The Golden Carrot Newsletter's Archive

 

November 2005

THE GOLDEN CARROT NEWSLETTER

 

Finances/or not!

 

Despite sponsor support, the situation at TGC is still difficult due to Disaster Year - tsunami, Katrina, Rita, Pakistan quakes, New Hampshire Floods, Guatemala floods/land slides - is Mt. St. Helens about to erupt too? What’s left?

 

Let me tell you, the sponsors of TGC are our life support - how wonderful have they been? Even in these difficult times, those support checks come in like clockwork. Many have set up the on-line bill pay for TGC and I know that makes it easier. But you’ve got to give credit where it’s due. And when I made a plea for extra help for this hay expense, it was mostly sponsors who ante’d up. Thank you so much, sponsors, for all you do!

My biggest problem right now, financially, is to pay off the huge hay delivery. I still owe $2,000. The sponsor money is usually used up with farrier expense, senior feed, grass hay and miscellaneous expense. I need MORE to make payments to the hay broker. But this is money I would have to find anyway, and be begging for anyway - it’s not extra - it just comes in a big clump because the hay came in a big clump. So,

Any money, any time, from any source, is always appreciated and put to good use. I know that everyone can’t afford to sponsor a horse, but I hope you will put TGC on your holiday gift list if you can. If enough people send $20 .... Well, you know the drill!

 

New Rescue

 

Now, quit screaming! This new rescue comes complete with sponsor Anne Firestone, a local animal rescuer who works primarily with dogs, but has rescued a few horses herself. Ann has her limit and when she found ChaCha, knew she could not leave her there and contacted TGC for help. Sunday November 6th, ChaCha was brought to TGC - attached is a photo which gives you an idea. This horse is as bad as Phoenix was, and coming into a new situation at this time of year, it will be a miracle if we can pull her through. Dr. Zadick looked at ChaCha before she came to TGC and gave her as clean a bill of health as you can give a horse so savagely neglected, and she most definitely has the spirit to live. ChaCha Indian Dancer is a 20+ year old Appaloosa mare, who had been steadily bred for many years and then abandoned on the local reservation. The women who had her had ‘rescued’ her .... But I think the photo speaks for itself, especially when you know they claim to have had ChaCha for 8 years. I hope, with the support of Anne Firestone, that TGC can do a little better for this pretty mare.

 

General News

 

The horses love the cooler weather, although of course a few of them take a little longer each morning to warm up and move easily. They all have plush winter coats so I’m anticipating a cold winter. Many race out of their stalls in the brisk morning air, bucking and spinning around in play, and then I laugh as they stop, look around, and casually drop their heads to search for some grass left from yesterday. It’s like when I dance around the kitchen to a good song, and then look out the window to be sure no one saw me ....

The good news is weight gain for Josh and Malika, due to a new feed product called Chaffhaye - they have a website, check it out. It’s weird looking and smelling stuff but every horse loves it, and I’ve noticed weight gain in these two most difficult keepers even feeding about 1/3 of the recommended amount.

Mitey Nice has suffered a great deal due to my new farrier’s unavailability. She, and Sara, are prone to abscess in their hard flat foundered feet - and the first two weeks of October were terrible for Mitey. Either she developed an abscess that would not break out itself, despite soaking her foot every day or had a recurrence of her laminitis. Bute every day kept the pain level manageable, but it causes stomach lesions and other gastrointestinal upset just like aspirin and ibuprofen does to people. So, she’d lost weight, very unusual for Mitey who is the very definition of an ‘easy keeper’. With the help of the Chaffhaye mentioned above and getting her feet trimmed again (which showed a lot of bruising but no active abscess), she’s been much better and has gained back about ½ of the weight she’d lost. Sweet Mitey is a horse who has earned, over and over, every consideration we can give her in her old age. Her friend Inch hovered over her during this difficult time, protecting her during the day from the rest of the herd, and walking slowly back with Mitey every night when she could easily have been eating 5 minutes earlier - what greater show of devotion can you find than a horse who will put off eating for a friend?

 

This next 6 weeks will be busy ‘winterizing’ my stalls. During the year, the horses will gnaw on their stall panels or roofs, or kick panels loose or even put holes in them, and cause damage that doesn’t necessarily have to be repaired during summer months when a breeze in the stall is welcome. But every draft I can block needs to be blocked in the winter as Anza has some ferocious bitter winds. Although I also blanket the horses who need it, I like them to have a warm less drafty stall to sleep in. And these stalls were built by the largely unskilled labor of myself and some volunteers. They work, but they are definitely not pretty. My neighbor Mike, who often helps with his power equipment, will be gone for 10 days over Christmas, and I’ll be here alone with the horses and dogs. Hopefully, the weather will allow repairs to be made before then.

 

I’m also going to spend some time in the next two weeks traveling to areas with horses such as Escondido and Poway, Fallbrook and Murrieta, to post my equine massage fliers. And of course, I’m trying to earn a living for myself and the dogs and get the day to day chores done as well. No wonder I’m so tired all the time!

 

I hope that all of you can have a wonderful Thanksgiving. So many people in the world will literally be without food or housing due to the raging of mother nature. Let’s all be thankful for what we have. It could really be worse.