Post by Exceller Fund on Oct 9, 2006 23:30:34 GMT -5
Dear Exceller Fund members,
So much has been happening that I must get this update out to all you with all the late breaking news! Please read on for further details, but to give you the "Quick" view, here's what this update will cover:
TIME TO TIME
The response from The Exceller Fund members to help this old warrior was phenomenal. Keely Morgan of CANTER Southern Illinois is so very grateful to everyone who responded, and she actually has found herself in the position of having enough money to pay the bills! I spoke to her on the phone, and she believes that she is covered. The Exceller Fund has sent her $300, plus she received numerous contributions from individuals. Thank you so much to those of you who responded - we literally made a life or death difference for this guy. I will post Keely's most recent update along with links to photos of "Dinky" after he returned home from the clinic.
I went to visit "Dinky" yesterday & took a few photos. Nothing spectacular, as he's on stall rest w/a small run - but at least it's something! It's been very hot and he spends most of his time in the stall under his fan, snoozing (as you can see in his droopy lip photos). The stay at the university definitely took some wind out of his sails, and he now has to take 55 antibiotic pills 2x daily for 10 more days, along with Gastroguard paste once a day. Very soon he is going to be sick of seeing people come at him with a syringe!
You can see in the one photo where his stifle was shaved and the now permanent swelling he is expected to have (they said he'll probably always carry some fluid in that joint). Poor guy is shaved with IV holes on both sides of his neck as well.
He's got a darling little paint yearling next door to him who absolutely ADORES him. Follows Dinky in & out of his run - side by side, won't let him out of his sight! Definitely the "odd couple"!
He had six days of IV antibiotics, and has been sent home on oral antibiotics. His cultures so far have NOT grown staph (YAY!). As stated earlier, they flushed the joint and his x-rays showed arthritis and an old spur. There are some other (more complicated medical reasons that consist of lots of big words!) that they still suspect infection of some sort, and they are using antibiotics that are effective on staph aureus "just in case" because of the initial culture. (gave me some scenarios where a culture might not grow anything but an infection is still present). Since then, they also performed an ultrasound of his stifle that showed a meniscal (sp?) tear. In other words, his stifle is pretty much shot.
The good news is that they do think we'll be able to keep him relatively comfortable as a "pasture puff". He was given a shot of Legend and we'll probably have to do so periodically. He'll be started on a oral joint supplement as well for the arthritis. 2-4 weeks stall rest for the soft tissue injury. 30 days of "gastroguard" (we'll get the generic from our vet) due to the fact that we suspected ulcers prior to this incident and it seems this stay at the university was somewhat stressful for him. We'll see how comfy he ends up as a "pet" and of course, consistently monitor him for any quality of life issues. So, does anyone need a 1300lb "pet"? *sigh*
I want to send out HUGE thanks to everyone who donated for Dinky's care, as well as those who were able to just plain pray for him. The response was astounding. We even had a very kind soul from the area who stopped by with her daughter to give him lots of rubs & pats & slip him a few treats during his stay after reading his story online. I know that meant a lot to him. Without the ability to send him to the university for more thorough diagnostics, we would have likely had to euthanize as the possibility of leaving him to 'fester' from the suspected staph infection would not have been an option. You have literally saved this horse's life and we are going to do everything possible to see that he is able to enjoy a reasonably comfortable retirement. You should sleep VERY well at night. If ever there was an old "War Horse" out there, this guy is it - with the battle scars to prove it. He has earned his pension.
Time To Time (aka "Dinky") with his new friend.
Dinky checks out his turn-out
Time To Time - a face you can't resist
Time To Time remembers his glory days
"Dinky" and friend chat it up in the stall:
The stifle
It's getting to be.....
NAP TIME!
NEW HORSES
We have two new horses to tell you about, and also another Fingerlakes horse got a home with one of our member/volunteers:
Summer Wind (aka "Windy")
This 4 year old bay filly simply does not have the conformation to last long as a race horse. Let's credit her trainer with looking for a better situation by listing her on the Exceller Fund Fingerlakes listings. Originally, this filly caught the attention of a nearby pet sanctuary that is home to dogs, cats, barnyard animals, and carriage horses. Pets Alive also took a Thoroughbred gelding from the Fingerlakes Track last year. The woman running the sanctuary was looking for a companion to her 42 year old gelding, and "Windy" seemed to fit that bill. However, the sanctuary does not give "receipts" for donated animals which was a requirement of the trainer if she was going to donate the filly. This issue seemed to be solved by having the trainer donate the filly to The Exceller Fund, and we in turn would adopt Windy out to the sanctuary.
Unfortunately, Windy was a bit too rambunctious and rough with the old guy, and the sanctuary did not feel they could safely contain her on their property. The Exceller Fund took Windy back since we did assume responsibility for her, and we sent her to the same stable where Handsome Jolly Jim is recuperating. Both of these horses are at Triple L Stables where the watchful eye of our member, Lisa Gates, makes sure they stay out of trouble!
Due to her VERY straight pasterns and being over at the ankle, we will look for a nice pleasure trail riding home for Windy. We waiting to confirm her pedigree and will let you know. Here are photos of Windy from when she was at the Fingerlakes Track:
Here's Windy looking MUCH happier to be cavorting in the pasture at Triple L:
UP ON A ROOF (aka "Topper")
This bay gelded son of Raffi's Majesty was at a dealer who is near the Fingerlakes track. The dealer had him listed for sale as a prospect for hunter/jumper, but no buyers were interested in the personable bay gelding with the bowed tendon. The dealer does try to find private sale homes for horses he gets, but he will only hold on to the horses for a certain amount of time. When that time is up, the horses will either to go auction or to a meat buyer. Fortunately, we do have a relationship with this dealer that we can acquire the horses from him before they go that route.
Here's his photo:
He will need some stall rest and hand walking, and then pasture turn out for the bow. If the bow is his only injury, he should fully recover. I thought his photo was so picture-esque, I put it on a postage stamp in our CafePress store!
Here's his stamp! Don't you think that would look so cool on an envelope when you mail a letter?
www.cafepress.com/excellerfund.60489926
We also have stamps with other horses, and I will tell you that the Ruffian postage stamp always gets a reaction from the post office employees!
www.cafepress.com/excellerfund/933164
ANOTHER FINGERLAKES HORSE GETS A HOME - WITH A MEMBER!
Siddartha
This 4 year old son of A.P. Jet is simply too slow to be a racehorse, but he is perfectly capable of other equine disciplines. Our member Lisa Gates, who also volunteers with Gaye McCullough and Nel Rutishauser to get the backside listings and photos of horses from the trainers at the Fingerlakes Track, fell in love with this very handsome dark bay/black colt. She negotiated the sale with the trainer, and now he is hers!
Take a look at his pictures and you'll see why Lisa was so captivated.
CURRENT AND ADOPTED EXCELLER FUND HORSES:
Now Is The Hour
Last Update, we reported that Now Is The Hour was returned to United Pegasus Foundation, and UPF was in need of a sponsor for his care. NITH was one of the very early horses helped out by The Exceller Fund, even before we were our own non-profit corporation. Thank you so much to those who responded with additional pledges to help. One of the founding principals of The Exceller Fund is that we will always be there for our horses even if they are returned many years later. I notified United Pegasus that we would increase our check to them to cover the additional monthly cost to care for NITH, and United Pegasus was very nice in letting us know the following:
Hi, Bonnie, Helen ask me to let you know that Now is the Hour's previous adoptive owner has decided to sponsor him and that he will be staying at UPF as a permanent retiree now. Thank you for your consideration. donna
What a refreshing turn of events! NITH still shows on UPF's website as needing a sponsor, but I am sure they will update that information soon. For those that pledged additional funds, have no fear because we are looking at possible increased costs for other horses such as:
Sully's Silver Silver Ghost - Jessie Wyler (by With Approval) 2001 Gray gelding 21 Starts: 2 - 1 - 2, $43,183
Many will recall this gentle and long suffering gray gelding, a 5-year old son of Silver Ghost, has such an endearing personality that even the dealer couldn't stand the thought of him being shipped to slaughter. He contacted us about Sully, and even sold Sully to us at his cost. This beautiful gray had no chance at finding a private buyer since his ankle was fused, his knee is a mess, and he had a huge abscess on his right foot. If you can believe it, this poor guy was RACING on that knee and ankle just a few short weeks before he wound up at the dealers!
