Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation in Wisconsin is Verified by the Global
Federation of Animal Sanctuaries
March 16, 2012 (Pittsville, WI) The Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries
(GFAS), the only globally recognized organization providing standards for
identifying legitimate animal sanctuaries, awarded Verified status to Midwest
Horse Welfare Foundation on December 15, 2011.
Verification means that Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation meets the criteria
of a true equine sanctuary/rescue and is providing humane and responsible care
of the animals. To be awarded Verified status, an organization must meet
GFAS’s rigorous and peer-reviewed animal care standards which are confirmed by
a site visit and they must also adhere to a demanding set of ethical and
operational principles.
"We are very happy to announce the recent Verification of Midwest Horse
Welfare Foundation, Inc. This group is using its resources to benefit horses
in need within the community by rescuing, rehabilitating and carefully
re-homing them" said Jeannine Alexander, Deputy Director of GFAS. "Their
attention to detail ensures the safety of the horses while in their care and
their adoption process emphasizes the long term care for the horses in their
new homes," she continued.
Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation, Inc. provides care to at risk horses that
are surrendered by owners or seized by local authorities.
"Scott and Karen Bayerl are very proud of this accomplishment, stating,
"After 11 years in the horse rescue service, we are honored to be able to say
that MHWF meets the standards of Verification set by GFAS, and we are very
excited about our future. GFAS holds their sanctuaries to the highest
standards. MHWF strives to ensure the health, safety and well-being of every
horse in our care. We hold ourselves to a high standard as well, and each
horse that comes through MHWF is given our full efforts to ensure its long
term health, happiness and future.
Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation was awarded a compliance grant by GFAS to
help make recommended improvements to meet Accreditation/Verification
Standards. Compliance grant funding is made possible through a grant from
PetSmart Charities®.
The GFAS Equine Accreditation Program is made possible by generous grants
from PetSmart Charities® and The American Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals®.
About Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries
Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit
organization dedicated to the sole purpose of strengthening and supporting the
work of animal sanctuaries worldwide. The goal of GFAS in working with and
assisting sanctuaries is to ensure they are supported, honored, recognized and
rewarded for meeting important criteria in providing care to the animals in
residence. GFAS was founded in 2007 by animal protection leaders from a number
of different organizations in response to virtually unchecked and often hidden
exploitation of animals for human entertainment and financial profit. The GFAS
Board of Directors guides the organization’s work in a collaborative manner.
They represent top leadership from Born Free USA, The Humane Society of the
United States, International Fund for Animal Welfare, American
Anti-Vivisection Society, and National Anti-Vivisection Society.
www.sanctuaryfederation.org.
About Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation
The Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation is a volunteer run organization,
dedicated to providing qualified homes for any horse in need. It is the goal
of MHWF to ensure that every horse placed in our care is provided with all the
necessary ingredients for a safe and happy life, and that it is also protected
from those who would do it harm. For the horses placed in our care, we strive
to provide only the best homes with dedicated families for every animal we
place.
About PetSmart Charities®
Established in 1994, PetSmart
Charities, Inc. is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that
creates and supports programs that save the lives of homeless pets, raise
awareness of companion animal welfare issues, and promote healthy
relationships between people and pets. The largest funder of animal welfare
efforts in North America, PetSmart Charities® has provided more than $134
million in grants and programs benefiting animal welfare organizations and has
helped save the lives of more than 4.7 million pets through its in-store
adoption program. To learn more about how PetSmart Charities is working toward
its vision of a lifelong, loving home for every pet, visit
petsmartcharities.org or call 1-800-423-PETS (7387).
About the ASPCA®
Founded in 1866, the ASPCA®
(The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) is the first
humane organization established in the Americas and serves as the nation’s
leading voice for animal welfare. One million supporters strong, the ASPCA’s
mission is to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals
throughout the United States. As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, the
ASPCA is a national leader in the areas of anti-cruelty, community outreach
and animal health services. The ASPCA, which is headquartered in New York
City, offers a wide range of programs, including a mobile clinic outreach
initiative, its own humane law enforcement team, and a groundbreaking
veterinary forensics team and mobile animal CSI unit. For more information,
please visit www.aspca.org. To become a fan of the ASPCA on Facebook, go to
http://www.facebook.com/aspca. To follow the ASPCA on Twitter, go to
http://www.twitter.com/aspca.
September 14, 2009
This
page rarely gets updated anymore. Here is why. For most daily updates and
what's going on with MHWF we use our discussion forum which gets an average of
about 5000 hits per day. We even have a thread pinned at the top of the forum
called Day to Day where we put news, events and our thoughts there on a very
regular basis. So if you are looking for updated news and events, please make
sure to try out our discussion forum. Not only will it keep you up to date on
what's new, but you can also join in and comment as well. Here is the
link.....hope to see you all there!
We have been working on something more on the fun side the past few weeks and
are getting close to announcing a date.
MHWF is planning on having an MHWF Supporter and Friends Appreciation Night.
Everyone is invited and we will announce the date soon.
Here's what we can tell you.......
It will be on a Saturday afternoon/evening right here at the MHWF farm. There
will be a band (classic rock mostly) and between sets there will be kareokee
as well. If you play an instrument, you are also welcome to join in an open
jam with the band.
There will also be beer and food. Food will be BBQs and hot dogs along with a
few side dishes. If we want to bring a dish to pass or your own drinks, your
more than welcome to do that as well. We plan on setting up a giant tent with
a stage for the band and the food and to invite anyone who wants to come spend
a few hours or even the entire night. We are going to make our yard available
to anyone who wants to pitch a tent and sleep here also, so they can enjoy a
few drinks and not have to worry about hotels or driving. Camping space might
be limited, so once you know if you need some camping space, let us know as
soon as possible so we can be sure we have anough room for everyone.
There will be a very small fee for the food, beer and music, but the idea
isn't to make money, it is to get together and have some fun. We certainly
hope a lot of you can make it and come to join us for a night of food, music
and refreshments.
If anyone has a connection to someone with a very large tent (60 x 80 or
larger) let us know. We are still trying to hunt one down.
Stay tuned for the announcement of a date to
hold this event!
Automatic Waterer Fund
MHWF has now been here at this location for
about 4 years and plans on staying. It is long past due that we get some
automatic waterers purchased and installed. The past 4 years of filling tanks
with 150 foot hose, twice a day in summer and in winter has been hell and has
caused a lot of problems and inconvenience to say the least, not to mention
the problem of the outdoor faucet freezing up on us from time to time in the
winter.
Donna and Dave E. got us rolling on this and
they are right, we really need to get this done this spring. Filling, cleaning
and maintaining 3 or 4 stock tanks with a hose eats up way too much time,
especially in winter and costs us a fortune to run tank heaters as well.
Adding automatic waterers will not only make our lives a lot easier, but is
also healthier for the horses and will save a ton of money on electric costs.
In the winter just the tank heaters alone cost around $135.00 per month.
Automatic waters will cost around $4.00 a month to run....quite a difference,
plus the hour or two minimum in time we will save each day that we could be
spending with the horses and our adopters.
So we desperately need to make this a reality
in the next few weeks. You folks always come through for us in these voting
contests and really come through for us with the hay drives. Raising money for
the waterers should seem simple in comparison to the Hay Drive. Our
goal is to generate $2400.00 in donations in the next few weeks toward the
addition of 2 new automatic waterers and one frostless hydrant that we
desperately need.
$2400.00 will cover the cost of the waters,
the trenching, backfilling, concrete, waterlines...everything to get this
done. We are hoping and praying you all can help us out like you always have
and always do.
We are starting a Waterer Fund as of today (5/11/2009).
We have a decent start thanks to some of you and we hope we can make our goal
in the next couple of weeks. We will keep a running total right here on this
thread so you can all see our progress. We have a good start at $209.00 and we
are confident that with your help we can fund raise the other $2200.
Please consider making a donation toward this
fund. It will be a huge improvement for us as well as the horses for many
years to come!
Water Fund Goal: $2400.00 Collected to date: $209.00
Time is very important in this matter as we
have already negotiated our prices and need to get these installed in the next
few weeks.
Thank you for your help and support!
Donations can be made via any of the
PayPal links on our website or can be snail mailed to:
MHWF, Inc. Waterer Fund 10990 Hwy. 73
Pittsville, WI 54466
Thank you again!
Help Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation, Inc. win
a $20,000 grant!
Hello everyone! You all did an absolutely amazing
job last year in the on-line voting contest for MHWF and were instrumental in
helping MHWF win $1000.00. Here we are at the start of a brand-new contest,
and one in which we can cast our votes every single day until the end of the
contest! The prize money is much more this time around, the top prize being a
$20,000 Grant! MHWF is currently in 7th place nationally and we
desperately need your votes to launch us into the top spot.
The Animal Rescue Site is hosting a special challenge for eligible
Petfinder.com member shelter and rescue groups. The grand prize is a $20,000
grant, and they will be awarding many other grants to rescue groups with the
most votes — a total of $100,000 in grants for animal welfare organizations.
Please help us win! All you have to do is click on the link and type in
Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation, WI, to help rescued animals and vote in The
Animal Rescue Site $100,000 Shelter+ Challenge. Both of these
actions are absolutely free! You can vote once a day, every day, from April 13
through
July 26, 2009.
Every time you vote, or tell a friend to vote, you are making a huge
difference for us!!!
Please vote today!
Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation is a nonprofit charity dedicated to helping
equines in need. MHWF takes in horses (and donkeys/mules) from anywhere in
the United States and helps find them good homes. MHWF also works with local
law enforcement, as well as law enforcement from around the whole
state, taking in many rescue cases and working to rehabilitate and rehome
them. MHWF also takes in horses from people who need a place for their horse
to go and have run out of options. MHWF also keeps track of every single
equine placed into an adoptive home, requiring adopters to provide vet checks
yearly. Every year MHWF takes in approximately 100 equines directly to our
facility, and helps many, many more out there through networking and other
counseling. With the state of the economy the way it is, horses are suffering
the most, being the hardest animals of all to place into new homes and the
cost of their care skyrocketing. Please help MHWF win this much needed grant
to continue their work for all of the equines out there who so desperately
need their help.
The Animal Rescue Site is a "Click to Give" website. You can click on a button
to help fund food and care for animals. It's free, and only takes a second of
your time. Click every day!
Petfinder.com is an online, searchable database of animals that need homes,
and a directory of more than 12,000 animal shelters and adoption organizations
across the
U.S., Canada, and
Mexico.
Eligible organizations with the most votes could receive a weekly prize and/or
one of the other grants below! More than 60 grants will be awarded for a total
of $100,000 going to eligible Petfinder.com members by the end of July 2009.
Voting begins on
April 13th, 2009,
and ends at
midnight
(PST) on
July 26th, 2009.
The more friends you can rally to vote for Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation,
the better its chances of winning. Get people involved! The horses are
counting on you!
April 21, 2009
It's that time of the year again, Coggins tests are all done on each of the
horses, and we have enough wormers to get us through the next few months. It's
time for shots and trimmings again! The cost of vaccinations went sky high on
us this year and we could really use your help in getting them paid for in
time for the fly and mosquito season. Below you will see a PayPal button that
allows you to donate vaccinations for the MHWF horses. It's quick and easy and
you can use your credit card, debit card or your PayPal account. Just chose
what you want to donate and your done. Your donation goes directly to the cost
of the shot or shots you purchase. Thank you!
March 12, 2009
We have about 4 weeks before we head down to
Madison for the Midwest Horse Fair. It seems every year that the horse fair
weekend is the start of our busy season and once we get back from Madison we
spent a lot more time outdoors with the horses and a lot less time indoors
doing fundraisers etc.
This is always a very tough
time of year for programs like ours. Grain, vet and all the other bills seem
to pile up at the worst time of year when we can afford it the least. We then
spend most of spring and early summer stressed out about where the funding
will come from to keep moving along. This year has been tougher than most. The
cost of everything has gone way up and donations and adoptions are down. The
honest truth is that we are hurting more this year than we have in quite some
time and we need to come up with something to help us get a jump start and get
our vet and grain bills paid off. Right now we owe the vet $1600.00 and the
grain bill is $2400.00. We have been paying these bills off in chunks of
$500.00 here and $1000.00 there, but that's not going to happen this month
without something big happening.
We are working on a few ideas
and assuming Care2 did actually mail the prize check for the contest, that
will help, but we still need to come up with something else.
Your help:
That's where all of
you come in hopefully. We would like to do one more BIG fun auction.
Those always seem to help a great deal and we have time to squeeze one
last auction in before
Madison and the busy season starts.
So what we need from all of
you is your help in collecting items for the next fun auction. If you have
items that have some value that you are willing to donate, we could sure use
them. They do not have to be horse related. All they have to be is something
with enough value to sell on our auction. Your used saddles and tack always do
great and many of you have talent in creating unique items of your own, like
the leather goods, jewelry and charms, rope halters, a couple of you are
fantastic artists. If you can contribute, we can sure use your help.
If you can make a straight
monetary donation...great! But if you can't afford that right now, maybe we
can harness some of your talents to help the horses. Maybe you have some
things laying around that you could donate? Whatever you can muster, we will
gladly accept.
So, we will set
a tentative cut off date of March 20th to collect all your donated items.
That's just over a week and we may need to extend that by a few days, but we
will set it at that for now.
To make a
monetary donation:
Simply click
any one of the PayPal banners on our website to pay via PayPal or credit card.
Or, feel free to mail your donation to the addesss below.
To donate items
and crafts to the next (possibly the last fun auction of season), Please mail
them to:
You have always been
there for us before and we know you will be there for us once again. Thank you
for your support!
January 15, 2009
We need your help and votes!!
As you probably already know,
we have entered the online voting contest put on by Care2 with a grand prize
of $10,000.00. The contest ends in a couple of weeks are we are right there in
the top and really need to dig deep to pull this off and win the whole thing.
$10,000.00 to us and this program would be huge and would help us a great
deal. If you have not already voted, we are begging that you please take a
moment to follow the link posted below and submit your vote. No need to
register or even leave your name. It’s that simple. If you have already voted,
then we are asking that you pass this email along to anyone and everyone you
can find, your address book, co-workers, media, you name it. They do not have
to be horse people. Just people willing to take a second of their time to vote
then pass this link along.
Please consider taking a
moment to help us out. This contest is a big deal for us and we are right
there in the top vote getters hoping to win.
To vote:
It's very simple. All you
need to do is vote. There is no need to register or even leave your name. Just
vote and pass this email along to anyone and everyone you know. It will only
take a few short seconds and your vote could be the one that puts us back in
first place and in line for the $10,000.00 grand prize. It's that simple. Just
follow the link posted below to vote. Your vote and your voice are needed to
speak up for horses who need a second chance.
Equally
important is to pass this email along to as many people as you can find. Send
it to your address book, your family, friends, co-workers. Get them to vote as
well. You don't need to be a horse person, just someone who cares enough to
take a moment to vote and in turn give help to horses that truly need it.
November 5, 2008
As you
know, each year we name our volunteer of the year. That title is given to the
person that best represents what MHWF is all about....someone who helps out
the best they can, from their heart, and is an asset to this organization.
Two years ago Karin Harris was our volunteer of the year.....last year it was
Joanie Simonds....each of them was also entitled to a free photo shoot as well
as being named our MHWF volunteer of the year.
It is time once again to name our volunteer of the year.
While we have many names of great adopters and donors on the list of possible
winners, like Carol S, Denise S, Felicia T, Mel D, Amy P, or one of many
others, it was a pretty simple choice for us this time around.
This person has been a loyal and faithful friend, adopter and donor since she
first discovered us 4 years ago. She has donated to each and every fundraiser
we have done for at least the past three years. At Fun Auction time, she
donates multiple items every time and has since the start. This person has
also provided a great permanent home to more than one MHWF adoption horse. She
has had us over for dinner and we have met more than a few times to just get
together for whatever.
If MHWF has a gathering or a function, this person is there every time. She
also puts up with our teasing from time to time and does so with a smile on
her face, even when she doesn't think it's so funny.
Very recently, this person also took the weekend to come visit, while helping
another friend adopt a horse and haul it home, no small task or small amount
of time driving.
This year our volunteer of the year is Wendy Wooden, adopter of Conn and Sissy
and one of our most treasured friends and volunteers. We want to thank her
husband Mike for putting up with us as well, someone we also call a good
friend.
So congratulations to Wendy Wooden for being the MHWF Volunteer of the Year
2008.
We owe you more than we can ever pay you back. Your extra effort and
dedication to this program means more than most people will ever understand.
The friendship of you and your family is equally imprtant to us and we want to
thank you for all you have done as well as let everyone else who reads our
forum what you have meant to this program in the few years we have known you.
Congrats and we hope you could use a new photo shoot sometime soon!!
Thank you,
Scott and Karen
September 25,2008
The Central Wisconsin Horse Expo 2008 is now over. The
few days following the Expo are still very much Expo work days for us as we
return items, do the bookwork and put our lives back together in some sort of
fashion. We are slowly healing from the lack of sleep and the hustle and
bustle, and life is getting closer to normal now. By the end of the week
everything should be complete and we should be back to our old selves again.
Even though attendance was not as good as we had hoped
and expected this year, we still very much consider the Expo a big success. We
had great supporters and workers and the clinicians this year were excellent.
Everything went about as smoothly as it gets and we are very proud of the way
MHWF, its workers, clinicians and adopters presented themselves. We owe all of
you a huge thank you for making the Expo work and for making the Expo what it
was this year. You are all our heroes and we do not have words to express our
gratitude to each and every one of you. Excellent work and what a wonderful
weekend it was!
We truly hope to talk to, email, call and meet as many of
you as possible in the coming days and weeks to say thank you in as personal a
way as possible. In the meantime, we want to mention each of you by name to
say thank you as well.
We have to start with the wonderful clinicians who made
the Expo what it was. Thank you to Ryan Rose, Derrick Dupler, Carlo Tuzio,
Lalo Govea,
Mark Rashid and Richard Shrake. You were all a joy to work with and to watch
and learn from. We also want to give a very special thank you to Kathy and
Kelly G., our barn and arena managers who work as volunteers and work hard to
make sure the Expo runs smoothly. Without them, there is no Expo and we want
to give them a special thanks for their hard work. We must also thank our
announcer, Bob Meyer, who did a superb job this past weekend. Deb and Barry
Parsons who are not only hard working, but without their help we would be
lost. Thank you to Richard and Nancy Merkel of Berryland Farm, not only
Sponsors but a big part of the Expo as well. Thank you to the rest of our
Sponsors, Clay and Sharon and Midwest Trailer Sales, the good people at
Ana-Tech, Cherokee Garage, Dahl Graphics, and a huge thank you to Roger at
American Wood Fibers!!
Dave and Donna Eckes did a fantastic job with the chili
feed on Saturday, thank you! Laura Pichler and her family did a wonderful job
decorating the MHWF stalls for the Expo. We have to say, the stalls looked
better this year than any other…..beautiful work and thank you! How great to
all get together on Saturday night to chat, eat and relax!
A huge thank you to all the MHWF people who joined us in
our demos this weekend. You all looked wonderful and we are very proud of each
and every one of you. Thank you to: Holly, Feleicia and Ralph Treffert,
Sophie, Candy and Richard M., Karin Harris, Whitney and Georgi Sartain, Nancy
Powell, Wendy Wooden, Leslie Vandre, Laura Pichler, Donna and Dave Eckes,
Allie and Beth Schwartzhuber, Amy Pranger, and Jade Graebel and the rest of
her family. You all looked beautiful and represented MHWF with pride. Thank
you!
Thank you to Autumn Skye who sang the National Anthem so
beautifully and Kathy and Dick for being there and bringing Autumn to the
Expo. A very special thank you to Amy Pranger and Dakota and Dave Kraus with
his Haflingers for the opening ceremonies. Thank you to John and Mike Totzke
for an excellent job in the main ticket booth. Thank you toRandy Temanson,
Kathy Scheibe, Joanie and Brian Simonds, Seth Bayerl, Robbie Gates, Terry
Carol, Sherry R. and Sandra Kimpfbeck for their time in the ticket booths as
well. Thank you to our Mom, Jane Bayerl, sister Erin White, niece Deanna, and
sister Vicki Totzke for running the kitchen for us….a thankless and difficult
job. Thank you to Carol and Kristi for their kitchen help as well. Thank you
to Deb Parsons, Mary Harris,Jerry Lynn, Anna and Reta Newmann for running the
silent auction so well, and for Angie Petschow and her friends who did a
wonderful job with the tack swap.
A huge thank you to Chris Frenzel for working and hauling
things to and from the Expo all weekend. We also want to thank Scott Stephens
for being there to make sure the round pen demos went well also. Thank you to
Dr. Richard Miller and his family, Dr. Nikki Johnson, Dr. Sabine Hartmann and
the Mare Masseuse for their demonstrations, as well as Nancy Powell and Nancy
Kinney for the Humane Officer Q&A. A very special thank you to Mel Dawber and
Carol Sheets for sticking around to help with clean up on Sunday night. Carol
came all the way from California to see the Expo this year! Thank you for
coming.
Thank you to PK Electronics for getting the PA system set
up, Premier Printing for T-shirts and sweatshirts,Vital Communications for the
radios, BG Expo for setting up the draperies in the Expo buildings, Pat
Fellenz for setting up the grounds for us, Jim Bauer and the Central Wisconsin
Co-op for their support, booth and use of round pens for the weekend, Wenzel
Farm, Maul’s Dairy, Gold Medal Trailers, JSI Innovations, Lazy L Trailers,
Northwoods Trailers, C & C Consessions, Just Java, Goodrich Trailers, BK
Leatherworks, Stall Fresh, Ron at Chaffhaye, Hoof-It, Nag’s Tack, A to Z Tack,
ODC, Walters Buildings, Tipperary, R & S Horse Supply and Meyer Buildings.
Thank you to Chip from the local golf course for the use
of the golf carts for the weekend, thank you to each and every vendor, the
good people up in the fair office and everyone who entered our gates this past
weekend. We had a wonderful group of people this year and it really felt like
more of a family reunion than a horse expo. What a wonderful thing.
There are many, many more of you and from the bottom of
our hearts, thank you for your help, support, friendship and of course, for
being a part of the 2008 Central Wisconsin Horse Expo.
With all the hustle and bustle and craziness that comes
with running the Expo, we are more often than not so busy that we do not get
to spend the time we would like to spend with the people there who make it all
happen. We do get brief moments to look around and say hello now and then
though. Karen and I wanted to make clear to everyone who was there that seeing
everyone together, getting along like family and sharing stories, food, common
interests and just having fun together is one of the most rewarding things we
have ever done or witnessed. We are deeply proud of each and every one of you
and you all not only show MHWF in a wonderful light and make us proud, but
make all the work worth it for us. Somehow, the work we do here at MHWF
brought all of us together for one weekend. I do not think that anyone other
than Karen and myself can explain the feeling that comes with making something
like this happen. In our loves for animals, each other, this program, our
common interests, funny stories, and all that comes with it, people from all
walks of life and once scattered across the country, came together and were
family. To see all of you and your horses sharing and enjoying each other’s
company is a feeling we will not soon forget and a feeling very few people get
the chance to feel in their lifetimes. It was truly an overwhelming and
inspiring thing to witness and be a part of and we owe all of that to each and
every one of you. Thank you for the bottom of our hearts!
Central Wisconsin Horse Expo: pt. 2
We have been putting off writing this for a few days now
and what we have to say is not easy for us to say, but we must say it.
As much as we love the CWHE and all that comes with it, MHWF, Inc. will not be
holding a Central Wisconsin Horse Expo 2009. Please read to the end before
quitting reading.
We would like to take the time to explain why so that everyone understands why
we have opted not to take on this task another year. We want to make clear
that we have enjoyed the two expos we have run and you all have made us very
proud to be a part of those expos. We will always have the fond memories of
what we all managed to put together for those two years.
The most obvious reason is financial. Let's face it, we have had a decent turn
out but not a great one. Almost all of the people who have come out for the
expo have been from out of the area or are supporters of this program. For the
most part, the horse people of our immediate area have not supported the expo
or even come to see the expo. With the exception of our wonderful local
adopters and supporters, the huge horse community we have here in the
Marshfield area has been a no show. We have no idea why this is, other than to
say we are not surprised and to be honest are a little upset over this fact.
