Post by Exceller Fund on Dec 10, 2006 0:27:32 GMT -5
Dear Exceller Fund Members:
Well can you believe it? Christmas is just 20 days away! We are doing a very limited run of Holiday Horses this year. I wasn't able to find out if I could get the photos for the cards until late November, and then I had to go out of town for a week, so I am trying to get caught up.
Since August, I have been on week long business trips to the following places: Bend, Oregon; Corte Madera, California; Henderson Nevada; Cedar City, Utah; Springfield, Massachusetts,(actually this was for the Equine Affaire - but make no mistake it's a lot of work!); El Centro, California, and I'm on my way out the door back to Corte Madera. Whew! I've been on the road about 38% of the time for the last 3 months! So please excuse me if I got a little bit behind on the updates, but I think you are really going to like this one!
Also a note to membes with hotmail and yahoo addresses. It looks like our group e-mail list is being shut off as spam. Just like what happened with AOL, there is nothing I can do about it, so I will have to try to figure out another way to send e-mails to over 100 people. I will be posting more frequent announcements on our Member Forum, so please make a habit of checking that Forum often for new information and updates. Also, please freel free to post! Details about the Member Forum are at the bottom of this message.
HOLIDAY FUNDRAISERS!!!
2007 Calendar
Instead of trying to put together a Calendar in CafePress this year, we are promoting the 2007 Horse Racing Fantasy calendar by artist Pat DeLong. The calendar features famous horses against a backdrop inspired by the horse's name. Especially touching is the image of Lost In The Fog racing through a fog bank on the track. An interesting tidbit is that our very own webmaster, Gennia Cui, donated the photo image of Declan's Moon that Pat used for this calendar. Pat is donating $3.00 for every calendar sold, and that is about what we made on the CafePress calendars in past years. The back of the calendar features a wonderful write-up about The Exceller Fund!
Please take a look at this calendar. I know you will be very pleased with it when you order it. It makes a wonderful Christmas or Hannukah gift for your horse racing friends. Also, please tell all your friends, and post about it on any horse racing message boards you frequent!
You can see how to order it from this page on our website: www.excellerfund.org/07holiday.htm
Holiday Horses
We have a very limited offering of Holiday Horses cards. For $20, you can send a warm holiday greeting to yourself or a friend or family member. The card features a photo of Exceller on the outside, and a photo of one of our retired mares on the inside. The photo was taken by Barbara Livingston when she visited our girls at Lori Neagle's New Hope Farm in Kentucky! The message will let the recepient know that a donation to The Exceller Fund was made in their honor. You can also customize this message for a maximum of 80 characters.
Time is short this time as you need to get your order in no later than December 12th. The cards will be mailed by December 18th for Holiday delivery. The best way to ensure your order is recieved is to order in our OnLine Store or the special PayPal link on this page:
www.excellerfund.org/07holiday.htm
eBay Auction - EASY GOER Custom Breyer
We have an auction up right now on eBay for a Customized Breyer Horse of EASY GOER. This item is being donated by Jamie Coughlin who spent hours perfecting the paint for every detail of Easy Goer. EG fans should take note of this auction since Breyer has a Sunday Silence model, but not one of Easy Goer. Show your support for this beautiful red chestnut champion and checkout the auction!
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270063956658
Sing and Alex books
Both the Santa Anita Giftshop and the Emerald Downs Giftshop have ordered a supply of these books to sell for the holidays. The book makes a WONDERFUL gift for the horse crazy boy or girl on your list (and this includes adult boys and girls who remain horse crazy!). Patricia Herron was able to sell 50 books, and we have another member who will see about selling some more on eBay! We sent out a Press Release, so hopefully some publications will let more people know about this book.
NEW HORSES
Midnite Ruckus (In memory of Pind Island) Following the tragic loss of Pine Island in the Breeders Cup, a number of racing fans made donations to The Exceller Fund to save a filly that would otherwise have gone to slaughter. Volunteer Becky Care was contacted by a trainer at Mountaineer who had a 3 year old filly that was not going to make it as a racehorse, and her stall space was needed. In the past, this trainer has sold to dealers, or to other trainers who sold the horses to dealers, but he contacted Becky to see if she knew somone who would buy this filly for $400. That was just about the amount we wound up with, so we made a deal! It was a win-win for the trainer, for us, and especially for this lovely dark bay filly with a star on her forehead. If not for the donations we received, this filly would have been on her way to the Sugarcreek Auction.
Becky will evaluate Ruckus to see how she rides, and let us know the information needed to promote her for adoption. Here's her photo:
There is more of this story to tell, because we are also dedicating Midnite Ruckus to the memory of another mare named Winter Joy who has been lost to slaughter. When we first contacted Becky that we had funds to rescue a slaughter bound filly or mare, Becky contacted a few trainers she knows at the Mountaineer racetrack in Virginia. One trainer let her know about a mare whose trainer was going to send her to the infamous Sugarecreek auction. Becky let her contact know that she had the money to buy the mare and would get her in just a couple of days. The trainer relayed back that was fine. Unfortunately, before Becky could get to the track, she found out the trainer already sold Winter Joy to a dealer, but no one could confirm which one. Becky was prepared to go to Sugarcreek, but she had never seen the mare and had no idea what she looked like other than "Bay mare." She was still prepared to go and try, but her truck broke down and she could not make it to the auction. So just after Thanksgiving, Winter Joy passed through the auction on her way to the slaughterhouse. RIP Winter Joy. We were prepared to give you a forever home.
Good and Game
This stunning 3 year old stud colt was with the dealer in New York who had no buyers interested in a dealing with a young stud who had a very brief career on the track. The dealer cannot keep horses forever, but he let us know that "GG"'s time was up. Howard Ong, who was the angel that brought a crippled Slew Six from being a dejected and forgotten horse in a small enclosure near San Diego, to a lively and happy horse now living his retirement at Shiloh Horse Rescue in Nevada, asked us if we could do something. Howard offered to sponsor half of "GG"'s board at Triple L, so we contacted the dealer to let him know we could take the horse. The dealer is allowing us to make payments again!
Good and Game is scheduled to be gelded soon, and will then be evaluated for adoption. If Howard can find an incredible deal on transport, Good and Game might be headed for a new home in San Diego! (hint hint to anyone that might know of affordable transportation from New York to Southern California!) Enjoy the photos!
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ADOPTED and PENDING ADOPTION
The gorgeous "Topper" (Upon The Roof) has an approved adopter who will be coming to pick him up from the Linn's next week. Topper will be moving back up to Maine, where is adoptive owner has two other horses including a 29 year old OTTB! The new adoptive owner has plans to possibly show Topper in dressage where he should be a shining star. We look forward to hearing how Topper does in his new home.
Our Son Rob also has an approved adopter who will keep him at Triple L Stables as a border. The adoptive owner fell in love with Topper, and has now fallen in love with "Robbie" who is sort of Topper's brother (same sire - Raffie's Majesty.) She is very excited about her new horse!
Patriot has received a very serious inquiry for adoption much to the delight of his foster mom Lisa Schuler. We are waiting for the application in the mail since it was sent just a couple of days ago. Lisa reports that the applicant has already bought a halter and blanket for him in anticipation! We will keep you updated, so keep your fingers crossed that Patriot will FINALLY find his forever home. I can't think of a horse who deserves this more!
MOVING
Ton of Gold and Prospectors Sally are moving in the next week to a new foster provider in Oklahoma. Diane Templemeyer was referred to us by Leslie Hubble, and she owns a very large ranch just outside of Tulsa. Tim has been very accomodating for us, but he has taken on a new job and is makng changes at his place. The timing is perfect as Diane would like to foster rescue horses, and she knows a lot of people in the equestiran community who are looking for horses.
OTHER UPDATES
Tell Me The Time - I am very sad to report that our older mare, Tell Me The Time, was euthanized a couple of weeks ago due to complications from internal tumors. She has had these tumors for quite awhile, and apparently they crowded her intestine, causing her to colic. Helen Meredith told me "Telly" was in a great deal of pain and distress when she was let go. Veteran Fund members will remember "Telly" as the pregnant mare we rescued from auction. She was in foal to Saros, but only the meat dealers were bidding on her. She gave birth to a beautiful colt which we named "Justin Time." Justin was adopted out under a United Pegasus contract by Priscilla Clark who was still at UPF at that time. Priscilla tells me that Justin grew up to be a gorgeous gelding, and she will try and contact the adoptive owner to get updated photos of him. I would like to have that on our site as a living tribute to his mom.
