The Golden Carrot Newsletter

August 5, 2010

Feed Bins FULL!

First, I want to let everyone know that due to the generosity of so many people, I was able to get all of our feed bins filled! First, the bins had to be set up, and that was amazing, but finally, they were on their feet. Then, the Sacate truck came and delivered 3 tons, to be sure they were placed properly, and that worked great. The next week, the other two were filled.

That means I’m now working with 1 ton of Senior feed; 4.5 tons of Alfalfa pellets, and 6 tons of bermuda-blend pellets. Turns out the big feed bin will probably hold 7 tons! I’m dealing with a learning curve, particularly how to get the feed out of the bins to where I can scoop the feed into the individual buckets. I went to a local thrift store to get the plastic storage bins to do that. I am using my old hay carts to move the plastic bins out - so much easier than dragging 80 pound bags around! May not be able to keep the one bin filled with senior come winter, when the cold turns that molasses feed into bricks that wouldn’t flow out, but for a while, I’m doing it. Got some paint - anyone want to come help paint them?

I’m so thrilled, because not only is life a little easier for me, but I believe we’ll be saving close to $400 a month in feed costs both from the good prices Sacate gives me for bulk purchases, and from feed NOT lost to the voracious rodent population out here! And how much of my time is saved from traveling 2 hours round trip 3 times a month to get pellets, and my labor saved hauling 80# bags around! SUCH RELIEF! Thank you, ALL of you, from the ASPCA who granted the money to buy and install these bins, and all of you who donated a little extra recently to help fill them, for your help....

South Stream Corridor - Access to Combine Herds!

 Next, you all know that I’ve been begging for pipe corral panels (of which I can still use more), and I had two donations recently - Teri of the GVGs stepped up with four 12 foot panels including hardware, and Ms. Walker of Encinitas, at the request of Julie (sponsor of Lew, and now Happy Grump, as well as Pepe Grillo) gave seven 24 foot panels, including one that had a gate! I dipped into the accounts and paid a local man to dig the support posts and set these puppies up, and here’s the result! A lovely corridor between the South Stream horses, and the main paddock. I’m calling it the South Stream Corridor, and it’s going into use tomorrow for the first time! Many thanks are due to Teri and Ms. Walker - these panels are not cheap and you can see that they are in great condition. They make, in this configuration, access much easier for the two herds and for me during chores, and anything that reduces labor is A-OK by me!

Meeting of the Herds!

DeeAnn Bradley (responsible for almost every really great picture on my site), her daughter Kasey (part sponsor for Brave), Laurie Henkel (board member, equine chiropractor and experienced horse person, as well as friend) all showed up Friday, August 6, to help control the excitement when the stallion-y Pepe Grillo meets the Herd. And with Remy’s excitability added to the mix, it was a very thrilling day.

Assignments were that Kasey would protect Brave, and here she is encouraging Pepe and Pic to leave Brave's area:  

Laurie would protect Princess Piccadilly, 

and DeeAnn will take millions of pics (ok, no pic of that but here's Pepe spooking when he spots DeeAnn in the bushes trying to get a candid shot

I was to run around madly hoping to keep the mania to a minimum... It was actually not as exciting as I thought it would be. As I watched Pepe join the herd, memories of Lew crowded in - Pepe was just that smart. Without Pic to protect, it might have been completely quiet, but of course everyone wanted to meet her and Pepe was very protective of her.

We did have a little posturing between Ronan and Pepe:

and occasionally a little MORE than posturing:

But Pic could brush off Ronan's attentions with just a flick of her tail and here she seems to be telling the boys to BEHAVE!

And there was a little thundering around as everyone tried to meet Pic, but it only lasted a few minutes:

Remy provided the most excitement, as the big goof just ran everywhere, (here Ronan and Star are following too close) with Anaba acting as his shadow.

Interestingly, Anaba  had no interest in re-connecting with Ronan or Daisy, and Remy was for the most part anxious to stay by her side. For one brief moment the next day, he was charmed by Joyful, but when he realized Anaba had stayed back, he ran screaming back to her, so their love continues.....

And as always, Oso remained behind - he’d rather be alone, than part of any herd. He’s a people guy, not a horse guy.... Here, he hot foots it back down the Corridor to "his" area, where he stood, mostly alone, all day long!  Since his idea of a good day is to bull down the fence and go walkabout, I go visit him periodically to be sure he's "ok"....

He looks OK, yes?

New Sponsors, and New-Old Sponsors!

Some other wonderful news is that a recent visitor, Nancy Waite-OBrien, has decided to sponsor the gorgeous Peanut! Nancy does some equine-assisted therapy for troubled individuals with her own equines. 

AND Julie, who used to sponsor Lew, has transferred her part sponsorship to Mr "Happy" Grump! Finally, this old guy has someone of his own - and I know he’s happy about it, because on her one visit to see Lew, she was also able to walk right up to Happy and say hello (he’s another who walks away when I approach!). 

AND lastly, to my delight, Savannah’s sponsor, Jane, has decided to transfer her sponsorship to Star - as she put it, an "80% sponsorship"! Again, a lovely horse that for some reason no one is ever much interested in, now has her own person ...

I can’t tell you what a boost this is to my self-esteem too. I know these ladies, like so many of my supporters, really have to dig deep to come up with these sponsorship amounts - and it would have been so easy for them to say, ok, my sponsored horse is gone, that’s it. By transferring their support, I feel they’re telling me that they approve of what’s going on here - something I really need to hear sometimes. Thanks to you ladies, and all of the supporters of the Golden Carrot, who remember these old guys...

