Forever

I have not updated this blog in forever....so many things have happened in the last year.....good, bad, indifferent. My mother died in December of 2011. A very rough time for me. I still miss her...still sometimes want to pick up the phone and call her to tell her about my day. A wound so deep you cannot bear to touch it but touch it you do...everyday. My mom left me some money to buy a new farm for our growing population of horses......and so I did. She would be very proud and honored to see what we have accomplished. In January of 2012 I purchased an old farm not far from our little farm. It needed a lot of work but was twice the size and mostly pasture. It had an old farm house, an older barn and a lot of junk! We have worked diligently on it since that January. Here we are a year later and we have most of the Pony Up horses in residence. We have made so much progress in spite of what life hands you. We have cleaned up all the junk, built two four stall shed rows, one two stall shed row, fenced the lower pastures, fixed the septic system, built an outdoor arena, painted the outside and inside of the house,put gutters on the house, replaced some siding, fixed some windows, built two new decks on the house, put electricity in the barn, updated the electrical system on the house, rebuilt the chicken coop, moved boulders, put new flooring in the house, landscaped the house, put lighting in the shedrows, put new water supply lines in, graveled the driveway, put up short paddocks off of the shedrows.....and yet, we still have a lot of work to do. In February of last year I lost my horse Ollie....I had had him for 17 years and it was the next big loss after my mom. Too much too soon. In August of last year I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had surgery in September, followed by three months of radiation therapy. A very dark and dismal time. So very lucky to have real friends see me through......folks who took care of horses and farm when I couldn't. We took a brief respite from taking in horses while I was recovering, but we have since resumed. Our newest additions are Violette and Valentine. Violette is a pony mare and Valentine is an old Appendix gelding. Valentine was in rough shape but is coming along. He needs to gain about 200 lbs and to get his feet back in shape. Just an old man horse who deserves better than he had. We elected new officers this January.......we are pleased to announce Katherine LaPierre as Vice President/Secretary, Andrea Gergen as Director of Fundraising/special events and Ryan Boley as Director of Farm Maintenance Operations. We are also pleased to have several committees in place to help with day to day support of Pony Up. Times are tough.....and even tougher for unwanted horses. Thank you to our supporters for helping see us through and for believing in what we do. We have a great group of volunteers and friends. Here is to a better 2013! Fortune for the day.......the thing is this......sooner or later you will see for yourself.

Christmas 2011

A long time since I have updated the blog. My life has irrevocably changed and nothing will be the same again. Many of you know that my mother passed away in early December. She fought like a tiger until the end and then she promptly gave up and went suddenly away from us. Although it was expected, it was still a shock. My heart is forever broken. I was very close to my mom and it seems hardly possible that she is not here. My mind forgets and I can't tell you how many times I think about picking the phone up to tell her something funny or some newsworthy item...but she is not there. I have gone through her house and divided her things and the reality hits that you are never taking even well loved things with you.....they stay behind and someone else picks them up......maybe they will love them the same, maybe they won't...some things get thrown away, some get treasured.......some are given away. My heart ached to touch her clothes, her purses.......her jewelry. Life goes on....animals still need to be fed, the farm still needs to be managed....but somedays I dread going there and seeing the empty house. I hope in time, I will feel better and stronger. My mother loved the farm, loved the volunteers......and we will continue to support her legacy. We have had a very fortunate year at Pony Up and we are very thankful for our supporters, contributors and volunteers. My volunteers made it possible for me to spend extra time with my mom while she was ill and I will be forever grateful for their kindness and support. The best to you in this Holiday season.......love to your families and friends. Rosemary

The day after Thanksgiving....hope everyone had a good holiday with their family and loved ones. It has been a busy month for Pony Up and me..... My mother is losing her battle. It is an emotional time for us...heartbreaking and yet there is nothing to be done but to love and care for her each day. Life goes on around her and it is difficult to imagine my life without her....I think of how she loved to work in the yard, shop at Fred Meyer..drive to the Dairy Queen,.....and I am paralyzed to think how we or how I will go on without her. Somedays I cry and other days I simply work hard to drive the overwhelming emotion from my thoughts. My sisters, my neices, my brother in law....all have worked so hard at giving her quality care at home......thank you for your love and unselfishness. My mind is otherwise occupied and I ask for your understanding if I have not appropriately thanked you or mentioned you or answered emails or phone calls. We have taken in a new horse....Bubba......blind like Iris, an ex show horse, a trooper and a sweet soul. He is blind in both eyes. He was left in the kill pen with nowhere to go and although we are not a sanctuary.....we could not leave him. Worst case scenario is that he is a companion to Iris...best case is that he is adopted by a loving family. We have a volunteer who loves him...and we are hopeful he can go home when their barn is built. Bubba is twenty, registered and now well loved. The rain is upon us.....we have had sand delivered three times...and yet we still have mud....this weekend we will work on paddocks again and gutters and gravel and ..........water diversions of all sorts. Pony Up horses got dentals on November 19th......Okalani, Beaver, and a couple of volunteers horses. We will finish dentals on Dec 3rd.....Church, Iris and Jones. Kitty came home to Pony Up this last Wednesday and Baybee left us to go to the Jones Farm. Baybee will be with several other yearlings for the winter....to run, to frolic and to grow. Kitty is a wonderful filly, good manners, beautiful and loves to be groomed. Okalani is doing well in her foster home and Lizzie is doing well in her trial adoption. We are fortunate to have a lot of nice folks who volunteer and support us. I don't always get the names out and some folks don't need their names out.......but all of these folks mean a lot to us.....those who help, those who clean, those who drive, those who plan. The auction in October was a huge help to us for winter costs.....feed, gravel, dentals, ......we couldn't do it without your support or the support and dedication of our volunteers. Thank you. Pony UP is planning a capital campaign to buy a new property for our horses.....more pasture, a better arena...........less incoming water. Look for details soon! Pony UP fortune for tomorrow: It is easy to stir up a fire, harder to put it out. Happy Holidays@

November already?

It has been busy around Pony UP.......winter preparations for the farm, water management (or avoidance?>)...and general life! Okalani has gone to a foster home, Lizzie is on a trial adoption and Joey had an adoption pending a lameness exam! We need to get some horses adopted so that we can make room for what we feel will be an awful winter for local horses. Already our inbox is full of requests for us to take horses, as well as the local humane society. We are full and our farms are at capacity......it makes us sad......so we make a waiting list and try to network for horses on the list. Hay prices are climbing, so is grain......gosh, so is everything! Still we are thankful for people who donate feed, tack items and money. Horses are expensive...if you have one, you know what we mean. We had a very successful fundraiser/auction and also had a lot of fun doing it! 9200 dollars was raised! We are thankful to our local horse community, local volunteers, local vendors and individuals who contributed to our auction items and services. We could not do it without all of you and we are humbled by your generosity and kindness. We had wonderful food , awesome auction items and fabulous friends........what more could we ask for? We bought hay this month and will buy more at mid month. I am a little anxious about rising hay prices and even the availability of hay for later this year or early next January, so I plan to warehouse some. We feed our own horses, the pony down the street and may lend some hay to a hungry horse as necessary. We have also scheduled dentals for five of our horses on November 19th...we will allow farm friends to share the farm call with us in order to help save money. Dentals are 150 dollars and no farm call fee. We are limited to 8 horses..... Today, Saturday, we had no rain and so we too advantage of the weather and moved sand into paddocks that needed more. So far, we are very sold on having sand in the paddocks. It drains well, doesn't pack in hooves and is easy to touch up with the tractor. We also cleaned the larger paddocks, stalls and barn area, plus cleaned water tanks. In early afternoon we went to the second barn and moved fencing around so that the geldings both have large pastures to go out in during the day. We were treated to a display of a tantrum by Iris (the blind horse) who had a fit because her friends "moved" to a different area. This is the first time we have seen her gallop, buck and strut around her paddock. So...we know she can gallop and her feet didn't seem to hurt her! Pony Up needs more room ...a bigger farm........it is hard to have two separate farms. Two farms means hay delivered two places, volunteers to two places......mud management......fencing, gravel, sand.......at two places. We recently had a board meeting and the board has decided that we need one farm.....one bigger farm. So we are looking...the parameters are that the farm has to be close......a minimum of five acres.....just have water already available......a barn would be nice..must be dry and have ample flat pasture. We have two places that we are interested in locally......and we just need to make it happen. We dream big... It may be a fundraising extravaganza...it may be that we sell everything we have that is not nailed down........but if we want to continue to help horses.....we have to grow.......in order to grow, we need more room...more room costs money. We appreciate your ideas and suggestions. Don't forget to turn your clocks back.........I will be glad to do it this time...it is so dark in the morning. I am already tired of it... spring where are you? Pony Up fortune for tomorrow: Set your sights on the nearest mountain top ..then put your climbing shoes on. .