Resolution #1: We started off Christmas day with tears of sadness- a fellow rescuer had lost a mare and foal that morning and was now looking at a significant vet bill. But we ended the day with happy tears as we watched a video from a proud dad of his daughter getting her surprise pony for Christmas- Karate Kid had found his home. We resolve to feel both emotions- the pain and the joy. It drives the passion and the extraordinary things we must do to try to save these lives. There are lots of sad stories and lots of happy endings-we have to embrace them both.
Resolution #2: We will not try to do it all. We simply can’t. We have to bring in the people who care and will make the effort to help. There have been so many people this year that have done amazing things for us- built hay barns, done raffles and fundraisers, mucked stalls, trained babies and bucking broncos, given $5 or $5000, lugged hay and even went grocery shopping for us when I just didn’t have any energy left. But the greatest gift of all was that my daughter hopped on a plane from CA and surprised me one weekend and came to help. We are not one woman armies – we are a caring community with a purpose.
Resolution #3: We will not keep asking people to keep donating their hard earned money. It becomes a weekly plea for help. We must find a way to make this sustainable without constantly asking for gofund me, or donation buttons. Yes we appreciate it and yes it has been invaluable, but let’s figure out how to do this better. Let’s be creative and innovative and strive to do a TED talk someday about how we made it all work.
Resolution #4: We were one of the lucky winners of the ASPCA Help a HorseDay in 2018. We met so many new people and rescues working so hard to accomplish similar goals. From this, two of our horses are being fostered by other rescues- Horses with Hope and So Md Equine Miracles corp. We are part of the Horse Warriors group and network with Moores and Cranbury. We know quarantine facilities in several states and are on a first name basis with vets from 5 of them! Some of our horses have gone as far as Michigan for their new home and we have met some incredible horse shippers who drive countless hours with our precious cargo. We resolve to keep working to help each other, to get these horses safe, and to find the way to ease the burden we all carry.
Happy New Year!!!! Let 2019 be the year we stop this craziness and keep our horses safe.