Pro On The Road - You MUST take a look at these gorgeous photos of "Gem" under saddle. Despite her large knee, Gem is a beautiful and sound mover. On a relaxed rein, you can see that Gem would give some Quarter Horse's a run for their money in a pleasure saddle class!
Almata continues to improve after her bout with painfully thin soles. She only needs one shoe for support and is doing better all the time. A huge thanks goes out to Loretta Tarnowski for her donation to cover the cost of the special shoes Almata needed. As a side note, Almata's last foal, Luckymata, has just been retired from racing. We are told his trainer is looking for someone that would want Luckymata as a stallion prospect. We have let the trainer know that if Luckymata needs a home, we will provide one for him. We can only hope that Luckymata is not used as a breeding stallion before that time as it will be very difficult to find a place to take him. Gelding a horse after he has bred mares will not change his behavior with other horses, and he would pretty much have to be kept in his own paddock. Let's hope that Luckymata either finds a good home, or the trainer sees fit to donate him!
Sully's Silver - poor Sully cannot cut a break sometimes. He started to show signs of colic in late October, so he was given a shot of banamine. He was sensitive in his neck with prior shots, so the banamine was administered to his chest. A couple of days later, his chest started swelling, and the swelling started to go down one of his legs. Lisa L. tried to contact her normal vet, but he was out of town on an emergency call. Lisa called another local vet clinci who sent someone out and who proceeded to give us very bad news. The vet told us and Lisa that Sully had a rare infection that was very serious and would require expensive treatment at the Cornell University clinic. He said the treatment could run "thousands of dollars" and take weeks and his chances were less than 50%. Well quite frankly we don't have thousands of dollars for an iffy chance, so we did not send Sully to Cornell. Without taking a blood sample or doing a culture, the vet left some anti-biotics to treat Sully and left.
Another vet from this same clinic came out the next day and "confirmed" that Sully had a deadly infection and that no treatment could be done other than at Cornell. This vet took an inconclusive ultrasound, left some different anti-biotics, and left. The next day after that, the second vet came back out insisting that Sully be euthanized because she said he would be dead in a few days anyways. Lisa had this vet talk to Darlene Robinette, who knows a thing or two about horse ailments. The vet almost had Darlene convinced, but the fact that no blood work or culture was taken, and the fact that Sully was still eating and interested in what was going on around him made Darlene decline the vet's recommendations.
At this point, we had Paul and Kelly Linn, and their vet in Virginia talking to Lisa. The vet in Virginia felt that the swelling was probably not this rare infection as the horse was not showing any of the other symptoms, most notably a very foul odor like rotting cabbage. Fortunately, Lisa's regular vet, Dr. Davis, came back to down, and he went to see Sully and diagnosed that Sully had an abscess from a hematoma caused by a reaction to the shot. The hematoma and abscess is not rare, and it is something the other vet shoudl have recognized. Dr. Davis lanced the abscess and precribed the correct anti-biotics for the condition. Lisa has been treating it since then with multiple flushings each day. The lancing opened up an ugly looking hole in Sully's chest, but Dr. Davis says this is normal, and Sully should fully recover.
Now the first vet was very surprised to hear that Sully is still alive, and that they were completely wrong about him! That did not stop them from sending us an invoice for $395!!!! I'm not sure what they thought they did, and they almost killed the horse to boot for no good reason, but they are insisting we owe this invoice. We have filed a complaint with the New York Office of Professions, and we have sent a dispute letter to North Country Veternary Services in Pulaski, New York. I will let you know what they say, and if they insist on charging for their mis-diagnosis and mis-treatment, perhaps they will need to receive letters from every member of The Exceller Fund. They need to know that our horses are precious to us, and we don't take lightly when someone wants to kill one for no good reason. It would have been bad enough if Sully really had to be euthanized, but to almost be euthanized because of a mis-diagnosis is very scary!
Here are some photos of a very much alive and alert Sully with a volunteer. The photos were taken about 2 weeks after the vet said he would be dead!
Mad Mac - He continues to do well, although we have not received many adoption inquiries. Here are some more recent photos of "Mac"
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HANDICAPPERS HELPING HORSES
Dell Yount has picked a winner for the Handicapers Helping Horses contest! We are waiting confirmation if the person will accept the prize and will let everyone know. What a beautiful set of plates!
MEMBER CHALLENGE
We have a winner for our Member Challenge. With a total of $125 in referred donations, Vicky Aument is the winner! Vicky, contact me at mail@excellerfund.org to let me know which book you would like - Boots and Saddles by JKM Ross (about the stable his father owned which included Sir Barton, Billy Kelly, and other champions), or The History of Thoroughbred Racing in America by H.P. Robertson.
Thank you to everyone who participated. I'd like to try this again in the spring of next year. Just think, if every member got at least one friend to send in at least $10, we would have over $1,000 in additional donations!
OTHER EVENTS:
EXCELLER FUND CHARITY HORSE SHOW
Kelly Linn organized and put on this show, the last show of the year for young riders to earn 4H points. The show was held just before Halloween on October 28th. The weather was not kind as a very cold wind whipped up just after the rain went away. The wind knocked over decorations and items for sale, but that did not dampen the spirits of those who came and competed. All agreed that Kelly put on a wonderful show, and requests were made for the show to be held next year at an earlier time when the weather should be more cooperative. Even with all of the challenges, Kelly was able to raise about $1,000 for The Exceller Fund. Yay! Way to go Kelly!
Here are photos of the jumps that Kelly MADE just for the show!
TRIPLE L ADOPTION OPEN HOUSE
October 28th was also the day that Lisa Leogrande held an Adoption Open House at Triple L Stables. Bad weather also plagued New York that day as it was miserably cold. Still, Lisa was able to clear over $200 for The Exceller Fund and helped generate more interest in the horses we have for adoption. Thank you Lisa!
2006 EQUINE AFFAIRE - W. SPRINGFIELD MASSACHUSETTS
Our luck with weather continued at Equine Affaire November 9 - 12th. Paul and Kelly drove up with Dallas in the trailer, and it RAINED for the entire drive from Virginia to Massachusetts. It was cold, and then it rained again on Sunday, so we saw a lighter crowd than in Ohio. We still managed to gather over $800 in donations, AND the person adopting Topper found us at the Equine Affaire!
Dallas was his usually professional self and just soaked up all the attention like a big love sponge. We got a very cute card from a group of kids who came by to see "Seabiscuit."
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We also hosted James Hastie, a representative from Morrisville College, New York who helped at our table. Morrisville is working on developing a large Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Center, and in exchange for allowing them to share our table at the Equine Affaire, they have promised that the first 3 horses into the program will be Exceller Fund horses in need of rehab!
MEMBER FORUM
You can see the link to the new message board in our Members Area. You can also bookmark the board at almata.proboards106.com/
You will need to create an account with a User Name and Password. We will review the accounts to make sure only Exceller Fund Members have access to the Message Board.
DEAR MEMBERS - This is YOUR forum to post and communicate with each other, brainstorm on ideas for helping horses, or simply have fun! I will also start posting updates in this forum starting with our Year-end Reviews and then leading up to the present time. YOU CAN CHECK this forum for the latest news and happenings with The Exceller Fund. It's also a great place for those folks with dial-up or AOL to receive news and information.
CHECK IT OUT!!!!
DUES AND DONATIONS!
Please don't forget to send in your dues for November. October dues were better than September, but we still have a ways to go to be in a good position to help a lot more horses. The demand is greater than ever. If you forgot to send in past month's, you can combine it with November. 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 - Gayle Pruitt will be taking over the credit card authorizations. Karla Phaneuf has had to take time off to tend to a family situation. You can send an e-mail to Gayle at gpruitt@frontierwireless.com for instructions. Gayle has been our loyal accountant for many years now.
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
I am running out of steam, and I know we have more news such as new members and perhaps some other items, but I'm calling it a night (or a morning!) and going to bed. I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Season, and don't forget to order a Holiday Horses card, a Calendar, and a children's book!!!!
