Itty Bitty aka Coco with Emily at home in Indiana.
Mom Angie says this about SWAP, "A wonderful
program - working hard to find homes for ANY horse, every day. Keep up
the good work!!"
Crossed Sabers Stable
The Mountain State Horse School
and Second Wind Adoption Program, Inc.
Visiting Hours:
Daily 10 to 3pm (eastern time) by appointment
Pick Up and
Delivery of Horses: 9am to 8pm by appointment
Office Hours:
Summer office hours 12 noon until 4pm
Driving Directions:
Click here for directions to the
Headquarters farm there is a
note to all truckers and transporters on this page that is critical to
coming to the HQ farm, please read! Follow these Directors, do not
follow Mapquest or your GPS, both will put you on bad roads.
Flying In:
Fly into Pittsburgh Airport (PIT) and rent a car or call us to pick you
up (its about 2.5 hours from the farm) or fly into Clarksburg Airport (CKB)
or Parkersburg Airport (PKB) and we can pick you up, both CKB and PKB
are less than an hour away.
tons of new saddles, all
types with great prices, more tack for sale! Plus one week left on our Cape
Cod Cottage
We had a super Volunteer
Weekend with tons of visitors, be looking for another real soon!
thank you to all who regular
buy from IGive and donate to SWAP! We get a check almost every month from
them from your purchases!
SWAP
FEED FUND
MAKE CREDIT CARD DONATIONS TO THE SWAP FEED FUND... CALL
FOSTER FEEDS AT 304-269-1333, TALK TO CHARLIE TO GIVE A DONATION TO THE SECOND
WIND ADOPTION PROGRAM FEED FUND, WE GO THROUGH 6 TONS OF FEED A MONTH. YOU CAN
ALSO PAY FOR ADOPTIONS AND PURCHASES THIS WAY!!
monthly counters started on February 13, 2010 for the website, because this is a
free counter, it will only show about a 1/4 of our total numbers, so its
not an accurate depiction of all of our visitors, just gives an idea about all
the people that visit our site. We do love our international visitors. Welcome!
Congrats to our President for the nomination and eventual induction to the
ROTC Hall of Fame at West Virginia State University, nominated by the former VP
of the University, the induction will take place at the Embassy Suites in
Charleston, WV October 15, 2010. A former military school, rich in a history of
national defense has only inducted just over 100 military retirees to its Hall
of Fame, many of them general officers. Congratulations on this huge honor.
Stay up with our President/Executive Director, all the
directors, volunteers and riders. All the CSS/SWAP supporters and adopters are
having a big time sharing stories, pictures, lots of good stuff about their
horses. Our President is at her max friends so she is full but we are going to
set up a fan based page so everyone can be added. So sorry to the 200 + people
who have asked for a friendship.... we'll get our fan page up soon.
don't forget to order your SWAP wines,
exceptional wines from Chile and Spain with a Second Wind Label, order on a
secure website and have them shipped right to your house. ALL profits for the
wine goes to our Second Wind horses and Old Timers Sanctuary
Benefit Wines is a unique online retail wine shop that partners with
non-profit organizations to raise funds. Every charity partner has their
own unique wine label. Supporters enjoy fine, organic wines while
supporting their favorite cause. Cheers!
We are still looking for teams, $1000. donated
or raised and sent to SWAP puts you in the running for a chance to win this
beautiful 15 carat ruby/diamond ring, the drawing is 1 December so there is
plenty of time to raise those funds!! Winner get the 3 appraisals on the value
on the ring (I promise its going to be a shocker for some lucky supporter!)
Raise $1000. for Second Wind
Adoption Program and have a chance at winning a 15 carat Ruby/Diamond
Ring! ... mail donations to Rt. 2 Box 24A Jockey Camp Road, West Union,
WV 26456
The Wish List of Our Needs:
More than anything we need a large donation to help us pay off our farm, we just
owe 70k. With a farm paid for, we will never worry about the program and schools
closing.
We are looking for 2 to 3 people to do work in exchange for a place to live.
1. New or lightly
used truck and 3 to 6 horse trailer, our equipment has seen its better
days, we've been using both for nearly 14 years to pick up horses and move them
to their new homes.
2. A Farm in any
location for low cost long term lease or donation to expand our program
to develop a retirement farm for our now aging horses returned to us from
adopters who could not retire our horses. Our highest priority locations
initially are Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Maryland,
or Delaware.
3. New or Lightly
Used Farm utility vehicle (like a john deere gator), farm tractor,
& manure spreader
4. Tack and large
horse items donated... like carts/buggies, racing bikes, jog carts,
harnesses, saddles, horse trailers, blankets/rugs to use or sell on SWAP
Shopping. Supplies to use around the barn or office.
5. A bulk feed bin
that will hold anywhere from 6 tons to 9 tons of grain donated or at low cost or
even a break on the cost of purchase and instillation.
6. A volunteer or low cost
employee who can help us fix our
database that lists all adopters, donors, supporters and horses/dogs/cats
in the program.
7. Some sort of a cloth
facility like Cover-all or Farm-Tek
building to increase our abilities to be able to take more horses and
have an indoor area to work and train horses in winter, donated, grant or
partially donated. anywhere from 50 x 200 to 72 x 300.
8.
Monthly Sponsors for our light
use, elderly or retirement/sanctuary horses/dogs who's possibilities for
adoption are very low, ie. Orphy, Jelly Bean, Dixie, Allie, Kochese, Darlin, Mr.
Darcey, JoJo, Freckles, Lucy, Bandit, Max, etc.
9. Volunteers
to commit to doing one fund raiser for SWAP horses at your location during 2010,
it can be a golf tournament, a bake sale, book sale, lemonade stand, car wash,
setting up an information stand at a horse show. This is a great way to kids to
get involved in helping horses.
10 Anyone interested in
free high quality top soil
(manure already composted) and manure for gardens, you can pick up for free by
the truck load at our WV location (bring a loader). If you are a gardener and
only need a small amount, pick up in a truck or we'll be selling it by the feed
bag full at $2.00 a bag (in a bag that is usually used for 100 lbs of feed).
This is beautiful clean top soil. This offer will only last so long because we
will be leveling the manure pile this August when its dry enough to get a dozer
in there.
11. Someone to do
dozer work on the farm, level arena/round pen, do terracing on the hill
sides to keep water out of the barns and level the top soil and manure pile to
increase the level of that land in that bottom so we can put our methane
digester in and indoor arena. Volunteer or at a reduced cost.
Reporting Neglect:
Please, if you see neglect (ribs and hip bones showing or no
food available), its critical to call the sheriff of the county where the
horse/animal is located. Have the address where the horse is located or
directions to the farm, pictures and the owners name (if possible). If the
sheriff does nothing email our cruelty case workers Tom and Ruby Fleming at
tomfleming64@cebridge.net or email
PETA's cruelty case workers Stephanie or Tori at
sbell@peta.org,
or
ToriP@peta.org Remember horses can not speak for themselves so
we must speak for them!! All reports are kept anonymous.
Getting Help for Your Horses/animals if you can not care for
them:
TOP TEN WAYS YOU CAN HELP PROTECT HORSES (ASPCA and SWAP Suggestions)
1. BE THEIR VOICE - your vote is your
greatest weapon against injustice, so register and actively support horse
protection and preservation legislation.
2. LEAD BY EXAMPLE - Walk the talk. Don't support or attend cruel
horse activities such as Tennessee Walker events using "soring" techniques -
painful techniques to make the horse walk a certain way, or events that use
drugs to make horses achieve results. High-diving horse acts are cruel, as are
rodeo events that don't promote respect for animals and their health.
3. BE AN INFORMED CONSUMER - products made from horses like Premarin
(pregnant mare urine pills for estrogen replacement), are created through
horses' suffering. Your spending dollar is a weapon.
4. SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE - inform people what happens to horses after
their short careers are over (slaughter plant bound), or where Premarin comes
from, talk to them about over breeding, the hazards of over using young horses
or not training a horse. Engage them in discussion.
5. SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL HORSE RESCUE OR SANCTUARY - these organizations
make life better for horses.
6. VOLUNTEER - your gift of time is valuable to horse groups and if
you have special talents, so much the better.
7. REPORT CRUELTY - if you witness abuse or neglect, report it to
local animal control or your county sheriff. Someone cruel to animals is cruel
to humans, too.
8. PROTECT THE AMERICAN WILD HORSE - mustangs have a special place in
our history and you can support federal and local legislation by writing emails
and letters to your government reps.
9. KEEP YOUR HORSE SAFE AND HEALTHY - if you own a horse, maintain
its health with regular hoof, medical and dental check-ups. Make sure they are
companioned as horses suffer living alone - even a goat makes a good companion.
Feed what the horse needs, if you are seeing ribs and hip bones, the horse is
not getting enough, if you can't afford to buy more feed, then give the horse to
someone who can, just be sure to check the person out and make sure they are not
selling the horse to slaughter or just going to turn out and sell the horse to
anyone that has the money. .
10. PLAN AHEAD FOR YOUR HORSE'S CARE - your health and finances
change so what happens to your horse of you can't care for it anymore? Research
your options, including a pet trust. Horses live into their mid 20s and early
30s now - that's a lifetime of commitment.
Crossed Sabers Stable:
As many as 60
million visitors per year
As many as 530,000 hits in one day
Visitors from 113 different
countries
Website Visitors from every
continent of the world
Thousands of adoptions (of 68
different breeds) in homes today with SWAP
Horses adopted in 46 states and
Canada
14 Year History
Preparing for a Cold Winter:
HAY: Get
your hay now before the prices become outrageous, get enough for the winter
(good planning is 2 bales for every 3 days for one horse or 10 bales per month
per horse, so to make it until the middle of June (first cutting), you're
looking at 90 bales per horse at the very least (from September to June). If you
have good thick grass that has been mowed and fertilized then depending on where
you live in the US you might just need 60 to 70 bales. For good grazing its
recommended that you have 3 to 5 acres of mowed, seeded, fertilized grass per
horse. Remember Grass is dead in WV from Oct/Nov until about April and every
state has some months where the grass does not give the horses their calories or
nutrients it needs to sustain life (USDA has details of that for each state).
They may be grazing in the winter but they are not getting anything from the
grass to survive. I know most know that but I say it because we had an adopter
last year in WV that thought if they were eating grass that was all they needed
and she nearly killed 2 horses.
