Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Our Rescued Horses on Valentine's Day Cards

http://www.zazzle.com/gentlereins*
buy Valentine's Day Cards in our zazzle store, and earn 25% for our rescued horses. Most of the cards are customizable. delete or replace or add your own photos and/or text. or order them the way they are.
need help? give us a call (605) 359-0961 or email us doublehphorses@alliancecom.net

didn't get your xmas cards out this year? No problem! Send out Spirit's card.  find it in our zazzle store. use the link above. We get 25% of all sales, money used to help feed and care for our rescued horses.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Rocky's Christmas Story

Shortly after we rescued Rocky he began his modeling/acting career. He played the very important role of "The Donkey" in a live Nativity Scene.
Merry Christmas to everyone, from Rocky and all the other animals here at New Hope Horse Shelter.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Shop in our zazzle store, our Unbridled Beauties calendar is available now

use this link to our Zazzle store. If you buy products using this link, with the asterisk at the end, it will earn us an extra 15% in addition to our regular percentage . . . money to help care for our rescued horses.
Thanks! http://www.zazzle.com/gentlereins*

in our zazzle store, two different 2011 calendars.
One features photos of our horses-only
the other is our Unbridled Beauties

Unbridled Beauties of DoubleHP
Photo Book with 2011 Calendar.
this year, 38 pages, each page 14.25X11.

every single page custom designed by us.
More than 60 of our photos in the calendar!
It's beautiful! and all money raised goes to help care for our rescued horses.

See all the pages and photos in our Zazzle store. You will be able to view all the pages there, magnify them. you will see a watermark during this page view, but of course it does now show up on the actual calendar. The calendars are excellent quality.

Also, many different Xmas cards with photos of our horses. The cards may be customized. You may do it yourself, add your name, a personal greeting, etc. It's easy. Just go to our zazzle store. use the link above. More than 20 different cards available. here are a few of them.



Sunday, September 26, 2010

daily updates on our facebook page

please go to our facebook page for daily updates.
thanks!

rummage results

more than $1,700 raised from the rummage sale (we didn't count all the coins so there's more)
thanks Pam & Mae for your hard work. thanks for all the shopping and donations.

next years event will be in May, Pam says, so start making your pile for stuff for the DoubleHP Horses' Rummage Sale.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Donations for Duke Rummage Sale again this Th & Fri Aug. 26-27

UPDATE: Our event was a success of course, thanks to Pam & Mae and everyone who donated and shopped. Pam & Mae are opening the rummage back up on Thursday and Friday Aug 26-27 of this week. They've already raised over $1,000 for our rescued horses.
if you have items to donate, please give us a call. 605 359-0961. thanks!
Oh, we have 4 saddles donated and they are all at the rummage sale this week. A Longhorn, Simco, and 2 that we're not sure of.

Now accepting donations for our annual DoubleHP Rummage Sale and Silent Auction. It's set for Friday & Saturday Aug. 20-21 in Sioux Falls at 2517 S. Main. It's the third year for this location, and it is a great location. Pam Lostroh and her mom Mae do the whole thing for us there. Hero was born at Pam's house in the country. His mommy Jasmine was in foster care there.

Here's Pam & Hero, when Hero was just a few days old. "Giving him Confidence"














One of our silent auction items is a 2-night stay package from the brand new Lodge at Deadwood.
http://www.deadwoodlodge.com/




We want to encourage you again to please use our facebook page. We do updates daily about various things.
Our facebook page is Public. That means you can go to it without having a facebook account.
But if you want to comment and see other details besides the basic posts you will want an account.

If you would like to donate items for our rummage sale or our silent auction, here are 2 ways to do that:
Call Darci at New Hope Horse Shelter (3 miles north of Crooks SD) 605 359-0961. You can bring stuff to the Shelter and they will take it in to Sioux Falls from there.

or if Sioux Falls is easier for you, call Pam at 310-2094. email is pamlost12@yahoo.com. The sale will be at Pam's mom's house. her name is Mae. 2517 S Main in Sioux Falls. but call Pam to see if she wants you to take it there or to Pam's office. she said the office address is 1704 S Cleveland Suite 2, SF SD and she's usually there M-F 9 to 3.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Aspen and Francis, sweet dreams babies

Probably Aspen's case is done now. It is shameful the way our county handled it. Here is one of Aspen's friends, Francis, who also died at this property last winter.

read all about Aspen's case here.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Sprocket got a home!

Good news for Sprocket! got this email today:
Hi Darci,

Sprocket has been successfully delivered to Denkai Animal Sanctuary in Grover, Colorado. Thank you so much for all your assistance in helping to find him a retirement home!
Take care!
Ericka Lans, Property Management Specialist, Nebraska National Forests & Grasslands

more about Sprocket

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Duke begins to tell his story

http://newhopehorseshelter.blogspot.com/search/label/Duke
that's a link to the beginning of Duke's story. Well, it's not really his beginning. but it's where we'll start.
yes, Duke has something to do with John Wayne.

Monday, July 5, 2010

What did you do on the Fourth?

Our Volunteers on the other side of the state (South Dakota) rescued Duke. they got him signed over and moved to a safe place.
he has a vet appointment July 6 2010.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Trip to ISU in Ames, Iowa

Results of our quick (but long) trip to ISU Veterinary Medical Center in Ames, Iowa. Baylee, Prince, and the cat Ike were all great travelers & patients.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Report from adopted horse Ranger

We don't ask for a lot from our adopters, as long as they follow the care requirements they agreed to. we do ask for an annual update on the horses though. Most adopters are pretty good about it. They are proud to have adopted a horse from us and happy to share their stories and photos with us.  Last week we talked to Dave, whose family adopted Ranger from us nearly 7 years ago. Ranger is one of the very few sound, well-trained riding horses we have ever received as a donation. Most of our horses are rescued from starvation. But not Ranger! He was a ready-to-go riding partner. And he has made many trips to the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota with his adoptive family.
A while back we had a computer crash and it was going to be quite a task to make all of our new software and systems work with our old website. So, we started this one instead. We are slowly but surely getting our DoubleHP adopted horses added back on here.
Here's a little blog from Ranger, from last week.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Release to the Pasture 2010


The horses here got to start having pasture time on May 22. And we took some photos of the big day. We made a photo album of the event. and you can link to it here.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=420666&id=424380895283&ref=mf

Melvin Waswick Memorial Donation, & update on Hero's riding training

Hazel Schjodt (the young gal in the ball cap) recently made a donation in memory of Melvin Waswick. She wants it to help all of the horses here, so we will use it to buy hay later this year. Thanks Hazel!


Friday, May 14, 2010

2 people charged in "our Aspen's" case, court dates set

This morning I had an informative and much appreciated conversation with an Attorney in the Minnehaha County State's Attorney's office.
This is the info. that is public knowledge:
Larry Pahl has entered a guilty plea to one count of inhumane treatment, involving a 2 year old Belgian mare. sentencing is scheduled for July 12.
A second person (first name is Eileen) has said "not guilty" to one count of inhumane treatment, involving a young buckskin. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 10.

That's about all I know, but I think we can go with the relief that "our Aspen" is being represented!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Sprocket, Missouri Fox Trotter, served our fed govt for many years and now needs retirement home

Sprocket is a 20ish something Missouri Fox Trotter who loyally served our federal government for a number of years, going where vehicles could not go.
He now needs and so greatly deserves a special retirement home.
As a companion animal only. He has a lameness issue and should not be ridden.
Sorry, I know. but if he didn't have a lameness issue I guess he'd still be workin'.

If you are interested in letting Sprocket retire at your place, please call or email. Thanks

updates on Aspen, ideas submitted to the State Vet

This post written by Darci Hortness, NOT necessarily the opinions of  all DoubleHP Volunteers, Sponsors, or Directors.

Today is the day there is/was to be a dispositional conference in the Apsen case. Though I am not even sure if Aspen is being represented in the case. The states attorney's office would not respond to my questions regarding that. Someone from their office did, however, tell me that my information had been placed in the file and would be considered. I do not know anymore than that.

Tuesday (I think) there was a meeting in Pierre, an "animal care law review" or "animal care review" meeting. I had asked a long time ago to be included, but I was not. I was never informed one way or another. But I heard from another animal welfare person who had asked to be included and also was not. I have asked the State Vet for a list of all the people who were invited, and a brief explanation of why they were included. (such as what segment of animal care or law each person represents or has expertise in). I also asked who decided who would be invited. I have not received the list. I have asked twice. It is possible it is being sent to me through USPS I suppose. But since I was not at the meeting, I sent the State Vet a lengthy email that includes some of my ideas and opinions.

(I didn't receive an invite to the meeting, but I did receive a reminder from the State Vet that all livestock care complaints need to go to the Animal Industry Board. So I kind of addressed that in my email of ideas too).

Perhaps if the results were better, if the AIB rep. recognized when there are emaciated horses standing around with no food, bcs of 1 or 2, dead young horses lying around, and others lying there suffering too weak to get up, perhaps if that at least could be considered an emergency, and that the horses would get immediate help, that it was agreed that the horses needed and deserved help, that it is ok to save lives even if they are just horses. Perhaps if the general public could have confidence that the AIB actually cares about the horses, feels bad for them when they are suffering, and truly wants to get the horses rescued and enforce the laws that we do have written. Perhaps then everyone including sheriffs, humane officers, horse rescue humane societies, and the general public will feel that their report will actually help the horses. Most people don’t really care if the neglectful owners go to jail for these crimes. But they do want the horses to be helped. And they do want the neglectful owners to be charged and if convicted they want them to be held accountable and have to pay vet bills, restitution, fines, etc. And in the case of Larry Pahl, that is an extremely severe case, there is no reason for this person to own horses. I understand there is a dispositional conference in this case in Minnehaha County tomorrow. It would be nice if you called the states attorney and told him you think this guy needs to be punished to the fullest,and that they should recommend to the judge that this guy should not own horses. He obviously doesn’t know how to or is unable to care for them. I have already sent my photos of the horse that (the Vet) euthanized after I found it and called (the Vet). Since no one ever asked me for my evidence. And I was the only one with enough sense to take pictures that night. Jan. 19. I don’t even know if he’s being charged for that horse, and that horse was suffering as much as a horse can suffer. On Larry Pahl’s first court appearance, where he stated that he didn’t understand his charges and that he has owned horses all of his life, the Judge mentioned that he was being charged with 1 count of inhumane treatment and mentioned a Belgian mare. So I don’t even know if the little buckskin that I found is mentioned. I believe that 9 or 10 horses died at that property since last winter, most of them babies that Larry Pahl owned. I saw 3 the night I was there. And there was a lot of snow cover so I know I didn’t see them all. It would help if the AIB would actually WANT to make an example of some of these irresponsible horse owners. I doubt that farmers and ranchers would be mad at you. I lived out West River for a couple of years... and I never saw the ranchers’ horses treated like these horses were. I think most ranchers would be as sick about it as I was. I don’t know how you think neglect is ever going to decrease, if the only message that goes out is that it’s ok in South Dakota to treat horses like this. Like garbage. I have had one AIB person compare horses to dirt, and another compare them to garbage. I have seen several groups of horses where some are dead and/or emaciated and living in such unsafe conditions, that the AIB has checked on. And done nothing to help the horses.


I think if you want to take a big step toward progress, you should start making some immediate & aggressive moves in cases where there are dead and dying horses, others emaciated with no food, and most of them young. Especially when there is reproduction going on.

I think everyone: AIB, ag. Departments and associations, equine educators, trainers, breeders, farriers, veterinarians, owners, salebarns, breed associations, show assn, cattle ranchers, rescuers, FFA advisors, 4-H leaders, everyone, should stop being so afraid to mention the B word. BREEDING. Overbreeding, irresponsible breeding. If it costs a guy $2,000 to care for a mare for a year, how does he profit from selling the foal for any less? I’m not saying this is a new thing. I’ve always thought the horse industry is screwed up, financially speaking. For the people who think they are going to make a living selling colts that they raise. They just can’t get it through their minds that it takes a very special mare and a very special stallion to produce a special enough foal that, if luck is there and the baby is born healthy, there will be some profit.