Thanks to all of you for helping horses!
Well can you believe it? Christmas is just 20 days away! We are doing a very limited run of Holiday Horses this year. I wasn't able to find out if I could get the photos for the cards until late November, and then I had to go out of town for a week, so I am trying to get caught up.
Since August, I have been on week long business trips to the following places: Bend, Oregon; Corte Madera, California; Henderson Nevada; Cedar City, Utah; Springfield, Massachusetts,(actually this was for the Equine Affaire - but make no mistake it's a lot of work!); El Centro, California, and I'm on my way out the door back to Corte Madera. Whew! I've been on the road about 38% of the time for the last 3 months! So please excuse me if I got a little bit behind on the updates, but I think you are really going to like this one!
Also a note to membes with hotmail and yahoo addresses. It looks like our group e-mail list is being shut off as spam. Just like what happened with AOL, there is nothing I can do about it, so I will have to try to figure out another way to send e-mails to over 100 people. I will be posting more frequent announcements on our Member Forum, so please make a habit of checking that Forum often for new information and updates. Also, please freel free to post! Details about the Member Forum are at the bottom of this message.
HOLIDAY FUNDRAISERS!!!
2007 Calendar
Instead of trying to put together a Calendar in CafePress this year, we are promoting the 2007 Horse Racing Fantasy calendar by artist Pat DeLong. The calendar features famous horses against a backdrop inspired by the horse's name. Especially touching is the image of Lost In The Fog racing through a fog bank on the track. An interesting tidbit is that our very own webmaster, Gennia Cui, donated the photo image of Declan's Moon that Pat used for this calendar. Pat is donating $3.00 for every calendar sold, and that is about what we made on the CafePress calendars in past years. The back of the calendar features a wonderful write-up about The Exceller Fund!
Please take a look at this calendar. I know you will be very pleased with it when you order it. It makes a wonderful Christmas or Hannukah gift for your horse racing friends. Also, please tell all your friends, and post about it on any horse racing message boards you frequent!
You can see how to order it from this page on our website: www.excellerfund.org/07holiday.htm
Holiday Horses
We have a very limited offering of Holiday Horses cards. For $20, you can send a warm holiday greeting to yourself or a friend or family member. The card features a photo of Exceller on the outside, and a photo of one of our retired mares on the inside. The photo was taken by Barbara Livingston when she visited our girls at Lori Neagle's New Hope Farm in Kentucky! The message will let the recepient know that a donation to The Exceller Fund was made in their honor. You can also customize this message for a maximum of 80 characters.
Time is short this time as you need to get your order in no later than December 12th. The cards will be mailed by December 18th for Holiday delivery. The best way to ensure your order is recieved is to order in our OnLine Store or the special PayPal link on this page:
www.excellerfund.org/07holiday.htm
eBay Auction - EASY GOER Custom Breyer
We have an auction up right now on eBay for a Customized Breyer Horse of EASY GOER. This item is being donated by Jamie Coughlin who spent hours perfecting the paint for every detail of Easy Goer. EG fans should take note of this auction since Breyer has a Sunday Silence model, but not one of Easy Goer. Show your support for this beautiful red chestnut champion and checkout the auction!
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270063956658
Sing and Alex books
Both the Santa Anita Giftshop and the Emerald Downs Giftshop have ordered a supply of these books to sell for the holidays. The book makes a WONDERFUL gift for the horse crazy boy or girl on your list (and this includes adult boys and girls who remain horse crazy!). Patricia Herron was able to sell 50 books, and we have another member who will see about selling some more on eBay! We sent out a Press Release, so hopefully some publications will let more people know about this book.
NEW HORSES
Midnite Ruckus (In memory of Pind Island) Following the tragic loss of Pine Island in the Breeders Cup, a number of racing fans made donations to The Exceller Fund to save a filly that would otherwise have gone to slaughter. Volunteer Becky Care was contacted by a trainer at Mountaineer who had a 3 year old filly that was not going to make it as a racehorse, and her stall space was needed. In the past, this trainer has sold to dealers, or to other trainers who sold the horses to dealers, but he contacted Becky to see if she knew somone who would buy this filly for $400. That was just about the amount we wound up with, so we made a deal! It was a win-win for the trainer, for us, and especially for this lovely dark bay filly with a star on her forehead. If not for the donations we received, this filly would have been on her way to the Sugarcreek Auction.