GRAIN:
Remember on average horses need 1 lb of concentrated feed (grain) for every 100
lbs of body weight, so on average horses need about 10 lbs of grain a day, more
when its very cold or if they are living outside in a run because much of their
calories go to keeping them warm. Some horses need more so its critical to
watch to make sure their ribs and hip bones are staying meaty and covered. If
you see ribs, the horse is too thin and needs more calories, not supplements
but more calories.. Easy keepers may be round but it does not mean they are
healthy, most easy keepers need a multi vitamin to stay healthy.
WATER:
One of the most critical things needed in winter is clean fresh water all the
time, anywhere from 5 to 20 gallons per day per horse and everyone knows what a
pain that is when there is ice and snow on the ground but its critical to
preventing colic. Get your electric heaters, defrosters now, heated buckets,
what ever it takes to make sure they have good water in front of them all the
time and at least 10 gallons (2 flat backed buckets at the very least). Here we
keep 100 gallons troughs in the stalls since we have big stalls, its much easier
than frozen buckets in winter, all we do is break the ice and remove it most
days and put a heater in them on really cold days. We use a sump pump to empty
water and scrub troughs each week which keeps water fresh and clean.
SHELTER:
Domestic horses need shelter, they are not wild and can not survive outside
without shelter or some kind of heavy waterproof rug to keep them warm during
snow/ice and freezing temperatures but the best is a closed in shelter that is
free from drafts (meaning its closed on all 4 sides with some sort of
ventilation). Wild horses first of all don't live very long, living outside in
the elements is very hard on them, secondly wild horses move in cold
temperatures to keepselves warm and they often times move over thousands of
acres to keep warm or to find cover or water. No domestic horse can not do that
on 5, 20 or even 100 acres. Just because your horse has learned to survive in
bad weather does not mean its good for them, they need shelter in bad weather.
CARE:
Its important to make kids take care of their horses but they must have adult
supervision on a daily basis to make sure horses are getting what they need.
Trust me, I usually have 30 year olds working in our barn and I still have to be
there daily to make sure things are done, that they have clean water, especially
when its cold because our young helpers want to get out of the weather and then
the horses are left at risk for colic. Every day check your child's work, do not
leave your horses care to a child (completely).
The Woman I will Be
I shall wear diamonds and a wide brimmed
straw hat with ribbons and flowers on it
And I shall spend my social security on
white wine and carrots
And sit in the alley of my barn and listen
to my horses breathe.
I will sneak out in the middle of a
summer's night And ride the dappled mare across the moonstruck meadow, if
my old bones will allow. and when people come to call, I will smile and
nod, As I walk them past the gardens to the barn And show, instead, the
flowers growing there
In stalls fresh-lined with straw. I will
shovel and sweat and wear hay in my hair as if it were a jewel. And I will
be an embarrassment of all who look down on me Who have not yet found the
peace in being free To love a horse as a friend, a friend who waits at
midnight hour
With muzzle and nicker and patient eyes For
the Woman I will be when I am old.
The perfect analogies for why we
have the life school tied into SWAP and animal welfare work:
"Everyone thought we took this
broken down horse and saved him but really he saved us"
Jockey Red Pollard from the
movie Seabiscuit
I rescued a
human today
Her eyes met mine as she
walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels. I felt her
need instantly and knew I had to help her. I wagged my tail, not too
exuberantly, so she wouldn't be afraid.
As she stopped at my kennel
I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage. I didn't
want her to know that I hadn't been walked today. Sometimes the shelter keepers
get too busy and I didn't want her to think poorly of them.
As she read my kennel card
I hoped that she wouldn't feel sad about my past. I only have the future to look
forward to and want to make a difference in someone's life.
She got down on her knees
and made little kissy sounds at me.
I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her.
Gentle fingertips caressed
my neck; she was desperate for companionship. A tear fell down her cheek and I
raised my paw to assure her that all would be well.
Soon my kennel door opened
and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms. I would
promise to keep her safe. I would promise to always be by her side. I would
promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her
eyes.
I was so fortunate that she
came down my corridor.
So many more are out there who haven't walked the corridors.
So many more to be saved. At least I could save one.
I rescued a human today.
Baggage
by Evelyn Colbath
Now that I'm
home, bathed, settled and fed,
All nicely tucked into my warm new bed,
I would like to open my baggage,
Lest I forget
There is so much to carry -
So much to forget.
Hmm, Yes, here
it is, right on the top
Let's unpack Loneliness, Heartache and Loss,
And there by my halter hides Fear & Shame
As I look on these things I have tried so hard to leave-
I still have to unpack my baggage called Pain.
I loved them,
the others, the ones who left me,
But I wasn't good enough - for they didn't want me.
Will you add to my baggage?
Will you help me unpack?
Or will you just look at my things
And take me right back?
Do you have the
time to help me unpack?
To put away my baggage,
To never re-pack?
I pray that you do - I'm so tired you see,
But I do come with baggage -
Will you still want me?
A young boy was walking along the beach
as high tide came in.
With every crash of the waves
he noticed that dozens of seahorses were
being cast onto the beach,
where they lay gasping and squirming.
Hurriedly, he ran to each seahorse he could
find
and gently tossed them back into the surf.
A man watching all this approached the boy
and said;
"Son, what you are doing won't make a
difference",
to which the boy replied,
"To
that seahorse .
. . it will".
Some folks said they missed my great goals
list for 2010, so here it is back again
1. Spend an hour a day with your horses, not just
feeding, training and turning out, but real quality time doing something that is
enjoyable for the both of you. Grooming or hand walking is a great way to bond
with your horse and good for both you and the horse.
2. Get your loved ones more involved in your
horses. Divorce is the biggest reason we see horses coming back to us. Don't
just share the work, share the fun too and find something they really enjoy
doing with horses.
3. Learn a new discipline, go to a clinic, a
horse show, or equine affaire. Come to one of our clinics or watch a training
video. If you are an adopter you can check out books and video's from SWAP's
Library for just shipping costs. Take a lesson at least once a month or Bring
your adoption horse here and we will help you. The better you are, the more fun
you will have.
4. Make a plan for your horse after you are gone
or if you have a major injury, let your Will Executor know your plans. Make a
plan for emergencies or financial bumps along the way for your horse. Have a
plan if you or your horse gets injured, even for the tough times of year like
winter (or summer down south and for a drought winter when hay prices
skyrocket). Ask friends, family and neighbors to be part of your plan, most
people that don't have horses or a farm love the idea of getting away and
helping. And people can not resist someone when they are asking for help for the
welfare of an innocent animal.
5. Get yourself healthy and in better shape to
prevent injury, to live a long life and to more enjoy your horses. Eat 1-1-1
(one ounce of dark chocolate, one ounce of fresh walnuts, one glass of red wine
daily) and 2-2-2 (2 servings of fresh vegis, 2 of fresh fruit and get 2 sources
of fat free calcium). Drink 100 ounces of spring water a day, get a whole house
water filter. Change over to Sea-salt. Take one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
every morning to keep your body alkaline (cancer and disease can not grow in an
alkaline body). Eat more fish and chicken and less red meat. Get a good air
cleaner and do daily deep breathing exercises, get outside in the fresh air and
sunshine for at least 1/2 hour every day. Get away from high fat food, processed
foods, fast food, can or boxed food, sugar or artificial sweeteners, soda and
don't eat anything if you can't read all the ingredients and know exactly what
is in it. Clean all vegis and fruits thoroughly, buy organic, buy ocean caught
fish, not farm raised, buy fresh meat and raw milk, not packed or processed. Eat
only natural carbs (potatoes, rice, oats) bake/broil or steam everything. Get 8
hours of sleep, reduce stress/risk (reduce commuting by car pooling, tight
schedules, cell phone use in the car, watch or read the news only once a day or
better yet once a week. Do one hour of walking, yoga or weight training every
day and it will make you strong, lean, you'll look great and get wonderful
complements from friends, coworkers and loved ones and the horse work will be
easier and more enjoyable.
6. Stay clear of negative people and those very
negative chat rooms and bulletin boards, they seem innocent but every time you
go to them you lose a bit of your positive self, they are truly emotional
vampires that will leave only a shell of a person. They are not based on the
truth, they are based on harassment, complaining, whining and dishonesty. We all
become tomorrow what we are around today, every person we come in contact with
defines who we are tomorrow so be careful who you choose for friends, even the
websites you go to as each of them affect who you are tomorrow. Do you want to
be a bitter, miserable, complaining person or do you want to be happy, inspired
and honorable, all that is affected by the decisions you make today. Stay away
from Toxic people and Toxic websites/forums that are negative or that spend all
their time talking bad about people and their horses. What you are around today
and what you are doing today is what you will be tomorrow. Stop Complaining and
be Thankful for what you have. If you become a target of harassment or anyone
saying anything negative about you, if you are doing only good, positive things
and not hurting anyone then ignore them, its all based on jealousy and a sick
sort of wish to be like you. They have the problem, not you.
7. Read at least one book on training your horse
and one on care each year, if for nothing else but just inspiration. SWAP has a
great library of books/videos that adopters can check out for just the cost of
mailing it.
Click
here to see our Library
8. Get carrots/apples every time you go to the
store, your horses will love you for it and always come running when you call.
Don't feed candy or anything sweeter. Carrots are sweet enough. Get rid of the
sweet feeds and you'll get rid of the hot horse once and for all.
9. Realize that if you are having a problem with
your horse, more likely than not, the problem is you. Learn more, practice more,
ask in a different way, be patient, change their environment or daily schedule
to better suit them. Taking better care of a horse always brings out the best in
that horse. Good feed/hay, time to rest in a quiet stall out of the elements,
lots of fresh water, time to be with you and time to just be a horse, time with
their buddies, farrier and vet care always done is a good start. The biggest
part of this relationship puzzle is you, not the horse. If you are struggling,
then you need to learn more and get better.
10. Ride at least once a week, regardless of
weather. Use this time as your down time for healing, your therapy, your time to
relieve stress and the pressures of daily life. Even if you don't ride, go sit
and read a book in the pasture with the horses or sit in the barn and listen to
them munch on dinner, away from the crowd and noise of your day. Enjoy the peace
and quiet, enjoy hearing happy horses eating dinner or grass in the pasture.
11. Spend time leisurely grooming your horse once
a week. Rubber curries are shine makers. You will have a beautiful horse and a
very loyal friend who will do anything for you.
