Moose on the loose

When I first moved into the Northport location in July of 2010 I felt like all my dreams were coming true.  I had a huge barn, all my rescue horses in one place, and the rescue was growing larger then I ever expected.  I guess you could say my favorite part was the huge barn, I had just five rescue horses and sixteen stalls.  I imagined the faces of the horses that would soon fill them.  I was dying to get out into the world and help horses in need.  Then my phone rang...it was an older man who had a few thorougbred racehorses on lay up due to small injuries.  Their owners no longer wanted them and had asked him to place them.  I hopped into my car with two volunteers and drove right over, excited to see if I could help these magnificent animals.

When we got to the lay up farm we walked around and met the three horses that needed a place to go.  Three horses, three girls looking at them, can you imagine what happened next?  We all fell in love with a different horse and stood there trying to decide on one.  One horse was a 16 hh dark bay with a slim body, he was a puppy dog, licked your hand and nickered when you walked away.  The next was a light colored bay gelding that was muscular and gorgeous.  The last horse we looked at was a 17 hh dark bay with a gorgeous head and body to match.  I casually asked if the groom could jog him out for me and he looked some what concerned at my question.  He slowly put the giant horses halter on, chain over the nose and coaxed him out of the stall.  The big bay saw the door open and jetted out of the stall.  The poor groom held on for dear life and got dragged around the small area attempting to make the horse jog.  I yelled out that I would take him and my friends looked at me like I had lost my mind.  Hey, he had spirit! 

The horses were delivered the next morning (yes, all three of them), they were all slightly sedated so they could safely be unloaded and brought to stalls to settle in, I was told they had never been in turnout and could be difficult to handle so to be careful when dealing with them.  I had gotten Sage right after he came from the track, how hard could this be!

One of my volunteers decided to put the calmest one in the herd out in a small pen so he could stretch.  He walked up the hill (with a few hops and bucks) and walked through the gate to his paddock and walked around.  Twenty minutes later he was sun bathing.  This horse, now named Troy, quickly became the barn favorite.

I walked down the aisle of my new barn satisfied that I now had filled a few more stalls with horses that needed homes.  I stopped at the stall of the massive throughbred and scratched his head, he really did not look too intimidating now that he was standing in my barn.  I liked him, he was my type of horse, big and bay.  I named him Moose and was excited to work with him.  As I closed the doors that night I blew Moose a kiss and told him I had faith in him he would be an extraordinary horse.

The next morning I picked Cadie, our photographer, up on the way to the farm.  We chatted about our new horses and were excited to get some new pictures of them.  As we walked into the barn something felt off, the horses were all nervous and spinning in their stalls, I looked around and saw that Moose's door was wide open with no Moose inside, my stomach turned and Cadie and I made a plan to both check seperate sides of the property and meet back in the barn (hopefully leading Moose).  I ran up the hill, checked the ring, behind the bushes, in the yard, and ran back to the barn.  We had both come back empty handed.  At this point I was in panic mode, the whole property has tall fencing around it, how had this horse gotten away!  We went back and forth, should we call the police?  call my mom?  call SOMEONE?!  Then it struck me, we had not checked the front paddock.  We ran like hell and that's when we spotted him, he had jammed himself inbetween a wall and our manure dumpster.  I spent the next 30 minutes backing this massive horse down a narrow walk way.  He looked at me with a sorry look on his face, sorry that he nearly scared me half to death, how would I explain to everyone I lost a horse during my first week at my new barn?!

Moose came out of the mess with not a scratch on him, I walked him back to his stall and he casually ate hay like nothing had happend.  I fixed the latch on his door and chatted with Cadie that the horses new name was "Moose on the Loose". 

Moose turned out to be an amazing horse, he settled into his new life as a pet after finding out his racing injury was so severe he would never be ridden again.  I taught him to walk with manners and he was soon being lead with just a cotton lead rope to and from his paddock.  I guess you could call him a big dog now, he went from winning races to winning the hearts of every girl who walked into our barn.

Moose is still looking for his happily ever after as a companion or pet.  Please consider giving this big guy a new home, you will not regret it!

The little paint that could

So its Thanksgiving...I have so much to be thankful for this year, to have amazing volunteers that give up so much of their time to make a difference for the Project Sage horses, an amazing family, great friends, and four of the best horses in the world. 

For all the bad things we hear about everyday I think it's good to hear an inspirational story about a little black and white paint horse that has beat the odds.  Here is her story...

In the fall of 2010 I was online browsing through horses that needed rescuing and I came across a small black and white filly.  I was drawn to her colors, her big blue eyes jumped off the computer screen and begged me to help her.  She was listed as a very well broke western pleasure horse that had professional training.  I made a few calls and an hour later I had made arrangments for her to be picked up at New Holland Horse Auction a few days later.  I was excited to get her back to our farm and see what she was all about.  Monday rolled around and my cell phone buzzed in my pocket, the little paint mare was sick, very sick.  She had to brought to a nearby clinic for treatment.  She had a spiked temperature and had an awful infection in her lungs.  The vet explained that she had probably had the infection for a few months but no one treated her.  He said she was a strong little horse with a will to live and to have faith in her.  Everyday I called and gave the clinic my credit card information to pay the bills, the little black and white horse was soon becoming quite expensive!