Businesses here do not support each other very well and the people don't want
to pay the $7.00 to get in the gate to see the clinicians. We find this fact
to be sad, but very true. Without the support of our own community we simply
cannot turn the expo around.
Another financial reason is that in the two years we have run the expo, it has
lost money both years. When it was run by the Fair Association the results
were the same, without the support of the local community it simply cannot
grow or survive.
It is a ton of work. That's an understatement. Most people only see us running
around flustered for the two days of the expo. The truth is that we look like
that for the 3 or 4 weeks before the expo and for another week after the expo.
The two years that we have run the expo it has caused this program to suffer
in one of its most busy months. The expo was meant to be a fundraiser and a
way to promote MHWF. As much as we love the expo, it has not been a fundraiser
and has caused us to go into winter unprepared the past two years. This does
not only apply to the work we do, but also all the hard work you all have done
to make it a success as well. If you read part one of this letter about the
expo then you certainly saw all the names of people who put forward time,
money and energy to make the expo a reality. A great deal of those same people
worked very very hard to do their part. It would be terribly irresponsible for
us to continue the expo while it loses money and so many people work
themselves so hard to make it happen. The one thing we cannot allow is MHWF or
its supporters to suffer. The expo is held in the fall, just before we enter
into winter. To stretch ourselves so thin at this time of year again would be
very irresponsible.
This also may sound a bit selfish, but even though we have truly enjoyed the
expos we have run and will cherish those for years to come, the honest truth
is that Karen and I are already incredibly busy people with very little time
to relax or do the things that we enjoy. Fall is our favorite time of year,
but it is a short season and most years it is the only time we have to hop on
our horses and enjoy them. The past two years we have not been able to ride at
all. Last year we squeezed in 2 short trail rides and so far this year we have
not been able to find the time to go on our first trail ride. With the
responsibilities of taking care of the horses here and running this program,
adding the expo to our busy fall really makes it impossible to enjoy the
horses we work so hard to care for the rest of the year. To us this is as
important as any other reason, and it has taken its toll on both of us the
past two years.
We want to make clear that this announcement does not mean there won't be a
Central Wisconsin Horse expo 2009. It simply means that MHWF will not be
running one in 2009. We still have high hopes that someone will step forward
and take the reins. Whoever that may be, they can expect our full support. We
will be happy to give them whatever information they need to get rolling. If
someone does pick it up, we will still be happy to be a sponsor, as well as a
vendor there, and we are confident that our great adopters and supporters will
still join us for the MHWF demos there and help fill the horse barns with the
adopters and adopted horses we are so proud of. If anyone feels they are up to
the task of taking over the expo, please get in contact with us and we will be
happy to help and support it in any way possible with our booth, MHWF horses,
sponsorship and maintaining the website if needed or wanted.
We truly hope all of you read through to this part of the letter because our
choice not to continue the CWHE opens new doors to other ideas and functions
that we are very much looking forward to running next year and in the years to
follow. In looking around at who has been at the expo and who has supported
it, we have been deeply inspired by our adopters and supporters. Had you all
not been there to support the expo, it would have been a disaster, both
financially and in regard to attendance. We looked around at the expo and feel
proud of the people who we call our friends and supporters. As soon as we
realized we no longer could continue the expo, we knew we needed to do
something special for all of you. What we came up with is best described as an
expo for the people who truly support this organization...a party/clinic/expo
for us, all of you and MHWF. A lot of ideas are being thrown around right now,
but basically it will probably be something along the lines of a good
clinician, a handful of vendors, some fun activities, clinics, camping and
maybe even a large group trail ride. Since it is our adopters and supporters
who kept the expo alive the past two years, why not turn the expo into
something a little more fun and enjoyable for everyone who has worked so hard.
And that is exactly what we are going to do. We have tons of ideas and will be
working on them over the winter. So please do not fret. As hard as it is for
us to say goodbye to something as special as the expo, we really do feel as
though what lies ahead will be even better and we are counting on all of you
to join us in this new venture and chapter in the growth of your and our
organization.....the Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation.
Thank you.
MHWF,Inc. Hay Drive 2008
If
you have been a supporter of MHWF for any amount of time, then you probably
already have a good idea of what we are about to ask. It's that time of year
again. Time for the MHWF Hay Drive. The Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation is
involved in a lot of things like the Fun Auctions, The Central Wisconsin
Horse Expo, rescues, adoptions, all kinds of things. As important as all of
those activities are, none of them come close to how important our hay Drive
is to this program. Put simply, without it, we do not exist and cannot
continue on without this ultra-important fundraiser.
Each
year we feed approximately 350,000 pounds of hay and 24 tons of grain, not
to mention medicines and supplements. This burden carries with it a huge
bill which is clearly our largest expense and one that we struggle with and
work toward paying throughout the year, every year.
This
year we are working on securing our hay a few months earlier than in
previous years. By securing what we need for the long winter months a little
earlier, we save quite a bit of money, because we are able to buy larger
amounts at smaller prices. We have done just that, we have struck several
deals on all the hay we will need for the winter. Now the really hard
part....paying for it before the people who are giving us these good deals
back out and sell at higher prices to someone else.
So
that is where we hope all of you come in. There is no way to sugar coat it
and no way to make it sound any prettier than what it is. We very much need
all of you to dig in just a little bit and help us raise this money. Time
could not be more important in this as well.
We
know times have been a little harder for most people this year more than
other years, and this year has been particularly hard on our programs and
other programs like ours. So your help and support means more now than ever.
Whether you can spare $5.00 or $5000.00, it all helps and if everyone does
what they can, we can reach our goal and go into winter knowing we will
survive yet another year. It's really that plain and simple.
So
please help out as often as you can and as best you can. It is for a good
cause, feeding horses who got a second chance. We can think of no other good
deed that means more to the horses in this program and the volunteers who
lose sleep at night worrying about what is to come. Please help spread the
word as well. Tell your friends, cross post, whatever it takes.
Thank
you in advance for your time and your continued support. MHWF and it's
volunteers need your help and have never forgotten why we are here and what
our mission is. We will never forget who it is that makes this all possible.
It is all of you, and we thank each and every one of you who have supported
us over the years for that. Thank you and have a great fall and winter!!!
Thank you
for your continued support.
Paypal:
You can send your donation through Paypal with
a credit card. PayPal is very safe and easy to use, and your payment shows up
immediately. Just click the PayPal link on the Hay Drive page to donate through Paypal. Please do not
forget to put "Hay Drive" in the description.
Check or money order:
You can also send your donation to the Hay
Drive by check or money order. Please send those donations to:
MHWF
Hay Drive
10990 Hwy. 73
Pittsville, WI 54466
Thank you!
June 18, 2008
Rescue horses in Trempealeau County
Well, it's the day after our trip to Trempealeau County to assess the
situation there with the 27 badly neglected horses, and I am certain I can speak
for everyone when I say that we are all pretty tired and the stress of yesterday
was a lot to bear. I will say that there were no truck or trailer problems on
the road for anyone yesterday and as far as we know, none of the horses got
hurt.
Let's start by thanking the people who worked so hard yesterday and still
have a huge task ahead of them. Thank you to Lalo Govia and his 2 friends, Mary
and Julie from St. Francis, Sandy M. and her friend from Refuge Farm, Deputy
Ronie from the Trempealeau County Sheriff's Department and her parents.
Thank you to Nancy, our county Humane Officer who came with us yesterday as
well. Let's also not forget Nancy M. who dropped what she was doing and brought
us all enough hay to get us through the next few days. Everybody worked hard and
we got a lot of work done.
We started out at 10 am Tuesday morning and headed for Arcadia. We all met at
the Kwik Trip there and Deputy Ronie led us out to the location where the horses
were kept. When we got there it was a pretty horrific scene. Lots of h0rses and
no food, water, shelter or green grass to be found. I did not know that a field
could be so barren. Not so much as a single weed growing in the pasture, just
dirt and some trees. Lots of horses and not one of them looked good. Some were
in better shape than others, but they all looked pretty bad and they clearly had
no human contact and were going to give us a challenge in being caught. That
first few minutes was pretty quiet and there were quite a few people who were a
little overwhelmed by what they saw and they broke down to tears. Everyone got
it together quickly though and within minutes we were right to work. Just
getting back into the property took a few hours. Deputy Ronie was good enough to
call her parents who came with a big tractor and created a lane for us to get
trailers back to where the horses were.
So we now had a rough path back there, but we needed a way to catch horses
and none of them wanted anything to do with us scary intruders. We spent another
hour or so creating a make-shift catch pen out of whatever we could find laying
around on the property. Luckily there was enough old rusty gates and bent up
metal pipes to come up with a pen, and it worked pretty well. Our next project
was to herd the horses into that catch pen. We tried and Lalo even brought his
roping stallion out to help herd them up. We tried to do it quietly without
getting them too worked up, but they still ran. Within a few minutes the
smallest and weakest horse went down from exhaustion. She got up and ran back
into the trees where she managed to wedge herself between two trees. It was a
scary moment, but she is ok and is the first horse we were able to catch.
She is the little one we brought here to MHWF.
Ok, one loaded, back to work. After about 1/2 hour of trying to get
them into the catch pen, we got them. They were pretty jumpy and scared and
within a few minutes we had another horse go down. This one went down and stayed
down. That gave us the opportunity to get her haltered and into the
trailer........with some rest she was back up and moving ok again. That makes 2
loaded into our trailer and they are the two we brought back here to our place.
They are easily the 2 thinnest and in the worst condition. That does not by any
means mean that the horses other people took with them were not in bad shape.
They all were and everyone has their work cut out for them, no doubt about it.
Hard to call any of them anything but in terrible condition. The two in our
trailer were so small and broken down that we made room for a 3rd horse and got
that one loaded as well. That horse went directly to the home of Nancy P, our
Humane Officer who will be working with us to rehab the 3rd horse. She is in
pretty bad shape as well and although she is almost certainly a 2 or 3 year old,
all 3 of these horses look like small yearlings.
Ok, next trailer........after an hour or so of some pretty scary work, we had
Mary from St. Francis loaded up with the next 3 horses. We were all already
starting to show signs of being worn out.
Next trailer, Sandy. Sandy had the biggest trailer and she got 11 in her's.
They were in there pretty tight, but they were in there. I think Sandy may have
already found homes for a lot of the horses that went with her.
Next up Lalo.....Lalo took the last 4 that were in the big pasture. They must
have been the 4 smartest because it took us forever to get them into his
trailer. All in all that made 21 horses caught and out of there. There are still
5 studs there and one mare. Two of those horses were in a pasture with
some green grass and we made sure the 4 in the other pasture hay hay and water.
They will be ok for now. At least we got the worst looking horses out and there
are 21 less horses there to compete for food and water. Those last 6 will not be
left behind for long and will be coming out of there as well.
Everyone loaded up and back on the road. It was just after 6pm and
nobody had a rest or eaten. Some people had a 5 hour drive ahead of them yet.
Our drive was only 90 minutes, but we are glad. We were tired, dehydrated and
hungry and still had to deal with the 3 in our trailer, plus do our chores once
we got home. We got home around dark, did chores, got the horses unloaded and
into our paddock with food and water. I have never seen horses unload like these
horses did. They walked off the trailer, wobbly and weak, not a peep out of
them, no looking around, no snorting, just walked straight to where the hay was
and started eating. They still have no so much as even looked around to see
where they are. They just want to eat.
So they are all still alive this morning.....so far so good.
Here's where all of you come in:
We are going to do this a little different than we normally do. We are going
to make these 2 fillies available for adoption immediately. There will be no
adoption fees on either and they will stay here for their rehab until we feel
that they are ready to go, which will probably be a few months. In the meantime
they are available to anyone with an approved application that would like to
adopt one or both of them. We will keep them here, feed them, rehab them, get
their vet work, vaccinations, wormings, and everything else done while they are
here. They will not leave until we can show you all photos of healthy happy
horses. But, when they are ready, they will go to their new adoptive home/homes
and the adopters will not have to worry about fees or health problems, just time
to give these poor tortured little gals the new home they deserve. If you feel
like one or both of these little sweeties belong in your pasture, speak for them
right away and if you can provide a good home for them, you will be their
adopter(s).
