Believe in the Magic of the Season
The following is from All About Equine Animal Rescue:
Remember AmazonSmile when you shop!
With every purchase, AmazonSmile donates to All About Equine Animal Rescue, Inc. at no cost to you!
It’s been a busy year and you’ve made this world a better place for some lucky horses this year.
Join us as we share 31 stories that show how you helped horses in 2019.
We hope you enjoy these stories as we count down to 2020!
Your support this month will help us prepare for another year of helping horses by
funding our veterinary budget for 2020.
We can not do this without you!
Thank you all for your support!
CHILI & SKITTLES
Chili and Skittles came to AAE, not because they were in poor condition,
but because Chili’s fate was euthanasia.
Earlier this year, one of our supporters contacted us about Chili. He urgently needed a home.
We contacted his owner, and we learned Chili was going to be euthanized if he didn’t find a home, very soon. He was diagnosed with EPM, and his owners were not willing to treat him.
They couldn’t afford a horse that couldn’t be ridden and couldn’t earn his keep in their riding program. We hear it all the time, and so often we’re full and unable to help. Adding insult to injury, Skittles was Chili’s buddy, and they wanted Skittles to go with Chili, so there were two.
This handsome gelding was only four years old and a Belgian-cross.
It sure seemed someone would love him, and everyone wants a draft, right?
However, EPM? Could he be treated successfully?
There was a chance his EPM would leave him an unridable horse.
Sadly, so many people feel an unridable horse is an unwanted or disposable horse.
We’ve been there before, and that’s where Chili was, unwanted and disposable.
Adding insult to injury, we were told Chili had a “hind leg issue, but he just needed exercise”.
We guessed it might be EPM related.
Fortunately for Chili, the timing couldn’t be more perfect;
a recent conversation with one of our volunteers a day or two before was about how
she wanted a companion horse. A horse she could love on, and one that could help her.
The description that came with Chili sounded like a perfect match, sweet, gentle, lovable,
so we went to work. Pictures were sent, the story told, and it was love at first sight.
It was a definitive “YES”, so we made arrangements for Chili to come to AAE. We tried to discourage Skittles coming along, too, because we don’t keep minis with horses, and they wouldn’t be kept together. We don’t adopt minis to be companions to horses, either, but they insisted she come. Skittles was an 8 mo old filly, and cute as a button. The came quick, and they unloaded into quarantine paddocks. They lived next door to each other through their quarantine period before Skittles was integrated into the mini herd.
Rewind, the morning after arrived,
it was a bit shocking to see Chili trying to move, see photo above.
We started Chili with EPM treatment through his former vet, before he and Skittles arrived, and Chili was seen by Dr. Stolba shortly after his his arrival. His prior vet records were reviewed, and EPM confirmed; he was also diagnosed with bilateral locking stifles. It looks so painful!
He needed strengthening, and Dr. Stolba recommended a daily exercise plan for him, so “mom and dad to be” got busy, and they came EVERY day to make sure Chili got his exercise walking up hills. Our road was the best hill around. After a couple months, mom and dad were able to foster Chili during his third, and hopefully final, month of treatment.
Chili has an occasional hitch in his get along, but he has done amazingly well.
Chili is now “Cowboy”, and he is loved beyond words!
Skittles blended into the mini herd with ease.
Oddly, she developed locking stifles a while after she moved in with the herd.
Skittles hated walking hills, but she did!
Silly filly, everyone loved her!
But Oscar stole her heart, and now they’re living happily ever after!!
We always look forward to updates from our adopters.
If you’ve adopted an AAE horse and we haven’t been in touch lately,
please drop us a line and let us know how things are going.
We love to share your updates!
Are you looking for your next equine partner?
BELIEVE, your support makes a difference….
DONATE and you can make more stories come true!
If you’d prefer to mail a check, please make check payable to
“All About Equine Animal Rescue, Inc.” and send to
2201 Francisco Dr. #140-174
El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
New Volunteer Needs
As many of you know, we’ve been trying to expand store hours.
TACK STORE SUPPORT:
We need a second person (no experience necessary) to help staff the store on Tuesday, Wednesday, and/or Thursday afternoons, 2p-6p, can you help?
If you’re interested in helping with tack store activities (e.g. cleaning donated tack, researching/pricing, organizing, helping customers, sharing AAE info, admin support, and more), we need you.
Current store hours are Fri-Mon 12-4p, and recently added Thurs hours 2-6p.
We can always use help during any of the current hours, too.
Please email us if you are interested/available Tues, Wed, or Thurs afternoons, 2-6p.
ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT:
If you are available to help with administrative activities, we are creating admin hours in the office at the store.
We have a variety of administrative tasks we need help getting done.
Please email us if you are interested/available Tues, Wed, or Thurs afternoons, 2p-6p.
BOOTS & BLING 2020
We have kicked off our Boots & Bling planning for 2020.
The event has included a catered BBQ Dinner, DJ Music and Dancing, Live/Silent/Dessert auctions,
a special fundraiser, and line dancing with instruction.
We need help in most areas for planning for this event to make sure its a huge success for AAE and our horses.
Please email us if you are interested in helping with Boots & Bling.
We meet once a month until the event.
SPECIAL PROJECTS AROUND THE BARN
Maybe you’d like to help around the barn, but don’t want to work directly with the horses, or you don’t like to muck?
We could use some help cleaning and organizing, whether it’s the feed room, the meds room, the office, the tools, groundskeeping, painting shelters, monitoring the fencelines, tree trimming, coordinating vehicle maintenance, or a zillion other things.
There’s so much that needs to be done, and
we could use some extra hands to help keep things looking nicer and more clean.
Please email us if you are interested/available during regular barn shifts,
Mon-Sat 8a-noon, Sun 9a-1p or afternoons 3p-6p.
Daily Horse Care, especially pm shifts needed now
(Daily 8a-12p or 3p-6p)
Used Tack Store Support, all areas
(Fri – Mon, 12-4p)
Barn/Facility Maintenance
Foster Homes, Long-Term Foster/Sanctuary Homes
Capital Campaign Support
Board Members
Fundraising/Events
Grants – Writing and Research
Volunteer, Project, and Activity Coordinators
Outreach Activities
Youth Programs
Therapy Programs
Veteran Programs
Special Projects
Admin Support
Marketing
Graphics
Social Media
Bloggers
Photographers
Media and/or Photo Librarian
More, more, more
Interested in volunteering or volunteering in other areas?
Employers Match Donations, Does Yours?
Hey volunteers!
Did you know YOU could earn grant money for AAE from your employer just by volunteering?
Many Employers offer money when their employees volunteer. Here are a few examples:
-
Intel
provides a $10 grant to a nonprofit per every volunteer hour by an employee, and matches funds dollar for dollar up to $5,000 per employee or retiree.
-
Microsoft provides a $17 grant to a nonprofit per every hour volunteered by an employee.
-
Apple provides a $25 grant to a nonprofit per every volunteer hour by an employee, and matches funds dollar for dollar up to $10,000 per employee.
-
Verizon provides a $750 grant to a nonprofit when an employee volunteers for 50+ hours.
- State Farm provides a $500 grant nonprofit when an employee volunteers for+ 40 hours.
- Others top 20 matching gift and/or volunteer grant companies include
-
- Starbucks
- CarMax
- Home Depot
- JP Morgan
- Chevron
- Soros Fund Management
- BP (British Petroleum)
- Gap Corporation
- State Street Corporation
- ExxonMobil
- Johnson & Johnson
- Boeing
- Disney
- Merck
- Aetna
- Dell
- Outerwall (CoinStar and RedBox)
- ConocoPhillips
- RealNetworks
- Time Warner and subsidiaries
- AllState
- and more
Check with your employer. You could help purchase our next load of hay!