New Resident, Kelleric

And speaking of old guys - although this one is not soooo old - "Keller" has come to stay at the Golden Carrot!  Keller is an OTTB who was a victim of starvation and neglect, seized by Animal Services and held for over a year and a half, and then after his former owners were convicted of animal cruelty, adopted out to Heavenly Horse Haven. The picture above was taken 6/24/10 just over a month ago. He had some old barbed wire injuries; a bad case of rain rot and other skin conditions, and HHH tells me that when he came in, he was so tenderfooted that they actually wrapped his feet in cotton (like he had fuzzy slippers on!).  There was not enough foot there to nail a shoe too! Below is Kelleric on 8-5-10 when he arrived here at TGC - the improvement is terrific! KUDOS to Gina at HHH! What do you suppose Animal Control was doing for over a year when she can get this kind of improvement in a month?

He’s still a little tenderfooted, so I had my farrier put shoes on him Friday, and he seems to be doing very well with them. This morning was brisk, and when Falcon drove him away from a pile of grass he was eating, he cantered off several steps, with a head toss and buckup. He is such a gentle guy, so very personable - how can he still trust people after what he’s been through? And yet, super friendly and with such big kind eyes .... Still thin but you can see what HHH did for him, and I think I have enough summer left to put some groceries in there and improve his condition a lot. With TGC taking this older and slightly damaged OTTB, HHH is left with room to take in a horse they can rehab and rehome, which is part of their mission. Although Keller may be rideable at some point, it won’t be this year, I think, and there are so many horses out there needing help....

Yardsale for Labor Day

OK, folks, yes, Shela has agreed to organize yet another yard sale for Labor Day, September 3 and 4, at the intersection of Highway 243 and Highway 74 in Mountain Center, same as last time - that last one was great and such a boost to help us through the slow summer months. If you have stuff you can donate, please let me know, and we’ll do all we can to get it from you! You can call me at 951-763-0800 or better, email me at cocarrot@earthlink.net to arrange pickup. The more notice you can give us, the more likely we can come get what you have .... And if you’re in Orange County, I think I may have a local who can bring your stuff here. Let’s all do what we can, donating items, volunteering a couple of hours to man the tables, setting up or taking down, and getting the word out, to make this another successful yardsale. It will probably be our last this year - lets make it a good one For the Horses!

Miscellaneous

I’m still trying to get together money to stockpile some summer hay. A truck and trailer load (a six month supply) would cost me $4,500. Leaving out delivery and stacking of that, the hay cost would be $620 per month. Now, if I go get 70 bales a month, that’s at least two trips, and the cost is about $650 per month, assuming costs don’t go up. BUT. The prices for hay often DO go up in winter as there is less available to buy. And the quality of the hay will be worse every month from now on till next spring. And getting hay in bad weather is HARD work, and sometimes impossible when the road is impassable. Rain makes bermuda grass hay go bad in a heartbeat, and transporting it in any kind of rain is a recipe for disaster -losing many bales due to moisture. (I don’t have a way to transport it and keep it dry on the road.) Plus, then, I have to unload 70 bales of hay - NOT fun for this almost 55 year old body! So, considering transport and labor, and the quality of the hay, not to mention a savings of money every month, being able to purchase a truck load, if not a truck and trailer load, of hay right now would be a significant savings. Any donations towards this purchase would be great - as you all know, no expense of the Golden Carrot is more important, or more incessant, than the feed expenses.

As I mentioned, many of you stepped up to help fill the feed bins, and I sure appreciate that. I will be needing more hay in about 30 days. So, if in the next 30 days you can make an extra donation, even a few extra bucks from enough people WILL add up,  it will be probably be used for hay, and if enough is gathered, I’ll get a truckload or a truck-trailer load. Thank you for ANYTHING you can do!

Finally, I’ve been wondering if anyone might be interested, perhaps in September, in coming for a work day? It’s been years since the one and only real work day that apparently was so awful, those workers have never visited again! I swear I am not kidding. With the exception of Laurie Henkel, not one person from my previous work day has ever visited again. I probably shouldn’t tell you that when I’m asking for volunteers to do it again ....

Anyway, I actually need simple manual labor as much as anything. So many repairs to the stalls can’t be made without practically dismantling them (I’m still trying to find some labor to finish the last 11 roofs, and do some other construction type repairs). But I need to haul dirt into many of these stalls (in particular, Duke, Happy and Sara’s stalls which flooded so badly last winter), and all along the stall line to replace dirt which has eroded away. And lots of little repairs, and cleanup from the roof repairs that have already taken place (hauling wood around etc). And painting the feed bins possibly (if I can't get that done beforehand).  I will provide sodas and cool drinks, and chips and everything to make sandwiches except meat (it’s been so long since I bought meat I wouldn’t know what to get, so have to ask you to bring your own!). Is there anyone that can do that, and what weekend might be good for you? Let me know.....

I want to take one last moment to thank all of you supporters for standing up for the old horses. While many people reach into their pockets for the emergency rescues, the horses about to "step on the truck" and the babies, so many consider horses who are here at TGC to be safe, and not needful, and consider that older horses have ‘had their chance’ and so don’t deserve as much help. But I, and I believe you, see it differently. These are horses who have worked their whole lives doing what the humans around them wanted. From babyhood, they’ve been given no choices in their lives - just commands to do this, learn that, don't do the other, all for a couple of flakes of hay and water. And many here got much less than that. To give them a little time to be horses, to have a few choices, to have their own desires and preferences met for a change, is little enough to do for them. To let them live their final years in safety and companionship with other horses, instead of asking their well-trained selves to load onto a truck, and follow a line of other horses into a brutal and savage death, is the least we can do. I cherish every person who helps in this endeavor. You are rare birds, and precious. I promise that I spend every penny you send here wisely, and wholly for the direct benefit of the horses.

　Can't you see how much they appreciate you? "-)

I hope to hear from you all soon...