Of course in the meantime, we are going to take on quite a task of getting
them back into shape. It's going to take some time, a lot of hard work, and your
help and support.....no doubt about it. You all know I "preach" once in a while
and I feel I have to here. We got these two, are willing to do whatever it takes
to save them, but we need you all to help. There's no way to sugar coat it. For
starters we need some supplies and we need someone to step forward and say that
once they are healthy, there is a home for these two who have been through so
much. These two have never seen or tasted green grass, they have never been in a
shelter and they certainly see people as nothing more than monsters who starve
and neglect. We will see to it that they get shelter, learn what green grass
tastes like and what it's like to feel healthy and strong. We will see to it
that they know what love and affection is and that they feel safe enough with
people to let us all handle them, trim their feet, worm them and get them
healthy and happy. You all have to do the rest and we are absolutely counting on
you like we know we can.
Here's what we need right now:
One bucket of Strongid C daily wormer
2 gallons of Red Cell or Go Max
Small squares of grass hay (needed ASAP)
8 doses of Ivermectin (one dose per filly every 10 days)
One bottle of Tea Tree oil
Of course, your donations, no matter how big or small to help cover the
vet bills and all that comes with the care of horses in this condition.
The good people at
Ana-Tech are right on top of things like always and have very kindly donated all
the supplement these horses will need as well.
These two little fillies are in as bad of shape as we have ever seen and it's
going to take a lot of very careful work to turn them into anything we all
recognize as a horse. Wish them all luck, they are going to need whatever luck
we can give them.
As a side note, we have to say how we feel about this situation. We are glad
everyone could pitch in and save these poor horses, but to be honest, along with
shock and anger that this happened, there is a part of everyone who gets
involved with these kinds of things that says enough. Anyone who let's animals
in their care get into this kind of a situation belongs behind bars....plain and
simple. And although we feel the need and responsibility to help these animals,
it should not be the responsibility of the public to clean up a criminal's mess.
We are glad we got involved, but have a lot of resentment toward people who have
it n them to torture and neglect any animal like these poor horses have been
tortured and neglected. To just be happy we got them out and in safe places is
not enough. We have every right to say "an eye for an eye" and I personally
think that anger can be a good thing as long as it is channeled in the right
direction. There is no doubt that yesterday was a good thing, but also little
doubt that we are sickened and angry that anyone could do this to another living
creature. To those few people out there who have done these kinds of things to
animals in your care, do not come looking to us for your sympathy and don't
waste our time with your excuses. We don't want to hear it. Just be thankful
that there are always people out there willing to spend their time, their money,
sweat and bleed to clean up your mess. Be thankful for that, then step away with
some humility and save your excuses for the afterlife. Your going to need all
the humility you can muster up.
Thank you everyone for your concern, your support and your prayers. We, and
everyone involved in this truly appreciate each and every one of you.
Take care and wish us ALL luck!
June 5, 2008
Ok, you guys got to get on me about keeping this page a little more up to
date. I honestly forget this page is part of our site and then it doesn't get
updated. For those of you who like to read day to day what is going on with the
program, make sure to visit our discussion forum. There's always a lot going on
with the forum and it's a great place to keep up with what's new and what's
going on.
Health Reports
2008 Health Reports are due in a matter of days! If you have not gotten your
paperwork turned in yet, please get that turned in very soon. We try to be
fair to everyone and try to be understanding of each adopter's situations, but
the Health Reports are the one thing we can give little lenience to. They need
to be complete and in our office on time. If your paperwork is going to be a few
days late, please get in touch with us to let us know. Failure to send in your
paperwork on time is grounds for removal of the adopted horse, and we hate doing
that, but every year there seems to be some joker who takes the contract as a
dare. When it comes to these forms, our Board of Directors takes them very
seriously. We ask that all adopters take it equally as serious.
Hay
So what is new.....plenty. Pastures are greened up now and we are at the end
of our hay feeding season, thank God. The big back pastures are still closed off
while they have a little time to dry out and grow a little bit more yet. We are
actually looking for about 40-60 small squares of hay and between 4 and 8 large
round bales of hay yet to buy those pastures a little more time yet. If you have
some small squares or a few large rounds for sale, and are semi-local to MHWF,
please email or give us a call. We only need a little more and hopefully someone
in the area has a little they can spare.
Fun Auction
Yep, one more fun auction before the long busy summer. The fact of the matter
is we racked up some pretty big hay, grain and vet bills this winter and are a
little behind what we have been in past years on getting those paid off.
If you have items you can spare and would be willing to donate them to our next
fun auction, please send them our way. They always seem to generate much needed
funding for the horses in a big way.....one more good fun auction and we have a
shot at getting most of these bills paid off. Please consider donating your
unused or unwanted items and mail them ASAP to MHWF!!
Attention local trainers!!
MHWF is looking for a good trainer. Whether you are an established trainer or
a backyard person with some talent, we want to hear from you. Maybe we can help
each other out and get a horse or two trained along the way. We have a lot of
ideas and of course are willing to pay for good service as well. If you think
this person might be you or someone you know, please get in touch with us and
let's see what we can do.
Sponsorship
Just when we thought our MHWF Sponsorship Program was about to die off, some
of you came to the rescue and gave it new life. Thank you to not only all our
new Sponsors, but our old reliable ones too! The Sponsorship Program has the
potential to be one of the most important programs we have ever done. With
enough people joining in, it has the power to turn MHWF into the program we
someday hoped it would be. While we have grown quite a bit in recent years, we
have bigger and better dreams for this program and it is all of you that make
the difference. If you are already an official MHWF Sponsor, thank you! If you
are not yet one of our Sponsors or are not familiar with the Sponsorship
Program, please check out the Sponsorship page right here on our website and see
if it's for you. You can donate as little or as much as you want and every penny
counts.
Donating horses
There are quite a few people who have been patiently waiting and have been
waiting for a while to bring their horses here to our program. Please be patient
with us as we get at least 8 or 10 donation inquiries a day. We do the best we
can and we usually get to most of them eventually, but the honest truth is that
we cannot bring in more than we can properly care for at any given time. We
bring in new horses as space is made available in the pasture. Please don't stop
calling and inquiring about donating your horses, but please also be patient if
we have to put you on hold for a while as well.
Thank you everyone, take care!
April 4, 2008
Wow, it's been way too long since this
page was updated. To be honest, this page hasn't been as relevant the past year
or so since our discussion forum has grown to the size it has. It seems that the
forum is the best place to get updates and keep up with everything that goes on.
If you are not a forum person, we recommend you at least check it out and see
what it's all about. It's grown quite large, is always interesting and
informative and is very family and kid friendly.
What's going on?
Well, we have the Midwest Horse Fair
coming up in a couple of weeks. We have been busy getting ready for that once
again. We even put some ideas and work into making our booth very different and
unique this year. Let's hope it works and we will see you all there in a couple
weeks.
We are also just getting started on the
Central Wisconsin Horse Expo for 2008 as well. Yes, we are crazy and are doing
it again! We have some great talent and entertainment scheduled for this year.
We feel honored to have Mark Rashid as our feature clinician. If you know that
name you know how special it is to have him come to the Expo. Mark does not do
Expos and to be able to bring him here is truly going to be something wonderful.
If you are not familiar with the Central Wisconsin Horse Expo, we strongly
encourage you to stop by the website and have a look at the website which keeps
being added to and growing at::
http://www.centralwisconsinhorseexpo.com
Tell you all what, we will keep it
short here for today and will promise to update again in the next week or two.
Until then, take care and support your local charities!
September 28, 2007
We want to thank everyone who was part of the
CWHE 2007, whether as an exhibitor, vender or volunteer, it took all of you to
make the Expo what it was and we thank each and every one of you for being a
part of that special weekend.
As we are sure you are aware, this was the first
year that the Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation ran the CWHE and while we pulled
it off, there were a lot of loose ends and things that we could have done
better. We also wanted to thank everyone who may have ran into one of those
loose ends and for doing so with a smile and understanding. We do know where
most of our mistakes came from and can assure everyone that those mistakes will
not be repeated. Running an Expo like this is a monumental task and we have
learned from this year and will take those lessons forward and ensure that the
CWHE becomes what we envision it to be and to take it to the next level.
We hope that everyone who came to the Expo
enjoyed their time. The weather was beautiful and everyone was wonderful to work
with. Yes, there were a few bumps in the road, but we will move on and work
toward a bigger and better Expo.
We would like to take a moment to thank a few
people who worked hard at the Expo this year and for whom we owe a great deal.
Thank you to all of you!!!
Special thanks to:
Charles and Anne Wilhelm, Ken McNabb, Asia Voight,
Derrick Dupler, Randy Temanson, Kathy Scheibe, Sandra Kimpfbeck, Vicki Totzke,
Erin and Jane Bayerl, Seth Bayerl, Robbie Gates, Joan and Brianne Simmonds,
Terry Carroll, Deb and Barry Parsons, Kellie, Cathy and Nowell Gablein, LeRoy
Bayerl, Ben Bayerl, Delahney Charobonneau, Nancy Merkel, the entire Pichler
family, Chris Frenzel, Leslie Vandre, Sam Yonker, Midwest Trailer Sales,
Ana-Tech, Berryland Farm, Dahl Graphics, Roger at American Wood Fibers, McMillan
Mavericks 4H, The Treffert Family, the Bristol family, the Eckes family, Amy
Curtiss, Lea Danielson, Karin Harris, Rita Neumann, Wendy Wooden, Nikki Getzloff,
Amber Crawford, Scott and Kellie Magsamen, Marisa, Sophie Hanson, Dave Kraus,
Marshfield FFA, DG Expo, Central Wisconsin State Fair, PK Electronics, Jim Bauer
and the Pet Pantry, the Peruvian folks, the Morgan people, everyone who brought
their horses, anyone who set up as a vender, Barth Trailer Sales, Northwoods
Trailers, Gold Medal Trailers, V & H Ford, Pat Fellenz and his crew, Marshfield
Country Club, and a ton of other people that I know we are failing to mention.
Thank you to each and every one of you!!!
You
all worked hard and got it done with a smile.......thank you for the CWHE
2007!!!
July 29, 2007
Daily life: I ad a few extra minutes after the day wound down a bit
today and thought we had better post a little info on what's new and what's new
around the farm. Yesterday was a back breaker for a bunch of us and we all got
some of the not so fun tasks done around here on Saturday....manure clean up,
painting & staining and just a lot of general farm work that has needed to get
done. Thank you to Cathy, Karin and Mary for helping us out with all of that.
Today was de-worming day and the entire herd got wormed. This week also includes
a series of farrier visits until we get everyone done.
Busy as usual, we have had appointments almost every night. Get done
with work, check the answering machine and email, then right out the door to do
chores. Finish chores and usually we have an appointment or two in the evening.
Sometimes those appointments go well into the night and a lot of times we
are not getting back into the house to eat supper or return phone calls until 8,
9 and many times even later. So if you have been trying to reach us and are
having a hard time getting us, please just be persistent. We always eventually
catch up and always do our best to get to as many people as we can. Some
days we fall behind, but that's to be expected. We do our best.
Lots of people on our waiting list who want to donate horses....that's pretty
normal. We get offered an average of 5 horses each day. We obviously cannot take
all of them, but we do our best to keep a good variety here in our pasture. If
you look at what we have available now you will see a wide mix of everything. We
always have plenty of pasture buddies of course, horses like Checkers, Mary,
Dakota, Manny, Nellie and a few others. We have a few rescues here of course as
well. Janie being one of them. She is doing very well and no longer looks
anything like the scared and beat up little filly that came to us just a few
short months ago. Of course Mista, another rescue is here, doing well. In some
ways we also feel like Cain and Sophie are rescues as well. Cain, at his age is
at least in his semi-retirement. Sophie is doing well and moving around normal
again, but her hard riding days are probably over and she will be a light riding
horse. Caramel of course.........starting to lose a few pounds and looking good.
Kentucky is certainly a rescue. Wow, did she turn out to be a beauty huh?
Always some really nice horses available as well. How about that Diablo? What
a nice horse all around. Both Cleo and Figaro are very nice horses as well. We
can't forget Ben Parker either. He is sound and healthy and a very well broke
horse. We are actually a little surprised this gem is still here looking for a
home.
We have had more than a few adoptions the past week or two and expect a
couple more to be final in the next day or so yet. We also have a few new horses
coming in. The last 2 we accepted into the program are straight rescues, one
will be coming from southern WI and the other from Minnesota. We aren't ready to
share any details of these 2 yet, but they are both need a safe place to go.
They should be here any day now and we will get them up on the website as soon
as they do. We also have a few other horses coming in, so it looks like it is
going to be another couple of busy weeks.
The Central Wisconsin Horse Expo is still rolling right along and we are
starting to get that jittery feeling in our stomachs about this huge upcoming
event. Gonna be a lot of fun, but a lot of work. We really hope this turns out
to be a super event for everyone who attends. If you haven't yet checked out the
website for the Expo, here ya go. Have a look around the site:
http://www.centralwisconsinhorseexpo.com
If you are considering bringing your adopted horse to the Expo to join us in
our demo, we would love to have you there, but would also ask that you reserve
your stall as soon as possible so we can start to put our demo together.
Something fun here as well. Karen and I took a few hours off on Friday night
and went into Marshfield to see Styx and Head East. They put on a good show and
we wanted to share a photo or two from Friday night with all of you here as
well. Karen and I have always been huge music fans and have always wanted MHWF
to put on a concert in our area as a fundraiser for the program. Who knows,
maybe we will do that soon. Anyway, here is a couple of pictures of Styx from
Friday night.
July 9, 2007
The Central Wisconsin Horse Expo, presented by the Midwest Horse Welfare
Foundation is still looking for a few people for 2007 Expo in September. If you
feel you are the right person for one of these needs, please contact us ASAP to
discuss your involvement with the Expo. If you are not familiar with the Central
Wisconsin Horse Expo, please follow this link to the Expo website at:
1: We are still looking for a handful of people to wish to speak at the Expo in
the speakers tent. We are looking for an equine chiropractor and a
saddle fitter yet. We are also open to other ideas as well, so if you have
these talents or have another talent you wish to speak about, please contact us.
We would love to see you at the 2007 Expo.
2: An announcer with some experience as well as horse knowledge. We
thought we had this all lined up and set to go. It turns out that there was a
schedule conflict and we are now beginning our search for someone who has this
talent. This is a paid position, but will require some experience and involves a
couple of long days.
3: MHWF adopters who would like to join us in our daily demo at the horse
Expo this year. We do have a handful of great adopters signed up for this, but
are still hoping for a few more. This is done in the main arena and is a lot of
fun, so don't stress or worry over all the people watching. We guarantee it to
be fun for you and your horse. If you have adopted a horse from MHWF and want to
join in, please contact us ASAP to get signed up.
4: Trustworthy laborers. We are also looking for 6 or 8 people to work at
the CWHE this year. We will need a couple people for garbage duty, which isn't
as nasty as it sounds, 2 people for daytime security, Expo set up on Friday and
clean up on Sunday. We will also need a handful of people who can man the
ticket booths at each gate. The CWHE will offer an hourly rate of pay along with
free weekend passes to anyone who works for the Expo. These would be half days,
giving you the rest of the day to enjoy the Expo as well as a few dollars in
your pocket. If you are over 18 and trustworthy and interested in one of these
positions, let us know as well.
5: Breed demo folks......we also need a few people who want to show off
their specific breed of horse for the Expo. If your into paints, gypsy Vanners,
Arabs, any breed at all and want to show them off in the main arena at the Expo,
let us know. There are still several spots available for breed demos. Horse
clubs that are into vaulting or driving and other horse related activities are
also welcome to be involved.
6: The Central Wisconsin Horse Expo is also still looking for one or two more
corporate sponsors. If you want your company associated with the 2007 Expo
and want us to include you in all our advertising, we still have a couple of
these sponsorships available. Our advertising is going out soon though, so if
you want to get in that advertising, please call us for details at:
715-884-2215.
The Expo is taking off and doing far better than we even imagined with stalls
and venders booths filling up every day. All we need is a few more finishing
touches and we have it all set to go.
Thank you for supporting the Central Wisconsin Horse Expo and the Midwest
Horse Welfare Foundation, Inc.
Breach of contract: Take note if you are on this list!
The following people have still not sent in their 2007 health reports to MHWF
and legal action will begin next week if not already filed. If your name is on
this list, get in contact with us immediately to remedy this before the next
step is taken. You are in breach of contract and MHWF will not let any horse
slip through the cracks!
Mark Guenther- Mosinee, WI (Chigg's
Roustabout and Fleet Hitter)Eva Orndorff -Stratford, CA (Irish)Maria Bausch- last known address in
Illinois (Lady Jane and Monday)James and Judy Nanny- St. Louis, MO
(Zeus and Thor)Carrie Ann Carleton- Saginaw, MN
(Legs)- Ms. Carrie Ann Carleton, you are being sued by MHWF, Inc for breach of
contract.
Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Maria Bausch is
encouraged to contact MHWF.
May 29, 2007
Just had to mention that we have quite a few really wonderful horses here for
adoption yet.
Jazzy
The one that pops into my head right off the bat is little Jazz, the mini mare.
Healthy, sound and in great shape. She's easy to catch and handle and loves
people. No special needs, safe for the kids, mindful of fences and no issues
with being turned out on pastures. Surely someone must be looking for a cute
little mini mare!!!
Cleo and Figaro
This one really surprises us as well. You don't see Bashkir Curlies available
every day. They are super sound and healthy and really laid back and easy to
deal with. They adore attention and are always very mindful and respectful to
their handlers. Current on everything they need, young and good looking. Super
horses, both of them.
Tara
How about a big, strong sound and healthy Appendix with tons of training? She
has been ridden just about everywhere and by everyone, super easy to ride and
respectful on the ground and under saddle. A big strong mare with endless
potential. She is current on everything she needs as well including just having
her teeth floated.
Mr. Ben Parker
You can't ask for a nicer looking QH gelding. He has no soundness issues at all
and isa veteran under saddle. Ben loves people and is easy going and a generally
happy guy who is playful and fun to be around. He is current on everything and
although he is 19 years old, he looks and moves like a horse 1/2 his age. This
one is a real gem!!!
Kentucky
Where are all our saddlebred people? You all have seen this horse right? Oh my,
what an impressive horse to say the least. She has the personality to match.
Excellent confirmation and in exceptional condition....need we say more?
Daisy
A young, sound, healthy little pony. People go out and spend a fortune on these
4H ponies that don't have half the brains of this little girl. Smart and rides
like a pro with the little saddle time she has had. Loves people, always
respectful and easy to catch and handle. This is one of those rare ponies that
don't act like a pony...more like a full sized horse, safe for the kids and a
real smart gal who learns fast and retains what she has learned.
Caramel
The most laid back and easy going pony on the planet...unflappable and as safe
as they come for the kids. Sure, Caramel needs to lose a few pounds, but don't a
lot of us....hehehe. he's sound and healthy and a real people lover. Great for
the vet and farrer and has even ponied the kids around the yard. Look at his
color......this is a very nice little pony!!!
Let's not forget Checkers
The most low maintenance horse in the world and the very first horse ever
donated to MHWF......still here all these years later looking for a new home.
Mary
Has her issues, but loves people and is about as low maintenance as they come.
Mary has been with us for 3 years, still looking for that forever home.
Manny
Big and beautiful and super easy to get along with.
Stormy
Rescued from a bad situation. 5 years old, sound and healthy, just needs someone
to teach her the things other horses we taught.
Cain
The kindly old gentleman. He needs a little more food than a 5 year old, but he
will do anything for you willingly and with enthusiasm. Cain still has good
energy and is experienced enough for anyone to ride or drive.....just not hard
anymore at his age.
We know it's early summer and everyone has a lot going on, but we also know that
horses like some of these are very special and don't come around every day.
Don't let the horse that's right for you slip away because you called too late.
All these horses are everything they are described to be and more.
May 21, 2007
Whew, we survived another month, especially the past week. Good old
Wisconsin, we have about 4 months of good weather to get a year's worth of work
done. I'm sure you all know how that goes.
So needless to say, we have been busy, even busier than we normally are. This
past week I don't think I had more than a few minutes a day to be on the
computer and the same for the telephone with potential adopters. With a few
projects behind us, or at least part way behind us, we are looking forward to a
"normal" couple of days around here. There's lots to share, so here goes.
Barn and Stalls:
When we moved in, we were in desperate need for some good stalls. With the
arrival of Caramel, Stormy and Jane Doe, that need became even more crucial.
So we got started on building 4 new stalls and it turned out to be a bigger task
than we thought. We started with load ofter load of new gravel for the back
parking lot.....much needed. Some new post and rail fencing and new metal
gates came next. Much more practical and nicer looking for sure. The next
project was to empty the barn so we could put down a lot more fill and make room
to work and room for new stalls. Thanks to everyone who helped us clean the barn
out!!
We got it cleaned out and even got all the new fill spread out in the barn,
56 yards of fill!! Got the big holes dug for the posts, put the posts in, put up
the headers and got to work. We aren't done with them, but 2 stalls are complete
and the other 2 new stalls are only a few days work away from being done. They
are each 10 x 12 and are super heavy duty and made to last. We think they turned
out pretty nice. Anyway, those have been taking up pretty much every waking
moment we have had and there were even some nights when we were out working on
them until after 10 pm and not getting supper going until after 10 pm. Needless
to say, that was tiring, but we are glad to have them and are already putting
them to use. Here is a picture of them while still very much under construction
with our helper, Shamrock (Rocky) thinking she has some construction skills.
Horse Updates and Training: Thank you Deb!!!
The past week has also been a busy one for the horses in MHWF as well. We
want to start off by sending out a huge thank you to Debra Fountaine of Michigan
for coming down and living with us for a week while working 12 hour days with
some of the MHWF horses. Those are long days and Deb's training and handling of
them was both a lesson in what a long day can be and HOW TO handle and
teach an unhandled and untrained horse.
Deb put in long days, in the heat, the cold and the rain working with a few
of these horses and helped us make some huge strides with a few of them.....all
while putting up with us....hehehe. We would like to share some updates of the
work Deb accomplished this past week.
Jane Doe:
You all know the story by now about the little yearling filly running loose
in Portage County, on the news, running loose down roads and through back yards,
and how she was tranquilized and brought here to us. We won't go over all that
again, but will say that although Jane Doe is as sweet as they come, her ordeal
left her with some major issues. besides the injuries she got in her travels,
she was terrified of people, impossible to catch and handle and once caught
would panic and get away. We worked a lot with little Jane the past few weeks
and made major progress with her. We could catch her and touch about 1/2 of her
body. We even taught her to lead and to smile on cue. That still left us with a
few issues to deal with. One of those issues being that every time we took a
couple steps forward with her, she would regress and take one step backward. So
progress was being made, but slowly. We could not take her out of her enclosure
for fear that we would be the next ones on the news chasing a horse down the
highway. That's where a lot of Deb Fountaine's time came in. Deb made it
possible for us to lead Jane out of her enclosure and even take her for short
walks around the property without too much fear of her going into a panic and
escaping. Jane now looks to people for her comfort and that's a good thing. She
still is a little leary from time to time, but that is getting better with each
passing day. She now welcomes us into her stall and loves to be doted over.
Loves being scratched and brushed and the best part, Jane nickers at us when we
come anywhere near her stall. She want attention.....a great start on a new life
for this poor scared little gal.
Stormy:
Stormy has been a real challenge for us since her arrival here for one simple
reason, until she got here she had never so much as been touched by human hands
or had a halter on. You all know Stormy's story already as well, so we won't go
into that. Needless to say, she was uncatchable, didn't know how to lead
even if caught and to be honest, was dangerous to anyone who tried to catch her.
Stormy's progress is going to be much more time consuming than Jane Doe or
most other horses, but the strides her and Deb took this past week are something
worth recognition.
There were a series of problems we ran into just in being able to catch and
work with Stormy. What we ended up doing was putting up some temporary fencing
that led from her paddock to the round pen. That gave Deb the chance to work
with Stormy with less fear of her escaping, hurting herself or someone else. Deb
put in a good 7 hours with Stormy that first day and was pretty frustrated by
the end of the day. On day two some progress was being made, and by the last day
we saw major progress from Stormy. Without going on and one about every little
detail, we can tell you that by the end of her last session Stormy was now easy
to catch, could lead very well, let you touch her anywhere and was picking up
all 4 feet when asked.....pretty good progress for a horse that only days ago
was completely wild and untouched. Thanks Deb!!
Of course, Stormy will need a lot more continued work, but she is getting
there and we are excited that the day will soon come that we can turn her out
with the rest of the herd and watch her live a life she never had before with
large pastures, tons of herd mates and friends. That day is coming soon for her
and we can't wait. With all the learning Stormy has been doing we almost forgot
to mention how nice looking of a horse she has become. You wouldn't recognize
her as the skinny and wormy little wild mare we met 2 months ago. She has really
blossomed into a beautiful horse.
Daisy:
Daisy is our surprise of the week. She's always been pretty well behaved and
well adjusted, but we had no idea how well she was going to take to the saddle.
We always try to represent the horses in MHWF as openly and honest as we can. We
will almost always give a worst case scenario as well. We want these horses to
go to good homes and a big part of that is making sure the adopter knows exactly
what to expect. I have to say that after this week of working a little time in
here and there with Daisy, I would trust a kid on her back, as long as the kid
knows how to ride. That's how well her training went this past week. She's still
green of course, but it has been years since we saw a horse learn that quickly
and be that cooperative so early on in their training. Not once did daisy buck,
balk, toss her head.., anything other than be a little angel. We even had her
out and about riding around the property with people, dogs, lawnmowers and
trucks and trailers around.....not so much as a spook or a sassy moment. Good
job Deb....and Daisy! Put a few more hours on this little girl and she'll make
some kid a spectacular 4H pony.
For the stories about Jane Doe and Stormy as well as video of some of
the horses we talked about here, please visit the "adoption horses" page at:
http://www.equineadoption.com/order.htm
We'll keep it to that for now.....don't forget to buy your Central Wisconsin
Horse Expo tickets, booth spaces or stalls through the Expo website!! We have
Ken McNabb, Charles Wilhelm and a Knight to Remember coming this year with much
much more to come. Stop by the website and have a look and reserve your booths,
stalls or tickets!!
We spent a lot of time away from the booth on Sunday at the Midwest Horse
Fair as we had a lot of work to do for the Central Wisconsin Horse Expo. We
passed out info on the Expo and went to each and every vender and invited them
to come up this fall for the expo. We also spent quite a bit of time talking
with Tommy and Karen Turvey as well as Ken McNabb and Charles Wilhelm. Oops,
almost forgot. We also spent a few minutes talking with Asia Voight as well.
Hopefully we will be able to bring some of these names into the Central
Wisconsin Horse Expo this year or next. I can tell you that we are off to a
great start and are hoping to announce a clinician or two later this week. There
is even the possibility of some big surprises there as well. Keeping our fingers
crossed.
We want to thank all of you for coming to our booth to say hello and for coming
to our speech in the Winkler building as well. It was good to see so many
friendly faces in the audience and it made it worth it for us. Sorry for putting
all of you on the spot and on the mike as well. That's a testament to the great
adopters MHWF has. You all were wonderful with your testimonials and stories.
Thank you!!!
We got home pretty late Sunday night, got stuck in a bad traffic jam after a
fatal accident on the freeway. Apparently there was an 8 car pile up involving a
motorcycle. We were told the person on the motorcycle was killed in that
accident. We hope none of you were in that pile up and all made it home OK.
We would also like to send our best wishes and get well soon to the person we
met this weekend that got into a horrible accident at the expo. We hope you feel
better soon. To that person, thanks for coming to our booth and we hope we hear
from you again soon letting us know your feeling better.
So by now you have guessed we are back. We are back and are back open Tuesday
after 4 pm! Hopefully by then life is back to almost normal and we will be
bright eyed and bushy tailed again!
Thanks for all your support everyone! It was good to see you all this weekend!
April 2, 2007
A monumental day for MHWF!
The Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation, Inc. is proud to make a major
announcement today, which may turn out to be a monumental day for this program.
MHWF, Inc. has been awarded the honor of putting on the 2007 Central
Wisconsin Horse Expo this year and hopefully for many years to come!
As some of you may already know, the Central Wisconsin Horse Expo was funded
and ran by the Central Wisconsin State Fair for the past three years. This past
winter the Fair Board voted not to continue to hold the expo anymore. There were
many reasons, but we were very disappointed, as we have always enjoyed the Expo
here in Marshfield in the fall. What a wonderful opportunity for MHWF and it's
adopters to spend the weekend with other local horse people, and people from
neighboring states. For us, it was much like the Madison or Minnesota Horse
Expos, but close to home and with a more personal feel. We were hoping someone
would step in and keep the Expo going, but that simply wasn't going to happen.
We had two choices, no Expo, or take on this monumental task on ourselves. After
many sleepless nights going over the alternatives, crunching the numbers, added
workload and responsibility, we decided, with our Board of Directors, that this
was too good of an opportunity to pass up. We are mixed with a combination of
excitement and anxiety. To put together an expo of this size is a massive job.
We feel we are up to it and want to thank Debbie and Nancy for all their hard
work these past three years in getting the expo started and on the map, as well
as for their valuable input and cooperation for this upcoming year.
To all the friends and supporters of the Midwest Horse Welfare
Foundation, we proudly present the Central Wisconsin Horse Expo- 2007!!!!
There's a pile of work to do.......contracts, website, venders, clinicians,
breed demos, advertising, and a mountain of other various tasks, but we will get
there. In the meantime, please check out the website for the Central Wisconsin
Horse Expo, presented by the Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation, Inc. Right
now it is filled with last year's information, but we will be adding and
changing it daily from here on.
Be a part of the Central Wisconsin Horse Expo:
The dates of this years Expo are moved up a bit in the hope for warmer and
better weather. This year the Central Wisconsin Horse Expo will be held Saturday
and Sunday, September 22-23rd. We will begin booking our clinicians, venders,
demonstrators and corporate sponsors right away. If you are interested in being
a part of the Expo, please contact us. We are already working on getting some
good clinicians and are seeking people interested in breed demos to promote
their breed or farm. We are also seeking venders who might want to set up a
booth at this year's expo. If you have a business that is horse related that you
would like to promote, we are still looking for a few corporate sponsors for the
2007 Expo as well. Give us a call and we will be happy to show you how the
Central Wisconsin Horse Expo can help promote your equine related business.
If your simply a horse person or supporter of MHWF, then we hope to see you
all there this fall at the Expo. Simply attending the Expo is a great way to
support MHWF and the Central Wisconsin Horse Expo for the years to come.
We will eventually need a few volunteers and there will probably even be a
few paying jobs available the week of the Expo. We will be setting up the
ability to pre-sell tickets through the website at a discounted rate as well in
the next few days.
MHWF and it's Board of Directors feel that this is an opportunity that we
cannot afford to miss. What a wonderful way to promote not only this program,
but also good horsemanship, the benefits of horse adoption and a fun horse and
horse people kind of weekend.
Thank you all for making this possible for us and we hope to see you all
there this year at the Central Wisconsin Horse Expo!!!
March 29, 2007
A mix of good and sad:
Today has been a day full of mixed emotions here at the MHWF farm. It's
always better to think positive, so we should start with the good news. The
slaughtering of horses is now illegal in the U.S. as of today! There have been a
lot of people who have put a lot of work into getting this done and for their
efforts today is a monumental day. It is now official, the United States of
America no longer allows the slaughter of horses in our country. I won't get
into the details of this as there is a lot of legal talk and still the hurdle of
making it illegal to cross into Canada with horses headed for slaughter, but
what a major event that happened today!
As good as that news is for so many people who have put so much into getting
horse slaughter banned, we, the volunteers of MHWF are having a hard time
celebrating as it has been not only a hard week for this program, but a
particularly hard day. We are very sad to say that MHWF has lost 2 good friends
today, Rose and Liberty.
We have known this day was coming for a while now and with this hard decision
lying in front of us, we just didn't have it in us to share it with everyone.
Sometimes it's easier to bury yourself in your work and shut out the things that
really haunt you. We knew we could not drag it on any longer and both Rosie and
Libby were euthanized today. Both horses played an important part in the work of
MHWF and we feel as though we should say something about each of them as a part
of our goodbye.
Rosie: Rosie has been a fixture in the MHWF pasture for about 3 years
now. She was one of the horses rescued in the large auction rescue we did with
your help back in the fall of 2004. Rose was shy and didn't seem to have had a
good life when we met her. She had lameness issues along with trust issues. We
knew we could get Rose through her trust issues, but we always knew the day
would come when her lameness issues would catch up with her. Rose was sweet and
did not have a mean bone in her body. She had many friends in the MHWF pasture
and they all knew she was special and protected her. I am sure that her pasture
mates will miss her as much as we will.
Libby: Libby was my horse, one of my first horses. I first met Libby 7
years ago in a feedlot in Minnesota. She was lame, but was very sweet and had
only a few hours left before she was to be shipped off for slaughter. Needless
to say, Libby came home with me that day and has been a part of MHWF even before
there was an MHWF. With many hours of working on her feet and endless trials and
tests, we managed to get 6 good sound years for Libby. During those years she
gave endless kids and adults their first horseback rides. She taught me how to
ride and gave me the confidence to go on my very first trail rides. Libby
and I were great friends and have been all over together. When Karen joined our
family, she fell in love with Libby as well and Karen and Libby did some trail
rides together as well. Libby never once kicked, bit, reared, complained or did
anything except show her gratitude for the good years we could give her.
She was one of the few core horses that were always part of the scenery here at
MHWF. Libby's condition simply caught up with her and we could not bear to watch
her suffer one more day. Although a very hard decision, it was the right one and
the most unselfish one. Everyone here, including her herd family will miss Libby
more than we can say. Goodbye Lib.....you will always be here with us and a part
of us.
Thank you,
Scott and Karen
March 22, 2007
Oh my, we used to be so good about updating this page. With the popularity of
our discussion forum, it seems that lately it has been too easy to overlook or
forget this page. There's a lot that has happened and a lot planned, so I will
try to do a better job updating this page. For those of you not familiar with
our discussion forum, it's a hugely popular place, more like a giant extended
family, good people, safe for the kids to read.....If you have not been to our
forum, click the forum link at the top of any of our pages and join in. It's a
least worth a look even if your not into discussion forums. Ours is very unique.
So what's new here at the MHWF farm right? I'll try to get in as much of this
as I can today and will add more over the next few days and weeks.
Sponsorship Program
MHWF finally, after almost 7 years, started our Sponsorship Program. The
Sponsorship Program is a way for our supporters to pledge a set amount each
month to MHWF and to the horses. It's off to a slow start, but we are hopeful
and excited about what this could mean to a program like ours. If you are not
yet familiar with our Sponsorship Program, just click the link on the left side
of this page and have a look. You can become an MHWF Sponsor for as little as
$20.00 a month.
Property Upgrades
We have been here at the new farm for just over a year now. It's been a long
hard road, but we feel as though we are finally getting somewhere. It was only a
few short months ago that we were still pounding hundreds of fence posts in to
add more pasture. Since getting the entire pastures fenced, we have added some
new gates, added a lot of gravel to low spots where water and mud
collected, and even got a parking lot done in the rear of the yard for the
bigger trucks and trailers. We also started adding beautiful post and rail
fencing around the areas that we spend the most time. It's starting to look
pretty good.
Our next project is our favorite. We finally get to gut the barn out and put
in all new fill for the floors and get our new stalls built! As soon as the
ground thaws just a little bit more we will start that project and will get it
done pretty quickly. We are pretty excited about this one. We need the new
stalls badly.
We also put in new footing in our paddock area and will be working on 2 new
post and rail paddocks as soon as the frost is gone from the ground.
Once we have all this done we are hoping we can still afford automatic
waterers this year......and maybe an indoor arena....hehehe. Wishful thinking on
that last one.
