$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.

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

paypal to doublehphorses@aol.com

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.   




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.

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.

Bryna Helle, Paying it Forward, through the Parelli Education Institute

When Minnesotan Bryna Helle accepted her 2013 Internship Scholarship from the Parelli Education Institute, she promised that she would NOT pay it back. She would, instead, Pay it Forward. She promised that she would use her Parelli Education to help the world become a better place for horses and humans.

 

And so, on Oct. 4, 2013, just a couple of weeks after completing her Internship, Bryna arrived at DoubleHP Horse Sanctuary & Learning Center near Sioux Falls, SD. To Pay it Forward.

 

DoubleHP (Horse Help Providers, Inc.) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization for equine welfare; and Bryna spent 9 days there, nurturing natural horsemanship relationships between some of the sanctuary horses who live there and the human rescuers and sponsors who now love and care for these horses. Bryna did not charge a fee for this education. She Paid it Forward.

 

Bryna’s Parelli Natural Horsemanship Mastery / Internship Program lasted for 6 weeks in August and September 2013, at the Parelli Center in Pagosa Springs, CO.  Not just anyone gets in to this Internship program. There were six Interns, and how interesting that they are from six different countries: Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States (Minnesota, Bryna’s home state).  The six Interns concentrated on their own horsemanship and teaching theories the first and last weeks of the program. Their lead instructor was 4 Star Senior Instructor Kristi Smith from Iowa; they also got to ride directly under Linda and Pat Parelli! During the four middle weeks, the Interns served as Coaches for a group of 34 pre-professional Parelli students in the Fast Track.

The Interns were also selected to be the opening Savvy Team demo for the 2013 Parelli Performance Summit. One of their goals was to show what they can do as horsemen and performers, but Bryna says it’s much more than that. “It’s about the desire to inspire others; and it’s about the ability to function in a group, to be cohesive as a team 100% of the time, to know when to take the spotlight and when to give it to another team member. The team mentality among us (the Interns) was incredible, and I felt close to all of them after just one day.”
Bryna believes that the horses who come into our lives, come into our lives for a reason. Horses teach us life lessons, if we will stay open to learning from them. “Learning to Trust” is a life lesson that became a theme for Bryna during her 6-week Parelli Internship.  Trusting that her students would accept and explore the seeds of learning to further develop their horsemanship. Trusting that the Internship group would always function as a team. Trusting in her horse, in her horsemanship, in herself.
“Trust is what allows us to not micromanage our horses, to not micromanage our students, to not micromanage ourselves,” she says.
Aside from all of the lessons, tests, scores, auditions, statistics, theories, levels, etc., that help prepare Parelli Professionals for success, what does it really take to get along and get ahead? Here’s what Bryna suggests: “As Pat says, ‘Get up early, stay up late, and act like a partner.’ Be ready to shake hands with any opportunity that comes your way, because you never know what is possible and what might happen on the ranch. Plans change, sometimes spur of the moment, so be ready to stay on your balance point!”

So what’s next for Bryna? Education and more education! She recently graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, with a Degree in Environmental Studies and a minor in Psychology. She will soon apply to advance as a 3 Star Parelli Instructor. Currently she offers lessons and workshops both at home in Minnesota and away. (Maybe near you!)  During the Summer of 2014 she will ride under Pat Parelli in a Colt Start Course and a Western Performance Course. But on her way to Colorado for those courses, she plans to stop again at DoubleHP in South Dakota, for about a week, to Pay it Forward some more. To Pay it Forward to the sanctuary horses who live there (most were rescued from starvation) and to the humans who now love and care for these very special horses. These very special teachers of life lessons. These horses, who Pay it Forward every single day as they help humans figure things out. 

Links:

Bryna Helle’s website
www.brynapnh.com

 

Parelli Natural Horsemanship website

www.parellinaturalhorsetraining.com
The #1 Horsemanship Program in the World

Parelli Natural Horsemanship's goal is to help raise the level of horsemanship worldwide for the benefit of horses and the people who love them. By practicing the Parelli program to gain an understanding of horse behavior and effective communication skills, horsemen of all disciplines and skill levels are able to build solid, reliable foundations with their horses.

Founded by Pat and Linda Parelli, Parelli Natural Horsemanship is now the world's most popular horsemanship education program, with campuses in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, and hundreds of thousands of students in dozens of countries around the world.

 

Parelli Education Institute
(including Pay it Forward Program info.)

www.parelliinstitute.org

Dedicated to youth horsemanship, therapeutic horsemanship, and equine welfare. The Pay it Forward programs help the Parelli Professionals grow in their own horsemanship through real-world experience with a variety of horses and humans. Pay It Forward is a promise that you will use your education from the Parelli Education Institute to help the world become a better place for horses and humans.

 

 

Thanks ASPCA for our 2013 Equine Training Grant

Our grant report to ASPCA is due next week. A report about how we used our Equine Training Grant. I wanted to wait until Bryna Helle finished her Pay it Forward event here though, because it's all related.

It all started about a year ago, when we applied for and received an ASPCA Equine Training Grant. We wanted to have a Resident Instructor here to help some of our rescued horses and help some of our volunteers and sponsors who love and care for these horses here at our GFAS sanctuary.

In May 2013, Licensed Parelli Instructor Bryna Helle stayed here and provided lessons and workshops. Seven of our younger rescued horses received approximately 100 hours of training. Roman, now a big energetic 4 year old, received 26 hours with his partner Britt. We rescued Roman 3 days before the loose horse (slaughter horse) sale he was going to. He was a 2 year old then.

Lily, a beautiful 8 year old APHA mare, received 21 hours. Lily has become a great riding horse and has been on several trailrides. She was rescued from starvation as a 3 year old. Her friend died of starvation, but we were able to save Lily. Lily excels at riding and also at the "online" levels in Parelli Natural Horsemanship. She enjoys jumping and standing on pedestals and playing with the big green ball and things like that!

 

Rocky had several human partners in May and received 20 hours of training from our ASPCA grant. Here he is with his most regular current partner, Taryn. On the left is Parelli Instructor Bryna Helle with her horse Holly.

 

Jewel received 12 hours of training. Jewel still does not have a regular sponsor. she is a beautiful APHA mare (no spots though), about 10 years young. she does have some trust issues around her face and ears (she came here that way and needs a consistent human partner to help her get over it.) She is a beautiful mover and has been a riding horse at various times but needs a person to be consistent with her. So, we are hoping someone will want to consistently and long-term partner up with Jewel in our horsemanship program and help her through her trust/confidence issues. This is a photo of Andrea sharing some undemanding time with Jewel, during a lesson with Bryna Helle in May 2013.

 

 Minerva received 11 hours of training from our ASPCA grant in May. Minerva is already a nice riding horse. We rescued her as a wild, starving yearling. But she has come a long way. she has a long story including quite a few foster homes and even an adopter. But nothing really worked out for Minerva until finally we just brought her here to the sanctuary to live and trained her as a riding horse, at which she excels! But there is still a lot she can learn, she is so smart; so our ongoing, progressive horsemanship program is great for her. Here is Minerva with her current rider/sponsor, Lisa, during a lesson with Bryna Helle (and her assistant Emma) in October 2013.

 

Shadow received 10 hours of training in our May event. Shadow is a living miracle and is quite stunted from his starvation as a baby and again as a yearling & 2 year old. (this too is a long frustrating story, but officials gave him back to owners who starved him for a second year in a row. We finally got ownership of him and have promised him a forever home here.) Even though he is small and went through horrible times of malnourishment during his critical bone/joint development years, he IS sound so far. so we are riding him now, very lightly. He is a very smart boy and certainly does enjoy life now! Here he is with his friend Angela during a "Horsenality" workshop with Bryna in May. Angela has been a horse sponsor here for about a year now. She does not care which horse her sponsor money goes toward; she simply loves and learns from them all.

 

And our Beautiful Bella received 3 hours of special lessons with Bryna. Bryna was going to spend a lot more time with our Bella, but we are having some trouble keeping Bella sound. She is fine for several months, and then has a little lameness issue, an abscess or something related to her club foot. We have had her to the Vet several times and done xrays, etc. Just one of those mystery things that happens to about 50% of our young rescued horses who go through severe malnourishment during their critical bone/joint development years. Bella is available for sponsorship though and right now appears to be 100% sound. Here is beautiful Bella, with her buddy Shadow in the background. They are survivors together. They survived the same terrible years together, and we have promised them both a forever home here at our GFAS sanctuary.

 

Some of our other sanctuary and rescued horses received some lesson time with Bryna too, but these 7 were the biggest part of our ASPCA grant money.

 

So then, after Bryna left here in May, she spent a couple of months in Colorado and completed an Internship Program at Parelli Campus in Pagosa Springs, CO. She received a scholarship from Parelli Education Institute and promised to "Pay it Forward." (We are working on a separate story about this.) Bryna chose our organization to receive her "Pay it Forward" gift.

And so, from Oct. 4-13, 2013, Bryna and Emma and her horse Holly stayed here and gave lessons again for our sanctuary horses and some of our volunteers and horse sponsors. Bryna donated about 40 more hours to us and our horses.

 

Bryna plans to return here in May 2014 for about a week and is trying to secure another grant to again donate lessons and workshops for our horses and their sponsors.

 

And so, you might want to think about getting started in our horsemanship program here. And then you will be eligible for Bryna's lessons in May.

 

And it all started with our ASPCA Equine Training Grant. That's the way these things are supposed to work. And all of the other people who took lessons and observed our workshops, etc., they and their horses at home benefited too.

 

Do you Pay it Forward? I do! I am a full-time volunteer here, and I personally sponsor many of the rescued horses who live here (because we really don't have very many other horse sponsors right now). Thank you to our volunteers and sponsors. We are a small but mighty bunch! If you would like to help sponsor a horse or start our horsemanship program or help with chores, etc., give me (Darci) a call 605 359-0961 or email doublehphorses@alliancecom.net

The horses here sure Pay it Forward, every single day, they help humans figure things out.

 

Thanks to Parelli Education Institute and Instructor Bryna Helle.

Thanks to ASPCA for the Equine Training Grant

that got the whole thing going!