The Golden Carrot Newsletter's Archive
January 2011 Newsletter
I’m sorry it has taken me so long to get this newsletter out, but for the past week I’ve been injured - just call me NineFingered Casey. Typing is agony!
This has been a tough month. First, I'd like to remember Charlotte Cowan, an elderly lady residing in Idyllwild, who recently passed away. Charlotte was my kinda person - she fed many feral cats, and had dogs she adored. She lost some loved dogs last year, and was so kind to me as I lost so many horses as well as my Chaco. Charlotte was also a supporter of TGC for most of last year, and had her last birthday here (with carrot cake!) thanks to Shela and Danielle. She will be truly missed by us all....
I've realized that TGC has lost sponsors - Anaba and Chacha and probably Daisy are now again available for sponsorship. I lost two sponsored horses late last year, and took in four unsponsored horses. I hope you might take a look at our unsponsored or partially sponsored horses, to see if you might want to help one of them? Sponsorship comes with ANY committed amount .... tell me what you can give, and who you want it to benefit. You can give monthly, or twice a year, or once a year .... just commit! A full sponsorship is $140 a month; Partial sponsosrhip can be $5 a month, $10, $25, $50, $75 ... whatever you can do. Just be there for them, let us depend on that committment, and you are that golden person ... a sponsor! Most sponsors make a committment, and when they can, add maybe a fly mask, or a blanket, or a bucket of Winnie's Cookies for "their" horse and his friends. http://goldencarrotrescue.com/sponsoredunsponsoredhorses.aspx. I'm happy to say that our wonderful Julia is also working on a slideshow of unsponsored and partially sponsored horses to show at our booth at the Equine Affair coming up in a few days, and maybe these sweet horses will catch someone's eye... Thanks Jules!
2011 DID start with a little boost for Our Fair Lad, from After the Finish Line, who stepped up with some support for this youngster who is here short term, while we rebuild him, assess his training and hopefully find a home for him with the help of Neigh Savers. ATFL is an organization which raises money for Off Track Thoroughbreds, helping them transition from racing to a regular life. Thanks, ATFL for your help! This is Laddie, almost 2 months after arrival. Yes, I agree, still a little thin for his size, but it’s been murderous cold up here (temps in the teens during December) and the stress of adapting to all the other horses and changes in altitude, water, feed probably took a little more weight off him in the first week or so. He’s full of energy and excitement covering all available space every day visiting with one group of horses or another. Kim Ruzich, who had transported him here, came to bring Buddy two weeks ago, and at that time, seeing him in person, felt he’d improved a lot! I had thought that we had a possible adopter for Laddie, although I still have not had time to work and/or ride him myself. She was supposed to ride up with Kim when she brought Buddy to see him, but that didn't work out and I haven't heard since. But he still needs time to gain more weight, and I need time to work with him a little....
More work on our website has it looking pretty dang neat! Our domain names, www.thegoldencarrot.org and www.goldencarrotrescue.org both take you to our site now. I would like to remind everyone to check out the News/Events tab for updates on the day to day life here at TGC. I’ve lost a few days due to this finger, but am attempting to put up at least a paragraph each day about what’s happening here... Barrie also created a slideshow of our current residents ..... please make www.thegoldencarrot.org one of your ‘favorites’ and ask your friends to visit and browse. Hay, we're over 2,000 hits in just one month! The more people know about us, the better our chances of finding sponsors and donors ... please spread the word!
In early December, I was contacted by Diane Davisson about Buddy, an elderly Morgan pony whose owner could no longer make his board (living in LA, stable board can be exorbitant). I was upset at the time at the loss of my Inch, and quickly Picadilly hurt herself, and dealing with these issues and the horrendous weather of December, I didn’t get back to her. But guilt nagged at me, and I contacted her in early January. Long story short, Buddy arrived here on January 17. Please read his story at http://goldencarrotrescue.com/Buddy.aspx. This elderly gentleman really needs our help - He’s seen the vet twice now, and Laurie Henkel adjusted him as well. He’s already showing improvement in energy and weight, but has a long ways to go. He’s a spunky guy, let’s help him have some fun in his final years! I have to update his page a little, but the news as of today is that he is doing very well indeed. A little extra work for me, to remember to make his buckets ahead of time (make breakfast buckets at night, night buckets in the morning, so the pellets can soak completely into mush) but he attacks his feed like a barracuda, and is eager for treats (I give him cut up apples as they are easier for him to chew than carrots). He has attached himself to Oso ... partly because Oso is just that sweet, and partly using Oso's bulk as a 'wall' between himself and the other horses who can be a little much for him. He loves the herd tho, and won't be separated until everyone is....
After Picadilly’s passing, I moved Pepe into her stall. I think it helped him, and it placed him next to Song. But as much as Pepe is a ladies’ man, he gets along real well with various geldings too, and has developed a strong attachment to Sarge .... that is until Anaba went into season! I haven’t seen this behavior in her before but think "bimbo" and you’re there! Wow, she terrified Oso at first, and after he ran screaming, turned her attention to Sarge ..... who obliged her! OMG he is so old and creaky, but he got busy and she was thrilled. Please please, let me not find out in 11 months that Sarge is cryptorchid! Something is definitely in the air. I guess after the cold the warmer days were fooling animals and plants into thinking it is spring, because Peanut has also for the very first time exhibited strong signs of interest in any and all geldings except her usual escort, Dion.
I think with all these ladies distracting attention from him, Silver has also relaxed in the herd a little more. Barrie has asked to be the first to ride him here .... now if we could just find the time!
And January has been wretched with abscesses - all the horses’ feet got soft in the endless rains of December, and as the ground dried and hardened, those soft feet picked up stone bruises and abscesses like crazy. Oso, Rocky, Surely, Daisy and Remy have all had problems. As of this writing, they’re all ok ...
The above is our BANNER! Designed by Barrie Young, we have two, so if you can make it to Equine Affaire, please look for it.
As you know, Heavenly Horse Haven and I are collaborating. I'll be at home, caring for the horses of both TGC, and HHH. Gina will be at EA most all of the days, with her volunteers, and for The Golden Carrot, so far, Lisa Brozek has promised to help set up our booth on Wednesday afternoon February 2; DeeAnn Bradley, long time supporter and official photog of TGC, will man the booth for 4 hours on Thursday; and Laurie Henkel, board member and equine chiro, will man the booth for 4-5 hours on Friday. Is there anyone else who would give a few hours at the booth for TGC, in exchange for access to the whole fancy show? Any help would be appreciated, but so far Saturday and Sunday will have no representation from TGC
Barrie has designed lovely color two sided fliers and her boss, Sandi Kruise of Sandi Kruise Insurance Training has donated printing of 500 fliers to TGC. Thank you Sandi for this generous help! Gina printed up a huge version of the flier to post for us as well. And Julia's videos will be playing, in the hopes of attracting the attention of potential sponsors/donors.
I don't know what to expect from this effort. Gina and I both hope mostly to let people know we are here, and we need help. Gina will be making the effort of talking to vendors about donating as well. It's been expensive, even with us splitting the costs, so we're hopeful that our donations boxes will get some attention as well, and Gina has horses to adopt so lets hope someone sees "that face" they can't live without!
As is always the case in January, a lot of people are in shock at their credit card bills, and getting busy again after taking time off for the holidays. It’s easy to forget these golden oldies here at TGC, but I hope you won’t. Although we’re having warm fair days, nights are still freezing and we can anticipate more weather in February and March - and the most important single thing I can do for these horses is keep them well fed. A small monthly donation, or perhaps you might consider allocating part of your tax return to these horses, all helps and is so gratefully received.