After a few weeks she was cleared for travel and made her way to Long Island.  As the trailer pulled up many excited volunteers waited to see the little paint horse.  We unloaded the horse and let her settle in.  She seemed like she did not understand how to be led which worried me but I figured she had been through a lot and needed some time to get used to our farm.

One of my volunteers always told me she wanted a black and white paint horse, she is our photographer for the rescue horses and came out with her camera to snap some pictures of the paint horse.  As we stood by the fence watching her I told Cadie, our photographer, that I had named the paint horse Darla.  Cadie snapped some pictures but I got a feeling that Darla would never make it to our web site.  Cadie left the farm with a smile that day.  I knew that smile from a mile away, that was the smile of a girl who had just found her future horse.

Just a short week later Cadie adopted Darla.  I wish I could say they lived happily ever after but Darla had other plans back then.  Cadie's first ride on her was a bit shocking, Darla was barely broke to ride and was what I would call a handful.  Cadie was a new rider and Darla was a green horse, anyone who knows horses can tell you this combination usually ends up with some dirt on the jeans from hitting the ground.  We quickly learned that Darla also bite and was hard to handle on the ground.  To no avail Cadie kept working through the issues.  Working through the issues led to bruises, scratches, and tears.  I found myself screaming across the ring "SIT BACK!!!!" on a daily basis as Darla ran across the ring throwing rodeo bucks.

As the months went by and many horses were returned to the rescue because they "needed too much work"  Cadie kept working hard.  She landed herself in the hospital with a concusssion after a spill on the trail, got some more bruises, and cracked her helmet.  Against the odds she got back on Darla and kept working through the issues, she had more determination then anyone I had ever met.  She would not give up on the little horse.  She hired a professional trainer, took lessons, went on trails and slowly she figured Darla out.  She loved to live outside so she had a shed build for her so she never had to be inside.  Any problem that occured Cadie fixed it.  Darla stopped biting and became lovely under saddle.  She became the horse everyone wanted to pet and give carrots to at our barn.  She was the horse all the kids asked about when they walked in.  She was a dream come true.

After two years I sat in the ring today and watched Cadie cantering around the ring jumping oxers and smiling from ear to ear.  I sat there thinking that Cadie was one of the few people that worked to make the horse work out and never gave up no matter how bad things got.  She had proved that even the biggest problems can be fixed with some love and dedication.

Thank you Cadie for working your tail off and turning Darla into what she is today, that horse is blessed to have you as her owner. 

iPad raffle!

Enter to Win an Apple iPad!!
Just in time for the holidays!!

Project Sage is raffling off a brand new Apple iPad!
Purchase your ticket today!

Tickets are only $10 each. A maximum of only 400 tickets will be sold.

All proceeds benefit Project Sage Horse Rescue.
Drawing will take place on December 1st. Winner receives a brand new 32 GB iPad.

You can get your ticket by paypaling to donnakye@hotmail.com
or mail to
PSHR 63 south Waldinger St.
Valley Stream NY 11580

Please include "iPad", your name, address, and email address on your donation! You will receive a raffle number!

YOU CAN OWN AN iPAD FOR $10.!!!

GOOD LUCK!!!

Hurricane help

Hi everyone, one of our Project Sage family members was a victim of hurricane Sandy, we are hoping to collect some items to help this family out, they lost their homes and cars and are now trying to pick up the pieces. We are collecting kitchen supplies, cleaning products, rubber gloves, garbage bags, paper towels, etc. All items can be dropped off at our farm, please try to pitch in and donate a few things!

Christmas Cards

This year Project Sage is selling Christmas cards! Each pack has ten cards in it for a $10 donation! See picture bellow! Paypal to donnakye@hotmail.com and please include your mailing address and which cards you prefer! Top or bottom.

Pasta Night! And more

Join Us for the 2nd Annual
Project Sage Horse Rescue Pasta Night
Thursday, November 29th
7:00 pm

Crossroads Cafe

24 Laurel Rd.

East Northport, NY 11731

Join us for a fun night out and enjoy a delicious buffet dinner including; salad, several different pasta dishes, dessert, coffee & soda. Donation: $25.00
Cash bar available.

Enjoy a Chinese Auction to raise money for hay and grain. Win Great prizes!!!
We are also selling raffles to win a brand new Apple iPad!

This was a fun event last year and promises to be even better this year!!

You can Paypal to Donnakye@hotmail.com

or mail checks to

PSHR (Project Sage Horse Rescue)
63 South Waldinger Street
Valley Stream NY 11580

Questions: Leebag63@aol.com

We are also selling Christmas cards this holiday season to benefit Project Sage! They come in packs of ten for a $10 donation (add $2 for shipping). You can paypal to donnakye@hotmail.com. Please include your mailing address and which card you wish to purchase (top or bottom).