At long last, we have completed step one of a project that we have been trying to complete, it seems, forever. The rescue farm comprises about 50 acres and we use practically every inch. The exception has been the small, quarter acre parcel behind the pole barn. It had once clearly been used as a repository for all sorts of farm debris. In between the stacks of old boards and roof shingles, a weed forest had given way to taller saplings and the plot had become a case study in forest succession. But thanks to a generous grant from the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS), the lot is now cleared and grubbed and just awaiting the arrival of the shelter and some orchard grass seed. This year, for the first time, we will have an entire, completely isolated paddock and shelter whose sole purpose will be to quarantine incoming equines. Thanks, GFAS!
We also need to give a big, whopping “Thank You!” to the ASPCA. Not long ago, we applied for a grant for a field shelter to house our blind ponies. In the interim, we had temporarily relocated a smaller shelter to their paddock. The ASPCA has generously awarded us the grant for the bigger shelter with the storage area. This means that the smaller shelter can go…you guessed it! To the new quarantine area. So we will have a new Quarantine paddock complete with shelter, and our blind ponies will have a much bigger shelter with a storage area. Hurray!
