Update on Gee aka Garcon D'or!

This is Fran...Angel Acres volunteer extradonnaire...with her Angel Acres adopted horse, Gee aka Garcon D'or.

Fran has been volunteering with Angel Acres for just over three years and Gee is her second rescue horse (first Angel Acres adoption, first was a private rescue OTTB). We think they make a great team!!

Big Thanks To Fran for her continued support of Angel Acres and for giving Gee his loving forever home!

Raneem Update - Wish All Horses Could Be Loved Forever, like Raneem...

HOW ADORABLE IS THIS? WHAT A GREAT UPDATE AND PHOTOS!!! NOTE FROM IRENE IS BELOW:

Hey Jo,
I just thought I would send these onto you as well. He's such a nice boy. He was so funny today, as I was bringing the horses in I usually pull Raneem's halter off right before they go into the barn. Usually he walks right into his stall no thought otherwise since Regent is always blocking his way to the left, the barn is on his right and I'm at his head.. So today he stops right outside the door to the barn and you could see it flicker through his head for a flash, "hmmmmm.....what if I backed out of here and went galavanting..."

He decided to head into the barn but instead went into Regents stall. Thankfully he didn't eat Reg's food which has his cushings medicine in it but then I was stuck with, how do I get the one horse out of the stall into his own stall, in a skinny aisle way, without letting the other horse go.

Thankfully Neem-ski (as I call him) decided to saunter slowly into his own stall. I guess that was his way of showing his independence. Very funny and such a good guy.

Have a great night!
Irene

Matties Legacy Fund - SUPER Duper Urgent UPDATE :o)

As you may know, Angel Acres is closed to visitors until May 3rd, however we are working to help secure the safety of one mare, arranging for a showing for Tequilla next week, preparing for two horses getting ready to go to their new homes on Thursday, helping out with other rescue stuff, etc...our vacations are always working ones...with our charges being living, breathing beings, there really is no break from the work that needs to be done.

Our adult children and volunteers take care of the rescue gang while we are away...I take care of the emergency cases and stuff from the road...but tonight...the only emergency issue we received was this one -

MATTIE'S LEGACY FUND HAS MET & ACTUALLY EXCEEDED ITS GOAL!!! WWWOOO HOOOO!!!

Big thanks (I haven't even emailed her yet, I am just too excited and had to blog about it asap lol) to Linda for pushing us over the top of our goal!!

Mattie's Legacy Fund will need to keep being funded in order to keep helping horse owners and horses in need of assistance, so we will keep trying to raise funds, work with vets to reduce their fees, arrange for free/reduced hauls for horses being moved to safety, etc...but this is a HUGE milestone for the entire Angel Acres crew.

We SO appreciate all of the wonderful help we have received to make this goal happen. And whether we are on the road, at home or in the barn, the Angel Acres Crew will always do our very best to help horses and their owners in need.

THANKS LINDA and All who donated over the past 9 months to this fund! You can still donate if you would like to help with the fund :o)

Bowling for Bandito Event Was FANTASTIC!

Well, where to begin?! Let me start by saying THANK YOU to everyone who helped make this event a huge success!!!

We were worried about getting at least 10 teams to bowl for Bandito, otherwise we would have had to cancel the fundraiser...

Fast forward to 2:10pm yesterday (I am late for my own event, I know, I know, but it was foggy and a horse needed a quick cleanup before I left and then had to shower etc lol) event was from 2 to 4...I call Fran and say...yep, on our way be there in 10 mins etc...Fran says, "Good, Cause the entire bowling alley is full and lanes 1 - 31 are for Angel Acres."...all calm and stuff..."See you when you get here"...I am like...she is kidding, right?! Well, I walk-in and was SHOCKED to see the entire bowling alley full and all those lanes WERE for Bandito!!!

We have GOT to be the luckiest rescue around...such great volunteers, great people, great friends...we had a blast, raised funds for Bandito (no idea how much yet will post later) and raised awareness about the need for horse rescue, all while having a great time!

Special thanks to Fran, for her unending support of our rescue (she was presented with a special award from the Velvet-Nosed Gang for her hard work for them - will get her to send me a picture) and WLIF for sending along the LITE Prize Van to the event!!

And Thank You to Stephanie for making an ADORABLE cake for my 40th birthday with Bandito's adorable picture on the front!

And thanks to all of our readers, volunteers, helpers, and those sending thoughts and prayers to Bandito...he's still got a long way to go, but we think he will pull through!

Clare shown above...Angel Acres foster mom and training barn owner!!

Big Thanks to Ellen Black (who I cannot find the picture I took of her at the moment) for her help selling the tickets for the Chinese auction items. SHE ROCKED THOSE TICKETS! And... ALL of the prizes were donated by local companies...will post that list later (am on vacation, it's a working one, of course lol) this week...its long...yea!!

The Wild Thornberries, Debi Fowlers Team, these guys and girls had special shirts made up just for this event!













Fran and her Mom, Fran, at the table!













David and Carol, who helped us with our label fundraiser, in the green room...














Linda and Lizzie...Angel Acres volunteers!
!!














How adorable?! I think she was her teams captain...in the cuteness dept!













An Entire Bowling Alley Full of people helping Bandito....PRICELESS :o)

Bowling For Bandito - UPDATE WOO HOO!!

WOW!! We have 17 teams so far!! WOO HOO! And there is still time to sign up...this is going to be a blast...Fran just sent me a sneak peak of the prizes for the chinese auction...WOW...and she won't let me post till Saturday...gggrrrr....lol...

Walk-ins are welcome if they have lanes...and you can always stop by and say "Ccchheeelllooooo" to us! LOL!

Bowling for Bandito:

1 Patrick’s Restaurant, Mary Lou Brosso

2 Roxy Baldwin *

3.Cherokee Riders, Kelli McGee

4. Flying Free, Kelli McGee

5 Blazin Saddles, Sara Katz

6 Strikes for Horses, Jeanie Law

7 Bandito & Velvet Nosed Gang * Jo

8 Fritos Banditos, Joann Sites

9 J Mar Alley Cats, Abbey Margiotta

10. Bandito’s BFF’s, Clare Schmidt

11. Padonia Station

Duckpins

1 McDonogh * Kim Margiotta getting $ Sat.

2. Bandito Strikers * Linda Johns

3. Wild Thornberries, Debi Fowler

4. Caves Keglers, Michael Parker

5. Sandy Stelljes & Family

6 Chassity Davis, Madelynn McDaniel (9), Deb Lally, open slots.

ZooToo.com Does Story on Angel Acres - YEA!!

Click here to read the story on ZooToo.com's website about Angel Acres (they put it on their home page...yea)! It's a great story, they did a fantastic job in getting the word out about horse slaughter and the need for horse rescue!

BIG THANKS ZOOTOO.COM!!

Super Busy Day Yesterday!

Yesterday was super duper busy...no time online (WWWAAA lol) during the day...then it was an Antiques Roadshow night, then beddy bye!

Working hard to shed out all the horses...omg...there was SO much horse hair flying around it was crazy...the cats were chasing the hair, it was pretty funny...also working on the pond, the barn, and on and on and on...

Getting newest horse, Chablis, ready to be available for adoption soon! YEA!!!

We have Lesley bringing another donation of hay today and a wonderful lady we have been playing phone tag with wants to donate hay too...yea!!!

Happy Day Everyone!

Petside Blogger Jo Singer Writes About Angel Acres!

Be sure to check out this story about Angel Acres, its great!

And please leave a comment after the article and be sure to add petside.com/petsideblog to your favorites, I have!

She writes about us, Bandito (shown at left), Dewey and more!

Tango Goes Home With New Mom Jessica - YEA!!

Tango aka Storm Exchange has gone home with his new mom, Jessica! After training and reschooling he was ready to be shown (he was rescue in late summer)...due to the tremendous snowfall we had in February we had to delay showing any horses for the entire month.