Midwest Horse Fair
We are all set to go for the Midwest Horse Fair in Madison this year again!!
Love that week! Our booth is in the main coliseum, booth NP9. Don't forget to
stop by, say hello and check out our new booth!! It's the 3rd weekend in April,
Madison, WI. This year we get a short demo on Friday and Saturday in the Winkler
Canvass tent. This is a new thing for the Midwest Horse Fair, so we won't be
bringing horses this first year, but we are still looking forward to speaking
and answering questions for all the horse people who attend.
I'll be back to add more over the next few days and weeks...promise. There's
a lot more to share and a lot going on with MHWF this year!
December 22, 2006
Goodsearch
Do you spend time on the Web searching for information? Now you can help
MHWF while you're doing it! We've partnered with "GoodSearch" as a great
new fundraiser to support our work with the horses!
This is a new and easy way to raise money for MHWF just by searching the
Internet with GoodSearch.com. It's simple. You use GoodSearch.com like any
other search engine — the site is powered by Yahoo! — but each time you do,
money is generated for MHWF. Each search will raise $0.01 for our cause.
That may not seem like much, but if we have 100 supporters searching the web
two times a day using GoodSearch, it will raise $730 for MHWF. And that's a
lot of money to us!!
Last year, search engines generated close to $6 billion in revenue from
advertisers. With GoodSearch part of this advertising revenue will now be
directed to our work. We hope that not only will you use GoodSearch as your
main search engine from here on out, but will also pass this message on to
your friends and family. The more people who use this, the more money will
go to help us.
Just click on the GoodSearch link below, and give it a try! You can even
add it to your toolbar as your preferred Search Engine. Instructions can be
found on the GoodSearch website. Be sure to specify Midwest Horse Welfare
Foundation as your charity of choice. We think this is a great new way to
raise money to help our equines. Please try it out, and let us know what
you think!!
December 14, 2006
The Liberty Classic Group
MHWF, Inc. would like to send out a very big thank you to
some special people and a great organization.
We recently received a very sizable donation from the
Liberty Classic Group. These are the same folks who put on the local AQHA shows
here in Central Wisconsin. We are very thankful to this organization for their
very generous donation and for helping the horses of MHWF this winter.
We would like to name the people responsible for this
contribution as well. A very special thank you to
Mel Sann, Dick Lang, Dawn
Beihoffer, Kathy Ciula, Doyle and Beth Zimmermann, Sue and Mike Schmidt and last
but certainly not least, the wonderful person who made this happen for MHWF, Kay
Wilcott!
The hard work of these people at the Liberty Classic
Group not only helped the people who showed in the AQHA shows they put on, but
now has gone on to help the horses at MHWF as well. We cannot thank these people
and this organization enough for their hard work and for having a program like
ours on their minds. Their contribution will give MHWF a big step in the right
direction over these long cold winter months.
Thank you to Kay and everyone at the Liberty Classic
Group! Please come on by sometime soon and see how your donation is going on to
help a few horses who needed someone.
New Shelter Finished
Do you all remember the last fun auction where we
designated the funds generated from it would go toward one more pasture shelter
for the horses? Well, we did exactly that and ordered the shelter back in late
October. It finally arrived this past Friday. The crew that delivered it set it
up, but it still needed a lot of work before we could call it a horse shelter.
We got it done over the weekend though and now it's finished and ready for
winter. Our apologies if we have been a little more tired and hard to get a hold
of than usual. With the fun auction and the shelter coming at the same
time we have been stretched pretty far lately and will eventually bounce back
from our lack of sleep.
Big Improvements for MHWF
December has been a pretty good month for MHWF this year.
Normally along with December and winter comes the creeping feeling of here we go
again. Everything seems to take longer in the cold, money is in short supply for
programs like ours this time of year, horses are much more expensive to care
for, the days are short, Coggins testing is coming again soon along with the big
bill that comes with that. This year we are happy to say MHWF is not doing too
bad and that is because of all of you and we have not and will not forget that.
This past year has been full of snags and the normal difficulties, but through
all of that, it has also probably been one of this program's best years. Karen
and I got this place, got married in May, and the program rolls right along as
strong as ever, probably even stronger. MHWF got a wonderful production video
done this year by Linda and LW Video Productions, the demo at this years Horse
Expo in Marshfield was a success and a first for us. We finally got the
brochures done that we have always wanted to get done, and lots of good horses
got adopted by good people this year. Now going into Christmas MHWF is delighted
to say that we were able to put a little money to the side for something we have
needed since we got here.....stalls in the barn and wood for both paddocks! The
Board of Directors approved the improvements on Tuesday night and we could not
be more excited. The back yard has been turned into a parking lot for
trucks and trailers, we will be getting a couple new and much needed gates, the
new pasture shelter is done, and now we can start on getting the paddocks and
stalls done. That project will probably take a good chunk of the winter, but it
will finally get this place up to what we would consider closer to what we had
envisioned. That's all thanks to all of you. The Hay Drive has been a big
success and took a huge burden off this program which in turn allowed us to plan
for these much needed upgrades. Thank you to everyone who contributed in some
way this past year. We can't wait for next year.
Volunteer of the Year
MHWF has decided to add something new this year,
something we should have thought of a long time ago. Every year MHWF will name a
new volunteer of the year. There has been a lot of people who played major roles
in this program, but the choice was still a pretty easy one for our first year.
This year's Volunteer of the Year is Karin Harris. We have known Karin for
almost 5 years now. She has been volunteering here and putting up with us
(mainly me) since she was 16 years old. Over the years we have watched Karin
grow from a kid into horses to a young woman who knows horses and can really
ride. She shows up to work every time we call, regardless of the task or
the weather. She never asks for anything in return and she's not afraid to take
on the hard or muddy projects most people avoid like the plague. Probably
Karin's biggest contribution to MHWF for past couple of years is her ability to
ride and ride well. Karin has a nickname around here. It's guinea pig
because she will test ride just about any horse we want to evaluate. Not only
that, but she can get more out of a rusty or disobedient horse than most of us.
Over the past two years we estimate Karin has test ridden 100 horses for this
program.....priceless. Not only that, but she has yet to hurt doing it, even
though she has had a few spills. Because of Karin Harris' help, MHWF wanted to
recognize her here and name her Volunteer of the Year. Our very own Karen Bayerl
is also doing a free photo shoot and portrait for Karin H. as well. Thank you
Karen Harris! It has been our pleasure.
An Early Christmas Present
As most of you know Karen and I have a few horses of our
own. Almost all of them are pasture buddies who ended up as permanent residents
here because each of them "got us" in their own special way. Every one of them
has been a part of our family and not just a horse. This year is a little
different than most because both Karen and I have come to realize that a few of
the horses we call our own are now in their golden years and probably won't be
with us for many more sunny summer nights or snowy Christmases. Everyone faces
these facts when they have animals, but few people will face most of their
horses probably passing on within a very short time. Karen and I are faced with
exactly that and it's been one of those things you try to pretend isn't going to
happen, but we both know it will eventually. When it does start to happen it is
certainly going to be hard on both of us as it is always hard to say goodbye to
an old friend and things won't seem the same with any one of them gone. When
this does happen we have to pick ourselves back up and push on. With every end
comes a new beginning.
That leads me to a little guy who hopefully will be a big
part of our lives in the upcoming years.
We got a call from a good friend last Friday night and
she wanted to tell us about a little horse she had some dilemma about and wanted
to know what we thought. Two days later he arrived as a gift to both Karen and I
from a friend we believe we share a common thinking on most subjects related to
horses, their care and treatment. We would like you to meet the newest member of
our extended family and hopefully a big part of our future together......Danny.
Danny is a 16 month old Friesian/Morgan cross. He comes from wonderful
bloodlines and has a wonderful laid back disposition. Because of his
conformation Danny will most likely only ever be able to serve as a pasture
buddy. He is jet black and cute as a button. He is still very much a baby and we
are looking forward to growing older with him. He has settled in very nicely and
fell into a routine here right away. It looks like little Danny will be here for
years to come to meet and greet the new visitors to our program. What an
ambassador he will make.
Danny meeting Bambi for the first
time.
From everyone here at MHWF, thank you and have a Merry
Christmas!!!
October 19, 2006:
Scott BayerlDirector-MHWF, Inc.
It's been a really long time since we put anything new here on this page and
it's about time. There has been a lot going on and that's probably the
explanation as to why we haven't updated this page in over a month. I'll try to
fill you in on some of it here.
Central Wisconsin Horse Expo
Where do we start? Well, the Central Wisconsin Horse Expo in Marshfield, WI
just ended. Of course, MHWF was there with our normal booth and a little
added bonus. This year we got to show off our new promotional video done by
Linda Walker at LW Video Productions. We are very proud of the video and want to
pass on that Linda and her family are going through some hard times right now
and we ask that you all have them in your thoughts as they fight through it.
They are good people who went above and beyond to help this program and we send
our best wished out to them and their family.
This year we did something different...a demo....horses and all! We had 11
adoption horses at the expo this year and we got a 20 minute demo in the main
arena. It went very well and we want to thank everyone who was in the demo and
pitched in to help with the demo. We feel it was a great success and couldn't
have gone much better. We also apologize to Nancy, CJ and Kermit for the little
"goof" in the demo as well. Other than that, everyone's horses looked great and
behaved very well. Stalls looked great and everyone pitched in through the cold
weather to get it done. Bravo everyone. We couldn't be more proud. So a special
thanks to Eli and Sammy, Kelsey and Mercy, Jenna and Bigshot, Juleen and Cisco,
Corey and Achilles, Donna and Beauty, Karin and Patches, Nancy, CJ and Kermit,
Amy who rode Josh for Karen while she took pictures, and certainly last but not
least, Whitney and Dawn, who blew everyone away with her liberty presentation
with Dawn's Event! Oh yeah, I was in the demo as well with my horse JNE Festivo.
Good job Festivo! Absolutely wonderful everyone.....thank you all, including all
the people on the sidelines who helped out, like Jim P, Randy T, Dave E,
Mary H, Sandy K, Kathy S, Scott and Kelly M, and good friends as well as
the folks who run the Expo, Deb and Barry P, and Rick and Nancy M.
Despite the icy weather, the Expo was again a great success and we can't wait
until next year. If you have never been, put it on your schedules for next fall
and we'll see you all there! Check out the Expo's website for pics of the expo
and our demo at:
http://www.centralwisconsinhorseexpo.com
Drop them an email and let them know you were there and had fun, or tell them
what a great website they have...hehe.
Karen and Scott's new ventures
As you all probably already know, Karen has a good camera and a lot of talent
for using it, as well as the complicated software that she uses to "tweak"
some her
work. She has wanted to get the ball rolling for quite some time now on getting
her idea (Equine Eye Photography) up and running. It's kind of up to me to get her website going. So watch soon for
her new site. I promise I'll get it going. If any of you out there would like to
have some portraits done, her site may not be ready to go, but she is available
to take those portraits. Just drop her an email or give her a call.
In the process of putting together MHWF's new website as well as the site
built for the Horse Expo, I finally got a decent grasp on how to build a good
website and do some of the more subtle things that make a website successful. I
have now started my own side business creating websites and I will begin with my
own new site as well as Karen's to add to the other sites I have built. Midwest
Creative Webs is the new concept and if any of you need a website built, I'll
give you a heck of a price for doing it.
Hay Drive
Unless it's your first time to our website you have probably been bombarded
with pleas for the Hay Drive we have going on. Our hay bill is at $7000.00. and
the Hay Drive has a great start. As of today we are just under $2500.00. Thank
you to everyone who has contributed to this fund. It is essential to this
program and you are the ones who keep us plugging on. Thank you to each and
every one of you!
Clark County Sheriff's Department
This last entry on today's update is brand new only today. We were contacted
by Officer Weil at the Clark County Sheriff's Department and asked if we could
provide a place for a couple of horses (Precious and Stoney) that needed
somewhere to go. While we cannot share the details of this case with you, we can
tell you that the horses are here, safe and sound, and were in good condition
when we picked them up. We want to extend a big thank you to Officer Weil for
his cooperation with this. Many of you may remember the beating he took on our
discussion forum last year over the neglect case in Clark County which sparked
the Presage Project. We are glad that Officer Weil extended an invitation to
MHWF to help and were glad we could be of some help. He may have gotten a bad
rap last year, but after spending time with him, he seems to be a genuine guy
who truly cares for the animals and we are glad we could put all that behind us
and work together today. Thank you to Mary and Karin H. for their help and to
Officer Weil for making it as pleasant as it could be considering the
circumstances.
