The Golden Carrot Newsletter's Archive

In my last newsletter in mentioned a third grade class in Newport that gathered together $550 for The Golden Carrot horses. I was so thrilled that I worked with Jill (Daphmar’s sponsor) and Kristen, the kids’ teacher, to bring them to The Golden Carrot for a BBQ. Several sponsors, and my neighbor Mike, worked hard to set up a beautiful buffet, bbq hot dogs and hamburgers and monitor the activities of these sweet kids. Please visit the website, Photos page, to see some of what went on. And check often because little by little photos are filtering in from attendees, which I will add to the page.

The kids got to feed the horses treats, groom the horses up, and have some fun on horseback with the willing cooperation of Peanut, Victor, Buck, Sunny, Falcon and Debbie. One young boy who was apprehensive at first was riding like a champ and doing ‘around the worlds’ like a top by day’s end. The wonderful older girls who walked the horses around and around the pen while the children rode got to have a little time on the horses when the kids were done, but I don’t know if it was enough to make up for their efforts. I have invited them to return alone someday soon, to have a little more fun on some of the more advanced horses, as these girls are regulars on the show circuit. Their help was invaluable!

I know that I enjoyed the day, at least for the opportunity to visit with various sponsors and patrons that I don’t get to see too often, and had a lot of laughs watching the kids interact with the horses. All together, we had approximately 36 people, and one fat stray dog that crashed the party! I hope to make this at least an annual event.

Some folks have asked about the stable horses I posted on my website. One of the Golden Carrot patrons, Kathryn McDonald (who sponsors Sunny and Mitey Nice) stepped up with a huge donation to help buy those horses out of their situation. I was not involved in this effort, as Helen (the woman who brought it to our attention) wanted to handle it herself. I believe that altogether, 6 horses were rescued and placed in homes. The owner of the stable is still using the rest of them, and requires a huge price for horses this old and broken down. There is still some money available and Kathryn will let me know if they are able to extricate any of those last 5 horses. I feel with the positive votes which have abolished slaughter of horses for human consumption in the US, these horses will have a better chance of finding a home, rather than ending up on slaughterbound trucks out of auction. Of course, horses are still being shipped to Mexico and Canada, but hopefully even that will be eliminated soon.

Since I wasn’t involved in that rescue effort, of course I just moved to the next one. I was contacted by the Norco Animal Shelter asking for help to place many horses they are not really set up to help. I placed Sierra, a little QH pony, with Sue Friley for her grandson Cooper (please see Josh’s page to see a photo of this - as the Frileys are still sponsoring Josh). I also took in Mr. Happy Grump and Queenie (see the website for their photos and histories). But there are several more horses still looking for homes, and you can see them on the website - go to Photos, and click on the homeless horses link to see them. If you know of someone looking for a horse, or a possible home, please let me know.

On that page is Bumpy. I really want to take this horse. I have an empty stall. Bumpy is my chance to rescue an ex-riding stable horse, as he put in his years in a riding stable in Glendale. With a hock injury, his days of long rides are over. He SHOULD be in a place like this. His current owner can come up with a partial sponsorship, but I need a little more. Can someone sponsor Bumpy here? $50 a month would make the difference. If you’re willing - let me know and I’ll be happy to welcome Bumpy to TGC.

Finally, I’m happy to report that Sunny and Butch, an elderly pair of quarterhorses who are bonded due to Butch’s blindness, are being adopted by my friend and co-rescuer, Sandy in Phelan. A wonderful home for two deserving guys who were difficult to place as they have to be together. Sunny serves as Butch’s guide-horse!

In all these rescues (Happy and Queenie here; Sunny and Butch to Sandy; Sierra to the Frileys) invaluable help was received from Nicole Ardis who sponsors Tango and Anna and who donates wood shavings/sawdust for the horses’s stalls. Nicole transported all of these horses to their new homes for just gas money, and has made these rescues possible. What a wonderful donation to the cause!

Stacey Evans and her sons Cooper and Tanner visited. (Cooper is Sue Friley’s grandson, sponsor of Josh and new owners of Sierra). Stacey is having Cooper sell M&M’s for the benefit of TGC, and so far, as far as I know, he’s earned well over $100! In addition, Stacey wants to get people to donate $1 per month ($12 per year) - and feels if she can get enough people to do it, a lot of horses could be helped. If you’re interested in donating in this way (Cooper’s Cause), you can send your check directly to me and we will add you to the list of yearly donors, and we’ll send you a reminder each year.