The news on his knee is not good, and he is bone-on-bone on the bottom of the joint. Currently, he is receiving 2 1/2 to 3 grams of bute a day for pain management, and this is not something that can continue long term. We are searching for any and all possibilities to treat his condition, and we do not know if surgery will be able to help him. We will be consulting various veterinarians to see what alternatives are available. This will require some very specialized care, and it is not fair for us to leave him with ReRun to expect that kind of specialized day to day management. We don't know if his condition is something that a vet center such as New Bolton can help with, but we cannot give up on Sully until we have explored all available options and his pain becomes too much for any type of quality of life.
Sully was one of our Valentine Horses, and I have 17 photographs of him that Barbara Livingston signed and donated. To help raise money for whatever he may need, I have these photos up in our Giftshop for $10 each. These are beautiful 4x6 photos taken and autographed by Eclipse Award winning photographer Barbara Livingston.
excellerfund.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=E&Product_Code=P20&Category_Code=TP
Sir Flier
This former Venezuelan Champion 3 year old colt and Champion Sprinter wound up at the bottom of the claiming ranks and was acquired by The Exceller Fund many years ago. It was so long ago that The Exceller Fund was not yet it's own 501(co) non-profit, so Sir Flier was adopted out under a ReRun adoption agreement. We have recently been contacted by someone who says they have seen this horse and he does not look well cared for. In cooperation with ReRun, we are investigating the situation. We do not know yet if the allegations are true. If they are, we will do whatever we legally can do to make sure the horse is properly taken care of, even if it means we take him back. We do not know if we will need to do this or not, but we are prepared to fulfill our obligation to this horse.
Almata, Franchised, and Franconia
On a happier note, Lori Eagle of ReRun Kentucky tells us that Barbara Livingston came by her farm to see one of Barbara's favorite old mares, Tall Glass of Water who resides with our "girls" at Lori's place. Barbara took photos of "Tally" and also took photos of her friends Palmate (daughter of Exceller), Franchised and Franconia. Barbara told Lori that these photos will be in her next book!
RICH IN DALLAS - NEWS AND APPEARANCES
Rich In Dallas, our very own Seabiscuit Star, continues to be popular with the horse show folks. We received a special request for Dallas to be a celebrity guest from New Vocations Horse Adoption Program for their Charity Show, July 20-30th at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in Ohio. The New Vocations volunteers got to witness Dallas' amazing personality at the Equine Affaire show in Ohio this past April. They feel he is a wonderful ambassador for Off-the-track Thoroughbreds and will help attract people to look into adopting one of these amazing athletes. Paul and Kelly Linn are delighted to take Dallas their to "press the flesh and kiss the babies" as Paul puts it. There is information about the show in New Vocation's website:
www.horseadoption.com/HorseShow.htm
Members of The Exceller Fund should feel very special that we are able to work with so many different organizations with the common goal of providing a "Future Beyond the Finish Line."
Speaking of the Equine Affaire, the show coordinators contacted The Exceller Fund with a special request for a repeat Celebrity Horse appearance at the Equine Affaire in Massachusetts this November 9th - 12th at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield Massachusetts. For those who weren't able to see Dallas at the Ohio Show, mark your calendars and try to see him in person in Massachusetts!
FUNDRAISERS
Sing & Alex - Children's book
Please tell your family and friends about our special book - Sing & Alex - available on our website. Everyone who has received the book is delighted with the charming story and adorable illustrations! We will be putting together a Sing & Alex page where we will have a photo of the real Sing So Long as well as information about special events or giftshops that will be selling the book. Don't forget, as Exceller Fund members, you will still be able to get the promotional price for the regular copy and for a copy signed by the author and the illustrator!
You can order the book from our website at: excellerfund.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=E&Category_Code=MM
And we have also put together some T-shirts and cool kids clothes featuring the book!
www.cafepress.com/excellerfund/1498322
Celebrity Mini Horses by Danielle
Don't forget to take a look at the Celebrity Mini Horses by Danielle. The Angel Horse is especially heart warming!
excellerfund.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=E&Category_Code=DC
Auctions
I am working on more eBay auctions. I believe I still have some cool Secretariat items sure to please any nostalgic horse racing fan! Stay tuned for more details.
