Santa Comes to the Rescue

Well many things have happen over the past week that I wanted to share with everyone.

First I had 2 families step up to the plate and offered to each foster 2 horses each!! WOOOOW can you imagine my excitement when I found out that 4 of the 20 horses would have a foster home to care for them while I was recovering. That is a HUGE help to me and has helped to not only lighten the load around the ranch but it also serves as a winning situation for the horses too as they will be provided with more attention then possible for me to give them at this time. Thank you to The Paylen and Williams Families!

Then I send a HUGE thank you to Cecelia who sent me the most wonderful Christmas Card with a very touching letter and a very generous donation to help with caring for the horses also during my recovery.

Thheeeennnnnnnn Thank you to Kathy who first stepped up to the plate and made a wonderful and generous donation to the feed store for UAWR to use in order to help purchase feed needed for the horses. Kathy also writes for the daily press and wrote a beautiful and very touching article about the needs of UAWR. One of the things Kathy mentioned in her article was the need for a golf cart or motorized vehicle and Wooooo Hoooooooo I got the call!!!!!!

I got a call from a wonderful family in Apple Valley who is going to donate a golf cart to UAWR so that I can get around the ranch and over see the volunteers and ensure all the needs of the horses are being taken care of. This will also give me the ability to do some of the chores needed around the ranch myself such as watering horses and small tasks such as that. I am ever Soooooo grateful to Kathy for putting the word out and to the family who has donated to cart for UAWR what a HUGE blessing THANK YOU!!

I also received another wonderful donation from Nicol who is a previous adopter of UAWR and a wonderful woman who has been a great help to UAWR over the years and again has come thru to help out!!

Thank you to everyone I appreciate the help so much and hope that with all of us together we can continue on with UAWR even thru this tough time of a horrible economy along with my injuries, if we all work together I KNOW we can make this continue to happen!!!

Courtney Hobson

My Christmas Wish

Feeling Frustrated today.....ok I have just realized that it just really is not possible for things to work without at least my over seeing them on a daily basis...... I need a side by side type vehicle...such as Polaris ranger, or Yamaha Rhino, or Honda ????

Does anyone have any connections with a dealer that might be interested in donating one for Christmas to UAWR. That sure would help me to get around and make sure things are getting accomplished with the horses.

Any thoughts or ideas would be great!!! Thank you everyone!!

The Accident

As most of you know I was involved in an accident last week. It seems as if this accident is going to be changing alot of things at UAWR as It is predicted that I will be needing several surgeries and many months of rehab therefore I will not be walking for 6 months to a year.

I am going to try and make a bit more time to sit down and blog with all of you a bit more now in order to help get the word out about the needs of UAWR at the current time.

If you are interested in helping out with feeding and/or watering once or more per week please let me know as I am in need of feeding and watering helpers.

National Rescue Ride - October 3, 2009

RIDE or WALK
TO HELP AMERICA’S HORSES

Join Under the Angel’s Wings Rescue, Inc. along with other charities across America in the SADDLE or in your SNEAKERS to help ABUSED, NEGLECTED, & UNWANTED HORSES.

Join us October 3, 2009 to benefit Under the Angel’s Wings Rescue, Inc. in Norco, Ca at the Corydon Staging Area.

There will be a 4 hour ride leaving at 10:00 am
Or if you prefer a 2 hour ride leaving at 11:00 am

PLUS a great Mexican Lunch for a $10.00 donation includes drink & dessert

For more information you can contact Courtney Hobson at Courtney@uawr.com or (951) 318-2275

TO REGISTER and GET PLEDGE INFORMATION GO TO:
www.NationalRescueRide.org
Be sure you find and click on Under the Angel’s Wings Rescue

LOL .... Where did July and August go??

So my last post I was asking where did June go so I thought it would be quite funny to play on that since I seem to have disappeared....a date

Anyway, I don't have to tell you all how busy life has been for me but well it is.... The kids are back in school and I thought that would help to free up some time for me but that has not been true due to both of them being on completly different schedules. We are however getting into the swing of things and my new found job of Soccer Mom is falling into place as well.

So we have 20 horses now at this time at UAWR and they too keep me quite busy!! As usual we are always in need of funding for hay, wormers, and pellets.
an
Due to lack of time I have not been able to do as many yard sales as previously but I am in the process of planning another date and will post more info when I have that!

Our BIGGEST event in the works now that I hopeto see you all at is our Benefit Walk or Rideon October 3rd that I will be making a seperate post for following this one.

We still have some ridable horses who are looking for homes if anyone is looking. They are not beginner type horses but someone with a little experiance could handle some of them. We also have a couple of "project" type horses also in need of homes if you or anyone you know might be interested in them. I will be updating the website soon with everyones info.

Please feel free to email me courtney@uawr.com with any questions.

Whew where did June Go?

I can not belive it is almost the end of June already. Where did this entire month go??

The exciting part is that we have placed a few horses and that is always a wonderful thing! We have several more that are in desperate need of a home to call their own. Particularly a 7 year old Thoroughbred Mare who is very sweet and loving but needs someone to put some time into her. Check out our website and see Bailey.



Today's Message of the Day is:
Life is short, Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably, And never regret anything that made you smile!

More blogging to come later when I get my computer working....

Instructor Update

Ok so I officially have my NARHA Membership, most of my books are on their way except that last one on the list that I have not gotten covered yet but hope to have taken care of soon!

Soooo things are falling into place and I am going to get started VERY soon on studying for the Instrcutors Course. Yippie and THANK YOU to everyone who helped to not only encouraged me to pursue this endeavor and those who helped to make it happen!!!!

Wooo Hoooooo!!!!!!

UPDATE on Instructor Books. I have a wonderful family who has offered to bless me with purchasing the four books from the NAHRA site. That only leaves the last book on the list that Is needed. Thank you sooo much for your support and help!

Handicapped Riding Instructor Certification

Soooooooooooo the Blessings have come my way and I can clearly see this IS that path for me! I have the funds now in my HOT little hand to start Phase One of my Handicapped Riding Instructor Certification... WOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOO I am jumping for JOY!!!! Can you all see the HUGE smile on my face!!!! OHHHHH MYYYYY I can hardly contain myself.... whew... ok ok ok BUUUUTTTTTT I still need some help from anyone who is willing to help out.... Books that is the part that is killing me and I do not yet have the funds for so If anyone would like to help out in purchasing just one of the books I need for this journey or even if you wanted to just pay for a portion of a book that would be greatly appreciated and VERY VERY helpful!!!!! Sooo here is the list of what is needed:

NARHA Standards & Accreditation Manual (click on the link below and it is item #97005)

Instructor Education Guide (click on link below and it is item #97004)

Instructor Training Workbook & DVD (Click on link below and it is item#99060)

101 Arena Exercises (Item#42057) You might have to do a search for this item number to get it to come up on the NAHRA Site.

https://ecart.equivision.net/narha/Order.asp?cat=%2A%2ANARHAProfessionalResources&page=1

All of the above books can be purchase from the NAHRA Site and most have a discounted price for a member which i am a member.