I also had a wonderful visit from Marsi Marsh and her kids (who co-sponsor Shine), and her friend Laura and Laura’s daughters Coral and Morgan. I will have photos of that visit on the site soon - so please keep checking back. While these are all pretty small kids, they pitched in with a good will cleaning stalls to earn their rides.

I’m hoping that now summer is imminent, some of my visitors from last year will visit again. The Golden Carrot horses came through this last bitter winter very well, looking fat and ready to work. If you want to visit, give a call and get out here - the weather is great right now and the horses and I would be happy to welcome you! Just remember - bring carrots!

On Sunday, May 20^th, there is an "Earth Festival" at Lake Skinner, and with the kind offer of much needed assistance from Sue Friley, The Golden Carrot will have a booth! She and her daughters have worked to prepare scrapbooks of photos for visitors to look at; brochures; and I’ll have used tack to be sold. And Mike Roth has offered to make a nice donation box. Sue is an extraordinary saleswoman, with a passion for the subject as she also has rescued several horses, and I’m hoping she can help to spread the word of our need. She’s donating her time and the use of her EZ up and tables. And even more, her bubbling personality and enthusiasm - those of you who know me realize that this is NOT the type of work I excel at! Thank you SUE!

And finally, I received a call from a local horseman’s group called Tierra del Norte Arabian Horse Association, who have offered to attempt to collect donations for The Golden Carrot - just part of their efforts to help the horse community of which they are a part. They are having a horse show on the 27^th of May, and I’m going to try to attend, and meet these local horsemen whose hearts are reaching out to my oldsters. In speaking with Debra Duncan-Montoya, I realized that they also feel the way I do about these older horses - they are NOT disposable, or unworthy or useless. I left my conversation with Debra feeling encouraged - if we can foster this attitude throughout the horse industry and with new people like the 3^rd grade class, the future of horses in our world begins to look much less dim.

Many people have asked me what things the Golden Carrot needs. First and foremost, we need money for feed. The most important need, never ending, and getting more expensive every day, between rising feed costs and rising occupancy at TGC. And while I appreciate people buying feed and bringing it to me, I can usually get better deals - more bang for the buck - so prefer to buy the feed myself.

I would LOVE to have a small tractor, or a 4WD vehicle that I can haul feed, and dirt, around in. I move a lot of stuff by hand, and it’s starting to take its toll on this 51 year old body!

Right now, we need fly masks. I need at least 6 - and I only like the Farnam masks because they fit better, and last longer, than all the other types. JeffersEquine can be accessed through iGive.com and have good prices, plus if you go through iGive, a small percentage of the purchase price is a donation back to TGC.

Finally, most importantly, I need to find 20-40 acres somewhere, that someone wants to DONATE to TGC. Where we are located, the horses have no security. We could be asked to move at any time. And you can just imagine how difficult moving 28 horses might be, let alone finding a place to take them. I hope for a piece of land where the horses can be safe, even if I die. With enough land I can set up half for TGC, and the other half as a full service boarding stable where I could earn enough to help defray some of the expenses of the horses. With enough land, and water, I could possibly put some acreage in alfalfa, or pasture, both of which would reduce my annual feed bills. And having the boarding business would provide publicity too.

At my age, I need to look to the future, and the security of these horses. Land can make that difference. Although we are not at risk at the moment, this is such an extraordinarily large request, I felt I should get the word out now. I’m not picky. I need electricity and water and can find a way to make it work.

I will keep you posted, and ask that you check into the website which I’m working hard to keep up to date. Please use iGive.com when you do your on-line shopping - I think many more people shop on line than did before, and iGive has so many stores now, it’s working looking at. It doesn’t cost anything, and it helps.

Don’t forget The Golden Carrot horses, as rescues such as this will become much more needed now that horses are not being put to horrible deaths as inconveniences. Although I quail at the thought of the 100,000+ horses per year who were being killed now looking for homes and sanctuary, the fact is, I’ve always believed that the harder something was to do, the more certain you could be that it was the RIGHT thing to do. Hopefully breeding will become more controlled; hopefully funding will be found from state and federal sources for rescues and adoption facilities, both for fostering horses and for educational programs; and hopefully people will begin to understand how useful an older, slightly damaged horse can be, and deserving of a little help. And let’s face it - if gas prices keep going up, maybe people will start looking at alternative sources of transport for the shorter distances! Isn’t riding a horse more appealing than pedaling a bicycle? Ok, I know ... not for everyone....

Thank you all for your ongoing support - with feed prices going up drastically, every penny continues to help -