Pictures

Here are the picturesI promised - from Carriage Classic to Vernon County Fair - horse shows, kittens in barn manger, and more!

Please Give

We are once again in a financial crisis.
Adopting horses is one way that we are able to provide for all of the horses still waiting for homes.
When adoptions are slow, we must reach out to ask for assistance.

If you are unable to make a donation, think about logging on to ameaningfulgift.com
A portion of the proceeds of sales of items on this site will go to ASAP.
There are great gifts for animal lovers - great Christmas gift ideas, etc.

Please think about making a contribution using Pay Pal.
Even if you are only able to donate $5 a week - it would mean so much to have each donation add up.

We are now trying to lease our arena in order to pay bills. We hate to see our arena, designed for training horses, giving lessons, and storing hay turn into a storage place for boats and RV's, but at this point we have no choice.

We are also trying to sell our six horse Featherlite slant-load aluminum trailer, and downsize to a four horse.
Please contact me if you are interested.

Other ways to help include online shopping at the Country Supply site - a portion of sales go to ASAP.
Also, how many times do you google something? If you think of it, going to goodsearch.com means a penny from every search goes to ASAP.

Last but certainly not least, please please please go to www.theanimalrescuesite.com and click on the tab at the right called
the Great Shelter Challenge.

Type in American Standardbred and the state WI and you will see our name come up. You can vote once per day starting now.
Please don't forget us! We need you!!

Susan

It's a Joint Effort

AAAAHHH - the county fair is over.
Super Night has come and gone.
Carriage Classic is now 9 days past - where does time go?

Congratulations to my children - Zachary and Rachel - for their hard work and dedication to their pets during the fair.
We showed two rabbits, two cats on Thursday night, and one wonderful Standardbred horse known as Remmie.
Zachary took a white ribbon on his rabbit Thumper. Who was to know that white rabbits with blue eyes and lots of black spots on their ears were basically utterly undesirable by judges? Live and learn! Rachel's rabbit, on the other hand, took a first place in her division (Lop-eared doe under six months). Rachel's bunny is brown with a white cottontail. The judge loved her.

The cat show was a scream! The judges were warm and friendly - helpful - and comical. They gave out trophies for such things as longest tail, scariest face, cuddliest, and so on. Zach showed Oreo the black and white domestic short-hair, and Rachel showed Adam (formerly an orphaned kitten who was the only one in his litter to survive distemper, and bottle fed by us). Adam is a short-haired tabby cat. Well, the kids did well again! Zach got a red ribbon for Oreo and a trophy for shiest cat, and Rachel took a blue ribbon with Adam!

Zach won second place for his picture of domestic animal (Magnum in the creek), and a white ribbon for his landscape picture (water with no buildings).

And last but not least, Rachel took home the trophy for the walk/trot class on Remmie! She also took a blue for the costume class, and a red ribbon for the halter class. She placed a first in something else (can't remember which class), but the 4-H club took home a merit award for Rachel and the other members' hard work in keeping the area clean, horses fed and watered, and
horses exercised. During the four day stay at the grounds we were once again chosen by the man upstairs to have three kittens under the manger board in Remmie's stall discovered. The mother, a feral cat, was scared away by the fair activities on the first day. She must have come home at night to nurse them, but by noon the three kittens were screaming for her loudly. Remmie put up with the incessant meowing, but others had a tougher time tolerating it. After much debate, and a report from another woman saying that the fair groundskeepers will kill the kittens if found because they hate feral cats, we called Tabby Town Cat Rescue. Marie and I met at 3:30 outside the gate and I handed over three very hungry baby kitties to her rescue.
The very neat thing is that they have set live traps for the mother, hoping to find her. If they do, they will bring her back to their place and she will have a whole room to herself to be with her kittens. Then today I got an email telling me that the fair groundskeepers asked them to remove the live traps. This is very upsetting to all of us, as we know there is a cat desperately searching for her kittens right now, and no one at the fairgrounds appears to care. We'll keep you posted.

Thanks to Alice and Ray H. and Danielle S., Super Night was a huge success. I managed to get a heavy box with display materials down to Ray and Alice in time. They had the privilege of bringing Pistol Pete N to the track to share with the public during the races, and got to hand out brochures to anyone interested in adoption. Danielle manned the table down near the clubhouse/race office area outside. Alice said each time she looked Danielle seemed to have someone at the table. We were also part of a live interview done by Joshua Potts, thanks to Danielle!!! Joshua reported to me that Danielle did an absolutely excellent job of representing ASAP. The 60 second dvd was shown in between races to promote ASAP. We are very grateful to Debra from Balmoral for all of the assistance and support this year! And Danielle and Ray and Alice - you are tops!!!
Ray and Alice, in addition to all of the above, even went out of their way to haul Cam's Matte Finish to their place after they left the track that night. ASAP is made up of many many people - it is such a great feeling to know that you are out there for the horses! Thank you again and again.

The Carriage Classic was very interesting, and thanks to Mike Rider, we were able to have a table set up there for the weekend.
It was a first time for me to see the events at the beautiful Villa Louis. The best thing about being there was seeing Ray and Alice, who had traveled from Gratiot to Prairie du Chien to watch the driving classes. I have never seen such elegance and beauty. The carriages were superb! There was only one Standardbred in the entire show that weekend, and it was a half Standardbred at that. Maybe us being there will create some interest? We can only hope. My mother was a trooper that whole weekend, going back and forth with me two days in a row. She really enjoyed her chat with Ray!

So now is the time to recoup. It feels good to be back at work and back in the routine. There are horses to ride! Timesareachanging had his first saddling and ponying experience two Sundays ago. We took him on trails, roads, and across fields and creeks. He did about six miles that day and was very well behaved! I almost think I could have ridden him!

I will send pictures.
Updates on horses:
Wawatassi adopted!
Allie in second foster home.

MANY HORSES NEEDING PLACEMENT.
We are only $300 behind on our feed bills at this point after a tough summer. We are praying for enough donations or adoptions to get us paid up on hay and feed and vet bills. Thanks to Laurie for her donation towards Chevie Silverado's vet bill!!

Soon,
Susan

Long Time

I am surprised how quickly time passes in between my posts. I have had a few adventures since August 27. Some have been good and some have been not so positive. It has stretched me in terms of what I can handle as a horse woman, and what is not fair to expect. It has made me questioned my own ability to train horses when I am not spending enough time with each one. Craig keeps telling me that I need to just choose one horse as "mine" and stick with that one. As it is right now, R Colelateral has been "my" horse for three years. However, as I have moved more into riding Cricket and working with Taser Gun and, now, riding Timesareachanging, Cole has become more herd bound, difficult, and harder to manage.

Our two day camping trip to the Kickapoo Reserve found me fearful on the trails on the second day. Cole was insisting on being in the lead, but when he got there was afraid of everything invisible under the sun. Combining his spooking with his attitude when I held him back when he wanted to run (hunching up, crow hopping), I was not having any fun. I cried "whoa", got out of the saddle and stood, holding him, sobbing. I explained to the kids I just was not having any fun. I envisioned Cole as a horse that was harnessed to a two-wheeled cart and could literally fly down the road. He would be so happy. Maybe the problem with me is that I am trying to make him into a pleasure horse but that is not part of his character. Maybe I am just looking for excuses to give up. I am really confused at this point. I have taken him out here at home and worked with him more often. I am teaching him how to flex and bend - he has to be the most stiff-necked horse I have ever worked with, which makes him harder to manage when I am riding him. A gal came over to adopt two horses two nights ago, and picked him out of 19 horses because of his affections towards her and his friendliness. She tacked him up and got on and rode. As long as I was around walking with them or trotting, he was fine. I left to help her get a feel for her without me around. He became quite obstinant and barn sour. She said something that made me think. She said, "You sure can tell he is YOUR horse and you are HIS person". There..............now what does that do for my conscience?
I don't want to give up! The same goes for Cricket and Times and Taser. I just have to focus my energies more and do more of the boring ground stuff and daily work and not expect each horse I get on top of to automatically be wonderful on any trail in America I decide to explore.....

We have had a long run of beautiful weather. We live in a part of the country where we are afraid to know what the next day is going to bring, because we usually never have five days of sunshine in a row. Craig would love to move so we don't have to experience another winter, but the two remaining kids at home don't want to go. Coming from a home where my father never thought twice about pulling me up by the roots twice a year to go from California to Wisconsin and back again, I don't wish that on my worst enemy. I want my kids to feel rooted and stable, safe and happy, with the same friends and the same environment that they know and love. I had that in California, but never felt completely welcome as a peer at schools in Wisconsin. I can even reflect that I had the worst education in terms of teacher sensitivity to student needs I have ever seen. I can say this now, since I am a teacher. I remember a teacher in 7th and 8th grade in the local school close to where we live now that was related to me. I was scared to death of her bi-polar emotions, but knew how to save myself by behaving properly around her. I was smart academically, but I sat next to a boy who was basically a non reader. In those days we did not have special educators or title 1 teachers. He was basically ignored and I helped him complete assignments when I could. Each week we would receive a Weekly Reader and part of our curriculum was reading this aloud together as a class. I will never forget dreading this part of my day, when I knew my friend and fellow class mate who was a non-reader would surely be called upon to stand up next to his desk and read.
He would begin to cry, but the teacher, my relative, would let him stand there, humiliated, until someone would say the word out loud to help him. This boy grew up to have many emotional issues in his life, but I can't help but think the teachers could have helped him become a healthy adult if they would have showed some compassion.

The same goes for how I feel about the horses here. Miss Molly P would rather kill me than look at me, but somehow over the summer she has seen me as a sort of friend. She will seek me out rather than running away, and I can stand and pet her without fear of being trampled or struck with a front hoof (unless I try to push her!). Compassion rules my heart -a horse who has no useful place in society will someday find a horse whisperer or someone who sees the beauty in a one-eyed horse with suspensory problems and a dented skull. Maybe in the meantime, God's love can shine through enough here at the farm to show her it is safe to trust. After all, it happened with a kitten that was brought to us last year. She would cringe when we tried to pet her and cry out as if to say "Leave me alone - please don't torture me". Somehow I believe she had been greatly tortured - she cannot tell us what happened but I know something did. After a year of watching us, and our gentle rewarding her for letting us pet her by giving her a special treat, she has decided to own us. If I open my eyes during the night she is next to me looking at me. She is the first cat I see in the morning when I wake up, and won't leave me alone until I feed her. She has learned that she can trust. She now lets me pick her up and carry her all over the house, and loves to be petted. She hasn't generalized this trust to everyone in our house, but someday I just know it will come. Time and love can heal so many things.

I want to share that a former racing champion who was adopted and loved by a dear friend of mine for so many years I cannot count has passed. Broderick, a famous trotting horse originally from Indiana who made over $500,000, died home on the farm last week. He was well into his 20's. His last public appearance for ASAP was at Night of Champions at Hawthorne in 2007. It will take Adrienne awhile to get over the loss of such a great horse. His many years in 4-h helped earn many medals, ribbons and trophies for Kristin and Kathleen. Our sympathy goes out to the family.

Our next event is this weekend at the Carriage Classic in Prairie du Chien! Then the fair, and Super Night in Chicago. We are pleased to say that Alice and Ray H. of Gratiot will be bringing Pistol Pete N (formerly owned by Bell Valley Farm) to be in the Billy Barn area to greet the crowds. Squire One's adopter and Sportsmaster's adopter will help with the two tables at the track that night. I can just feel the excitement in the air for this huge night of harness racing!

I promise to get pictures up after the classic!
Love
Susan

So Much To Share

We had a very productive meeting last night in Winona MN. Our strategic planning group consisted of a sheriff named Dave, a boarding barn owner named Shannon who is an animal advocate and plays a big role in some of our toughest rescue situations, Andrea T., the corporate sponsor and key contributor to ASAP's operations, her friend Judy, a veterinarian Jan H. of Winona who has provided critical vet care to great horses such as Hiawatha Hannah and Windswept Glory, as well as the buckskin mare and foal you see listed for adoption on the site, and myself. I can see clearly that this is not only a team of people who have horses as a common interest, but whose hearts are set on jumping right in and getting involved in whatever way possible to save lives and help horses find homes. I can't say "thank you" enough to all of them!

In the same breath, I had a lengthy interview with Josh Potts for an upcoming publication that will feature Timesareachanging, along with Taser Gun, and spotlight some of the long term sanctuary horses who have been cared for here at our farm for so many years now. Thanks to Josh for giving us a second opportunity to be heard.

Balmoral Park has opened up a great opportunity for us! Super Night is coming up on September 19. We will have a table at the track, as always, and we will be able to play our one minute commercial in between races to generate more interest in ASAP and our mission! The announcer is going to announce our presence, and we have been ased to bring one horse to greet the crowd that night in the Billy Barn area! I am reaching out to all of you that might live a bit closer to Balmoral Park, and asking you if you would like to be that person to bring one horse to Balmoral to an inside stall in the Billy Barn area to meet and greet people? If you think you have that special horse, email me right away at asapinc@mwt.net I have already committed to being there...........but also realize we have the Vernon County fair that weekend, so I am really overcommitting myself without help. Can you help by either sitting at a table or bringing a horse? I'd love to hear from you soon!!!

Please watch the web site, as we will have a great gift collection of horse blankets, throws, pillows, etc displayed. A portion of all purchases will go to ASAP - so be on the lookout for some beautiful items!

I'll write more soon!
Susan

Always Grateful

Last week we had a special visitor who wanted to bring some feed to donate to the horses. We had never met before, but I had known her brother previously from a church we attended years ago. Small world! We want to thank Jean and her husband for the donation of 250# of feed, and a $100 cash donation which went to Farmers Union Coop!

Then last week's phone call and my blog to you all produced an outpouring of support from people who wanted us to be able to pay for reinstatement of our equine market license. To date, we can thank Andrea T. and Lori H. for their donations of $250 and
$200, and thanks to a veterinarian from Janesville for her $100 donation which was paid directly to the Dept. of Agriculture. We are so grateful to each and every one of you.

This week's urgencies include:
Placement of Allie and Kokinos into adoptive or foster homes by August 30

Placement of a rescued STB mare in Green Bay with new family who can feed her and love her and help her back on her feet - she is currently 300# underweight. Her name is JB and we are awaiting a tattoo number for positive identification of name and age.

Immediate placement of two horses in the Marshfield area - one horse is Race for Home, bred by Iriquois River Stables years ago. She is a mare in her teens and she is sorrel. She comes with Bart's A Bad Boy who is also in his mid teens or thereabouts. He has been trained to ride for years. He is a smaller bay horse.

Chief Pow Hat Ten still in need of foster placement or adoptive home and currently in the UP of Michigan.

Odd's On Tom and Emaline are in Iowa and in a situation requiring immediate removal, but they cannot be brought into Wisconsin without a 2009 coggins and interstate health certificate, so need a place to go to get the necessary items completed. The horses are in the Marengo are of Iowa.

Please - times are tough - if you can help let us know!

I had a great ride on Cole last night at Yellow River State Forest. We went about 6-7 miles and got into a fast trot quite a few times. I did not yet get him to canter, but it is coming! I hope to take Timesareachanging there in the near future. Remmie, Janimal, Chief, Fargo and Cole all made a quiet and stable group.......well........Cole did do a nice spook on me one time, but it was a spook in place sort of thing and I stayed on!

Will post pictures soon. I have had no response to my offer to do an ACTHA ride so will assume we will be unable to plan one this year. Maybe we'll try for next spring?

Susan

Licensing Blues

I had a great phone conversation with a Department of Ag agent today. She was concerned that we had not submitted our renewal application for our equine market license. At the time, the cost of renewal was close to $300. That was $300 that we did not have. I called the Dept. of Agriculture and explained to the agent that we did not have the money.

Today we have learned that we will receive a gift from IHHA (thank you so much, IHHA board). Unfortunately, our waiting to renew our equine market license is going to result in almost doubling our fees, since we now have late fees and surcharges. I understand that now we will owe approximately $500. This license is necessary for ASAP to operate. I am so grateful to the agent to have phoned out of concern about the situation, and plan to get the paperwork out to them this week. We are praying for support of any kind to meet the licensure requirements in the amount mandated. Wish us luck!

Susan

Summer Is Here

Thank goodness! Summer has finally arrived in Wisconsin! It may be August, but it hasn't felt balmy until now. Heat - bring it on! I love it!