Certified horsemanship Association Composite Horsemanship Manual (LINK BELOW)
https://www.cha-ahse.org/store/cart.php?target=product&action=view&product_id=16181&category_id=250

This also offers a 5.50 discount but I am NOT a member of this organization at this time.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me thru this thought and is still here behind me while I embark on this wonderful and exciting journey!!!! :D

UAWR Alumni - Jacob

I got some really great pictures and update from an Adopter the other day and wanted to share with all of you Jacob came into the UAWR program in April 2005.

Jacob's story does not seem to be an unusual story in that at one time he was considered to be a "crazy" horse due to his bad behavior with his handlers. It is unknown as to why he acted as he did??? Generally from what I have seen with a horse being "crazy" it is due to some type of pain or lack of training. Pain from a bit, saddle, harsh rider, chiropractic problems, etc.

I do not feel lack of training is the issue for Jacob as he had proven to us that he was reliable and dependable with kids and beginners in the arena and on the trail. Therefore he was placed for adoption.

Jacob found a home with a wonderful family here in southern California and is now being shown by a young girl. The family loves him dearly and he is being spoiled rotten with them! The part that I loved was when I asked her if it was OK to post the pictures of Jacob and her daughter to the Internet and her response was ABSOLUTELY, and she hoped that everyone out there seeing his pictures might just prompt someone else out there to give a chance to an older horse who is in need.

So many people are only willing to adopt the young ones. These older guys need a home too and many times they make some of the best horses you could possibly own especially for kids. The older ones have been there, done that, seen that. I can not count how many calls I get each month of parents wanting a young horse for their kids, or a young horse as a first horse. I wish they would give the opportunity to one of these older guys a horse at the age of 18 still has many years left to provide a wonderful learning experience for the kids.

Extreme Mustang Challenge Results with a bit of Drama

Hmmmmm very interesting... well the results are in and there were some issues with the Norco Competition one issue that I had first hand and that was a mare who foaled. BUT, there have now been some changes to the selection process that BLM will use when choosing horses for the competitions. They also found that the winning horse was previously adopted and then returned to BLM facility... wellll read all about it.... glad to hear about the policy changes on the mares though! I am really really hoping they come back to southern calif or does anyone wanna sponsor our travels to go else where lol...... they have a competition in Northern Calif. Ha ha anyway where is the link to the letters from BLM and Mustang Heritage Foundation that I thought you would find interesting.

http://www.extrememustangmakeover.com/forms/mhfpolicyletter.pdf

I am a Rescuer

My job is to assist God's creatures
I was born with the drive to fulfill their needs
I take in helpless, unwanted, homeless creatures, without planning or selection
I have bought dog food with my last dime (and Hay)
I have patted a mangy head with a bare hand
I have hugged someone vicious and afraid
I have fallen in love a thousand times
And I have cried into the fur of a lifeless body too many times to count
I have animal friends, and friends who have animal friends
I don't often use the word "pet"
I notice those lost at the road side And my heart aches
I will hand raise a field mouse And make friends with a vulture
I know of no creature unworthy of my time
I want to live forever if there aren't any animals in Heaven
But I believe there are Why would God make something so perfect and leave it behind
Some may think we are master of the animals
But the animals have mastered themselves
Something people still haven't learned War and abuse make me hurt for the world
But a rescue that makes the news gives me hope for mankind
We are a quiet but determined army
And we are making a difference every day
There is nothing more necessary than warming an orphan
Nothing more rewarding than saving a life
No higher recognition than watching them thrive
There is no greater joy than seeing a baby play
Who only days ago, was too weak to eat
By the love of those who I've been privileged to rescue
I have been rescued
I know what true unconditional love really is
For I've seen it shining in the eyes of so many Grateful for so little
I am an Animal Rescuer
My work is never done
My home is never quiet
My wallet is always empty
But my heart is always full

Author Unknown

Things that make you go hmmmmmm

So we have the pleasure and opportunity to be a quarantine facility for horses who are coming off the feedlots or auction. Due to the conditions and exposure being questionable of where these types of horses have been it is a general practice to quarantine (QT) a horse for 30 days where they are kept away from the others in order to be sure there are no sicknesses or diseases the horse may be carrying and could pass along to the other horses at a facility. It is very unfortunate that many of the rescues do not have sufficient QT locations and/or facilities because of the need to pull so many horses out of auctions and from feedlots so they rely on others to help out with this task. This is where UAWR comes in and is able to help out... the horse comes here and is kept in a stall away from other horses and it cared for to bring it back to health and any other rehab that is needed while we also watch the horse for signs of sickness. After the horses 30 day QT if the horse does not show any signs of sickness then they are moved to another more permanent location. Soooooo we got a new QT horse over the weekend and seeing him makes you say

WOOOOOWWWW what happened in this horses life that he ended up at auction and then at the feedlot. He is beautiful and he is very kind and well behaved. His mane appears as if it has been pulled not to far in the distant past, he has expensive egg bar shoes and pads on that are a bit overdue but not toooo drastically so someone spent money on shoes. His bridle path is a bit over grown but non the less it has been shaved not to long ago.... soooo someone loved and cared for this guy... WHAT HAPPENED????? WHY??????? How come this horse was destined to land on someone's dinner plate over seas?????

Thank You to SHI and the FOBs for saving this sweet and beautiful guy from slaughter!

More About the Horses

Well I guess it is about time I actually talk about the horses huh....????

Soo much going on around here and so much is changing but it is all changes for the good.... Remember my comment about Sometimes in the Winds of Change we find our true direction.

We have placed several horses in some great homes over the past month. We are still in need of finding more great foster or adoptive homes for horses so please check out our website at www.uawr.com and find a new friend to take home with you. :)

Also, a reminder that the Mustang Mare who I took on for the Norco Extreme Trail Challange (which was this weekend by the way) is still here with me and they too are now in need of an adoptive home, but they will be adopt thru the BLM rather then UAWR so you need to check out their guidlines and rules and I can forward you any info needed.

Faith Like Potatoes

So I actually took time away from my day this morning and stopped moving for about 2 hours and watched a movie.... I can not tell you how long it has been since I did that... Anyway I watched Fireproof which was an EXCELLENT movie and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone out there. This is a MUST own kinda movie so you can watch it over and over and over again... lol

"Hang on During the Hard times!"

So then you ask so why is the title Faith like Potatoes... well that is because there was a really cool preview of a movie called Faith like Potatoes which is based upon a true story. Its about a man who basically was loosing or lost everything and decided to put his faith in God and he became a true inspiration to all.

So the blurbs that caught be from the movie trailer are:

The seed for a Great miracle lies not in difficulty, but impossibility.

Where there is Love there is HOPE!
Where there is Trust there is PEACE!
and Where there is Faith there is GROWTH!

Good stuff I think.......

So now I am gonna have to take another 2 hours of "me" time and go rent Faith Like Potatoes to watch lol.

Be Delighted / Have Patience

So I was emailing to a friend about Patience and all that fun stuff and came across this verse and It pretty much jumped out at me too.... ummmmmm hmmmmm Patience I think we could all use a big dose of that!!!! Hope you enjoy!!