NEW MEMBERS
Please welcome our newest members. If you are a new member and I have not listed your name on an update, please be sure to let me know. Thanks, and my apologies if I did not include your name:
We have added the 2005 year-end financial statement for you to review. This document is in .pdf format and is from the Excel sheet that Gayle sends to the Board. These are not the CPA prepared financial statements; if anyone would like those, please let me know and I will give you the information to obtain it from our accountant.
Also, this Members Area is for YOU, our Exceller Fund members. We have our own messageboard where members can "meet" and exchange ideas and contact information. We are working on updates and enhancements to this area, but these things take time and planning...and then more time! Please send us your suggestions for what you would like to see in this area. We may not be able to do all of them, but will do our best.
Congratulations on those of you who won the special contest held on the Message Board. We plan on doing more of these!
If you would like to contact me or any Exceller Fund Board member, you can send an e-mail to mail@excellerfund.org. This is our general all-purpose e-mail address and it is accessible to all of our board members.
DUES AND DONATIONS!
Please don't forget to send in your dues for June!!! If you forgot to send in May, you can combine it with June. We need you now more than ever! You can also pay ahead of time for any number of months up through the end of the year. There are several ways that you can make your monthly donation:
Checks (mailing address is below)
Credit Card donation through our Gift Shop: excellerfund.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=E
Credit Card - automatic deduction - send an e-mail to Karla Phaneuf at britadog@aol.com for instructions.
PayPal - The PayPal address is donate@excellerfund.org
American Express now offers cardholders the opportunity to donate using their American Express card and earn Reward Points at the same time: www124.americanexpress.com/cards/loyalty.do?page=donateonline
If you pay by check, please make them payable to The Exceller Fund, Inc. and mailed to:
The Exceller Fund
3572 Star Ridge Road
Hayward, CA 94542
Thanks to all of you for helping horses!
Bonnie Mizrahi,
President
The Exceller Fund
Providing a Future Beyond the Finish Line sm
So much has been happening that I must get this update out to all you with all the late breaking news! Please read on for further details, but to give you the "Quick" view, here's what this update will cover:
- Update on Time To Time (CANTER horse that we helped!)
New Exceller Fund horses
Current and Adopted Exceller Fund horses
Rich In Dallas - news and appearances
Fundraisers
New Members
Member Involvement
TIME TO TIME
The response from The Exceller Fund members to help this old warrior was phenomenal. Keely Morgan of CANTER Southern Illinois is so very grateful to everyone who responded, and she actually has found herself in the position of having enough money to pay the bills! I spoke to her on the phone, and she believes that she is covered. The Exceller Fund has sent her $300, plus she received numerous contributions from individuals. Thank you so much to those of you who responded - we literally made a life or death difference for this guy. I will post Keely's most recent update along with links to photos of "Dinky" after he returned home from the clinic.
I went to visit "Dinky" yesterday & took a few photos. Nothing spectacular, as he's on stall rest w/a small run - but at least it's something! It's been very hot and he spends most of his time in the stall under his fan, snoozing (as you can see in his droopy lip photos). The stay at the university definitely took some wind out of his sails, and he now has to take 55 antibiotic pills 2x daily for 10 more days, along with Gastroguard paste once a day. Very soon he is going to be sick of seeing people come at him with a syringe!
You can see in the one photo where his stifle was shaved and the now permanent swelling he is expected to have (they said he'll probably always carry some fluid in that joint). Poor guy is shaved with IV holes on both sides of his neck as well.
He's got a darling little paint yearling next door to him who absolutely ADORES him. Follows Dinky in & out of his run - side by side, won't let him out of his sight! Definitely the "odd couple"!
He had six days of IV antibiotics, and has been sent home on oral antibiotics. His cultures so far have NOT grown staph (YAY!). As stated earlier, they flushed the joint and his x-rays showed arthritis and an old spur. There are some other (more complicated medical reasons that consist of lots of big words!) that they still suspect infection of some sort, and they are using antibiotics that are effective on staph aureus "just in case" because of the initial culture. (gave me some scenarios where a culture might not grow anything but an infection is still present). Since then, they also performed an ultrasound of his stifle that showed a meniscal (sp?) tear. In other words, his stifle is pretty much shot.
The good news is that they do think we'll be able to keep him relatively comfortable as a "pasture puff". He was given a shot of Legend and we'll probably have to do so periodically. He'll be started on a oral joint supplement as well for the arthritis. 2-4 weeks stall rest for the soft tissue injury. 30 days of "gastroguard" (we'll get the generic from our vet) due to the fact that we suspected ulcers prior to this incident and it seems this stay at the university was somewhat stressful for him. We'll see how comfy he ends up as a "pet" and of course, consistently monitor him for any quality of life issues. So, does anyone need a 1300lb "pet"? *sigh*
I want to send out HUGE thanks to everyone who donated for Dinky's care, as well as those who were able to just plain pray for him. The response was astounding. We even had a very kind soul from the area who stopped by with her daughter to give him lots of rubs & pats & slip him a few treats during his stay after reading his story online. I know that meant a lot to him. Without the ability to send him to the university for more thorough diagnostics, we would have likely had to euthanize as the possibility of leaving him to 'fester' from the suspected staph infection would not have been an option. You have literally saved this horse's life and we are going to do everything possible to see that he is able to enjoy a reasonably comfortable retirement. You should sleep VERY well at night. If ever there was an old "War Horse" out there, this guy is it - with the battle scars to prove it. He has earned his pension.
Time To Time (aka "Dinky") with his new friend.
Dinky checks out his turn-out
Time To Time - a face you can't resist
Time To Time remembers his glory days
"Dinky" and friend chat it up in the stall:
The stifle
It's getting to be.....
NAP TIME!
NEW HORSES
We have two new horses to tell you about, and also another Fingerlakes horse got a home with one of our member/volunteers:
Summer Wind (aka "Windy")
This 4 year old bay filly simply does not have the conformation to last long as a race horse. Let's credit her trainer with looking for a better situation by listing her on the Exceller Fund Fingerlakes listings. Originally, this filly caught the attention of a nearby pet sanctuary that is home to dogs, cats, barnyard animals, and carriage horses. Pets Alive also took a Thoroughbred gelding from the Fingerlakes Track last year. The woman running the sanctuary was looking for a companion to her 42 year old gelding, and "Windy" seemed to fit that bill. However, the sanctuary does not give "receipts" for donated animals which was a requirement of the trainer if she was going to donate the filly. This issue seemed to be solved by having the trainer donate the filly to The Exceller Fund, and we in turn would adopt Windy out to the sanctuary.
Unfortunately, Windy was a bit too rambunctious and rough with the old guy, and the sanctuary did not feel they could safely contain her on their property. The Exceller Fund took Windy back since we did assume responsibility for her, and we sent her to the same stable where Handsome Jolly Jim is recuperating. Both of these horses are at Triple L Stables where the watchful eye of our member, Lisa Gates, makes sure they stay out of trouble!
Due to her VERY straight pasterns and being over at the ankle, we will look for a nice pleasure trail riding home for Windy. We waiting to confirm her pedigree and will let you know. Here are photos of Windy from when she was at the Fingerlakes Track:
Here's Windy looking MUCH happier to be cavorting in the pasture at Triple L:
UP ON A ROOF (aka "Topper")
This bay gelded son of Raffi's Majesty was at a dealer who is near the Fingerlakes track. The dealer had him listed for sale as a prospect for hunter/jumper, but no buyers were interested in the personable bay gelding with the bowed tendon. The dealer does try to find private sale homes for horses he gets, but he will only hold on to the horses for a certain amount of time. When that time is up, the horses will either to go auction or to a meat buyer. Fortunately, we do have a relationship with this dealer that we can acquire the horses from him before they go that route.
Here's his photo:
He will need some stall rest and hand walking, and then pasture turn out for the bow. If the bow is his only injury, he should fully recover. I thought his photo was so picture-esque, I put it on a postage stamp in our CafePress store!
Here's his stamp! Don't you think that would look so cool on an envelope when you mail a letter?
www.cafepress.com/excellerfund.60489926
We also have stamps with other horses, and I will tell you that the Ruffian postage stamp always gets a reaction from the post office employees!
www.cafepress.com/excellerfund/933164
ANOTHER FINGERLAKES HORSE GETS A HOME - WITH A MEMBER!
Siddartha
This 4 year old son of A.P. Jet is simply too slow to be a racehorse, but he is perfectly capable of other equine disciplines. Our member Lisa Gates, who also volunteers with Gaye McCullough and Nel Rutishauser to get the backside listings and photos of horses from the trainers at the Fingerlakes Track, fell in love with this very handsome dark bay/black colt. She negotiated the sale with the trainer, and now he is hers!
Take a look at his pictures and you'll see why Lisa was so captivated.
CURRENT AND ADOPTED EXCELLER FUND HORSES:
Now Is The Hour
Last Update, we reported that Now Is The Hour was returned to United Pegasus Foundation, and UPF was in need of a sponsor for his care. NITH was one of the very early horses helped out by The Exceller Fund, even before we were our own non-profit corporation. Thank you so much to those who responded with additional pledges to help. One of the founding principals of The Exceller Fund is that we will always be there for our horses even if they are returned many years later. I notified United Pegasus that we would increase our check to them to cover the additional monthly cost to care for NITH, and United Pegasus was very nice in letting us know the following:
Hi, Bonnie, Helen ask me to let you know that Now is the Hour's previous adoptive owner has decided to sponsor him and that he will be staying at UPF as a permanent retiree now. Thank you for your consideration. donna
What a refreshing turn of events! NITH still shows on UPF's website as needing a sponsor, but I am sure they will update that information soon. For those that pledged additional funds, have no fear because we are looking at possible increased costs for other horses such as:
Sully's Silver Silver Ghost - Jessie Wyler (by With Approval) 2001 Gray gelding 21 Starts: 2 - 1 - 2, $43,183
Many will recall this gentle and long suffering gray gelding, a 5-year old son of Silver Ghost, has such an endearing personality that even the dealer couldn't stand the thought of him being shipped to slaughter. He contacted us about Sully, and even sold Sully to us at his cost. This beautiful gray had no chance at finding a private buyer since his ankle was fused, his knee is a mess, and he had a huge abscess on his right foot. If you can believe it, this poor guy was RACING on that knee and ankle just a few short weeks before he wound up at the dealers!
The news on his knee is not good, and he is bone-on-bone on the bottom of the joint. Currently, he is receiving 2 1/2 to 3 grams of bute a day for pain management, and this is not something that can continue long term. We are searching for any and all possibilities to treat his condition, and we do not know if surgery will be able to help him. We will be consulting various veterinarians to see what alternatives are available. This will require some very specialized care, and it is not fair for us to leave him with ReRun to expect that kind of specialized day to day management. We don't know if his condition is something that a vet center such as New Bolton can help with, but we cannot give up on Sully until we have explored all available options and his pain becomes too much for any type of quality of life.
Sully was one of our Valentine Horses, and I have 17 photographs of him that Barbara Livingston signed and donated. To help raise money for whatever he may need, I have these photos up in our Giftshop for $10 each. These are beautiful 4x6 photos taken and autographed by Eclipse Award winning photographer Barbara Livingston.
excellerfund.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=E&Product_Code=P20&Category_Code=TP
Sir Flier
This former Venezuelan Champion 3 year old colt and Champion Sprinter wound up at the bottom of the claiming ranks and was acquired by The Exceller Fund many years ago. It was so long ago that The Exceller Fund was not yet it's own 501(co) non-profit, so Sir Flier was adopted out under a ReRun adoption agreement. We have recently been contacted by someone who says they have seen this horse and he does not look well cared for. In cooperation with ReRun, we are investigating the situation. We do not know yet if the allegations are true. If they are, we will do whatever we legally can do to make sure the horse is properly taken care of, even if it means we take him back. We do not know if we will need to do this or not, but we are prepared to fulfill our obligation to this horse.
Almata, Franchised, and Franconia
On a happier note, Lori Eagle of ReRun Kentucky tells us that Barbara Livingston came by her farm to see one of Barbara's favorite old mares, Tall Glass of Water who resides with our "girls" at Lori's place. Barbara took photos of "Tally" and also took photos of her friends Palmate (daughter of Exceller), Franchised and Franconia. Barbara told Lori that these photos will be in her next book!
