Moving Right Along

September 2008
The nutrition segment of Rachel's Hooves 101 class caused us to reconsider horse feed once more, striving to bring down the sugar or fructan levels as much as possible. While we hadn't considered it before for other reasons, alfalfa became a new component of our regimine. Ross Hay Ranch sells cubes by the ton, which they load with a tractor into the truck and we then shovel into our storage containers. Our Ford truck can tolerate right around a ton of cubes, which is more than the photo below shows. The cubes are not easy to eat for old horses with poor teeth, but they can easily be soaked.

September 7
With the assistance of the incomparable Eric Entz, Woody completely broke down the Koi pond and gave it a thorough cleaning. This was a filthy and time-consuming job, but resulted in an absolutely sparkling and healthy home for the fish and turtles. Thank you, Eric - you're always willing to jump in when the work is hard and dirty!





September 8
We were invited by Pamela Gorman (For Pets' Sake) to speak at the September meeting of Nevada County's CAWS ~ Coalition for Animal Welfare and Services. It was a great opportunity to meet and share ideas with various nearby rescue organizations. As one may well imagine, animal welfare work can be daunting and emotionally difficult, but Woody's heartfelt passion for animals and vision of possibility served to inspire some rescue veterans. A sincere thank you to Pam Gorman and Beverly Allbright for their friendship and support.

September 9
Buck and Jake arrived. Jake is a Mustang gelding with bi-lateral stringhalt, which may or may not be reversible. He appears to be 12 years old, according to his brand. His pal, Buck, is a 10 y/o gelding, reportedly Quarter Horse with what appears to be strong Barb influence. Buck was recently gelded and it took him a few days to relinquish his hopes of dominating Star. Buck is turning out to be a nice trail riding horse and Jake is happy to be part opf a "herd." Our hope is to (someday soon) explore Jake's surgical options, but in the meantime, the disorder is not painful and he has lived with it for at least two years already. These two came from a dog rescue who ended up with the horses when they were seized for neglect in 2006.



September 16
The sanctuary was scheduled for two live segments with Courtney Dempsey on Good Day Sacramento. That morning, Courtney was called away to cover a warehouse fire in Galt, so reporter Lisa Gonzales covered our story. Due to a traffic accident on the freeway, Lisa arrived almost an hour late only to find it impossible to get a live signal out of our little piece of Penryn. Lisa and cameraman, Shock, instead recorded material that aired the following day. It was a rare treat for us to have reason to gather together all our "ponies" in one spot. Horses are simply more beautiful living in harmony together.

The Good Day Sacramento clip can be viewed here.


September 19
Our eldest horse, Odie, made it clear that he wanted to sunbathe on the front lawn. We thought perhaps his time was drawing near and we allowed him to lounge as he pleased for a few days in a row. He thoroughly enjoyed rolling and sleeping in our front yard and we were happy to let him do as he pleased. In time, he seemed to perk up and be ready to go back to his daily routine. Whatever the old horse wants, he gets... within reason, of course. Not too much sugar, Sweet Boy.



September 26, 27, & 28
Our trusted resource, Craigslist, revealed that a homeowner in nearby Rocklin was giving away DG ~ decomposed granite. He was digging a wine cave into the hill behind his home, which produced massive amounts. With Winter fast approaching, free DG seemed like a miracle for mud management. When all was said and done, we were able to move roughly 50 yards of DG for the cost of an overnight dump truck rental, although we had the truck for three days.


My best friend and geologist, Mary Gaspari, stopped by to check out the excavation. I love seeing things through her perspective.

Spreading all that DG was backbreaking work, but it was a big blessing. The boys both enjoyed driving the 7-speed Ford F650 big rig, of course!

September 28
The day we rescued LeRoi from his orchard. LeRoi's story will be told in greater detail at a later time. He deserves a rememberance.

September 30
Easter Seals HTR came for their fourth visit. Admittedly, I was not the best photographer that day, being physically and emotionally tired. I apologize to those whose photo I neglected to take. The date on the photos is incorrect because the camera battery had been allowed to die. Details, details!