12. Come and spend a week at SWAP HQ,
volunteering and focusing on helping a horse and giving will change your life
plus it will be the best vacation you ever had. Help an animal in need, whether
fostering, being one of our state reps that goes out to check on our horses in
their homes or helps us approve adopters in their area. Find horses in need and
help us find them homes. Buy a horse at a slaughter auction, get it fat and
trained and we'll help you place it into a good home. Foster and volunteer for
your local small animal adoption program. I promise, the good things you do will
come back to you a hundred times over. Every person has a talent they can offer
and if you help one horse or one dog or cat find a good home, you have changed
their life forever.
13. Know that every goal is obtainable and it
starts with a single step. Take that first step today!! No matter what it is or
how big, YOU CAN DO IT!! Every goal that is written down will come true
(really!). Every famous person, every great or notable scientist, author,
trainer/rider, parent or friend started out as just a thought, just a goal.
Remember to take one step today to reach your goals.
14. Start every day with thinking about, what is
the most important thing I can do today to change my life and make it better. Do
that one thing and in 30 days your life will be totally different. Can you
imagine what your life would be like if you did that for 60, 90 or even 365 days
a year. The opportunities are endless.
15. Want to keep your horse sound for life? (That
should be every horse owners number one goal) do a long slow warm up (cold
muscle is easy to injure, a warm one is nearly impossible to injure). The very
best cool down is hand walking your horse for 1 hour after every work out. Yes,
get off the horse and walk with it. Its great exercise for you and a good time
for you to bond. Stop riding your horse during cool downs and stop using a hot
walker, do something good for you and the horse, hand walking. Its also the best
rehab for over work and injuries, the only thing better is hydro therapy and
swimming your horse. Allow soft tissue and hard tissue to become more
conditioned before going into any training program... that means 3 months of at
least 3 days a week for soft tissues and 10 months of work for bones to become
strong enough to jump or do any strenuous training program. Don't start any
upper level work, jumping or extensive training until the horse is fit and at
least between age 4 and 6 and has been conditioned for at least 10 months
(especially if the horse has never been jumped/worked or not been jumped or
worked in the last year).
16. Appreciate what you have and be thankful.
Instead of looking at what you don't have, look at what you do. Thank those
people who have helped you and supported you. The more you give, the more that
will come back to you. When you give something away or give something to
someone/something in need, you make space in your life for something good to
come to you. We are all very blessed, if we just take a moment to look around
and enjoy those things.
17. Get used to using favorite mantra's and
visualizations every day, simple ones that are easy to remember, like 'I can do
this, I will do this', 'this isn't going to get the best of me' or even, 'I
deserve the best' or 'the gift of love, caring, and support always comes back'
and take two minutes every morning as you wake and at night as you go to sleep
to visualize the life you want, the you you want to be, Our thoughts become
things, what you see is what you get, if you expect the best, the best will
happen, change your self-talk from negative to positive and I promise your life
will change for the better..
18. Each person is put on this earth for a
reason, each of us has a mission. What is yours? Seek and you shall find,
finding is a journey ... in the journey and the search you'll find your life
purpose. If you died in your sleep tonight is there something you haven't done
that you need to do or want to do? Someone you need to mend fences with, burnt
bridges to fix? People you need to tell them how much you love them? Have you
fulfilled your purpose in your life? Ask yourself, Why am I here? How can I make
this better? Who do I want to be? Who am I suppose to be? What reason was I put
on this earth? What is my purpose?
19. Be an inspiration to your family, co workers
and friends. We all fall on our face, we all make mistakes, we all get
discouraged, most times we all get up and try again.... sometimes we need a
nudge. Instead of being negative or doing negative things, be their inspiration.
You do believe they can do it, so why not tell them. If their self talk is
negative, then you be their positive self talk.... eventually they will start to
say it and believe it too. Life is self fulfilling, failure feeds on itself or
causes more failure, achieving does as well. So if you or your love ones are in
a negative cycle, break the cycle by changing your thoughts, your self talk,
achieve something small to get yourself and your family back into the cycle of
achievement.
20. We all file a flight plan every single day
for our life. Where is your flight going today? Just like a pilot flying, the
winds, the gravitational pull will change your flight and take you off course,
so you must make small corrections along the way to make sure you make your
destination. Have you selected your destination? Have you picked the steps in
your flight plan to get there? Every goal is really that easy, pick the goal and
figure out how to get there. The easiest way to pick your flight path/plan is
find someone who has done it before you, then do what they did. Its all baby
steps you know. Just keep an eye on that destination and keep saying...."here is
my destination, this is where I'm going, this is where I am now, this is how I'm
going to get there.... I will arrive at this time on this day. You can do
it..... its just like getting in your car to go to the store, its just deciding
where you want to go and how to get there, then take that first step. You can do
it!! No matter how big or how outlandish you may think your dream to be... it
is obtainable.
21. Laugh every day and try (as hard as it is
sometimes) to find the positive and the humor in each situation (and have at
least one bite of a truly decadent desert once a week). Life is just too short
to not enjoy it thoroughly.
22. We learn the most and do our best work when
we have fallen on our face, when we are struggling, when we are worried, scared
or frustrated, when we are anguishing over something or troubled by it. It is
then that you have true motivation, when you think clearer. The most brilliant
ideas come to people when they feel lost, frustrated, or at the bottom, helpless
or hopeless. Cherish these times because its when you can come up with your best
ideas to your biggest problems and challenges. You see, there is a reason for
the rainy days.
23. You can't make everyone happy, its useless to
try and wasted energy to think you can. 50% of all people will not agree with
you at any given time, don't worry about it and don't let it stop you. 50%
becomes a lot of people when you are in the public eye. As long as you are not
hurting anyone and you are doing the right thing, then go ahead and do it. If
you are wondering what is the right thing to do, its usually the harder thing to
do, the toughest path to take. The easy way out is rarely the right thing to
do. Instead of worrying over what someone thinks of you or says about you, do
something amazing and outstanding to inspire them or at least have them sitting
on the side lines being jealous, secretly saying, "wow, she has guts". One
person with purpose becomes the majority, one way or another.
1. There are at least two people in this world
That you would die for.
2. At least 15 people in this world Love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you Is because they want to Be just
like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, Even if they don't Like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you Before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. You are special and unique.
8. Someone that you don't even know exists, loves you.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, Something good comes from it.
10. When you think the world has
Turned its back on you, take another look.
11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.
Always in hope and admiration, Celeita
YOUR BANK ACCOUNT
A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully
dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and
shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home
today. His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he
smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.
As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a
visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been
hung on his window.
'I love it,' he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just
been presented with a new puppy.
'Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait.'
'That doesn't have anything to do with it,' he replied.
'Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or
not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged .. it's how I arrange my
mind. I already decided to love it. 'It's a decision I make every morning when
I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the
difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of
bed and be thankful for the ones that do.
Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and
all the happy memories I've stored away. Just for this time in my life.
Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in.
So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank
account of memories!
Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank.
I am still depositing.' Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.
Our
lives with horses...
Our lives with horses are rich with feeling. You know this if you've
ever.... choked back tears watching a new foal wobble to his feet for the
First time ...or watched your good horse wobble to his feet after surgery....
or seen the ends of the reins float straight out as a reining horse spins
beneath them . . or chuckled to yourself as you watched a tiny tot on a
patient pony trot through a barrel pattern at a saddle club payday ... or felt
the building tremble as an eight-up hitch of feather-legged giants towed a
hand-carved beer wagon into the arena ... or had your heart stop when you saw
your horse lying motionless in the pasture on a sunny day and waited
breathlessly for an ear to flick ... or cheered at the screen when 'The Man
From Snowy River' slid Dennie down the mountainside, .. or when Seabiscuit
made his final surge to beat War Admiral ... or cruised along the highway and
seen a horse in a pasture and wondered what he's like to ride or pictured him
as a prospect ... or sucked in your breath as a horse and rider approached a
six-foot wall ... or sworn a solemn oath to your horse that together you would
triumph ... or flipped through the TV channels and stopped when you saw a
horse even when it was a commercial ... or laughed aloud when you rubbed your
horse's face and he rubbed back ... or gotten chills hearing Dave Johnson's
'and DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME!' (or 'Run for the Roses' circa 1980 ish?)
... or stood in awe at your horse in morning play as he sprinted around the
pasture, then stopped, head erect, and snorted defiance at the rest of the
world
... or been thankful to see wild horses grazing casually at the foot of a hill
... or felt calmed by the sleekness of a silky
haircoat beneath your hand ... or felt your jaw drop as you watched a Lipazzan
perform a capriole ... or if you've ever seen someone in the grocery store
wearing a certain kind of hat, or boots, or buckle, or have a certain cut and
length to their jeans, and felt some remote kind of connection ... or felt
warmed by a soft nicker greeting as you entered the barn ... or slid your hand
under your horse's blanket to straighten it out, only to pause in the glowing
feeling that you get when you touch the
warmth of his coat... or riding on a trail with your horse, thinking how that
trail over there looks nice and almost without asking, your horse has sensed
your slightest movement in the saddle and he's now taking you there. ... or
pulled up to your barn where you board and only your horse greets you with a
welcoming hello from the sound of your car or your voice.
HEROES AND HORSES
SOME NOTABLE HEROES AND THEIR HORSES ARE MENTIONED AND WE KNOW YOUR HORSE IS
YOUR HERO AND VICE VERSA.
1. Kanthaka - Buddha's horse, the one he used when he was still Siddhartha
the prince, to escape from his father's palace and begin his journey toward
enlightenment. Kanthaka's hooves made no sounds as they fled together and he
is often depicted being lifted on his four feet by benign spirits.
2. Pegasus - the mythical winged horse parented by Neptune and Medusa and
ridden by Bellerophon to rid the world of Chimera, the monster. Athena, the
Greek goddess of wisdom, was able to capture and train Pegasus when he allowed
her to place her golden bit in his mouth.
3. Phosphorus (Light Bearer) - the great Roman racehorse immortalized by the
4th century Roman poet Ausonius (at the emperor's request) in a beautiful
eulogy: Fly with haste to join the wing-footed horses of Elysium; may
Pegasus gallop on your right and Arion as your left-wheeler, and let Castor
find a fourth horse for the team.
4. Babieca - famed white gelding of El Cid, Rodrigo Diaz of Bivar, the
Spanish hero who united Christians and Muslims against a Moorish onslaught
from Africa. Babieca lived to be 30 years old and carried El Cid into all his
battles. Babieca means "crazy" as Rodrigo made a crazy choice since the colt
was the runt of the herd.
5. Bucephalus (Ox-head) - beloved horse of Alexander the Great who bore the
Macedonian hero on his back from Greece to India. Odds against a horse living
past 20 in that era were great, but Bucephalus, in his 20s, endured until he
fell in battle in India.
6. Sleipnir - the eight-legged war horse of Odin, the Norse god, was able to
fly without wings and shape-shift.
7. Balios and Xanthos - a grey and bay, both sired by Zephyros, the West
Wind, who together pulled Achilles' chariot.
8. Vivasat - a Hindu sun-god who often took the form of a stallion.
9. Al Burak - Mohammed's horse, on whose back he ascended to heaven, was
brought to him by the archangel Gabriel
10. Chiron - the centaur who taught Achilles, Jason and the first physician,
Ascelpius, all he knew.
11. Rakhsh - blue-eyed and dappled red horse of the legendary Persian
warrior, Rustam. Rakhsh was highly intelligent and saved his sleeping master
from a lion's attack, killing the predator.
There are many more famous mythical and real horses and we will be adding to
our list. Can you help us add to this list?. thank you Harmony Horse Works.
The question is not: "do you support horse
slaughter."
The question is: "do you support the cruel, terrifying
transport for days without food and water in their journey to death?"
The question is: "do you support the torture and abuse of
the killer chutes, even for crippled horses, pregnant mares, wild horses,
protective mares with foals by their sides?"
The question is: “Do you support the horse slaughter
factories that lie to their consumers about the many chemicals that taint the
horse meat, and call it Organic?
The question is: do you support the breeder who breeds
hundreds of horses just to pick out the good ones and cash in the rest to the
killer buyer?
The question is: Do you support the person who uses the
horse its whole life and when it gets to an old age sends it to slaughter as a
thank you?
The question is: “do you support the slaughter workers who
cheer a horse on that struggles extra hard for its life?
The question is: Do you support the killer buyer who not
only buys up the strong, fat and healthy horses and leaves the meek weak and
unhealthy for society, but also bids against the good homes and horse rescues?
The question is: “Can you see though the lies of the ones
who stand to loose a buck with the end of horse slaughter?
The question is: Do you support ripping the last of our wild
horses away from their families and peaceful lives to be slaughtered?
The question is: As a nation, can we allow this to continue
and still call ourselves a civilized country?
The question is: "Can you look at the footage of innocent
horses with their eyes gouged out, hooves ripped off, legs broken, beaten by
the workers, faces smashed in from being on the transport trucks, horses
stabbed in their spines, horses conscious for the entire killing process and
do nothing?
That is the question, so what is YOUR answer?
Resolve to make the world a better place for animals
(credit: PETA)
If you haven't already done so,
have the companion animals who depend on you spayed or neutered. These
simple procedures help protect your furry friends from many types of
cancer and prevent thousands of animals from being born only to end up
abandoned on the streets or dumped at severely crowded animal shelters.
If you live with a dog,
pledge to walk him or her every day, even when it's cold outside and you'd
rather hide under a blanket. If you share your home with cats, set
aside some "kitty (or horsey) quality time" every day to play
with, brush, and bond with them. It's sometimes too easy to overlook our
feline friends, but they can get bored and lonely too.
If there is a lonely "backyard dog" in your
neighborhood, try befriending his or her
guardian. Start by politely talking to him or her about the dog's needs,
such as companionship, daily portions of fresh food and water, and a
weatherproof doghouse filled with straw. Many lucky dogs have had their
lives changed because someone like you cared enough to intervene.
If you're shopping for yourself or buying
holidays gifts for your loved ones, stay
away from fur, wool, leather, and companies that make or sell products
made from the skins of animals.
NOTE: Crossed Sabers can not fully guarantee the accuracy of every page
on this website which is huge (38,000 files and over 300 pages). We do not
have the personnel or time to keep it up to date and accurate for every
situation as this Stable and all its programs have always been a dynamic
entity, ever changing and improving itself to meet the needs of horses and
horse people. We do try to make sure each page is up to date and accurate but
the best thing to do If you have a question, is email or call us. Additionally
Crossed Sabers can not guarantee anything that anyone says about us on line,
we have no control over other people and their websites, forums or ads, all we
can tell people is if you do not know the person, their name, address and
their experience, age or history/background/education and location do not
trust what they say. That is true for everything on the internet. Some things
said about us have been grossly inaccurate and did not come from CSS, some
come from past employees we fired for cause (for hurting horses or stealing
from us), people that are pro-slaughter and hate our mission and what we do
for horses enjoy trying to make us look bad, some are horse traders that we've
helped put out of business and some are people we helped put in jail on
neglect cases. Again, if you have questions about us, our services, our
company structure, how we are licensed, how we pay taxes, how we do things or
anything at all, please feel free to contact us, just don't assume that all
you read on another website is accurate because 99% of it is not true,
especially if you read it on a forum, blog or chat room and don't assume that
it came from us, just call 304-873-3532 or email us at secondwindadopt@aol.com,
or better yet, come and see our operation and you will see how we do things. I
can guarantee it's 1000 times better than what the liars and frauds say who
are jealous of our work. All programs and services listed on this website, including
SWAP is a part of Crossed Sabers Stable which has been licensed in WV for the
last 13 years. The Mountain State Horse School and Second Wind Adoption
Program, Inc. and Crossed Sabers International Horse School, Inc. was
incorporated on 4 Sep 08 to address the education needs and life challenges of
people and horses.
Buyer and Seller Beware!! Update on the
Robin Hollingsworth of Blacksburg, SC
(she has several alias's and about 10 fake names) fraud case for those
of you who have been asking. The SC prosecutor accepted a plea bargain from
her and dropped the case if she paid the people she ripped off (the people she
took money under false pretenses from when she sold them horses she did not
own), she did that so she was let go but the 3 arrests will stay on her record
and the record of what she did to all those people is still on the books and
will stay there. If she is caught again I'm certain she will go to jail but
people who are cheated by her must stand up and testify.. If more people that
she ripped off would have not chickened out and backed out because of fear
(Quote from them was we are scared of her, she is crazy) she would be in jail
right now but beware, she is still loose and still taking free horses or
companion horses that have things like ringbone and navicular and drugging
them and then selling them as high level jumpers and competition horses on the
internet. Her daughter works with her, Amanda or Mandy, she helps her rip
people off. Beware, I'm getting calls almost every month where Robin has
committed more crimes against people, taking horses, not paying for them,
bouncing checks, buying vehicles and horse trailers and not paying for them.
BEWARE OF THIS WOMAN!! If you want her history or to check a person's name
against our black list (our do not adopt to, do not sell to, do not buy from,
do not hire or even rent to list), then contact us.
BEWARE: Do not buy a horse from anyone you
do not know, ESPECIALLY ON THE INTERNET, unless they have websites like ours,
their names and addresses listed and they show they have a long long history
on their website and do not buy unless you go to see the horse and have it vet
checked and you have contact with the vet, not the seller or even trainer
telling you what the vet said. DO NOT GIVE YOUR HORSE OR SELL YOUR HORSE
WITHOUT A WRITTEN AGREEMENT AS TO WHAT IS TO HAPPEN WITH THE HORSE, RESELLING,
USE/LIMITATIONS, FACILITIES NEEDED, ETC. It you sell or give away a horse with
no agreement, they could go to slaughter the same day you release them or they
could be sold and misrepresented, living a life of neglect, abuse, over use
and miss use the rest of their lives. We hear stories all the time where a
best friend or neighbor, the nice lady you gave the horse to sent the horse to
slaughter or is neglecting it and there is not a thing the owner can do now
because they no longer own the horse and they made no written agreements
signed by both parties. If you need help doing written agreements, back ground
checks on buyers and sellers, just contact us, that is part of our 'SAFE
SELLING' SERVICES. Your horse's life depends on you being safe and thorough!
BEWARE: People are selling horses on the
internet that don't even exist so beware, the horse industry is full is liars,
cheaters, and thieves, even we have had to deal with them from potential
adopters who were in jail applying to adopt, to employees and former trainers
who totally ripped us off by stealing tack and tools, asking for huge advances
and then leaving after they get them, people who don't even know us or had any
experience with us slandering us on forums, harassing us and our supporters,
interfering with company operations and even adopters who don't think twice
about breaching their contract or forging their vets signature on applications
& annual updates or even selling their adoption horse to programs like ours
and even 501c3's public charities selling horses to slaughter auctions or
being put in jail for neglect and animal cruelty. We are bringing each person
that has wronged our horses to justice one at a time and winning all our cases
but that does not protect the general public from these liars, thieves,
con-artist and cheaters. Your horses life can easily be ruined forever, they
could end up in a fate worse than death so buyer and seller beware, your
horses life depends on you keeping them safe and you being thorough with doing
things like getting references and making sure the people have stable
employment, that they really own the farm they say they do, doing background
checks to check for criminal records. The horse world is full of dishonesty
which ruins it for honest people that really care and always try to do the
right thing, such a shame. Just be very careful and get proof that your horse
is going to a good home, get more than a feeling because we promise you about
50% of the time when it comes to horses, your feeling that its a 'nice' person
or a 'good' person' is wrong. And even when you pick a good home, they can
turn around and sell or give away to a bad home.
HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and
height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them'
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches and negative people pull
you down. People who like to cause trouble will shorten your life and make you
just like them... miserable.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening,
whatever. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.'
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen.. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who
is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets,
keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable,
improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next
county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the
moments that take our breath away
Proud to be an American!!
Crossed Sabers Stable
Home of
2009 Year in Reviews
Below is our 2009 Pictorial review (staring some
of our
adoption horses), also some of our SWAP friends, supporters and family. I wish
we could show all the pictures from our annual updates but we get thousands of
updates from adopters each year so we have to choose our favorites. Saying
Goodbye to the people and animals the SWAP family has lost this year, they all
leave us with a piece of our heart and will never be forgotten. A special thank
you to all our adopters who have opened up their homes and hearts to our 4
legged friends, for always doing what is best for them and for being such a
great friend to SWAP. We thank you for being such an important part of the SWAP
family. To all the kids from Pony Pastures who sent us so many letters and thank
you's, we wish we could show everyone of them because they are all cherished. Turn up your sound,
click on the video and enjoy... hit your back button to return here when
finished.
The video below is life on the farm and all our
acitivities. Our wonderful volunteers, supporters, friends and family in action,
plus all the critters that we've helped this year... doing what we do best ...
helping horses, dogs and cats that come to us in search of a home. The first
pictures are just a few of our BEFORE AND AFTER pictures of our
rescues...just so you can see the transformation of just a few of these horses.
If you see a picture of a skinny horse or dog, that was taken upon their arrival
at Crossed Sabers Stable, they don't stay that way long, its one thing we are
very good at. Turn up your sound, hit the link and enjoy and remember to click
your back button to return here.
monthly counters started on February 13, 2010 for the website, does not count
individual pages or hits, only numbers of visitors and country they are from.
These are updated once a day about 8:30am. We do love our international
visitors. Welcome!
Subject: SWAP Top 10 (Old Timers Update & Urgent Home Needed,
too)
Newsletter Title
Month Year
Dear
Friends,
Tough Times
continue to be the words of the day for
Crossed Sabers and Second Wind, we have a
couple of urgent situations and some fund
raisers that will be critical to keep us
going. If you can find a way to participate in
one, please do, we need you today.
We have cut the prices on all horses, they
are at $900. or below... hunters/jumpers, 3rd
and several 1st level dressage horses, driving
horses, trail horses, beginner and kids horses
and ponies, gaited horses, all ages, all
training levels. We urgently need to lower the
numbers of our horses now. Sadly we have 2
more adopters returning horses over personal
situations and one threatening to put the
horse down, so we need to try to find
solutions for all these guys.
Regards,
Celeita A. Kramer, President and Executive
Director
Diana Greenhalgh, Secretary/Treasurer,
Office Manager
Beth Dombrowsky & Maureen Lee, Directors
Tom & Ruby Fleming, Neglect/Abuse Case
Workers
Trainers/Riders/Grooms: Donna Moore,
Hilary Heaster, Sara Gouer, Kaitlyn
Snodgrass
Crossed Sabers Stable
The Mountain State Horse School and Second
Wind Adoption Program, Inc
Crossed Sabers International Life School,
Inc
Address: RR 2 Box 24A Jockey Camp Road,
West Union, WV 26456
Office: 304- 873-3532 Fax number:
304-873-1867 (call before faxing)
"Where Dreams become Reality, See the
Vision, Live the Dream"
Celebrating 14 years of Service to Horses
and the Horse Industry, 1996 - 2010
Over 2000 Adoptions of 68 Different Breeds
of Horses in 46 States and Canada
Over 350 Dogs and Cats of all Breeds in
Loving Homes
SWAP horse Andy, the Arab Stallion located
about about 15 miles from St. Louis on the
Illinois. The adopter has died and her
husband is threatening to put the horse
down. Sadly not much was done for this horse
during the last 10 years except general
care, which we are thankful for but Andy is
not castrated, they did not register him
even though they had all the paperwork to
register him and he was never put under
saddle. At one time that would not have been
such an issue but in todays horse market,
that puts a horse at risk to not find a home
and to bounce through many homes. We are
looking for an urgent adopter who will do
the right thing, train this horse and get
him castrated. He is a young, sound horse.
Sadly, the adopters husband is not willing
to pay to have Andy returned to us but
really the best thing now is to find Andy a
quality home for life. Right now Andy is
free to a good home so the adopter can use
their funds to get him home and cared for.
He is at a good weight and not neglected at
this time.
For those of you that remember all the SA
horses that came to us, he was from the same
farm. We suspect he is the 1/2 or full
brother to SA Matador that is now at Pony
Pastures, that has turned into an amazing
hunter horse who is beating all the
warmbloods in competition in Maryland and
Virginia.
ALL ADOPTION FEES AT OR BELOW $900 WITH THE
CURRENT SPECIAL
We've not had prices this low in probably
10 years but we must reduce our numbers before
fall and winter. We do not have the funds to
go into winter with probably more than 10
adoption horses. We've just had 5 horses
returned from adopters in personal situations
where they can no longer keep their horses and
we must be able to accept these horses back.
We have so many wonderful horses for all
disciplines, all ages, many different breeds,
all training and experience levels from
beginner horses up to 3rd level dressage
horses and horses for all jobs.
Please consider adopting one of our horses
please, you can see them at:
-Rock Doctor, Orphy, & Dixie are free to a
good home (Darlin, Orphy and Dixie are
companion horses, no riding, Rock Doctor
are rideable)
SECOND WIND WINES
This really is
a wonderful way to raise funds for horses,
Second Wind Wines, high quality Chilean and
Spanish Wines with our labels and SWAP gets
all the profits. This is a long term fund
raiser that will be available forever, YES,
Forever. Its easy to order right on line on
their secure website and shipped right to
your door. They have wonderful package deals
of the entire group. A super way to have a
wine tasting party and then invite your
friends to order at the end of the evening.
Please consider these wines for your
professional and family events, dinners
and holidays. You won't be disappointed.
Order below:
This is becoming depressing, asking for
money for feed and farrier funds., boy how
things have changed. We've given a few
horses away to good homes and the rest of
the adoptions is paying payments so we
aren't bringing in enough to cover the feed
delivery that will come next week. Its
$1250. and we are at the 2 month point for
the farrier to come in. The farrier is
usually right around $600.
If we can get our supporters to help on our
feed, I'll find a way to get the farrier
done even if I have to sell something of my
personal stuff. To make a donation to the
feed fund call Foster Feeds at
304.269.1333 and talk to Charlie,
give him your credit card number and the
amount you want to donate and he will add it
to our feed fund that will pay for our next
feed delivery. This is very secure and they
distroy all receipts, they don't even keep
the names so we know who called in.
For those of you who donated last month,
thank you. Your donations gave us life for
another month. Lets see if we can do that
again while I work on reducing our numbers
for winter.
WIN BIG WITH THE FARM FUND RAISER
Raise
$1000. for SWAP and get a chance to Win a
beautiful 15 carat Ruby and Diamond Ring
Sign Up Today
for a Once in a Lifetime Opportunity
The FIRST 70
people that raise $1000. and send it to
Crossed Sabers / Second Wind will be entered
in the drawing for this one of a kind,
personally designed Ruby and Diamond ring.
Our designer is one of the SWAP supporters
and she's very graciously agreed to donate
this amazing rin...g for this Fund Raiser
only. Even if you don't personally want the
ring, it would be a once in a life time gift
for your mom, girl friend/wife, sister, best
friend or love interest.
Description of
the Ring: It's a Ruby and diamond ring with
a total carat weight of 15.40. The center
stone is an oval cut ruby weighing 14.0
carats and is surrounded by two rows of
SI-1, I-2 diamonds with a total weight of
1.40 carats. It is set in yellow gold with a
gold weight of 8.94 grams and stamped 14kt.
The measurements are from the gem id card
provided by the U.S. Gemological Laboratory
and have not been independently verified by
Second Wind Adoption, Celeita Kramer, Faye
York or Front and Center, LLC.
Why We are
Doing this Fund Raiser: The biggest expense
besides the caring for the horses is this
farm and more specifically the mortgage
payment. With the farm paid it will solidify
SWAP's home forever and also give us another
$1100. each month to put toward caring for
the horses, money that is so badly needed in
this economy. The mortgage has always been
kept current and paid but it's a huge
expense and a huge task to pull together
every month. Today with the economy,
adoptions and donations the way they are,
this may be the only way we have to keep
this farm to support this program. We are
very close to having to sell it just to keep
from losing it, we have always found a way
to stay current on the payments but they are
getting harder and harder to pull together
every month. If we no longer have this farm,
SWAP will certainly exist as we have to
follow our horses in their homes for life
but we will not be able to accept the 75 to
300 horses we accept here each year. Over
the next 10 years that could be as many as
3000 horses gone to slaughter, dying in some
field starved to death or just no place to
go so they are put down. It also leaves us
with no ability to take back even our own
SWAP horses to give them what they need
before they go to their new home and since
80% of horse owners only keep their horse
for an average of 4 to 5 years, it's a sad
statistic of how many horses lose their home
over their lifetime and a sign of how badly
we need to be prepared to take them back in
times of need. For many of the horses we are
their last chance. Our program will change
forever without this farm.
How You can
Raise the Funds: ask friends to help you win
this ring, ask friends to help the horses,
if you have it yourself then send it in,
have bake sales, a book sale, set up a stand
at a horse show, have a garage sale or sale
at a flea market. Get your friends and
family involved. Go to www.fundraisers.com
for ideas and be sure to check your state
laws for things like raffles and charity
poker... www.fundraisers.com has details of
all that and hundreds of fund raising ideas.
But hey, if nothing else, just ask 10
friends for $100. or 20 friends for $50. or
50 friends for $20. or 100 friends for $10.
its just that easy.
Right now the
Old Timers Sanctuary has 4 horses (Orphy,
Jelly Bean, Darlin, & Dixie) None of
them are sound for riding.
We have to 3 dogs in the old timers, 2
more problem children that can really not
go anywhere else and 3 more
adoption/rescue dogs. We did get enough to
keep the horses for a month or two but we
won't be able to keep them through winter.
We've got to get back to 10 adoption
horses one way or another as we just won't
have the funds for the 3500 bales of hay
we need and the 6 to 8 months of grain at
$1250 a month. There is no way we can
raise that money between now and winter.
So we either have to get them adopted.
The last thing we want to do is put these
horses down, they have been in our program
for 10 to 14 years, we've watched them and
protected them in and out of many homes
and now when they need us the most we
struggle to make ends meet. It breaks all
our hearts here.
ADOPTED
Two of our old timers have found homes,
Jasfar and Azim. Plus a rescue, Chance, the
chestnut Tennessee Walking Horse, plus both
horses that we saved out of North Carolina
are either adopted or pending adoption. Ren
is pretty close to being adopted by Pony
Pastures in Maryland.
Saying Good bye to our beloved lucy, the Old
Timer female Doberman, she got pneumonia
about 2 months ago and we and the doctor had
been giving her meds but it never seems to
help her. She died in her sleep just week
ago. Rest in Peace sweet girl, we will miss
you go much.
HAPPY ENDINGS
Fuzzy
and Emily at a Show in Virginia
Irish
and Lori in NC
Banner
and Nancy in Indiana
1 WEEK AT A CAPE COD COTTAGE IN SEPTEMBER
We still have
one week available for our Cape Cod Cottage,
all the weeks in September are available.
The week is only $1000. and valued at $3500.
retail. The cottage sleeps 8 and sits right
across the street from this lovely harbor.
contact us if you would like to buy this
weeks vacation. 304.873.3532
Subject: Raise $1000. for SWAP and get a Chance to Win a
Ruby/Diamond Ring
Raise $1000. for SWAP and get a one in 70 chance
to Win a beautiful 15 carat Ruby and Diamond Ring
pictures taken outside
pictures taken inside
Sign Up Today for
a Once in a Lifetime Opportunity
The FIRST 70
people that raise $1000. and send it to Crossed
Sabers / Second Wind will be entered in the
drawing for this one of a kind, personally
designed Ruby and Diamond ring. Our
designer is one of the SWAP supporters and she's
very graciously agreed to donate this amazing ring
for this Fund Raiser only. Even if you don't
personally want the ring, it would be a once in a
life time gift for your mom, girl friend/wife,
sister, best friend or love interest.