RICH IN DALLAS - NEWS AND APPEARANCES
Rich In Dallas, our very own Seabiscuit Star, continues to be popular with the horse show folks. We received a special request for Dallas to be a celebrity guest from New Vocations Horse Adoption Program for their Charity Show, July 20-30th at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in Ohio. The New Vocations volunteers got to witness Dallas' amazing personality at the Equine Affaire show in Ohio this past April. They feel he is a wonderful ambassador for Off-the-track Thoroughbreds and will help attract people to look into adopting one of these amazing athletes. Paul and Kelly Linn are delighted to take Dallas their to "press the flesh and kiss the babies" as Paul puts it. There is information about the show in New Vocation's website:
www.horseadoption.com/HorseShow.htm
Members of The Exceller Fund should feel very special that we are able to work with so many different organizations with the common goal of providing a "Future Beyond the Finish Line."
Speaking of the Equine Affaire, the show coordinators contacted The Exceller Fund with a special request for a repeat Celebrity Horse appearance at the Equine Affaire in Massachusetts this November 9th - 12th at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield Massachusetts. For those who weren't able to see Dallas at the Ohio Show, mark your calendars and try to see him in person in Massachusetts!
FUNDRAISERS
Sing & Alex - Children's book
Please tell your family and friends about our special book - Sing & Alex - available on our website. Everyone who has received the book is delighted with the charming story and adorable illustrations! We will be putting together a Sing & Alex page where we will have a photo of the real Sing So Long as well as information about special events or giftshops that will be selling the book. Don't forget, as Exceller Fund members, you will still be able to get the promotional price for the regular copy and for a copy signed by the author and the illustrator!
You can order the book from our website at: excellerfund.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=E&Category_Code=MM
And we have also put together some T-shirts and cool kids clothes featuring the book!
www.cafepress.com/excellerfund/1498322
Celebrity Mini Horses by Danielle
Don't forget to take a look at the Celebrity Mini Horses by Danielle. The Angel Horse is especially heart warming!
excellerfund.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=E&Category_Code=DC
Auctions
I am working on more eBay auctions. I believe I still have some cool Secretariat items sure to please any nostalgic horse racing fan! Stay tuned for more details.
NEW MEMBERS
Please welcome our newest members. If you are a new member and I have not listed your name on an update, please be sure to let me know. Thanks, and my apologies if I did not include your name:
- Erica Nordean of Washington
Tammy Rogers of Washington
Andrew Powles of New York
We have added the 2005 year-end financial statement for you to review. This document is in .pdf format and is from the Excel sheet that Gayle sends to the Board. These are not the CPA prepared financial statements; if anyone would like those, please let me know and I will give you the information to obtain it from our accountant.
Also, this Members Area is for YOU, our Exceller Fund members. We have our own messageboard where members can "meet" and exchange ideas and contact information. We are working on updates and enhancements to this area, but these things take time and planning...and then more time! Please send us your suggestions for what you would like to see in this area. We may not be able to do all of them, but will do our best.
Congratulations on those of you who won the special contest held on the Message Board. We plan on doing more of these!
If you would like to contact me or any Exceller Fund Board member, you can send an e-mail to mail@excellerfund.org. This is our general all-purpose e-mail address and it is accessible to all of our board members.
DUES AND DONATIONS!
Please don't forget to send in your dues for June!!! If you forgot to send in May, you can combine it with June. We need you now more than ever! You can also pay ahead of time for any number of months up through the end of the year. There are several ways that you can make your monthly donation:
Checks (mailing address is below)
Credit Card donation through our Gift Shop: excellerfund.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=E
Credit Card - automatic deduction - send an e-mail to Karla Phaneuf at britadog@aol.com for instructions.
PayPal - The PayPal address is donate@excellerfund.org
American Express now offers cardholders the opportunity to donate using their American Express card and earn Reward Points at the same time: www124.americanexpress.com/cards/loyalty.do?page=donateonline
If you pay by check, please make them payable to The Exceller Fund, Inc. and mailed to:
The Exceller Fund
3572 Star Ridge Road
Hayward, CA 94542
Thanks to all of you for helping horses!
Bonnie Mizrahi,
President
The Exceller Fund
Providing a Future Beyond the Finish Line sm