As the clients gathered in preparation for departure, John acted as spokesman for the group by announcing their decision to choose A Chance for Bliss as the beneficiary of the proceeds from their 2007 Annual Holiday Shoppe. A check in the amount of $1,000 would be prepared right away. My response was delayed ~ this seemed surreal. I mean, we should be the ones donating to Easter Seals, no? Isn't that right? How could we accept this?

Well, graciously I suppose it the best way. It was a stunning concept to receive a donation from them and took me a while to process. This relationship is a perfect example of how we can help one another. Isn't that the Golden Rule?

Thank you, each of you, Easter Seals clients and staff, for lavishing our fur-kids with such loving attention and giving of your financial gifts to us. Our lives have been enriched immeasurably by you.

Let's Catch Up! :o)

Picking up where we left off in August, using photographs and the calendar as guides, I'm limited to brief overviews, but so it is. The last "regular" event covered was Chico's arrival on August 23 and the 'For Pets' Sake' interview that it sparked.

Enjoying freshly prepared meals helped to ease Chico's adjustment into his new environment, of course... :o)


Going back just one day, on August 22, we awoke to find that Daisy had laid down in the shavings during the night, but was unable to get back up. Such things happen with age and arthritis, but with help from Woody and I, she was able to get up and shook it off. She had managed to rub herself pretty raw in spots, however, so I spent several hours with her that day, bathing her and treating her "owies." She has recovered, of course. This is why Daisy is wearing a sheet in the 'For Pets' Sake' video ~ to protect her from flies, dust and sun.


August 25, we made the first two vehicle donations to the sanctuary - Guy donated his Blazer (transmission died) and Woody and I donated the GMC that had seized. I'm grateful this was our introduction to the verhicle donation process as we now know what to expect. It was simple, easy and roughly 30 days later, we received a check for just over $400 for both donations combined, plus we'll receive a $500 tax deduction per vehicle.



Tuesday, August 26 was the third visit from our friends from Easter Seals. I really enjoy meeting new clients as well as getting to know others better with each return. This mutually beneficial relationship could encompass an entire blog of its own and nothing I could write will do justice to the depth of the exchange. I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but please know that our relationship Easter Seals has been one of the greatest blessings since the sanctuary's inception. Thank you, Rachel Chao.













That afternoon, Guy and I drove to San Francisco to pick up two senior Boston Terriers from our dear friend Linda of Wonder Dog Rescue. In addition, we delivered a very precious pup from Wee Wonders into Linda's extraordinary care ~ a Chihuahua puppy appropriately named Wee Wonder with an awful bite wound to his face. This baby needed what few of us could offer - lots of one on one TLC. He was dear to the late Sherre Beisel, of course, and Linda absolutely lives to provide abundant love and care to such needy kids. It was a perfect match with divine timing and we were ALL grateful. I was happy for the bit of time that I was able to spend with such a special little soul. Without going into any particulars about the intensive care, the sweet boy spent about three weeks with Linda before he left this world behind. He knew abundant love.




The visit with Linda was a rare and special treat. Neither of us are afforded much time away from our homes with so many babies in our care. Linda has been a dear friend for quite some time and is invaluable as a mentor. We shared a couple of delicious hours full of laughs, ideas and support before we kissed Aunt Linda goodbye and loaded up our new loves, Paddington and Dolly (aka 'Wiggle Butt').

Our philosophy with the seniors is that we're as concerned about their emotional health as their physical health (if not more), so we don't spare treats. If not adhering to a strict diet means they have fewer (but happier) days, so be it. Dolly and Paddy enjoyed cheeseburgers, french fries and my shake on their journey home and they were GRINNING!!


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August closed for Guy and I with a two-day Hooves 101 intensive hosted by our trimmer, Rachel Chao. I strongly recommend this class for horse owners ~ what we don't educate ourselves about often results in pain (or worse) for our ponies and HEALTHY HOOVES ARE CRITICAL! I will give this subject the attention it deserves on our website but in the meantime, check out the class description on Rachel's site. Rachels' 'Wall of Fame' includes the last shoes ever worn by Rex, Odie, and Dolly... Who knows who else will be added.





A great deal happened in the last week of August atop the routine. I'll close for now with a few fun photos.