December rescues

December rains have started and added to the list of the many things to do. Our barns are full and when the weather is clear there are many horses being worked. Our latest rescues are from the auction. Being there and seeing the many horses in need of loving responsible homes makes us drive on harder to try and do more.
Our need for supporters is greater than ever, this holiday please remember your local animals in need.
We are currently looking for sponsor homes as well as volunteers, with many of our horses stalled we also need local help for daily care.
Please visit us on Facebook for frequent updates on our current horses and newest intakes.
below are several of the horses currently at the rescue and in need of new homes.

November 10 2012

The days have flown by quickly, and though there is still much to be done, there has been much progress with settling into our new home. We have our 2 barns up and we have now several large pens to separate horses into.A special thank you to my son Christian and daughter Elisa for their efforts in assembling of our barns and pens. Our round pen is being used well by our newest board member Patricia Vallentyne who stays busy training several of our horses. We are in process of setting up a larger arena in which to continue training and exercise those under saddle.
We have several adoptions that have taken place since coming to our new home, they are JD, Whiskey, Grace, Jester, Ray and Kay and we have pending adoptions with Splash, Lightening, and Holly. Colton is currently being sponsored off site by Patricia. Of our latest rescue horses we are happy to provide a forever home to Spirit and Jackson, they will join Mahogany, Rio and Tina in permanent placement here at Lone Oak. As mentioned Patricia is busy training horses, those horses currently in training include Jessie, Willow, Choctaw, Lady, Mia and Macy.
Our new location means new challenges and opportunity alike. We are in need of more hands to help with the many duties of running the rescue and the ideas for expansion and community involvement are many. We have a need for additional hands to work with our many horses that need training. If you are an experienced horse person and interested in assisting Patricia with horse evaluation and training please email us with your information. We would like 2 more persons to work with Patricia in preparing horses for adoption. As well we are looking for several individuals to assist in management of key areas of the rescue, including, volunteer recruitment and management; site development and management; public awareness and fundraising management. These individuals will be responsible for planning and general operation within their areas. If you are interested in becoming a key member in our rescue or simply want to help with daily care including cleaning, feeding, grooming and exercising horses, please contact us. If you are local you are welcome to make an appointment to come out and discuss your ideas and availability.
Being new in the area, many do not know we are here, so we need to spread the word! I am looking forward to meeting members of the local Back Country Horseman’s Association and sharing our rescue mission and hope to raise awareness and invite others to join our rescue efforts. If you know of a group who would like to know more about us or would like to be involved with the rescue please let us know, we can arrange a presentation or a visit. We are always looking for opportunity to share the rescue mission and encourage others to be involved.
As with many non-profits this is a difficult time and we are in great need of donations, if you are able please consider a single or small monthly donation, even small amounts help. We currently provide care for 22 horses, and donations of hay or feed are greatly needed. We are also happy to accept any donation of horse or non-horse items as well, as we will soon be opening our own eBay store to help raise funds for the rescue.
Our efforts together add up to helping these horses into a safe and loving homes, our rescue is 100% volunteer run by people who want to make a difference. To our newest helpers Patricia, Kayleen and Bree thank you for being a part of our success.

September 30 2012

I just can't beleive the month has past already... October is upon us and soon the rains will follow, A blessing and a curse... we need the rain, and for the grass to be plentiful, but without all of our shelters or sand and gravel in place we will be in quite the mess. If you are able to help with a donation of any building materials, sand, gravel or able to help lend a hand please contact us as soon as possible.
The days are filled with unlimited projects, I am very grateful for my family who is able to be working maintaining the ranch and working on the many projects while I work on the incoming funds. This year is the most difficult, setting up so we can move ahead with more rescue and training of current horses.
We desperatly need donations for feed and vaccinations. In efforts to raise funds we are collecting items for our silent auction, please donate an item, service or gift certificate if able. We want to hold the auction in the upcoming weeks. Even the small items add up, all funds raised will go towards our feed bill for this winter.
At this time we are buying a small load at a time, funds simply do not allow for a large purchase, so the need is ongoing.
Please watch our facebook for frequent update and pictures of our horses. As always we are open to sponsors and fosters, If you cannot adopt please consider fostering or donating, every dollar helps. Remember that any donation to the rescue is tax deductable, and thank you so much for your support.

September 15 2012

The summer has flown by and here we are in the middle of September already. Much work has been done at the new home of Lone Oak, the clean up continues along with the construction of our buildings. We are currently completing the reassembly of both our 4 and 8 stall barns, and getting quotes on permanent pens and a "solid" training round pen. Taking on horses with little to no handling has required us to rethink some of our current pens both for animal and trainers safety. Our future plans include 2 round pens and a large arena for exercise and training. We are needing to have additional shelters built before winter weather arrives, if you are interested in helping us complete additional projects, please let us know, as we are always in need of volunteers.

I am very excited to welcome Patricia Vallentyne to our rescue, she will serve as our newest board member. Patricia is a very experienced horsewoman who specializes in natural horsemanship and training. In addition to working with our horses, she will be a valuable resource in assessing both training and general temperments prior to adoption. Currently we have several horses who need complete or continued training and are excited to have the extra hands to evaluate and prepare them for adoption.


If you have an interest in working with the rescue behind the scenes please contact us, we are always looking for experienced individuals who are looking to make a difference, especially needed are those who want to help us fundraise and to write grand proposals.

Our rescue currently has several new horses, some who are ready for adoption others who need time to recover, and a couple who will stay here at Lone Oak as permenant residents
Our permenant residents horses are now at 5 and we have 21 others on site or in sponsorship who are for adoption, of those horses we have two pending adoptions.
We are looking for permenant placements and sponsorship/foster for as many of our horses as possible before the winter weather arrives, if you are interested in adoption or sponsorship please contact us.

With 26 horses to care for we are needing help with our biggest expense of feed. Please help with your donations,as every dollar helps. Of course donations of any type are always needed and appreciated.
On behalf of the rescue and our wonderful horses, I thank you for your support.

August Updates

As many of you know we have relocated to Coarsegold, north of Fresno in the Yosemite foothills, the transition is still in progress.
These days have been long and are tiring, but well worth the efforts when we sit back and see the progress that has been made. We have been busy with hauling away years of neglect and debris. To date there has been approx 8 Tons removed from the property. Several key areas have been cleared  making room for the pens and barns to be reassembled. As these tasks are completed we are able to start seperating the herd and bring the focus back on individual horses and their evaluation/training.

We are currently resonsible for 23 horses. With these high numbers we are unable to take in others until some of these are placed. Of these we do have several permenant residents.
I am happy to report we do have several horses going out on trial and others are being adopted into forever homes.
Of the current horses at the rescue we have 2 out on sponsorship, JD and a new gelding, Whiskey, who was recently surrendered to us.
We have Lightening and Holly going out on trial to Lillian in the central valley.
We expect Grace to be adopted by 3 wonderful ladies in southern California and Kay will be going to the coast adopted by Lynn, Pete and family.
We have recent inquiries on other horses, including Jake, Adonis and Jesse and are hoping they too have permenant homes soon.
It is exciting to see these great horses going into new homes but many others are still in need. If you can adopt or sponsor please contact us, by giving a horse a home you help us help others in need.


With the new ranch coming together we will be able to have volunteer days again soon. We do need local people who can assist with feeding, exercising and training, as well as behind the scenes work processing adoption applications and following up with both adopted horses and helping rescue those in need.

In addition to physical needs we do have our financial needs as well... donations are few and desperatly needed now. If you are able to donate to our cause please do so through our website via pay pal, or through our local feedstores. All donations to the rescue are tax deductable.

