The past year was a whirlwind of activity here at the Rescue.  In addition to the day-to-day (HUGE) amount of work involved in looking after the horses and other animals, we had some major projects that took up a lot of our time:
- Thanks to some great fundraising by Karen and Linda, we were able to purchase and erect a 40 x 80 fabric building  for a training arena in the fall of 2022. 
-  The repair shop move was completed, for the most part, by fall 2022. 
-  Our upcoming project for 2023 will be the expansion of the clinic, taking over the space in the barn that used to be the shop.  Plans include: adding a proper set of vet stocks; better storage; constructing a foaling stall with a removable divider; and perhaps even adding a wash bay.  Fundraising will be underway soon!
- Another project for 2023 will be replacing more of our wire fencing with wood fencing, especially in the winter paddock of the main herd.

Our statistics for 2022:

Intakes - 80 equine (including 1 mini-mule, 3 donkeys, 1 orphan foal, and 4 foals born to pregnant intakes) Adoptions - 30 equine (including 3 donkeys)
Assisted in directly placing into homes without intake - 2 cows, 18 ponies, 1 bunny, 1 pony, 1 mule, and 1 donkey

We currently care for:

Available for adoption - 50 equine
In Foster Homes - 46 equine
Permanent residents - 132 equine, 3 pigs, 1 goat, 1 llama, 12 cows, 2 ducks, 3 turkeys, 16 hens, 8 roosters, 20 cats, and 3 dogs

Each year takes a toll on us with the passing of some of our animals.  We had quite a few dearly loved residents cross the rainbow bridge this year, including 24 horses, 3 cows, Sunny the goose, our precious Bean and Tinker the goats, and sweet  little Trumpet the donkey, also Kitkat and Hocus, 2 of our kitties, both of which were diabetic.  After twenty years in rescue, many of our residents have been here a long time and are aging, so that their passing becomes inevitable.  We are also taking in more older animals that already have a fair bit of age on them, or animals with medical issues that have taken their toll.  Despite having had to deal with so many losses over the years, it seems we are more heartbroken each time.  We are grateful though, that we are able to provide such good care to them while they are here with us and, where possible, give the final kindness of an easy passing.

Remember, all of this is possible only because of the wonderful support of you, our donors! 
These animals are here and have a good life because we all care.  We care that they are safe and loved, that they have enough to eat, friends to live with, and help for illness or injury when it happens.

Every month we have costs such as vet ($5,000), hay ($15,000 average in winter), farrier ($1,800 per month), feed for the seniors ($5,000), plus maintenance costs such as fuel, equipment, repairs & maintenance, etc. so it really adds up!

During 2022 we had several foals born to mares that were pregnant when they came into our care:  Brownie's foal Pudding, Tiramisu's foal Cupcake, Opal's foal Garnet, and Tourmaline's foal Jade.  Pudding, who was born late in the summer, is now available for adoption.  The others have already gone on to new homes!

Fundraising this past year was very successful.  We had an AGLC casino at the beginning of January. Thank you to everyone who volunteered for that!  We didn't have an open house this year but we did have a tack sale that raised over $2,000!. It seems like we're still getting up to speed after these last few covid years but, slowly and surely, we're getting there.  We also have 2 very successful online auctions, one in spring and one in fall, raising almost $6,200!

Our fundraising committee did a fantastic job raising money for our training arena, and with the help of 2 wonderful people, Sam and Mark, it went up in record time!  Now we have a space to work with the horses even in inclement weather, or during the long evenings of winter.  Thank you to all the donors, and to the following generous grantors: Lush Cosmetics, Saint-Gobain N.A., Nickle Family Foundation, and Eric S. Margolis Family Foundation, along with Walmart Stores, Moore Equine Veterinary Centre and Ken & Linda M.  We really appreciate your support!

Sika, a little mini-hinny, came to us unhandled and with badly neglected feet.  With the help of one of our great farriers, her hooves are now back in shape and she is healthy and able to be handled.

This year, for the first time, our *Sponsor a Horse for the Winter* fundraiser sold out!  We also surpassed our goal by a LOT, raising almost $53,000!  You, our donors, sponsors, supporters, came through in amazing fashion.  Thank you!!

Newsletter

March 2021

Happy New Year!  We wish all the best to everyone in the coming year. 

I’ve been (very) lax about keeping up with posting news so I’ll apologize for that right off the bat.  I actually started this newsletter in January (hence the ‘Happy New Year’) and here it is, March! 

Amazingly, 2020 was a pretty good year for the Rescue, in spite of world events.  The biggest issue we’ve had to deal with is that our intern program is at a standstill since international travel has been restricted.  We hope we’ll be able to restart the program soon as we’ve really come to rely on their help, and we have a backlog of people wanting to come stay with us.

