Thanks to Many

As we wind down the year, we receive a few more donations in the mail that we are very thankful for. Large or small, each dollar received benefits the horses! More hay is possible, more feed, a hoof trim, more dewormers, extra for the vet payment!
So thanks to the following most recent contributors:
Pat Mouw and Charle RL - Illinois
Lisa and Collin Garvalia and Rocky, Peggy and Ron Garvalia, Kurt and Carrie Begalke Genoa WI
Dawn Meyers and Finale's Fooler - Bangor WI
Bob Armentrout - Genoa
Lynette Laska and friends and Maureen Anastasia - donation of time and tack!
Judy and Jessica King - Stoddard, WI - volunteers!
Amy Anderson and Mc Lock and Lucky - Genoa, WI - volunteering some time and riding Chevie Silverado and R Colelateral
Andrea T for providing the necessary vet care and surgery for Spect's Solution
Bonnie Falkowski for offering to take in Flaunting It
Kickapoo Carriages for offering to take in a horse or two for foster or adoption
Sue LeFebvre for her donation of a carriage!
Ray and Alice for their generous contribution (Penguin Beware, Sunny Forecast, Pistol Pete N and Mini Happi Times mom and dad!) - you guys!!!!
Trudy Mara - Baraboo (Jumbo Shrimp's rescuer)
Lori Hahn Wiedemeyer
Mary Dyroff and Friendly Explosion (this horse deceased but his memory lives on)
Eric Mandelbaum - New Jersey

Without any end of year donation from IHHA, we were concerned about the state of ASAP - but with your support we are able to continue. Thank you all so very much - I will continue to post more donations as they are mailed out!
Other than the ice, all are doing well and eating well. Timesareachanging is up to his usual shenanigans, Taser Gun is looking better after being bullied by Times in November (they are separated right now), Chevie Silverado does not like ice and tippy toes everywhere he goes, and all appear bored but healthy.

Ring in the New Year - I am ready for spring!
Happy New Year,
Susan

PS - if any of you are facebook members, look for ASAP and me and let's become friends!

Update on Spect's Solution and Flaunting It

Hello!
I know many of you are asking the status of the two horses we took back that were in such horrific condition. Thanks to Andrea for stepping up and taking Spect's Solution back for diagnostics and treatment. We did not know the extent of the leg problem until yesterday.
Xrays and tests revealed that the injury that was incurred in May or June of this year had not healed for a reason - the infection is still rampant in that leg, and, unfortunately, has gone into the bone. He will undergo surgery this weekend to remove the infection - please whisper a prayer for Spect for a speedy recovery.

Flaunting It continues to put on weight. She is so cute when she spies us coming out the door towards the barn - she now nickers to us, hoping for more of that good stuff (treats, feed, etc). Bonnie F. who has several ASAP horses has volunteered to foster or adopt Flauting It. We are taking our time to make sure she is dewormed and fully evaluated so that if and when Bonnie takes her she will only have to worry about food and love and nothing more. Flaunting It is really soaking up all the attention and affection!

Two days until Christmas Eve - thank you all for your support.

Susan

Good People

Just a quick update for everyone...........God is good and there are good people in the world who see the damage other humans have done and want to help. Thank you to Andrea and Shannon for taking Spect's Solution to get him evaluated by a top notch veterinarian and treated. He will return once he is on the road to healing.

Thank you to Lynnette and Amy, who came down Saturday. It was fun spending many hours together talking Standardbreds and horses in general........sharing stories, and thanks for helping me fill tanks, muck stalls, and especially thanks for helping me bring Miss Molly P and Chevie up and in stalls for the night. Molly left this morning for the trainer. I cried. She stood, haltered, like a stone in the barn. I felt I had let her down, having her standing around our place for so long without working with her. Still it is selfish to keep her here where we cannot work on her trust issues in a consistent manner. She is a liability for the children that come to the farm - she kicks and strikes. So it was for the best, but Chevie was very upset and it made me feel guilty for taking her from him. Thank you Heather (also has Ain't Nothin New at her place).

