Sunday, December 29, 2013

Thank you Christmas Volunteers Angela and Dave

Hard enough to find volunteer poop scoopers. But on Christmas? Angela and Dave didn't care what day it was. They both work in the hospitality industry, so they are used to it. After chores, we headed out to find the horses. It was a beautiful sunny day. Hope you enjoy the photos. If you click on them they will enlarge.
Angela, trudging through the new snow to find the herd.
   


"Here they are!"

Angela's current horsemanship partner Star. They just passed their official Parelli audtion for online Level 2. With a 2++ score. Fantastic!!!

Dave joined us.

Dave and Rocky

Angela and Prince

Butterscotch

Hero

Lovely Lily

Hero

Roman

Beautiful Bella

Shadow, Hero and Spirit

Shadow

Hero and Shadow

Prince

Prince always ends up in a lot of pictures

Prince

HotShot

Jet

Spirit has his stripes year round.

Shadow, he has beautiful friendly eyes

Well, Star, I gotta go now. See you next week!

Jewel

Saturday, December 28, 2013

$750 donated (so far) for HotShot's care in 2014

As you probably know, HotShot is our featured horse now through the end of January.
HotShot will turn 25 in 2014. Here he is looking great on Xmas Eve 2013.
 He eats a lot of Senior Feed and is one of our more expensive horses to care for. About $2,700 a year. That includes hay, Senior feed, bedding, farrier/hoof care, vet, vax, dental, deworming, fly/gnat protection. His direct care. This does NOT include costs related to facility, fencing, snow removal, labor/chore doing, electricity, grooming supplies, tractors, horse trailer & pulling vehicle, and all the other things involved in horse care/ownership. Yes, it costs a lot of money to properly care for horses. There are people who throw them out in a field and let them fend for themselves. Those horses will not live as long as well cared for horses. They will not be as comfortable, they will not be as healthy, and they simply will not live as long as horses like ours (average, not counting out of the normal things that may occur). There are many other horse owners/care providers like us. And they spend a lot more $ caring for their horses than the people who just throw them out in a field and let them fend for themselves.

So here's to all of the excellent horse owners/care providers out there. Thank you! May many others convert to this in 2014. Yup, it will cost more money. But we kind of think our horses deserve excellent care (this includes a building to go into for shelter from South Dakota winters, summers, bugs, etc.)

Thank you soooooooooooo much to people who are helping to sponsor HotShot's care in 2014. So far, we have Joanne S. who made Christmas gift donations for the Walsh Family and for John & Erica DeWitt. We have Gary M, and Carmen at BBS in Brandon. And our newest is from our friend & neighbor Val who donated in memory of her Mom Helen Woodhouse. So far we have $750 donated for HotShot for 2014. another approx. $2,000 to go but we have the month of January to work on it, before we switch to a different horse. Just scroll down through the posts to learn more about how to donate for HotShot. Thanks.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Some Christmas Eve stories from DoubleHP Horses

well, our 2013 Christmas cards finally arrived yesterday. Zazzle shipping was a bit slow this year. need to remember that for next year. The good news is we didn't put the year on the cards, so we can use them next year. Maybe even send them out early!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HotShot is our featured rescue horse in Dec & Jan. Please help sponsor him if you can. Thanks.
 
And now for a little Christmas Eve story about our Golden Boy, HotShot.

Twas the night before Christmas several years ago.
The humans were taking care of the animals, getting ready to go
to the City to relatives for presents and food.
Who knew that HotShot's face was about to come unglued!

HotShot and the old black Lab Sam were sharing a grain pan.
OK with HotShot, but not OK with the Sam man.

When what to our wondering eyes should appear
but a Black Lab flying through the air, oh dear!

Sam (with his teeth) had grabbed HotShot's nose
And HotShot's massive neck and head quickly arose
With Sam still attached, well for a while
Until the teeth lost their hold, and then Sam flew for a mile.

Well not quite a mile, but he did go up in the air
and then down to the ground without much of a care.
Sam was fine, went back to eating HotShot's grain.
HotShot, with a ripped & bleeding nose, was in some pain.

Great, an emergency Holiday Vet call
That bill will not be fun at all.

The Vet soon arrived, and sewed HotShot up.
HotShot, big and kind, was not even mad at Sam the naughty old pup.

In his stall with his herdmates, HotShot got some extra grain that Xmas eve night.
And Sam got to go back in the house if he promised not to fight
with anyone else, no fighting on Christmas Eve.
And the humans were just a little late when they finally got ready to leave.
For the city, to join relatives for presents and food.
And to share their new story, about how HotShot's face came unglued!

ha ha! that is a true story. Happened quite a few years ago. Sammy lived to be 14 or so. HotShot of course is still here with us; he'll turn 25 next year.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all "be careful with whom you share your grain pan."

