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A special thank you to Erin Burnside of Elkins High
School and all the riders that came to the benefit trail ride for SWAP. As her
Senior project Erin raised over $400. for SWAP. Kudos Erin. If we had 100 kids
do this as their senior project or even just as a fund raiser, they could pay to
feed all our horses for a year!! Please consider us kids when you are doing your
volunteer projects for school or if you want to do a fund raiser this summer.
One kid with the desire to help can make a huge difference, just like Erin did.
Bravo for a job well done!!
Congratulations
to our Executor for her selection and award for the International Who's Who of
Professional and Business Women for 2006/2007. Kudos!!
Yehaa, Kudos again to our Executor for her selection to
receive the National Leadership Award by the Republican Party.
Click here to put
a horse into our adoption program
Click here to
see what we have learned over the years and with thousands of horses.
If you can't adopt, think about a gift to one or
all of our horses: supplies, tack, dewormers, a donation, fly spray, or a new
halter. Click here to be a sponsor to
one of our horses
Great Goals for 2008:
1. Spend
an hour a day with your horses, not just feeding, training and turning out, but
real quality time doing something that is enjoyable for the both of you.
Grooming or hand walking is a great way to bond with your horse and good for
both you and the horse.
2. Get
your loved ones more involved in your horses. Divorce is the biggest reason we
see horses coming back to us. Don't just share the work, share the fun too and find
something they really enjoy doing with horses.
3. Learn
a new discipline, go to a clinic, a horse show, or equine affaire. Come to one
of our clinics or watch a training video. If you are an adopter you can check
out books and video's from SWAP's Library for just shipping costs. Take a lesson at least once a month or Bring your adoption horse
here and we will help you. The better you are, the more fun you will have.
4. Make a
plan for your horse after you are gone or if you have a major injury, let your
will executor know your plans. Make a plan for emergencies or financial bumps
along the way for your horse. Have a plan if you or your horse gets injured,
even for the tough times of year like winter (or summer down south). Ask friends, family and neighbors
to be part of your plan. Most people can not resist someone when they are asking
for help for the welfare of an innocent animal.
5. Get yourself healthy and in better shape to
prevent injury, to live a long life and to more enjoy your horses. Eat 1-1-1
(one ounce of dark chocolate, one ounce of fresh walnuts, one glass of red wine
daily) and 2-2-2 (2 servings of fresh vegis, 2 of fresh fruit and get 2 sources
of fat free calcium). Drink 100 ounces of spring water a day, get a whole
house water filter. Change over to Sea-salt. Take one teaspoon of apple cider
vinegar every morning to keep your body alkaline (cancer and disease can not
grow in an alkaline body). Eat more fish and chicken and less red meat. Get a
good air cleaner and do daily deep breathing exercises, get outside in the fresh
air and sunshine for at least 1/2 hour every day. Get away from high fat food,
processed foods, fast food, can or boxed food, sugar or artificial sweeteners,
soda and don't eat anything if you can't read all the ingredients and know
exactly what is in it. Clean all vegis and fruits thoroughly, buy organic, buy
ocean caught fish, not farm raised, buy fresh meat and raw milk, not packed or
processed. Eat only natural carbs (potatoes, rice, oats) bake/broil or steam
everything. Use your microwave for only heating water, it kills the nutrition
value in food. Get 8 hours of sleep, reduce stress/risk (reduce commuting by car
pooling, tight schedules, cell phone use in the car, watch or read the news only
once a day or better yet once a week, stay clear of
negative people
and those very negative chat rooms and bulletin boards). Stop Complaining and be
Thankful for what we each have. Do one hour of walking, yoga or weight
training every day and it will make you strong, lean, look great and you'll get
wonderful complements from friends, coworkers and loved ones and the horse work
will be easier and more enjoyable.
6. Read
at least one book on training your horse and one on care each year, if for nothing
else but just inspiration. SWAP has a great
library of books/videos that adopters can check out for just the cost of mailing
it. Click here to
see our Library
7. Get
carrots/apples every time you go to the store, your horses will love you for it and
always come running when you call. Don't feed candy or anything sweeter. Carrots
are sweet enough. Get rid of the sweet feeds and you'll get rid of the hot horse
once and for all.
8.
Realize that if you are having a problem with your horse, more likely than not,
the problem is you. Learn more, practice more, ask in a different way, be
patient, change their environment or daily schedule to better suit them. Taking
better care of a horse always brings out the best in that horse. Good
feed/hay, time to rest in a quiet stall out of the elements, lots of fresh water, time to be with you and time to
just be a horse, time with their buddies, farrier and vet care always done is a
good start. The biggest part of this relationship puzzle is you, not the horse.
If you are struggling, then you need to learn more and get better.
9. Ride
at least once a week, regardless of weather. Use this time as your down time for
healing, your therapy, your time to relieve stress and the pressures of daily
life. Even if you don't ride, go sit and read a book in the pasture with the
horses or sit in the barn and listen to them munch on dinner, away from the
crowd and noise of your day. Enjoy the peace and quiet, enjoy hearing happy
horses eating dinner or grass in the pasture.
10. Spend
time leisurely grooming your horse once a week. Rubber curries are shine makers.
You will have a beautiful horse and a very loyal friend who will do anything for
you.
11. Come and spend a week at SWAP HQ,
volunteering and focusing on helping a horse and giving will change your life
plus it will be the best vacation you ever had. Help
an animal in need, whether fostering, being one of our state reps that goes out
to check on our horses in their homes or helps us approve adopters in their
area. Find horses in need and help us find them homes. Buy a horse at a slaughter
auction, get it fat and trained and we'll help you place it into a good home. Foster and
volunteer for your local small animal adoption program. I promise, the good
things you do will come back to you a hundred times over. Every person has a
talent they can offer and if you help one horse or one dog or cat find a good
home, you have changed their life forever.
12.
Know that every goal is obtainable and it starts with a single step.
Take that first step today!! No matter what it is or how big, YOU CAN DO IT!!
Every goal that is written down will come true (really!). Every famous person,
every great or notable scientist, author, trainer/rider, parent or friend
started out as just a thought, just a goal. Remember to take one step today to
reach your goals.
13. Start
every day with thinking about, what is the most important thing I can do
today to change my life and make it better. Do that one thing and in 30 days
your life will be totally different. Can you imagine what your life would be
like if you did that for 60, 90 or even 365 days a year. The opportunities are
endless.
14. Want to keep your horse sound for life? (That should be every horse owners
number one goal) do a
long slow warm up (cold muscle is easy to injure, a warm one is nearly
impossible to injure). The very best cool down is hand walking your horse for 1 hour after every work out.
Yes, get off the horse and walk with it. Its great exercise for you and a good
time for you to bond. Stop riding your horse during cool downs and stop using a
hot walker, do something good for you and the horse, hand walking. Its also the
best rehab for over work and injuries, the only thing better is hydro therapy
and swimming your horse. Allow soft tissue and hard tissue to
become more conditioned before going into any training program... that usually
means 3 months of at least 3 days a week for soft tissues and 10 months of work for bones to become strong
enough to jump or do any strenuous training program. Don't start any upper level
work, jumping or extensive training until the horse is fit and at least between
age 4 and 6 and has been conditioned for at least 10 months (especially if the
horse has never been jumped/worked or not been jumped or worked in the last
year).
15. Appreciate what you have and be thankful.
Instead of looking at what you don't have, look at what you do. Thank those
people who have helped you and supported you. The more you give, the more that
will come back to you. When you give something away or give something to
someone/something in need, you make space in your life for something good to
come to you. We are all very blessed, if we just take a moment to look
around and enjoy those things.
16. Get used to using favorite mantra's and visualizations
every day, simple ones that are easy to remember, like 'I can do this, I will do
this', 'this isn't going to get the best of me' or even, 'I deserve the best' or
'the gift of love, caring, and support always comes back' and take two minutes
every morning as you wake and at night as you go to sleep to visualize the life
you want, the you you want to be, Our thoughts become things, what you see
is what you get, if you expect the best, the best will happen, change your
self-talk from negative to positive and I promise your life will change for the
better..
17. Each person is put on this earth for a reason, each of
us has a mission. What is yours? Seek and you shall find, finding is a journey
... in the journey and the search you'll find your life purpose. If you died in
your sleep tonight is there something you haven't done that you need to do or
want to do? Someone you need to mend fences with, burnt bridges to fix? People
you need to tell them how much you love them? Have you fulfilled your purpose in
your life? Ask yourself, Why am I here? How can I make this better? Who do
I want to be? Who am I suppose to be? What reason was I put on this earth? What
is my purpose?
18. Be an inspiration to your family, co workers and
friends. We all fall on our face, we all make mistakes, we all get discouraged,
most times we all get up and try again.... sometimes we need a nudge. Instead of
being negative or doing negative things, be their inspiration. You do believe
they can do it, so why not tell them. If their self talk is negative, then you
be their positive self talk.... eventually they will start to say it and believe
it too. Life is self fulfilling, failure feeds on itself or causes more failure,
achieving does as well. So if you or your love ones are in a negative cycle,
break the cycle by changing your thoughts, your self talk, achieve something
small to get yourself and your family back into the cycle of achievement.
