Wednesday, December 28, 2011

December 25th, 2011

Again, happy holidays from Hytyme Equine Rescue!


Jim made a series of really neat videos of all the horses being fed some treats for Christmas. Here they are:


Video #1

Video #2

Video #3

Video #4

Video #5

Video #6

Video #7

Video #8

Video #9

Video #10

We hope your holidays were fabulous, and we are looking forward to another great year of helping horses and people! Enjoy the videos of the Hytyme horses!


Speaking of which, right before Christmas, Jim stopped at the post office to pick up the mail. Inside was a check from Nike and Global Giving, which matches Nike employees' donations, and it was for $817! Hooray! What a fantastic gift, and what a fantastic program! A million thank yous to Michelle, our favorite carrot lady who set up this program with Nike. Thank you so much! What a great Christmas! 

Saturday, December 24, 2011

December 24th, 2011

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Check out this video of a wonderful donation and a message from Jim!

All is well out at the barn, and we had another awesome sponsor step up to help out Rosa this year.  She also brought a bag of senior feed. Thank you to long-time Hytyme friend and adopter, Julie Hart! If you haven't done so, you must check out Julie's great kids' book about horse rescue--and it features Hytyme Equine Rescue! Here's the link to the Barnes and Noble page:
Miss Molly Mare, by Julie Anne Hart
Thank you again, Julie, for all your help and your generous donation!

Also, Dr. Rosario from Eagle Fern Equine Hospital came by the barn to deliver a new 2012 calendar and a bunch of horse treats. Thank you, Eagle Fern!!

So, we hope you all have a great holiday and enjoy the time with your families, both human and horse alike!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

December 21st, 2011

Happy holidays from everyone at Hytyme! 


We've got a new idea for mixing up these blog posts. This one is from December 18th, and it's a video update from Jim.

It's been a fun week out at the barns with good weather! All the regular volunteers and boarders have been spending time with their favorite horses. Chuck came on Tuesday to trim feet. We've (humans and horses!) been enjoying the delicious treats donated last week. Chocolates, apples, horse treats--all delightful!


Also, for those of you who know Peanut Butter Boy, you know that he has a very sad tail. Well, it just might be growing...



Friday, December 16, 2011

December 16th, 2011

Apologies for the delay in new posts--it seemed like Thanksgiving was just a few days ago, but we're already well into December. We've all been enjoying the dry weather (even though the temperatures have been very cold!). It's nice to have frozen mud instead of soupy mud. 
Here's some recent news:


We'd like to welcome several new volunteers. Bonnie and Chelsie came out and mucked stalls. They tackled Granny and Sue's stall, which is no easy task. Those big horses can sure make a mess! Also, Ana is a new volunteer as well, and she spent her first cold day out at the barn meeting the horses and getting a feel for the place. She is interested in working with Rose, a nice Arabian mare who desperately needs a human friend. Welcome, Ana, Bonnie, and Chelsie! We're glad to have you around! 


Also, Emily from the Oregonian came out with carrots, took lots of pictures, and interviewed Jim for an upcoming article. She's also planning on volunteering, so we'll be very excited to see more of her out at the barn! 


Kassi made up some wonderfully adorable Christmas cards to send to our sponsors. If you are interested in sponsoring a horse for $10 a month, please get in touch! Sponsorships make great gifts, too. You'll receive fun cards from your horse, and you'll also get frequent pictures and updates. Thank  you so much to all our sponsors and donors, and thank you to new donors Brenda and Diana! We are just so thankful for all of your generous support. 






Look at this hay! What fun! This much-appreciated donation came from our new friend Therese Walker, an EAGALA certified Equine Specialist at Dream Acres Equine Center in Tualatin. Therese runs a horse-assisted therapy program at her farm. Here's her website.Thank you Therese, and we look forward to connecting with your organization in the future!






And look at this! Another fantastic donation, this one from Deb Calhoun and her friend Naomi. 






Deb and Naomi donated a lot of items from our wish list, including about ten bags of Allegra Senior feed, four large bags of horse treats, two gallons of shampoo and detangler, bunches of vegetable oil, a cordless electric drill, a socket set, and a basket of delicious snacks. Wow! What an amazing gift! We can't thank you guys enough! 


We are getting a wonderful outpouring of donations, gifts, and supplies. It doesn't get much better than that!


Check out this picture of Snickers. That's Mt. Hood between the trees! We all love these clear winter days. 
Rose and herd
Lyric
Rose enjoys her lunch
Boss and Smarty
A close-up of Boss
Spendy in her new coat, Peanut Butter Boy, and tractor
Peanut Butter Boy, Delilah, and Olivia
Olivia, Buddy, Delilah, PBB
Olivia, Buddy, Delilah, PBB, Spendy are all happy it's not raining

Monday, November 28, 2011

November 26th, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving from all of the Hytyme crew! We couldn't be more thankful for our long-time and our new supporters. There's been an amazing outpouring of support and donations these last few weeks. We definitely couldn't do it without all of your help.

A couple of long-time friends came out to the barns to bring blankets for Granny, Sue, Spendy, Shannon, and Chino. Debbie and Bonnie have been helping horses for many years, and they help all the horses and people they can. Plus, they work very closely with Scott Hanson at Sound Equine Options.

What great presents for our horses! Here are some pictures of everyone tucked snugly into their new blankets:
Spendy and Chino model their new looks


As usual, Peanut Butter Boy wants to be in on the activity


Spendy and Chino (with Buddy and Olivia lurking nearby).
Debbie, Bonnie, and Granny
Debbie and Bonnie, plus Rose, Spendy, and Smarty.
Shannon and her fashionable new winter coat

Thanks again, Debbie and Bonnie! What great gifts, and what warm and dry horses!

Thanks again, too, to all our horse sponsors. Expect some mail from your sponsored horse very soon!

We hope you all had wonderful Thanksgivings! More to come soon!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

November 20th, 2011

Winter is definitely here! The last few days have been cold and wet, with snow levels dipping into the lowest elevations of the year! Luckily, all our horses have been moved into their winter housing. The big field has been blocked off, and this year feels much different than previous winters at Hytyme. There are only a few horses left in the big field! Some of the older horses have been moved indoors, and everyone is getting plenty of hay or senior feed as necessary.

We've had the most amazing outpouring of support in the past few weeks! Thank you so much to our donors who have stepped up to sponsor our permanent residents! For only $10 a month, you can sponsor one of our older and distinguished residents. You'll recieve updates, photos, and videos. You can also arrange a time to meet your newest equine friend!

So, thank you Karla, Teri, Debra, Patricia, Mary, Katharina, Claire, Dawn, Stephanie, Maureen, Michelle, and Madeline! Thank you as well to Nike, for your generous donation matching program! Thank you to the annonymous donors as well! This is a difficult time for our rescue, and we wouldn't be able to do what we do without your help and support. Our horses will be healthy and happy this winter because of all of you. Thank you again!

Here are some pictures of our sponsorable or available horses. If you are interested in sponsoring, please email Jim at mailto:Jhytymejim@gmail.com or Jodene at hytymejodene@gmail.com.

Coal, adorable older pony gentleman:




Shannon, lovely thouroughbred mare



Olivia, our shetland mule:

Vanilla Bean, a very sturdy appy pony:




Natasha, a black Arab mare (her mother played the Black Stallion in the movie!):



Boss and Delilah:



Boss is the chestnut, and Delilah is the very, very light palomino:




Spendy, another lovely thoroughbred:


Chino (who seems more interested in eating!), a wonderful older Quarter Horse:



Last but not least, Lyric, our invaluable lesson horse:



One more update: we'd like to introduce some of our new supporters to our horses, and we'd like to meet some new potential volunteers. So, we're going to plan a day in December where we'll have a Hytyme Open House, and our friends new and old can come out and meet some horses, participate in some type of clean-up project around the barn, and enjoy their time out here in Eagle Creek. We will keep you posted for this upcoming event and more like it in the future! Thanks again from the horses and humans of Hytyme for all your continued support!

Friday, November 11, 2011

A quick update!

More to come, but here's a neat fundraising opportunity:

Chase Community Giving is dividing up $3,000,000 between nonprofit organizations. We're in the running a bit late, but it can't hurt to try! Check this link on Facebook. You'll need to type in 'Hytyme Equine Rescue' to find our page and vote:


http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/


Every vote can help! Even if we get into the top 20 nonprofits, we can still win some money towards the rescue and its continued success. There are ten days left to vote!

Expect another update very soon--we've had an amazing outpouring of support in the last few days, and we have lots of exciting developments to share. Thank you all so much!

Monday, November 7, 2011

November 2nd, 2011

Here's what's been going on out at the barn this week:

First, Braveheart is doing better, although he will be on glucosamine supplements for the rest of his life. He's been feeling very stiff and sore, but with his own stall and rest, he has been improving. Jim ordered a gallon of glucosamine supplements, so that should do Braveheart some good.

