No Dramatic Extremes

I was reading the Horse and Man blog today and they were talking about their January Bucket Fund.


http://www.horseandman.com/bucket-fund-stories/january-bucket-fund-receipt/02/06/2017/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Horseandmancom+%28horseandman.com%29


They were fundraising in January for The Golden Carrot, a retirement home for old horses. Very similar to us and the more I read about them, very similar thinking as well.


Unfortunately, they didn't reach their goal of reaching $2,625. Why you ask...not because there aren't generous people out there but for the fact that this Sanctuary like ours don't cry "the truck is coming" or even get involved in major rescue efforts. Running a Sanctuary is slightly different than running a rescue. There's no high drama, there's no major rescues. There's simply one or two old horses needing a soft place to land.


Here's the response from The Golden Carrot about their January Bucket Fund that they received:


Thank you Dawn, and would you please convey to your Horse & Man followers our deep appreciation? This will go a LONG way to providing for the oldsters here at The Golden Carrot, so often forgotten and dismissed after a lifetime of service. Here at the Golden Carrot we don’t do a lot of dramatic extreme things. We provide a peaceful sanctuary where the needs and desires of the horses come first. It’s not about what they can do for us, anymore. It’s what we can do for them. Because we don’t get horses too often from dramatic situations, we don’t get the big exciting donations; because we don’t adopt the horses out, we don’t get adoption fees. So gifts like this mean everything! Being able to provide a full belly, vet and farrier work as needed, occasional treat (yes, carrots EVERY day!), and occasional extras such as shavings in a muddy stall, is all we really do, leaving the horses time together to heal themselves and live the life Mother Nature intended them to live from the start. I’ve been so happy when a horse has years here, but sometimes it’s only a few, and in a couple of sad cases, it was only a few months. Little enough after all they’ve given us, right? Giving their stories a forum on your site, and raising money to help them, makes you and your supporters golden, in my view – I can’t thank you enough for helping The Golden Carrot horses!


They said it correctly...these horses are often forgotten and dismissed after a  lifetime of service. When  people stop out to the Sanctuary, they see horses and think  they are viable riding horses. Age doesn't always show on some of the horses, nor does their physical limitations. We have these horses for a reason, because no one else wanted to take on their ailments and physical limitations.


They said it best "we don’t do a lot of dramatic extreme things. We provide a peaceful sanctuary where the needs and desires of the horses come first. It’s not about what they can do for us, anymore. It’s what we can do for them. Because we don’t get horses too often from dramatic situations, we don’t get the big exciting donations; because we don’t adopt the horses out, we don’t get adoption fees."


I couldn't have said it better.


So, please don't forget the old horses, who have served their owners and only ask for a soft place to land in their golden years, even if their golden years are only days or months, rather than years.