We worked very hard at fundraising throughout the year, with a tack/yard sale and online auctions with wonderful donated items. Our Christmas fundraiser and winter sponsorship drive were both a resounding success, raising over $50,000 and finding sponsors for all 49 horses on the poster!  The Open House in August was scaled back a bit due to covid but was still a success: we raised over $6000.  Going into January with a financial cushion is a massive relief.  We are planning more online auctions and sales for the coming year so stay tuned! 
The best way to follow current news and events relating to the Rescue is on our facebook page - www.facebook.com/bearvalleyab

A huge thank you goes out to all the donors, sponsors, grantors, and volunteers who contributed to our successes this year.  Thank you to Alberta Equestrian Federation and Partners for the Herd for the very generous donation toward feed costs this winter.

We started out 2020 with a new accounting program (Quickbooks) which has made paperwork and bookkeeping a lot easier! Thanks to TechSoup Canada for this inexpensive software that we would definitely recommend to other charities, and thank you to Leslie K for helping with the download and install – slow rural internet can be such a pain.

One of the biggest pluses for us this fall was lower prices and increased availability of hay in our area.  Hay prices dropped almost 50% from the previous year, and 75% from the year before that, with the average round bale costing us $50 - $60.  Hay quality was also exceptional, and we received some very generous donations of hay!

Here are some of our numbers from 2020:
Intakes: 79 horses and ponies, 68 chickens, 4 feral cats 
Adoptions:  87 horses and ponies, 40 chickens
In foster homes:  41 horses and ponies
Current residents: 166 horses, ponies, donkeys and 1 mule, 15 cows, 1 llama, 2 goats, 44 chickens, 3 ducks, 1 goose, 5 pigs, 10 rabbits (also 3 dogs and 22 cats!)
 
Current medical cases:
Marilyn, a recent intake mare, is undergoing treatment for a large sarcoid on her bottom. 
Ezzie, a 4-year-old mare, is receiving ongoing care for a sarcoid on her foot that was removed last year but has since grown back.
We currently have 8 horses and 6 minis receiving daily medication for Cushing’s Disease, approximately 28 horses receiving daily anti-inflammatories and half that many again receiving occasional (every second day) anti-inflammatories. 
Ruby#3, an 11-year-old mare, had surgery on January 25th to resolve an ongoing weeping fistula from a large injury she sustained to her shoulder prior to arriving at the Rescue.  She is now on the road to recovery!

We also have 2 pregnant mares, Bianca and Nan, that are due to foal this spring - check out the fundraiser for Bianca on the home page!

We have 4 blind horses in our care. One of them, Kahlua, has glaucoma and receives drops in her eyes every day to treat it.  We are blessed to have a foster home that provides safe pasture for the blind horses every summer.

Titan and Alistair received new Soft-Ride boots and are very comfortable in them.  Though they were expensive, we are delighted with the difference they make!

We had some very sad stories over the year, including the loss of some long-time residents to illness or old age, and some of our intakes that were in just too much distress to be saved.  Most recently we had to say goodbye to Eddie, our 18.2 HH Shire gelding, and Molly, one of our beloved dogs.  Every animal is so very missed, but our lives are better for having known them all.  

We have had some great recoveries and success stories as well.                                  
Ray, the gelding that was hit by a car and then shot in the head, is doing fantastic.  His flank wound is almost completely healed and he doesn’t have much in the way of lasting negative effects from his ordeal.  He still has a bit of trouble chewing sometimes, possibly from bullet fragments that remain lodged in his skull, but his weight and demeanor are excellent.  Khalil, the emaciated Arab with facial paralysis most likely from a stroke, has almost completely recovered and continues to improve every day.

We had a tragic fire at the end of April that destroyed our coop and boiler and, sadly, took the lives of four of our roosters.  It was probably the most scared I’ve ever been!  We’ll never be able to thank our neighbour enough who came so quickly and helped control the fire until the fire department arrived.  It could have been so much more disastrous.  The new coop is now rebuilt and the new boiler installed, finally.  The poultry all love their new accommodations.   Thank you to everyone who helped us recover from this awful experience.

Looking ahead, one of our biggest priorities for the coming year will be to further rework our winter hay storage.  The new hay shed holds about 200 – 250 round bales, which is one quarter of our winter hay supply.  Storing the round bales under cover has been fantastic as the covered hay remains dry and clean until spring, ensuring the horses are receiving the best feed.  However, we don’t have the space to store the balance of the hay, about 750 rounds, through the winter unless we stack the bales.   Stacking the hay without cover leads to losses due to mold and poor quality.  We had 2 options - either increase our hay storage area, which means losing some pasture area, or consider bringing in only some of our winter hay in the fall and getting the rest of it mid-winter once existing hay is used up and we have space again.  The big downside to the second option is that hauling hay in winter is a huge stressor as so much depends on road and weather conditions, so we decided to go with fencing off a larger area for storage.  This additional space will need to be leveled and graveled as well, so it’s a fairly big project that we’ll be fundraising for throughout the year.

We have some fencing to replace, some shelters to move around, and of course, lots of animals that require our attention and care every day.  We are looking forward to a year of new adventure, and with our amazing supporters, being able to help as many horses as possible!

Our 50/50 fundraiser for Bianca and her foal's care is on NOW!
Bianca the rescue horse is in foal and due this spring!
Go the the fundraiser page here - Bianca Fundraiser - to find out how to enter and dates available.

Some of the door prizes and raffle items: