two properties so we ran some T-posts where we thought the fence should go and he said it was fine. Now we can start running the fencing finally!

The sun was beginning to set and Jason was still on the road between Gingles and the next stop hundreds of miles from the rescue.

Angel, an older mare with lameness and cancer, was the last stop. Her owner wanted to bring her up to one of our clinics, so her suffering would be over, but had no way to get her to the clinic and had no money for transportation. Jason arrived well after dark, but she is a sweet girl and loaded right up after a tearful goodbye.

Jason hates seeing toll signs, especially with the trailer, all the axles add up to a lot of $$. Jason pulled up to the booth, pulled out his wallet, but instead of a fee he heard "The person in front of you already paid for you." We would like to take a minute to thank the kind stranger in a silver car that paid the toll on the bridge today. Your thoughtfulness is overwhelming.

On the way back to the rescue the police were cleaning up what looked like a major wreck. Thankfully they had it all under control and so it did not delay Jason's travels.

Jason drove almost 500 miles yesterday, and was quite road weary by the time he got back to the rescue...

It was early in the morning when the rescue rig pulled up, the horses were unloaded and tucked into stalls for the remainder of the night.

While the blog was being written, we received this web contact that warmed our hearts: "I saw Jason pulling out of the ranch I board at yesterday. If I could have caught him I would have liked to say how wonderful I think your organization is. I am just in awe at the dedication and selflessness shown by Tawnee, Jason and all the NorCal volunteers. Thank you so much for all that you do. I follow your blog everyday and I must say seeing your truck and trailer felt like I was seeing a celebrity yesterday. I admire your work so much. Keep it up!"

4-29-09

Jason headed out early this morning to pick up 3 different horses hundreds of miles away from the rescue. The trip didn't quite go as fast as expected...

Jason pulled into the rescue early this morning, and after the horses were settled there is simply no energy left for the blog. The regular blog will be written and published after the sun comes up.

4-27-09

We always enjoy turning horses loose in the round pen and then watching them play around and roll in the sand. It is always neat to see horses enjoying life.

Midge is looking great these days, he's gained a lot of weight and is looking terrific.

And, the hill continues to put up a fight. One of the visitors today didn't' make it up the hill, and got stuck. We are working on a solution to this problem. It's practically becoming a daily routine, towing people up the hill.

To lighten every one's spirits Tawnee took the visitors (above) out to the dream facility to show them around. They were quite impressed with it as well. They gave us their best wishes and hope we can pull it off for the horses.

On the way back, Tawnee was fortunately not speeding along and stopped in plenty of time to avoid the obstacle in the middle of the road. Tawnee got out of the truck and evaluated the situation. A giant tree had fallen across the entire road. She's thankful it didn't fall on her as she drove by.

She is very glad that she was not pulling a trailer, because she had to drive over the bank, between the trees, around the barbed wire fences, and then back onto the road.

A short time after arriving back at the rescue a few horses needed to be loaded up to be delivered to their new homes. Suzie was a very good girl and loaded right into the trailer.

Prelude and Rambo were also loaded up after Suzie got in. 3 horses leaving to their new forever homes.

Tawnee left with some trepidation as she didn't know if the road would be blocked or not. To her great joy, the tree was chopped up and pushed off the side of the road.

The first stop was Prelude's home. The bay and the grey in the back are two mares that were adopted from NorCal previously. They were all excited to see the trailer pulling up, it probably brought back memories of when they came to their wonderful home.

Soon Prelude found herself eating grass in the herd. Now there are 2 bays and 2 greys. It's really cute they are in pairs.

After Tawnee said "Goodbye" to Prelude she headed off to Suzie and Rambo's new home. Suzie was greated with a pretty pink halter.

Soon Suzie was exploring her new home with her new Palamino friend. It's kind of funny, because now this home has matching pairs as well. 2 Palamino's and 2 grey's. The grey in the foreground is Joey, he was adopted from us previously. It's great to see him doing so well.

Some big boots were donated for the silent auction. They are size 13 Ariat lace up riding boots. If you have a size 13 foot, or know "big foot" come to the Skating for Horses day, and you may just end up with an awesome pair of boots.