Happy New Year to everyone!  Our Christmas fundraiser has been a huge success, thank you to everyone who contributed or shared or sent good wishes!  We still have today to go and we've already raised over $15,000!!

I have quite a few new additions yet to post on the website.  Here are the ones that we've taken in since my last post.

I started my previous blog on December 2nd and only got around to actually posting it today.  Rather than add to it I figured I should start a new blog so here we are 2 weeks later.  It's actually almost 3 in the morning.  For some reason (perhaps because of all the work we do during the day?) the only time I seem to be able to work uninterrupted on the computer is when I can't sleep and am up in the middle of the night.  Not that I am complaining in the least!  After working in an office for almost 35 years, the freedom to be up in the middle of the night and not have to worry about having to get up in the morning and drive to work and then spend the whole day at the office in priceless.

I had mentioned in the previous blog that we had the Red Deer College Theatre Production Program out for a volunteer day to work on the seniors' shelter.  Thank you to our volunteers Kim and Mette for arranging it (as they are in that class), and thanks to their scenic carpentry instructor Ian, shop supervisor Rick, and students Aaric, Trevor, John and Nevin (and Kim and Mette).  The senior's shelter was completed, save for 2 gates that Mike installed the next day.  Thank you also to Mike's brother Brian who was out helping that day as well.  The horses love their new shelter!

We received two nice donations through employee matching programs, namely Cenovus Employee Foundation and Encana Cares.  Thank you!

We received several 'donations in memory' over the last couple of months.  Thank you to those who chose to memorialize their loved ones in this way.

Thank you to our local feed store located in Sundre, Dougan's Farm and Feed Supply, for donating about 40 bags of Nutrena Vitality horse feed!

Michelle Neaves won a draw through Red Deer Mitsubishi, where the winner gets to select a charity of their choice to receive half the prize money.  Thank you Michelle for selecting Bear Valley Rescue as your charity of choice!

In the last 2 weeks we've had several intakes, including the ponies mentioned in the previous blog, save that we ended up with 3 mares and 3 foals, not 4 mares and 2 foals as originally anticipated.  Our sincerely appreciation to Four Feet Companion Foundation for their generous grant to assist us in taking in these cute ponies!

This past weekend, some wonderful friends volunteered to make an all day drive south to pick up an old gelding from an impound lot.  Thank you RJ for contacting us about the horse, Clifton for contacting RJ in the first place, and Stephanie, Laura and Bob (and Stephanie's friend) for making the drive.    Meet 'Thirty'!

Also coming to us this past weekend from a feedlot were 2 thoroughbreds and a filly.  A huge thanks to Alyssa and Emily for hauling them down to us from Lloydminster, another all-day trip, also involving an emergency stop at a vet clinic in Edmonton when the filly went down in the trailer!  Thankfully she was okayed for the remainder of the trip and is recovering nicely in the barn.  We've named the filly 'Flower', and the 2 thoroughbreds are Sir Charles B, 22 years old (the black), and Into the Fire, 18 years old (the bay).  They are all lovely horses, very well mannered, though sadly in poor shape.  We'd also like to thank the ladies of the 'Westlock and Beaverlodge Auction' facebook page, for their efforts to save horses destined for slaughter.  It was through them that we got these 3 horses and their fundraising efforts helped reduce the purchase prices and hauling costs to get these horses safe.

Our Christmas fundraiser is well under way!  Thank you to everyone who has contributed, donating during the month of December or specifically buying a present for their favourite to put under the tree, or as will now be the case, into the sleigh!

I'd like to thank once again Pets for Life Society Alberta for their very generous support in paying our vet bills for October and November. 

Yikes, I didn't realize it has been so long since my last update.  As the saying goes, life is what happens while you are making other plans.  So much has been happening, and thankfully most of it good! 

We've had quite a few adoptions, but of course as usual we have had more incoming than outgoing.  Currently we are expecting to take in 4 young mini/pony mares, pregnant, and 2 of them with foals at side.  We plan to pick them up early next week.  We recently had a few returns, including Hope and Bonny who were adopted out in 2008, Kokanee who was just recently adopted but didn't fit in well at his new home, and Cider who was adopted out in 2007.  This week we are also expecting back Sugar and Disco, as their owners are moving to the Yukon.   Additional intakes include 2 nice Quarter Horses, Fawn and Ziggy; another Quarter Horse, Charger, who came in with Hope and Bonny; Zippity, a mini paint stallion (already adopted!) and 2 cute weanling fillies, Autumn#2 and Zendaya; a donkey, Zebity, at foster with the mini-mules and Eeyore; and 2 more rabbits and some chickens.  Adopted out were Tawny, Django, Twix, Rigby, Chex, Zippity, Juanita, and foster fails Yuma, Zaz and Romeo!

We are so glad that the weather held out and we were able to pasture a lot of the horses until well into October and November.  The last 33 horses were brought home by Mike and one of our wonderful volunteers, Barrie, at the end of November, all looking very fat and happy.  All the horses were so good to load and haul.  Of the 21 we brought home from the one pasture, of the 4 or 5 loads to bring them home, it wasn't until the last 4 horses that any of them even needed to be haltered - and this was loading them loose on a quarter section without even corrals!  I have to say I am glad to have them home, even though it means having to feed LOTS of hay.  It is so nice to be able to see them and interact with them on a daily basis.

There was a great volunteer day in October with thanks to the employees of Deloitte Touche.  Lots of fencing/painting/clean-up got done!  Thank you to Mike's brother Andy for coming out and helping to supervise.

Once again we are so thankful to for all the support we get from the horse community and public in general.

Thank you Bob for the donation of 100 round bales of hay!
Thank you Ken Chapman and Catalyst Changers for the donation of $10,000!!

We had the online auction on facebook in September in 2 parts that raised, drum roll please...  $7,482!!  A huge shout-out to Mary Ellen for all her hard work in organizing and running the auction, and thank you to everyone who donated items!

With Halloween we received LOTS of pumpkins for the pigs.  Thanks to everyone who collected pumpkins and brought them out to the Rescue (special thanks to Amy from Red Deer Humane, that's her in the pic) from Mountain View Dodge, Olds College, AARCS, Red Deer Humane Society, and more !

Thorncliffe Venturer Scouts volunteered a day at the Rescue in November - building a fence, hanging some gates, etc.  Thank you Scouts!

Thank you so much Pets For Life Society for the donation to cover our October and November vet bills.

Today we had another group out, the .... class from Red Deer College, to help finish the seniors' shelter.  It looks fantastic!!