Psalms 37:4-7 says: Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.

Be Delighted

God knows the secret petitions of your heart. He knows every unspoken dream and every hidden desire that you have for your life. He knows those things that you haven’t told anybody else. Maybe you were believing for something that you have decided will never come to pass, or maybe you buried a dream or goal because things were not falling into place on your time table. Maybe, in the natural, you have every reason to give up on your dreams. Be encouraged today – weather you can see it or not, God is still working behind the scenes on your behalf! He is preparing you for your future. He is getting ready to bring the right people across you path. He is preparing to open a door of opportunity and blessing for you that no man can shut!

And while God is doing His part, we have to do what the verse days and delight ourselves in Him today. The work delight actually means to make you soft and pliable. It’s the picture of God as the Potter and you as the clay. Put yourself in God’s capable hands. Allow Him to mold and sharp your character. Relax and rest in the knowledge that He is in charge of your life. Allow Him to direct your plans and ideas. Keep an attitude of faith and expectancy today. As you submit your ways to the Lord and open your heart to His leading, He will fulfill those secret petitions of your heart!

My Mother's Day Tribute

I would like to say thank you Lisa for coming into my life and allowing me to put a smile and yours and your sons faces. I also thank you for humbling me and inspiring me to push forward harder then ever before! I am not sure if you caught it or you might have thought it was the wind (which I was trying to play it off as :D) but as you shared your story of the obstacles you have over come you truly did bring tears to my eyes..... You are an AWESOME MOM and an amazingly strong woman and you deserve kudos for all you have done for your son and not allowing the doctors to drag you down and just accept the negative.

This post is actually connected to my May 3rd post titled "True Direction" where I mentioned more to follow about the boy with CP. But I think today is perfect timing to share this story. However, I really don't like to refer to him as the boy with CP cause he really is overcoming his disabilities so he really should be the boy who is overcoming CP :)

So when you hear the story of what Lisa has over come thru their fight with Cerebral Palsy (CP) it is amazing. I don't know if I would have been strong enough to push forward as hard as she and several others I have talked to have.

At the age of 2 years Lisa was told her son would never walk. WOW what devastating news that would be to a mother and I can not even begin to imagine what that must have made her feel like. I personally think I would have been sad and devastated and may have given up at that point and just accepted the fact that my child would be wheel chair bound for the rest of his life. But, NO when the hospital offer her a wheel chair to take home with her son she REFUSED it and said NO my son WILL walk so how about you send me home with a walker instead. The doctors all thought she was crazy and pushed for her to take the wheel chair again she refused and went home with a walker. I am not sure at what age this happened but at some point with her working with her son he began to walk, he used that walker!

The part that saddens me is that they were actually kicked out of one of the state funded programs for physical therapy because her son was functioning too well..... How do you function tooo well??? How and why does this happen??? I get they have to free up room for other who are more disabled but isn't there a transitional program or something rather then just pushing these people out and say bye bye good luck...????? But, once again Lisa pushed thru and moved forward with her sons therapy and finding him another place to go in order to continue his progression forward.

Their next step forward was Therapeutic Riding which sounds as if they have found a wonderful instructor and therapist who is located in Reche Canyon near their home. She says he has progressed wonderfully since starting his riding. When he was here it was amazing to see him. The boy that doctor said would "never walk" was literally running around my yard going from horse to horse telling his mom "This is the one I want to take home" it was great to see his excitement. Then we put him on a horse and he just LITE up it was amazing to see him and the joy he felt while up on the horses back.



After he rode for about 20 mins and then he let us know when he was done. After, he got off the horse I turned to Lisa and asked her if she wanted to ride to and she looked at me for a second and said really??? I said yes of course so we got her up there also and she rode around for a bit too and really enjoyed herself. It was just a great day for everyone all of us that were involved were truly blessed to be a part of it all.

What a great day and an Inspiring Day!!!

Paying it Forward

Soooo I am here to ask all of you for help with a "mission" of mine. I have been for several months "felt" like there is a family out there who has a child who is really in need of an outlet or just something to make them feel special. I kept thinking that person would cross my path and viola there you go..... but that has not happened and I can no longer sit back and wait..... So I am putting the word out and going to FIND that family.....I would like to find some really deserving child maybe from a low income family that would like to come out and ride horses. I want to do a casual lesson type setting but more about having a good time with horses... ride around the arena, eventually a trail ride or two... no "real" plan for what happens other then to bless a child in need.
Can anyone help...does anyone know of a family who spending time with horses could make a difference for them?

I am Sad.... Kinda....Mustang Challange comin up soon!

So as the time comes closer for the Extreme Mustang Trail Challenge I am starting to realize how truly bummed I am about not being able to compete. I thought it would not be that big a deal but I am getting emails each day about the updates and all the fun the trainers are gonna have and weeelllll I am bummed.

They are having a baby shower for the moms and baby's who do compete and are auctioned off. That sounds like so much fun awwwwwww ...sigh.... oh well I guess we will have to do our own baby shower here.. lol I am really hoping to find someone I know to adopt mom and baby so they can stay close as they are both very close to my heart and that mare is gonna make someone a really nice horse. Baby is getting HUGE and she too is gonna be a dream to own for someone.

That is my kinda gloomy update on the Mustangs... Oh an I forget to metion they have names now lol

Mom is Kalei which is Hawaiian and means "The Beloved" / Wreath of Flowers and Baby is Leilani which means Heavenly Flower

HOWEVER, if someone adopted them reality is those name may change and I will be sure to update everyone on what happened with mom and baby in the future.

True Direction

Sometimes in the Winds of Change we find our TRUE direction. <--- ISN'T that the TRUTH!!!! So I have to give a big Thank you to the one who worked so hard to make my life miserable, instead as I blogged about 2 days ago things have come back to me two fold and double. What you thought would make my life miserable truly has blessed me and helped to get my life headed in the TRUE direction! Thank you for what you have done! So as most of you know UAWR is in the process of a down sizing due to several things that have gone on. This I see as a blessing cause what I have said allllll along is that Therapy Riding was what I wanted to do and to combine the Rescue and the Therapy sooooo I am working on getting that started and look forward to the journey ahead of me and meeting some wonderful kids and people. I have already meet up with some great kids that truly do inspire me. We were just out last weekend with another boy who has Cerebral Palsy and wow to hear his story is just amazing! More to come about that..... So Therapy Riding with Rescued Horses that is the true GOAL around here.

So here is where my plea comes in. If anyone knows of a grant(s) that I can apply for in order to cover the costs of my Schooling to become a certified instructor that would be very helpful!! It is quite costly to go thru all the classes and the certification program. I am looking to do the at home and online course which is the least expensive way to go but still is going to run around $2000 including all expenses. Any ideas from anyone would be wonderful!!!!!

The Wizard of Oz

Sooo I know you all look at that topic and say HUH???? What's up with that.... So I got all inspiring, fuzzy, and warm yesterday soooo today I felt like a complaint.lol What's up with the wind up here in the High Desert this year? Did I forget and we always get this much and this heavy of winds or is this unusual for us? So as I have posted on my Facebook ... Dorothy I don't think we are in Kansas anymore.... or actually KIDS we're not in Phelan anymore we seem to have blown to Apple Valley I think hummmm.

So today I made a personal appearance at the Sun Country Horsemans Assoc show. They are a horse show club located up here in the high desert and they have decided as a club to take on UAWR as a "project" and try to raise funds for the horses. It was a great day for a horse show and sure wish I had taken a couple of our "kids" with me to show. However, I will keep you all up to date one or two of the UAWR horses just might make their show ring debut next month we will have to see how that goes. Anyway, cool people, neat show, everyone should go and have a good time.

Well the wind is blowing, the chimes are ringing, and I am ready for bed...... off I go...

Mustang Update

Ok soooo speaking of coming back.... are you sick of me yet.... I don't post for weeks at a time and now all in one night I am on post 3 or 4 lol ok sooo I finally got my computer to log into the blog and allow me to write soooo I am running with it while I can.

Sooooo, I know you are all wondering what is up with the Mustangs. It is with great sadness I report that we will NOT be competing in Norco. I do not feel they are ready or could handle the stress and commotion of the competition. There just has not been enough progress with having the baby and mom being so possessive of her. Mom is relaxing a bit more now but we only have 2 weeks left in the competition and I do not feel it is safe for mom and baby to push them that hard in order to have them "ready" for the competition. So mom, baby, and I are all regretfully bowing out of the competition which saddens me but really the safety of mom and baby are the most important.

So you ask what happens to them now? They are being transferred into the Mustang Heritage's Trainer Incentive Program (TIP) which means they will stay here with me for another 90 days and continue their training while I find them an adoptive home. So if anyone is interested in adopting these two please let me know and I can give you more information about it. They will be adopted thru the BLM so you will have to abide by their standard rules and guidelines as the BLM requirements and they do retain ownership for one year and then you can apply for title at that time. For questions or more info email me and I will answer those questions.

The Lord giveth and The Lord taketh away...blessed be The Lord

OK so tonight is my night to preach just cause it applies and I got the warm and fuzzies and so I am gonna share them with all of you too. Soooooooooo a friend of mine sends me this verse:

The Lord giveth and The Lord taketh away...blessed be The Lord Job 1:21

So I go and look it up in my Bible which is really cool cause it is called Hope for Today Bible and for many of the verses they put a "Hope Note" and elaborate more on that particular verse and well there was a Hope Note for this one and here is what it says:

As you read Job's story think about new seasons of increase. It's easy to get stuck in a rut to where we're not expecting anything better, we're not growing, and we're not pressing forward. That's when those negative thoughts come telling us we've reached our limits, and we're never going to accomplish our goals. We start telling ourselves that it's all downhill from here.
But don't ever believe those lies. God is a God of increase, not decrease. He never wants us to go backwards, only forwards. Well, you say, "But Job said, "The Lord Gives and The Lord takes away." And yes, that's true. But when it was all said and done, Job ended up with twice what he had before. God restored him back double. And sure, there are seasons were we are not seeing a lot of growth, seasons where we have to dig our heels in and fight the good fight of faith. But I can sense in my spirit that we are entering into new seasons of increase and favor. But you have to do your part and let that seed of hope take root. You have to believe that no matter what's comes against you, no matter how unfair things seem to be, God is shifting things in your favor. Every setback is simply a setup for comeback. God not only wants to bring you out, He wants to bring you out better off then you were before.

I will not get to deep into things cause more is to come as life continues to play out but I will leave you with the comment of our recent setbacks I can see now are just a setup for a COME BACK!!!! :D Blessed be the Lord I am COMING BACK!!! (Better then ever before by the way lol)

Benefit Ride was a HUGE Success

The Under the Angel’s Wings Rescue Benefit ride was a wonderful success! The weather turned out to be the perfect day. The sun was shining it was not too hot and it was just beautiful! We had two separate rides and I think everyone truly enjoyed themselves and kept talking about how much fun they had.

The San Bernardino County Search & Rescue was also there having a training day so we got to meet a lot of them along with their Coordinator Dave who we talked a lot with throughout the day and he passed along brochures and info about UAWR to all of the Search and Rescue people in order to help spread the word about UAWR. Thank you Dave for all your help and support. The best part was I ended up knowing a few people who were with the Search and Rescue and I ran into my BEST friend from kindergarten while we were there it was amazing to see her and her horse Tucker who I had not seen in what 13 years..? He is just as cute as always! A walk down memory lane....

The raffle prizes were great. It was AMAZING what we had donated for the Raffle there were :

Cowboy Magic Products Thank you Jim Cummings of Charmar Land & Cattle Co/Cowboy Magic for your kind and generous donation! Thank you also to Geno the farrier who got us in contact with Jim.

We had around 20 of the decorative plates with horses on them I personally won Native Dancer. Thank you to Louise & Ken for donating all of those.

There were some really neat Dog and Cat record keeping books that were a great hit and scarves also, Thank Rose Leavitt for donating those. I also thank Linda & Margie who purchased the books that were left over at the end of the day.

We had some cool tail bags, Thank you to Linda Powell for those.

If I have forgotten someone or other items that were a part of the raffle I apologize there was SOOO much stuff I think everyone walked away with at least something from the raffle which was great!

The bake sale was yummmmy and I would like to say Thank you to Sue Zurawik, Vivette Lund, Linda Powell & Friends, Alison Paylen, My Dad, Lisa, Niki Angelies, and Cheryl Tokle for all your deserts they were all wonderful. I must tell everyone though they missed out on THE BEST carrot cake ever. I will not devulge who made it or she might have people lining up at her door but I told her she is the official UAWR function carrot cake maker from now on cause it was GOOOOOOOOOOOOODD!!!!!! I took several pieces home for myself thank you!

We can not forget the WONDERFUL lunch we all had!!! YUM Chicken and Beef Fajitas. I think everyone went back for seconds, thirds, and maybe even more but who was counting..... lol.

Thank you to Schwans (the little yellow truck that drives door to door delivering groceries) for donating all of the Chicken for the fajitas.

Thank you Amber Bevel who made us all the Best Fajitas in the world.

Thank you Ernie & Lana the RRT President and Secretary for feeding us all. They did a great job keeping the line moving and making sure we all had hot food on our plates and full bellies.

Thank you to Dottie who was the realtor in Yucaipa who did the pre-ride & got us in touch with Dave of the Search and Rescue. Also, Thank you to Barbara of RRT who got us in touch with Dottie.

Thank you to Ed & Melanie who pre-rode the ride two different times and also lead the longer ride on the day of the benefit.

Thank you to Stacy Payne who helped with loading and unloading things from the trailer.

And my HUGE THANK YOU to Vivette Lund and Sue Zurawik for putting all of this together and make a great, fun, and successful day for everyone. You two I know worked your hineys off to make it all happen!!! I can not express how much I appreciate what you have done for UAWR.

Thank you also to Vivette's friend Pam who was there to help keep Vivette calm and another HUGE Thank you from us all to Vivette's husband Don. Vivette says your "The BEST husband EVER!!!"

I can not forget Niki who helped me feed horses the morning of the ride so we could get out of here on time whew you were a life saver and we did really have a great time baking together!!

Thank you to everyone who came out and participated and for being a part of the first UAWR Benefit ride. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves as much as I did! A huge Thank You to everyone from RRT who helped to make this very successful ride happen and we WILL be doing it again so check the UAWR website for the latest updates.

Daily Press Article and Video

I made the FRONT PAGE of the Daily Press how exciting is that!! The video came out online the day after the reporter came here to my place and we all got excited and a few comments on my Facebook pages stated I was now famous. That all gave me a good chuckle and we had fun with it and it was pretty cool to see the video. I then wondered when the print article was going to come out in the paper as I was not told when. So Friday morning on the 17th a friend of mine called and said Oh you MUST go buy a paper your article is in there today. Sooo I got excited and ran up to AM/PM to get me a Daily Press and wouldn't know you it as I grabbed the paper to buy I about peed my pants there I WAS FRONT and center awwwwwww I was sooo excited, seems silly to some but to me that was pretty cool and quite the honor to make Front Page!!! Once I announced the frint page to everyone on Facebook I got many more comments of how I was now famous lol tooo funny! Sooooo I am finally getting to Blog about that day and am sharing the links with you. I hope everyone enjoys!!

Article Link

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/extreme_11877___article.html/makeover_mustang.html

Video Link

http://www.vvdailypress.com/video/index.php?source=gsa&v=1.0&bcpid=1155838627&bclid=1170502784&bctid=19003971001

UAWR Benefit Ride Saturday April 18th

"Friends of Under the Angel's Wings Rescue" are having a benefit ride to help feed and care for the 28 + horses currently located at UAWR.

Located in Wildwood Canyon - Yucaipa, Calif.
Saturday April 18th, 2009

Staging at 9am
Ride Leaves at 10am

There will be 2 rides. One will be an easy 2 hour ride through the rolling hills and valleys. The other will be about 3 hours through the hills.

There will be a $20.00 donation that Includes Lunch and Drinks.

This will be collected the morning of the ride. There will be items that can be purchased and a bake sale too.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CALL VIVETTE LUND 909-518-2939

We need volunteers on horseback AND if you do not want to ride we still need your help on the ground and you will get to do a treasure hunt.

If you would like to make something for the bake sale please call also.

If you or your company would like to donate to help the horse please let us know also. We need raffle prizes!! Let make this a HUGE success for all the horses of Under the Angel's Wings Rescue!!!!

THank you and hope to see you all there!!!

I will personally be there riding.

Courtney Hobson
Under the Angel's Wings Rescue
www.UAWR.com

Mom and Baby

My Extreme Mustang Challenge mare has been interesting. As I posted before the mare foaled on the 7th of this month and since that day training has regressed significantly. She and I had established a great trust and since the baby she does not want me anywhere near here. I am working to regain her trust again which is coming slow... VERY slowly. I have spoken with The Mustang Heritage foundation and there are 2 other mare who have foaled also. They are considering revising the competition on order to accommodate the foals. They are strongly encouraging us to train at the mare pace and not to push anyone or get anyone hurt. So we will just have to see how things go and progress along. I will get everyone some new pictures soon.

Our Fun on the Weekend - March 14th

Well this weekend was birthday weekend. The first and most fun of the weekend is of course the bounce house. We had about 20 kids over to enjoy the bounce house and what a great time they had. Only 2 adult actually made it into the bounce house up the ladder and down the slide and of course I was the FIRST one.... ha ha yes I am just a big kid and enjoyed every minute of it. Every time we have a bounce house my rule has always been the first adult in the bounce house gets 10 bucks and you know I don't rush to get in there but I seem to always be the first one so I have yet to pay out my 10 bucks to anyone.... Thank you to Extreme Jumps (760) 900-1141 once again for providing all the fun.

The wind then picked up quite nicely as we can always expect late afternoon in the high desert and we broke out the kites..... these were not just any kites they were cool dragon kites. Anyway I did not get up close pics of the kites silly me but do have one of them up in the air... you have to look very very close but you can see 3 little dots in the sky and those are the 3 kites the kids were flying.

Here is a picture of the cake for the girls that we all enjoyed soooo much...gotta LOVE Birthday cake who doesn't.

Then I saved the best part of the day for last. As I have talked about before many times to most of those who know me and I think even on the blog here my ULTIMATE DREAM and passion is Therapeutic Riding and I continue to say one day I will have the funds in order to pursue that dream and I really hope it comes soon!!! Anyway, the part I ALWAYS love is Micah and Emmie together. Micah is an Arabian gelding who was purchased several years ago at Mike's auction where we bid again the meat man in order to secure his future to a good home. his original intention was not for therapy riding but just as a trail horse but he has evolved into much more then a trail horse. Micah is the perfect gentleman and you can watch every step is carefully calculated in order to keep Emmie safe. Emmie has Cerebral Palsy and riding for her is an excellent form of therapy as is the case for most CP kids and adults. Not only is it great therapy for her muscles and body but also for her mind, spirit, and confidence. It is amazing that EVERY single time I see her mount up on that horse it literally brings me to tears and all I can think of is "THAT is what its all about", my dream, my passion, my desire...... here I get teary eyed just thinking about it and tell you all about it..... Here is a picture below which is not that great but it still shows you a small piece of my heart and where it is at. So one day I KNOW it WILL happen in God's time........

THIS is what life is all about!!!!

Yard Sale - March 7th

We had another yard sale on March 7th and 8th and it was a success once again. Thank you to all who donated to help make this happen. To those of you who are coming out to the sales thank you also for coming out and supporting UAWR. Remember to all that we are getting new items all the time so if we did not have what you are looking for this time then please check back with us. Also, just an FYI to all I am told that I have a large donation coming of horse items, I don't know yet what we have but there is alot of tack coming. I also have a donation of more furniture and other large items coming. Then if anyone has a queen sized bed we have a beautiful headboard with shelves that was hand made and is beautiful!!!!!!

I thought I would throw some cute pics of the last yard sale. After a long weekend Sunday evening we ran and got some pizza for dinner for us all to eat and well only horse people would come up with saddle chairs...lol sooo as you can see we had packed away all the chairs and we had to make do for chairs to eat but hey you know what it all worked out great we enjoyed our pizza then finished packin up and headed for home.

Speaking of our next sale is March 28th & 29th but if you are coming shopping on the 28th we will only be open until noon as we have a birthday to celebrate elsewhere but we will be there all day Sunday for you to shop too. I am thinking we will also be out there the weekend after that which is April 4th & 5th also.

I NEEEEDDDDD volunteers desperately!!!! I just need people to come out Saturday morning the 28th to help set up everything and then more people to help pack up at the end of the weekend. This process I have been doing alone and it taking me several hours (4 hours minimum) and at our last sale I was not even able to get everything out that we had for sale. So I feel we could be much more successful with the yard sales if we had all the items out for viewing by the customers. The more items we have out to sell the more funds we can raise for the horses. You would not need to stay all day long just a couple hours in the morning and couple hours at the end to help put everything away.