Precious and Stoney
September 10, 2006:
Scott BayerlDirector-MHWF, Inc.It's been another couple of really
busy weeks around the MHWF farm with Karen and myself trying to get a few things
done before it starts to look like winter. I have spent more time on the
skidsteer the past week than I care to mention.....always a hot, dusty, and
bumpy ride...not to mention loud. Last year we moved to this new place in
mid-November and that stopped us from getting a lot of the things done we felt
needed to be done. This year we had to get some of those done before we ended up
with frozen ground and cold weather again. The first order of business was
getting enough hay to feed the herd for the entire winter. So that is exactly
what we have been working on. 224 round bales right here and ready to go with 80
more coming today. Needless to say, moving and storing 300 round bales is a big
project, but we are almost there. The hard part is going to be paying all the
hay off. We are working on a few ideas for fundraisers to help with that. In the
meantime, if you can spare a few dollars to help feed the herd this winter, we
sure could use it and appreciate it. We are also going though about 150 pounds
of grain per day, so the cost of feeding all these guys this fall is already
starting to mount up. With your help and support we will survive it though, we
always have. Thanks to all of you!!!We are also finally finding the time
to put together another fundraiser auction. We hope that it will be up and
started today, tomorrow at the latest. There is some great stuff again this time
around and we are doing this fundraiser auction for something very specific this
time....more shelter. Our goal with this upcoming fun auction is to raise enough
money to build another pasture shelter for the horses before the cold fall rains
come in. Please don't forget to check out the fundraiser auction in the next day
or two. It's for a great cause...shelter for the horses this winter, and with
the herd being bigger than normal this fall, we are really going to need it.We also wanted to point out that MHWF
is currently not accepting any new horses. This isn't something that happens too
often, but we are right around what we would consider full for this time of
year. So until we find good homes for some of the horses that are here we cannot
take in any new horses, plus we always need to have some room for MHWF adoption
horses that need to come back for whatever reason. Please be patient with us,
it's only temporary and don't forget to look over the horses we have available.
There are some great horses still here looking for homes. Beauty is a wonderful
little mini who needs a home.......Renegade hasn't even been looked at by anyone
yet. He's a great horse.....all you Arab lovers out there. There's always a
bunch of great pasture buddies here too. Marcy, Hope, Checkers and a few more.
Certainly there must be a few people out there who have enough compassion to
give a horse who cannot be ridden a good home? Offering your home and
heart to an animal who needs both is the greatest thing a person can do for both
the horse and for MHWF. If is probably the most rewarding thing a person can do
as well. So if there is anyone out there with a little extra space, consider one
of the pasture buddies we have here at MHWF. They won't let you down.I guess that's all for today. It's
almost 8 am and we have our first appointment arriving any minute. Take care
folks.....
August 29, 2006:
Scott BayerlDirector-MHWF, Inc.
To say that the month of August was hectic and busy for MHWF would be an
understatement. August was probably the most crazy and the most trying
month we have had in a long long time. We won't get into all the details of who,
what and why here, but do want to take a moment to apologize for being somewhat
difficult to get in touch with the past few weeks and for have very busy
schedules lately. Another week or so and we are hoping the hustle and bustle
goes a little more back to what we would call normal. Although,
September has always been one of our busiest months.
So if you have been trying to reach us, only to get an answering machine,
we apologize. The truth of the matter is that we have been very busy with the
business side of MHWF and the added chores that come with having a larger group
of horses here than normal. We have been doing our best to keep up with the
phone calls, but I think we lost that battle a while ago. So please be patient
when calling and keep in mind we will do our best to answer your call, but still
have appointments to show horses, chores to do, and regular jobs.
Something that comes along with being very busy is that it shows that MHWF
has a lot of followers and supporters. We haven't forgotten that and won't
forget it. Sure, it seems overwhelming sometimes, but we keep on marching
forward. Our new website is one of those "new and exciting" things for us. Hope
you all like it. We are still working a few small bugs out of it, but for the
most part, it works well and looks good and we hope you all like the new look.
Central Wisconsin Horse Expo:
We have the Central Wisconsin Horse Expo coming up in October. If you can
make it there, we would love to see you there. Click on the link to the right of
this page and check out their site and all the things they have going on. It's
really quite a fantastic expo and if your into horses, something you won't want
to miss. If you want to do a demo with your MHWF adopted horse at the expo, give
us a call. We would love to have you there with us.
Vet Appreciation:
Our first round of the Vet Appreciation is now complete and we are looking
for all of you to nominate a vet to honor for the month of September. The vet
honored in September will get the letters all of you submit, plus a gift
certificate to a nice supper club. So come on folks, nominate your vet today.
All you have to do to nominate your vet is to go to our discussion form and go
to the thread titled " Vet Appreciation". Put in a post nominating your vet and
why. The vet with the most nominations is our Vet of the Month. Please stop by
the discussion forum and have a look. It is a great thing to show the people who
help us that we appreciate them. So don't be shy.
Fun Auctions and donation drives:
We know a lot of you are wondering when we are going to do another fun
auction. We are ready for another one and will get it up and going in the
next week or so. There will be some great items listed on this upcoming one, so
don't forget to take a look once it's started!
We will also be putting together a Winter Hay Drive. This year we estimate
our hay bill will be somewhere around $8000.00. Wow, we know. It's a big number.
We plan to start a hay drive to help us feed these guys over the cold winter
months. So keep an eye out for that as well and consider pitching in a few bucks
to help feed horses like Marcy, Checkers, Ranger, Mista, Mary, and all the other
horses that are still here looking for new homes.
I could go on and on here and bore all of you to death, but I will spare
you all of that. We just want to let all of you know that we are still here,
continuing to grow and evolve, and will always be here for the horses, donors
and adopters we have met through MHWF over the years.
July 29, 2006:
Vet Appreciation.
This was a little idea we threw out onto the discussion forum to see how many
bites it got and looked like the horse folks were into it. So here it
goes........
I know a lot of you think very highly of your vet and have built a great
relationship with your vet. Your vet has probably saved your horses life and
has helped you get control of your sanity over the years. Most vets make
decent money, but truthfully get very little heartfelt thanks for their work,
not only with the horses, but with their clients as well. If your vet is
anything like ours, they are our vets, our friends, our teachers, and put up
with our neurotic episodes from time to time.
What do we all think of paying back some appreciation to some of our vets?
Here's the idea.......
Each month people will nominate their vet of choice. A vet will be chosen and
named here on our website. People who know this vet and have thanks to give,
or stories to tell about how their vet saved their horse or sanity can submit
a letter with $5.00 to us which we will hold onto. At the end of the month we
will put all the letters into a nice package, pool the money together and get
a nice gift certificate to a good place to eat in that vet's town, and send it
to that vet to let him or her know how much we appreciate what they do. That's
about it...short and sweet.
Since this is a completely voluntary thing, we want to take the liberty to
name two obvious vets right off the bat that we would like to start with. We
know there are a lot of great vets out there and we will hopefully get to them
all eventually, but these two are special to MHWF and we really need to start
right at home with the people who make MHWF run day to day. Both of these vets
have done great things for MHWF, it's local adopters, and the horses in this
program. So here they are:
Richard Miller, DVM
Dr. Miller (Dick) is not only a close friend and a trail riding buddy, but the
honest truth is that without him MHWF wouldn't have made it through our first
month. Dick taught us almost everything we know about horses and how to treat
just about anything they can come up with or do to themselves or each other.
Dick not only introduced us to all the local horse folks and took us out on
all the local trails, but has literally saved horse after horse here at MHWF.
We can't even count how many horses owe their lives to him and his work.
Through all this he has always maintained his cool, even in intense
situations. MHWF has thrown just about every kind of problem relating to
horses and Dick has handled every one of them with ease and a calm attitude
over the years. We have woken him up in the middle of the night and early in
the morning. We have showed him 30 year old walking skeletons and said "Help
us fix this one".......you name it. He has always been there without fail.
Dick not only has done this for us, but for MHWF adoption horses long
distances away as well. He has always gone over and above the call of duty and
MHWF owes a huge amount of it's success to Dr. Richard Miller, an excellent
vet and a great friend.
Mike Graper, DVM
Dr. Graper's practice is out of Rhinelander, WI and covers most of the upper
part of Wisconsin, so he has worked on a lot of MHWF horses over the years. He
has always been very professional and a person with a true heart for his work.
His vet work is always top notch and his reputation is impeccable and well
deserved. All this is in addition to the real reason Mike Graper must
be mentioned here. It is for his work with the three Arabian stallions most of
you have been reading about these past few months. Mike is the vet responsible
for getting these, almost untouched horses, gelded, de-wormed, Coggins tested,
and vaccinated. He did all this for a very small fee and it couldn't have been
a fun job. The three Arabs were less than cooperative, but yet Mike Graper was
there making sure it got done and got done right. A lot of vets would have run
the other way and many more would have charged extra for having to deal with
these semi-wild horses, but Mike did not. He did it well and did it at a major
discount. There were a lot of good people involved in making the lives of
these horses better ones, but nobody could have made such a huge difference in
such a short amount of time as Dr. Graper. There is no doubt in our mind that
Dr. Mike Graper is a top notch person with a huge heart and is very deserving
of our recognition. We know there are a lot of northern Wisconsin horse people
out there who know what kind of vet and person Dr. Graper is and that is why
he is being named here.
Starting writing folks.............
So here they are folks. These two people were too obvious for us not to start
right away with. We can't say enough about both of these vets and hope a lot
of you will send us your letters telling us how important one of them is to
you. So go ahead and write your letters and send them in to us along with
$5.00. We will put all your letters together in a nice package and put the
money toward a gift certificate and send it off to these vets to show them we
care. We think they will really enjoy this gesture and they deserve it!
Send your letter and $5.00 to:MHWF, Inc.Vet Appreciation10990 Hwy. 73Pittsville, WI 54466
Thank you!
July 22, 2006:How did the rescue auction go?
We know a lot of you are out there patiently waiting to see how it all went
last night. I'm here to let you all know, so the wait is almost over...hehehe.
First of all I want to let everyone know that this auction was not one that we
are real familiar with and haven't been there in about 4 years, so we did not
know what to expect. We called a few hours before the sale to confirm it was
still being held and to ask how many horses they expected. We were told they
had 40 head consigned and many more would show up during the actual sale. We
went, and those horses never came. There were only about 20 horses that were
brought in, most of them in very good condition and in no need of being
rescued. We did get a few however and are now planning to go to another
auction next weekend to do more of the same. So, we saved a few and will go
right back at it next weekend to help some more. The next sale is this coming
Saturday (July 29th) and is a sale we are much more familiar with. There
should be a lot more horses at this sale and we will make sure to be there.
So, for all of you that sent in your hard-earned money to help save a
horse......we did the best we could last night and will take the remaining
donations to the sale this weekend. For now we have a few new faces to put up
on the site for you all to meet, and will have more next Sunday.
I am not sure what else to add other than to say thank you for all your
support and contributions, and that we will all have to wait another week to
see how many more we can help. Thank you all for being patient and wish us
luck next weekend! Please visit the "adoption horses" page to meet the new
arrivals!
July 20, 2006:MHWF Promotional Video is done!
It is with much enthusiasm that we are now able to show all of you the video
shot for MHWF, Inc. by LW Video Productions. This video is the fruit of a lot
of hard work and even more editing... hehehe. Thank you Linda Walker for all
your time and efforts to put this together for us. Please take a moment to
visit the website for LW Video Productions as well. They are great people who
specialize in equine video production. Maybe email Linda and let her know what
a wonderful job she did, despite having to work with Karen and I...hehehe.
Linda donated her time and talents at no cost to MHWF, Inc. That is quite a
donation and one we will always treasure.
GFAS Verified Equine Organization
Charles and Ann Wilhelm with MHWF staff.MHWF staff with Ken McNabb