rain, hail and snow???

It was a cold one today, the wind trying to destroy our "easy up".... not so easy to come down since it was twisted about last week. So now we have it up until mother nature blows it down the hill. We had rain and some hail and they predict snow tomorrow at our elevation, almost 1000 ft above sea level. The weather man has been wrong before let's hope so again.
Meanwhile blankets are on and pellets replace our hay. Many many thanks to Vickie, a wonderful new volunteer who is helping with feeding even on these cold and wet days.
We have met so many wonderful volunteers these past 4 weeks, you all know I am bad with names, but am so grateful for your time and efforts. I hope you can all come back to join us in 2 weeks. We will continue to work on the many projects to complete our set up as well as routine maintenance and care of the horses.
With the list of knowledgable horse people growing I expect to see great strides with the horses as well. If you are interested in working with the horses please email us to learn more. In particular we need individuals who can come 2-4 hours a week to work with several of the horses. This is hands on care/handling that ranges from grooming to groundwork and riding. We require you to have horse experience as the supervision is not always one to one.
Next week brings out potential adopters for Sterling, Sugar and Shadow.
We are also still waiting on Mia, now hoping she holds that baby in until monday morning as I am working through until then, but Tuesday works for me Mia!!! We'll let all know as soon as the little one arrives.

a sweet boy

Day light brought a whole lot of rain and even some hail. Quinn didn't seem to mind. He buddied up to Kalib and enjoyed the sunshine that followed. He is going to be a nice size and a roan if this pattern continues. We will have him gelded in the coming weeks, meanwhile he is a frisky 9 month old colt but no "stud like " behavior.

looking good!!!

It has been a very busy time at the rescue with another weekend with wonderful volunteers.
We set up new corrals and got a good start on the new barn. We also got a good start on dismantlement a building donated to us. Many many thanks to Stephani. This is a a few of our many wonderful volunteers.

The horses check out what rooms they liked best and did a preliminary walk through.
We also had a wonderful ride on Sterling, she is a beautiful mare who is well trained. Riding Sterling is Caitlin, one of our volunteers.
As well we had the late night arrival of Quinn. He was a colt in very poor health who was rescued but then abandoned at the stable when the man could not afford the care for him. Quinn was brought back to health by Joanne and Kathryn. Kathryn works with the rescue and has started his training which will continue here at the ranch until he finds his new home.

Medical Day

Today was a day for the "nurse" to visit, yes I really am a nurse. Yummy apple flavored paste and a "little" shot. If only they all could be like Lordy who dropped his head for the paste and stood like a champ for his shot.... no halter required!
It was time for half the herd to come in, and enjoy a "spa" day. It was too cool for a bath, but the hair was flying!! This is where we can always use more hands... for safety reasons we do ask for persons with horse experience. We will be holding basic handling classes for those new to horses, contact us if you are interested.
Kalib and Shadow were neighbors again, as they were before pasture time.... do you think they missed each other?? and yes they are lip locked!! it was very curious, went on for quite some time.

updates

A quick update on our happenings. It has been a busy few days, but I'm back to share.
We are still waiting on Momma Mia, signs of getting closer but still no baby.
Yesterday we had a new girl join the herd. Sterling is a very much loved Mare, but her owner was unable to keep her due to physical and financial reasons. She is well trained and full of energy. We will enjoy her for the short time we will have her, I anticipate she will find a home quickly.
Duke welcomes Sterling to the ranch

Our Morgan girls are doing wonderful, Emma is shedding out to the prettiest liver chestnut. These two never wander far from each other.
Construction is coming along. Our barn pad should be ready for the barn this weekend, we have some sand in out new arena and our volunteer list is growing.Thank you all so much, we need you!!
If you are local and want to be involved on a regular basis please contact us. We are looking for individuals to help with fund raising, adoption applications (pre and post)and volunteer co-ordinator.

new pics

Time to show some new photos.... no baby yet but soon we hope. As you can see Mia can't get much wider. Tanya took her for a walk, and Mia enjoyed some green grass. Mia is a very loving mare, she is going to make a wonderful mom

Mia and more...

Mia is keeping us waiting, still no baby though many of signs of preparation. Speaking of preparation we will be busy with many tasks for our upcoming fundraiser. Events that day will include a BBQ lunch, tack sale, E-recycling and special guests. Watch for more details coming soon. Our next volunteer weekend (march 27 &28) is fast approaching, please join us and help further our efforts at the rescue.

foal alert

A morning visit to Mia found her in early labor, up and down and a little pushing to positioning that baby.With Brit on standby the "labor team" is at their posts with watchful eyes. All is looking good and we anticipate a baby in the next few days....

sunny days

We are loving this weather as are the horses.... the grass is green and there is plenty of it. Too soon will come the hot days and brown grass. It is when the quality of the grass goes down, our supplementation goes up as do our costs. In preparation we will be holding our tack swap and sale this spring. Please look through your tack rooms and barns for unwanted or unneeded items. All dollars go to the horses. Look for our other fund raising days and projects on the website, suggestions are always welcome as are extra hands. Come out and see what we are all about. Contact us for details on how you can help.

update on Mia

Today was a beautiful day, one that would have made a great birthday, but Mia is still hanging on. We anticipate the foal any time, subtle signs, but nothing to say "today" is the day. We still are watching close as Mya never gave us signs until the day before. A nice bedded stall is in place to encourage her.... will keep all posted

a new week....

Monday is the start of a new week and it is the end of my week off. It has been great to see so much accomplished. Though there is still more to be done, the extra hands have made an incredible difference.
This day made me think of summer.... and how late I stay with the horses come evening. I often said I could just sit next to a fire, watch the sunset and the horses under the moonlight. Well with our new fire pit I can do just that. I hope there will be many of our volunteers that will share such nights with us. These are a few pictures from last summer. From light pinks and dark blues, to orange and reds so bright it looks like the sky is on fire, the sunsets are nothing short of amazing.

Our second Disney day.... a sunny Sunday

Today was a full day of activities. Our main one was relocating pens. It was amazing how fast it went , with all the great help we had it seemed to go up in a flash. One minute they were taking down the old....
laying out the new pens , (which had to be inspected by occupents of course).

They made it look easy, but I know those 24ft panels are not light...
One minute they were working on the first pen...
the next it was done. What a fantastic job!!!!
Across the road the larger pen was going up beside the temporary pens
Behind which is the horses favorite hill.
The next group made short work of the small turnout... those are 7 foot T posts!, these 3 as well were amazing... even the next step of rolling out the field fence and fastening the wire was completed today.
Our rest area had a fire pit started-it will be so nice for the chilly evenings we so frequently have
many more hands did much more like cleaning pens, tack and of course horses.
Isn't Duke is a handsome boy all cleaned up.
Bree and Tina were stars, greeting all and getting treats, Bree trying to share Shannons lunch,
and Tina, well she thought she would just help herself.

It was a treat for us to have all these helping hands, and to meet such wonderful people... We can't thank you enough and look forward to having you back...
Most of all, thank you from the horses, we can't do what we do without help from people like you.

A Breezy saturday didn't slow us down!

It was a breezy Saturday. Today was the first of our Volunteer days for the Disney "give a day" promotion. We had a wonderful group of people who helped accomplish so much.

A special thank you to Kathy who helped clear the garden area and set things up for the day, as well as the many other things you did. I'm so glad we found your sunglasses!!!

Kathryn and Liana got down to the big business of little Tina. There was some trimming and much brushing to make our tiniest member of the herd even more adorable. Miss Ellie played guard dog while this "big" little project was completed. (OK OK... so she was really watching for bunnies) Tina was so soft and cuddly after, Kathryn almost took her home.