Sarajevo is off to foster care - depending on how the family gets along with her she may be adopted. Thank you Sabrina!

Flaunting It is still here. I de=loused her yesterday. Plan to carefully worm her this week. It is amazing but true - she has gained weight since coming several days ago! If this continues, we realize that most of her condition was simply due to a lack of food and shelter - NOT ACCEPTABLE. Emily brought down some spray-on solution for rain rot - will get to that tomorrow. Thank you Emily! Thanks Bonnie and Deb for stepping up to want to help this old mare, too!

Every one of you are amazing. And special thanks to Ray and Alice and Andrea and Deb D. for your donations this week - we've got hay!!!

More pictures to come!
HO HO HO
Susan

On the 9th Day Before Christmas................

I will try to keep my patience, my savvy, my professionalism, my cool...........
People ask ASAP why we retain lifetime ownership of horses - I guess with the pictures we are going to show you, you will see why.
How many horses are released to adopters and never followed up on? How many horses are "released" to adopters after 2-3 years and then forgotten? The horses you are about to see were in adoptive care seven years (Flaunting It) and about the same for Spect's Solution. Spect had a horrible beginning after racing with one bad adoptive experience. ASAP came to his assistance and a fantastic adopter was found for him. She had him for many years until a riding injury in 2008, when she decided it would be best to find Spect's Solution another home. Thinking Spect may be happier as a driving horse, he was rehomed. This year we received a call from the adopter, telling us Spect had received a horrific injury to his front leg. The vet was called and immediate vet care was given. Thinking all was okay, ASAP went about its business, until this fall. The adopter decided to return Flaunting It, Spect's Solution, and another mare he had adopted in 2008. They arrived tonite - and I cannot tell you how angry, disappointed, and exasperated we are. It does not happen often - in fact, Bart's A Bad Boy and Race For Home returned back to ASAP two weeks ago in the best shape of their lives. You can tell they had impeccable care.

The horses you will see now are in need of TLC - food, deworming. and vet attention for Spect's leg. We are just grateful that they will have a chance to thrive once again, and that ASAP can be there for them when they have NOT had the best of care.

Each and every rescue and adoption program is faced with tough decisions about placement of each horse. ASAP does its best to make sure each horse is well cared for. Horses are tracked, and believe me, there was a LOT of communication with this adopter before he dropped them off at the farm. This adopter was not necessarily happy with ASAP, but we will not accept the condition these horses were in and insisted they be cared for. Your thoughts and prayers are coveted as we continue our mission of lifetime care for the horses!

Thanks

I want to thank Heather for opening her heart and her home to Chevie Silverado and Goodnight Starship. As it turned out, Chevie was just not a happy horse at Heather's farm, and needed to be brought back to ASAP. Thankfully, Heather was able to take in Bart's A Bad Boy and Race for Home! They are very happy with their beautiful horses, and Heather is very lucky to have such nice horses for her family.
Chevie will hopefully find the family he is looking for - in the meantime, Amy will have fun riding him here! On a side note, Chevie was never misbehaved under saddle. He has been very accepting of different people riding him, so he is well on his way to being a great pleasure horse. Now to find out WHO is going to be his forever family.

We are particularly worried about Spect's Solution, Flaunting It, and Sarajevo, who will be brought here this week unless we can locate placement for them. Please please consider giving them a home if you haven't already. Spect's Solution is the smallest of the three. He was a great driving horse - inconsistent riding horse, but has done trails and pleasure. Sarajevo has been driven quite a bit these past months - is accepting of riders now - a beautiful mare. Flaunting It just needs a place to enjoy the last 10-12 years of her life - very complacent, although she doesn't like to be caught.

Attached please find a copy of a fund raising letter we are sending to as many people as possible. Thanks for your continued support! Pictures include Precious KC on one of her last springs at the ASAP farm with Mayatuk next to her, Haiaku and me before his passing, Sarajevo the trotter who is urgently needing placement, and Bob Cook, our long term sanctuary horse.