We do support our local businesses, and can pick up donations of any type at any suppliers within the area. You are also welcome to bring your donations and come to visit us and the horses you are helping.
Local suppliers  include

Mountian Feed and Nursery, Coarsegold Ca (559)-683-7383

Oakhurst Feed and pet supply, Oakhurst Ca (559)-683-7977

3V Feeds and Garden supply, Madera Ca   (559)-661-0038


Evans Feed and Liverstock Supply,Madera Ca (559)-673-9420
Evans Feed and Liverstock Supply, Chowchilla Ca (559) 665-7891


Valley Feed, Madera Ca 559-674-6735

We are in need of all types of hay, grain, pelleted feed or salt and fat supplements, wormers, vaccinations and general veterinary and ranch supplies.

If you have used items you think we can use such as tack, panels, gates,  feeders, water troughs or building materials we can arrange for pickup of items for donation.

We need local help to get the rescue up running and continue to help horses. Our focus will be local horses and horses owners in need. It is my hope that we will soon have room for others and be able to attend the fall auctions and bring home those at risk horses. Look for new pictures and updates as we continue our transition and settle into our new home.

June 22,2012

A quick update...
The rescue is slowly getting back up and running, with pens reassembled ground being worked, fencing changed etc. We still have the barns to move and are looking for help there.
We have found a great resource for a natural horsemanship gentling stockade for the ferrel horses, and are excited to see it installed. We will be planning an open house soon, please watch for updates.

The rescue currently has 22 horses in total, of which 5 are permenant residents.

Our two newest rescues, are Jessie and Grace. They both have come from the auction, both underweight. Jessie has been gelded, as a 2 year old we needed to be sure he was not going to be increasing our population!! He is recovering well and will soon be up for adoption.

Grace is a sweet young mare very gentle, and calm, and living up to her name. She too is putting on much needed weight and is doing well.

If you have interest in either of the new arrivals or our other horses please contact us at  info@loneoakrescue.org

We are in great need for donations to help with the growning need and are starting a new fund for the auction rescues. Please help in any way you can, all donations are tax deductable, and can be marked for hay, projects or rescue.

A special thank you to Winnie who has been a great volunteer and now will be joining our Board. Thank you!!! if you have an interest in behind the scenes work with the rescue please contact me.

June 2012

June has come quickly, and here we are about to start our 4th year as a non-profit. Time has gone by quickly and we have accomplished so much.Our 4th year will open for activities this summer in our new home in Coarsegold, and I'm anxious and excited to see it all coming together.

The Livermore location is almost completely disassembled, and it is a little bitter sweet looking at the site. There has been so much accomplished over the past 3 years there.... the disassemble of the site there is of course is much quicker than the set up is... but knowing that we have a wonderful new site to expand and develop is so exciting. The move to the new location is almost complete, the remaining horses are moving to our permanent location this week. We hope to move the barns and the remaining corrals soon and start the site preparation for their reassembly.

A huge thank you to Mike, who is a great neighbor and as it turns out a knowledgeable horseman.... he made quick work of replacing a culvert and repairing our collapsed road to the new location of the barn. Without that road in place we would be unable to develop the primary site for our barns and pens.

This new ranch has several old buildings that we are trying to preserve, but it is a challenge as they were full of debris and show of years of neglect. The clean up of the site and most buildings is almost complete thanks to my son Christian, who has been hard at work these past weeks manually hauling away debris and working to make them usable once more. Many plans are in the works for new site, with careful thought going into when and where to place barns, pens etc. There are existing fences and water spigots around which to place new pens, and shelters as well as the huge trees and granite rocks which are beautiful, but a challenge to work around. As many of you know it is hard work to move those 24ft panels and we don't want to move them more than need be. It is my hope that the configuration works well in reality and not just on paper...

As soon as the ground is prepped the barns and arena and round pens will go into place. At that time we will be looking for all hands on deck to get everything up and running. We are hoping to have all set up by mid summer to open to regular volunteers and public activities.We are looking for local volunteers who can help with the set up, particularly if you have machinery that will help us with assembly of fences and shelters,wash racks and hitching posts etc.

