Stop Bulling

Sorry friends I was so late! I'm watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition  and this family lost a preson because he was being bullied. The Walker family. This is the story of Carl Walker. Carl was in middle school and he moved to a new school and these bullys started to bully Carl. It mad Carl feel sad. So when Carl got home he killed himself. I know this isn't about horses but I thought it was important to talk about. 160,000 kids stay home because of bulling. If your child is being bullied talk to them and tell their teacher and principal to put a end to bulling. If your child dosen't have a friend, I'm right here. YOU CAN HELP STOP BULLING RIGHT NOW!

Ali is Walking the Green Pastures of Heaven

It makes me so sad to have to share this news with you. This is the one thing that I really hate about farm life but it is just a part of it. We have lost a member of our LEARN family, Ali. Below is a message from Mrs Elizabeth, the director of LEARN.

"It is with great sadness that we inform everyone of Ali's passing.  On May 4, 2011, he crossed the rainbow bridge into greener pastures. Ali was 27 years old.   LEARN was privileged to have been his "forever" home and caretaker for the past 6 months. God bless you Ali-you are missed.  We are comforted knowing that all horses go to heaven."

What I will always remember about him is that he loved eating outside the pasture, really loved Mrs. E and was so beautiful when he would run. It makes my heart happy to know that he knew love and safety and that he was never hungry for a minute the last six months of his life.

I love you Ali and will see you in heaven one day.

Love, Hayley

The horses need YOUR help!!!!

Hello friends! I am here to ask you for your help. There are 19 rescue horses at LEARN as of today and only 2 are currently being sponsored. That is bad news in a lot of ways. The scariest reason is that it means we have more money going out than coming in. My mom told me that it costs over $2000 a month just to feed all the horses. That doesn't include any vet care, farrier visits or dental appointments. So this is where you come in! Please help me meet my goal of having all our rescues sponsored by June 1st. That means I need 17 willing people/families to step up and be a special angel to one of my horse friends. Let me introduce you to the 17 sweet souls who need YOU!

This is Ali a 26 year old Quarter Horse. He has such a gentle soul.

This is Chase. He is a registered Thoroughbred who is 21 years old.

This is Laddie. She is a 6 year old registered Thoroughbred and is the Queen of the mare's pasture.

This is Reese and he too is a registered Thoroughbred. He is 20 years old and sticks his tongue out for peppermints!

This is Sport. He is a 5 year old Quarter Horse cross. He went on his first trial ride just this week!

This is Sugar. She is a 16 year old Paint. She was my horse, Scarlett's pasture mate for 10 years. She needs someone to love her too. Will that be you?

This is Sweet Tea. She is a Registered Thoroughbred and is 14 years old. She only has one eye left after cancer claimed her other one after she came to LEARN.

This is Uncle Fester. He is a 22 year old Tennessee Walker. He used to be very shy but is becoming more social everyday and you should see him move. It is AWESOME!!

This is Molly. She is one of our starvation cases. She has already put on lots of weight and is getting better and better every day! Please help fatten her up!

This is Beaufort our 6 year old Mini Jack. He will be a LEARN resident for life but would love a sponsor!!

This is Bono.  He is also a registered Thoroughbred and is 1 of the 4 starvation cases.

This is Berkeley and she is a registered Quarter Horse mare. She is 18 years old and has come a long way since getting here in February with her son Doc.

This is Doc Williams and he is a Quarter Horse/Paint Cross and he is 3 years old. He has quite the personality! 

This is Fiona. She is a 9 year old Thoroughbred Quarter Horse Cross. She would make someone an awesome forever friend.

Meet Gizmo. He is an 18 year old Hackney Pony. He has a severe gnat allergy and this makes him very itchy. He really needs a home somewhere in the upstate away from these annoying bugs!



This is Nash. He is the newest guy to join the LEARN crew. He came in this past Tuesday. This isn't the best picture because it is one from where he came from. Sad isn't it:( He needs some love from you!

For just $125.00 a month you can sponsor one of my friends above. My Mom as profiles on each horse and would be happy to share them with you if you want more information. She can also email you LEARN's Animal Sponsorship Form. You can fill it out and mail it in with your check made to LEARN to the address listed at the bottom of the form. You can also donate any time via Pay Pal  at the LEARN website at http://www.learnhorserescue.com/ . Let's work together to help the 17 horses above get sponsored just like Miss Coretta and Goose Feathers! THANK YOU!!! Contact me at horsetalkwithhayley@yahoo.com or post a message on this blog and I will get back with you!

What have I been up to?

Hey Everyone!

I know it has been awhile and I am sorry if you thought that I had given up on the blog but I haven't, it is just that we have been VERY BUSY. The biggest reason is that we have added a few new members to our family. Remember my pony Rudy? Well Rudy and his girlfriend Pumpkin have moved to our farm and we are so happy to have them!

My brother, Jackson and me grooming Pumpkin and Rudy

Pumpkin looking pretty

Rudy after my mom did his hair. He doesn't think it is as funny as she does.

My brother scooping poop. It is part of the job!

Rudy working off some of his winter belly.

Another BIG addition to our family is another LEARN rescue named Scarlett. We adopted her on March 2nd. If I am not at school or helping take care of Rudy and Pumpkin I am out with Scarlett. Being a horse owner is A LOT of work! We have been working very hard on being a team and I think it is going pretty well.

Me and Scarlett before a riding lesson

She is such a good listener.

I am totally in love!

Riding this past week.

I can only speak for myself but adopting Scarlett and Pumpkin has been the most amazing thing I have done in my life. Just like the cat we adopted from the ASPCA, they seem to be as grateful to receive my love as I am to give it. There are still many horses left at the rescue that need their forever home and forever person. I would LOVE to introduce YOU to a horse that will change YOUR life for the better!

What has been going on at LEARN? My Mom and I have been busy there too. Since I last blogged, we adopted a pig in honor of National Pig Day. We had our first Youth/Volunteer day that was a lot of fun and I loved meeting all those new people. We vaccinated over 50 horses at the first Low Cost Vaccination & Coggins Clinic. We have had 8 horses adopted but had 2 new starvation cases come in. Along with Scarlett and Pumpkin, Allie is now a part of the Lott Family and actually lives with Scarlett right down the street from my house. They are best friends and are loving their new home. Charlie and Cinnamon have found new Mom's too and are very happy at their new forever homes. Buster Brown, Sullivan and Party went to live at a fabulous new home in Tennessee. The starvation cases that came in are Molly, a sweet girl who looks like a big Rudy and Bono who going to be a very handsome boy when he fattens up. We also had a booth at Pet Fest last weekend. Tomorrow is the first low cost gelding clinic at Edisto Vet Clinic. Enjoy the pictures below and I hope it helps you see ALL that has been going on!

Our new LEARN Pig. A very sweet girl! Stay tuned for details on naming her.

Me and the LEARN girls at the Pig Pardoning.

Grooming Rudy at the Youth Day.

Working hard at Youth Day

Dr. Whitfield-Cargile giving a strangles vaccination



Another pretty girl named Scarlett after her strangles medicine up her nose. I don't think she likes it very much!



Charlie and his new Mom. They look so nice together!



Cinnamon with her new Mom



Mrs. Janice and Allie. They are a match made in heaven!

 

Molly and me. She is getting better every day.

 

Me and Bono the day he came in.



Our Booth at Pet Fest



Hayley's Gifts!!!

Me working the booth at Pet Fest

 I will apologize one more time for being gone for so long. I have been very busy making sure our new family members are adjusting well to their new home. I think they are settling in and realize that they will be safe and loved here for the rest of their lives.

There are a lot of exciting things that will be happening at LEARN very soon. Please check back often to hear about what is going on! Thanks for stopping by!

Hayley's Gifts at Work

Hi! Sorry I have been missing for so long. We've been traveling or sick but I promise to stick around for a while this time. A couple of Sunday's ago I was happy to have Rylie, who read my blog and wanted to come volunteer, out to LEARN to show her around. We started at the pony barn and it was hard work! First we started by grooming Rudy and boy was he dirty. I showed Rylie how to use the different brushes and my Mom showed her how to pick his hooves. Doesn't he look pretty after all that brushing?

Rudy giving Rylie some pony love

Next we mucked out the stalls. Is it weird that we had fun doing that too? We also washed out each stall's water bucket and refilled them with fresh water. Thankfully, there are only 3 stalls to clean or we may have been there all day. It is important for the horse's health to have a clean stall and fresh water every day.

Rylie and me with the manure scoops

After the barn was done, we went out to the pasture and cleaned all outdoor water buckets. These also need fresh water daily and regular cleaning because they get gross pretty fast. These ponies may be small but they still drink a lot of water!

Rylie cleaning buckets

Me filling the outdoor water bucket

After all of our hard work, it was time for a little fun. I taught Riley how to put a halter and lead line on Rudy and she got to learn the correct way to lead a horse.

Learning to put on the halter

Rylie asking Rudy to walk

Rylie looks like a pro!

When we were done walking Rudy around the pasture, I introduced Rylie and her Mom to the other horses that live at the pony barn. Everyone had such good manners and they loved meeting new friends! Rylie and her Mom had some more time so we went down to meet the big horses in Meggett. We stopped at the mare's pasture first. The girls were really hungry so we got to help Mrs. Janice feed. We helped mix up the grain in the first set of feed pans and then we took turns putting two scoops of chopped hay in the second set of feed pans. Once they had feed it was safe to go with our Mom's out to brush some of the big girls.

Rylie's mom, Mrs. Kim and Laddie

Rylie and Ellie brushing Allie



Rylie, Ellie, me and Allie



After hanging out with the girls for a while we went over to the main LEARN property to see the boys. It was feeding time for them as well. Our moms did this while I showed Rylie my favorite dirt mound to play in! Sometimes you just have to have fun! Boy did we have fun but we were a little too dirty which made our mom's a little upset but that is what kids are supposed to do, right??? We worked hard then we played hard and my hope is that Rylie and her Mom come back very soon. Taking care of the horses is a lot of work but when you have friends to help, it takes no time at all!! Thanks Rylie for coming out to meet all my horse friends at LEARN!

Mom's Note:

Hayley and I are so appreciative to Rylie and her mom, Kim, for taking their afternoon to come out and see what LEARN is all about. Hayley's Gifts is a LEARN program in its infancy. Our goal with Hayley's Gifts is to educate and expose the youth of the lowcountry to the world of horses and proper horse care. We hope to educate and inspire the horse owners of tomorrow. There are several ways we are trying to accomplish this. One way, is through having youth volunteers and teaching them through one on one interaction, just like Rylie. Another is by giving presentations to groups like the girl scouts/boy scouts. We welcome any group out to the LEARN farm or we can come to you.

The final way and truly how Hayley's Gifts was started is by fostering the gift of giving. If you or someone you know is interested in having a birthday party that benefits the horses, we would love to help. We are going to be offering pony parties that benefit the rescues 100%. Hayley and some of our other LEARN youth ambassadors are willing and able to come and teach their peers a horse 101 kind of class. So not only will your party guests get the experience of riding but they will have hands on time with some of our rescue ponies. It is certainly different and will have a lasting effect on your guests. If you would like more information about Hayley's Gifts, please don't hesitate to contact me at charlotteblairwest@yahoo.com. Take it from this proud momma...it is a LIFE CHANGING experience!