Final update on the "Trial for Mona"

The defendant in the "Polo Pony Retirement Foundation Case" passed away on November 4, 2009.  There will be no trial.

Senior Spa Day!

Thank you to all the members of the University of Mary Washington Pre-Vet Club who spent the day grooming geezers. Other than a slight wind, the weather was perfect.  Most of the horses loved the attention, though a couple  of grumps would have been perfectly happy keeping their hard earned dirt.

Perhaps most importantly, our new resident, Sherman, was partially bathed to remove evidence of a light digestive upset from his hind legs.  The New Guy seemed completely relaxed during this procedure, a far cry from a few other residents who declare they've never seen anything resembling a water hose or sponge in all their 30+ years.

Here's Sonny, age 38, following his spa session:

And Rienzi, who is in his mid 30's:

Lizzie's (24) new coif:

Fitz, 26, absolutely ate up the extra attention, looking like he might take a nap during his grooming session:

Miss Mona, 30+, from neglect to diva in just 3 months:

Jubal, 29, also made some new friends:

And our last photo for this post............NATE!  (who was one of the grumps, but did a little of his signature "scampering" afterward, so the experience must not have been as tortorous as he let on in the beginning.)

Thank you, all!  Please come back any time.  We'd love to see you again.

Welcome, Sherman!

Here he is!  Our  new resident, Sherman (29,) is quite thin, but happily not as underweight as either Mona or Liz upon arrival.  It also appears, judging by the thick curly coat, that TREES may be adding another member to the Cushings Club.

Sherman, shortly after a small (too small in his  estimation) meal of Triple Crown Senior.

For now, Sherman seems a little disturbed by the camera, but we were able to catch him peeping over the door at us.

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Thank you, Janie for helping bring this together, Amanda for filling in some details, Karol for the extra careful ride, Lori for offering Reiki when Sherman arrived, George, Heather, Catie and Jeanelle for helping to prepare Sherman's apartment, and everyone else following Sherm's arrival. 

Our new man was a little tired after his short trailer ride, so we're trying to give him some privacy for the evening.  We'll try to get more photos and post more information in the next several days.

Above and Beyond

Thank you, George and Heather!  There are very very very few volunteer teams who have been able to top off a partially full JD manure spreader, then completely REfill it to the brim all in one morning.

Ladies,

You are, hereby, with all the honors hereto pertaining, officially inducted into the Order of the Golden Muckfork, Spotsylvania Chapter 20OH.  Congratulations!

Details, details

We interrupt our regular progamming for some periodic legal stuff. 

Traveller’s Rest Equine Elders Sanctuary is a tax-exempt charitable organization as defined by Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3) and is duly registered to solicit charitable donations in the Commonwealth of Virginia under regulations set forth by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. EIN # 20-0331606

A financial statement is available from the State Office of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services upon request.

Office of Consumer Affairs

Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

PO Box 1163

Richmond, VA 23218

Toll Free: 800-552-9963

To monitor this or any other VA charity's corporate status, please visit the State Corporation Commission Clerk's Information System. You are looking for "Status: Active."

To monitor a VA charity's registration to solicit donations, please visit the Office of Consumer Affairs Charitable Database. Look for current dates of registration.

Gracious Nature

There are times when you just have to take time to appreciate the gracious nature of some of our fellow creatures.

At bedtime feeding tonight, while putting out hay for the "front field," I noticed what looked like a light from the barn reflecting on a puddle.  One pile of hay down, second pile ....wait....the puddle moved. It wasn't a puddle.  It was a gianourmous skunk!  OK, she's busily and very happily rooting up all the grubs emerging after the rain.  I'll just make the circle of hay a lot bigger than usual tonight. 

No problems.  We respected each other's personal space and all went well.

But then, Sonny emerged from the shed, having finished his bedtime snack.  "Hey look!  What's that thing?"  Now, our boy Sonny, who is 38, has some pretty impressive cataracts, so had to move in for a closer look.  Klump, klump.klump, klump (Sonny klumps along when not feeling particularly energetic.)  Nose to the ground, klump klump klump.  "Sonny!  SONNY!  STOP!" 

Just as Sonny's nose was about to make contact, Ms Skunk scampered forward about five feet.  Klump klump klump.  Sonny followed.  Again, she scampered. After the third approach-n-scamper, Sonny went on about his business of finding the perfect hay pile and settled in to munch. 

Marye also insisted on a closer look and, again, Ms S graciously scampered a few feet away from the pest.  As I turned off the lights and closed up shop for the night, everyone was contentedly snacking, the horses on their hay and Ms Skunk on her grubs, with not one whiff of odiferous protest.

Thank you, Ms S, for recognizing that our nosy geezers meant you no harm.

A few random photos

We thought we'd start November by showing off a few of the Elders:

Mona, October 23, 2009 (age 30-ish)

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Remember that Mona looked like this on August 8.........

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Yes, folks, We found someone Henry (25) would share his "space" with -- Josh! (late 30's) Oh boy, those recently replaced boards make the need to repaint the fence even more obvious.

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You do what you gotta do when your belly itches and you have no fingers!
Jubal October 4, 2009, age 29

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"Yo! Think you could ditch the camera and gimme a hand here?"