Dear IHHA Board, ASAP Adopters and Supporters:

First ASAP would like to extend its most heartfelt sympathy for the weekend fire at Lebanon Ohio that left two people dead and (from what we have heard) 43 horses that also perished in the flames. There is a facebook page where you can contribute to rebuilding barn 16 - donate if you can. My parents lost everything to a house fire ten short years ago. Luckily, my mother was not at home but the house, the cat of 13 years, and everything inside including a safe with cash inside, was a total loss.
Fire is horrific and devastating - unforgiving and relentless. It makes me scared to think about - but we must, to prevent one in a house or barn if at all possible.

We currently have 24 horses standing outside our barn. We also have two round bales and about 20 small squares left, with no clear answer on who will be providing more. It is enough to provoke a panic attack - realizing I do not have the means to transport hay because we do not have a big enough trailer, a storm is coming, and other farmers are also busy this time of year. I hope and pray we do get a load tomorrow, but such is life at the farm, where we must feed hay 24 hours a day and seven days a week to at least 15 at a time.

We are a lifetime placement program. ONLY ASAP and SRF in New Jersey are lifetime placement programs, while all other programs to our knowledge relinquish ownership of horses within six months to 3 years. We could show pictures of horses who were returned to ASAP after 3-4 years away - our dedication to them for a lifetime is sometimes painstaking and requires private investigators or special and talented individuals who are invested in the horses as we are. Attorneys offer assistance when needed. It is necessary to track these horses for a lifetime - after being in business for 16 years we do know that contracts mean nothing unless the person signing them are honest. People "forget" what they sign, or "misunderstand" when it is convenient. Still, at no salary or wage, we endeavor to protect all horses referred to us for a lifetime. We have no regrets about this to this day.

Sanctuary horses? Let us never forget the ones who inhabited this farm for years. Horses were misrepresented as sound when they, in reality, were literally on three legs or ill. Innocently and sincerely, thought we realized something was wrong upon arrival at so many stables, we loaded up those horses and brought them home to do our best by them. Such horses included Precious KC (made $90,000 before she became lame), Arne (made $50,000 before he broke his hock), You and Me Forever (sulfur smells horrid coming out of a horse's nostrils...........colic many times over and only 3 years old.......finally lost her battle with internal problems before age 4), and Brad's Man - named after Brad Farrington (picked up at Maywood in 1993 with a stifle completely shot). Brad's Man traveled with me to U of M for diagnostics. Many vets believed he should be put down, but we kept him for a period of almost two years before he could stand no longer.

Other horses we had knowledge of that we agreed to provide care for were Bob Cook (broke his foot several years ago but never healed to the point of being sound), Free To Go (herniated), and the beloved Haiaku (I will go to my grave remembering our daily care of this great gelding and the appreciation he showed in his eyes). Haiaku had a fractured hock and over the years the other hip/leg slowly degenerated. Haiaku fought a long, hard battle while experts from Texas flew in to try to fit him with braces and other orthopedic devices at no charge to improve his quality of life. Haiaku left us two years ago - and I still cry over him.

It isn't easy being "ASAP". Over the years I have probably lost some time off my own life out of grief. Brown Sugar Babe, a rescue mare from a feed lot in Cannon Falls, MN - one of the loves of my life - left our farm for what I thought would be a great new home - only to die within three weeks after leaving. She had been rehabilitated here and had bonded with Haiaku and Precious. She looked good and was very happy. I was scared to let her go, but Craig stated it was time. A portion of me wonders if she died of heartbreak? The voice over the phone the night before she was to return to ASAP stated, "I think she misses all of you and is homesick". Yet, it was too late to ever know. Why did she have to go?

Yet we carry on with boundless stories of happiness and partnership between adopters and the horses we serve. There is the hope in the goodness of people stepping forward, and those people making a commitment to their pets. I have come to realize over the course of my own life that not many people view horses as part of the family. It would appear that there are many horses returned to ASAP over time. Some people ask why that is? Simply stated, when hard times come, a horse is a big expense. Whether you are boarding or keep a horse in the back pasture, they still must be vetted, trimmed, and fed. When medical problems arise or there is a death in the family, priorities must change. It is inevitable and understandable. We are happy to attempt to assist people in finding new and wonderful homes for their horses. We often are unable to make this happen overnight. We need time. We appreciate and adore your patience. An option for all people if they MUST relinquish their horse is to recruit your own adopter in your area. The only specific detail that must be followed is that any person acquiring an ASAP horse must have been approved through the application process. Thank you for understanding and respecting things for the protection of the horse.

So who feeds Bob Cook, Arne, Brandy, Strawberry Jacki, Steelin Apples, Miss Molly P, Chevie Silverado, Stylish Sharon, and the other sanctuary horses living out their days at ASAP? That is where you can come in - to stretch out your hands to these horses who are in need of support. We have asked the racing industry's organizations, and now it is time to ask you. Remember that anything you donate goes directly into the fund that feeds the horses waiting for homes at ASAP. If you prefer to sponsor a horse at a foster farm (for example, Sugar, Thunder, FV Terror, and Comet who are all near Madison), let us know! We can help you make the connection to make that possible. We have other foster homes in Wisconsin and Minnesota and Illinois that would also love the support. Please, this holiday season, help if you can! Let's get through this most challenging economic period together. We simply cannot exist without your assistance this year.

Loving the horses,
Susan

Available for Immediate Placement

As emergency circumstances arise, I will post horses who are being returned to the program that ASAP cannot accommodate.
Though our cries about being overpopulated at the ASAP farm go ignored, maybe someone who already is approved will step up to assist us by providing temporary or permanent housing and care for the horses who have nowhere else to go.

The following horses are being returned, via a phone message left earlier today. Matter of factly, without any consideration for the status of ASAP and our ability to provide for the many horses being relinquished, horses are pouring in weekly from people who have encountered personal situations that make it inconvenient to keep their horses. Not impossible - but inconvenient. Here's the current list:

Flaunting It - 19 year old broodmare originally donated by Harmony Oaks Stable - Flaunting It is a dark bay, very quiet mare to ride or drive. She is healthy and sound - but age is going to make it more difficult to place her. She does not like to be caught- this is her only vice.

Spect's Solution - 14 year old STB gelding - on the smaller side at 15-15'1 hands. Nice bay with beautiful head. Spect rides and drives - prefers driving to riding but has done trails.

Sarajevo - trotting mare - beautiful bay - has white marking on face that is in the shape of the state of Illinois! Sarajevo is sweet and willing - drives and has had some riding experience. Sound. Healthy

Honey Fitz - remember this gelding? Made about a half a million before retirement. Honey Fitz is dark bay - has had years worth of trail riding experience. Honey Fitz is so well trained that if he is hauled to a state park and two other horses are being ridden and there are no riders for Fitz, they simply let him go loose and he follows his buddies on the trail without wandering!!
Honey Fitz is 18 this year and has been with the same adopter for several years.

King's Royal Fella - light bay STB gelding - beautiful face with white star and white snip on nose - friendly and loving and affectioniate to everyone around him. Low in pecking order in herd. The only vice King has is when shipped great distances he may stress colic. This happened on one occasion when he traveled to Kansas for a trail ride about five years ago.
Currently pastured with Honey Fitz and A Team Hall

A Team Hall - Standardbred gelding - 15 hands tall - solid bay trotting horse. Ridden by a young woman for two years who had limited riding experience - has been on trails all over the midwest and in parades. A Team has not been cantered but has been a solid riding horse at the walk and trot, even at a fast rate. Pastured with Honey Fitz and A Team Hall.

Please help us, everyone! We are in a delicate situation currently.

Susan