Becky will evaluate Ruckus to see how she rides, and let us know the information needed to promote her for adoption. Here's her photo:
There is more of this story to tell, because we are also dedicating Midnite Ruckus to the memory of another mare named Winter Joy who has been lost to slaughter. When we first contacted Becky that we had funds to rescue a slaughter bound filly or mare, Becky contacted a few trainers she knows at the Mountaineer racetrack in Virginia. One trainer let her know about a mare whose trainer was going to send her to the infamous Sugarecreek auction. Becky let her contact know that she had the money to buy the mare and would get her in just a couple of days. The trainer relayed back that was fine. Unfortunately, before Becky could get to the track, she found out the trainer already sold Winter Joy to a dealer, but no one could confirm which one. Becky was prepared to go to Sugarcreek, but she had never seen the mare and had no idea what she looked like other than "Bay mare." She was still prepared to go and try, but her truck broke down and she could not make it to the auction. So just after Thanksgiving, Winter Joy passed through the auction on her way to the slaughterhouse. RIP Winter Joy. We were prepared to give you a forever home.
Good and Game
This stunning 3 year old stud colt was with the dealer in New York who had no buyers interested in a dealing with a young stud who had a very brief career on the track. The dealer cannot keep horses forever, but he let us know that "GG"'s time was up. Howard Ong, who was the angel that brought a crippled Slew Six from being a dejected and forgotten horse in a small enclosure near San Diego, to a lively and happy horse now living his retirement at Shiloh Horse Rescue in Nevada, asked us if we could do something. Howard offered to sponsor half of "GG"'s board at Triple L, so we contacted the dealer to let him know we could take the horse. The dealer is allowing us to make payments again!
Good and Game is scheduled to be gelded soon, and will then be evaluated for adoption. If Howard can find an incredible deal on transport, Good and Game might be headed for a new home in San Diego! (hint hint to anyone that might know of affordable transportation from New York to Southern California!) Enjoy the photos!
ADOPTED and PENDING ADOPTION
The gorgeous "Topper" (Upon The Roof) has an approved adopter who will be coming to pick him up from the Linn's next week. Topper will be moving back up to Maine, where is adoptive owner has two other horses including a 29 year old OTTB! The new adoptive owner has plans to possibly show Topper in dressage where he should be a shining star. We look forward to hearing how Topper does in his new home.
Our Son Rob also has an approved adopter who will keep him at Triple L Stables as a border. The adoptive owner fell in love with Topper, and has now fallen in love with "Robbie" who is sort of Topper's brother (same sire - Raffie's Majesty.) She is very excited about her new horse!
Patriot has received a very serious inquiry for adoption much to the delight of his foster mom Lisa Schuler. We are waiting for the application in the mail since it was sent just a couple of days ago. Lisa reports that the applicant has already bought a halter and blanket for him in anticipation! We will keep you updated, so keep your fingers crossed that Patriot will FINALLY find his forever home. I can't think of a horse who deserves this more!
MOVING
Ton of Gold and Prospectors Sally are moving in the next week to a new foster provider in Oklahoma. Diane Templemeyer was referred to us by Leslie Hubble, and she owns a very large ranch just outside of Tulsa. Tim has been very accomodating for us, but he has taken on a new job and is makng changes at his place. The timing is perfect as Diane would like to foster rescue horses, and she knows a lot of people in the equestiran community who are looking for horses.
OTHER UPDATES
Tell Me The Time - I am very sad to report that our older mare, Tell Me The Time, was euthanized a couple of weeks ago due to complications from internal tumors. She has had these tumors for quite awhile, and apparently they crowded her intestine, causing her to colic. Helen Meredith told me "Telly" was in a great deal of pain and distress when she was let go. Veteran Fund members will remember "Telly" as the pregnant mare we rescued from auction. She was in foal to Saros, but only the meat dealers were bidding on her. She gave birth to a beautiful colt which we named "Justin Time." Justin was adopted out under a United Pegasus contract by Priscilla Clark who was still at UPF at that time. Priscilla tells me that Justin grew up to be a gorgeous gelding, and she will try and contact the adoptive owner to get updated photos of him. I would like to have that on our site as a living tribute to his mom.