Thanks to the team efforts of Tanya and our volunteers Eryn, Adan and Stephanie there were many more projects completed. Our small round pen was relocated. Our old garden fence taken down and dismantled, donated wood was sorted and moved, old materials taken away, new materials brought back, and somewhere in there they even did some grooming!!!
It was great having you all and we look forward to seeing you again.
We hope you have a wonderful time in Disneyland, and don't forget to send us a postcard!

Despite a cold wind and non-cooperative templates, two of our board members Mesha and Tanya "hung in there" and set joists in 2/3 of our new shed row barn. A job well done... and thank you! for not getting blown off the ladders by the wind.

While all of the construction and projects went on, so did the running of the rescue. Feeding, cleaning, assessments and even a showing took place.
The girls from the Webb Ranch riding program put Shelby, Emma, Lordy and Duke through their paces. It was a pleasure seeing the young girls ride, (and ride well I must add) and I know the horses enjoyed the exercise.

We're looking forward to tomorrow, new volunteers and finishing up more projects. Past volunteers please call or email whenever you want to come down again, we welcome you back. If you would like to be a part of our efforts here at Lone Oak Rescue please contact us, we would love to have you.

a little event before our weekend's events

This day was packed full of exciting events... our barn pad is well underway and one step closer to completed. Soon to be followed by our new 4 stall barn (well not new but new to us.... it will be so nice to see it together vs apart).


We hope in time for Mia to come home to with her foal, (maybe that's why she is still hanging on to that little one?? getting bigger by the day mama!) she's waiting for her home to be ready... we're working on it Mia, almost there!!! Still working on those names so send in your suggestion.

Our evening was well spent as guests of the San Ramon Valley Horseman's association. Their evening event included dinner and presentations by several non-profit horse groups including ourselves. It was a great opportunity to share with many our purpose and goals here at Lone Oak Rescue. We met many wonderful people as well as other non-profit groups and heard about their programs as well. We look forward to more meetings like these and working together helping both horses and the community. Please be sure to check our events calender and resource page to learn more about these groups yourself and learn what you can do to promote horsemanship and charity within our communities. A special thank you to Linda for organizing the event and inviting us to present.
As well a big thank you to Sonrise Equestrian Foundation for the donation of tickets to the Wine and Equine Festival. It is an annual fundraiser to support their program and we are delighted to be the winners of the ticket drawing. We are looking forward to attending their event.
Please watch for updates on our calender and the local corral section for post various community events. Please feel free to email us with any events you would like to see listed.
Looking forward to tomorrow and Sunday and meeting all the volunteers who are spending time with us this weekend.

busy day

Today was a busy one at the rescue, Monroe and Kay (sierra) and Tina had a visit from Joe Hawthorne our farrier. We are blessed to have found such a wonderful man, very knowledgeable and so patient with the young horses.
Our Vet Brit Harris dropped by for checkup's on the Morgan girls, and exams for Kay and Tina. All good results. She too is waiting for signs from Mia that baby is coming.

Kathryn put several of the horses through their paces, Shelby, Emma were wonderful under saddle, well broke and ready to go.


Sugar is still green, but very willing and wanting to please, she is as sweet as her name.


Kay was under saddle and did not mind, more lessons on ground manners, she is doing well.


A few turn outs, a little rearranging of paddocks and more planning and the day was gone. A few clouds but more stars in the sky, we are hoping the weather forecast is wrong on rain Friday.

fun in the sun

Today we all got our share of sunshine. I spent a few hours on the road picking up fencing for our pasture runs, and supplies for our upcoming weekend events.
Bree and Tina spent time together in the garden

Shelby and Emma were turned out to graze, and enjoyed a run by Kay who wanted to join them


Kay spent more time with me in the round pen.


She is a beautiful young mare and moves very well, despite her lengthy hooves. The time spent as a "pet" did not serve her well as she has poor manners and can be disrespectful, but on the positive side she responds well to correction and is a fast learner. We believe she had a good start as a 2 year old and will take little for that training to resurface.

mini adventures

So what does one do with a garden that is overgrown???? you put a mini in it ...... and smile

Tina quite enjoyed her little adventure, running around the garden, jumping the weeds and visiting with the herd over the fence.

The other horses were curious with all of her antics and just stood and watched her. Tina spent more time playing than eating, but as you can see she did a little of that too .

updates

Today we had a quick session with our new mare Sierra, she has come to be known as "Kay" from her hip brand. She has not been worked with for quite some time and shows she was very much a pet. Some lessons will be required to have her settle down and get some ground manners back. She responded well after about 30 minutes in the round pen so I am encouraged by that. We will see how her gait is after she is trimmed. Our farrier will be here Thursday to get her feet under control. It would appear It has been at least 8 or 9 months with no farrier care, and standing in mud which has lent to soft and long hooves. Monroe is solo for a while, a slight swelling of his left hind is resolved, but he will stay in for extra feed and supplements, being on pasture and hay has not been quite enough for him. Tomorrow we are hoping will bring sunshine as we expect some ground leveling, right now is is cold and windy and snowing in the hills...

sunshine and smiles

Today was a beautiful day, sunshine with the promise for more. We are looking forward to seeing major work on our site this week. During our planning talks we took little Tina for a walk. She enjoyed a turnout on our 40ft round pen, not much space for some but when you are only 26" tall it's more than enough!! There was a run and roll, then a run, and a roll, another and finally one more roll just to be sure there isn't a clean spot on her..... You can't help but laugh at her antics, a mini mini who thinks she's a big horse, throwing her head and giving an attitude even our Hanoverian Lordy (at almost 17 Hands)
We are looking forward to the new week, more sunshine and evaluations for the Morgan girls and Sierra, time to see what they know. More pictures soon I promise.... right after I buy more batteries!!

old electronics = new Hay!!!

We have had the first income from our recycling project.Yeah!!! One doesn't normally think of hay when you look at old electronics gathering dust, but we will from now on! Thanks to recycled computers and the like, we have our hay fund underway. Please contact us with any old electronics you no longer have a use for. Rather than paying a disposal fee, recycle them through us and help feed our horses this year. Working or not, computers, monitors, cables, printers, cell phones even printer cartridges are accepted. Help keep these items out of the land fill and support the rescue. Look for drop off days and times on our calender or call us to arrange alternative times.

We are currently accepting new volunteers to help with our projects, experience is not needed, just enthusiasm and a desire to help the horses. Contact us to learn more.
Also needed individuals that are handy with both still and video cameras. We want to show off our herd! All have their individual personalities and special traits, come on over and meet them for yourself, we would love to have you!.

sunshine and snow

Today is a beautiful morning, and the sunshine is more than welcome after a pretty cold night. From the top of our pastures you can see the snow in the mountains just a few miles away. Little Tina welcomes me on arrival with the cutest little whinny. Bree stands beside Tina's pen, her self assigned new post. It seems she has taken to Tina as she has not wandered more than 100 feet away from her. Our reconfigured pens will ensure they are beside each other, hopefully one day they can share the same space. We are still looking for panels, shelters, posts and poles and hands to help set it up. Soon spring will be here with warm weather to stay, we will need hands to help brush off the winter woollies. Also we have a number of planned projects coming up. Look for posted days, times and more information coming soon.

Sierra joins our herd and our mini gets a name

Cassanova was delivered safely to his new home in Tracy yesterday and without a moment to rest another pick up was needed on the way home. Sierra, a beautiful and flashy 3yr old registered paint seems to be in great health though is overdue for a hoof trim and looks to have been started. Once this rain lets up we'll assess her with a go in the round pen, hopefully all looks well and she can be placed with a home to care for her.

She is already settling in well and has mastered opening the feeder from the top (because if it's harder to get it must taste better).

We've also settled on a barn name for the mini who joined us this week,'Tina' it is!