The Golden Carrot Newsletter's Archive

 

October 30, 2006

Newsblast

 

A quick note

 

Donations continue, despite the extra effort of several sponsors, and two new sponsors, to be low. I’m lucky to get $1,000 per month; when the feed expenses of the horses are closer at this time of year to $2,300 a month.

I need feed. If you asked me "got feed?" I’d have to answer "not enough". It’s wintertime. I need to feed more to keep the horses healthy in cold weather, and it’s been freezing many nights already. Let me tell you what I want, specifically. I need to feed 60 bales of bermuda grass hay every month. Outlaw sells me that type of feed - and it costs me $675 per month.

 

I feed bermuda/alfalfa pellets, to the tune of $724.50 per month. I feed standard alfalfa pellets to the tune of $366.75 per month. And I feed senior feed to the tune of $618.75 per month. Yes, that adds up to almost $400 more than I just told you - because it’s wintertime and I have to feed more. ($170 less grass hay; $122 less in standard pellets; $206 less in senior feed approximately). So ..... anyone who has $5 they don’t need right now - please send it here. If you prefer, you can deal directly with my feed store, at Outlay Hay & Grain, 951-763-1805, and I deal mostly with Harley, the owner, or his son Russ. Just let me know if you do it that way, so I know to go get it. Just so you know - if I had a big donation, I could order bermuda hay, delivered, at about $9 per bale (possibly less) - meaning a month’s supply would cost $540. We all know the deal - it takes money to save money.

 

I’m thrilled to acknowledge Cheryl Cuttineau’s continued sponsorship of Lucifer, which went from half sponsorship to full sponsorship this month. This overworked school teacher has always managed to be there for Lucifer, through many difficulties she’s had in her personal and professional life. Lucifer and The Golden Carrot are lucky to have her help.

 

I’m also happy to announce that Shine has a second sponsor, who with Marsi Marsh will completely feed this big guy. I’m considering an adoption of Shine to this new sponsor, Anjeannette Martin. Amazingly, I gave a lesson to this young lady many many years ago when I taught riding at Portuguese Bend Riding Club. I remember her as a young girl, horse mad, who at the end of her lesson would wash her lesson horse, and walk the horse to a sunny spot to graze while she brushed the animal dry, painstakingly combing out the mane and tail and generally lavishing her lesson horse with love they so seldom got. No decision has been made but we’re both thinking about it. Shine is young at 14, and sound - a few good years being happy with Anj could be just what this active youngster needs. Any agreement, of course, would include the understanding that Shine would return to TGC if for any reason she could not continue to keep him.

 

Of course, The Golden Carrot has to still be in existence. To this end, I’ve been encouraging everyone to not only donate, but to spread the word, and try to encourage classes, offices, businesses as well as friends and relatives to become involved. If you have donated to TGC, check with your employer - sometimes they will match donations for their employees. As you know from previous newsletters this year, I’ve lost several sponsors - I need to replace them.

 

Oddly enough, I figured out that the 28 people who have joined could probably make better than two-thirds of the entire feed bill here, if they just donated $60 per month. Isn’t that odd. It just doesn’t sound like that much. But some people who have joined don’t donate at all; others donate smaller amounts when they can. (And believe me, without those donations, I would not be writing you today.) But ..... does $60 per month seem like so much? I only have part-time, undependable employment, and am donating far more than that every month (not counting the work I do cleaning, feeding, etc.) I keep remembering two little girls who had a lemonade stand that made $75 .... I am still hoping that more people from my original mailing list will join up as well, and this is a request that if you have NOT joined yet, PLEASE JOIN!

 

I’ve received some promises of donations that haven’t panned out. One donation made via credit card seems to be fake (how do you do that?), as it has not cleared, and the contact information filled in when this "Jane Smith" signed in was all fake too. Doesn’t that seem odd? And a whole lot of people on my mailing list have not joined up. Now, one long-time patron emailed me and asked that she not have to do that, as it was one more password she didn’t want to have to remember. If you feel the same way, but would still like to hear about The Golden Carrot, please let me know. I will probably wait until the end of November, but by that time, if you have not joined up, and you have not let me know in some other way that you are still interested, I will be removing you from my mailing list. It’s time I stopped spamming people.

 

The repairs I’ve made to the website have included a counter, telling me that in the first 6 days I had it up there were over 100 hits. I’m hoping that will generate some interest. I’ve also added webrings - if you click on those it will take you to other sites of interest related to animal and horse matters.

 

On a personal note. I had lost my job caring for some local horses. That job was all that kept TGC going all summer. I’ve got some part time work, but making about 1/3 of what I was making. I’ve posted my availability for similar work; sent out my resume to an additional 14 jobs I’ve found on-line and in local papers; and told everyone I know that I’m looking for work, all without result. I’m doing everything I can think of - in addition to the horses, I have 6 dogs, 5 cats, 10 chickens, 2 ducks and 3 goats to feed, and the usual vehicle bills, electric and phone for my home, and dang it, yes, I actually do buy groceries for myself too!! When I tell you I’m holding on by my fingernails, I’m not kidding - and with the kind of work I do, my fingernails are very very short.

Don’t mistake me here - I’m NOT asking for help for myself. I’m telling you about this because I want you to know why I can’t carry the whole financial burden of the horses myself. I’ve been supporting myself willy-nilly for my entire life. It’s the horses I need help for - they need friends and sponsors in these last years of their lives. In large part, these horses have been dumped and forgotten - and they don’t deserve that.

 

Some patrons have expressed concern that I "keep taking horses" - I’d like to say that (1) I’ve had three empty stalls for over a year; and (2) although I took three horses this year, each of them came with support, I also lost three horses this year, and I turned down over 9 horses this year whose owners wouldn’t provide any support at all. And let’s not forget, taking in older, manageably disabled horses is the mission statement, the PURPOSE, of The Golden Carrot. I’ve long given up the idea that there would be so much support for this endeavor that I’d be able to open another facility perhaps in Northern California, but I do want to help as many horses as I can while this facility is open. I do the best I can ........but it’s the nature of a charity that donations are unreliable - which is why I cherish my o-so-dependable sponsors. So I keep asking, reminding, begging ... speaking for the horses as they cannot speak for themselves,

 

please don’t forget these sweet creatures.