I think some education on what it takes to have a successful horse breeding business would be an excellent project, and if it came from within the horse and/or ag. industry it would be well-received.

I’m rambling, you can tell, but there are a lot of things that can be done to improve the excess horse problem. And it doesn’t matter how the laws read, if the message that “it’s ok to starve horses” keeps getting sent out, and laws are not enforced and horses are not helped and neglectful owners just go about their “business” of allowing and encouraging their horses that they can’t afford to produce more horses that no one wants, if those things aren’t addressed, it doesn’t matter how the laws read. Things won’t improve if they aren’t dealt with.

The general impression of how the AIB handles horse cases around here is that yes, they will respond to the report and they will go look at the horses and go back and write up a report. But they don’t really help the horses. That’s the general impression around here. And I can say that I have seen this to be true in several cases over the years.

We just find it hard to understand why the people who are in charge of horse laws don’t seem to even care about the horses. I know they are a lot of work, I’ve been rescuing young starving horses for 9 years. But in South Dakota, we have just never made any progress on getting a statewide, consistent system in place. Nobody really thinks these laws will be enforced, because they usually aren’t. and the only way to see fewer cases of neglect is to send out the message that this isn’t how we treat our horses in South Dakota....Horses is a way of life for me. It’s not a business, we don’t even try to make money with the horses here; but it’s not a hobby either. It is my full-time “volunteer” job... I have owned, trained, showed, rescued, adopted out, taught a lot of people about, and truly loved horses for a long time. I’ve lived west river and east river. Ridden all over in the Black Hills and been a core rider in the Buffalo roundup. I take care of the shelter horses here. I clean their pens and stalls and throw bales around and wrap their legs and know when they are cold. But I’ve never been a breeder. I understand there are responsible horse breeders. And maybe you could get together with some of them to come up with an educational program on how difficult it is to make money raising horses these days.

The responsible breeders are not the problem. It’s the people who can’t afford the horses they already have but then allow them to reproduce to make babies that no one wants. They are the irresponsible breeders and owners. They are the problem.

There, just like I was at the meeting.
Darci Hortness

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Heidi and Hero, teeth to teeth, new horse blog story

http://newhopehorseshelter.blogspot.com/2010/04/hero-and-heidi-teeth-to-teeth.html

anyone have a calendar that amanda smith of wyoming did for 2nd chance rescue center?

This is a bit of a strange blog entry. But interesting. We have a request. Do you have a calendar that was done by amanda smith or open range magazine or shooting stars photography from glenrock, wyoming, for 2nd chance rescue center of sioux falls / hartford south dakota?

This is a long long long long story. We'll try to brief it up for you here.

In 2008 we were contacted by this scamanda, oops, I mean, amanda smith. She wanted to do a story about DoubleHP in her magazine. by the time we were done talking she was also going to do a calendar for us. It was to be a 2009 calendar, and she would print for us 700 of them that we could sell as a fundraiser for our rescued horses. We needed $2,400 in sponsor money that would pay for the printing. she would do the rest. well, amanda smith and her friend Judi or Judy Colling came here and did a photo shoot. Judi was introduced to us as a professional writer who had appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show and whose writings had been published far and wide! Well we don't know if Judy can write or not; we never saw a thing she wrote for "our" calendar or magazine story. In fact, we never saw a calendar proof. and there was never a magazine story for us. We did see some individual photo proofs, but we never saw a calendar proof or even a layout idea. Many of us subscribed to the magazine too. open range magazine. some of us received one issue. I personally did not receive a single issue. I had to go through our AG office to get a refund for the 2 subscriptions I paid for. And then, the check scamanda finally sent me bounced! So I had to go through the AG office again to get re-paid. And then the check wasn't even for the full amount (by this time my bank had charged me for the bad check too).

these professional women, this photographer and this writer, did take our $2,400.00 though, that our volunteer models had received from sponsors or out of their own pockets. along with the complimentary hotel rooms and meals and transportation we provided for the wyoming women while they were here. We communicated with scamanda until the middle of October. The photo shoot was in June. In the middle of October, with no calendar proof yet, we finally admitted to ourselves that we had indeed been scammed. We couldn't see any way, if we hadn't even seen a proof yet, that we would have time to sell 700 of these before Christmas. And, we had to do a calendar somehow! we had sponsors who had paid for it. We had other people who had paid in advance for a calendar, and we had the models who had volunteered a lot of time for this. (We ended up just doing our own calendar, quickly, one of our sponsors paid for the printing for the whole thing, so we ended up paying twice for the printing since scamanda had our original $2,400.)

We filed reports with our county sheriff and with our SD AG office. We have the proof. But it was not enough money and not a big enough deal, not enough people involved, for them to go after. kind of like taking a bad check from someone. want to get your money back? hire an attorney, or go through small claims. and if it's from another state, have fun trying to get your money back without it costing you more than what you lost. These scammers have it figured out.

So anyway, we have a box of bad memories in storage here. all the documents and proof. Along with a 6 page response that scamanda submitted to our AG office that includes a blurb about how she talked to other organizations in our area who told her we don't really do horse rescue and other lies like that. And that's why she didn't finish the calendar or the magazine story because, in fact, we are the ones who scammed her! Well, we decided not to waste another penny or second on this mean person who would steal money from a nonprofit that operates through volunteers and donations. I never thought for a second that she actually talked to other organizations around here who would bad mouth our group like that. I always thought she just made that up too.We dismissed it and wrote it up as a lesson learned. And hardly trust anyone with anything anymore.

Then, just a few weeks ago, we get this email from Rosey Quinn at 2nd Chance Rescue Center. It's one of those silly time-wastin' things where you're supposed to send it on to 10 of your best friends. It's odd we got the email in the first place. We rarely contact Rosey. except to pass on possible horse neglect reports to her. This email had been forwarded several times, and all of the names of senders and recipients were there. We recognized some of the other names that Rosey sent her email to. And one of them just plain ol' made us gasp! Amanda Smith from shooting stars photography. same exact email address she used to scammingly communicate with us! Was she scamming another SD nonprofit? could she be that bold? or how would she and Rosey know each other?

Well, we emailed Rosey and asked her how she knows scamanda. Rosey said amanda did a calendar for them! can you believe it! scamanda had told us she had never done a benefit calendar before the one she was to do for us, which would have been a 2009 calendar. We asked Rosey how this came about, how she met her, what the financial arrangement was, what year this was. All we got in reply was that 2nd chance paid a certain amount of cash and got a certain amount of calendars. We have asked Rosey (several times) and another employee there what year their calendar was, and neither responds to that question. We asked Rosey if there is one of these calendars we can buy and she said no they sold them all. A former employee of 2nd chance says he/she has no knowledge of that calendar (but perhaps the timing wasn't right).

We saw an adv. for 2nd Chance's 2010 calendar that mentions a south dakota printer and a photographer other than amanda smith. So I don't think that's the one. It's possible they did 2 calendars in 2010. Or that it was a 2009 calendar that scamanda did for them, which is the year she was supposed to to our calendar. We paid her $2,400.00, and that's what was supposed to go toward our calendar. And she told us she had not done a benefit calendar yet. Ours would be the first.

So, we would really like to take a look at this calendar that amanda smith from wyoming did for 2nd chance rescue center of Sioux Falls / Hartford South Dakota. Does anyone have one we can take a look at? you may call us at 605 359-0961 or email at doublehphorses@alliancecom.net

Why don't we just drop it, you say? Well, why do you think scammers scam! Because people let them! If nothing else, let this be a warning. A lesson. We sure learned from it. It's something our moms tried to teach us when we were little kids. "Don't Trust Strangers"!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Hero is doing ok in riding training. next lesson Friday, come & watch!

Photo is Hero summer 2009.


Hero will have his 6th riding training lesson this Friday probably around 3:30 p.m. It's ok if you want to come and watch but you might want to call first to make sure the schedule stayed the same. He is doing ok. He's very lazy though. And right now is thinking that this riding thing was kind of fun when we were just going to do it once or twice. but now that it might become a long-term thing, well, there have been a few foot stomps and tail swishes. but really that's about it. He trotted around the arena Tuesday with trainer Kinsey aboard, and boy is he cute! Kinsey says he is really smooth too.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Hero's First Ride

Hero had his first big little ride today. Trainer Kinsey Risty started Lily & Minerva for us too. We highly recommend Kinsey.






Hero's big little riding story here.
http://newhopehorseshelter.blogspot.com/2010/04/heros-first-ride.html

Friday, April 9, 2010

Minerva, Roman Goddess of many things


Minerva's 3-year rescue anniversary is coming up in May!

Minerva with some of her friends at New Hope Horse Shelter, April 2010.
Here is Minerva with her mama Jasmine, rescued in May 2007.
Jasmine was 3 weeks away from foaling in this picture. She did have a healthy foal, Minerva's little brother Hero (Hrioki). Jasmine was only 11 years old. Neglect can really do some damage.
Here is a link to Jasmine's story

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Court Date Set in Aspen's Case

There has been a court date set in Aspen's case. Larry Pahl is scheduled to appear April 20 at 9 a.m. in courtroom 1a. I noticed the name had been removed from the gotwarrant website, so I called the clerk of courts and got this information.

Larry Pahl is an employee at Kramers livestock. It's on their website.
We heard from someone who attended Kramers sale last Saturday. She said the Vet made an announcement that due to PETA, no one can bring really skinny and long-hooved horses there. If they do, they will be reported. The person who went to the sale also told us that an auctioneer said he got in trouble for having a couple of thin horses and had to pay $500. She didn't know the vet or the auctioneer's name.

I called the Vet who does the sales there though. Shanda Meyers. She said yes, she made an announcement. It came from the State Vet. She said there are concerns about things looking bad for horses in south dakota and that it's bad publicity for the livestock industry. Meyers told me she didn't talk to anyone at PETA. She thinks it was just "animal rights" in general.

I had a nice chat with this vet. She told me horses "not fit for sale" have never been allowed through the sale ring. but that there is no clear definition of what that is, so each Vet kind of makes that determination individually. She said if horses are not fit for sale, they are sent home and reported to the state vet.

Anyway, it would be nice if we could make some guidelines or laws just because we care for the horses' welfare, instead of just because it "looks bad" for the livestock industry. I mean, how does that help the horse? sending it back where it came from in the same "unfit for sale" condition! Instead of sending an emaciated horse back "home," perhaps the horse could get immediate equine vet and rescue assistance. You know, maybe we could make saving a life priority. Now that, I would think, would be some pretty positive publicity for horses in South Dakota, and for the people and officials in charge of enforcing the welfare laws.

Quilt is available for sale

The beautiful, new, one-of-a kind, hand-made quilt is available for sale. It was donated by Karlie and Denise Kirkpatrick of Brandon SD. It was made from their "family jeans." People bid on it at the horse fair in sioux falls a few weeks ago, but the high bidder decided he didn't want to pay for it I guess.
To bid, just send us an email. doublehphorses@alliancecom.net
put your bid amount, name, mailing address, phone(s).
you may bid as often as you want to.
increments in $5 or more please.
we'll keep you updated here at the top of this page as far as where the high bid is.

BIDDING ENDS AT NOON Central Time ON MONDAY APRIL 12.

When the bidding is done, the high bidder can let us know about shipping or pick up. If you pay by check, the item won't be released until the check clears the bank. (unless you have an account set up with us). You may pay cash. Or we will be able to set up a Paypal button here. Shipping will be $10 above the bid amount.

any questions, just email us or call 605 359-0961. scroll down for more photos of the quilt. It has a few kisses on it now from our rescued horses, so it's probably worth a million bucks! Anyway, we have it safely tucked away in a zipped bag now, waiting for its new home.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Quilt by Kirkpatricks

Here is the one-of-a-kind quilt made and donated by Denise and Karlie Kirkpatrick of Brandon SD. It was a silent auction item at the horse fair in sioux falls a couple of weeks ago, but the winning bidder has not made arrangements to pay and pick up yet. If it is still here Wednesday night, we'll re-sell it!
The Quilt is even more valuable now, because now it has kisses on it from some of our rescued horses!
The first photo above is Heidi with Hero and Lily. Click on the photos to enlarge them!

Here is Butterscotch.


Here is Spirit.


Here is Rocky.


And here's Minerva.


And here's a better look at the Quilt.

We had such a fun weekend here. Saturday Denise from Crooks came here and gave us a sponsorship check to sponsor Spirit for a month! Then we rode Moonshine and Flicka. Denise hasn't ridden for a while, so we started off with 28-year-old Moonshine. On Sunday, our friend Rick Knobe came and helped with chores in the morning. Then Paul's mom (from the Paul's Prince Project) Deb brought Amanda over for a quick visit. I happened to have Star saddled up, who by coincidence is one of Amanda's favorite horses here, so she got to ride Star around in the arena! Then she brushed and brushed her, until, as Amanda put it, "she is as shiney as a star!" Then Heidi came to do chores and we had to do this photo shoot with the quilt. Several of the rescued horses got ridden this weekend too, and Hero had another saddle/bridle lesson. So glad to be done with winter finally.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Foal Painting by Artist Lisa Madsen

Today, something happy for you. In line with our mission to Celebrate the Beauty and the Honesty of the Horse. The original painting by Lisa Madsen, artist from Baltic SD, donated to us as a fundraiser. It went to a wonderful new home. It went home with Pam Lostroh. Our little colt Hero (Hiroki) was born at Pam's house about 2 and a half years ago! Thanks Lisa and Pam!

The quilt that was made and donated by Karlie and Denise Kirkpatrick was purchased by a guy from Watertown SD. We are working on pick-up/shipping arrangements. I will get some pictures of it before it goes off to its new home.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

update (not good) in Aspen's story

Today I was told that possibly 9 or 10 horses have now died since this past winter on the property where I found Aspen. Three died just this past Sunday, March 21. One was the young draft horse that I kept asking about because he was so thin and I wanted to help him so much. Another one died about a week and a half ago. These horses died due to "accidents."
The other 6 included Aspen, the other 2 dead babies I saw and apparantly others that I was told were covered up in the snow.
I also learned the name of the person who owned Aspen and the other babies who died. He works at Kramers salebarn. I also do not believe he has been served papers.

Meanwhile, not far away, just in the last few days, in Union County, cattle were seized from a place because they were malnourished and 13 were dead. There is already a news story about this including the guy's name, and already mention of charges of inhumane treatment.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

new, huge horse calendar with sponsor info.


http://www.zazzle.com/gentlereins*

this is a link to our new huge online calendar now available for sale online at Zazzle. I got mine in the mail Friday and it is beautiful and excellent quality. We'll have one at the Horse Fair next weekend. For as little as $10 you may become a horse sponsor. We'll add your name, website address, etc., to the calendar for the whole world to see! If you want to sponsor a particular horse for a particular month, it's $200. We can add some special info about you or your family, horse, pet, etc., could even put a picture of you on there if you want! Right now the calendar goes from March to Dec. but we can add and subtract months as we go. More about this later. but those are the basics for now, to get us started.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

link to PDF for our Horse Fair brochure

link to our brochure to print and hand out at the Horse Fair in Sioux Falls March 19-21. This is a PDF format.
http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B_mCRDlrVYHYY2M3NjM0MmQtOTVjYi00ZWQ4LWI0OTMtMTViOWY3NWRhNTFj&hl=en

Friday, February 26, 2010

Commended by AAEP & Horse Rescue Industry

For the 2nd year in a row, we have been approved as a Rescue & Retirement Equine Facility in compliance with the Care Guidelines established by the American Association of Equine Practitioners. Because of our approval, we will receive free Spring vaccines for 10 of our shelter horses, through Intervet Schering-Plough Animal Health and the Unwanted Horse Veterinary Relief Campaign. Approval requires the completion of a detailed application and inspection/grading by an AAEP member. DVM Michelle Jensen from Dakota Large Animal Clinic near Harrisburg, SD, is our participating AAEP Veterinarian.
The UHVRC states that priority is given to "well managed, responsible equine rescue & retirement facilities with the greatest need for help," and their selection process also considers the "potential impact on horses' lives" and the "professional manner in which the facility conducts its operation."

Saturday, February 20, 2010

2 terrific spay day essays to read

Spay Day Essays entered (grab a hankey)
here's the link.
http://www.newhopehorses.org/2010/01/essay-for-spay-day-contest-deadline-feb.html

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Valentines Day Hope

Our Valentines Day Hope
from the Horses of New Hope Horse Shelter
in the photo: Jet & Prince, Dec. 2009, at New Hope Horse Shelter

We hope that horse owners who cannot afford to provide proper nutrition, shelter, deworming, vaccinations, hoof & dental care, age-appropriate training, and overall living conditions that are safe, spacious, clean, comfortable, and healthy for the horses they already own, we hope they will not encourage and allow their horses to reproduce and that they certainly will not acquire any additional horses.
We hope that horse owners who dump off their young horses at low-end salebarns with no cares as to what happens to the horses after that, we hope they will seriously re-evaluate their breeding program and business plan; and not encourage and allow their horses to reproduce.
At the same time, our organization is quick to thank and congratulate the responsible, kind, compassionate, humane horse breeders for their successful programs that focus on quality vs quantity, and enhancing the horse industry vs. giving the industry a bad name.
We hope that law enforcement will enlist the knowledge of Equine Veterinarians or, in an emergency, at least properly educated personnel who are Equine Professionals, when they are sent to investigate reports of suspected neglect & starvation, and to evaluate the condition of horses. And we hope that if dead, suffering, or emaciated horses are found during an investigation, we hope they will receive immediate Equine Veterinarian attention and that the people who allowed the horses to suffer or starve will take responsibility for their bad behavior, and not be allowed to own horses until they can prove that they can care for them properly.
We hope that we can work together on both ends of the issue:
One end being responsible horse ownership.
And the other end being enforcement of laws that deal with serious cases of starvation and inhumane treatment.
And we hope that if we can find a way to work together on both ends of the issue at the same time, we will all meet somwhere in between.
Perhaps somewhere near the heart.
And that is our Valentines Day Hope,
from the Horses of New Hope Horse Shelter.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Essay for Spay Day Contest


Just One Litter


“ Just one litter.” That’s what I heard the man say when I began to discuss spaying his female kitten. “We want her to have just one litter because it would be so educational for our children.” In my early years as a veterinary technician I held my tongue when I heard comments like this, afraid of offending or angering a client. Now, after nearly 14 years in the field of veterinary medicine, I have a different response.

Through the years I have heard many stories of sadness, stories of loss, stories of illness, stories of surrendering a much-loved pet. But the stories that are perhaps the most heartbreaking are the stories of the little lives that are lost before they have barely begun. These are the stories of the puppies and kittens who are tossed away because someone did not do the responsible thing and spay and neuter their pets. Innocent lives brought into this world and then disposed of because they are an inconvenience.

Meet Zoey, a big, beautiful calico cat. Zoey is now 10 ½ years old. Zoey would not be here today except for a stroke of luck. Zoey and 7 other newborn kittens had been placed in a backpack and tossed away at a local dump. Why the woman was at the dump that day and why she decided to pick up the backpack and look inside it we will never know. But she did. And there they were. Eight newborn kittens that needed desperately to be fed. Finding that caring for 8 kittens was a little too much to handle, she found friends that were willing to take one or two to care for. The woman who took Zoey to care for later decided it was just too time consuming. Zoey was brought to the clinic, was bottle-fed and raised to be the lovely cat that she is today. Just one litter.

Then there’s the story of Parker. Tiny, tiny Parker was found by a gentleman who was spending a Sunday afternoon at the park near the clinic where I work. He found her tied inside a plastic grocery bag and left there to die. He took her home, fed her, cleaned her up and brought her to the clinic because he wasn’t able to keep her. How many other kittens had been disposed of in this manner? Were they rescued by other caring people? Or did they die slowly inside their plastic bags? Just one litter.

Mia and Malcolm, brother and sister. Abandoned at the clinic. Sickly little barn cats that required medicines to treat their many medical issues. However, the person who “adopted” them did not want to spend any money on them so they were just left at the clinic. Now 7 years old, Malcolm is a huge affectionate boy. Mia is about half his size and is quite the talker. How many other little kittens were in the same condition they were in? The man who had brought them in had made a comment about them being the healthiest ones. I can only imagine what state of health the others were in. Suppose any of them survived? Just one litter.

Sweet Hailee. Found during a hail storm at my sister’s place in the country. Dumped there in the country to fend for herself. Hailee had a huge parasite burden and other medical issues. With many treatments of antiparasitic medications and with surgery, she overcame these hurdles. Had she been the only kitten left out on that country road? Had there been others? Just one litter.

Big beautiful Ben looks like a Russian Blue. I discovered Ben sitting in the neighbors driveway on the hottest day of summer several years ago. I had heard from the young girl next-door that there was a little gray kitten roaming the neighborhood. I decided this must be the one she was talking about. I tried to be tough. I did not need another cat. But when I heard his pitiful cries and saw him sitting out in the heat panting I just couldn’t leave him there. Where had he come from? Why wasn’t anyone looking for him? Were there others that needed to be brought in out of the heat? Just one litter.

Danni and Elliott, two tiny kittens found in a backyard on a cold fall night. They were found by the family dog who refused to go in the house until someone rescued these two tiny creatures. Cold and hungry, all they wanted was a warm place to be and food in their tummies. Just one litter.

Stanley and Iris, two of a litter of 5 kittens discovered under a building, cold, hungry and alone. Where had their mother gone? It is a hard life for a feral cat. She could have been hit by a car, taken by a bird of prey, mauled by a dog. The list goes on and on. Fortunately, their hungry cries did not go unnoticed and they were rescued. Now all five have been adopted into loving homes. But it makes me think about the orphaned litters that are not discovered. What about them? Just one litter.

One of the most heart breaking stories I have ever heard, though, is the one about a lone surviving kitten. He had been found clinging to the rim of a 5-gallon bucket. The bodies of his littermates were floating in the water that was put in the bucket to drown them. He had survived by standing on the bodies of his littermates and clinging to the rim of the bucket. He was cold, wet, terrified and hungry. He did not deserve this. Nor did his littermates. Just one litter.

There is a saying that goes, “We are responsible for that which we have tamed.” We are a species that is supposed to be intelligent enough to know better than to treat fellow creatures in this manner. We are a species that has the capability to show great compassion and caring. We have the capacity to love and show respect to those that share the planet with us. Let’s start doing it.

Now when I hear the words, “Just one litter”, I tell them that perhaps a trip to the local shelter would be a better educational tool for them. Show their kids what happens with just one litter. I tell them that if they feel their children really need the experience of watching kittens being born, perhaps they should foster a pregnant cat from the shelter. They are always wanting foster homes for their pregnant cats so those babies aren’t born at the shelter where they could possibly be exposed to disease. I ask if they have homes for these kittens and if not, perhaps they should take a look at the many, many ads in the local newspaper for free kittens and figure out how they will find homes for their kittens when there are already so many needing homes.

The stories told here are just a few of the many. Undoubtedly, there are countless stories left untold. Untold because nobody found the orphaned litter under the building or the backpack full of kittens, or the bucket of drowned kittens. Nobody found the tiny waif along the side of the country road. Nobody found them; and nobody cared for them; and nobody will tell their stories. They die unnoticed and unloved. Just one litter.


Sometimes, all it takes is a little bit of faith…


I work at a veterinary clinic as the receptionist. The day that I started working there, I had 2 dogs. Today I have 5 dogs, 12 cats, 3 rabbits a guinea pig and too many fish to count. I promised my husband that I wouldn’t let the cat count go over 12 (there have been up to 16 here at a time). The last cat that adopted me showed up in my back yard in the early spring a year ago…

I had seen her several times when I went out to take care of my rabbits. I would catch a glimpse of her tail as she dashed in and out of the corrugated fiberglass cover that my husband had put over his koi pond for the winter. I thought she was a squirrel—her tail was the same color as the squirrels that raid my birdfeeders and frequent the pond all year as a water source. Then one morning as I was in the yard tending the bunnies I got this strange feeling that I was being watched—it was very early—still dark in western South Dakota. My house is situated on a small lot and my neighbors are very close—I am often observed by the elderly residents that live in the apartment building next door to me when I am in my yard. But this felt so odd, I looked around but saw nothing—then I heard her cry. One soft faint plea for help. She was on the deck, sitting behind the lattice work that supports gorgeous roses and lush grape vines all summer. It was now draped with the remainders of last years’ growth—tangles of dried vines and brown leaves. I studied the deck for several minutes but saw nothing. After a few minutes I realized that there were a pair of amber eyes locked on to mine. Then she spoke again—this time a little longer and a bit louder. Softly I spoke to her—“Are you hungry sweetie?” She just sat there—stonelike. I went inside, opened a can of wet food, put it on a plate and scooped up a bowl of dry food. This took a few minutes, I figured she would have been spooked by something and would be long gone by the time I returned. When I came back outside she had not moved a muscle. It was like she knew—finally someone was paying attention and was going to help her. When I put the food down she went down the steps off of the deck and sat down again to watch me. Okay, I thought, she’s feral. She will maybe eat this meal and be off. I left the food and went back in to get ready for work. I didn’t think about her again that day or even the next morning until she repeated the performance of the day before. The bowl and the plate were empty. This time she let me pick her up and started purring for a few moments—then she jumped out my arms and sat a few feet away from me. She spoke again—a little louder, and with a sense of urgency and conviction. I again filled her dishes and went about my day. I did worry about her during the day because I had been listening to the weather report—one of South Dakota’s typical spring storms was predicted to hit the next day. I think my little visitor listened to the same broadcast. That night when I got home I bundled up my bunnies in their cages and looked for the little cat—she was in the same spot on the deck—watching me—intently. As I bent down to pick up the dishes she rubbed against my arm and looked pleadingly into my eyes. That one look spoke the plain and simple truth—“ Please help me—I’ve been on my own for months, there is a huge blizzard coming, and…I’m pregnant.”

I picked her up, took in the house and set her up in the apartment in my basement with a bed, a huge bowl of dry food, a can of wet food and water. My little apartment has been used as a maternity ward several times. I have lost track of the number of kittens that have been born here—they were all placed in good homes—a few stayed on here as permanent residents. I named her Faith—because she had a lot of it. The predicted blizzard showed up. But she , and her unborn kittens were safe and warm.

About a week after she moved in I figured out where she came from. There is a small house next door to us that had been empty for awhile—the owners moved out quickly on Easter Sunday. On my walk with the dogs one day I noticed that the door was standing open. I live in the historic district in my town. The neighborhood is a hodge podge of rentals and owner occupied homes—there have been several incidents of vandalism. So I thought that I would just shut the door. When I looked in the living room, I was amazed by the piles of stuff that were on the floor—clothing, furniture—you name it. Later that day my husband and went into the house and found the evidence of a cat having been there—broken carrier, empty litter box a spilled bag of litter in the kitchen. The owners had defaulted on the mortgage and had left quickly only taking the possessions with them that were valuable. Evidently a little pregnant cat was no more important than the old coat that was on the floor. She had been on her own for about a month before she made her presence known to me.

About 2 weeks after she came, on Mother’s Day, Faith delivered a beautiful litter of 6 kittens. She was an awesome little mother—so young herself, but managed her family quite well. So, now I had 16 cats in my house—not good. I started bringing the kittens to work with me to try to find potential adopters for them with not much luck. As they got older, I was getting worried. I can usually place kittens easily, but this time I was striking out. Then the veterinarian that owns the hospital I work at saved the day. Her parents live on a ranch and all of the barn cats were getting elderly and several had recently passed away. She said that her mom would take the entire litter. And what a home they would have! They have a mobile home on the property that is used for the cats. Imagine that—“barn” cats with their own house! Her mom goes down to the trailer every morning to have coffee with the cats-what a deal. I hated to see them go—they were all long haired fluffy beautiful cats, but I could not have any more cats. And I still had Faith to deal with.

After the kittens were gone, I started working her into the the rest of the population. But it didn’t go well—it is really hard to introduce an adult cat into an established society. There was a lot of howling, fighting, and urine marking. Needless to say, my very patient husband was getting a little testy about this situation. After she was spayed and vaccinated, I decided that my home was not the best place for her. Again, one of the other vets in our practice stepped up. She was also in need of a good barn cat and agreed to take her. So Faith’s story ended well—one of a very few that do. She was given a good home and all of her kittens found a wonderful place. They were all spayed and neutered so they will not add to the problem. As for the people who left their little pregnant cat behind—I believe that people are basically good, and that sometimes circumstances arise that make humans do really stupid things. I have forgiven them for abandoning their trusting loving cat. As we have all been taught since we were children…”and these three things remain: Faith. Hope. And Love. And the greatest of these is Love.” But in this case, it was Faith.



________________________________________

Essay for Spay Day Contest Officially Open.
Inspire others, including rural residents, to spay/neuter their pets or feral cats. Write an essay on that topic,  email your essay to doublehphorses@alliancecom.net
 Winners will be announced on Feb. 23, Spay Day!
Prizes include DoubleHP logo tshirts, notecards, and calendars
WHAT IS SPAY DAY?
Spay Day is The Humane Society of the United States' and Humane Society International's annual event to inspire people to save animals' lives by spaying or neutering pets and feral cats. Spay Day officially takes place on the last Tuesday of February—but events will be running all through the month! The 16th annual Spay Day will be Feb. 23, 2010.
This, from the hsus.org website. "Many people are surprised to learn that nationwide more than 3 million cats and dogs are euthanized in shelters. Spay/neuter is the only permanent, 100 percent effective method of birth control for dogs and cats."

There are hundreds and hundreds of Spay Day events scheduled throughout the nation in February. As of this post, only two organizations in South Dakota have received eligibility.
Our 501c3 nonprofit organization, Horse Help Providers Inc., and the other is Pet Pawz Clinic in Emery, SD
Pet Pawz is offering low-cost spay/neuter for dogs and cats Feb. 15-Feb. 27.
You should call them to schedule though. Phone: (605) 421-4855 or Email: clmews@yahoo.com

MORE ON THE ESSAY CONTEST:
If I were going to write an essay, I would probably tell the story of some of my rescued cats. Maybe Eli. Eli didn't always look like he does in that tree photo above.

This was my journal entry from Dec. 3, 2007, the night we found Eli in our barn. Looking like this:

This is Eli. Named Eli because he is thin and slimy and black, like an eel. He does NOT have rabies. And, he also is not wild. He magically appeared at my house though, as so many of them do. But when they are friendly and nice, I believe they deserve a chance.
Was he someone's house cat? Or what? He is skinny skinny skinny. And, well, snot everywhere. Eyes, nose, mouth.
I am going to tell you what makes me the most mad about this. What if I didn't vaccinate my barn cats? They would all end up like this. The Vet thinks we are dealing with a viral thing. Can't remember the name of it, but a very common thing to vaccinate for. And if my kitties weren't vaccinated, well, does this look contagious to you? I don't think living in the country means you don't have to spay and neuter. I know that some people have no idea where some of their kittens end up. THEY END UP LIKE THIS, OKAY? They go over to the neighbors' house and they make other cats sick! and it makes the neighbors mad! My barn cats are all vaccinated, all dewormed, all spayed & neutered. All of my barn cats are someone else's fault. But I know that if I don't take care of them, they will be sick and I will have kittens everywhere and they will be sick too. And then they will go over to the neighbors' house and make their cats sick too!

When we moved in here there were 6 wild female cats in the barn. Of course they all had kittens. I found new homes for 30 some kittens that first summer. We tamed a few of the mamas and got them spayed. The others just disappeared or stuck around and had more kittens, which I captured when they were 4.5 weeks old, not wild yet, and taught them how to be house cats and then found them homes as house cats. Eventually, after a few years, our cat herd was under control!

If I can do it, anyone can. It is important. SPAY & NEUTER AND VACCINATE YOUR CATS! Healthy barn cats can live for a long time!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Find us on Facebook (I think)

ok, I think we are on facebook but I'm not sure.
if you have a facebook account, could you check it out?
could you see if the fan thing works?
I set it up as a business account not a personal one so there are some differences.
but for those of you who are facebook pros, give me some tips please! thanks. Find us on Facebook

Sunday, January 17, 2010

DoubleHP annual meeting


(Photo by Wally Hortness)
Yesterday we had our annual meeting at Big Erns in Crooks SD. In this picture going around the table starting on the left are Heidi Skancke, Director & VP; Tina Hillman, Treasurer; Maurine Hortness, outgoing Secretary Treasurer; Darci Hortness, Director & President; Ila French, Director; Shanna Peters-Walters (you can almost see her), Director; Mike (Shanna's moral support); and Dawn Jamison, Secretary. Our DVM Director Steve Tornberg was away at a conference but is continuing on as Director for another year! We decided to have a booth at the SD Horse Fair in Sioux Falls in March. Heidi and Dawn are going to coordinate it. We will need shift workers for our booth. Let us know if you are interested.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Our New Hope Horses have their own blog

The horses who live at New Hope Horse Shelter have started their own blog. Link to it here. http://www.newhopehorseshelter.blogspot.com/

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Reason for new website


Our old computer finally crashed, and the new systems do not support our old website software. So, with the New Year comes a New Website! Plus, we are giving a name to our horse shelter located 3 miles north of Crooks South Dakota. This shelter serves as Headquarters for DoubleHP. We have named it "New Hope Horse Shelter." A long time ago, the town of Crooks SD was called New Hope. But it was later changed to "Crooks," after a Mr. Crooks who developed and did a lot for the town.
NEW HOPE sure has a lot nicer sound to it than Crooks though.
So that's our name: NEW HOPE HORSE SHELTER.

16 horses live here at New Hope Horse Shelter, including 10 who were rescued from starvation. We have promised them all that they may live here forever. Jet has serious trust issues from past experiences. King has Cushings. Moonshine is 28 years old. Princess is navicular. Butterscotch has an OCD lesion. Some of them cannot be ridden, but several of them have been trained as riding horses. And Prince, even though he had serious arthritis already at the age of 5, is a wonderful therapy horse for a little boy & his family.

In addition, we have adopted out nearly 50 rescued horses; and we've helped find new homes for hundreds of other horses through our networking and referrals.

Throughout all of this, we have remained true to our original mission: to offer assistance to law enforcement in emergency starvation cases involving horses.

The rescued horses who live here at New Hope Horse Shelter will stay here. They will never again be without food, water, shelter, health care, and proper training and handling. We don't have room for any more horses here though. Right now they each have a separate stall in the barn at grain time and during storms. But there is simply no more room. Even if we could build on, we have reached our limits on time and money too. We know our limits, which is one of the most responsible parts of animal ownership.

There are many ways you may help us care for the horses here, either directly or indirectly. In a big way or a little way. Donations, Sponsorships, Volunteers at the Shelter or at Fundraisers -- these are all greatly appreciated.