More August updates...

We'd like to thank Moonshadow Farm for donating 50-100 round bales of fine horse hay to help us with our horse rescue!! Thank you!

A few bales came today. Tomorrow, we'll unroll them on the roadway down to the barn and rebale them as small squares so they can go up in the loft to be fed inside in the winter. We'll store as much hay as we can in the loft after we rebale it - it helps insulate the barn and keep it warm, as well as feed the horses that come inside on cold nights.

Finn left for his new home today. He's busy making friends with the horses at his new home just east of Smiths Falls. Leisa (his new owner) is happy to finally have him home.

Delilah (Finn's mom) was a bit upset and broke out of her stall while we were gone. A neighbour saw her and put her out in the field with Firecracker. Delilah pulled the T-post by the gate out and went looking for Finn again. This time, Fire was out with her. Delilah didn't go far, but did go out to the road. Luckily, the same neighbour saw her and put her in the barn (a different stall - we're not sure how she got out the first time as nothing was broken) and put Firecracker in another stall. Both Delilah and Fire are fine.

It's wonderful to have caring neighbours!

SuperEx 2008

Sneakers and Nikki were wonderful ambassadors for our farm while they were at SuperEx. Nikki amazed us by letting strangers stroke her ears (she was very head shy when she came back) and even putting her head down over the gate to let children pat her. Sneakers sure enjoyed the petting zoo food that children gave him! We'd like to thank SuperEx and the staff for providing excellent stalls and care for our horses in the seven days that Sneakers, Reba and Nikki were there. Thanks to Erin, Mick, Hank and all the teenagers who stripped stalls every morning for making our stay as pleasant as possible!

The week at SuperEx was really busy. One volunteer went in early in the morning to hold the horses while the guys stripped the stalls (important to keep the flies and smell down) and put down new shavings. That person then fed the horses, took off stable wraps, gave them a good grooming (all of them were comfortable enough to lie down to sleep each night so they were decorated with shavings and manure stains), and fed them their breakfast. We arrived about 9-10 am and gave the horses at least a half an hour of walk/trot work in the ring to work out any kinks and burn off some energy. Since our horses live outside 24/7 most of the time, they're not used to being in a stall 24 hours a day.

We stayed all day and well into the evening, answering questions and chatting with the public. We put on four therapeutic riding demonstrations in conjunction with Willowbank Stables (Monday-Thursday). The last person out swept up the booth and in front of the stalls, put out the garbage, and secured the booth for the night.

Since SuperEx is open from 12 noon to 11 pm, that made for some awfully long days. All the chores at home had to be done before we left - and Mac and Soul had very late dinners!

Jasper and Daisy were a big hit with the public, too. They both demonstrated their service dog abilities in the ring and in the booth. Jasper is 5 months old, but so calm that he slept through most of SuperEx. Daisy stayed home part of the week as she enjoys the peace and quiet of being able to sleep her day away on the couch with out Jasper pestering her to play.

Susan took some time off to do the morning shift. She lives in town and likes to get up early, so that made sense.

Natasha volunteered for 6 of the 7 days. She rode, scooped poop, groomed and loved the horses and dealt with the long hours (she stayed at the farm for the week and traveled with us) without a single complaint. She was a real asset to the team!! Thank you, Natasha!

Maryse also put in long hours at the booth and with the horses. She volunteered at SuperEx, taking time off from her business to help out, after meeting us on Tuesday. Thank you, Maryse!

We're working on plans for next year's booth already - and really hope that all the people who picked up business cards give us a call to find out how they can help. The public picked up almost 100 business cards for Dreamscape Acres Horse Rescue.