Sad stuff: Had to say "Good-bye" to my son, Jordan, who left yesterday to go back to Ocala, Florida to attend wrestling school.
He didn't want to go, but knew he had to, and it sparked memories of my college days, watching my mom cry as I drove away from that lonely farm in Wisconsin. It was bittersweet for me, as I wanted to stay for her but knew I had to get back to college to finish my teaching degree in Illinois. I guess Jordan must be feeling the same way. I wanted, as a mom, to go with him to ease the transition, but as always my own job kept me here. It makes me a bit angry and frustrated inside to realize that no matter how many years go by, my life is really not my own in terms of what I feel I want to do as a mother for my four children. Money is money, time is time, and the important things often are not given priority.

Speaking of important things, I had not heard from my friends David and Mary Ann Crook of Viola this year. David, Mary Ann, and I go back more than 20 years as horse lovers. David originally worked with my dad in the 80's, installing satellite dishes. I later learned that David was a horse enthusiast and trail rider, and this was the beginning of a long relationship that included endless trail rides, a horse named Bud, later an adopted horse named Jalind Rose, and many nights under the stars listening to music and sipping on Point beer after a good, long ride. Shockingly, today my sister sent me an obituary of David, who passed away on August 2. Yet another blow - another good friend of many years - who influenced my life in so many ways. David, 64, died of esophageal cancer. Hardly anyone knew he had been ill. I will pray for Mary Ann, his wife of 37 years, who must be so devastated at this time. A touching memory I have of David is when his father was sick, in his late 80's. David and Mary Ann lived next to him, and he was a widower. David took care of his dad all the days of his illness, and when he died, David was the man who personally carried his dad in his arms from the farmhouse to the vehicle that would transport him to the funeral home. Such love had this man - such devotion - it was simply amazing. So another great loss too early.

Fun News:
While Jordan was still home we took a boat ride out on the river. Rachel, Jordan, Craig and I enjoyed the evening sunset and the kids threw out a line. Jordan had a good feeling that he would catch something, and catch he did! A five pound catfish!
Rachel caught an almost-15 inch Walleye! Craig caught a catfish, mooneye, and I am happy to say that all fish survived the ordeal and were mercifully pitched back into the river (mom's along, that's what happens!).

We went to Duck Egg County Park to ride over the weekend. Cole, Remmie, Janimal, Fargo, and Cricket made the trip with us. I would like to say I had a great ride, but Cricket (the half-Arab that she is) spazzed out when we arrived over a herd of cattle that were hidden behind trees across the road when we were tacking up. She almost ran me over, head butted me, got herself into a full sweat, shaking and petrified, and was head butting me to avoid the tacking process. Guess I have never seen this kind of behavior out of her before, which made me fearful. Ah, give me the Standardbred! All three Standardbreds were perfect for the entire ride, and we rode back at sunset when the bats were circling around and every trail going through the woods brought pitch-black darkness. Jordan offered to ride Cricket, and I took my trusty gelding, Cole, the rest of the way home. We made a great memory!

I have nothing to report about the ACTHA ride - have had one response that said they would love to go - please give me your feedback?

Upcoming events:
Wild West Days parade - tonite at 6 pm
August 22 - Open horse show - Viroqua
Carriage Classic, Vernon County Fair, and Super Night - all in September.

Thanks to IHHA for their recent contribution to ASAP! Without them it wouldnt be possible!

Susan

September 26?

We are constantly looking for ways to bring money in to the organization to help provide for the horses. The American Competitive Trail Horse Association has graciously offered to assist ASAP with putting together a competitive trail ride this year.

We are considering holding a trail ride on Saturday, September 26. We would have the option of camping overnight at Yellow River State Forest. This is a beautiful place to ride and camp! It is located about an hour from La Crosse, WI and less than an hour from Prairie du Chien, right over the Iowa border. It also is a nice location for us, since it takes us only about 35 minutes to get there.

By this date, the county fair in Viroqua will be over, and the Carriage Classic in Prairie du Chien, as well as Super Night. It seems like a great time to see fall colors and still not be too cold at night.

If we can get at least ten riders (25 would be best) we will commit to the date, but we need to hear from you. The ACTHA ride costs to participate, but you would be eligible for money prizes and ribbons/trophies. There are judges appointed to different places along the trail, who rate each rider on their ability to maneuver through and around obstacles, back up in a figure eight pattern, or open and close gates. It looks like a lot of fun...............would you consider joining?

The entry fee amount depends on whether you are entering as a professional or for pleasure. The proceeds go to ASAP. Please RSVP if you would like more details, or go to the ACTHA web site. If we get enough responses we'll begin advertising!

Chevie continues to get better. As soon as Wawatassi makes it to Iowa we will reunite him with Idlewhile and Miss Molly P. We got a wonderful adoptive home for Irresistable Lou and Lyric!

We are looking forward to Josh Potts doing a story on Timesareachanging and Taser Gun, and are still waiting for the arrival of an IHHA member to tour our farm.

We had one donation of $150 from a race owner this week. Thank you! Other than that no income to report. Lou and Lyric were both gifted to the adopter. Three square bales left, but eight round bales from donated fields are ready to be picked up.
Hoping to ride Yellow River today if the weather clears!

Hugs,
Susan

Sunday Evening

It's August 2, and I am still waiting for summer to arrive. I spent February agonizing over winter and actively considering moving away for good to warmer country with the family, then forgot a little about that once spring got here. Spring got me looking forward to summer, which still has not shown its face. Combine that with lack of time to do things, and I am feeling that all-too-familiar anxiety beginning to creep up as I note some of the leaves changing on the trees.

I have been at the emergency ward at our local hospital two times in the past 24 hours with my mother. She has not done well this past week, and continued a downhill trend over the weekend. She stayed at her condo with my oldest daughter, Cherie, on Friday, and by Saturday she just wanted to be in bed at my house. Back she came, and by afternoon we realized this was bigger than we could deal with at home, so up to the clinic we went. Good thing! Her blood pressure was 70/40 which brought immediate alarm to the doctors and nurses. One bag of fluids later and bloodwork galore, and she was sent home. By this morning, it was clear she was not responding to the antibiotic they prescribed as quickly as we wished. She had a temperature of 101.7 by the time we got to ER, so back on IV fluids and more blood work. A chest xray done yesterday revealed fluid on the lungs. Today it was confirmed that she has pneumonia. Well, I am no dummy and do realize that my father died three days after being admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. It is serious busines with elderly persons. Still, they didn't want to keep her overnight. She is here now, resting peacefully, but I am scared. Please say a prayer.

The board meeting went well Friday night. Some hard decisions had to be made regarding intakes on horses. It was decided at that meeting that we are going to freeze intakes until funding sources can be located. If we can do direct placements of horses from placing owner to adoptive home, we will be posting them on the internet. Don't assume if you see a new horse on the site that they are at the ASAP farm........

When we do receive horses into the program they have to meet criteria. Since we are primarily an adoption program vs. a rescue, horses accepted will have to be at least 2 years of age. There will be a cutoff of age as well (no more 25 year olds) until things are flowing positively and we are able to provide for them. As it is, we have six horses coming back from summer pasture this fall, and nowhere to house them without placing horses that are here.

ASAP is forming a strategic planning committee to include interested persons who are able to assist in public relations, marketing, and fund raising. This committee will meet in August.

Emphasis for the next several months will be for ASAP to seek finances, and/ or to obtain donations of hay and feed. What would we do without our foster families? They are many in number - we are so grateful to them for helping horses out.

A fundraiser will occur in either September or October at Yellow River State Forest. ACTHA has offered to assist us in putting this together. If you would like to join us for prizes and money, let me know. We need at least 25 riders to make this work. Also include a weekend you are available to do a ride. We will plan to have music and food if possible. ACTHA believes that with enough riders we may raise $3,000-$4,000. Wouldn't that be WONDERFUL???? But we need YOU to make it possible.

Whenever possible, try to use goodsearch as your search engine. It benefits ASAP. Also Country Supply for your horse needs, as they donate a portion of the proceeds to ASAP. Thanks so much for your continued support!

Chevie Silverado's wound is finally mending. He should be ready for turnout this week. He is anxious and feeling his "oats" - wants to run! He has been one patient boy since 4th of July. Thanks to Bryan and Kim for coming out to spend time with Chevie and the other horses at ASAP and volunteering their time.

We were able to place two horses this weekend - Irresistable Lou and Lyric went to an adoptive family! I am anxious to hear how they are settling in. The farrier was here yesterday so everyone looks pretty sharp right about now.

We are anticipating a long-awaited visit from IHHA board member this week to tour our farm and meet the horses who live here.

I'll share more when this occurs!
Susan