Saturday, August 20, 2011

Sunshine Saturday

Again, my blogging lacks...
life is time consuming, life is fragile......hard to keep up, hard to keep sane.

My mother is home from the hospital and we are taking care of her, my sisters and I. She wanted to come home and so we brought her home. We have lots of things to sort out and we are enjoying the time we have with her. She is being kept comfortable and was able to sit in the sun for a little bit today. She is an amazing woman and I am so proud to call her my mother.

We had a record breaking adoption this morning. I took a mini horse in at 8am and he was back in a trailer and on his way to a new home by 9am. Congratulations and thank you to Carolyn O. I hope he will be everything you wanted...and I am so glad to have him in a quality home such as yours.

Today was hot and sunny. We worked this morning on some fencing repairs and also moved some dirt, cleaned up the manure pile, scrubbed water tubs, picked up manure, and rocks. We gave sandclear again to every one...it is so dusty and it seemed like Church was feeling a little punky......we also let him in the grass paddock for several hours and it seemed to lift his spirits...at dinner time, he ate and seemed perkier.

I have a couple of women who are putting our fall fundraiser together...they are making great progress......tons of great auction items! Thank you to Jen and Tara...you rock!

Horses still at the Enumclaw auction yard....two mares and a gelding......all nice horses and they deserve a home...they deserve a better ending. Please pass the word and see if there is anyone you know that may be interested.

Harsh feelings earlier this week......people say mean things....I am a little emotionally raw.......and I feel like snapping back. All I can say is this...come and visit Pony Up...if you come away thinking our horses are lacking care....I will be surprised. One of our horses left this week and he got to his new home and it was discovered he had lice....ooops......Pony Up horses are not generally lousy...but in this case, another horse we brought home from the auction did have lice and they were next to each other...and so I guess we should have checked the new guy out better....but my time has not really been my own with my mother's illness....it just happened..Pony Up horses are not living in filthy conditions.....everyone has had louse powder at that barn....problem solved. There were no horses who dropped weight, lost hair or died.....just sayin.
It is easy for people to sit back and criticize what rescues do...real easy. I am not saying that some rescues do not deserve criticism...but I know this rescue does not.

Did you know that at Pony Up:
stalls are cleaned twice a day (volunteers and myself)
water is changed daily, tubs scrubbed weekly
all horses are blanketed in winter
all horses have shelter
all horses have gravel paddocks to keep mud down in winter.
horses fed twice a day ( we don't owe the hayman any money)
barn is swept once a day, loose hay raked up daily, paddocks picked daily
hay bill is about 600 per month (again, we don't owe the hayman any money)
grain, supplements, beet pulp, sand clear, dewormers cost about 550 a month.
when there are no donated funds....I pay the bills...this includes farm mortgage, electricity, shoer, hayman, feed store, vet, diesel for the tractor, gas to pick up horses/transport horses, farm maintenance.
I work a full time job to support the rescue.
Horses are always (if they appear sound) sent to a professional for evaluation to see if there are issues under saddle or soundness problems with work.
Horses who are sent for training evaluations have dental work.
Horses who are sound and sane for riding are shown and worked at different venues by volunteers.
There is not an endless amount of funds in our bank account and I simply make the best choices I can with what I have. All horses are fed, dewormed, hooves trimmed, housed and adequately cared for. Pony Up does not have a thin horse in the herd. Instead of ragging on a rescue that you don't know......get off your butt and go see the facility, the horses, the efforts.....volunteer and make a difference or open your own rescue..give up your time, your efforts, your money. As I see it, we are taking care of horses that no one else wanted, that no one stepped up for.....and we are doing the best we can. If you want to complain and badmouth us...please do so because you have first hand knowledge, not because you "think" this or that. I am proud of our accomplishments, our volunteers, and our adopted horses and their new families.

Here is our video and what we do...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd530-yFBvY

Thank you again to my volunteers and to those of you who have visited my mother or sent cards or flowers. She appreciates it all.

Pony Up fortune for tomorrow:

Lend your strength, lend your hand and give your compassion.



Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Days go by


I haven't blogged......have only Facebook updated....busy times for us all. My mother has been seriously ill , ... it is emotionally consuming and then some. My mother who taught me to love animals ..hard to see someone so full of life become so ill. I appreciate if you keep her in your thoughts....or send her a card in the mail and tell her something funny or thoughtful.
Send cards to Toni ..PO Box 1023, Olalla,WA 98359.
Thank you to my volunteers and friends who have freed up my time these past two weeks.

Time flies by........Blue has been adopted and went to his new home this week. Iris has made plans to go to Oklahoma to Triple O Equine Sanctuary.....she will be with other blind horses and in a dryer climate. This Washington weather is too damp/moist/wet for her poor feet. She got shoes and pads on this week and is walking much better..but damp/wet mud is not good for shoes/pads with bad feet. It also looks like Okalani will be adopted and we are still working out the details...we will keep you posted.

This past weekend we went to the auction and bought a yearling out from under the kill buyer....barely... My very first horse auction.... I hated it. Heartbreaking and maddening....someday I will tell you how the bidding works there......under handed cheater is a term I would use. Horses sold to imaginary folks in the back when the bidding didn't suit the auctioneer and then those horses were found in the kill pen, because after all....he can get folks to pay a 500 dollar ransom after the fact.....he simply rakes in the dough by taking advantage of the rest of us. Put them in the kill pen and get more money than you got in the auction ring....nice huh?

Anyway, we brought home a yearling. We love him..he was very well behaved and tolerant. We worried he might have been drugged because he was so nice....but alas..he is as nice today as he was on Sunday....and he is lovely. Tall, lanky, beautiful head, short back, long legs....oh, I love him a lot.

We bought some hay in Elma....nice fresh, cheap.......and the horses love it. We are going to get more on Sunday to stock up for winter. This will be supplemental to our regular timothy/orchard grass and a steady diet for Beaver.

Jones kicked Ollie in the leg, layed it wide open....no stitches..but lots of swelling....Ollie would simply hold his leg out for us to dress and clean.....he felt very sorry for himself. Rebecca learned equine first aid and Brenda was a good teacher. Thank God for those two, because I was at work.. thank you ladies!

Still a lot of chores on our list....I feel winter and rain coming...and I get anxiety about making things right for the upcoming months of wet rain and snow. We need more gravel and sand...more sand and gravel..that is our mantra. Stall mats, gutters cleaned, a gutter installed here and there....roofs patched...gravel spread....still need some pony paddock fencing put up....just need the time to do it.

Ryan worked on our pony pen...we had really gone to the auction to get a mini for him...but there was only one and well...we didn't get him...but he went to a good home...but another will come along and so we prepare. Who said it? Be proactive rather than reactive and you are never surprised? Maybe it was me....the planner.

Enjoy your week.....call your mother, tell her you love her!

Pony Up fortune for tomorrow:

Express your complete lack of confidence in the situation.