Katie has been working on her rock path almost every day. It's sure going to make a difference when it's all finished! The whole front of the barn will have a very different look come spring. Katie had to go to California for a family emergency, so please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers. We'll all keep an eye on her horses for her while she's gone.

Alex has been coming out and working with Spendy and Peanut Butter Boy two or three times a week. All are doing well! They get better each time.

Jodene has been out quite frequently and working with Abby, mucking stalls, and taking pictures. You can see a lot of her handiwork on the Hytyme Facebook page! Check out the info there for more on sponsoring one of our permanent residents. We'll update more on our sponsorship program soon!

Michelle has been here often as well, delivering carrots to the horses and mucking stalls. That sure helps! Some of our more standoffish horses have become quite tame with Michelle's help.

This week, some of the horses will move indoors from the big field. Older residents who need shelter will come inside, and everyone else will come off the big pasture. There should only be about ten horses in the main pasture this winter--much less than previous years! Horses in the big field are also getting hay now, too. They are probably very happy with this arrangement.

Sadly, we are having a difficult time with Elvira. She seems to be having a problem with one of her rear legs from the hip down. She's indoors and getting care and supplements as well.

Here are some recent pictures!
Katie Mae and the dump truck (Something went wrong with the carbureator, and it's been in the field since then. Jim tried to fix it with a rebuild kit, but couldn't get it to work. Now Zach is taking a look to see what can be done):


Buddy and Hope had a blast playing in the arena, too:



Hope remembers her racehorse days:




Buddy investigates the camera:


More to come soon!





Friday, November 4, 2011

October 28th, 2011

Today was a really cool day at Hytyme. First, Jim was working on the carbuerator on the dump truck. The carbuerator had gone out while the truck was in the big field, so Jim was standing on one of the mounting blocks, in the pasture, with his head in the engine compartment. During the entire process, Snickers and Peanut Butter Boy were next to him, with their heads near the engine compartment as well, occasionally giving Jim small bites of encouragment. It was a bit like a circus!

Also, we had just about 30 visitors from Sanford Brown College's Vet Tech program. Dr. Andrea Dover brought the veterinary technology students out to the barn. Dr. David from Eagle Fern was there, too. Our horses helped students practice bandaging, giving shots, and worming.

Playing the parts of injured horses who required bandaging and wrapping were Braveheart, Coal, Juliet, Tempest, Appa, Devon, Jaqueline, Marquis, Mary, Snickers, Hobbit, Katie Mae, Peanut Butter Boy, and Athena.

Everyone did amazingly well! Jim was very proud of the horses, and all the students seemed surprised that the horses were as polite and as accomodating as possible. The only horse who felt a little out of sorts was Tempest, probably because she wasn't used to the arena. The whole time, Rosa was he-hawing for Coal. The vet tech students thought that was pretty neat. Also at the same time, Katie was having her dressage lesson with Cynthia. Everyone thought that was pretty cool, too.

Says, Jim, "You know what? We have the happiest horses in the world. We should all be proud, making them like that."

After bandaging and practice dressing wounds, the vet students gave shots and wormer to our horses. Everyone was remarkably good! Even Apollo and Gideon got their shots and wormer, and they were perfect, too.

Here are some pictures of the day:
Thank you again to the Sanford-Brown College Vet Tech students for your time and help! We hope it was a valuable learning experience, too, and that working with the Hytyme horses will help you be better equipped for working with horses in the future!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

A letter from Jim:

To Hytyme Friends and Supporters:

In the last few weeks, I have been in touch with several news organizations to discuss the situation surrounding the state of Oregon's insurance claim. We've had a few segments on KOIN news, and reporters from the Estacada News and The Oregonian have been out to the barns for interviews.

While our predicament is a difficult one, we want to make one thing clear. Hytyme Equine Rescue is not going out of business, and we are not losing our house and property--at least not yet. We can't say for sure if this situation will or will not be the demise of Hytyme Equine Rescue.  As it stands, the future isn't clear for us.  Until this is straightened out, Hytyme will not be in a growth mode.  Needless to say, we cannot afford more rescue horses, but we do intend to support those currently in our care. If the State does win, the rescue will be the very last thing to go.  We always have to remember that these horses did not choose to come here and live.  They were invited.  We are responsibile for their care, no matter what happens.

Surprisingly, this has been a positive experience.  Because of all of you, we are getting more help than ever, plus equine rescues are getting some much needed publicity.  Think about this--how many people actually know what happens to most horses after a stock auction? How many  people have seen what a horse rescued from slaughter looks like once it has been rehabilitated? How many people have been lucky enough to spend time in the presence of so many wonderful equine personalities?

As always, thank you. If you would like to help, we are happy to accept donations for the care of the horses at our facility. We have several senior residents who require special feeds, and we always have a need for donated feed and veterinary supplies. We would also appreciate advice and support from those who have legal experience in these types of situations. Please contact me at hytymejim@gmail.com if you would like to help. We just want to keep doing what we do best here at Hytyme--helping horses live happy, peaceful lives.
Thank you!
Jim Elliott
Hytyme Equine Rescue

Friday, October 21, 2011

October 21st, 2011

Hytyme has been in the news! Although the reason we've been in the news is a little difficult, we're optimistic in that sharing our story, we'll be able to gain advice and support on how to proceed. 

A week and a half ago, a reporter came to the barns from KOIN news in Portland. Even though it was a wacky day of heavy rains, he was able to get a lot of footage of Jim, Juliet and Tempest, Cameo, and Becca and Hope. He was even able to get a nice shot of Katie Mae (aka Black Beauty!) grazing in the big field.

The story aired this past Sunday. Here is a link to the transcript of the video. It explains what Jim and Sherry are dealing with from the State of Oregon: State Insurance Claim Threatens Eagle Creek Horse Rescue .

We're hopeful that our supporters as well as people who are unfamiliar with Hytyme can help advise us through this tough time. This story will also help horse rescues gain more momentum in the news, and, no matter what you think of the Occupation movement, our plight does mirror the issues that many are facing around the county.

Yesterday, a reporter from the Estacada News came to speak with Jim, and on Monday, a reporter from The Oregonian will be out at the barn. Other bigger media contacts are in the works, too. The more we can share our story, the larger our audience will be. Creating awareness is all we can do! We just want to keep doing what we're doing.

So, on that note, here are some updates on our horses!

Alex and Peanut Butter Boy are doing very, very well! Alex has been riding Peanut Butter Boy around the facility, and he is getting better with each ride. Alex also works with Spendy, who is doing equally well in her training. Alex recently moved a bit closer to the rescue, so she is able to come more often. Thanks, Alex!

It was also great to see Cathy last weekend! She worked with Snickers.

And, it's also been nice to have Wick and Sharon around. Sharon is a bellydance instructor, and her clinics take place in awesome locations like Japan and the Ukraine.

Braveheart, an older gentleman with bad knees and a bad wheeze, has not been feeling so good. He hurt his arthritic leg, but with rest and care, he is showing improvement.


The pastures are still quite green and the horses are all looking good. Jim hasn't even started feeding hay to the horses in the big field yet! Jim and Wick put up a new stock fence between the two pastures on the east side. Jim also moved the water trough about 40 feet from its old location near the big pasture gate. Hopefully, it will make it less muddy during the winter.

Katie has also built a wonderful rock path from barn #1. We'll all be appreciating this path during the height of winter! It settles and gets more useable every day.
Here's a picture of an early version of the Rockway. It's now much bigger! We will get updated pictures for the next blog.


 You can also see some more pictures of it on our Facebook page, and you can see Katie and Jodene working on its progress. There are also some great new pictures of our equine residents, too!

Jim plans on building another similar rock path by the other barn, moving big rocks with his tractor.

Until next time!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

September 29th, 2011

Fall is here! There's a crispness to the air, and the horses are starting to get a trace of fuzz to their coats. Although we won't miss the really hot days, it's a little disconcerting to think of the mud coming back so soon.

Last weekend, Hytyme and our lovely thoroughbred mare Spendy made an appearance at the Eagle Creek Farm and Feed customer appreciation day. Here are some pictures of our fun outing:

So, here's how the day went: in the morning, Jim and Kassi brought Spendy to the feed store. Spendy got to meet and greet visitors (as her counterparts in the next paddock had to give pony rides all day). Spendy was a little nervous in her pen, and she wasn't thrilled by all the activity. Although she did make some new friends, by the afternoon, Spendy had enough. So Jim loaded her back into the trailer and took her home. He returned with Gideon, who seemed happy enough to mingle with the crowds (and the chickens).


All in all, it was a great day at Eagle Creek Farm and Feed. We made some new friends (hi Wick and Sharon!), and had some delicious barbecue.

In other news, Alex has been working well with Peanut Butter Boy. Here are some pictures of their latest training session:

Good work, Alex and PBB!


And lastly, one of the arena sprinkler timers didn't go off the other night. We've got a small lake to contend with in the arena. However, Jim did get a cool picture of our lake: