Splash Mountain is a gorgeous 17 plus hand tall Oldenburg gelding who was abandoned here at FalconRidge by his owner who brought him here for training with David to learn to pick up his feet. He was bred up in Los Angeles and then left in pasture and never handled nor broke to halter. Severely lame when he arrived and spooky, he is now sound and doing well. After 4 months with no contact from the owner, he is now ours to rehabilitate and love. I wished owners would not breed horses, not train them and then just dump them on others. It is just so irresponsible and the reason that so many horses are in need of rescue or end up at killer auctions which, gasp, yes we DO have in southern California! Mikes Auction and Euclid Auction, both near Chino, CA have kill buyers there buying up most of the horses monthly at prices of $60 up to $400 a head. Please consider attending and saving a horse from there, horses who will most likely NOT be going to a good loving family home!
Zeus, our miniature ambassador horse this month will be going to Farr Elementary School January 24th, in a joint effort with Escondido Humane Society, to teach the third graders about responsible horse ownership and how horses are meant to be members of the family and kept for life!
Thursday January 27th, one of our FalconRidge adoptable horses will be on the San Diego morning news again, channel 6's Animal House with Dawn White, so please tune in and see which FalconRidge adoptable horse will be a tv star!
We had our first San Diego Equine Safety Net Coalition Educational Workshop, held at Armstrong Feed store in Valley Center. We had six veterinarians speak on numerous topics of health and nutrition for equines and an equine chiropractor too. The coalition is supported by a generous grant from the ASPCA and supports people and horses in need in the community, with the target of keeping horses in their homes. Our website is now up, http://www.sandiegohorse.org. If you know of someone in need of temporary assistance with their horses please let me know. There is also great informational links on the site!
FalconRidge was also selected to do a pilot study and has some funding from a major animal welfare group to assist good horse owners who need help for their horse/s due to unexpected circumstances, such as a large car bill, and who want to keep their horses. Please contact me if you know of such owners. The funding is only available for a short time. Helping horses in the community is what we do!
Recent arrivals to the rescue-Barney the draft horse is a 7 yr old gelding who was starved by his owner in Oregon and seized by animal control. He arrived from Emerald Valley Equine Rescue up there to be able to find a good home down here in so cal! He is 15 hands and being taught ground manners. David rode him yesterday but it appears he is not trained to ride. He will be up for adoption.
Gidget is a 4 yr old paint mare that was used by Oregon State University Vet School for fertility research. She was auctioned off online, so we bought her for $150, sent her down to Cathy Atkinson, http://fuglyblog.com, who taught her ground manners and to ride under saddle. Gidget is a very sweet easygoing mare! Calm and not spooky and will be easy to train. David rode her yesterday. She will also be for adoption.
Christmas, the 21 yr old paint mare rescued during the heavy rains the week before Christmas, was evaluated yesterday under saddle and found to be a super nice riding mare. She has gained weight nicely and is up for adoption. Such a sweet girl!
Fundraisers - Our FalconRidge Dayplanners are now for sale and support the rescue, they are listing in the links on the top right of this page. We also have Katy's Decorative Horseshoes link available that supports FalconRidge horses and make great gifts!
April 1st we will be having a fundraiser viewing of the movie, Oh You Cowgirl, a documentary of female cowgirls of the west. http://thecowgirlmovie.com/ The location and details will be coming!
News Items - A recent article just came out online by Marta Zarella, http://www.examiner.com/horse-in-san-diego/horse-life-adoption-rescue-and-sanctuary
Adopted Horses - Big congratulations to Teenie, Keebler, Nora, and Mingo who are all going to great homes with their loving new families! Woohoo!
FalconRidge Foster Program - We are starting a new foster program that allows you to foster a FalconRidge horse at your home or boarding facility. This creates additional space for us to help more horses in need and is a great way to help a horse in need and our organization. Please contact me if you are interested in fostering a horse from our program and I will send you an application. Nicole, a beautiful arabian mare, recently went to her foster home with Claire in Del Mar.
Fundraising Coordinator Position Needed - Funds are desperately needed to assist with feeding and providing veterinary care for the 50 or more horses here at FalconRidge. While we are very active in rescuing horses, one area we need to focus on is fundraising and therefore are looking for someone with commitment and experience in writing grants, planning fundraisers and developing capital campaigns for nonprofits. If you know of someone or would love to help out our organization by working on bringing in funds, please let me know. The horses need you! Thank you!
Donate or adopt a horse now! Funds are desperately needed as well as good homes for horses!
Love,
Nicki
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