Stylish Sharon
after treatment and good food
after treatment and good food
Sharon at feed pail and trotting
Remmie the fat boy now!
Beautiful black bay Remmie after months of good food and deworming!
Remmie at fence
Kitten, Stormy, with Rachel and Zach
Such a hungry kitty! Wet, too!
My thoughts and prayers are with our friends in Iowa right now. One of ASAP's greatest foster farms for Ebony and Josie, two of our older mares, has been hit hard since they are right smack dab by Cedar Rapids. I have not heard anything in the past two days, but did receive an email saying they were okay at the time. Please keep Wendy and her family and the horses in your prayers as well. We were hit again, with flooding deep into our basement and our rather new roof did not hold up to the rapid rains which seeped through the ceiling in two rooms in our house. The seepage into the basement did not stop for days. The damage was so great that carpet had to be ripped completely out of one bedroom. The other carpet is stained and moist. The insurance adjuster was out a few days ago and we are keeping our fingers crossed. Thankfully, the lightning and thunder touched no horse or other creature around us. They are all present and accounted for and we have much to be thankful for when there are no casualties!
We have had some changes in our family with new foster children coming and others leaving. Change is always extremely difficult and adjustments are hard. I started a new job at a residential treatment center and day program serving students with special needs, specializing in programs for children with autism or on the autism spectrum. It has been a thrill to help them find work in the community and see how our local businesses extend themselves to give these youth the opportunities they are desiring to succeed in life! Some of these students are the same that we serve at the ASAP farm using horses!
The clinic in July is a worry to us, as we continue not to have a lot of advance ticket sales. Thanks to Mary Ellen M. of Madison, we have submitted two grant proposals for sponsorship! Thank you thank you thank you Mary Ellen! Let's see what happens ......... and I also submitted a sponsorship plea to Kwik Trip stores. Major companies have been contacted, as well as groups affiliated with the racing industry. Thanks to the USTA, who has committed $250 towards the John Lyons clinic! Any other ideas are welcome at this point.
Last week during the storm there was a torrent of rain through our valley. My husband and kids took a ride in the truck to see which roads were closed and survey any washouts. As they passed by a small Lutheran church with windows down, they heard a horrific "MEOW" and saw a small kitten dart from the church to the high weeds by the cemetary. Craig immediately stopped the truck and they listened -- more frantic "MEOW"s. With the urging of the kids, Craig parked the truck and they braved the thundering and clapping and rain to pursue the tabby and white baby. The kitten retreated deeper and deeper into the weeds, but still was crying out for help. With another lightning storm present, and rains increasing, they left the kitten to come back home and get some supplies to lure the kitten out, if possible. I took the wheel of the truck and took Keath, Zach and Rachel with me back to the scene. We could hear the kitten really screaming for help now, as the rains soaked her fur. We got out and slowly approached the area. I got on my hands and knees and Zach and the other two kids parted the weeds on the other side. Zach swore he saw a snake and jumped back. I was getting attacked by "burning weed", or nettles. The kitten desperately cried out but retreated and hissed. Soft voices, hands reaching out, the kitten finally considered her choices and took the chance for a large strange hand to scoop her up and take her to unknown places. We took her back home and dried her off and gave her warm food to eat. Zach and Rachel named her Storm. I have asked around the neighborhood and no one had a kitten, so she must be feral. Now she knows nothing but warm soft beds and good food and is learning to trust. Enjoy the pictures!
I thought it was also time for you to see updated pictures of the mare who, a couple of months ago, had no hair over most of her body, was skinny and forlorn - a return to our program from adopters who chose not to keep her. She is turned out with Remmie, our rescue, of sorts, from a local Amish man who still wanted $500 for the horse despite his emaciated, wormy condition. Remmie today is a horse who has so much energy that he may not be suitable for beginner riders any longer! I rode him at Duck Egg and Yellow River the past couple of weeks, and he wants to go go go go go go go. At 20 years of age this little guy has speed and agility like no other trail horse I have been on for awhile. What is even better, he does not spook easily so confidence levels taking him to many places make riding him a pleasurable experience. Pleasurable, that is, until last Friday when I got the bright idea to hook Remmie up to a cart to give a 15 year old young man and my daughter, Rachel, a nice easy cruise down the road. Harness on - horse didn't flinch. Bridle on - horse stood literally ground tied for the whole yawn-provoking experience. We walked the cart around the horse - didn't even blink. Unflappable, immovable, bored with the whole thing???? We took the cart and snapped the quick hitch into place. Nothing. Dead calm. Walked around. Nothing. Rachel and Keath got in - Jon and I up front to hold the bridle, "just in case". Keath took the reins. Walk......walk....hey, WALK!!!!!! Remmie did not want to walk. Remmie did not want to go slow at all. I tried to hold him back by the bridle and told Keath to pull back on the reins. NO RESPONSE. Remmie goes wild. I can't get his head turned to slow him down - the bridle is ripped from my hands.........he BOLTS. I am screaming for them to bail out of the cart if they can. Keath jumps. Bad idea. Rachel still on the cart and the horse is a runaway. Rachel looked back at me with that helpless look as I ran to catch up, screaming. Luckily, Remmie dives for the barn. Unluckily, the cart clips the side of the entrance and tips, and Rachel is thrown up against the doorway and bounces behind the seat, caught by the driving reins. Remmie takes out a post trying to get into a stall, bending the cart. I screamed for Keath to go in and grab Remmie and we tied him to a post in the stall while I despeately struggled to release Rachel from the grip of those hard leather reins before Remmie panicked and tried to back out. That surely would have killed Rachel. She is screaming and I am screaming - it is a scene like nothing I have ever experienced and all I could think of was how I did this to my little girl!!!! Thankfully Keath and I are able to free Rachel and I carry her away from the cart with her sobbing and holding her knee and arm. I checked for injuries........and those two angels of Rachel must have had a migraine headache, but the blessing was that Rachel had nothing broken. I have bruises and tears in my skin and a sore neck and back, but nothing else. Keath is unharmed. Remmie was shaking in the stall, still caught by a cart that won't budge and an extremely tight harness cutting into him. So Keath and I decide to unbuckle the harness on both sides and lift the shafts off of Remmie and lift the cart straight up. Remmie was tremoring all over his body. I knew he was scared too, for whatever reason. Part of me wanted to kill him and part of me wanted to find out what I had done wrong. I think the biggest crime I committed was trying to hold him back to a walk once he was hitched. It was like his brain went mad, not accepting a walk as an answer. All speed ...............great speed..........powerful speed........which I denied him and he was beside himself. Well, the cart was off and we surveyed the damage, which included a bent shaft and quick hitches bent..........but that is about all.
Enough for one day. Enough for a lifetime. I am a gal that belongs on a horse's back! Maybe in time I will revisit driving...but it had better be with a horse with three legs!!!!! I am just so happy that Rachel is alright.
We are trying to get to South Dakota this week on Thursday. If there are no crises we just might make it! Oh, also wanted to send you pictures of our latest excursion with Grandma Lee to see Daniel O Donnell - enjoy!!!
Susan