Jessica contacted us about two weeks ago and was interested in Tango (having seen his video on Fugly Blog). Fast forward...we schedule a showing and Jessica walks in and goes "OH MY GOD!"...I wheeled and around was like "WHAT? WHAT? WHAT'S WRONG?!" She looks at me and goes..."HE GORGEOUS!"...after I recovered from my near heart attack ...LOL ....the showing went on as planned!!



HE is SUCH a great match for Jessica...its hard to explain...but here's their first picture together as they were leaving our training facility and headed for their new life together (HOW ADORABLE IS THIS PICTURE?)...big thanks to Jessica and her Mom for coming to pick up Tango and give him the wonderful life he deserves....not bad for a once slaughter bound Thoroughbred...huh?

ASPCA Awards Angel Acres Grant For Fire Alarm System!

BIG BIG BIG THANKS to the folks at the ASPCA!! We have been awarded a grant to install a fire alarm system!

We are thrilled to have been awarded this grant!!

Please click HERE for the press release!

WE ARE THRILLED! YEA!!!

You Tube OR Coward Tube - You Decide!

WHY is it ok for horses to be shipped to slaughter houses in Canada but NOT ok if the public is made aware of it? ARE WE NOW SENSORING FREEDOM OF SPEECH?!?!

HHHMMMM????? Who got their palms greased at You Tube to take those videos down?

HERE is the link to the Candian Horse Defense Coalition's website.

When I first started rescuing I was cautioned to not make "people angry or upset" by telling people about slaughter...how I had to whisper about it. Then I got to thinking...if it's ok (according the proslaughter world) to inflict limitless amounts of pain, unconsciounable suffering & a tortuous end to an innocent life...then why in the hell did I have to whisper. I now sing it from the rooftops...AMERICAN HORSES ARE BEING SENT TO SLAUGHTER TO FEED FOREIGN HUMAN CONSUMERS...

The video violated their terms of service? The horrific abuses and atrocities shown in this video violates EVERY law of humane treatment of any living being! Where is the humanity in these videos? I AM APPAULED that You Tube instead of helping us (the rescue community) save horses, they chose to take the cowards route out and remove the videos.

SUCK IT UP YOU TUBE - DO WHAT'S RIGHT AND HELP THE HORSES, NOT HIDE THE BASTARDS MURDERING THEM!

Goldie aka Joel Update - This is what rescue is all about!

You may remember Countless Gold, pulled off of a kill truck with bleeding rundowns...skinny, lacking in the love department, in pain, covered in some weird patchy, flaky skin....fast foward to today....WOWWW!

Big thanks to Fran and his sponsors who helped him recover...and big thanks to Clare who is now his forever Mom...look how AMAZING he looks after his bath!!!

THANK YOU EVERYONE who had a part in making his second chance at life, a wonderful happy life!

Bandito Update & More!

This mornings photo of Bandito...he came over to me before I even called his name...he has been with us for three weeks now and is slowly, so slowly, recovering. His spirits are better, his body is not.

You can't tell from the picture this morning, but he has gained 20lbs since arriving. He's been here three weeks...it has taken us that long to get him used to eating again. And lordy can he YELL for breakfast and dinner...really, really loudly!

Blood was drawn on Tuesday and we are awaiting those results...they will tell us if his liver is healing, as it was damaged due to the starvation he endured. Also, (sorry for the tmi) drinking muddy water and urine helped keep him alive, but really took a toll on his condition.

We have added more reader comments on his page on the website...you can see his page here.

We are hoping for more hay donations (we have 30 more bales waitin to be picked up), have a few more teams for the Bowling For Bandito Fundraiser, got our first address mailer out and on its way and more...we have been very busy little bees at the rescue!

Also...we will be closed to visitors from April 23, 2010 (Jo's 40th EGADS! Birthday) through May 2, 2010. Regular volunteers will be staffing the rescue...I will be posting this note at the bottom of each post from now until we return.

And Thursday's have been designated as paperwork, vet and farrier days...this will cut down on wasted time and will allow more time during the week for schooling, ground work, and other horse related activities.

Angel Acres Newsletter is Todays Blog Post!

