GOING FOR THE GOLD!

GOING FOR THE GOLD! Well, it’s just about the first of August. Just in time for big Charlie’s annual bout of cellulitis. And, true to form, it’s here. This is just about the weirdest thing any of us – Dr. Rollins included – has ever seen. For four out of the past five years, within a couple days of August 1st, he’s gotten an attack. The only year of the five when he didn’t get it was that year where he was full of the antibiotics we used to conquer that horrible sinus infection of his. Why August 1st? That’s the big mystery. There seems to be no real explanation for it – that any of us can see, anyway. This year, though, we caught it in the very first hour. Cellulitis generally comes on suddenly – within a matter of an hour or two or three. At first, nothing, then – bang! – swelling, pain & fever, all at once. The other day, Charlie’d been out running around in the arena with M’Stor, perfectly normally – the last two guys in the arena before lunchtime. By the time I’d gotten back from some errands – maybe an hour later, Charlie wasn’t eating, could hardly put any weight on that hoof & had a fever of 104.4. Eric & I swung into action – injected antibiotics, gave him Equiiox (pain & fever), did some hydrotherapy on him & got his leg covered with Furazone & wrapped the leg almost to the hock (knee). Anyway, now, the fever’s gone, the pain isn’t quite as acute & we’re all settling into the ‘cellulitis’ mode. It’ll probably be a couple of months before he’s really back to normal. Oh - & by being lucky enough to catch it right away, we stopped it from traveling all the way up his leg & - in some bad cases – into the groin. I’m thinking that next year, we might start him on antibiotics around the first of July to see if we can help to break the mysterious cycle. I love mysteries, but not when it comes to horses. Okay. The Games of the XXX Olympiad have started. I love the Olympics. Well, really, who doesn’t? And this year, we’re holding our own mini-Olympics right here at the ranch. It’s called “Going For the Gold” & all the horses are vying to get to - & stay – high atop the leader board in terms of medals. See, for each $20 you make in the name of your favorite horse, he or she gets a ‘gold’. We have a huge board set up here in the office with everybody’s name on it & big gold stars signify the ‘medal count’. As of right this moment, Charlie’s in the lead, with M’Stor Chance, Cadence & the Iron Man also showing gold. Your horses are counting on you to help them compete. Here’s how….. Just go here: http://tierramadrehorsesanctuary.org/HowToDonate.html & use our simple PayPal function - then put the name of your horse in the note/comment box. And watch for daily updates on our Facebook pages & on the Alex Brown Racing Forums. This is fun! We had a small troop of Boy Scouts here yesterday morning. To gain one of their merit badges, they have to do some community service work. And, because the troop is located in Cave Creek, they chose Tierra Madre. Thanks to the help of a couple of our terrific volunteers – Jacqi & Kristina – the boys (& a couple of moms) did all the water tanks & buckets. They seemed to have a pretty good time (one comment: “Hey, this is pretty hard work!”) & a couple of them asked if they can come out & volunteer, again, on their own. Why, sure! Speaking of water tanks, I have to tell you about a little bunny. Behind the back field fence is a big bush. And a family of bunnies lives under it. When we empty out the field tanks, we pour the old water into one specific area near the bush. Most of the water runs under the fence & into the wash, but a little pool has been created in that spot, although the pool dries up by late morning. Every morning, one of the baby bunnies sits right there at the edge of the pool, waiting for his or her early drink. “Hey, mister. You wanna hurry that up a little? I’m kinda thirsty over here.” When I get there with a cart full of water, the bunny backs up a couple of feet & I slowly pour it into the pool. “Great. Thanks, mister!” And the bunny goes to the ‘shore’ & drinks mightily. Sometimes, I even have to wait a couple of minutes before I can pour the second cartful into the pool. “Hold on, mister. I’ll be done in a sec.” “Okay, bunny. No problem.” Good, bunny! Okay, kids. That’s about it for now, but don’t forget – if you live anywhere in this area to come to our Comedy Night, this coming Friday (Aug.) at the American Legion Hall in Cave Creek. Doors open at 7 & the show starts at 7:30. Call for more information & to RSVP. In the meantime, we all hope your lives are filled with gold medals, too. See ya. Peace. Out.

WHY A SANCTUARY? Why a horse sanctuary? Well, it started with a little girl. It started with a little girl who had no name & no home. A little girl that we had rescued from the ravages of having been dropped off in the Arizona desert with no food, no water & who was nothing but a lost soul. A little girl that was closer to death than she was to life. My friend & I had been called & told that there was a small herd of horses wandering in the nearby desert. And they didn’t look like wild horses. It looked like they had been abandoned. After several hours of trying, we were finally able to round up the little herd & took them to my friend’s place – a place where they would be provided with all the food & water they wanted & needed. It was a sorry lot, though – seven or eight emaciated bodies with spirits to match. And, although they were still frightened out of their wits, seemed to begin to settle down & rally. Our vet was here one morning & he & I both received frantic calls within 30 seconds of each other. Both calls said, “You have to get over here right away! One of the little mares is having a foal – right now! And I don’t know what to do!” We both jumped into our trucks & sped to my friend’s place. “There she is!”, my friend yelled. And, lo & behold, this emaciated little mare was in the process of giving birth. Right there. Right then. Nobody knew she’d been pregnant – that’s how horribly emaciated she’d been. The doc & I helped the little foal & the moaning mom. And – voila! – a little boy was born. Right there in the desert dirt & sand. “Get the mom out of here –right now!”, said the vet. “She’s so weak, she’s liable to fall on him & crush him!” Miraculously, I was able to get the mother to her feet. She was so weak that two or three others – including my friend – helped to hold her up & get her somewhat steady on her badly-shaking legs. Slowly & carefully, we led her away to a waiting stall. The twenty-foot walk, though, took almost ten minutes. I was afraid that she’d drop dead during the slow, agonizing trip. But she made it. Once in the stall, she virtually fell down. And I dropped to my knees & took her head into my lap. “Easy, little mama, easy…..You just gave birth to a beautiful little boy. A little boy who’s already up & looks to be the picture of perfection. You’ve done well, little mama. You’ve done what you were meant to do!” And I stroked & kissed her forehead & gave her handfuls of hay & water. She was so weak…..so very weak. But she was trying with all of her heart……a heart that had gotten her through the hell of the Arizona summer desert. The little girl was in such dire straits that she didn’t have any milk or the necessary colostrum that her little foal would need. My friend built a pen in her garage & she & her young daughter fed that little boy every hour, on the hour, for four or five weeks. He eventually grew into a strapping young colt, but only because those two-legged heroines had sacrificed their days & nights to him. For weeks & weeks. About three days after his birth, my friend called me. “This little mare needs more care than I can give her, what with all the other horses here & her little boy to care for day & night. Can you help?” “Send her over”, I said. She was here within the hour, still weak but seemingly improving. She walked off the trailer on her own & into the stall directly next to my front door. For days, I gave her all the food & water - & treats – that she wanted. She was happy & getting stronger every day. But she had no name….no identity. And I remembered an Indian friend from my youth. A person called Little Bird Sing Pretty. And I thought that name fit her like a glove. She was like a little bird. And she had given birth to this beautiful little boy. And that’s a pretty song, if not a beautiful one. She would be Little Bird Sing Pretty. For four days & nights, Little Bird Sing Pretty seemed to rally. She loved her food. She came up to me when I entered her house. She knew in her heart that things were getting better. Then, one evening, while my dog, Mikey, & I went out to check on everybody, Mikey looked into Little Bird Sing Pretty’s house & began to bark. “Why is he doing that?”, I asked myself. I had to almost pull him away from her stall gate. As we returned from our rounds, it happened again. Mikey started barking. And Little Bird Sing Pretty was in the back of her house & didn’t come forward, the way she’d been doing for the past couple of days. She was eating, alright. But she didn’t come forward……. Mikey & I went to bed & arose as usual the next morning – around 5 AM. As soon as the door opened & Mike stepped outside, the barking – this time, mixed with whining – started again. I went in to see Little Bird Sing Pretty & she didn’t seem herself. She was dull & disoriented. Her eyes were dull. Her head was down. There were droplets of blood wherever she’d walked. She wasn’t well. I immediately called the vet & he said he’d be here as quickly as he could, despite the early hour. When he got here & looked at her, he turned to me. “She’s dying”, he said. “It appears that her uterine canal had been so weakened by her malnourished state that the little foal’s hooves tore it while he was being born. There’s nothing we can do.” I looked at him. A tear rolled down my cheek. And one rolled down his, too. “Aw, Doc”, I said. “After all she’s been through, she has to die, too?” Putting his arms around me, he said, “I’m afraid so.” And the two of us cried on each other’s shoulders for a minute or two. Never, in all my years of knowing this doctor, have I ever remembered him being so emotional. But we were both overwhelmed by the unfairness of it all. That little girl had been abandoned in the desert. Pregnant. And she’d been saved. And had given birth to a perfect little boy. And, for all her trouble, had to die for it. What a shame. What a crying shame. Doc & I sent Little Bird Sing Pretty on to the Great Herd that morning. To a place where she could run free & fat & happy & without a care. She could run on the wind. Forever. Over the subsequent years, I’ve come to realize that there’s just no explanation for some two-leggeds’ actions. They are what they are & reality is reality. Sometimes good. Sometimes bad. It is what it is. But on that fateful morning, with Mikey barking & whining & Doc & I holding each other, I said to myself, “Son, you have to do what you can. You can’t save them all, but, somehow, you’ll save some of them. And those that you do save will have the very best lives they can ever imagine, no matter where they’ve come from & no matter the injustices done to them.” And that’s what happened. All because of one of the most courageous, most gentle spirits I’ve ever known. And had the honor to know & love. A little girl who’d had no chance, but had done what she’d had to do, in spite of it all. A beautiful little girl named Little Bird Sing Pretty.

JULY 22 - SUMMERTIME

SUMMERTIME Well, kids……I guess it’s about time to fire up the old fingertips again & give you little update on life here at the ranch. Well, it’s summertime - & you know what that means……hundred-degree-plus temperatures day in & day out; the advent of our annual monsoon, where the humidity goes way up & we can find ourselves dodging – or standing under - towering thunderstorms; the incessant whirring of the fans in the barn; flies; a time when only the hardiest helpers are around. Yeah, all of that. The funny thing is, the horses never seem to mind – only us two-leggeds. The horses know that there’s nothing they or anyone else can do about the weather. And they accept it. They’re going on about their business just like they always do. Eat, play, poop, eat, snooze, poop. Ah, the life of a horse, huh? But this summer, their lives are even a little more bearable in the torrid afternoon heat. Our great friends at The Home Depot near here have made a wonderful donation to us: they’re in the process of putting misters in all over the ranch. So far, the barn & shed row are completely finished & they’re in the process of installing them on the field side. Yep – even in the big shade structure in the middle of the field. Not only does it make the kids feel good, but it’s saving a lot of time & energy on those real, real hot afternoons when we’ve had to hose down every horse on the ranch to cool him or her down. Yay, Home Depot! And, especially, Mike & Frank! We’ve moved a few guys around in the past few weeks: Chance, Studley, Slayer & the Iron Man. By that, I mean we’ve moved them into new houses. And it’s working out very well. Because Chance (aka Chauncey) still guards his house as if it’s his castle - & with so many volunteers & visitors coming through – we thought it prudent if we kept him away from the two-legged traffic flow a little more than he had been. We decided to move him over to Tarzan’s old place – that real big paddock over at the end of the ‘hallway’ on the field side. And, because Studs is his buddy, we thought he should be near him, too. And, that because Slayer & the Iron Man could’ve used larger digs, we’d do something with & for them, too. So, we moved the Iron Man into Chance’s big old double-wide at the end of the shed row & Slayer into the adjoining double-wide (Studs’ old place). Eric & a couple of helpers rearranged the fencing over by Chance & Studley – took out the fence that had separated Slayer & the Iron Man & moved one whole fence side so that, now, Chance & Studley are partners again with only a fence between them (not a mini-‘hallway’ any longer). And, I’m happy to report that all four boys are really digging the new arrangements. Buddy. Ah, Buddy. If you’ll recall, he had a pronounced limp in his right rear leg for quite a while. Thinking it might be his back, we had Dr. Wood (the vet/equine chiropractor) come & fix it (he did have plenty of problems back there). But, after three or four weeks – with me riding him in Dr. Wood’s prescribed figure-8s, he didn’t seem to be improving. So we had Dr. Rollins look at him. And he took x-rays & found that Bud has very little cartilage left in his hock. The cartilage rides between the two bones & acts as a cushion. About the only thing that could be done was to inject some steroids into it & hope for the best. Which we didn’t do, by the way, but were considering it before things began to turn around. See, around the same time, it seemed that Buddy was blue. He didn’t seem at all happy. Maybe it was the pain in his leg & maybe it was something else. Something more emotional. Or a combination of the two. We decided it was time to make Buddy happy again. And thus began our nearly-every-day Buddy time. I’ll get the halter & he & I go for long walks. Wherever he wants to go & for whatever duration he chooses. We always go to the big mesquite tree at the south end of the arena & he eats some leaves & scarfs up some of the dried seed pods that have fallen (we call them ‘Fritos’ – more on that later). Then, we’ll walk all through the desert area, stopping & starting wherever he wants. Then, it’s up the lane, around the barn & into the breezeway. He hangs out in the breezeway for quite a while, being fawned over by whomever’s in the area & getting more than his fair share of carrots & treats. Finally, after periods of almost an hour out & about, he goes home. Not that he really wants to – he loves his new routine – but he knows that lunch isn’t far behind & good-naturedly heads to his house. I’ll tell you – it’s made a world of difference in that boy. You can feel the happiness vibe coming off him. It’s a difference of night & day. His gentle spirit has become a happy gentle spirit. It’s so good to see & so good to know that we listened to him, heard him & did what it took to make it happen. Here’s the kicker: no more limp! Good, Buddy! I spoke of ‘Fritos’. At this time of the year, the mesquite trees drop their dried seed pods. And the horses love ‘em! They can’t have too many of them, but up to a dozen? Sure. And nobody loves Fritos more than Mistah Lee & Miss Akira. Well, most of the others do, too, but nobody’s quite as vocal about it as those two. We’ve spent a lot of time picking them up off the ground & filling buckets with ‘em. And, every evening when I do my last walk-around, everybody on the shed row side gets a nice big handful dropped into their feeder. As I make my way over to the shed row, I can hear a nightly equine chorus of, “Yay! Fritos!” I guess it’s kind of a learned liking for them, though. The kids on the field side all look at them & sniff at them & say, “Yo! Jimmy! What the hell is this?!? You tryin’ to poison me or something?!?” Funnier’n hell. Those guys are relegated to store-bought treats & there are certainly never any complaints about them, either. We’ve also just begun our ‘Alfalfa Hay Drive”. The price has finally begun to drop a bit. BTW – the editor of Bridle and Bit told me the other day that the main reason for the exorbitant prices over the past year was that Japan’s alfalfa crop had been wiped out by the tsunami - & they would & did pay almost anything to import it. Funny how a natural disaster on the other side of the earth can affect 29 horses in the Arizona desert, isn’t it? Anyway, we’ve gotten a darned good deal on hay, recently, & are trying to get enough in here to last us until at least Labor Day. And you can help, too. Just go here: http://tierramadrehorsesanctuary.org/HowToDonate.html & you’ll be doing the Horses of Tierra Madre a world of good. Thanks. Also, keep an eye out for our upcoming Olympics promotion. It should prove to be a five-ring ton o’ fun. More on that real soon. Oh - & if you’re in the area, please come to our very first Comedy Night at the American Legion Hall in downtown Cave Creek on Friday, August 3rd. That WILL be a ton o’ fun because we’ve lined up comics that have appeared on Comedy Central, A & E, Showtime & The Improv. As you can tell by the photo, Solo was listening to one of them the other day & knocked himself out. Okay, kids. That’s about it for today. I’m going to try hard & write a new weekly blog. I know it’s been a while since the old ‘daily’ days & it’s been too long since my last one. We’ll try to find a happy medium. So, weekly, it is. In the meantime, let’s be nice to each other, okay? Remember – we’re all we’ve got. Peace. Out.

The Horses of Tierra Madre Announce PATRIOT DAYZ!

"Hear ye! Hear ye! The Horses of Tierra Madre have declared that the period of time from June 12 - July 4th, 2012 shall be known as 'PATRIOT DAYZ'! "Each & every one of them is striving mightily to be declared the most patriotic horse on the ranch. So, each day, the horse - or Jim - that receives the most donations on that day will get to wear the Uncle Sam hat all the following day (as Venture is doing - handsomely - in the photo). "This is an all-American competition for all it's worth! So, help your favorite horse to show the colors - on his or her head! "Go to our website - http://tierramadrehorsesanctuary.org/HowToDonate.html. Then, email us at tierramadrehorsesanctuary@live.com telling us which horse - or Jim - you're supporting for that particular day. And watch Facebook - every day - to see if YOUR horse is wearing the hat! Remember, get your daily entries in by 11:59 PM/MST. "All hail PATRIOT DAYZ and the Horses of Tierra Madre!"

TIERRA MADRE HORSE SANCTUARY PRESENTS “SECRETARIAT’S TRIPLE CROWN CHALLENGE” You just might win one of the greatest horse racing photographs of all time – the famous shot of the mighty Secretariat crossing the finish line in the 1973 Belmont Stakes, 31 lengths ahead of his nearest rival. And what makes this photograph extra-special is that it’s signed by Secretariat’s jockey, Ron Turcotte, Meadow Stables’ owner Penny Tweedy, & famed race track photographer, Bob Coglianese. Penny Tweedy & her daughter, Kate, have generously donated a copy of that photograph to Tierra Madre specifically for this endeavor &, for that, the Horses of Tierra Madre are eternally grateful. And, to make this a true Triple Crown Challenge, you have three chances to win: • First Prize – The Special Edition 20”x24” Triple-Signed Special Edition Photograph • Second Prize – An autographed copy of Kate Tweedy’s book, “Secretariat’s Meadow” • Third Prize – A pristine copy of the December 1993 magazine, EQUUS, featuring the cover story, “Secretariat: Remembering A Racing Legend” Here’s how the raffle works……You get one chance for $5 – or 5 chances for $20. Enter as often or as many times as you’d like. Go to the PayPal function on our website - http://tierramadrehorsesanctuary.org/HowToDonate.html - or send a check or money order to Tierra Madre Horse Sanctuary – 27115 N. 45th St. – Cave Creek, AZ 85331. Then, email us at tierramadrehorsesanctuary@live.com telling us that you’ve entered the Challenge & we’ll send your raffle numbers to you by return email. The drawing will be held on Sunday, June 9th, & the winners will be notified immediately. This year, an unprecedented 16 of the 20 horses entered in the Kentucky Derby are direct descendants of Secretariat. And you just might win a keepsake that will commemorate the greatest horse that ever looked through a bridle. As they say about Big Red: “Never before. Never since. Never again.” Good luck!

WE LOST A HERO.

Tarzan died on Friday. And the world – at least our world – lost a hero. He’d taken ill last Tuesday evening & we treated him. It seemed to work. But on Wednesday morning, it was evident that his problem wasn’t solved & it was beyond us. Time for Dr. Rollins. Over a three-day period, Doc was here every day & tried nearly every trick in the book. Tarzan – “T” – wasn’t responding. By midday Friday, I had a feeling, a bad, bad feeling. Because Dr. Rollins had to go out of town, Dr. Gryl came out. And she found that T’s colon no longer worked. The reason was & is a mystery, but when we got Dr. Rollins on the phone, he said, “Jim, with a condition like Tarzan has, even with the most expensive surgery & lengthy follow-up, his chances are one in a hundred – at best.” Twenty minutes later, Tarzan was gone. Gone, because it was the right thing to do for him. We’d always given T the best that we could provide – always. And this time it was no different. And nobody deserved the best care & the most love any more than Tarzan. If you’ll recall, he was blind in his left eye - the obvious result of some two-legged’s action. Why do we know that? Because, for the first four or five years that Tarzan was with us, none of us could get within thirty feet of him. He began by living in the field with the others & he was almost feral. It was sad but, left alone, he seemed happy. He had a couple of fairly major physical challenges – he foundered, once, & had a horrible eye infection another time in his blind, left eye. And each time, we brought him up into the barn to stay in one of the in-‘n-outs. As a result those episodes, he began to relax a little around us. It was a start. And, because that eye would need nearly-daily care for the rest of his life, we decided that he should live by himself, in the real big pen he finally called home for the last several years. And over those past few years, the old Tarzan – the nearly feral Tarzan – began to recede. And a ‘new’ T began to emerge. One that wasn’t absolutely terrified of two-leggeds. To be sure, his trust level was way down the scale, but it had finally come off rock-bottom. If he got to know someone, he’d let that person approach him – sometimes. But it was always on his terms. If you went in to see him with an objective in mind, forget it. But, if you went in with nothing planned other than to hang out with him & scratch him or brush him or give him treats & the attendant love, you stood a pretty good chance. I went to hang with T every morning & every evening of my life the past few years. It was ‘our’ time. I loved those moments & I know he did, too. In the evenings, we’d often just stand there, my arms around his neck, both of us telling each other about our respective day. And, every evening, I told him that he was my hero. And that I loved him with all my heart. And I could feel the love coming from him in an unmistakable wave of energy. Tarzan was the rock of Tierra Madre. He’d been here since before the beginning. He was the poster child for horses that had been abused & neglected & abandoned & injured. There’s never been a more honest horse. One that tried so hard, despite the injustices & mistreatment foisted upon him. He was stoic. He never complained. He returned the love we gave to him in equal measure – to the very best of his ability. And he knew, too, that his latest & last challenge was the natural way of the universe & not the result of any two-legged’s thoughtlessness or carelessness. During that final walk down the lane, he was comfortable & happy & trusting. He eagerly ate a few treats. And when the moment came, the last words he heard were, “I love you, T. I love you with all my heart.” And our hero was gone. There will never be another Tarzan.

April 21, 2012 - VIDEO!

VIDEO! We had a very cool thing happen here yesterday morning. Some of the Horses of Tierra Madre were part of a music video shoot! That’s right, all the way from MTV’s first-ever video broadcast of “Video Killed the Radio Star”, the genre has found its way to the Arizona desert & a bevy of our horses. The other evening, while we had a “Sound of Cave Creek” table set up at the Buffalo Chip, a young woman from London came up to us & we started shooting the breeze. Well, one thing led to another, the director came by, & before you knew it, we’d set the thing up for six o’clock yesterday morning. The video is for a group called A Silent Film & their new single, “Danny, Dakota & the Wishing Well” is at number 17 & climbing on the British charts. If you’d like to hear the song, go here: http://asilentfilm.com/ - you can’t help but find it. Anyway, our part of the story included the young woman, “Dakota”, finding herself in the desert & coming upon a herd of wild horses, where she ultimately befriends one of them. To achieve the right effects we had to get a few horses that we knew would tear around the arena when we let ‘em out. So, we chose Hollywood, Hiz Nibz & Studley, our three race cars (we left the fourth race car – Chance – out of the mix for safety’s sake). The angle of the early morning sun & the dust that was kicked up by the boys looks outstanding on film. They seem to appear from out of the dust, running at full bore. We two-leggeds had to help add a little dust into the air by tossing forksful of dust, but the boys did right fine on their own, too. And, every once in a while, Brother Eric & I had to get ‘em going again. Truth be told, the ‘boyz’ kinda just wanted to get back to their breakfasts & couldn’t give a rip about being in a film. But they were great about it. Finally, the “Dakota” character (played by the lovely Victoria) has to befriend one of the horses. We had our sights set on Nibz but, lo & behold, Studley came to the fore. And he loved having Victoria scratch his head & neck & chest & all that. They even stood there, forehead-to-forehead. And, on film, it looks absolutely stunning. So, in the end, it’ll be ol’ Studs who gets the true heavy-duty cameo that’ll be seen ‘round the world. Last evening, at the Buffalo Chip, I met the guys from the band. Great group of guys, too. And more of the video was shot during last night’s bull-riding there, too. Plus, on Monday, “Dakota” has to have a scene in which she plays cards with an ol’ cowpoke. And rumor has it that this ol’ cowpoke just might be her playing partner. I’ll keep you posted. But it was Studley & Nibz & Hollywood who stole the show yesterday. And all of us at Tierra Madre are thrilled about the whole deal. As soon as the video comes out, I’ll post it everywhere, so you’ll be sure to see it. In the meantime, though, I have to get busy trying to find an agent for our three video stars. Remember “Fury”? “My Friend, Flicka”? Who knows? Maybe the TV world is ready for “My Bud, Studs”! Have a nice day. And let’s all be nice to each other, okay? Remember – we’re all we’ve got. Peace. Out.