I hope to see some of you out there on the 28th. Thank you and if you would like to volunteer with UAWR please see our volunteer website at http://www.angels.uawr.com/ for more info.

Catching Up

Ok I am gonna try and write several days worth all in one shot. My issue now is that at home I am on dial up service we do not get DSL at my location and every time I am trying to post more to the blog it times out when signing in. So today I am at my dads house which he has DSL soooo we are operating in HIGH SPEED yippie I am soooo excited... anyway so I have alot of catching up to do and will try my best to update everyone on that haps.

I'm so excited!!!!

I am sooooo happy my computer is co-operating this evening cause I have exciting news to share!!!!!

First I have to say gotta love that dial up internet connection between that and my computer I have not had access to much these days..... but tonight things are behaving themselves Yippie!!!

Sooooo We have a baby today!!!!! VERY exciting!!!!! I was not here when the blessed event happened I was off hosting a yard sale to help all the wonderful UAWR horses and when I got home I had some people coming to look at horses and as we walked into the back yard I looked over in that direction and saw something laying on the ground and got excited and started say we have a baby, she had her baby, oh my goodness.... an everyone kinda looked at me like I had lost my mind.... then they too saw the baby and got excited.

Mom and Baby seem to be doing well. Baby is up, trotting around, nursing, and doing good! Mom was quite nervous and upset with all the people here so I was not able to play with the baby yet but during the daylight tomorrow I will play with mom and see how it goes with her trusting me to play with baby too.

I am not sure at this time if its a colt (boy) or filly (girl) but pretty sure It's a girl from what I can tell. I will have to update all of you on that part.

Sooo exciting news today....makes it even more heart breaking to have to give them both up at the end of this competition though....but having a new baby is always fun and always a good thing!!!

Stay tuned for more pictures and better ones too.

Mustang Update

(This was written March 4th but not able to post until March 7th)

So I have not been doing much with the mustang seein as she has gotten twice as big around and is VERY pregnant! When working with her after a short period of time even with very little stress she gets diarrhea really bad so I have been trying not to do too much with her... I am quite concerned about the her and the pregnancy and do not want to put money and a contest ahead of their well being sooooo things are going very slowly for the sake of her and the baby.

My guess would be we will be having a baby fairly soon maybe a couple of weeks sometime end of this month... I can't wait and hope once the baby comes I will be able to put more time into her. At that point I will then have 2 horses to work with for the competition.

My Sadness, Tears, and Return

Soooo this last week has been quite emotional for me and become somewhat of a blur. Last Saturday one of our beloved friends and truly special horses passed away. Scooter was what I said always was the million dollar horse. He carted around my 6 year old daughter and was the perfect gentleman. Loosing a horse never gets easier for me and when they are a close member of the family it makes it even more difficult. My daughter lost her first horse a year ago Christmas and now once again she looses her beloved friend uggggg. I personally have taken his death very hard and several days later am just getting things rolling in life again. I have slacked off on working with my mustang and basically with everything but again I am getting back on track and getting things done. In fact a friend of mine saw me at the grocery store last night and even said Hi to me and I walked right past and did not even notice he was there wooooooow how scarey is that...

Soooo to anyone out there who I was rude to I AM SORRY!!!!! Please forgive me my brain was not where it was suppose to be.... I am ready to talk now though lol..... anyway it took me several days to even get to a place to tell you all about him but here we are.....

Last but not least if anyone can help make a donation in Scooters name to help cover the hauling costs for him we had to put out $190 that was not expected or planned in the budget which is extremely tight right now!

Tons of Misc.

OK sooo it has been way too many days since I have updated all of you.... I have been having entirely too much fun with the Mustang and she has been taking alot of my time as you can imagine.

First, I am doing a yard sale this weekend and NEEEEEEEEEEEEED some volunteers to help set up everything oh around 7am would be a great time for that. I will also need some people to help pack everything up and put it away around 3pm also. If anyone wants to help out please email me at courtney@uawr.com or call me at 951-318-2275. THANK YOU!!!

Next, several people have asked about the colicing mare and she is doing WONDERFUL, thank you all for your prayers and support for her!!!! My finger is doing great too it has not fallen off it is still a bit sore but still in tact lol.

Mustang mare I have decided is for sure pregnant I can see that baby moving around in there so we will take things slow and easy well not like I wasn't anyway but its all good she is coming around so well and even walks towards me when i come out to see her. Love this girl what a sweetheart she is!!!

My verse of the day:
"Give and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full-pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back." Luke 6:38

Please do not mistake the GIVE part as needing to be monatary giving give your heart, give your time, a helping hand, or whatever you have to give it does not need to be money. Hmmmm that one sure made me ponder more... I truly have always been about give and you shall receive.....kinda goes with my Make a Difference Monday.

Enjoy and have a GOOD Friday tomorrow and I will be sure to write again soon!!

Mustang Mare Day 2

OK so first off we need to get this girl a name... Second I want to say THANK YOU to Danny who pushed me to take this adventure on... I was not going to do this and he pushed me to "Go for IT!!" soooo here we are and WOOOOW what fun I am having.... Sooo with that said I think I am going to hand the job of naming this mare off to him.... lol

So I worked with her this morning and she did quite well... she is a quick learner and responds to the Natural Horsemanship wonderfully. But, then again Natural Horsemanship is just that Natural and working with what nature has taught them in order to get the desired results. Imagine that and this stuff works.... lol

I got an email last night where someone told be that I had a fresh canvas to Paint WOOOOWWWW when you really think about that how amazing is that...??? I LOVE that and paint away I will, it is always wonderful to take a clean canvas and paint anything I desire onto that canvas rather then trying to undo the bad and the other things that humans have done to these poor horses. Especially the mustangs they tend to be the most misunderstood horses of them all. I have not taken a completly wild one front start to finish in quite sometime and I am remembering why I LOVE to do it....Uh oh is Ridgecrest BLM facility going to be my home away from home...????

I then worked with her again this afternoon and WOW how wonderful did that go. I have already gotten her to the point that she will lead and not perfect but does give and lead around the round pen. She will allow me to touch her nose and will eat hay and carrots out of my hand. The carrot was a riot she takes the smallest most dainty bits ever she is alllllllllll girl that is for sure..... The part I was really hoping would not happen... well it happened today I am falling in LOVE with this sweet girl and the though of having to give her up and the end of this all in May just breaks my heart. I will however keep moving forward with her and allow my emotions and all of that to be handled by the Lord. She truly is a special girl though and even after a day I can see that someone is going to have a great horse in their hands on May 17th.

Enjoy the pics and video and I will keep updating everyone on how things are going.

Today was Mustang Pick Up Day

So my day started bright an early as usual around 5:30am this morning. Most of you know that I have had a horse here that has been battling colic for 5 days and also had 2 rounds of oiling at the vet hospital soooo needless to say I have been spending alot of time running her to the vet hospital and giving shots of meds at late hours of the night and early morning and all that good stuff so sleep has not been in my schedule much these days. Anyway, so first thing this morning I was drawing up the meds to give her morning dose of drugs and in my haste and being half asleep I went to put the cap back on the needle and managed to stab my finger all the way thru my finger and out the other side.... it was LOVELY!!!!! Can I tell you how bad that HURT!!!! Sooooo that was the beginning of my day and I though oh no this is not a good way to start....sooooo in the meantime I think I like jabbed the needle thru the vein that runs down my finger and so can you bruise your veins lol lol or maybe it is the tendon, ligament, whatever who knows....my whole finger is blue and purple now and still hurts really bad!!!! Anyway, that's the end of my whinning lol I will live and hopfully my finger will not fall off... :)

I then took my daughter to school and headed off to Tania's house and I send a HUGE THANK YOU out to Tania for taking time out of her busy day and driving me up to pick up my mustang today since my truck is just not big enough and had bald tires and to make a 2 hour trip I figured it just was not smart to make that trip. We headed out around 8:30am this morning and on the road we were.... we all were a bit concerned about the weather as the reports were that a snow storm was coming in. Well Thankfully we made it there and back home with no problems what a blessing that was!!! You can see in the picture the beautiful skies in route to the BLM Facility in Ridgecrest. By the way the snow storm hit us literally right as we pulled into the driveway at Tania's and were home... Thank you Lord for that wonderful blessing of great weather for our travels.

Upon our arrival we pulled in the drive and snapped a few pics of the facility and I said ohhhhhh I want that stack of hay...what a dream come true that would be!!! I made my way into the office where I had to fill out all the paperwork in order to be able to take my new friend home. I then found out her number was 1980 and then someone from the back room shouted out "That was a GOOD year!" lol soooo our little girl is number 1980. She was captured from Tonapah, Nevada. She was born sometime in 2006 and is said to be a bay with white star but hmmmmm I am not tooo sure about that color thing....You all will have to let me know what you think????? I personally think she is a chestnut but well I will let you all decide. I then made my way outside in the FREEEZING cold and wind in order to get our girl loaded....yippie!!!!!!!

We did see that she is quite the kicker while in the chute waiting to be loaded she was doing some serious kicking to the walls and the chute....loading however was quite uneventful as they generally do they opened up the gates and she flew out of the chute and jumped right into the trailer.... she was very scared and started running around the trailer for a few minutes and was rocking it around quite well. We then got a few pics of her in the trailer and decided we needed to hit the road in order to help calm her down and hopes that she did not kick the crud out of the trailer. Once we got moving she calmed down fairly quickly though and rode all the way home fairly good.

Once we got her home unloading went really well we backed right up to the round pen and once I opened the door she just jumped right off and into the round pen. We then got a bit better look at her and Tania and I both went hmmmm she looks pregnant so now that is the questions is she or is she not in foal....???? Hmmmm well I guess we will have to get her halter broke first to find that one out. She seems to be ok and settling in she is nervous of course but eating and drinking well.

Stay tuned for more updates on what she is doing....

Random Thoughts and Comments

Sooo I am getting excited about Friday which is when we go to pick up my Extreme Mustang Challange horse.... I am nervous and excited all at once....awwwwwwwwwwwww

So I also wanted to say that big beautiful white horse Nikki was riding in my last post IS AVAILABLE for adoption if anyone is interested he is a 15 year old TB Gelding who does Dressage and he is a sweety and needs a great home to call his own.

I will add photos of my Mustang once he/she gets home weeeeeeeeeeeee yippie I am excited..... lol ok that is about it for today not much going on as I have mainly been dealing with a colicing horse for the past 2 days and that has been taking up most of my time.

Rainy Saturday Afternoon

So like woow what did we do today....???? We got busy, my very favorite new volunteer named Nikki (hope that is cool for me to tell the world about you ) she comes up here from quite a ways away lets just say Yucapia lol..... anyway she makes the drive up here now every Saturday and I think I am gonna have to start baking her cookies or something to keep her coming back cause she is the volunteer of my dreams the kinda person that I don't have to baby sit all day that is a self starter do it all, get it done kinda girl... sooooo today I am doing my own thing and I turn around and this girl had half the round pen raked and smoothed out... by hand mind YES she got out there with a rake and literally leveled the round pen.... that is IMPRESSIVE!!!!!! Then she moved on to riding horses and can I tell you she got 3 horses ridden today that too in just WONDERFUL!!!! So my entry for today is just simply THANK YOU Nikki and I am so Blessed to have you here to help out and really do hope you continue to come back... and hey if that required me really baking cookie just let me know I am on it!!!!!

A Wonderful Rainy Day

Well the first thing I thought was uh oh I was planning on having a yard sale this weekend...bummer I am thinking that is not going to happen seeing as it is suppose to rain for the next several days. So I will just go with the flow there and see what happens.



I then moved forward to hauling a few horses to their new homes. That is always a wonderful thing to have another horse find a wonderful new home. Yippie!!!!



So last night I attended the meeting for Riverside Recreational Trails and what a wonderful group of people see their site at http://www.rrtrails.com/ they have taken UAWR on as a project to help with fundraising and they are holding a yard sale in the Chino Hills area and have yard sale collections down in the Norco and Chino Hills area for those who would like to help out UAWR. This group has also taken up collections at their rides and have done a wonderful job in supporting UAWR. I wanted to give SPECIAL THANK YOU to Ed who won the Cowboy Poker (I think that is what they called it) he donated a little over half his winnings to UAWR and I thank you soooo much for your kindness and generosity!!!

Everyone try to stay dry in this wonderful winter weather.... hey winter is baaaaaack

Did you know?

So as I sit here thinking over the idea of we need MORE hay yet again tomorrow I think wow Did you all know that for the Month of January that UAWR spent around an average of $504 per WEEK, Just to feed the horses here. It is amazing how quickly things add up around here for costs.

Luckily we had all our wormers donated this month for worming but imagine just that along runs around $120

To trim horses feet we are looking at $525 per month to do half of our horses and $525 for the other half the next month.

So did anyone Make a Difference this wonderful Monday?

Beautiful Sunday Afternoon & A GOOD Ride!

I am here to tell everyone who was here in Southern California this weekend if you missed a good ride on your horse you missed out on a wonderful day!!! It was a beautiful day today here in Phelan the The Land of Champagne Climate. So I got the opportunity to go for a very nice ride today, it was not nearly as long of a ride as I had hoped but all in all it was great and very calming..... I have a new and refreshed state of mind and in a much better mood its amazing what a bit of fresh air, good conversation, and a bit of horse hair can do for the mind.... To those of you who have been around the past week or so I am sure you are all very happy to hear that I am in a better mood now. :) Anyway, someone else told me on Saturday I needed to find my JOY again and wellllllll I am thinking I might have just done so on the back of a horse is where my JOY begins and in the Lord is where it really is!!! THANK YOU Lord for the beautiful day and for the opportunity to ride today!!

Sooo for those of you out there stressing over work, home, relationships, etc get out there and visit with your furry horse friend...for those of you who don't have one I can accomidate that too... you can adopt one or just come out and play with one of ours there are many of them that would love some one on one time with you.

