Week Ending Nov. 9, 2008

This has been a very busy week, tiring but we got a lot done in the pastures. Thursday afternoon I picked up a Cub Cadet tractor from Cedar Street Rentals in Batavia. We rented it for two days so we could put some road fabric and 5/8" crusher run stone in three shelters and pastures in an effort to stop some of the mud we get every winter and spring and to make it safer for the horses and volunteers. We still had quite a bit of stone that we purchased last winter and were not able to spread. In fact it was blocking our center aisle and we had to drive our small tractor around the outside making deep ruts in the clay soil. Our son-in-law Verne drove the rented tractor and I drove our smaller older one trying not to move much stone with as it can't handle the heavy stone without breaking the front wheels. Other volunteers helped lay down the road fabric and rake out the stone as Verne put it down. Judy Maher paid for the tractor rental as well as raking stone. Liz Lioy, Jean Fiano, Brian(Liz's new boyfriend), Lina Fox(SUNY Geneseo student, Steve Harrison, Chris(fighting a bad case of flu) all raked and I was using the small tractor to spread. We started at 8:00 AM and worked until feeding time at 4:00 PM on Friday and from after feeding at 9:00 AM on Saturday until about 3:30 PM on Saturday. We ran out of road fabric on Friday afternoon and Chris and Liz went and bought a new roll at new price increase of $334 for a roll 12.5' x 432'. We got the last of the 32'x32' corrals done along with the large shelter on the hill which houses Gabe, Bonnie, Honey, Vixen, Muldoon and Khanty. We laid a path of stone 72' wide by about 50' long so they can get to their without going through mud. The stone extends out 12' on each side of the shelter so the volunteers and feed the horses without sinking in foot deep mud. Next year if we can get another grant, we would like to put sand on top of the stone so it's easier on the horses feet and they have something to lay down on. Once the stone is packed down it will be more comfortable but that may take months unless we can borrow a roller and compact it that way. By Saturday afternoon everyone was tired and sore. We still have three pastures to add stone to and hope we can complete that next year. It's amazing that we have been working on this facility for nine years and there is still so much to be done but we are making progress. If something ever happens to Chris and I, this place can never again be used for farming not with all the shelters and stone we have put in.

Week of Oct. 26, 2008

We have not posted for some and there's no excuse other than lack of time. It was a busy summer for all of us. The months flew by preparing for our second open house on 9-7. We planted a lot of new flowers, painted and groomed the pastures. Everyday there was something new to do. Finally, on 9-7 the open house happened. We had a lot of people visit again and the money taken in from donations and the sale of Open House t-shirts donated by the Genesee Vally PennySaver doubled our intake from last year. Next year, we are still going to have an open house but it will be much more laid back without all the planning. We won't have a band as Chris and I always get stuck with the cleanup.

On Sept. 11, Chris had her fifth back surgery and she is still recovering from that. Once she is a little stronger I will have my surgery which may involve a shoulder replacement. Now the left arm is acting up and I don't get much sleep at night. Usually just a series of naps so I am constantly tired.

During the summer we did place little Rain and her mother Cloud with some friends in the Buffalo area. They are doing well in their new home.

In Sept. we were advised by Animal Planet that Chris was one of ten finalists in the Animal Planet Hero of the Year contest. Here it is the 28th of Oct. and we still haven't heard anything so we have to assume that we didn't win. It would have been nice to get the $10,000 first prize but there a lot of deserving people. It was an honor to be selected as one of the ten finalists but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

Obn Oct. 4th, I attended a workshop in Alleghany County at the sheriff's dept. on anmal cruelty. Although designed more for law enforcement I got a great deal of information out of the workshop to apply against future animal cruelty cases. On Oct. 4th, Chris and I attended a seminar on domestic violence and I was asked to speak although domoestic violence is not my specialty. I did present what we do and why and there was interest from the audience and we have been asked to speak again which we will gladly do if it helps break the cycle of violence.

Right now, we are hunkering down for the first blast of winter weather that is due today and tomorrow. I hate cold weather and am not looking forward to a long winter. I should get more time to keep up with this thing as going out in the cold is not my idea of fun.

Week ending 5/28/08

Since it's been eighteen days since our last post, I'll try to cover some ground and get us up to speed.

