PoP Drive!

With feed prices ever increasing and a larger percentage of Toothless Wonders at the Sanctuary than in past years, TREES' senior feed/ alfalfa cubes bill is currently hovering around $1500 per month. 

If you feed Triple Crown, Legends, or Reliance feeds to your horses, you can help TREES' elders with no added cash coming out of your pocket!  The Proof of Purchase seals on every bag are worth money to organizations enrolled in the Southern States SHOW program. 

TREES has been accepting PoP's for several years, but now we want to ask everyone to go on a PoP hunt.  Does your lesson barn feed any of the listed feeds?  Your riding club? Boarding stable?  Members of your 4-H group or local horse society?  Ask everyone who uses Triple Crown, Legends, or Reliance to clip the PoPs from every bag and bring them to your next meeting. 

(Any Triple Crown feed qualifies.  We used Senior as an example since that is what we have in our own feed room.)

We've set a goal of collecting 25,000 PoP's in 2010.  That will translate to between $2500 and $6250 dollars depending on how many of each type of feed are included in the total.  That's a pretty handsome chunk of change for free.  (Almost free, anyway - it may cost you a stamp if you mail them to TREES at PO Box 2260, Spotsylvania, VA 22553.)

Again,

Buy feed.

Clip PoPs

Mail to TREES at PO Box 2260, Spotsylvania, VA 22553

The Geezers Thank You.

We Are Thankful......

(In no particular order, for TREES only functions if ALL the pieces, large, small, and in between, are in place……….)

We are thankful for all the support, moral, financial, physical and spiritual, that allows TREES to fill its niche in the world of horse welfare.

We are thankful for being able to work with a veterinary practice, Rappahannock Equine Veterinary Clinic, that not only understands the needs of geriatric equine, but also offers TREES’ residents the same level of customer service that is offered to show barns and top of the line breeders.

We are thankful for every single individual that offers TREES the gift of time, whether he or she comes to the farm weekly, monthly, or occasionally, or staffs special events, spends time researching funding or PR opportunities, works at home, hauls horses, picks up supplies, photographs residents, you name it. You ALL make it work.

We are thankful for Meredith Barlow, of Equidentistry, for her skill in finding whatever loose, fractured, infected, or oddly formed tooth might be causing an otherwise healthy resident to “go off his feed.”

We are thankful for students of all ages, who choose senior horse issues as the focus of field trips, community service or research projects.

We are thankful for animal control officers in surrounding counties who see the line “he’s skinny because he’s old” for the myth it is.

We are thankful for owners of elder horses who ask for advice rather than fall for that same myth.

We are thankful for Ernie Haynes' weekly farrier visits, and his patience with residents who may not be able to lift a leg as high as they did when younger, or who need a little break between feet.

We are thankful for continuing support from “non-traditional” care providers like Jill Deming of Integrated Animal Therapies, Janet Dobbs of Animal Paradise Communication & Healing, and the many volunteers of our Shelter Animal Reiki Association program.

We are thankful to Snow Hill Farm for delivering what seems like a mountain of Triple Crown Senior feed and forage cubes.

We are thankful for the Equine Rescue League (who will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year,) for inspiring the founding of TREES.

We are thankful for area businesses like Tractor Supply Company and Dover Saddlery, that support horse welfare efforts.

We are thankful for Scarlett Grove Stables for retraining a returnee and networking to find the prefect family for her.

We are thankful for all of TREES’ Facebook fans, and blog and web site visitors who help spread the word

We are thankful for Greg Flynn, at Desyne.com for hosting our current web site and for the new layout.

And we are thankful for all of the new friends we meet every year, whether human or equine, veteran horseman or beginner, young or mature. You inspire us with your ideas, motivation and support.

Thank you all. Happy Holidays.

When will it stop?

One more new resident. While we always look forward to getting to know a new arrival, just welcoming a new arrival means that someone somewhere met with trouble. In this case, quite a few horses met with trouble.

Yesterday morning, TREES received a call from the Orange County Sheriff's Department, asking if we could house a senior mare who, along with several herdmates (being boarded elsewhere,) needed some TLC pending legal action.

This afternoon, the mare arrived. We don't know a lot of details about the case in general, but want to say thank you to the Orange County Sheriff's deputies and Animal Control for helping quite a few horses escape what appear to be very dire circumstances.

Unfortunately, cases like this mare's seem to be more numerous than in the past. Calls for help are coming more and more frequently. Many times, senior horses are the first to suffer since they often need a little extra care and can be difficult to sell or place in new homes.

TREES is currently operating at absolute maximum capacity and needs your support. Please consider the following ways to help, especially as you do your back-to-school shopping!

Zazzle! Buy customized Traveller's Rest merchandise. We're adding new items as often as we can find the time!

iGive: Online mall including over 600 stores. New members earn a $5.00 donation for TREES when shopping within 45 days of original registration. Stores include 1-800 PetMeds, BabyGap, Back In the Saddle, Birkenstock, Chocolate Source, Eddie Bauer, Land's End, Montgomery Ward, Old Navy, PEt Food Direct and hundreds more!

Country Supply: "Best In-Stock Rate in the Industry!" At checkout, please use Care Code "equineelders" to have 5% of your purchase total benefit TREES. (Dewormers do not qualify toward the eligible amount.)

Use iSearchiGive as your Search Engine and help the residents of Traveller's Rest every time you search the web.

Of course, direct donations are welcome at any time. You can donate online through paypal or mail a contribution to TREES, PO Box 2260, Spotsylvania, VA 22553.

If you live in the Spotsy area, please visit the TREES booth at the American Legion Community Yard Sale on Saturday, August 15, 8AM-4PM, 8456 Brock Road, Spotsylvania, VA 22553, Booths 41 & 42. (Or donate a few gently used treasures to add to our sale selection!)

Meanwhile, our new guest, who as yet has no name, has had a small supper of Triple Crown Senior and alfalfa cubes, a small portion of grass hay, a nosh of salt and an energetic roll in fresh sawdust. Fingers crossed, this rehab won't be as complicated as Nate's, but if it does take some unexpected twists and turns, we'll do our best to keep up.

Welcome, ol' gal.

Thank you co-op customers!

On behalf of Traveller's Rest Equine Elders Sanctuary, I'd like to say Thank You! to the staffs and customers of the Culpeper CFC Farm and Home Center and the Orange-Madison Farm Co-op Service for their gracious support. The two stores hosted "Giving Trees" during the month of December to help the sanctuary acquire feed and commonly used supplies. During a time when many are struggling financially, we were overwhelmed by the generosity of co-op customers who share our feelings about Equine Elders. Co-op shoppers donated everything from senior feed to rice bran, vetrap to gauze sponges, shampoos, probiotics, grooming supplies and more.

Thank you all for remembering formerly forgotten friends during the holiday season. We couldn't care for them without you.

Save those Proofs!

Do you feed Triple Crown, Reliance,or Legends products?

If so, you can support the residents of Traveller’s Rest Equine Elders Sanctuary simply by clipping the Proofs of Purchase from every bag of feed and sending them to TREES! A Proof of Purchase seal can be found near the bottom of the back of each feed bag. Look for:

Traveller’s Rest will receive 25 cents for each PoP from Legends and Triple Crown feeds. Each Reliance PoP is worth 10 cents. Proofs add up quickly when your barn uses several bags a week. Please clip, collect, and send your PoP’s to:

Traveller’s Rest Equine Elders Sanctuary
PO Box 2260
Spotsylvania, VA 22553