Description
of the Ring: It's a Ruby and
diamond ring with a total carat weight of 15.40.
The center stone is an oval cut ruby weighing 14.0
carats and is surrounded by two rows of SI-1, I-2
diamonds with a total weight of 1.40 carats. It
is set in yellow gold with a gold weight of 8.94
grams and stamped 14kt. The measurements are from
the gem id card provided by the U.S. Gemological
Laboratory and have not been independently
verified by Second Wind Adoption, Celeita Kramer,
Faye York or Front and Center, LLC.
Why We are
Doing this Fund Raiser: The
biggest expense besides the caring for the horses
is this farm and more specifically the mortgage
payment. With the farm paid it will solidify
SWAP's home forever and also give us another
$1100. each month to put toward caring for the
horses, money that is so badly needed in this
economy. The mortgage has always been kept current
and paid but it's a huge expense and a huge task
to pull together every month. Today with the
economy, adoptions and donations the way they are,
this may be the only way we have to keep this farm
to support this program. We are very close to
having to sell it just to keep from losing it, we
have always found a way to stay current on the
payments but they are getting harder and harder to
pull together every month. If we no longer have
this farm, SWAP will certainly exist as we have to
follow our horses in their homes for life but we
will not be able to accept the 75 to 300 horses we
accept here each year. Over the next 10 years that
could be as many as 3000 horses gone to slaughter,
dying in some field starved to death or just no
place to go so they are put down. It also leaves
us with no ability to take back even our own SWAP
horses to give them what they need before they go
to their new home and since 80% of horse owners
only keep their horse for an average of 4 to 5
years, it's a sad statistic of how many horses
lose their home over their lifetime and a sign of
how badly we need to be prepared to take them back
in times of need. For many of the horses we are
their last chance. Our program will change forever
without this farm.
How You can
Raise the Funds: ask friends to
help you win this ring, ask friends to help the
horses, if you have it yourself then send it in,
have bake sales, a book sale, set up a stand at a
horse show, have a garage sale or sale at a flea
market. Get your friends and family involved. Go
to www.fundraisers.com for ideas and be sure to
check your state laws for things like raffles and
charity poker...
www.fundraisers.com has details
of all that and hundreds of fund raising ideas.
But hey, if nothing else, just ask 10 friends for
$100. or 20 friends for $50. or 50 friends for
$20. or 100 friends for $10. its just that easy.
How to Start
(Your Team CheckList):
1. Select a team name, it could just be Team _____
_______ with your name or Team Anonymous if you
just want to stay unknown to the public listings
that will be on our website and on facebook, as
all teams will be listed there. We are looking for
about 140 teams or more to sign up and we feel
that should give it a good competition and plenty
of people to be trying to make that FIRST 70 teams
to turn in $1000.
2. Send to secondwindadopt@aol.com the name of
your team, your name, address, email address and
phone number so we can be in touch with each team.
3. Start Fund Raising immediately, remember this
is a contest driven by time!!
4. Take the names and address of all donors and
the amount donated. Make all Checks out to Second
Wind Adoption Program.
5. When you get ALL the $1000. collected send it
all to Second Wind Adoption Program, Route 2 Box
24A Jockey Camp Road, West Union, West Virginia
26456, don't send partial payments.
6. Send the list of all donors, their addresses
and the amount donated with the $1000.
7. Once all checks have cleared at SWAP HQ, your
team name will be placed in the hat for the
drawing.
8. Once we have our FIRST 70 donors of $1000. we
will have the drawing. The drawing will be video
taped and put on Youtube.com and the address will
be published on facebook, at www.crossedsabers.com
and in our newsletter, the winner will be notified
by phone and email.
9. The ring will be shipped (insured) with the
appraisal to the winner within a week of the
drawing. The drawing will take place as soon as we
have all 70 teams with their money in and cleared
or 1 December which ever comes first.
10. All other teams will then send in what they
have raised or collected with the list of all
donors/addresses/amounts donated to Second Wind
Adoption Program, Route 2 Box 24A Jockey Camp
Road, West Union, West Virginia 26456
Rules of the
Fund Raiser:
All moneys donated will go to the principal
balance on the farm. No money donated on this fund
raiser will go to any other item.
Any money donated over and above the principal
will be put toward either hay, grain, vet or
farrier expenses for the adoption or retirement
horses. As the donor you can specify how the money
is spent if the principal of the farm is paid off.
All funds will be paid immediately to the bank
holding the mortgage. Paid receipts to the bank
will be available for review by the 70 + donors or
team leaders.
Team Leaders will raise the money and send their
$1000 in at one time, once all checks and funds
have cleared, Their team name will be put into a
hat for the drawing.
If a person sends $5000. in their name will go
into the hat for the drawing 5 times.
The drawing will be completed when we have the
FIRST 70 people that have donated $1000.
The contest starts immediately, as soon as this
information is released to the public (on the
Website/Facebook and Mass Mail). It ends when we
have the FIRST 70 Donors to send in $1000.
The President/Executive Director will make the
drawing for the winner, in the presence of an
independent party that does not have a team and is
not an employee or volunteer of Crossed
Sabers/SWAP/TMSHS/CSILS.
No past or present PAID employees of Crossed
Sabers Stable, Second Wind Adoption Program, The
Mountain State Horse School or The International
Life School is eligible for the drawing to win the
ring (but you can raise $1000. for the horses if
you like).
Unpaid Volunteers that have never been paid and
never received any compensation of any kind are
eligible on the drawing for the ring.
Updates on the number of People that have donated
their $1000. will be placed on Facebook on the
Presidents Page, on the Crossed Sabers Facebook
Page, The website www.crossedsabers.com, and in
our e-newsletter that goes out to 5300 people.
If any person signs up a team to raise the $1000.
but fails to do so or you aren't one of the first
70 people to get your money in by the end of the
fund raiser, all funds raised must be sent to
Crossed Sabers since that is what you told people
you were raising money for, no funds raised will
go to any other expense or person (to keep this
honest for all parties involved). If donations
have been taken from any other person, they must
be sent to Crossed Sabers / Second Wind even if
its less than $1000. and even if you were not one
of the first 70 people.
The person raising the money/Team Leader will
collect all the names, addresses and amounts
donated of the donors as we will need those to
send out receipts to donors.
All Checks will be made out to Second Wind
Adoption Program and the $1000. will be mailed to:
Second Wind Adoption Program, Route 2 Box 24A
Jockey Camp Road, West Union, West Virginia 26456.
It can come in the form of a bank check, money
order or several personal checks. Its not
recommended that you send cash through the mail
unless its registered and insured. Please send all
funds express USPS mail to insure it gets to us
quickly. You can send it registered if you like
but DO NOT REQUIRE OR REQUEST A SIGNATURE because
it takes the mailman and a person at Crossed
Sabers at least a week to get in the same place at
the same time to get a signature, it will greatly
delay the $1000. processing
The actual appraisal will come with the ring. We
will not releasing the appraisal in advance
because we don't want someone to do this just to
get a ring for resale, we want people to do it to
help horses and to get a wonderful ring for
themselves to enjoy or to give as an amazing once
in a life time gift to someone they care about.
After the winner is selected, we will release the
appraisal to the 70 teams, be prepared to be wowed
by the beauty of this ring. Even though we feel
strongly about the accuracy of the appraisal of
the ring and gems, we did not independently verify
the measurements, value and weights and therefore
are not making any representations or warranties
of the measurements or value of the ring.
More pictures will be on the website
www.crossedsabers.com and our Presidents
facebook page
Sign up Today to send / raise $1000. or send in
$1000 and lets get you signed up to win. Remember
we make the drawing then we have 70 donors with
$1000. so time is critical, don't wait.
From Everyone at SWAP, TMSHS, CSILS & Crossed
Sabers Stable.... lets secure this farm for the
horses and dogs in need!
Raise $1000. get a chance to Win
Crossed Sabers Stable
DATE: drawing will be when we have 70
donors with $1000. or 1 December (which ever comes
first)
LOCATION: anywhere!
Start Date: Today, sign yourself or your team
up today!
Congrats to our
President for the selection and induction into
the ROTC Hall of Fame at West Virginia State
University, quite the honor , formerly a
military school WVSU has only inducted 100
graduates into their Hall of Fame. After 30
years Celeita is still the only ROTC grad that
earned Army Aviator Wings. The induction is
at the Embassy Suites in Charleston, WV on
October 14th, 2010.
Her nomination recognized her as the first
female blackhawk pilot in the Department of
Defense and said that "seeing a woman pilot
today is not the exception but the norm
because of Major Kramer."
Celeita was also included in the
Smithsonian Institute's Air and Space 1985
Exhibit on "Women in Aviation" and her picture
hangs in the main hall today at the Women's
Military Memorial in Washington, DC beside of
the Arlington Cemetery and across the potomac
River from the Lincoln Memorial.
We are so proud of our fearless leader.
Avon and SWAP has teamed up in a Fund
Raiser, until the 21st of May, 20% of all
purchases will be donated to SWAP for the
horses. Great products and a perfect time
to get that Skin So Soft that is so good
for flies. (Skin So Soft, Apple Cider
Vinegar & water mixed together for a great
fly spray)
Be Sure to put in the Code SWAPHORSES
during check out!!
Sincerely,
Everyone at Crossed Sabers Stable
304-873-3532
SWAP Horses in their Homes
We
hope you enjoy these pictures, we
certainly do... a clear reminder why we do
this crazy work.... the very happy
endings!! Send more, its our motivation in
very tough times!
Warmblood
gelding Chester and jenny at a Dressage
Show in virginia
Standardbred
gelding Fuzzy aka Remmington at his first
show with BFF Emily, they got 2nd out of
23 in their class. YEA!
