March 5th, 2011

Well, it's been pretty wet and muddy out at the rescue lately. Such is life in an Oregon winter. The past few weeks have brought rain and a bit of snow, and the temperatures get pretty cold at night. Every day, it gets a little wetter, a little more muddy, and the horses get a bit more soggy. Some leaves are starting to appear on the trees, and the grass is growing in the sectioned-off fields. Some horses are even starting to shed their winter coats a bit! All of these are signs that spring is coming soon! We can't wait for longer days, dry weather, and sleek horses!

In about two weeks, Jim is going to open up a small 4-acre field that connects to the big field and introduce the 19 horses out there to some spring grass. This will prepare them for the real growing season up ahead. The other day, Jim came out to the barns and noticed all of those 19 horses facing west. He looked around and found that Marquis, Abby, and Velvet had gotten out. The three were quietly munching hay--lucky for them and for us, the grain bins were undisturbed. They went back into their pen quietly, and all the gates and latches were secured once again.

The regular volunteers have been out helping, and the boarders have been out riding and working with their horses as usual. Sam has been sick with the flu, so please wish her a speedy recovery! Adrienne and Sherry were also sick with the same bug, but they've recovered.

The horses were happy as usual to see Michelle the Carrot Lady this week, who brought us a whopping 75 pounds of carrots! Michelle has been a phenomenal help with the feed bill, often bringing bags of Strategy and Senior feed. Her gifts are appreciated by humans and horses alike!

On the fundraising front: Jodene has gotten Hytyme Equine Rescue approved for Google Grants. Way to go Jodene! Thank  you so much--we will keep everyone informed on any exciting updates! Stephanie, who adopted Mandy, was also able to raise donations for Hytyme at the Washington State Horse Expo the other weekend. In organizing a team penning event and raffle, she had participants specify which local rescue to put their money toward. Hytyme was the most popular, and we recieved $105 as a result! Thank you, Stephanie (and donors!), for thinking of us! We definitely appreciate it.

So, as we transition toward spring and future fundraising endeavors at Hytyme, here are some pictures of how we've grown. The following pictures depict the evolution of our awesome outdoor arena. We're extremely proud of the large arena at Hytyme (80x200!). We realize that training and riding experience are sometimes the only guarantees of a horse's safety. A trained, sane, and rideable horse is a lot more valuable. If we can do anything to stop horses from entering the slaughter pipelines, it's to ensure their futures and give them the training they need to become reliable companions and partners. So, here's what we made so that the training could happen. It all began in 2006...

The arena was finished in 2008: