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POKER RUN.. GREAT FUN AND GREAT SUCCESS FOR THE HORSES
Wellington, Florida On Sunday, August 3rd 2008, The Palm Beach County Horseman’s Association did a fantastic job with the Poker Run to benefit Pure Thoughts Inc. Horse & Foal Rescue. Everyone had a blast and the trail was lovely.
The weather threatened us but never came through with its’ threats. It was a beautiful morning with enough shade to make it comfortable. Most people got there bright and early with the exception of the Pure Thoughts horses that were being trailered by Brad Gaver arriving a little late. True to form, Brad made the wrong turn on Forest Hill then proceeded whiz past all of us and gets himself stuck in a dead end at the park. Brad is great on a horse but when he gets behind the wheel all sense of direction is gone. Thank Goodness for Victor Connors of the PBCHA, who came to the rescue and backed the truck and trailor out from its’ dead end position. The Pure Thoughts horses that arrived with Brad, Bear, Bella and Cloud Dancer unloaded shaking their heads in embarrassment and asked that the next time they be allowed to choose the chauffeur. Wendy Ballard had trailered Yahzi, Victoria (the Belgian), Solace and Halcyon from the Mida farm. Thanks to SunCoast Bedding one of our dear sponsors the horses all had a nice cushy ride to the park. All the Pure Thoughts horses that participated in the ride are available for adoption with the exception of Yahzi. Whitney Ballard rode Yahzi in the trail ride and will begin to work with Yahzi to prepare for the shows. As most of you know Yahzi is one of our first rescues and he will be the spoke-horse for the rescue to show just what wonderful horses go to slaughter.
It was so fun to see so many people participate. It was even better to see a couple of familiar faces. One of the first faces I saw and recognized was Willie, Willie is a beautiful OMU baby, but not a baby any longer. He was rescued long ago by Debbie McBride and has since grown into a beautiful gelding with outstanding manners. Of course Buckshot was there and stole the show being ridden by his dad Ray…. As they passed the water area…true to form, showing his love for the water Buckshot went in up to his chest. He loves the water. My mouth dropped open when I saw Serenity who is now called Sahara. She is the black roan that was pulled from a killpen during the Memorial Day save 2007. Her family absolutely adores her and she looked beautiful. After adopting Sahara they found out that she was indeed a Missouri Fox Trotter. Sahara is also jumping now and is a very happy mare.
Victoria, the Belgian was ridden by Kitson Flynn and she is an old hat at the trails and just loves them, Whitney rode Yahzi and those two stayed right nest to each other. Diane rode Bear and he was perfect as usual, there is nothing this boy does not do with perfection, Chris Judy from Apopka rode Bella and the first thing she said when coming back was “ She is like riding a Cadillac” Shaila who came over with Chris rode Cloud Dancer who came up lame about ¾ of the way through. Although true to form with Cloud Dance once she was picked up by the trailer and brought back to the staring point and grazing she was no longer lame. That is a little thing Cloud Dancer does sometimes when she has decided “it’s enough.” Victoria McCullough rode Halcyon which we also call California, this was truly something to behold because 2 months ago we thought we would lose this boy. The day after we purchased him at auction we though we were going to have to put him down. His entire body was stocked up and he could not urinate. It was discovered he has cellulitis infection throughout his body as well as allergies. He stayed at the Mapleton Veterinary Clinic and was treated by Dr. Jon Bryk where he made a full recovery and Sunday he showed everyone just what he was made of. We do not think it was his first time on the trails but Victoria told us that this was her first time on a “trail ride” and she had a blast. What is really neat in all of the different style of riders that showed up for this event. Brad Gaver rode Solace a TB rescued from the Memorial Day save of 2008. She did fantastic and it was obvious that by the end of the trail ride love had bloomed at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center. Halcyon and Solace were in love.
After most got on the trail ride it was a beautiful site… from the other direction we saw a group of horses and riders. We all looked at each other wondering where they came from. It was the riders from the PBCHA association who had participated in the show that weekend and had their horses at the stables. It was fantastic to see the gorgeous show horses come out of the trees and ready to hit the trail for the cause.
The gang from Red Fence Equestrian Center arrived and hit the trail with a very special little girl riding Julie Tannehill’s (from Phelps Media) horse named Michaleen. This is a special story in itself because this little girl is only 10 years old and has been through so much. Julie noted Watching her on a horse makes you realize how special the horses are for all of us and how lucky we are to have them in our lives. This was a special team of riders for Brad and I as the “Red Fences” property where all of these horses are boarded is where Brad and myself met years ago and Pure Thoughts was born. SO I had a bit of a twinge n the heart watching them leave on the trail ride.
Some people brought their horses and had others riding them such as Susan Woersching and Julie Tannehill, this was a great way to get others involved, help support the rescue horses and participate on the trail ride. Carol Coleman brought her “team” of four leggers to participate in the ride, Baci and Muffin, who are now filing an appeal due to the fact they were not able to participate on the actual trail ride. Sometimes you have a hard time telling Baci and Muffin they are not 17 hands tall. Baci and Muffin made it perfectly clear they are standing supporters of this cause and they wanted their presence and participation to be known…… of course how could it not be known, they are only the two cutest Jack Russell's around. Since it was too dangerous for Baci and Muffin to go on trail they were put in charge of “overseeing” operations and spent a good time on the golf cart insuring all was going smoothly.
We cannot thank Palm Beach County Horseman’s Association enough for putting this event on. It was great fun and a huge success. Over $1000 was raised for the rescue and the winner of the Poker Run, Tracy Anderson donated $100 back to the rescue. Thank you for thinking of the rescue horses! We would also like to thank the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center for allowing this event to take place. The official opening of the trail is on August 9th and we have a whole bunch of horses there are here to say.. The trail get a big “HOOVES UP” from them. A special thank you, to all the participants and volunteers that came out on Sunday to help the horses. This community is truly..ALL ABOUT THE HORSES!
For all those who could not participate we will be doing this again during season since we had such rave reviews from the riders. If you would like to get on our mailing list for upcoming events and information please email kll965@aol.com. |