Pro On The Road - You MUST take a look at these gorgeous photos of "Gem" under saddle. Despite her large knee, Gem is a beautiful and sound mover. On a relaxed rein, you can see that Gem would give some Quarter Horse's a run for their money in a pleasure saddle class!
Almata continues to improve after her bout with painfully thin soles. She only needs one shoe for support and is doing better all the time. A huge thanks goes out to Loretta Tarnowski for her donation to cover the cost of the special shoes Almata needed. As a side note, Almata's last foal, Luckymata, has just been retired from racing. We are told his trainer is looking for someone that would want Luckymata as a stallion prospect. We have let the trainer know that if Luckymata needs a home, we will provide one for him. We can only hope that Luckymata is not used as a breeding stallion before that time as it will be very difficult to find a place to take him. Gelding a horse after he has bred mares will not change his behavior with other horses, and he would pretty much have to be kept in his own paddock. Let's hope that Luckymata either finds a good home, or the trainer sees fit to donate him!
Sully's Silver - poor Sully cannot cut a break sometimes. He started to show signs of colic in late October, so he was given a shot of banamine. He was sensitive in his neck with prior shots, so the banamine was administered to his chest. A couple of days later, his chest started swelling, and the swelling started to go down one of his legs. Lisa L. tried to contact her normal vet, but he was out of town on an emergency call. Lisa called another local vet clinci who sent someone out and who proceeded to give us very bad news. The vet told us and Lisa that Sully had a rare infection that was very serious and would require expensive treatment at the Cornell University clinic. He said the treatment could run "thousands of dollars" and take weeks and his chances were less than 50%. Well quite frankly we don't have thousands of dollars for an iffy chance, so we did not send Sully to Cornell. Without taking a blood sample or doing a culture, the vet left some anti-biotics to treat Sully and left.
Another vet from this same clinic came out the next day and "confirmed" that Sully had a deadly infection and that no treatment could be done other than at Cornell. This vet took an inconclusive ultrasound, left some different anti-biotics, and left. The next day after that, the second vet came back out insisting that Sully be euthanized because she said he would be dead in a few days anyways. Lisa had this vet talk to Darlene Robinette, who knows a thing or two about horse ailments. The vet almost had Darlene convinced, but the fact that no blood work or culture was taken, and the fact that Sully was still eating and interested in what was going on around him made Darlene decline the vet's recommendations.
At this point, we had Paul and Kelly Linn, and their vet in Virginia talking to Lisa. The vet in Virginia felt that the swelling was probably not this rare infection as the horse was not showing any of the other symptoms, most notably a very foul odor like rotting cabbage. Fortunately, Lisa's regular vet, Dr. Davis, came back to down, and he went to see Sully and diagnosed that Sully had an abscess from a hematoma caused by a reaction to the shot. The hematoma and abscess is not rare, and it is something the other vet shoudl have recognized. Dr. Davis lanced the abscess and precribed the correct anti-biotics for the condition. Lisa has been treating it since then with multiple flushings each day. The lancing opened up an ugly looking hole in Sully's chest, but Dr. Davis says this is normal, and Sully should fully recover.
Now the first vet was very surprised to hear that Sully is still alive, and that they were completely wrong about him! That did not stop them from sending us an invoice for $395!!!! I'm not sure what they thought they did, and they almost killed the horse to boot for no good reason, but they are insisting we owe this invoice. We have filed a complaint with the New York Office of Professions, and we have sent a dispute letter to North Country Veternary Services in Pulaski, New York. I will let you know what they say, and if they insist on charging for their mis-diagnosis and mis-treatment, perhaps they will need to receive letters from every member of The Exceller Fund. They need to know that our horses are precious to us, and we don't take lightly when someone wants to kill one for no good reason. It would have been bad enough if Sully really had to be euthanized, but to almost be euthanized because of a mis-diagnosis is very scary!
Here are some photos of a very much alive and alert Sully with a volunteer. The photos were taken about 2 weeks after the vet said he would be dead!
