The Golden Carrot Newsletter's Archive
New Residents at TGC
At long last, I’ve got up pages for Swing’s Lew, and little Song. Please visit the website (www.thegoldencarrot.org/Lew.html and www.thegoldencarrot.org/Song.html) and look at these new additions to the Golden Carrot permanent family and read their stories.
As the pages will show, Song has bonded strongly with Star, and the two of them have joined with Chacha to become Lew’s Harem! All are doing well in the new stall arrangement I configured to accommodate their friendship.
SCTR Quarantine Horses:
Luis’s Especial and Footloose Louie left June 8 for new home and rehab/training. Louie had been with me for two months, and did well even when separated from "his" mares, Pretty and Angel although they called for five minutes as he left. He’s off for a little more rehab and a start of training assessment in SCTR’s Moreno Valley facility.
Dear Luis went at the same time, despite being just days past his quarantine period, because both boys were going to get x-rays to determine their possible futures. Luis will spend some time at the Moreno Valley Rehab facility, and then we believe will move to Northern California to what sounds like a wonderful home.
I was glad to see Louie go - he needed a job! But Luis I will miss terribly - he was just starting to open up, to show hope that his terrible previous months were finally at an end. SCTR intends to get him to his new home, if it works out, ASAP, so he can settle and begin to realize that 2008 was just a nightmare from which he has recovered. (And PS, I don’t know about you, but 2008 was a horrible year for me too!)
Please look at http://goldencarrotrescue.com/QuarantineHorses.aspx to see all of the horses TGC has been able to help SCTR rescue.
Face Book Anyone?
Some of you will know that I have a Facebook page; and in an effort to publicize the Golden Carrot, have started a Group, The Golden Carrot. I would love to have any of you who do the facebook thing to become either a friend to me, or join The Golden Carrot Group. It’s one more way to stay in touch....
Surely gets her own Sponsor!
The marvelous Helle Gylling is sponsoring Surely in addition to her first sponsoree, Debbie! Helle visited TGC and in the process, fell in love with Surely. I am so grateful that my girl has someone who cares about her. Surely has integrated completely into the herd since meeting Helle, and acquired Rocky as her own boyfriend. I rearranged the stalls so that they could be stall-mates as well. That didn't work out so well for Duke who was Rocky's safety blanket for the last year. For a while, Duke stood alone each day. Then, the honeymoon was over, and occasionally Rocky would stand with him instead of Surely. Turns out, Surely is willing to chat with Swing's Lew over her fence at night, and Rocky got pretty upset about it..... As the Stable Turns.....
FEATURED UN-SPONSORED HORSE - DUKE!
I'm sorry I missed May, but today, would like to refer you to Duke, a deserving and elderly Quarterhorse gelding. www.thegoldencarrot.org/Duke.html will show you his page.
Here Duke (facing us) plays "bite my face" with Falcon.
Duke came in to TGC just short of a year ago, a bag of bones. (You can see his before and after pictures on the bottom left of the first page of the website, www.thegoldencarrot.org) His former owners would not separate him from their other horses, and he is elderly. That means he needs time to eat his full portion of feed, and he needs special feed. They "rescued" him from someone else and claim that he looked worse when they got him. They kept him all of two months, and then tried to ride him. Of course he could not bear a rider's weight, between being a bag of bones himself, and having a very lame "knee-over" left leg. So they dumped him here. Duke is a tough guy, and with rest, plenty of feed that he didn't have to compete for, and which he was able to assimilate, he made a wonderful recovery. That leg continues to be a serious problem tho, and Duke may not have a lot of time left. There seems to be nothing that can help this condition, and he has a hard time getting around.
As I mentioned, despite his poor condition, Duke's heart went out to the crazy Rocky, who also came in around the same time, and also in very poor condition. Like a lot of thoroughbreds, Rocky needs a buddy, and Duke became Rocky's anchor, mentor, and safety blanket. It was fun to watch Duke carefully trudge out to the paddock for breakfast, with Rocky running excited circles around him. It always seemed to me that Rocky was the needier of the two, but when Rocky abandoned Duke to woo Surely, it was hard to see how bewildered Duke was. I'm lucky that Falcon has befriended Duke, and that Rocky has returned to his side at least part time.
Duke's needs are few. He needs a little more senior feed than the others, so feeding him is a tad more expensive; but he has great feet and runs barefoot. I would love to see this sweet old man have a sponsor who cares just for him - his bighearted willingness to take on Rocky's care when he was in such bad shape himself has earned him my respect and affection. Can anyone step up to help Duke, even with a part sponsorship?
Thoughts...
I've been feeling as though the economy might be steady-ing out a little - maybe I'm deluded? But donations are still much lower than at the same time last year, and anything you can do to help these horses will be greatly appreciated.
I have an opportunity to purchase hay at an exceptionally good price with the Volwood Farms. I can get enough bermuda hay to feed the horses breakfast for the next six months for less than $2,000. Can you help?
Now, that's not all I spend on feed - and the senior feed that so helps these elderly horses is still very expensive. So any donations you can send will be used with gratitude, and if you can't donate, perhaps you can spread the word of this need to your friends, family and co-workers. It all helps!
I've posted several new photographs to http://goldencarrotrescue.com on the Girl Scout visit page, as well as some new material on the Anti-Slaughter page. Sadly, it appears that the Arabian Horse Association has chosen to support slaughter along with the AQHA - I have no idea how they can call themselves horsemen. We ask for your support of any and all anti-slaughter legislation ..... look at those pictures of SCTR's rescues on the QuarantineHorses page and know that those horses were destined to die. There is no way that can be right. We must do better....
Thank you all for your continued support. So many wonderful horses are going to die every day. Each one we save is precious and deserving; please help us save more.....
Casey