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Mylestone Equine Rescue Every horse we save makes a difference MARGRIT - THE MARE WHOSE LIFE STOOD STILL SUMMER 2006 I can’t help but wonder what it must have been like to live for years tied to a tree, barely able to move around ... food and water not consistently provided and to have to stand and endure all sorts of weather. With only the leaves from the tree to provide shade from the hot sun, and in the winter a fuzzy coat that barely covered your bones to keep you warm. This was Margrit’s life, a life no animal should have lived. She was used as a brood mare and had her babies tied to the tree as well. Not far from her when she was rescued was her two year old filly, tethered to a different tree. The filly had no muscle tone, was as thin as Margrit and all she knew of life was being tied to a tree. She didn’t know how to walk around or lead. Mylestone was told about these two back in February when a kind woman stepped in and res- Margrit lived her life tied to the tree in the photo above. cued Margrit and the filly. The older mare was not yet well enough to travel to us, but one of the women was going to keep the filly. We sent dona- tions to help with Margrit’s care. The vet said she was in her late 20’s and it was determined she was also in foal. The vets did not expect her to survive carrying a foal full term. Within a few weeks she lost the foal. This was a blessing because her body was so ravaged she could not have survived carry- ing it much longer. Margrit was never trained to be ridden. She was only used as a brood mare which would make her difficult to place in a home. The people who res- cued her didn’t have the ability to keep her so we made arrangements to have her shipped to us. As Margrit still needs to gain over 200 lbs., she is expensive to feed and rehab. Often this becomes an issue with rehabbing an older horse, some- thing that people don’t realize is the long term cost it becomes. We are grateful to the people that took her in Margrit was very thin when she arrived at Mylestone, and is still when they found out about her. We are hoping in need of gaining much weight. once Margrit is out of quarantine she can go out with some of our other older horses. Margrit is named in honor of Margrit McCrane who has generously donated the funds for our pick up truck and most recently a new tractor. Additional Photos and continuation Page 4 Wyatt and Smokey Feel Great and Look Amazing - See Page 5 Lizzy’s Made Great Progress NICKERS AND NEIGHS NICKERS See Page 3 MY SIDE OF THE FENCE - Susankelly Thompson MYLESTONE EQUINE RESCUE One can’t be untouched by the shocking pictures of watching 227 Still Valley Road Barbaro shatter his leg on national TV. It was replayed over Phillipsburg, NJ 08865 and over -- this magnificent animal struck down so early in (908) 995-9300 life. He went from a champion to a cripple within seconds. His story shed light on the fate of so many race horses that www.mylestone.org suffer career ending injuries. Barbaro was one of the lucky Susankelly Thompson ones; he was given a second chance. Had he been any other Founder, President race horse he would have been put down. The reality is that race horses are pushed very hard at a young BOARD OF DIRECTORS age and many are still growing. Injuries constantly occur at the track and when the horses can no longer race to earn Susankelly Thompson money or don’t show good potential many are shipped off to Bruce Thompson the auctions and end up going for slaughter -- young horses Mary Beth Hamorski,VMD in the prime of their lives. This is the horrible underbelly of Kathleen Stanwood horse racing that the public rarely sees. Cleo Diane Becker Mylestone has taken in several race horses over the past 12 Suzanne Rinato years. Many have injuries that left them lame; they can never WEBMISTRESS be retrained or be ridden. Cleo, Ghost and Dewey, rescue horses currently here with us, all have had serious injuries from the track. Cleo we saved from slaughter at age 3 when she Jeanne Balsam broke down. With Barbaro’s crippling injury, our society was awakened to NICKERS AND NEIGHS the very harsh reality of racing. In an instant a beautiful, fit race horse can have a career-ending injury, the same as any show WRITERS/EDITORS horse. Mylestone was created in honor of a show horse I res- Dillon cued from ending up at auction, “Myles”. He was doing grand Susankelly Thompson prix jumping, went lame and quickly fell into the hands of a Jeanne Balsam low end dealer looking to make a quick buck. We get calls all the time from people who own horses they no GRAPHIC DESIGN longer want because they have gone lame, gotten older and/or Jeanne Balsam can’t do what their owners want anymore. What fate do these horses face? In the past month I have told people over and PHOTOGRAPHY over that the illusion of this wonderful companion home that Jeanne Balsam, Lori Schultz will want their lame horse is not the reality. People must be Margrit’s Rescue People Ghost responsible to their own horses and make sure they end up in Susankelly Thompson good homes and check up on them. It isn’t always easy as even good adoptive homes can fall on hard times, and they don’t always do right by the horse. It is HOURS OF OPERATION horrifying to hear that rescue groups have had to buy back their adopted horses at the auc- tions. It makes adopting out a real challenge and when you have special needs horses as we By appointment only do, most people don’t want to adopt them. That is the reality and why our adoption rate is not high; whether the horse was a lesson horse or a racehorse, it makes no difference. So for many following the media, Barbaro’s tragedy was a cause to celebrate a heroic animal and the many people who rallied to help him. But in stark reality, Barbaro’s tragedy sheds light on those horses who will never be champions, who are lost in the shadows, waiting to be rescued from an uncertain fate. - Susankelly Thompson SILENT AUCTION ITEMS AND BASKETS NEEDED FOR OUR MISSION OUR ANNUAL OPEN HOUSE! Mylestone Equine Rescue (“M.E.R.”) is dedicated to abused and neglected It won’t be long before fall is here, and we’ll be horses. M.E.R. works to educate the holding Open House. Mylestone is in need of general public about these donations for this event -- we would greatly unspeakable sufferings and promotes appreciate completed theme baskets, new gift the plight of unwanted horses. items, (which need not be on a horse theme, Our goal is to place these once but which always do well), gift certificates to magnificent creatures in homes that will restaurants, tickets to plays/shows, etc. If you give them the love and care they can help with a donation, please contact Kathy deserve. If suitable homes are not at (908) 647-3780 or e-mail her at found, M.E.R. will be a permanent [email protected]. home for these horses. We also welcome bakers for Open House. Do you have a special recipe that everyone loves? We need whole items (pies, cakes, breads) as well as `finger food’ - such as cookies and Mylestone is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organiza- muffins. Please also let Kathy know if you can bake. tion. All donations are tax-deductible. 2 PLANNED GIVING LIZZY’S MAKING GREAT STRIDES! Do you want your love of Mylestone's hors- Lizzy has made great strides in recovery with es to continue helping them in the future? If us. We have now trimmed her hooves sever- so, please consider a bequest to Mylestone. al times and continue to take X-rays after Including us in your will gives the gift of life every two trims to see what progress we are to the abused, starved and abandoned hors- making. She has shed out beautifully and es that we rescue and bring to Mylestone. filled out. She is a feisty pony with lots of However, planned giving means more than personality and charm. She adores Patty and just including us in your will. There are Lucy though she is now likes to boss them options that can help Mylestone as well as around. Lizzy loves to be brushed and will your own financial circumstances right now. frequently take a nap after being brushed Some of these can provide you with tax ben- because she becomes so relaxed. efits at the present time. Through a planned Gil Meeker out farrier and Dr. Katrina Alger gift, you may be able to increase your current one of our vets continue to work together on income or provide additional retirement getting Lizzy’s hooves in the best possible income, while reducing income tax and condition. This will take time but they have estate taxes. Some types of gifts virtually made a lot of progress with her. Lizzy is not eliminate estate taxes, while others greatly for adoption at this time as we continue her reduce the amount of tax you are responsible recovery.