Appendix
QH mare Allie at home in WV with Jeannie
and family
Standardbred
gelding Tropic Knight with his BFF Megan
at home in Ohio
standardbred
gelding, Kyber Hanover and his BFF Evan at
home in virginia
Arab
gelding Little Man and his little buddy at
home with Rebecca in Houston, TX
Arab
Mare Melody and Katharine celebrate
success at their first show in Virginia
Standardbred
Gelding Ramses and his BFF at home in Ohio
Haflinger
Pony mare Pip aka Sugar having fun in a
"kid roping" event at Pony Pastures in
Maryland
QH
gelding Malone and his BFF and SWAP Kitty
Bear at home with Starr in WV
TB
mare Miss Bee enjoying her rigorous
training regiment at her new home in TX
with Sheryl
Standardbred
mare B Isadore or Miss B at home with Pat
in TX celebrating spring and thinking,
YEA! Winter is gone!! Yes, we have a Miss
B and Miss Bee right in the Dallas area...
what a hoot!!
Thank You to all our
Volunteers!
The volunteer weekend was a huge success,
unfortunately we didn't get everyone into
the picture, so there are several missing
from the pic. A special thank you to:
Susan DeWhitt
The Cadets from the WV Challenge Academy
Sara and Teresa Souer
Kaitlin, Twyla and Rick Snodgrass
Donna Moore Goff
Ruby Fleming
Hilary Heaster
Diana Greenhalgh & Carolyn
MaryLou & her cute munckins
Celeita Kramer
Crossed Sabers Stable
Rt 2 Box 24A Jockey Camp Road
West Union, West Virginia 26456
304-873-3532
Save!!
SWAP Adoptathon Extended Until
Sunday May 16th
Offer Expires: May 16th 2010
Subject: Ladies Volunteer Weekend and Derby Party May 1st & 2nd
Ladies Volunteer
Weekend and Derby Party
Hosted by Crossed
Sabers Stable (MSHS and SWAP)
May 1st 9am -
until ? and May 2nd until 4pm (come anytime) Race is
at 4pm on Saturday
Two Days of
fun with horses. Saturday spend the day helping the
horses at Second Wind Adoption Program, finish it
off with a little Derby Dinner/snacks and the 136th
running of the Kentucky Derby. Sunday will be
another day of volunteering for the horses. Joining
us on Sunday with be the WV Challenge Academy doing
their community service work. Should be a fun day
away from home, helping horses and seeing this
historical horse race on a 62 inch screen. If you
want to come and stay, there are 5 beds left open
for reservations for 5 more lucky ladies, more space
available if bringing a daughter and you don't mind
sharing a full bed, make your reservation today by
calling 304-873-3532 or emailing secondwindadopt@aol.com.
We'd love to have you.
Spring is here and we
are jumping into
the farm repairs and
getting horses trained.
We've never appreciated
spring more than this
year.
All winter long we were
getting emails about
programs like ours
closing their doors
because of a lack of
funds. Or they
completely stopped
taking horses. Terrible
news at a time when
horses need all of us to
help them, to keep them
safe and in wonderful
homes for life.
Thanks to each of you,
we accepted horses all
winter long and have
just accepted 6 new
horses and several
dogs in our elder dog
sanctuary. We are on
the job 110%.
Many animals have
benefited from your
continued support.
Thank
you all,
Celeita Kramer
President, The Mountain
State Horse School &
Second Wind Adoption
Program
Bravo, the feed fund for
this month was very
successful. Thank you all!
We raised enough money to
get 4 bags short of 5 tons
and because of recent
adoptions we were able to
pay it to make an even 5
tons. this should cover us
for 3 1/2 weeks. YEA!!
We're going to
continue keeping a Feed Fund
at Foster Feeds, to make a
donation for the next
delivery all you have to do
is call 304-269-1333 and
talk to Charlie and give him
a credit card for your
donation. Just tell him its
for Crossed Sabers Stable's
Feed Fund. Second Wind's EIN
is 263252406 so you don't
have to pay taxes on your
purchase/donation. We always
get the 12% creep feed
(which is a mix of pellets,
oats, and cracked corn).
Again, our faithful
horse lovers came through
when we needed them most.
Thanks to each of you for
being the Second Wind for
each of our horses.
This is an excellent
option for paying for
purchases and adoptions too
if you want to use a credit
card. You just make your
donation to equal your
adoption fee.
Pretty soon we will be
needing to get more hay, our
hay is only going to last
until the middle of April if
we are lucky. Eventually we
would love to raise money
for a bulk feed bin so we
can still have room to walk
in our feed room when we
have feed... save our old
backs too.
CAPE COD COTTAGE AUCTION
We
still have a 2nd week
available for the Cape Cod
Cottage and taking bids now
for this week long vacation
in a cottage that sleeps 8
right across the street from
this beautiful site... many
weeks are still available.
Check out our SWAP Shopping
page for details. Bidding
Ends a 5pm on the 11th of
April! Don't miss this
amazing opportunity. call
304-873-3532 or email
secondwindadopt@aol.com
to bid, bids start at $1100.
(retail value of $3500.)
A special thank you
to SWAP adopters, the Cox
family for sharing their
wonderful family heirloom
and to T Geier of Virginia
for being the high bidder on
our first auction this year.
VOLUNTEER & FUN STUFF
Saturdays are still our
regular volunteering day and
we've made Wednesday's
Ladies Days for those who
may have some free time
during the week. We'd love
to have anyone that wants to
come.
Volunteers
of all ages help get Happy
ready to leave for his new
home.
Brianna,
Donna and Cara put Klacks
first saddle on him... as
you can see, he was a
pro... we'll be riding him
really soon.
ADOPTED
Happy, Lucy, Gameel, Cassie,
Miss Bee, Gracie and Allie
were all adopted. Thank you to
the families and people who
gave these horses homes and to
the donors who trusted us with
their precious family members.
THANK YOU!
These are all the people
that donated, assisted our
program, adopted, &
volunteered over the last
months....
J James of KY
D Ferrell of VA
A Kerness of NJ
C Zimmerman of NJ
T Sherry of VA
Assurance FCU of VA
M Dewitt of VA
R Webb of WV
Rusty Stirrups
Riding Club in VA
H and R Brown of TN
Marla and friends of
WV
D Ames of OH
T & R Fleming of WV
S Gauer of WV
P Boll of GA
K Edwards of NJ
T & R Fleming of WV
C Yunque of WV
D Moore of WV
C Parrish of WV
Liz and LeeAnn of WV
B Dombrowsky of VA
Huntington Stables of OH
Kaitlin, our gaited
horse rider of WV
AJ of H&HR of WV
J Wong of WV
D Greenhalgh of WV
M. Lee of NC
Foster Feeds in WV
J Shields of WV
The farriers and
students at Meredith
Manor
F. Gentile of PA
Dr. Loomis, DVM of WV
Dr. McDonald, DVM of WV
G Grimm of PA
M. Ashtalter of VA
A. Hart of WV
P. Wiley of WV
All our friends on
Facebook who Donated to
the Feedfund
Many thanks to each and
every one of you... you
make this all possible.
Every penny counts, every
day you spend with a horse
here makes a difference.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
The biggest thing we
need right now is grain, hay
and adoptions.... We have just
taken in 6 new horses, 3 were
rescues and 2 of those are in
deplorable shape.Even after all the
adoptions we are still sitting
at 30 horses located here and
many more in foster homes.
Here are the two new rescues
that really need your help...
5
year old palomino Walking
horse gelding, hip bones
sticking out, rain rot, all
ribs showing, in dyer need of
help and groceries.
14
year old Walking horse mare,
you can see the entire
outline of her pelvic bone,
all ribs and severe rain
rot. Both hay and grain or
funds for hay and grain will
be needed to help this girl
gain the near 300 lbs she
needs to gain. Of course,
the authorites have done
nothing to prosecute and
probably won't. Terribly sad
that this continues
throughout the US without
making the owners pay for
this type of damage and
neglect.
Thank you Tom and
Ruby, our neglect case
workers for all the help on
this case.
Lets work on getting the other
4 out of that home where they
continue to suffer.
Watch the
transformation of these two
over the next 90 days. Their
days of suffering are over,
its all behind them now.
MOUNTAIN STATE HORSE SCHOOL
MANE EVENTS
Our first Volunteer
Weekend is also the same
weekend of our Ladies
Weekend Getaway and Derby
Party May 1st and 2nd. On
Saturday we'll play with
horses and have a Derby
Party and Dinner. Sunday
will be a work day on the
farm but we know many will
have to get on the road
that day. We have 8 slots
open for ladies to stay
here... just let us know.
Come Friday or Saturday
and Depart on Sunday.
We'll be riding, training,
grooming... just spending
time with the horses.
Plus the WV
Challenge Academy will
be joining us on May 2nd
and 23rd for community
service days.
ADOPTION HORSES AT THEIR HOMES
Trakehner
mare Imperiale and Tara enjoy
a roll around her ring in
Maryland.
The
love of the Meek family,
Standardbred gelding Ramses
with Mom Traci at home in
Ohio.
Standardbred
gelding Tooter and adopter
Ed giving cart rides at an
open house at fellow SWAP
adopters Pony Pastures in
Maryland. Ed also does a
mean Cavalry demonstration
that would make any rider
want to do civil war
reinacting. Ed is also the
adopter of Gissy the QH
gelding and Apple Jack, the
miniature donkey, both from
the large Lewis County
rescue we did in 2007.
Geriatric
thoroughbred mare and long
time SWAP horse Waiting
Maiden at home with
Lindsey in Missouri... now
just a companion horse but
she loves her life with
Lindsey and her family.
Kudos Lindsey, she looks
wonderful and we know how
hard of a keeper she
is..... Bravo!
Rules of this adoption
special:
1. 20% off all horses when
paying payments
2. 30% off on Andy, Romeo,
Irish (in NJ), Klack, Beau,
Trinket, Sukhoi (in MI), Sassy
and Ren (in VA) when paying in
full up front vs. paying
payments
3. 50% off on all the other
horses when paying up front
vs. paying payments
4. We are also taking bidding
on a week at the Cape Cod
Cottage (we have one more week
to auction off), bidding
starts at $1100., several
weeks to choose from still, if
high bidder, the payment must
be in by the 1st of May. See
SWAP Shopping for details on
the cottage.
4. The adoption application,
adoption contract and fee must
be in by Sunday April 11th to
get these adoption prices.
5. This is a first come, best
home, first serve so don't
wait to visit horses and get
your application in now!
6. email us at secondwindadopt@aol.com
or call 304-873-3532 to get
questions answered. Visit any
day while the special is going
on, we will be open.
All SWAP adopters get 5% off
on tack and supplies (on top
of all the other deals) at
Free Spirit Saddles & Tack,
Inc (website is www.fstack.com).