Click here to read this weeks newsletter!

Heather, Romeo &....Katie?? Sounds like a match made in heaven!

This is Romeo...he has a long, long, long story...he was adopted by Jo-Ellen about 18 months ago...but she didn't want to keep him...she wanted to do several things:

1) Help out a horse in need - (check)

2) Adopt a horse that she could be sure would be taken care of forever - (check)

3) Give another person the joy of owning a horse - (check)

4) Give herself a wonderful birthday gift, the gift of giving a second chance at life - (check)

Jo-Ellen is a tremendously special lady and because of her, Heather & her family have a wonderful, sound, healthy, might we add VERY good looking man of the equine persuasion to hang out with and trail ride. These are photos that Heather just brought over on her visit to Angel Acres on Weds...we think Heather is doing a fabulous job meeting all the requirements mentioned above...and them some!!

The photo below is Romeo and Katie, Heather's daughter, we hear Romeo just loves her! Another Angel Acres happy ending!! YEAAA!!!!

And Jo-Ellen still checks in on Romeo and Heather so appreciates the gift that Jo-Ellen gave to her and her family...and Romeo...

HELP BANDITO! BOWLING FOR BANDITO!

OK GANG...those that know me know I don't like asking for stuff and beating people up to help us (As a matter of fact I get harrassed by MY own volunteers for not asking for help lol)...BUT NOW WE NEED PEOPLE in the MARYLAND & PA area to BOWL FOR BANDITO & We will be having the WLIF (Lite 102) Friends & Neighbors Prize Van visiting there for Bandito too!!!

We have 4 teams scheduled:

Bandito Strikers- Linda, Lizzie, Clare + friends

Wild Thornberries- Debi F, Mike D, Tyler, Alisa, Natalie, Amy S.

Cherokee Riders- Kelli McGee & Friends

Alley Cats- Abbey Margiotta and friends.

We need 6 more teams (6 people on each team) or the event will NOT take place...and we REALLY, REALLY, REALLY need do to this Bowling Event for several reasons...it will help raise awareness about Bandito and horses like Prince (who lost his battle for life after being raced, starved, and abused)...it will help others connect in the community with horse owners and non-horse owners.

It's just two hours from 2 to 4pm in Timonium MD and just $20 a person for 2 games of bowling, popcorn and soda...the WLIF PRIZE VAN will be there and there will also be a chinese auction!

Please call Fran at 410-340-7676 or email her at keywestnorth@hotmail.com

And PLEASE Cross Post and help us help Bandito and others like him...neglected, abused and abandoned horses that need our help. We can't do what we do without help from the community...horsey folks and non horsey folks!

What do I think of these horses? Are you serious?!

WELLLL...THEY LOOK AMAZING!!! Note below is from Token (1st picture) and Storms (2nd picture) Mom, Nikki.

Hey Jo,
Hope all is going well, We took some new pics of the Horses and I wanted to share. Token looks Fab. He is so pretty and his winter coat is almost gone. Storm is doing good, she is not a big eater and I wish I could get a little more weight on her.

But she is full of energy, I can not wait to get my ring done so I can start riding her.


Take care and have a wonderful day, let me know what you think of the horses!

Nikki


FROM US: THANK YOU for giving these horses a second chance at life...to think....THESE are rescue horses...you are helping us to change the mindset of what a "rescue horse" really is...Thank you!

Help Angel Acres Win up to $5,000 - Starting 9am Today!

$5,000 GoodSearch Giveaway - Three Days Only!

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Our new Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue toolbar is free to download and allows you to raise money for our cause every time you search or shop online! Once added to IE or Firefox, each time you shop at more than 1,300 stores (from Amazon to Zazzle!) a percentage of your purchase will automatically be donated to Angel Acres - at no cost to you (and you may even save money as the toolbar provides coupons and deals as well!). The toolbar also has a search box and each time you search the Internet, about a penny is donated to Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue!

Starting TODAY we can earn a $1 bonus per toolbar that is downloaded!!

And, please pass this along to all of your friends. The two minutes it takes to add this toolbar to your browser can make a lifetime of difference for our cause!

Get the toolbar here, NOW!

Happy Easter!

No Blog Post Today...just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter and a great week ahead!

From all of us at Angel Acres!

LONG DAY...long, long, long day...

WOW!!

First: Big thanks to Chris for donating 70 bales of hay to our gang...yea!!!


We washed horses, we cleaned the big barn and the lower barn, we took down a bunch of old decking, we stacked the hay that Chris donated to us, we changed all the light bulbs in the barn, we checked the fire extinguishers, we changed batteries in the smoke detectors and on and on and on...Greg and I worked till, well Greg is still working, me I am going to rinse off the pollen and hit the hay...as we have another busy day tomorrow!

Have a great night everyone!

Apple Butter Treats - The Official Treat of the Angel Acres Horses!

It's been a long time coming...I have tried every treat (that was healthy and as natural as we could find) that I could find in hopes that our velvet-nosed gang would all agree on ONE treat. Then I figured I'd settle and just hope for one that most of them would eat, that a supplier, manufacturer, distributor etc would be willing to give us a discount on...not free, we know they have to make a profit to stay in business.

I approached several and most were polite (one was downright rude) but would not offer us ANY sort of discount. So, I gave up and decided to forget about it and kept different treats for different horses.

WELL, WELL, WELL...how times have changed! FAST FORWARD TO LAST WEEEK...we received (after being contacted) a sample of Apple Butter Treats...soooo...not getting too excited I set about giving each horse a treat...when I approached Silk, I thought, whats the use, she'll just turn her nose, then grudgingly take it, naw it a bit, and the spit it out with all the drama of a soap opera queen...sssoooo...I set about the routine..."coommmeee on Silky Momma...come on, you know you want the treat...tttuuummm onnnn bbabby girrrl take the treat for miss jo (you all KNOW the baby talk/horse talk routine here lol)"

I waited for her to do her drama routine and move on...but NO...SHE LIKED IT...LORD A MERCY SHE LIKED IT...I was SHOCKED...sssoooo...I fed everyone else a treat, said nite nite...and set the bag on the shelf.

Next morning...I head to barn and just BARELY MOVED the treat bag and you would have thought an 8ft carrot had just entered the building! WHAT A CHORUS OF WHINNIES AND HOLLERING"...and YES...even Silk!!!

So, I fly to the phone and call Fran and tell her the story and tell her we NEED, not WANT...but need these treats to be our official treat sponsor...and...drum roll please...after 6 years of searching...

Apple Butter Treats is The Official Treat of the Angel Acres Horses! We will be feeding these treats exclusively!

From Toi at Apple Butter Treats:


Apple Butter Treats makes all-natural treats for horses. They are made from good things like oatmeal, flax, and molasses and are filled with real homemade apple butter… all things horses love! There are no fillers, preservatives, by-products, or additives. We also donate 35% percent of our profits to horse rescue organizations.

For more information, please visit our website at http://www.applebuttertreats.com/. If placing an order, please make sure to click on Add Special Instructions to Merchant in Paypal and enter “ANGEL ACRES”. This will ensure that Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue gets the donation from that purchase.

Peer Reviewed Article on Horses Given Bute & Bought For Slaughter

This is a must read!

Very well written and should be another weapon against those that believe horse meat is "healthy"...those that eat it in Canada, Mexico, etc.

Bandito Update - 15 Days After Seizure

This is Bandito's picture from todays grooming session with Hannah. Hannah is one of our trainers and exercise riders and she volunteered (ok, I begged her just a little... lol...nah she was off today and was happy to come by) to come over and help with washing some really, really muddy horses today!

She came right over and now we have nice, spiffy, clean horses...oh...probably till dinner time...then they will look like they did before they were washed and groomed...ugh!!!

Thank you to everyone who is or has donated for his care, purchased a coloring book for him and sent him thoughts and prayers...this is 15 days post seizure...its the best pic I have of him!

The proceeds from the coloring books are going directly to help with his care!

You can also donate online by clicking here.

Thanks everyone!