So tomorrow is MAKE A DIFFERENCE MONDAY so don't forget to get out there an Bless someone... as I talked about before and it came up in life today... You must BE the blessing in order to receive a Blessing.... Sooooooo go.....be gone......go out amongst the world and BLESS someone not cause you have to, make it come from your heart and do it because your heart wants to and you know what if we all did this the world sure would be a better place....

I would LOVE to hear from all of you now and even in the future about your Blessings you showered on others and how it all worked out. So share with all of us and Inspire others to go Bless the world too. It starts with make a difference Monday and continues on to bigger and better things from there.

Are we THAT lazy?

So I missed a few days of writing and gonna make up for it today. I was invited to the Eqine Affaire yesterday and went with a friend to enjoy the experiance. The one thing that REALLY caught my eye was a Manure Fork that is battery operated. You say hmmmm why does a manure for need batteries..??? Welllll let me tell you about it, it is call the Shake'n Fork (an I want a portion of all sale I make from this lol ) So this fork from what I can see you scoop the manure and the shaving or whatever bedding you have and push the button and it shakes the fork for you so you don't have to and it has VARIABLE speeds lol lol . The selling point is that it make manual agitation unnecessary which then results in less fatigue, cleaner stalls, and a smaller amount of manure and bedding to dispose of. Hmmmmm I don't get the small amount of manure uhhhh shouldn't you be picking up the same amount? Maybe less bedding being wasted but again if you would just shake the rake there you have that solved.... Maybe this is why america is the most obese we have ever been? You can get all of this for the low low fair price of $169.99 and I can't get anyone to help sponor a rescue horse but they can get someone to buy a maure fork.

So if you are one of the people out there who DID fork (ha ha) over your $169.99 and buy one of these wonderful battery operated forks I am sorry and I do not mean to be rude but to me that is just going way too far... just when I thought I had seen everything.

If you want to purchase or see more about the wonderful Shake'n Fork you can go to their website at http://www.shakenfork.com/ They have a You Tube video of how it works and everything. Or you can run down to the Equine Affair today and see it in person yourself at booth 847.

I say use a regular fork its good exercise and your horse will appreciate it when you climb up on his/her back for another ride.... So EVERYONE get out there and clean your stalls the old fashion way and then give your horse a big hug & kiss then saddle him up for a nice ride on a beautiful Sunday afternoon!!!!!

Could not resist adding my Inspiration

OK soooooo I still had to add my injection of inpiration to the day I just could not leave you without it..... Did anyone notice that is my favorite word INSPIRATION INPIRATION but dang without it where would we be???? When we get all inspired about things we are ready to go, ready to be diligent servants and WHEW what fun that is!!!

To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did...... When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better!!

The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.

Hmmmmm Well I certainly can and will learn something from that one..... Just today I felt as if things were being ripped out of my grasp things were sooooo close I could taste it and bammmmm within a minute all the hope I had of change was GONE.... but I have faith things WILL work out as they should it is just not going to happen in the way I had planned... isn't that funny how that works about Gods plan and Gods timing.... dang that waiting part and not knowing is what is so difficult for me. Which brings me to another one.... WOW I am on a roll tonight things are just spewing out of the fingers as I type....


Revelation 3:8
When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, trust Him fully and let go, only 1 of 2 things will happen, either He'll catch you when you fall, or He'll teach you how to fly! The power of one sentence! God is going to shift things around for you today and let things work in your favor. God closes doors no man can open & God opens doors no man can close.

Have a blessed day and remember to receive a blessing, sometimes you have to be a blessing...

DO NOT forget this last sentance that is very important....Be the blessing for someone today.... which reminds me about Make a Difference Monday which everyone needs to get involved with, But I will talk more about that tomorrow. Good evening for now.... I leave you with 2 posts and really I am going to bed now before I start typing a third post.

Extreme Mustang Challenge

Today I had some other thoughts on my injection of inspiration to share with all of you but I have decided to share in my excitment of being accepted for the Extreme Mustang Challenge.

The purpose of the Norco Extreme Mustang Trail Challenge is to showcase the beauty, versatility, and trainability of the unique breed of horse we know as the American Mustang.

Thirty Six trainers were selected from numerous exceptional applicants to pick up a wild Nevada Mustang in February and return to Norco, Ca in less than 100 days to compete for $10,000 in prize money.

The Mustang Heritage Foundation, through events like this, seeks to: 1. Highlight the importance of preserving these iconic symbols of our western heritage; and 2. Involve the public in that effort by promoting mustang adoption through the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

I will be picking up my mustang on Feb 13th for the fun to begin! The competition will be held May 15-17, 2009 in Norco, Calif. I will update you after pickin up my mustang with pictures and more info.

We will be having a name the Mustang game with more details to come soon. Sooooo start thinking of name for this lucky guy/gal who I will get to play with for 100 days.

Can't Focus on the Past

So my thought of the day is: You can't focus on the past or you will determine your future."

What that means to me is that if we continually focus on what has happened in the past how can we move forward and create a new future for ourselves, our animals, or others?

I think the same goes for the horses that we rescue everyday here at UAWR. One particular horse comes to my mind. She came to UAWR because she reared over backwards with her owner and I got two stories one was that the owners pelvis was broken when the horse reared over backwards and the other story was that the owner was just very badly bruised and injured. However, after the accident the horse was deemed crazy and was headed to auction. A friend stepped in and said rather then taking her to auction why not donate her to a rescue. She came to us and stayed for a long time because I was honest with prospective adopters and told them what had happened and also explained to them the experiences we had with her and the training she received along with the MAJOR chiropractic work that was done on her neck and back which was the reason she was rearing over backwards. After hearing my whole explanation no one wanted to even ride her. Everyone learned of her past and no longer was interested in helping her to have a NEW future they focus too much on the past and lost out on a really great horse!

But, one day the perfect home came along for her with someone who was willing to look at the future rather then her not so perfect past. She now is living happily ever after and has a wonderful job being spoiled rotten and also Barrel Racing which she LOVES to do. So her adopted mom and her are having the time of their lives together.

So remember those words of thought the next time you are thinking of judging someone or something else.

Value and Worth

Well it seems I keep heading back to how everyone and everything has Value and Worth, and I got an email the other day that again reminds me of this subject and I thought it would be great to share with all of you, cause sometimes we all just need to be reminded we DO have value. It goes to say the horses we all know and love around here each have their own value also and would love to go home with someone to call their own family, so check out our website at www.uawr.com and find you a wonderful horse to take home today.

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, Who would like this $20 bill?

Hands started going up

He said "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this.

He proceeded to crumple up the $20

He then asked, "Who still wants it?"

Still hands were up in the air.

Well he replied what if I do this. He dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.

He picked it up, now crimpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?"

Still hands went into the air.

My friends, we have all learned a VERY valuable lesson!

No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.

We feel as though we are WORTHLESS. But no matter what has happened or what will happen you will NEVER lose your value. Dirty or clean, crimpled, or finely creased you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE and WHOSE WE ARE.

YOU are special DON'T EVER forget it!!!!

Count your blessings, not your problems.

...ane remember amateurs built the ark but professionals built the Titanic.