We are not only asking for help to keep our horse family alive but we also want to raise some awareness for Blister Beetles and what they can do to your horses. Recently we have suffered a major tragedy and lost 13 of our family of beloved riding stable horses.

Recent years have become tough to produce the amount of hay we need to feed our horse family and in addition the same weather has had a loss of income to our weather dependent business. The amount of hay and grain we have had to purchase from outside sources has increased by 90%. This fall we purchased hay from out west by the semi load. What we didn't know was that this hay that we have used our savings to purchase was contaminated with Blister Beetles.

Blister beetles are small insects that live in alfalfa hay that contain and secrete a toxin called cantharis in which causes ulceration and inflammation of the mouth, stomach and intestines. When the horses eat the contaminated hay they showed symptoms of colic, weight loss, pain in the stomach, unable to stand and eventually death. To date we have lost 13 horses to this miserable bug.

Going forward our winter hay is a total loss and we are left with a barn full of poisonous hay. Our entire hay budget is exhausted with this unplanned tragedy and excessive vet bills. We need some help to keep the remaining horse family fed. We are devastated both emotionally with the loss of our loved ones as well as financially.

As many of your know our riding stable has always prided itself in the fact that our horses have forever homes. They are not for sale or trade. Most of our horses have a story of how they came to love with us and become part of our family. We do the best we can for each and every one of them for the remainder of their lives while sharing them with the public as an operating filing stable and a plan for kids and adults to lear how to care for and ride horses. Our family of horses are also special to may other people because they have touched their lives an hearts as well as our own.

Please find it in your hearts to donate to help feed the survivors of our beloved family of horses. ANY AMOUNT will help and I know our goal may seem high but it is what we need to get through June when we can produce hay again.