We are looking for individuals who want to be an active part of the rescue, helping us with the management of both rescues and adoptions, with evaluation and training of the horses. As well  we need individuals for behind the scenes, in administration/website and in developing and management of our volunteer base and helping to establish regular programs for the public to become involved with our rescue efforts. Many people want to come and pet the horses and think we are about grooming and riding the horses, but rescue is so much more. Watching them change from the malnourished un-trusting animals who have often been victims of neglect and abuse, transform not only their bodies but their minds as well to become healthy vibrant horses is an incredible. To see their eyes change from fear to trust, and the being that one to whom they first trust and reach out to is an incredible feeling, just ask Vicki, Winnie or Candice.

With the relocation I know we are losing some great people, but I hope to find as many in the new location. We will have a fundraising BBQ this summer in celebration of the past, present and future accomplishments.
I invite you to be a part of Lone Oak and join our efforts .... small as we are, we are doing great things and I look forward to what is to come.... hope to see you soon,
Belinda

Moving days...

The new home for Lone Oak Rescue has been under transformation, preparing for the remainder of the herd to come home. There are still 10 horses at the Livermore location, Dulce is expected to go out to her new home this weekend. We are hoping the remaining horses are able to be moved over the next week.

We have been doing a massive clean up of the new property, unfortunately all by hand so is taking some serious man hours. I hope to be making a  purchase of a tractor for the rescue complete with all the bells and whistles to make the home ranch makeover faster and easier, in the meantime we are making slow and steady progress. Donations towards our refurbishment of the property are needed, please let us know if you can help.

We do have a round pen set up and will be starting ground work with some of the horses who need further evaluation such as Holly and Lady. We are expecting to have the small arena up on another month or so, right now the horses are enjoying grazing of the area with its 2 foot tall grass cover.

We are starting to see some volunteer inquiries local to the Coarsegold/Oakhurst areas and hope to have many more as the rescue gets up and running at the new location.We are sorry to say we are no longer able to hold volunteer activities at the Livermore location. If you are interested in coming out to the new location and are from the SF Bay or San Jose areas, please contact us as there are some regulars who are making the trip out, we will try and help co-ordinate days.

Computer service is sketchy at times which is limiting the uploads of new pictures, but we are working on it.
We are also doing updates to our site, so please forgive us if one in a while the site is not responding.

Soon we will be starting into our 4th year as a non-profit and we have some such a long ways... I am tremendously grateful for the many hands who have helped us in these past weeks and months and look forward to the rescue doing even more now that we are in a permanent location. I invite all past and future to be a part of Lone Oak in our new home, I look forward to having you join us....

moving.....

The move has started, there are 3 Lone Oak Residents on the property now... JD, Tina and Rio.
The trio has been enjoying the gentle hills and the green pastures. This next week there will be more to join them, expecting to move over Maggie, Lady, Mia and Holly.

The move is going to be gradual, and will be our focus over the next couple of months. It is amazing how much can accumulate over the course of a few years. There are buildings to dismantle as well as many pens and supplies. If you are interested in helping us relocate we will be going as a group on the weekend of the 20th, 21st, & 22nd. If you are able to help trailer horses or materials we would love your assistance, as truck is required,and trailers helpful.
The mileage is tax deductible as a donation towards the rescue. The trip is approx 3 hours from Livermore. If unable to make the trip but you want to come help us prepare please let me know. persons interested must contact me ahead of time, please do so through email.

If you are interested in seeing any of our current horses or being a sponsor for one of the horses either as a trial pre-adoption or a temporary home please contact us.

Currently we have several horses out on trial and expect them to be placed into those homes. The trial period can be up to 90 days and allow you to get to know the horse before committing to adoption. The adoption fee are due at the end of the trial. An approved application for adoption is required to take a horse out on trial. The application can be found online and forwarded to us or you can call for further information on the process or any of the horses.
Due to the numbers we still have at the rescue we are not taking in further horses at this time, but if you are looking to place a horse please do call us as many times we can put you in touch with persons seeking horses we do not have available.

Looking forward to seeing many of you next week and sharing the vision and future plans for the new home of Lone Oak Rescue.

The latest news...

I am very happy to announce that I have purchased my own ranch and will be relocating over the upcoming weeks. I have to move both myself and the rescue and due to delays in possession the move will take place over several weeks as I am still working in different locations. If you have an interest in a horse we will still be showing at the Livermore location, but as we relocate the horses will be in separate locations. All showings are by appointment only.

The new location is in the foothills of Yosemite, approx 40 minutes out of Fresno, 10 min from Coarsegold and 20 from Oakhurst. We will be looking for a local volunteer base to help with our transition and once relocated, with general activities from cleaning to training. As well we need local individuals who would like to be more involved in the rescue and who are interested in joining the board. We are looking for a minimum of 4 individuals who are in Madera county, or within travel distance to the ranch.

There is much work to be done at this location, but the efforts will be worth every minute. Plans include several pastures, 2 barns, several pens for training and working horses and eventually a large arena for training and fundraising events.

Thank you everyone who has encouraged me throughout this time, The transitions will be hard and I am sure take longer than I plan, but it had begun.
Here are a few picture of the ranch.

March 2012

I have to apologize to our followers, I know It has been a while since the updates. It may seem not much is going on, but behind the scenes things are slowly changing. We hope the rescue is able to have a permanent home soon. We are trying to buy our own place where the rescue can expand along with the volunteer activities...
I think we have found that place, and now are trying to make it happen.
In the meanwhile we need to try and place as many of our horses as possible , to avoid another stress and transition for them. If you have an interest, now is the best time to adopt.
Please feel free to contact us at any time to adopt or become involved with our rescue efforts.
I hope to be bringing you all big news soon.....

Feb 3 2012

It has been a long wait, but we are finally past the strangles that took a hold of the herd this year. We look forward to having several horses going out to new homes over the next couple of weeks.

This weekend we are holding an open volunteer weekend and showing horses to potential adoptive homes. if this weekend isn't working for you I invite you to email or call to set up a time to come and see the horses. Our adoption fees are reduced at this time, so there is a great time to adopt. We anticipate the rescue finding a new home in 2012 and is our hope to have many of these rescues in new homes before that takes place.

The pastures are down to little and though the grass is finally starting to grow, there is the need for hay for the horses to be supplemented, if you can help with a donation, please do so, hay is high now for all of us.

Thank you to our volunteers and those of you who are new and extending a helping hand.... look for new pictures soon as well. Looking forward to great things this New Year, watch for updates here and on our Facebook page, and you can always call as well.

Jan 2012

We welcome 2012 and know that good things are in store for the rescue.
There is much work being done to secure a new home for the rescue.... hence not much in the way of updates.
The ranch remains under Quarantine as there are still a few stragglers sick with runny noses. It amazes me that the herd all but a couple managed to come down with strangles, mild cases due to the fact that all had been vaccinated. Still we are taking our time to issue an all clear.
We will be holding an open adoption weekend the first weekend of Febuary, all 3 days.
If you are interested in adopting now is the time. Our fees are reduced in light of the cost of hay. We encourage you to put in an application ahead of time and get your approval before the date. We also recommend a quarantine unless your home does not already have horses.

Please bear with slow answers to emails as at this time there is only Belinda responding to all inquiries along with all of the behind the scenes work. As you all know the rescue is a non-profit and there is still jobs to go to to ensure the rescue has funds coming in.

A special thank you to those of you helping physically and financially with our efforts, they all add up and I am so thankful for your support. If you are able we do appreciate donations towards our hay bill, now running at $15/bale. We are currently are supplementing all of the horses at Lone Oak.

More updates soon, and remember if you want to come the first weekend of February, please submit your applications early. The adoption can be downloaded from the website.