On Thursday May 15, wwe had the three girls in Special Ed from Pavilion High School here doing their work. They brought home made horse cookies in honor of Cali's first birthday on May 16th. They were outside the fence line at the gate nearest the house with the bag of cookies and Cloud was standing near them hoping for treats. The fence was on which we normally don't energize when someone is around the paddock area and Cloud got zapped right between the eyes. I was walking toward the barn and I was about 12-15 from Cloud when she got shocked. She spun around and took off at a dead run. I heard her footsteps and started to turn around and as I did she ran right into me. Half a second later I was on the ground clutching my left knee in pain. Chris came running over and knelt down to see how I was. I asked to help me get up. I felt like I had been hit by a semi truck. I limped into the house with Chris' help and grabbed a couple of ibuprophen to try and ease the pain. I was starting to go into shock and went and laid down on the couch. I went to the doctor the following Tuesday and nothing was broken but I had obvious soft tissue damage in the knee and reinjured the rotator cuff on my right shoulder. Almost two weeks later I am still hobbling around.

On Tuesday the 27th, Chris went for a myelogram on her lower back and she has a ruptured disc. She can't do much for the next several days so we are in great shape. Good thing the volunteers have stepped in to assist as both of us are basically useless at this point.

On Friday the 23rd, two young ladies from Livonia High School, Sara and Courtney, held a barrel racing night at the Hemlock Fairgrounds as a fundraiser to help the rescue. They had a pretty good crowd and right now we don't know how much money they raised but we should know in a couple of days when the check arrives. They did a great job and we really appreciate their efforts to help out.

For the past month we have had a new volunteer up here visiting from Virginia. Levi Gangi heard about us from his mom who lives in Livonia. He was planning on coming up to visit and wanted to help out here at the rescue. He has been a great help to us and we hate to see him go in another week. He's a hard worker but we think he has been enjoying himself. He has learned how to do just about everything on a horse farm from feeding, mucking, grooming, spreading manure from the tractor and even riding Gabe a few times.

On Wednesday the 28th, Cloud and little Rain will be leaving for their new home in Newfane with Avie Townsend. We will miss them but know they are going to a great home. Avie and her husband Dann have worked so hard getting the stall ready for them and Avie is so excited and nervous. We wish them all well.

Week Ending 5/10/2008

This has been another hectic week. Thanks to an article published in the Genesee Valley Penny Saver, we have picked up a few new volunteers. Levi, a seminary student from Virginia back home on break and Kelly, a local part time handyman, have been here almost everyday for several hours everyday. Levi's mom lives in Livonia and saw the article and called him right away. Kelly also saw the article and since he only works part time thought it would be a good idea to volunteer rather than just sitting home. They took down the old fabric shelter in the pasture occupied by Elvis, Jate and Tootsie and moved it close to the location where it will be put and used for storage of the tractor and equipment. They also dismantled the old fabric shelter that was used for hay. That one will be going to the curb. Both of them help feed and water the horses as well as doing the much needed mucking of stalls relieving Chris and I.

We have a little pony mare in foster care at a friend's home and on Thursday May 8th, she gave birth to a really cute little colt. This was a complete surprise as she wasn't showing much the same as Cloud. Missy raises paints and does have a paint stallion named Montana on her farm. Belle, is obviously a great escape artist and somehow met up with Montana and got back into her stall without anyone knowing. The little guy weighs less than a bale of hay and comes up to my knees.

Emma went to her new home yesterday, Friday the 9th. Beth S. is an experienced horsewoman and fell in love with Emma the first time she saw her. Emma was so good and jumped right on the trailer like a pro. She had only been trailered once before when we picked her and her sisters up from a neglect case we were involved in. We will miss her and wish her and her new mom well in her new life.

Last Wednesday, Mallory, a student at SUNY Geneseo stopped by to present us with $155 that she and several other students raised by collecting bottles and cans over the last few weeks. I did the math and they managed to redeem 3,100 bottles and cans. That's a lot of work. We would like to thank them and their families for all their effort. I believe all the students that participated are members of the Comn 211 Student group. A big thanks to Mallory, Angelique, Bridget, Michael and Addie. They just sent us a dvd from the day they spent here.

Little Rain continues to grow. She is developing a few more brown spots as she ages. She was four weeks old on Friday. She races around the paddock but never getting too far from her momma. Cali keeps trying to play with her but Rain thinks she is a little too big. Cali will celebrate her first birthday on Friday the 16th. When we went over to Missy's to see the new colt, we saw a few of her yearling babies and Cali is a good foot taller than all of them. Must be the feed. She is almost entirely shed out now and is quite the looker. She's a beautiful girl and quite full of herself. We have taken her out of the paddock on a lead line to eat some of the nice spring grass but she is nervous and jumps around. It will take her time to gain confidence.

That's about all the news from last week. It's 8:00 AM on Saturday and time to start getting ready for the morning feeding.

Mike

WNY Horse Council Spring Get Together

On Sunday April 27, 2008, Chris and Jean attended the first annual WNY Horse Council Spring Get Together in Cheektowaga, NY. There were many people and vendors there and they made a lot of good contacts for the rescue. Everything was free including the food. They are planning on attending again next year. It should be bigger and better.

Monday April 21, 2008

This is our first attempt at blog so please bear with us. This past week has been very hectic beginning with the birth of our new filly Rain on April 11 at 4:50 AM. This was kind of unexpected as we have had her mom Cloud for eleven months and we have no stallions here at the facility. Cloud never showed the typical signs of impending motherhood(i.e. a big belly). She looked a little plump but assumed(however incorrectly)that she ate more than the others taken from a neglect case in May 2007. Chris happened to be in the pasture grooming her and noticed that her "hay belly" had moved back and then checked her teats which were dripping milk. A call to our vet confirmed that she would deliver within twenty-four hours and he was right but it was only twelve hours. The night before the foal was born a group of volunteers from SUNY Geneseo(NY)set up a foal watch party. They brought their beer and hot dogs and a bonfire was started. Around 1:30 AM it started to drizzle and the kids stayed until the drizzle turned to a solid rain at 2:30AM. I had retired to bed around 11:00PM and Chris sent the kids home and went to bed. I awoke at my customary 3:00AM, prepared a cup of hot tea and turned on the computer checking all the latest world and local news. At 3:30AM I went out and checked on how Cloud was doing. She was eating her hay and still calling to her pasture mates. I went back inside and continued working on the computer until 4:30AM when I decided to check on Cloud once more. This time she was lying down and I could see two little feet and a nose sticking. I didn't waste any waking Chris up and telling her the foal was on it's way. She jumped up, ran downstairs and called the president of the student group and told them what was happening. We then ran out to Cloud and the baby hadn't made any progress. Cloud was pushing and pushing but the baby wouldn't or couldn't come out. We called the vet right away and he told us to grab the foal's legs and pull as hard as we could. We did what he told us and the baby still wouldn't come out. I sat on the ground behind Cloud, put both feet on her rump and wrapped a towel around the foal's leg as they were slippery. I pulled as hard as I could and the foal moved a little. I pulled again and the right shoulder came out. I kept pulling and the foal moved more and more until she was finally out. At first I thought the foal was dead. Her head kept lolling around and her tongue was hanging out. We got the sack off her and suddenly one eye opened. She was alive! Quickly we wrapped her in towels and started rubbing her all over. Within about fifteen seconds she tried to stand but those long legs of hers kept getting tangled up and she would fall down. By this time six to eight of the kids arrived again and we asked them in and ask them to surround the baby in a big circle to keep her from falling and bumping into the walls. Within a half hour or so the baby was standing fairly well but very wobbly. Over the next couple of hours the foal or now filly was walking better and kept getting stronger. She still had not nursed and that was becoming a concern for us. Fortunately she did start nursing. The next day she slept a lot but when she was up she would not stop moving. She was full of energy. We found out the next day that the filly was a "medicine hat" and this type of horse is sacred among the American Plains Indians and only chiefs, shamans and the greatest warriors could ride them. The filly, we call Rain has grown about three inches and flies around the paddock when she and her mom, Cloud, are let out of the nursery. Over the past few weeks, the baby has had many visitors so she is very used to people and camera flashes. She was born during a Thunderstorm so nothing seems to bother her hence the name Rain