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.