UPDATE ON Runway the Donkey!

Runway was in a foster home in South Carolina with a family and did very well. They were wonderful people who stepped in during a time of need. It was life or death for Runway.

He is now in a (cross my fingers) permanent home in Tennessee. I am getting good reports on him. I know he will never be good with other equines. He is the fascination of the neighborhood and hee-haws as soon as the mailman arrives daily.

Runway isn't a normal name for an animal, that's for sure. When a local Metro Animal Control was called out to capture a stray donkey, they found him on an airport runway. Air traffic control needed help with this one! Animal Control named this donkey Runway. They brought him to a holding area waiting for his owner to claim him. No one came. Most people think of Animal Control for dogs and cats but it is much more than that. We have sheep, goats, pigs, turkeys, guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits horses and donkeys that we have placed in new homes. If we didn't take these animals, they would have been destroyed.

So Runway came here by way of Animal Control. He is so sweet to people but he hates equine of any kind. Horses, mules, and donkeys plus most other livestock. Runway needs a home as an only large animal. He is in a foster home with other animals and is not doing well. He needs to move out ASAP. The rescue farm is overflowing with horses so he can't come here. Runway needs someone who will give him love and some hay and grain. He's an easy keeper and a fine pet. Please think about helping Runway. He can stay in a separate pasture but he would be happier with humans rather than farm animals around him.

Making a Difference

What makes these individuals strive to make a difference in the world? Fame and fortune? Hardly—the organizations they founded or operate are called nonprofits for a reason.

Their talents and abilities? That certainly helps, but it’s not really motivation.

Perhaps it’s that each o­ne has a personal story behind the cause they want to further. And that they all share the belief that the world is much bigger than themselves.

Who knows? After turning the last page, perhaps you’ll even want to add a new chapter to your life, starting your own cause or jumping o­nboard o­ne of these!

Horse Rescue, Relief & Retirement Fund
Making Happy Trails
Every child, at o­ne point in his or her life, wants a pony. For those who actually get o­ne, it’s obviously a significant moment. It was for Cheryl Flanagan. While she didn’t get it until she was an adult (she actually bought the pony for her children), it was the first horse to which her life was directly harnessed. And it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

Soon after, the horse of a neighbor down the street routinely broke out and often wound up o­n Flanagan’s property. After witnessing the ways the horse’s owners tried to wrangle him back into compliance, she suggested a compassionate approach and eventually bought the horse from them.

“I soon became known as the person taking in animals,” Flanagan says. “I guess people thought I was a sucker.”

After further experiences of rescuing former race horses from slaughter by taking them in until finding new homes, a friend encouraged Flanagan to establish a nonprofit organization to support her efforts. Through that spurring, the Horse Rescue, Relief & Retirement Fund Inc. (HRRRFI) was established in 1998 to improve the quality of life for all horses through rescue and rehabilitation from abusive situations and facilitate the successful retirement of working horses.

In connection with HRRFI, the animal-lover Flanagan also started the Animal Rescue Fair at the Wills Park Equestrian Center in 1998, an annual event held each April that has united nearly 100 rescue groups and vendors across the Southeast and found new homes for more than 60 animals. She’s also lobbied in Washington, D.C. to give animals a voice and protect them from being unnecessarily slaughtered.

But to be certain, Flanagan cares very much for people too, initiating therapeutic programs to help abused women, troubled youth, and the physically and mentally handicapped through HRRRFI’s resident animals. “The way people treat and interact with animals often mirrors the way they treat and interact with other people, and horses can teach individuals about bettering their relationships— because it’s such a big animal, a horse needs to be talked into cooperating.” Flanagan explains. “Likewise, it’s therapeutic for people with disabilities to see and touch the different textures of animals, and walk around with them o­n the farm.”

770.886.5419
www.savethehorses.org

Matt Wilson Forsyth Living Magazine

GEORGIA HORSES NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE

Yes, we do need hay, more hay then usual. The coming cold weather forces us to use more hay to keep the horses comfortable on those very cold and sometimes wet night we have. We are overrun with horses and not all horses have a warm stall at night. They have to seek shelter in the woods and hay keeps them warm. Did you know a horse can lose 50 pounds or weight in one night? We buy hay rolls for $60.00 up each and use about 80 in an average winter. With the prediction this year of having an unusually cold winter, we will use more this year than ever before. We also use about 150-200 bales of hay a month not to mention we average 90 bags of grain per week, that equals 9 TONS a month.

We are not funded by the government or the state. We do not get free food from feed companies or free hay from the farmers. We do it through your generous donations and the little fundraising we do. Every dollar helps. No amount is too small to help a horse in need. DONATE TODAY! or go to the HRRRF Store to buy feed and hay for the horses.