Ranch Forgotten March's Open House

Redwings Horse Sanctuary kicked off the new season with their first open house at Ranch Forgotten. After many days of rain, the horses, Ali, High Tide, Lover Boy and Snap were basking in the afternoon sun and occasionally going for a roll in the very muddy pasture. The volunteers were greeted by Michelle Beagle, Redwings President, and Roz Bailey, Redwings Vice President. Refreshments and tasty goodies were served by Dorothy Beagle and the horses had some treats as well.
It was also a pleasure to see devoted Redwings advocates; Leora and Lee Worthington pay a visit. We also caught up with volunteer, Karen Hallstein, who drives all the way from Cupertino for her weekly "horse fix". And many thanks as always to Ed Mitchell for allowing us to use his beautiful Ranch Forgotten as a forever home for the horses over the years. We hope to see many of you at the upcoming Redwings Open House at the main ranch in Lockwood, California. In the meantime, look at the pictures in our website's photo gallery.
Hooves up!
Lori

Even on Rainy Days

A rainy day doesn't stop our cleaning faces and training others. Check out Jorge with his hands in his pockets. Seriously though, he was soaking things up like a sponge. Good to have extra volunteers down to clean all the mud off. Lacey has had her eyelids so scarred by sunburn that she has to have her tear ducts flushed regularly. She also needs the tears that spill over her eyelids cleaned up on a daily basis. We love our horses.

Michelle

Farwell to Fanny

One of the early rescued creatures of Redwings Horse Sanctuary left us today. Fanny a lovely dark brown burro was originally snatched from the jaws of death at a local auction. The "buying" crowd were often buying animals to take to slaughter to gain just a bit more money than they paid for them. She and another burro Pal had been good friends. He had been a donkey rescued from the same auction house.

The representative that purchased Pal and Fanny came back with a story of having heard that they make "good donkey jerky". These two spent many years together in Carmel, until Pal had problems with his feet and body that led to our humanely euthanizing him. Fanny was introduced to the large wild burro herd soon after, and fit in very well. She was a real "in charge" sort of burro. She reigned as a leader in the herd for quite some time. Fanny was one of the burros that always loved human interaction. She helped teach many a visitor or volunteer that Burros have a great love for people if they aren't afraid.

In her later years, she developed cushing's disease, and more recently hoof problems that affected her quality of life. Today, Fanny left us and is surely off to greet her long lost Pal, and her herd mates Daisy and Belle. She passed peacefully and greedily chomped down a huge pound of carrots and equine senior in the warm sun.



Bye bye Fanny.

Chocolate Born Early 1999, Passed 1/13/2010

Wild Horse Rescued in 2000 from the Pryor Mountain herds bought from BLM auctions.

Chocolate was one of many wild horses from an over 100 horse rescue. Many organizations teamed up to help Chocolate’s herd. His body condition was skeletal, as were his many stunted yearling herd members. Redwings took the worst cases, as no one wanted them. We knew we could get them through recovery. We did with 100% success, all 21. Starvation and heavy worm burdens took toll on the herd. The board of Redwings Horse Sanctuary decided we would keep this herd together, and cherish their wild nature. These horses are a true link to the “music and dance” of body language and communication with equines. Chocolate was one of the less likely to allow people to handle him. Those who did get to touch him felt very special indeed.

Without Redwings, Chocolate would have surely died or been sent to auction leading to slaughter. We were blessed to enjoy 9 years with him. We’ll miss one of our favorites. One of the magical connections to North American history has moved on to meet up with old herd members running free in the stars.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to everyone, and thanks from the horses staff and volunteers at Redwings.

One of our dear supporters, Leora, made this lovely greeting and we thought we'd share it. The horse is Alisage, who has enjoyed many many Holiday seasons since she was rescued from slaughter.

Have a fantastic new year.

Three Severely Neglected Horses Rescued

SPCA for Monterey County have rescued three severely emaciated horses abandoned in a pasture in Salinas, California, and have offered a $1000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator. These three horses are under emergency veterinary care. You can help them by donating to SPCA for Monterey County [click here to donate].

Please track this story at the SPCA for Monterey County Web site. They have posted and will continue to post updates about this case.

[Photo hosted by SPCA for Monterey County]

A Letter From the President

Since taking on the title and duties of President of the Board of Directors for Redwings Horse Sanctuary in June 2009, I have been blessed with many great opportunities to bring improvement to our organization and to help our rescued equines in numerous ways. I would like to acknowledge all the people who have contributed to this effort as we look to a new year at Redwings.

Our long-time supporters know me from our days in Carmel, California, and I have been associated with the work of Redwings since 1993 and have been on the Board of Directors since 1995. I have been directly responsible for the horses’ health as Equine Care Coordinator for many years and still hold this position. However, our able and very talented Equine Care Provider, Delilah Kasting, has stepped up and taken on more responsibilities, allowing me more time for my varied duties as President. Our Veterinarians Dr. Richard Clarke and Dr. Heather Baker are another huge part of the success we have in caring for our rescued horses.

Board member and Volunteer Coordinator, Roz Bailey, has taken on Vice Presidential duties and has been a constant source of advice and help. Along with our other Board members, we all volunteer our services and work incredibly hard for our horses and their welfare.

The daily running of the Sanctuary could not function without our dedicated staff. From our office staff to our ranch hands and trainers, we find enthusiastic, talented, and hard-working individuals who care passionately about our goals and feel proud of the work we all do for our rescued horses and our education mission.

Volunteers also hold a great place in our hearts. These people graciously give their time and love to help care for the rescued horses of Redwings Horse Sanctuary. We would not be as effective without their help.

As we all know, the last couple of years have been very difficult for many people throughout America, and we all have had to work extremely hard to cope with an increasing number of abandoned and starving horses. We can only help so many before affecting the limited resources we have for the horses we care for daily. However, 2009 has been a banner year for our Sanctuary. With the help of donations, grants, and bequests, we have installed much-needed irrigation and replaced the footing in our stall areas. Yet there is much more to do.

We cannot do any of these improvements without your help. Every dollar you donate to Redwings helps us care for our horses and allows us the opportunity to advocate, educate, and promote humane and responsible equine ownership. $12 buys a fly mask; $15 buys a bale of hay. Our on-going irrigation project has cost $76,190, and our new footing project—supported in a large part by the Hind Foundation—has cost $13,000 so far. Our annual budget for hay alone is $26,611 and our annual budget for medicine and supplements is $16,799. We receive no state or federal assistance—we do it all with donations from our supporters.

Please remember Redwings and our horses in 2010 and send your donation today.

Thank you

Michelle Beagle

President, Redwings Horse Sanctuary