Hello, Tilly!

I only have one picture of Tilly to show you, but I'm hoping for more.  Tilly is an approximately 8 year old standardbred who adores people and loves attention.  We were told that he was simply dropped off at a barn near Charlottetown and no one knows his owner.  We are attempting to trace him at the moment, but that can take time.  In the meantime, this gentle boy needs a home--foster or permanent.  He's another one of these tall, dark and handsome lads.  He loves kids and the neighbourhood kids love him; they visit all the time.

Ok, so maybe not the best picture of all time, but when you look at the expression on his face, he reminds me very much of a horse in the riding stable when I went to college, many years ago.  Kind and sweet, willing and eager to please.  The barn owner where he is now says he is all those things and more. Tilly really needs a home, as the barn owner can only keep him another couple of weeks--she has a new boarder coming in at the end of November and he is in their stall at the moment.  She has said that she can send his buckets and some grain to help support him until he has a permanent home.

Stories like this are sad, but hopefully Tilly's will have a happy ending.  I'm going to go hug my two ponies now.  Can somebody volunteer to be Tilly's hugger?

Update:  I have another picture now, which is much more attractive.  You can still see his kind expression.  We are going to try to pick him up on Sunday and we'll have more information on him shortly after that.

Now, does that not look like a nose that needs kissing?  Awww, you just want to hug him.

Just to hold you over...and make you laugh!

I have to wait to get the pictures that were taken at the Gala Dinner last night, so it will probably be the end of the week before I can post the story of that night. And, what a night! It was a good time!

So, to keep people entertained while they wait, I thought I would post this dressage demonstration, with Brian O'Connor and his wonder horse, Sydney. Stick with it at least until 3:15, it just gets funnier.

Chance, the movie star

Took Chance outside to have a snack today. He's much livelier than he was when he first arrived--he actually pulled on the leadshank today! Good for you Chance!

The vet was out to see him, and corrected my estimate of his body score. He believes Chance scores a 1 on the Henneke scale. He also believes that Chance is in his 20's, although it's hard to tell once they get past a certain age. Chance is going to have his teeth floated in a couple of weeks, to see if that fixes anything. (We can't do it any sooner, in case the stress causes his heart to give out). Until then, he's getting hay pellets soaked, mixed with a bit of grain and some mineral to correct the mineral imbalances that occur during starvation.

Regardless of age, he seems sharp and lively (considering...). His legs are clean and his feet are good. He goes for apples with the intensity of an Olympic volleyballer setting up to spike the ball. Watch this video of him out snacking on the last of the green grass this afternoon. Please ignore the noise--it was windy out and I'm just using the video option on the digital camera.

Not too shabby for a skinny old guy, eh?

OK, group hug for Chance! Go!

Meet Chance

Well, I promised information on the new pony that arrived Tuesday. We've decided to call him Chance, because if chance ever played a role in a pony's life, it was in this one. Chance is also french for luck, which this pony has had a lot of, both good and bad.

A trailer arrived in the yard on Tuesday afternoon, dropping off this young gentleman...

As you can see, he's missed a few meals, and not just recently. We can't at the moment say too much about where he came from, but we can say that a concerned citizen saw him someplace, bought him, and dropped him off to us. Bless your heart! It's cases like this when you realise that we need tougher legislation around the standard of care issue. There needs to be more than food and water on the property, the animals also need access and need to be physcally capable of eating it!

He appears to be a Newfoundland pony, which breaks my heart, because if there's anything out there that's tougher than a Newfoundlander (whether human or equine) I have yet to see it. What it would take to bring a pony bred to thrive in Newfoundland to this condition boggles my mind. Horses are often rated for weight on the Henneke scale, which runs from 0 (dead of starvation) to 9 (going to die of morbid obesity). Chance ranks at about a 1.5.

This kind of thing really pushes my buttons, because with most ponies, the problem is keeping the weight OFF them. My welsh-shetland cross gained enough weight this summer on a half-acre paddock that we had to start letting her girth out (hmmm....seems we both suffer from the same problem....). The vast majority of ponies are like air ferns--all you have to do is wave the hay at them and they gain weight. So, what went wrong for poor Chance?

The vet is coming out to check him over today, we hope. We suspect his teeth may need to be floated (filed down to remove sharp points that make eating difficult and uncomfortable). He probably has worms, though he doesn't have the big worm belly, so he may not be too bad. We're hoping that he hasn't suffered too much damage to his heart and digestive system, which is how we lost Sadie in the end. He seems a nice boy, though he will swing his head away as you enter the stall. And, like most Newfoundland ponies, it will take more than this to get him down. He is the most determined little survivor.

Please keep Chance in your thoughts. If you would like to donate to support his rehabilitation, we are still sorting out the Paypal issue, but you can drop it off in any of our donation jars around PEI. We expect anything between 2-3 months to 10-12 months of rehab, depending on what medical issues crop up during his convalescence. And please consider buying a ticket to our dinner fundraiser on October 23. This is our major fundraiser and is our main source of revenue, for cases like Chance.

I think I need a hug. Where's my pony?

We were on Compass!

Yay! If you missed the story, shown on October 12, you can visit this link.

And, just a heads up, stay tuned for information on a pony that was dropped off just today--you will not believe the pictures when you see them! I should be able to get out to take pictures on Saturday, by which time he will hopefully be a bit more stable and we will be able to take him out for a bit of a walk around.

Pet Expo and a tall, dark and handsome stranger...

We went to the Pet Expo this weekend past. The Pet Expo was hosted by the PEI Humane Society and included all sorts of interesting things, from flyball, to pony vaulting, to mini horses. There were quite a few different booths: we saw alpacas, himalayan cats, a snake, turtles and lots of other animals. All through both days there were presentations on a number of different products that would be useful or interesting to pet owners.

And, wouldn't you know it, we ALL forgot our cameras! (I'm so ashamed...). But, we raised $326 this weekend and we introduced a new fundraiser--stuffed horses! You can see their pictures on the Can I Help page of our website. Not only that, we now have T-shirts, with the Sadie's Place logo on the front and the website address on the back. Hoping to have pictures to post soon and also hoping to find the time to straighten out the Paypal issue. The stuffed horses are $25 each and include registration in the Sadie's Rescue Registry. They are included with the memberships as part of the package as well. The t-shirts are $22 for youth and $24 for adults, if you are not a member of Sadie's Place. Member prices are $18 and $20 each. Each horse or t-shirt sold will keep a horse in foster care for a week. A family membership keeps a horse in foster care for 3, an individual membership is good for about 2 weeks. So, not only does a horse get a second chance, but you get something for yourself too!

I was out to play with the horses today and Yankee says he's having fun and has learned to trot in a circle on a lunge line, which is pretty weird, but he'll humour us as long as we keep up the wither scratches. They are da bomb! he says. (And where he picked up that phrase, I'll never know!) He's learning to bring his head down from the Standardbred racing placement to a headset that is more suited to pleasure riding. He's a really great guy and really needs some volunteers to come out and love on him--he's used to a lot of people giving him a lot of attention.

And, speaking of attention, there's a new guy in town that we think is going to get a lot of attention. Woodbe a Devil, or Devil, as he is called, is indeed a handsome devil. If you've checked out our adoption page, you'll have seen his picture on there. And, boy, he is all that! Long, long legs, a short back, a long neck and the cutest puppydog lost expression right now, as he tries to figure out what happened.Devil apparently chipped a sesamoid bone while racing and, while he has healed, he is no longer sound enough to race on the hard tracks. After a successful career, this 7 year old sweetie needs to find a new job to do.Gorgeous, isn't he? And just a sweetheart to work around, although he's still a little unsure and suspicious of his new surroundings--we don't look the least little bit like a racing barn! I think he would make a lovely low level dressage prospect for someone, with that neck and those legs.He'll remain in quarantine for another week or so, then we can start working with him and see how he goes on. If anyone wants to come out and love on a big black horse, here's your chance!

Hope everyone had a chance to get out and enjoy the sunshine. Fingers crossed for more! I'm not ready for winter yet! Oh, and before I forget, don't forget to hug your horse!

Old Home Week

I'm very late with this update and for that I apologize. Sometimes, life just grabs you by the scruff of the neck and, somehow, I never seem to win those fights....strange!

Well, we went to Old Home Week, and it was a blast! For those who couldn't free up time in their schedule this year, keep next year open, because we had a ball! Thanks to Lucy Newson, who gave us an absolutely spectacular spot for our table, right in the main foyer! Not only that, but as exhibitors, we got in free!
Notice the book in the picture? That was one of two books we had on display that day. It's called 'Give a Horse a Second Chance'. The book is a tutorial on how to go about choosing and rescuing a horse or pony and what things you should watch out for. Kind of a coincidence, isn't it, that the name of the book is the almost the same as part of our motto? Eerie! You can order the book at Chapters, if you are intersted in it. They also have some other really good books. (Who's up for a post on the best horsey book you ever read?)

So, I said Lucy gave us a great spot, didn't I? Well, we were right across from the canteen (and, oh, wasn't that a constant act of willpower--they had cotton candy!)Here is Brandi at the booth, laughing at me and telling me I am not allowed to buy cotton candy.Here is a blurry picture of the view right across from our booth. We were so close we could watch the jumping classes and still keep an eye on the booth. We took turns manning the booth, so we could watch our friends competing.When we weren't at the booth, we went for strolls around the grounds. Childfind was there, doing fingerprints and those ID booklets of theirs--great idea! I keep one of my daughter just in case someone else decides she's just as cute as I think she is!Just around the corner from us was the entrance to all the booths. There was an incredible amount of stuff to do and see. There was even a balloon guy who could make Spiderman out of balloons! Now, you don't see that every day!
This is a picture of the Agricultural section, where all the displays showed different things that were going on in agriculture. One of the really interesting things I saw was someone who is packaging silage in small bags, for people who have horses with the heaves. Unfortunately, I didn't see a price anywhere, but if you have a horse or pony with the heaves, you might want to contact them to ask about the product. They are Island Meadows Forage Company and their email is info@islandmeadows.com.A rather blurry peek through some other booths at the agricultural section. It was hard to take pictures here--there were so many people!Just across from the agricultural section, there was a spot for the kids, where you could braid a (fake) horse's tail, 'drive' a racehorse, play computer games, plant beans and...MILK A COW!!!!In a little foyer off to the side, the 4-H crew had a bit of a petting zoo set up, with lots of information. 4-H is a great group to get involved in and it's not all animals and farming. And, of course, the food! Not only was there food everywhere (oh, boy, was it everywhere...), but there were a series of demonstrations by different local chefs, paired with local farmers and you got samples! Yum! For a small island, we really do have a lot of high end, top quality chefs per capita. We probably eat better than Ottawa or Toronto!And, last but not least, we did draw for that Kid's Dream package, with the stuffed horse and the T-shirt. The winner of the package was

Megan Kennedy of Summerside! Congratulations, Megan, and enjoy your horse and your t-shirt!

That's it for today. Stay tuned for posts on our upcoming gala fundraising dinner and other random posts by yours truly. And, until then, go hug a horse!