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.