A special thank you to SWAP
donor Merry Nehls, this
special is good all the way
through the END of 2010. All
SWAP adopters, get your SWAP
check out code here by
emailing us at secondwindadopt@aol.com
For transport estimates and
scheduling call Michael
(equine shuttle service) at
540-250-6436 or Trish at
hopefulhillfarm@yahoo.com 804
883 7691 (h), 804 477 5506 (c)
Spring riding is
here! Don't miss these super
adoption fees!
SAYING GOODBYE
Saying
Goodbye to the people,
dogs and horses that we've
loved and lost.....
Long time SWAP
friend/supporter and horse
lover, Big'n's original
Mommy, Alice Saczawa of
Virginia....
Road Test or Roadie,
multi talented and a
sweetheart died at home in
Indiana with the Macy family
Quarter Horse Mare
Mindy died in her home in
Michigan
Standardbred Gelding
Farnaway Hanover, Farney
died in his home in Michigan
Tri colored event
horse Mr. P died at his home
in NC
Morgan mare Georgia
was put down in her home
after a long struggle with
founder
Geriatric Fox
Trotter gelding Dakota lived
out his last days with his
buddies Sue and Kochese at
SWAP HQ
Maggie Mae went to
heaven too many years before
she should have, after
surviving being nearly
starved to death and
abandoned on her families
farm where she was rescued
by SWAP
Geriatric Australian
Shepherd Eve and our first
old timer to come here for
retirement and sanctuary
died at age 20 after having
a wonderful long life.
All very much missed
at SWAP, Crossed Sabers,
their adopters and donors.
Rest in Peace sweet loved
ones.....
Subject: Pics of Horses in Their Homes, A thank
you to Adopters and a Reminder
Horses
in their Homes
Spring is coming, thank goodness.
With all the frozen buckets and
troughs, electric being out, phones
being down, roads being blocked with
snow making it harder to get hay and
grain. With all the things that
make it so hard to have horses at
this time of year, we often times
forget how therapeutic they are, how
they change and enrich our lives. I
like to look at pictures of our
horses in happy homes and read our
Happy Endings page and it helps me
to realize how lucky we are to have
these majestic animals in our lives
and how blessed we are that we have
such wonderful adopters. I hope
these pictures help you to remember
as well.....
walking
horse Lucky Midnight Blue in training
at home with Julie in Ohio
warmbloods
Zephyr, Kerrara and spotted saddle
horse Dixie soak up the winter sun
at Jennifers in Virginia
Spanish
Norman Alex entertains his adopter,
Jennifer in Alabama
Standardbred
gelding Command Post enjoys the
winter weather at his home in Cape
Cod with Art and Mary
Pintaloosa
gelding Deputy Posey aka Bloo
winning ribbons in a winter
show with a lovely student rider of
Morgan, Mel and Chris at Pony
Pastures in Maryland
Buckskin
mare Honey and a friend enjoys a
snowy day in West Virginia at home
with Aminah
Pinto
1/2 draft gelding Cody getting a hug
from his adopter, Barbara at their
home in New Hampshire, Lucky girl
was leaving for Hawaii the next
morning
former
rescue horse Cookie aka Figment
proves she can jump even in the
snow, at home with Pony Pastures
Arab
gelding Fanelli looks at his mommy
Maureen like he's asking, "Does this
blanket make me look fat?" at their
home in North Carolina
Quarter
Horse gelding Jack aka Jake, is
usually a trail horse but with all
the bad weather Jake and Adopter
Shelly tried their hand at contest
events
Adoption
dog and female Boxer Lucy with her
Mommy Ruby having fun at home in
West Virginia
National
Show Horse Magic enjoying the snow
at home with Jenai in West Virginia
Quarter
Horse mare Shadow and Adopter
Marianne enjoy riding indoors during
bad weather in southern Ohio
I rescued a human
today
Her eyes met mine as she walked down
the corridor peering apprehensively
into the kennels. I felt her need
instantly and knew I had to help
her. I wagged my tail, not too
exuberantly, so she wouldn't be
afraid.
As she stopped at my kennel I
blocked her view from a little
accident I had in the back of my
cage. I didn't want her to know that
I hadn't been walked today.
Sometimes the shelter keepers get
too busy and I didn't want her to
think poorly of them.
As she read my kennel card I hoped
that she wouldn't feel sad about my
past. I only have the future to look
forward to and want to make a
difference in someone's life.
She got down on her knees and made
little kissy sounds at me.
I shoved my shoulder and side of my
head up against the bars to comfort
her.
Gentle fingertips caressed my neck;
she was desperate for companionship.
A tear fell down her cheek and I
raised my paw to assure her that all
would be well.
Soon my kennel door opened and her
smile was so bright that I instantly
jumped into her arms. I would
promise to keep her safe. I would
promise to always be by her side. I
would promise to do everything I
could to see that radiant smile and
sparkle in her eyes.
I was so fortunate that she came
down my corridor.
So many more are out there who
haven't walked the corridors.
So many more to be saved. At least I
could save one.
I rescued a human today.
Now that I'm home, bathed, settled
and fed,
All nicely tucked into my warm new
bed,
I would like to open my baggage,
Lest I forget
There is so much to carry -
So much to forget.
Hmm, Yes, here it is, right on the
top
Let's unpack Loneliness, Heartache
and Loss,
And there by my halter hides Fear &
Shame
As I look on these things I have
tried so hard to leave-
I still have to unpack my baggage
called Pain.
I loved them, the others, the ones
who left me,
But I wasn't good enough - for they
didn't want me.
Will you add to my baggage?
Will you help me unpack?
Or will you just look at my things
And take me right back?
Do you have the time to help me
unpack?
To put away my baggage,
To never re-pack?
I pray that you do - I'm so tired
you see,
But I do come with baggage -
Will you still want me?
Proud to be an American!!
Fuzzy
and Emily at a Show in Virginia
Irish
and Lori in NC
Banner
and Nancy in Indiana
Warmblood
gelding Chester and jenny at a Dressage
Show in virginia
Standardbred
gelding Fuzzy aka Remmington at his first
show with BFF Emily, they got 2nd out of
23 in their class. YEA!
Appendix
QH mare Allie at home in WV with Jeannie
and family
Standardbred
gelding Tropic Knight with his BFF Megan
at home in Ohio
standardbred
gelding, Kyber Hanover and his BFF Evan at
home in virginia
Arab
gelding Little Man and his little buddy at
home with Rebecca in Houston, TX
Arab
Mare Melody and Katharine celebrate
success at their first show in Virginia
Standardbred
Gelding Ramses and his BFF at home in Ohio
Haflinger
Pony mare Pip aka Sugar having fun in a
"kid roping" event at Pony Pastures in
Maryland
QH
gelding Malone and his BFF and SWAP Kitty
Bear at home with Starr in WV
TB
mare Miss Bee enjoying her rigorous
training regiment at her new home in TX
with Sheryl
Standardbred
mare B Isadore or Miss B at home with Pat
in TX celebrating spring and thinking,
YEA! Winter is gone!! Yes, we have a Miss
B and Miss Bee right in the Dallas area...
what a hoot!!
Bravo, the feed fund for
this month was very
successful. Thank you all!
We raised enough money to
get 4 bags short of 5 tons
and because of recent
adoptions we were able to
pay it to make an even 5
tons. this should cover us
for 3 1/2 weeks. YEA!!
Volunteers
of all ages help get Happy
ready to leave for his new
home. 
Brianna,
Donna and Cara put Klacks
first saddle on him... as
you can see, he was a
pro... we'll be riding him
really soon.
Happy, Lucy, Gameel, Cassie,
Miss Bee, Gracie and Allie
were all adopted. Thank you to
the families and people who
gave these horses homes and to
the donors who trusted us with
their precious family members.
5
year old palomino Walking
horse gelding, hip bones
sticking out, rain rot, all
ribs showing, in dyer need of
help and groceries.
14
year old Walking horse mare,
you can see the entire
outline of her pelvic bone,
all ribs and severe rain
rot. Both hay and grain or
funds for hay and grain will
be needed to help this girl
gain the near 300 lbs she
needs to gain. Of course,
the authorites have done
nothing to prosecute and
probably won't. Terribly sad
that this continues
throughout the US without
making the owners pay for
this type of damage and
neglect.
Trakehner
mare Imperiale and Tara enjoy
a roll around her ring in
Maryland.
The
love of the Meek family,
Standardbred gelding Ramses
with Mom Traci at home in
Ohio. 
Standardbred
gelding Tooter and adopter
Ed giving cart rides at an
open house at fellow SWAP
adopters Pony Pastures in
Maryland. Ed also does a
mean Cavalry demonstration
that would make any rider
want to do civil war
reinacting. Ed is also the
adopter of Gissy the QH
gelding and Apple Jack, the
miniature donkey, both from
the large Lewis County
rescue we did in 2007. 
Geriatric
thoroughbred mare and long
time SWAP horse Waiting
Maiden at home with
Lindsey in Missouri... now
just a companion horse but
she loves her life with
Lindsey and her family.
Kudos Lindsey, she looks
wonderful and we know how
hard of a keeper she
is..... Bravo!
Saying
Goodbye to the people,
dogs and horses that we've
loved and lost.....
walking
horse Lucky Midnight Blue in training
at home with Julie in Ohio
warmbloods
Zephyr, Kerrara and spotted saddle
horse Dixie soak up the winter sun
at Jennifers in Virginia
Spanish
Norman Alex entertains his adopter,
Jennifer in Alabama
Standardbred
gelding Command Post enjoys the
winter weather at his home in Cape
Cod with Art and Mary
Pintaloosa
gelding Deputy Posey aka Bloo
winning ribbons in a winter
show with a lovely student rider of
Morgan, Mel and Chris at Pony
Pastures in Maryland
Buckskin
mare Honey and a friend enjoys a
snowy day in West Virginia at home
with Aminah
Pinto
1/2 draft gelding Cody getting a hug
from his adopter, Barbara at their
home in New Hampshire, Lucky girl
was leaving for Hawaii the next
morning
former
rescue horse Cookie aka Figment
proves she can jump even in the
snow, at home with Pony Pastures
Arab
gelding Fanelli looks at his mommy
Maureen like he's asking, "Does this
blanket make me look fat?" at their
home in North Carolina
Quarter
Horse gelding Jack aka Jake, is
usually a trail horse but with all
the bad weather Jake and Adopter
Shelly tried their hand at contest
events
Adoption
dog and female Boxer Lucy with her
Mommy Ruby having fun at home in
West Virginia
National
Show Horse Magic enjoying the snow
at home with Jenai in West Virginia
Quarter
Horse mare Shadow and Adopter
Marianne enjoy riding indoors during
bad weather in southern Ohio