Now, here is a less happy Xmas Eve story.
It's the story of our Saint Nick. And it happened on Xmas Eve a few years ago.
My sister Mickie shared this rescue with me.
She is on her way here right now, from Rapid City.
And while I love helping these poor babies like Saint Nick, I'm very thankful we don't have anything like this going on this year at Xmas time.
3-year old Saint Nick, dumped in the ditch a couple miles from our shelter, a few years ago on the Eve of Christmas Eve. Here is a link to the story. scroll down below several other stories at this link to find Saint Nick's story. http://newhopehorseshelter.blogspot.com/search/label/Saint%20Nick
 
Please spay and neuter your dogs and cats, and please do not allow your already neglected horses to reproduce. That is the case with Saint Nick. And while the owner was found guilty of inhumane treatment, the Judge did not understand the importance of ending the cycle of cruelty and irresponsible breeding that was going on where Saint Nick came from. And we know that irresponsible breeding is the main cause of animal cruelty. in cats, dogs, horses . . .
Please support sanctuaries and adoption organizations that understand this. Please support organizations that spay, neuter and castrate before they adopt the animals out. And that do not allow these animals to reproduce. The way it works with horses right now, if people cannot sell the babies for thousands of dollars, there is no financial reason to be breeding. Just think about that as you read through all the ads where people are trying to sell their young horses (that they caused to be born) for anything under a thousand dollars. All of those people should not be breeding. That alone would do wonders for the horse market. There would be fewer horses born every year, and so their value would increase. The horse breeding industry is one of the few industries to not yet have this figured out. 
This is what I want for Christmas: for all of  the irresponsible breeding to end. It's sad that our local humane society has to expand. More people moving in should mean more potential adopters, not more irresponsible breeders and neglectful pet owners. Is there more education that could be done? Maybe every time there is a news story about the need for bags of food at human societies, maybe that could be viewed as an unfortunate thing, not so much as a "kitten season celebration." Perhaps the main news story could be more info. about how/where/why to spay & neuter & castrate, and then at the end say "but until all animal owners are on the same page with this, there will be pet overpopulation and thus there will be a need for food donated for the new litters coming in. And hopefully next year there won't be as many, as residents continue to spread the word and educate each other on this issue."  Animal population control (by means of less breeding going on) really needs to become the number one priority. No more celebrating "kitten season." That is nothing to celebrate. And yes baby horses are cute too. But when their owners cannot afford to care for them, the cuteness disappears pretty fast. Take a look again at Saint Nick. This is what happens when people have more animals than what they can care for.
 
Now go on and have a joyous Christmas. We shouldn't have to think about these poor animals around Christmas time. But when the Holidays are in the past, and you start to think about new things for 2014, try to think of some little way you can help promote the idea of animal population control in our area. Mainly, that would be dogs, cats and horses.
 
If you don't feel you have time to really do anything like that, then please consider donating to an organization such as ours who has this as a mission. We have 14 horses, 17 cats, and 2 Labs here who were "other people's animals" before they found their way here to our shelter. These are not animals that we brought into the world. Other people did. And then they didn't take care of them and/or didn't take the time to find them good homes. So somehow the animals ended up here. Each story is different. And they are here now. They are home here. But we aren't embarrassed to ask for donations to help care for them. That is what 501c3 nonprofits do. They accept donations.
 
Send checks to DoubleHP, 25337 470 Ave, Crooks SD 57020
or use the Donate button at the top of this blog page.
 
thank you, and enjoy your Holidays with friends and family and the furry/hairy 4-legged beings in your life too. Hopefully, unless they are world champions and making you a whole bunch of money while at the same time being very well cared for, hopefully, your furry/hairy 4-legged beings are spayed/neutered/castrated too.   




Thursday, December 19, 2013

HotShot says "Thanks for donations"

HotShot says, "hey girls did ya hear? We got $500 in donations yesterday!"

Flicka looks kind of grumpy. She and HotShot were down there having a moment, and then Star came and divided the attention.
 
Much thanks Joann, Gary, and Carmen at BBS for the Xmas donations. That means we only need another $2,200 for HotShot's care in 2014. We have until the end of January. Then we switch to a new featured rescue horse.

Monday, December 16, 2013

HotShot, our "Golden Boy," turns 25 in 2014.

When we rescued HotShot about 20 years ago, the previous owners told us he was their "Golden Boy." HotShot had a group of owners and each had invested thousands and thousands of dollars in HotShot's breeding, training, and racing. But the Golden Boy got hurt and became useless and worthless. At the age of three. He was going to be destroyed. But we rescued him And rehabbed him. And 20 some years later here he is still with us. Nope his front legs aren't too pretty. Big tendon areas full of dot scars from the pinfiring long ago.
But he still runs and is sound most of the time. He loves his herd here and gets along with everyone.

HotShot turns 25 in January 2014! Will you help him celebrate his "golden" birthday by helping to sponsor his care in 2014? We will be featuring HotShot from now until the end of January. Then we will feature a different rescued horse in February.


HotShot is a big boy, an OTTB who is just under 17 hands. And, well, he has to eat a lot to maintain his weight. HotShot does well on pasture, and he will eat excellent quality grass hay. But he does require extra alfalfa and he eats 8 pounds of Purina Senior Feed every day, and that's in addition to all of his hay. Other than that, he is very healthy and active. He had a tooth pulled last month during his fall vet checkup. Otherwise his teeth are great! and he's on daily dewormer pellets too. He gets his hooves trimmed about every other month. We always used to put front shoes on him during the summer "fly-stomping" months. But the last few years we've just put fly boots on him and that greatly reduces the stomping and hoof cracking. So HotShot's biggest expense is his Senior Feed. He is one of our more expensive horses to care for, mainly because of his special feed requirements. He does not spend the night in a stall. He DOES spend some time in his stall each day, but at night he is out with the herd with access to a large building for shelter. We don't like to lock them up at night if we don't have to. So he doesn't use up as much stall bedding as some of the horses do. Here are our estimated annual expenses for HotShot.
Hay $800
Purina Senior Feed $1,000
Vet checks and vet care including dental checks, sheath cleaning, deworming, vaccinations $400
Hoof care, hoof trims/farrier, biotin supplement $200
stall bedding $300
fly/gnat protection (boots, mask, spray, ear ointment, etc) $40

So that adds up to $2,740 for the year. Yup, he's a Golden Boy alright. That turns out to be about $7.50 a day I guess. Or about $230 a month. Or round it off to $2,700 for the year for our Golden Boy.

Would you like to help sponsor HotShot in 2014?
You may send checks to DoubleHP, 25337 470 Ave, Crooks SD 57020
or paypal to doublehphorses@aol.com
or use our Donate button right here on our web-blog.

for questions or suggestions you may comment here or email doublehphorses@alliancecom.net.
If you would like to drop off a donation in person and visit our shelter and meet HotShot and the rest of the herd here, we can do that too. just email us to set up a day and time for your visit. and bring your camera and we'll take some photos of you with HotShot!

When we get a donation, we post a thank you here so you know we got it. Feel free to give us specific instructions for your donation acknowledgement. for example, do you want your entire name mentioned? the amount of donation? first name and city/state but no last name? anonymous? In someone else's name or in memory of someone or a pet? whatever you want we can probably do it. If we don't get any special acknowledgement instructions, we will list your first name and city or city/state.

To read more about HotShot, go here. http://newhopehorseshelter.blogspot.com/search/label/HotShot

Buy items in our Zazzle store from here. http://www.zazzle.com/gentlereins*

Like our facebook page here. https://www.facebook.com/newhopehorses?v=wall


About this blogger

So, I added a new page to our blog. It's called "About this blogger."

http://www.newhopehorses.org/p/about-this-blogger.html

It explains a bit of where I'm at in this crazy adventure of horse rescue/welfare/education. It explains that for the first time in many years I am making a New Years Resolution. It will be fairly easy to evaluate and measure. You will see this blog become more active again. I used to have quite a following here. and then I started that facebook thing which has been great too, but I sort of forgot about blogging. And I love blogging so I'm going to get back to it. You will see this blog become more personal again. I blog here as myself and do not represent our organization, directors, sponsors, volunteers, etc. Just me. We need to raise more money for our rescued horses. And so I will be featuring a different horse each month. Right here on this blog. Please join me. I think I will start with HotShot; he will turn 25 in January! And if you don't mind, could you try to leave a comment every once in a while and let me know if that function works easily or not for you. you may always email me at doublehphorses@alliancecom.net to let me know if the "comment" function is easy or not. There are lots of new features to Blogger that I have no idea about, so I'll be doing some research and adding some new features I hope. And I won't be forgetting about our facebook page. We have nearly 4,000 Likers there!
What! You're not a Liker yet! go here and Like. thanks.
https://www.facebook.com/newhopehorses?v=wall

We all have preferred ways of communicating. For me, my favorite of course is with the horses. Nonverbal, in-the-moment-yet-for-a-lifetime type of communicating. Another of my faves is blogging -- informal yet educational. Yup always a teacher at heart. So, I hope you will join me here from time to time. thanks,
Darci Hortness, volunteer resident manager of New Hope Horse Shelter.