 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Newsletter Contents Thank You...
|
Horse Tales — Our November 2002 Newsletter
Whoa... it's been a while since one of us sat down and typed out a newsletter. We'll recap some of the events that have occurred in the last year, fill you in on what's happening now and present a few of our wild and crazy ideas. Thank You...
Our big event was the Lipizzan Event in July. It was a tremendous success and could not have been accomplished without the help of every volunteer. As Nina wrote: " Special thanks to all our wonderful volunteers that helped this all to go smoothly. This would NOT have been possible without your help. All I could say was "Wow, what the heck did we get ourselves into!!?" But we did it!" I can't mention everyone by name, but you know who you are when I say THANK YOU for helping us make Eye of the Storm the a fantastic, loving equine sanctuary. More....
The autumn leaves drift past my window...
...and make a huge mess in your turnouts. Keep them clean on a regular basis. Horses will eat leaves and that's not a good thing as it can result in bowel obstructions. Red maple can be poisonous. Also, now is the time to get rid of excess hay and scrap the ground, adding new dirt if necessary, before the ground freezes. What you scrape up will become some of the best composted material next spring. Use it on your plants and flowers after it has wintered and you'll be blooming all over. Now is also an excellent time to grab your tool kit and go over each of your stalls looking for nails that may have come loose, tightening latches, covering windows and other oiling the hinges on your barn doors. Also check all lighting and electrical work. Better safe than sorry any day! We have started to replace aging lights with new cool florescent fixtures. Home Depot carries a variety of lighting fixtures including the plastic covers that go over the florescent tubes just in case of breakage. A florescent fixture with an on / off switch will run you under $30. It provides 64 watts of cool light that will really show off all those cobwebs you missed cleaning. A must have for those dark winter days as daylight savings ends. Old McDonald had a Farm
Plain and simple folks...Eye of the Storm needs a bigger farm. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit but we don't have the money to buy a farm. We are at capacity now and are turning away horses we could help IF we had some acreage and a good sized barn. Anyone know of any corporate sponsors? We would like to keep the farm in the local area because so many of our wonderful, dedicated volunteers live nearby. We're still the same Eye of the Storm
Last June we changed out web site to www.equine-rescue.com. Our e-mail address is storm@equine-rescue.com. When you write to us one of our volunteers will answer your e-mail from their own computer, hopefully remembering to identify the reply in the subject line. Please visit the new web site if you already haven't and check out our new look. You can view our horses, read about events, and view our memorial page, local artwork and more. There is also a link to eBay where we sell donated items that we can't use or that may be over stocked. Check us out! Donations, donations...
Please call us if you have any horse related items that are gathering dust in your barn. We can use them. Things we really need include: Gift certificates from Erikson's Grain in Acton, MA, Blue Seal Trotter, Blue Seal Pacer, Blue Seal Alfalfa pellets, hay cubes, good quality hay, MSM supplement, Blue Seal brewer's yeast, Linseed meal, Continuous 2X de-wormer (daily pelleted), an office trailer with electric heater/air conditioner, wood fencing, a tractor, and portable stalls. Please think of us if you are donating any item. Your donation is 100% tax deductible. New Friends and Residents at Eye of the StormWe have some new additions to Eye of the Storm! We now have Gus, an 18 year old, 13.3 hand palamino-ish -- possibly mustang -- gelding. We are trying to track his past. In fact, if anyone recognizes any of our horses we would really love to know about them! Gus was a member of the "Handi-kids" handicap riding program. He has a rather severe respiratory problem we are trying to manage, but the reason he came to us is that he has learned a very efficient way to dislodge his riders without a great deal of effort on his part! Obviously not the safest situation for physically challenged children, he only tossed volunteers and never was given the opporturnity for anyone else, though, for obvious reasons he needed a new home, and for the same reasons that would be difficult to find. In the meantime we found a lovely Paso Fino mare named Hannah who went to "Handi-kids" and is doing a wonderful job in her new role as therapy horse. She is kind and good and patient. She is being leased from her owners and will hopefully spend many years bringing joy to these special children. And so, we have Gus. He is funny and cheerful with a jaunty spirit. He has obviously never been abused. But like so many Spanish horses, he is smarter than most people and has found a way to become a loafer! We don't know exactly what his future holds, but we are enjoying his company as we evaluate his issues and see what we can fix and what we'll have to live with. Our other new member is Pip, the most beautiful kitten there ever was! Our friend and volunteer, Sarah (Valiant and Thor's mom), found him and his sister while walking in the woods. Sarah kept the little girl and named her Pixel or Pixie and I got Pip. I never realized that I needed a "portable pet" before, but evidently I do. I take Pip home with me each night. As I watch him sleep, sprawled out on his back, his whole body twitches as he goes into REM sleep! What, do you suppose, do kittens dream about? He is so beautiful and innocent. I feel very protective of him. It scares me to love him this much. These infants were only four weeks old when found and could fit in the palm of one hand. Pip was a fuzzy little bag of bones. At 11 weeks he is fat and soft and huge!! Thank you, Sarah, for sharing! Also, Laura, who takes our "soundish" horses to her farm and then places them in foster homes when the perfect ones are found, has three of our horses. She has "the other Hannah," a thoroughbred mare; a big, beautiful Appy mare; and a thoroughbred gelding. Stay tuned for more details on those three! Thor is a huge, loving black TB who was driving us crazy because he cribs when his stall door is closed. We still love him though. Thor is 15 years old. He came to us because he has problems with his knees and legs, ready for the change from a jumper to a calmer life as a trail horse or a companion horse. Thor has been fostered! Foster Program
Eye of the Storm does occasionally foster rehabilitated horses to qualified applicants through the Eye of the Storm Foster Care Program. It is not unlike the child fostering process used by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Prospective 'parents' should be at least 18 years old and should volunteer at the farm for a period of six (6) months so that all of us can get to know each other. Most of our horses are "special needs" animals. Instruction in diet, healthcare, farm work and horsemanship are essential. We also determine whether a prospective foster parent is financially, physically and morally capable of caring for the horse. Fostering a horse is a permanent commitment. If you would like more information, please contact us by telephone or through our web site. Once a horse enters our circle, we are committed to the care of that being for the rest of its life. We are terribly protective of our horses and if we can't find the perfect home for them, they stay with us. These horses don't owe anything to anyone. They are all paid up. Not only do we take their physical problems into consideration, but so many are so emotionally damaged that we consider it a betrayal to let them go to a new home if they are truly happy here, so here they will stay. Woody Pet Products
While we don't endorse products we do like to tell you about our experience with them. A relatively new product called "Woody Pet" replaces shavings and other bedding in your horses stall. It’s an easy to use product that takes a little getting used to if you’ve used pine shavings for years. Woody Pet has a pleasant pine scent and comes in easy to handle 30 pound bags. It expands in size when you sprinkle water on it following the instructions on the bag. What we like: Ease of use, wicks moisture away, deodorizes great for the horse that always uses the same corner of their stall to relieve bodily functions. What we don't like: you have to buy a special fork that will run you about $30 to remove waste product. Two hooves up!
Yours truly, The Pony Man and Nina |
© 2008 Eye of the Storm, All Rights
Reserved Legal
web development by Minerva
Solutions, Inc.
|
|