Mad Mac - He continues to do well, although we have not received many adoption inquiries. Here are some more recent photos of "Mac"
HANDICAPPERS HELPING HORSES
Dell Yount has picked a winner for the Handicapers Helping Horses contest! We are waiting confirmation if the person will accept the prize and will let everyone know. What a beautiful set of plates!
MEMBER CHALLENGE
We have a winner for our Member Challenge. With a total of $125 in referred donations, Vicky Aument is the winner! Vicky, contact me at mail@excellerfund.org to let me know which book you would like - Boots and Saddles by JKM Ross (about the stable his father owned which included Sir Barton, Billy Kelly, and other champions), or The History of Thoroughbred Racing in America by H.P. Robertson.
Thank you to everyone who participated. I'd like to try this again in the spring of next year. Just think, if every member got at least one friend to send in at least $10, we would have over $1,000 in additional donations!
OTHER EVENTS:
EXCELLER FUND CHARITY HORSE SHOW
Kelly Linn organized and put on this show, the last show of the year for young riders to earn 4H points. The show was held just before Halloween on October 28th. The weather was not kind as a very cold wind whipped up just after the rain went away. The wind knocked over decorations and items for sale, but that did not dampen the spirits of those who came and competed. All agreed that Kelly put on a wonderful show, and requests were made for the show to be held next year at an earlier time when the weather should be more cooperative. Even with all of the challenges, Kelly was able to raise about $1,000 for The Exceller Fund. Yay! Way to go Kelly!
Here are photos of the jumps that Kelly MADE just for the show!
TRIPLE L ADOPTION OPEN HOUSE
October 28th was also the day that Lisa Leogrande held an Adoption Open House at Triple L Stables. Bad weather also plagued New York that day as it was miserably cold. Still, Lisa was able to clear over $200 for The Exceller Fund and helped generate more interest in the horses we have for adoption. Thank you Lisa!
2006 EQUINE AFFAIRE - W. SPRINGFIELD MASSACHUSETTS
Our luck with weather continued at Equine Affaire November 9 - 12th. Paul and Kelly drove up with Dallas in the trailer, and it RAINED for the entire drive from Virginia to Massachusetts. It was cold, and then it rained again on Sunday, so we saw a lighter crowd than in Ohio. We still managed to gather over $800 in donations, AND the person adopting Topper found us at the Equine Affaire!
Dallas was his usually professional self and just soaked up all the attention like a big love sponge. We got a very cute card from a group of kids who came by to see "Seabiscuit."
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We also hosted James Hastie, a representative from Morrisville College, New York who helped at our table. Morrisville is working on developing a large Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Center, and in exchange for allowing them to share our table at the Equine Affaire, they have promised that the first 3 horses into the program will be Exceller Fund horses in need of rehab!
MEMBER FORUM
You can see the link to the new message board in our Members Area. You can also bookmark the board at almata.proboards106.com/
You will need to create an account with a User Name and Password. We will review the accounts to make sure only Exceller Fund Members have access to the Message Board.
DEAR MEMBERS - This is YOUR forum to post and communicate with each other, brainstorm on ideas for helping horses, or simply have fun! I will also start posting updates in this forum starting with our Year-end Reviews and then leading up to the present time. YOU CAN CHECK this forum for the latest news and happenings with The Exceller Fund. It's also a great place for those folks with dial-up or AOL to receive news and information.
CHECK IT OUT!!!!
DUES AND DONATIONS!
Please don't forget to send in your dues for November. October dues were better than September, but we still have a ways to go to be in a good position to help a lot more horses. The demand is greater than ever. If you forgot to send in past month's, you can combine it with November. 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 - Gayle Pruitt will be taking over the credit card authorizations. Karla Phaneuf has had to take time off to tend to a family situation. You can send an e-mail to Gayle at gpruitt@frontierwireless.com for instructions. Gayle has been our loyal accountant for many years now.
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
I am running out of steam, and I know we have more news such as new members and perhaps some other items, but I'm calling it a night (or a morning!) and going to bed. I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Season, and don't forget to order a Holiday Horses card, a Calendar, and a children's book!!!!
Thanks to all of you for helping horses!