Horses Going To Slaughter

I have so much to share about the weekend, but wanted to put out a plea
for anyone who can help:
There are two horses going to slaughter in a few days if they are not
rescued. These horses are Amish horses, one is a black Standardbred with
white socks and a white blaze, very gentle and loving.

The other is a half Saddlebrd/half Standardbred gelding - equally well
trained and gentle. A caring individual asked ASAP if we could locate a
foster home for them if she paid to spare their lives. I am going to do
everything possible to find a place for them to go - can any of you help?

Interesting - I have just been sharing with others that we are going to
begin a new focus with ASAP in the direction of a title similar to
"Hope for Amish Horses", or HAH......we are seeing more and more buggy
horses that have no recourse except for kill buyers when the Amish no
longer wish to use them to pull their buggies. We are hearing that at
many of the local sales in our area, Amish are paying to have their
Standardbreds trucked to sales, only to have them "no sale" because prices
are next to nothing, and even kill buyers may stay away from the thin old
work horses such as Standardbreds. The Amish need more resources for who
to reach out to when they have a horse that would be a great lesson horse
or pleasure horse. I am speaking with them more and more to keep word
circulating that we are available to assist them if they need it. This is
just a another part of the mission of ASAP - not only to help the track
horses, but the track horses who cycled through the Amish life before
needing yet another place to go.

If I can get pictures of the horses near Madison to you, I will!

Susan

Picture!

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Cobalt TB

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COBALT - Available for Adoption

We would like to try to assist this family in placing Cobalt through ASAP.
Though we do not currently have room at the farm for horses, we believe
that this horse is highly adoptable - if interested, be sure you have an
application on file with us!

Cobalt is 15.3, a dark bay thoroughbred from Ocala, FL, although he never
raced. As a 3-yr-old, he was Grand Champion and Reserve Champion at two
separate local shows, both with classes of 8 or more contenders. He was then
a part of various clinics with high level trainers. He was schooled as an
eventer, and has had some hunter/jumper training as well. He now is
schooling 2'6" beautifully, and 3'3" comfortably. He has an excellent
temperament and loves to work. He W/T/C like a "steady-eddie" on the
buckle. He can be trail ridden alone or with other horses. He needs to be
ridden 3-4 times a week consistently, and prefers to be ridden by the same
rider on a daily basis. Can be pastured alone, but prefers to be in group
situations. Currently with owners in Wisconsin.

DT

I spent a lot of time outside tonite - who wouldn't? Isn't it the first
50 degree day here in Wisconsin in forever??

I just became mesmerized by DT - ever since he came into the program in
2005 (and has come back once from an adoptive home, then bounced around
three foster homes before coming back here.....and wonder if he will ever
leave again since we don't want to put him through that at all!), he has
seemed like he could see into my heart.

Tonite he came over to literally love all over me. He was loving on
Stormy, our annoying farm cat who loves to jump on people and suck on
their coats, and even on Mayatuk. When I moved away he came back to me
and wanted to just hug. Brandy stood off in disgust of the entire
situation, even though she is usually one to insist on a good back rub or
butt rub. DT wanted it ALL.........

During the past two days I have given DT a lot of extra special attention,
since he came upon such hard times this past year. I think he knows I did
not intend to send him into the arms of people who would not adequately
care for him when times got a little tough. Thank goodness he ended up in
the right hands afterwards (thanks to our two foster homes that took him
in). The picture was taken last fall at Kelly's house, who took great
care of him before he came back to ASAP. Just look into those eyes - do
you see what I see? Precious!!!

Weekend Highs and Lows

Hello friends:

It was a fantastic weekend at the farm, but there were some really sad
events as well.
Friday found a school-to-work student here at the farm, who is progressing
so well in terms of learning jobs and initiating them all on his own. We
enjoyed the warm temperatures while loading and unloading hay, and playing
with the animals.

Saturday was a frigid 27 degrees. I went to get a load of donated hay
(thank you Ron and Diane!), then returned to see Ray and Alice who came
for the cart. It was so GREAT to talk with them. Many other visitors
came to the farm Saturday - too many to list here - but it was a hub of
activity to say the least! The absolute highlight of the day was a three
year old little girl who was as cute as a porcelain doll, and she was
accompanied by her relatives. This was a little girl who lost her mother
last week. Her mother was only 22 years old, and a very special friend
thought that getting a grieving precious little one out to the farm may
help lift her up. Thanks to Cobrador Kosmos, who provided the biggest
experience of this one's young life, by giving her endless rides around
the indoor arena. It is amazing how horses can help heal the deepest of
wounds in their own way. Cobra loved little Sapphire, and Sapphire loved
Cobra. Wish I had gotten pictures.

Later at night, while we were out to dinner with friends, our dogs ganged
up on an orange cat that we had had for at least seven years. The cat had
always been considered an outcast by our dogs, for some strange reason. Rachel heard the commotion in the garage and went racing to save the cat,
and she jumped into the safe haven of the cat box to shake off the attack.
Sadly, I went to check on her today, only to find her dead in the cat
box. I was so upset at the dogs..........and so sad for Sherbert. Blessed be her memory. Amazing, isn't it, that my 16 year old cat that
can't walk more than five steps without falling down, doesn't even phase
my dogs. In fact, we have several cats that bed in the same place as our
dogs, altogether. Why, then, would this one cat be such a target? I am
so sorry I wasn't there to help her.

Today I have been all thrown off by the time change. I was late to
church, then went and spent some hours with my mother. Home to go and get
more donated hay (thank you Ron and Diane again!), then to the lower
valley to feed the six we have there (thanks to Ursula C.) Wrapping up an
event-filled weekend, not looking forward to another long work
week.....but maybe great things are waiting to happen!

If you have not done so yet, please please check out my latest venture -
www.melaleuca.com/ps
You can join this month for only $1 (sort of a Sams club membership deal),
then enjoy 40% off the entire line of products that are shipped right to
your door! Earth-friendly, non-toxic products at the touch of your
fingertips - I most recently bought the shampoos and body washes (most of
what you buy at the store has carcinogens in it!)....and am loving the
Melaleuca company!!!

Hugs,
Sue

Friday High

It was a great day at the ASAP farm. It is so wonderful to get to spend
the entire afternoon with people who love being here with the horses and
animals as much as I do! Refreshing every time! It was a warm, wet day,
but still a day to enjoy a little bit of sunshine while performing the
not-so-fun chores like hauling hay bales, mucking stalls, and filling
buckets.
Still, all is well, everyone is healthy and happy, and spring cannot be
too far away.

Tomorrow promises to be a real thrill, as we will have a couple here from
only a few miles down the road who are using our indoor arena to practice
for an upcoming soccer competition using their mules! It will be so much
fun to see them doing their thing, while teaching me about Parelli
methods. Hope the kids take the time to come outside and watch! My mind
is already racing, thinking, "Which horse would like to learn this? Times? Cricket? Magnus?"

I am also going to get to see my friends Ray and Alice. They are coming
to pick up the cart that they donated to ASAP a couple of years ago- the
one that Remmie had an accident with that scared me away from driving
horses since that time. They hope to get it bent back into shape and
maybe give me a dose of courage to try driving again.

Sounds like we have a decision on costumes for the Midwest Horse Fair - I
believe the Stargrazing theme will find our family in Toy Story 3 costumes
- Jessie, Woody, Buzz, and maybe an alien and Rex should be a big hit in
the Kid's Korral area?

I am going to include a picture of my dear friend Lynette, riding her
Standardbred mare at Wildcat last summer. She calls her Ella, but she was
originally a Fox Valley filly, I believe. Lynette is going to help us
sell fly masks and fly spray at the upcoming Horse Sense for Special
Riders tack sale in La Crosse- thank you Lynette!!!

Seems like there was something else to say, but anyone who knows me knows
that I am never at a loss for words.........thank you to Lynn for her
adoption of Wildfire! And continued thanks to Marge for fostering Sadie,
Holly, and Kung Fu Guru. They are loving their pasture time, which they
did not have here!

Thanks to the Marohls for their donation of 100 bales of hay. We need hay
right now, and are really hoping for our emergency hay grant to come
through quickly. If we do not get the grant, I have a list of other
grants to apply for in order to try to meet the demands of feeding so many
horses here at the farm. I was tempted to ask each one of you to send
$2.50 on Pay Pal (or an even $3) - enough to buy one bale of hay for a
horse. If only every person who read this would donate one bale, wonder
how many bales we would be able to purchase?

Hope to have many exciting things to share after the weekend!

Sue

Monday Blues

I just got home from feeding the horses in the lower valley near Romance,
Wi (don't laugh - it's the turkey capital of the world - LOL). Strawberry, Steelin Apples, Little Jeffrey John, Bob Cook, Arne, and
Stylish Sharon are at the farm on a huge acreage where they were taken
last spring to graze. It was so great of the foster farm's family to
offer winter housing for the six, since we ran out of space at ASAP last
fall.

My concern is that Arne and Strawberry are becoming thin. I know that
Arne is one of the top dogs in the herd, but I am beginning to see his
ribs. Strawberry has always been a bit on the "plump" side, yet the five
Standardbreds seem to despise her and cast her away from the bale feeder
to the point where I have to carry her her own pile of hay.

I am not there to monitor their intake, and I am getting nervous. I
realize that unless more horses find homes I cannot bring Arne or
Strawberry back to ASAP to put weight back on them. So one of two things
has to happen:

1 - We have to find more foster homes or adoptive homes for horses here
2 - We have to get much higher quality hay and increase the amount we put
in the bale feeder each day.

I cannot say how disgusted I was with our last load of hay - large squares
that we had to pick through - some contained alfalfa but it was gold in
color and devoid of the nutrition I like to see. Can we please please
please get some good hay?

We are going to try some small squares tomorrow from a man down the road -
maybe this will do the trick. Still, I want to ask you to think of people
who may be considering fostering a horse or adopting - less numbers at
ASAP means more care for the ones who require it.

Thank you for trying!
Sue

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Hay, Anyone?

It is truly that time again..........we are down to three large square
bales and our hay supplier has no more hay left.

We are reaching out to any of you who are able to donate hay in any
amount, and are able to deliver. We can purchase a little at a time
outright until further funding becomes available. We may not know the
status of our grant submission to ASPCA for up to six weeks!

We want to thank Marge B. for pitching in by fostering 3-4 horses for
ASAP, and thank you to Nicole for her donation of $100

Also thanks to Mary E. for her donation of $200 this week - it will help
us purchase more food for horses in care!

Thank you for your tax-deductible gift when you donate!

Sue

Pictures of Fly Masks Available For Any Donation Plus Shipping! New In Box!

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Fund Raising News

Hello,

We finished a fund raising grant last night at 11:43 pm - whew!
It was submitted to the ASPCA - please say your prayers and hope we are
granted much needed emergency hay $$$

We also just launched a spring fund raising campaign, and you can
participate! I believe you can go to
www.flowerpowerfundraising.com
and place your spring order. For every order this company receives, they
give 50% to ASAP!!! We should be completely set up in the next 24 hours.

I will also be offering a free, brand new full size fly mask or bottle of
fly repellant that was donated by Absorbine Company (Young) recently. We
have about 5000 fly masks so remember, for any donation plus shipping, we
will gladly mail you out as many fly masks as you like. We have them in
black, red, blue, and green! I will post pictures by this weekend.

Everyone is doing well despite the cold, dragging winter!

Sue