Colorado Thoroughbred Rescue Updates- March 11, 2008

Colorado Thoroughbred Rescue is an all-volunteer horse rescue based in Larimer County,
Colorado which was established to provide horses an alternative to slaughter.  To date, the
small group has given nearly 40 horses another chance. Here is a brief update of our
current activities.  More information can be found on our website,
www.ColoradoTBrescue.org

Recently Adopted:
Beyonce the pony has found a wonderful home with the Hernandez family of Aurora, CO.
Beyonce joins two older horses, and she will be used as an occasional pony-rides for the
grandkids.
Noah, the newest auction rescue, is on trial with Allie of Ft. Collins, CO.  Noah had been
abused and neglected in the past, and although he is well broke under saddle, he needs to
learn to trust people again.  He joins Allie's 2 Arabians and older TB gelding.

Most in need of a home:
Peggy , who is now a yearling, would love to have her own home.  Originally purchased at
an auction last June with her mother, Peggy is an incredibly kind, quiet filly.  She is
constantly growing, and should mature to become a wonderful riding horse.  Her amazing
temperament would make her a great first project horse for a horse-crazy teenager.

Returning to the program:
Luna Joe will be returning to the program.  He injured himself on the transport to his
forever home in Las Vegas, NV several months ago.  Intense care and treatment by several
veterinarians  has not healed Joe.  We are still working on getting Joe transported safely
back to Colorado, where his rehabilitation will continue.  Lune Joe, a 10 yr. old son of In
Excess, raced 31 times earning $97,000.  His racing career left him with an injured right
front ankle, which he stayed sound on during twomonths of riding at CTR and an additional
3 months of professional training sponsored by his adopters, so we hope he can be
rehabilitated once more. We found Luna Joe at the feedlot in March 2007, and he was
adopted in June, 2007.

Columbine, nicknamed Ally, will be coming back to CTR  for a brief time so Margaret can
begin saddle training.  Ally is at a wonderful foster home in Parker, CO.  Ally's kind nature
and willing attitude should make saddle training a breeze. Ally is currently available for
adoption to the perfect home.

News:
One of our founders, Margaret DeSarno, attended the Americans Against Horse
Slaughter lobbying event in Washington DC on March 2-5. Frequent flier miles and a hotel
room were generously donated to allow Margaret to attend. Funds from CTR were NOT
used during this trip.  Margaret's meetings with Colorado representatives went extremely
well, and staffers from the offices of Marilyn Musgrave, Senator Salazar, and Senator Allard
were very receptive at our meetings.  Margaret was accompanied to some meetings from
representatives from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah, and from a 'Fan of Barbaro'
Linda, who was born and raised in Wyoming. Please continue to call our local
representatives and ask them to co-sponsor the horse slaughter bill to protect American
horses. If you are a citizen of Colorado and do not receive the daily emails from Marydel
with an update as to the Colorado strategy, please email shasstah@yahoo.com.

We have a logo!  Angie from the Fort Collins area has generously donated a significant
amount of her time to creating a logo, which can now be applied to t-shirts, memorabilia,
brochures, etc.  Angie also created a business card with this logo, which Margaret
presented to colleagues in Washington.

In two years, the price of our horse grain has increased by $2 per 50 pound bag.  
Currently, a bag of Triple Crown feed is $17.95 per bag.   Please consider supporting
our program. Donations can also be made via credit card or check to our feed store,
www.ranch-way.com   They can be reached at 1-800-333-7929.

On April 12, several volunteers from Colorado State University will be helping CTR.  The
volunteers will be utilized for installing new fencing, fixing old fencing, office duties, cleaning
equipment, and general maintenance duties. Please feel free to join us for this fun day, or
consider donating food or beverages for these hard working volunteers!

There is no new information Alesha Matchett animal abuse case, in which CTR volunteers
were instrumental in helping the animals. The humane society and sheriff has raided the
facility three separate times, seizing a number of neglected animals during each visit.  A
small amount of mules, ponies, and goats still  remain at the Matchett/Animal Angels Horse
Rescue facility.  Matchett is facing several charges of animal abuse.

Cheyenne and Ginger, two horses that CTR volunteers removed from Matchett's property
on December 23 and 24th, before the humane society would act, are thriving with the care
they are receiving from Colorado Horse Rescue.  Margaret visited these horses on
March 10, and the difference is amazing.  Cheyenne originally weighed 670 pounds and
now weighs 920 pounds.  She still needs at least another hundred pounds.  Ginger, the
stunted, malnourished 3 yr. old filly is also gaining lots of weight.  Ginger especially loves
grooming and human attention.  Cheyenne is, understandably, cautious about new people.  
Both these horses, and 50 other deserving horses, are available for adoption or
sponsorship through www.chr.org.

CTR is receiving several genuine inquiries each week from owners who can no longer care
for their horses.  Many of these horses have a lameness issue which prevents them from
being ridden, or need further training to become an adoptable riding horse. We would like
to create several programs which would provide these owners other options besides the
local slaughter auction.  Stacey from Fort Collins, a CTR volunteer of over a year, is
organizing a youth program which will begin this summer. We have had several local
volunteers demonstrate interest in establishing a euthanasia fund, in which horses with
low quality of life can be humanely euthanaized rather than face the horror of slaughter.
We believe, with the increasing hay and grain prices, that a program set up to provide a
short supply of feed to owners in times of economic crisis, would give these owners more
time to find suitable alternatives to the auction for their horses.

We need your help to establish these programs! There are many ways to help, ranging
from researching  and writing grant proposals,  recruiting and organizing volunteers,  
soliciting donations from local businesses,  volunteering to help one of these new
programs, designing and distributing literature, or supporting our program.

We are currently searching for a volunteer executive director, which will help guide these
programs as they develop. This is an unpaid position which will require a significant amount
of devotion and time.  The new executive director should be in the northern Colorado
vicinity,  and should possess significant equine and non-profit experience.  Margaret is
overwhelmed and can not continue to fill all these positions herself.  If you are interested in
this position, please contact us.

Please be patient with Margaret's response to emails.  As the case with all volunteers, she
donates a significant amount of time to CTR, but also works a full time job.  If you need to
contact her about something urgent, or have not received a response, please send
another email or call her cell phone at (970) 443-0331. If  you would like to be removed
from this list, please respond to this email address with the subject "Remove".

Thank you for everything you do to help the horses!