19. We all file a flight plan every single day for our
life. Where is your flight going today? Just like a pilot flying, the winds, the
gravitational pull will change your flight plan and take you off course, so you
must make small corrections along the way to make sure you make your
destination. Have you selected your destination? Have you picked the steps in
your flight plan to get there? Every goal is really that easy, pick the goal and
figure out how to get there. The easiest way to pick your flight path/plan is
find someone who has done it before you, then do what they did. Its all baby
steps you know. Just keep an eye on that destination and keep saying...."here is
my destination, this is where I'm going, this is where I am now, this is how I'm
going to get there.... I will arrive at this time on this day. You can do
it..... its just like getting in your car to go to the store, its just deciding
where you want to go and how to get there, then take that first step. You can do
it!! No matter how big or how outlandish you may think your dream to be...
it is obtainable.
20. Laugh every day and try (as hard as it is sometimes)
to find the positive and the humor in each situation (and have at least one bite
of a truly decadent desert once a week). Life is just too short to not enjoy it
thoroughly.
21. We learn the most and do our best work when we have
fallen on our face, when we are struggling, when we are worried, scared or
frustrated, when we anguishing over something or troubled by it. It is then that
you have true motivation, when you think clearer. The most brilliant ideas come
to people when they feel lost, frustrated, or at the bottom, helpless or
hopeless. Cherish these times because its when you can come up with your best
ideas to your biggest problems and challenges. You see, there is a reason for
the rainy days.
22. You can't make everyone happy, its useless to try and
wasted energy to think you can. 50% of all people will not agree with you at any
given time, don't worry about it and don't let it stop you. 50% becomes a lot of
people when you are in the public eye. As long as you are not hurting anyone and
you believe you are doing the right thing, then go ahead and do it. If you are
wondering what is the right thing to do, its usually the harder thing to do, the
toughest path to take. The easy way out is rarely the right thing to do.
Instead of worrying over what someone thinks of you or says about you, do
something amazing and outstanding to inspire them or at least have them sitting
on the side lines being jealous, secretly saying, "wow, she has guts". One
person with purpose becomes the majority, one way or another.
This should
probably be taped to your bathroom mirror where one could read it every day.
1. There
are at least two people in this world that you would die for.
2. At least
15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. The only
reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you
4. A smile
from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.
5. Every
night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
6. You mean
the world to someone.
7. You are
special and unique.
8. Someone
that you don't even know exists loves you.
9. When you
make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
10 When you
think the world has turned its back on you take another look.
11 Always
remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.
Good
friends are like stars.......
You don't
always see them, But you know they are always there.
"Whenever
God Closes One Door He Always Opens Another,
I would
rather have one rose and a kind word from a friend while I'm here than a whole
truck load when I'm gone.
Always in hope and admiration, Celeita
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Starting a Rescue or any type of animal welfare
organzation
An admirable cause and badly needed in all 50 states but you have to be
careful because doing this can put you in financial ruin and leave you broken
emotionally and beaten physically if not done right but yet, this work will
break your heart daily, you will see the best and the very worst in people and
all the terrible terrible things that people and so called 'horse lovers' do to
horses.
If you need help, call us and very soon look for our clinic on Starting a
Rescue. Here's several notes on what we've learned over the last 10 years and
the thousands of horses we've placed:
Forget about making money to put in your pocket, regardless of what anyone
says its not a profession where you make money. Focus on doing a good job for
each horse. That is not to say the money is not important, it is, as the more
money your program gets, the more horses you can help but all the money needs to
be applied to the horses and the work, not put into your pocket. All of our
employees, even the full time employees have never made more than 15k a year and
that was our barn manager, the most important person in the care of each horse
(having them well fed and a clean barn and stalls), that is a little over a
$1000. a month before taxes (all are on the poverty level). 90% of our employees
make less than 10k a year, pretty sad really as they are worth so much more to
the horses but the money has to be applied to the horses because its really the
only way to survive and do a good job for each horse.
If anyone that works for the program has horses at the program facilities
they do not get any special care, its critical that the adoption horses get the
same care of better care than personal horses. It is not right to do it any
other way and if you do, every person who walks in your barn will see that and
remember that you care more about your personal horses than the adoption horses.
We've actually let workers and volunteers go because of this and it is a huge
pet peeve of ours. It should be with every program.
With that in mind, look for ladies that loves horses and that their husband pays
all the bills and they are just looking for a way to help, work that gives them
meaning and just gives them some gas money and spending money because there is
no way your salaries can support a family.
Make good decisions financially and treat it as a business. If you can't
afford to take on another horse or a tough case, then say no. You can't help any
horses if you can't pay for everything that is needed, hay, grain, farrier, vet,
workers, supplies, etc.
Give yourself a limit on the number of horses you can take. first take the
number of acres you have in pasture and divide by the number 3, that will be the
max number of horses you can put on your pasture without ruining it (if
carefully managed). And if you are north of the mason dixon line and have only
15 stalls then your limit is 15 horses. Taking more than that will not be fair
to the horses.
Many rescues need to be rescued financially is what we hear from transporters
who pick up horses at other rescues. I expect all programs to struggle
financially as the need will always be higher than resources, the work more than
you have people and the cost more than you have money but you have to be
sensible about how many horses and what you can take but be sure you have the
capability to do the best for the horse. I use a 2k planning figure needed for
each horse and on average each horse will take at least 1k but planning for
needing more helps.
Be prepared to be lied to more than the IRS. People will tell you anything
when they want a horse and will tell you anything when they want you to take a
horse or take a horse back. Find ways to get the proof in what they are saying.
Proof is the only thing that is acceptable... vet records, current pictures or
pictures that are dated on the print. References need to come from their
trainer, vet, farrier and employer only. With that said, expect the best out of
people but be prepared for the worst which means getting independent proof.
What people tell you about the horse is centered around their experience so
you have to study the person and the environment to understand the horse as its
not the horse talking about themselves. If a
person who has never owned a horse goes to the track and buys a TB off the track
and thinks its crazy is totally different from someone who has trained TB's for
20 years and rides TB's 5 times a week. It's all relative to the persons
experience. And if the horse is extremely difficult maybe the person doesn't
know how to establish respect with a horse or maybe they horse never gets turn
out, if its not confident may mean that the person who has him does not know how
to build confidence in the horse. Ask all the important questions which includes
find out about his environment, find out about the donors experience, how long
they have had the horse and how many times they have ridden it in the last year.
Always, always always tell the truth and be open about each horse, the horse
depends on you for his entire life and the adopters depend on you to keep them
safe and help them make good decisions.
A bad volunteer or worker is worse than no help. Get rid of anyone that is
negative, difficult or their heart is in the wrong place, even if they are a
volunteer. You will have no time for negativity. Get people around you that
believe all things are possible because when you believe that, its true.
Don't expect donations or grants for several years, until you've proven
yourself with several hundred success cases. When you ask for money ask for a
particular reason and its needs to be an important reason. If you are wondering
how you survive and pay for the horses care, well you take it out of your own
pocket and the pocket of your board members for years and from the adopters who
adopt horses from you.
Figure out what you can take and can't, look at finances, dependable people
that will always be there for labor and facilities to decide what your niches
are and focus on those
Collect at least one year's overhead before taking your first horse, if you
want to take in 5 horses then have 10k in your pocket to get started, that is
money just for the care of the horses, not doing any farm improvements or
maintenance.
Take on the easy stuff first, starvation and neglect just takes food, then
once you are successful with that, go with soft tissue injuries (tendons and
ligaments, bows), then once you are successful with that.
You do not need to be a 501c3 (non profit) to do rescue and help horses. You
can go to auction, buy a skinny horse, take it home and fatten it up and sell it
and track it for life and that is animal welfare. You don't even have to be a
501c3 to take donations, if people care about your work and want to support it
they can give you money and supplies which becomes 'gifts' or income on your
income taxes. You can not give tax deductions unless you are a 501c3 but trust
me, just because someone has an IRS designation does not mean they are really
helping horses. The IRS knows nothing about what is best for horses, they only
look at your forms and approve your requests when your plan looks good. There
are 501c3's today that are abusing horses, neglecting horses, abusing people's
donations and even being charged with neglect/animal cruelty and going to jail.
There are also 501c3's that are basically horse traders, they don't have
thorough applications, they don't do contracts and some only track horses for 2
years, that is not animal welfare, its just horse trading, that is just
polishing up a turd, but its still a turd. Let your work show how you care
about horses, not your designation. Know the law and regardless of how your
company is structured, whether you are a sole proprietary, corporation or LLC,
know and follow the law. Once you have 5 to 10 years under your belt you may
want to get a 501c3 designation when foundations that give grants will finally
start to look at you for grants.
Put everything you do with donors or adopters in writing and have strong
contracts that will hold up in court.
Track horses for life. Yes, its harder and thankless but its the only way to
keep horses safe forever. If you only track for 2 or 5 years, then they can
still go to slaughter or to a bad home after that.
Do not release the horses ownership ever or only after many years and only to
those that have proven in all ways they want the horse forever and are giving a
good home (get proof of this) and don't ever allow resale of the horses you
release ownership of.
Get a website and keep it yourself. A professional can do the structure but
you do the day to day work.
You must have one full time person in the barn and one full time person in
the office to return calls, answer the phone and answer emails, to market the
horses, to talk to adopters and donors about the horses. You need one full time
person for every 500 horses you put into homes to track them, to keep databases
up, address changes, annual updates, etc.
Require in writing an annual update of every horse with dated pictures,
signed by their vet and a current coggins.
Get your office stuff in order early. A functional database of horses and
people, filing systems in both hard copies and in the computer.
Get a good camera and video camera, a good printer, good computer, scanner
and fax. all these are a must to function.
Protect horses for life, its the best thing for the horses and its the only
way you are going to get the good horses from owners who really care.
Yes, bad things happen to good horses and just because someone will pay big
money for a horse does not guarantee its a good home.
A horses welfare is more important than the money. Keep your priorities
straight.
No matter how much it hurts financially, keep the horses safe and get them
back when things are not going well, even if you have to go get them yourself.
Be prepared for horses that are stranded or deserted by adopters and even foster
parents, starved by adopters and fosters, even sold by adopters. Be prepared to
take them all to court. Keep good historical records to you have plenty of
evidence.
Take a picture of every horse that comes to you as soon as it arrives and
take a picture at the trailer when it leaves. Video of walk, trot canter at
arrival and departure will prevent anyone from saying something different.
Have witnesses for everything you do, even consider taping conversations with
adopters before they take the horse so you have proof that you told them about
the horse and what the rules of adoption is.
Review your contract in depth with adopters and donors.
Have a good way to do background checks on adopters. Its critical to know
they are who they say they are, they live where they say they live, they have
not been charged with crimes, they are not a fellon, they are not a horse
trader, they own the land/farm they say they do. PACER at uscourt.gov is a good
way to see everyone's court history (bankruptcies, civil and criminal court
cases), many county records are available on the computer to see who owns the
land they say they own. You can get a satellite view of their home to make sure
there is room for horses.
Always get Vet and Farrier references. Many times they will not say anything
negative but if they are not totally positive or hesitate at all, then there is
something wrong. Many vets will not tell you what is wrong but you can hear
hesitation in their voice... don't adopt to them.
See them ride or get a video of their riding, handling and tacking up a
horse.
Go see the farm the horses will be at or get state representatives to go look
at the farm.
Have a way to protect horses from being taken on liens at boarding
facilities, in divorces and court cases with adopters. If you give away
ownership of the horse, then the horse becomes there property which means they
can lose it to another person for not paying bills, in a divorce or in a court
case, for back taxes or for crimes.
Establish long term relationships with each adopter and donor and they will
better follow your requests to take care of the horse. You are here for the
horse, that is your number one goal but the only way you can trust anyone is to
get to know them well.
Expect things to go wrong, adopters lives change, they get divorced, they get
pregnant, they lose jobs, they have illness or family tragedies and all those
things displace horses in their homes. Be prepared to take the horse back
immediately if this happens.
When people say they can no longer keep horses because of finances, get the
horse back immediately because if you leave it there there is a huge risk of it
being sold or starved/neglected.
Try hard to 6 days a week and not 7, take a day off. Yes, of course, you have
to feed and turn out but rest the rest of at least one day. Try to work 8 hours
a day and not 12, 14 or 16. Take vacations, have friends away from rescue.
Protect your employees and volunteers from burn out. Its the biggest problem
among rescues.
Keep good records, keep all your promises, treat people and horses with
respect and be fair, expect them to follow your contract and you follow your
contract.
Keep a black list up to date on anyone that hurts horses and be prepared to
share it. Anyone that breaks your contract, that starves horses, that is
convicted of abuse or neglect, that sends a horse back to you in poor shape
because you will want others to know what has happened. The reason there is so
much fraud in the horse industry is because bad people are getting away with
murder. We can stop these people by sharing and publishing these lists. Our
blacklist saves horses all the time because people look up people's names before
selling horses and when they find their name on our blacklist the horse does not
go to them. People like horse traders and people that lie about horses will
target rescues and programs like ours and yours because they can get horses for
cheap and then lie and cheat people for money using your horses. Don't just
place horses with people because they are nice, get proof they will keep the
horse and take care of it.
Many adopters will over estimate their abilities on their application in
order to be approved. Its human nature to think you are better than you are,
that is why you have to place a horse with them that is under what they think
their capabilities are and go conservative when placing horses. They will in
many ways misrepresent themselves because they don't know better so you have to
protect them from themselves. Many times we've given people a chance with
the horse at the level they thought they were and were sorely mistaken and of
course, the adopter always blames you that you misrepresented the horse.... they
forget they misrepresented themselves or they don't even understand they are not
a good rider or that their experience is much less than they stated in their
application.
Getting them to come and ride the horse will help some but many horses go bad
once they leave you. You know how to set up the horse to be successful with a
rider, they do not so the horse starts going bad as soon as they are moved to
the new location. In a month, the person can't even handle the horse because the
horse now thinks the are in charge of the person, not the person in charge of
the horse. They don't get that the biggest part of the puzzle is them, not the
horse. If they are good, the horse will be good and if they don't know how to
develop confidence and respect in the horse and spoil the horse then the horse
will be bad with them.
Always try to do the right thing. If you ever have any question about what is
right, more likely than not, the right thing is always the hardest thing do to.
The right way is rarely the easy way out.
Believe you can do it and you will. Focus on results and the results will
come.
Work toward solutions and the solutions will always come.
Yes, you can do this and we need help!!
1. Spend
an hour a day with your horses, not just feeding, training and turning out, but
real quality time doing something that is enjoyable for the both of you.
Grooming or hand walking is a great way to bond with your horse and good for
both you and the horse.
2. Get
your loved ones more involved in your horses. Divorce is the biggest reason we
see horses coming back to us. Don't just share the work, share the fun too and find
something they really enjoy doing with horses.
3. Learn
a new discipline, go to a clinic, a horse show, or equine affaire. Come to one
of our clinics or watch a training video. If you are an adopter you can check
out books and video's from SWAP's Library for just shipping costs. Take a lesson at least once a month or Bring your adoption horse
here and we will help you.The better you are, the more fun you will have.
4. Make a
plan for your horse after you are gone or if you have a major injury, let your
will executor know your plans. Make a plan for emergencies or financial bumps
along the way for your horse. Have a plan if you or your horse gets injured,
even for the tough times of year like winter (or summer down south). Ask friends, family and neighbors
to be part of your plan. Most people can not resist someone when they are asking
for help for the welfare of an innocent animal.
5. Get yourself healthy and in better shape to
prevent injury, to live a long life and to more enjoy your horses. Eat 1-1-1
(one ounce of dark chocolate, one ounce of fresh walnuts, one glass of red wine
daily) and 2-2-2 (2 servings of fresh vegis, 2 of fresh fruit and get 2 sources
of fat free calcium). Drink 100 ounces of spring water a day, get a whole
house water filter. Change over to Sea-salt. Take one teaspoon of apple cider
vinegar every morning to keep your body alkaline (cancer and disease can not
grow in an alkaline body).Eat more fish and chicken and less red meat. Get a
good air cleaner and do daily deep breathing exercises, get outside in the fresh
air and sunshine for at least 1/2 hour every day. Get away from high fat food,
processed foods, fast food, can or boxed food, sugar or artificial sweeteners,
soda and don't eat anything if you can't read all the ingredients and know
exactly what is in it. Clean all vegis and fruits thorouhly, buy organic, buy
ocean caught fish, not farm raised, buy fresh meat and raw milk, not packed or
processed. Eat only natural carbs (potatoes, rice, oats) bake/broil or steam
everything. Get 8 hours of sleep, reduce stress/risk (reduce commuting by car
pooling, tight schedules, cell phone use in the car, watch or read the news only
once a day or better yet once a week, stay clear of
negative people
and those very negative chat rooms and bulletin boards). Stop Complaining and be
Thankful for what we each have. Do one hour of walking, yoga or weight
training every day and it will make you strong, lean, look great and you'll get
wonderful complements from friends, coworkers and loved ones and the horse work
will be easier and more enjoyable.
6. Read
at least one book on training your horse and one on care each year, if for nothing
else but just inspiration. SWAP has a great
library of books/videos that adopters can check out for just the cost of mailing
it.
Click here to
see our Library
7. Get
carrots/apples everytime you go to the store, your horses will love you for it and
always come running when you call. Don't feed candy or anything sweeter. Carrots
are sweet enough. Get rid of the sweet feeds and you'll get rid of the hot horse
once and for all.
8.
Realize that if you are having a problem with your horse, more likely than not,
the problem is you. Learn more, practice more, ask in a different way, be
patient, change their environment or daily schedule to better suit them. Taking
better care of a horse always brings out the best in that horse. Good
feed/hay, time to rest in a quiet stall out of the elements, lots of fresh water, time to be with you and time to
just be a horse, time with their buddies, farrier and vet care always done is a
good start. The biggest part of this relationship puzzle is you, not the horse.
If you are struggling, then you need to learn more and get better.
9. Ride
at least once a week, regardless of weather. Use this time as your down time for
healing, your therapy, your time to relieve stress and the pressures of daily
life. Even if you don't ride, go sit and read a book in the pasture with the
horses or sit in the barn and listen to them munch on dinner, away from the
crowd and noise of your day. Enjoy the peace and quiet, enjoy hearing happy
horses eating dinner or grass in the pasture.
10. Spend
time leasurely grooming your horse once a week. Rubber curries are shine makers.
You will have a beautiful horse and a very loyal friend who will do anything for
you.
11. Come and spend a week at SWAP HQ,
volunteering and focusing on helping a horse and giving will change your life
plus it will be the best vacation you ever had. Help
an animal in need, whether fostering, being one of our state reps that goes out
to check on our horses in their homes or helps us approve adopters in their
area. Find horses in need and help us find them homes. Buy a horse at a slaughter
auction, get it fat and trained and we'll help you place it into a good home. Foster and
volunteer for your local small animal adoption program. I promise, the good
things you do will come back to you a hundred times over. Every person has a
talent they can offer and if you help one horse or one dog or cat find a good
home, you have changed their life forever.
12.
Know that every goal is obtainable and it starts with a single step.
Take that first step today!! No matter what it is or how big, YOU CAN DO IT!!
Every goal that is written down will come true (really!). Every famous person,
every great or notable scientist, author, trainer/rider, parent or friend
started out as just a thought, just a goal. Remember to take one step today to
reach your goals.
13. Start
every day with thinking about, what is the most important thing I can do
today to change my life and make it better. Do that one thing and in 30 days
your life will be totally different. Can you imagine what your life would be
like if you did that for 60, 90 or even 365 days a year. The opportunities are
endless.
14. Want to keep your horse sound for life? (That should be every horse owners
number one goal) do a
long slow warm up (cold muscle is easy to injure, a warm one is nearly
impossible to injure). The very best cool down is hand walking your horse for 1 hour after every work out.
Yes, get off the horse and walk with it. Its great exercise for you and a good
time for you to bond. Stop riding your horse during cool downs and stop using a
hot walker, do something good for you and the horse, hand walking. Its also the
best rehab for over work and injuries, the only thing better is hydro therapy
and swimming your horse. Allow soft tissue and hard tissue to
become more conditioned before going into any training program... that usually
means 3 months of at least 3 days a week for soft tissues and 10 months of work for bones to become strong
enough to jump or do any strenuous training program. Don't start any upper level
work, jumping or extensive training until the horse is fit and at least between
age 4 and 6 and has been conditioned for at least 10 months (especially if the
horse has never been jumped/worked or not been jumped or worked in the last
year).
15. Appreciate what you have and be thankful.
Instead of looking at what you don't have, look at what you do. Thank those
people who have helped you and supported you. The more you give, the more that
will come back to you. When you give something away or give something to
someone/something in need, you make space in your life for something good to
come to you. We are all very blessed, if we just take a moment to look
around and enjoy those things.
16. Get used to using favorite mantra's and visualizations
every day, simple ones that are easy to remember, like 'I can do this, I will do
this', 'this isn't going to get the best of me' or even, 'I deserve the best' or
'the gift of love, caring, and support always comes back' and take two minutes
every morning as you wake and at night as you go to sleep to visualize the life
you want, the you you want to be, Our thoughts become things, what you see
is what you get, if you expect the best, the best will happen, change your
self-talk from negative to positive and I promise your life will change for the
better..
17. Each person is put on this earth for a reason, each of
us has a mission. What is yours? Seek and you shall find, finding is a journey
... in the journey and the search you'll find your life purpose. If you died in
your sleep tonight is there something you haven't done that you need to do or
want to do? Someone you need to mend fences with, burnt bridges to fix? People
you need to tell them how much you love them? Have you fulfilled your purpose in
your life? Ask yourself, Why am I here? How can I make this better? Who do
I want to be? Who am I suppose to be? What reason was I put on this earth? What
is my purpose?
18. Be an inspiration to your family, co workers and
friends. We all fall on our face, we all make mistakes, we all get discouraged,
most times we all get up and try again.... sometimes we need a nudge. Instead of
being negative or doing negative things, be their inspiration. You do believe
they can do it, so why not tell them. If their self talk is negative, then you
be their positive self talk.... eventually they will start to say it and believe
it too. Life is self fulfilling, failure feeds on itself or causes more failure,
achieving does as well. So if you or your love ones are in a negative cycle,
break the cycle by changing your thoughts, your self talk, achieve something
small to get yourself and your family back into the cycle of achievement.
19. We all file a flight plan every single day for our
life. Where is your flight going today? Just like a pilot flying, the winds, the
gravitational pull will change your flight plan and take you off course, so you
must make small corrections along the way to make sure you make your
destination. Have you selected your destination? Have you picked the steps in
your flight plan to get there? Every goal is really that easy, pick the goal and
figure out how to get there. The easiest way to pick your flight path/plan is
find someone who has done it before you, then do what they did. Its all baby
steps you know. Just keep an eye on that destination and keep saying...."here is
my destination, this is where I'm going, this is where I am now, this is how I'm
going to get there.... I will arrive at this time on this day. You can do
it..... its just like getting in your car to go to the store, its just deciding
where you want to go and how to get there, then take that first step. You can do
it!! No matter how big or how outlandish you may think your dream to be...
it is obtainable.
20. Laugh every day and try (as hard as it is sometimes)
to find the positive and the humor in each situation (and have at least one bite
of a truly decadent desert once a week). Life is just too short to not enjoy it
thoroughly.
21. We learn the most and do our best work when we have
fallen on our face, when we are struggling, when we are worried, scared or
frustrated, when we anguishing over something or troubled by it. It is then that
you have true motivation, when you think clearer. The most brilliant ideas come
to people when they feel lost, frustrated, or at the bottom, helpless or
hopeless. Cherish these times because its when you can come up with your best
ideas to your biggest problems and challenges. You see, there is a reason for
the rainy days.
22. You can't make everyone happy, its useless to try and
wasted energy to think you can. 50% of all people will not agree with you at any
given time, don't worry about it and don't let it stop you. 50% becomes a lot of
people when you are in the public eye. As long as you are not hurting anyone and
you believe you are doing the right thing, then go ahead and do it. If you are
wondering what is the right thing to do, its usually the harder thing to do, the
toughest path to take. The easy way out is rarely the right thing to do.
Instead of worrying over what someone thinks of you or says about you, do
something amazing and outstanding to inspire them or at least have them sitting
on the side lines being jealous, secretly saying, "wow, she has guts". One
person with purpose becomes the majority, one way or another.
Always in hope and admiration, Celeita
| |
Starting a Rescue or any type of animal welfare
organzation
An admirable cause and badly needed in all 50 states but you have to be
careful because doing this can put you in financial ruin and leave you broken
emotionally and beaten physically if not done right but yet, this work will
break your heart daily, you will see the best and the very worst in people and
all the terrible terrible things that people and so called 'horse lovers' do to
horses.
If you need help, call us and very soon look for our clinic on Starting a
Rescue. Here's several notes on what we've learned over the last 10 years and
the thousands of horses we've placed:
Forget about making money to put in your pocket, regardless of what anyone
says its not a profession where you make money. Focus on doing a good job for
each horse. That is not to say the money is not important, it is, as the more
money your program gets, the more horses you can help but all the money needs to
be applied to the horses and the work, not put into your pocket. All of our
employees, even the full time employees have never made more than 15k a year and
that was our barn manager, the most important person in the care of each horse
(having them well fed and a clean barn and stalls), that is a little over a
$1000. a month before taxes (all are on the poverty level). 90% of our employees
make less than 10k a year, pretty sad really as they are worth so much more to
the horses but the money has to be applied to the horses because its really the
only way to survive and do a good job for each horse.
If anyone that works for the program has horses at the program facilities
they do not get any special care, its critical that the adoption horses get the
same care of better care than personal horses. It is not right to do it any
other way and if you do, every person who walks in your barn will see that and
remember that you care more about your personal horses than the adoption horses.
We've actually let workers and volunteers go because of this and it is a huge
pet peeve of ours. It should be with every program.
With that in mind, look for ladies that loves horses and that their husband pays
all the bills and they are just looking for a way to help, work that gives them
meaning and just gives them some gas money and spending money because there is
no way your salaries can support a family.
Make good decisions financially and treat it as a business. If you can't
afford to take on another horse or a tough case, then say no. You can't help any
horses if you can't pay for everything that is needed, hay, grain, farrier, vet,
workers, supplies, etc.
Give yourself a limit on the number of horses you can take. first take the
number of acres you have in pasture and divide by the number 3, that will be the
max number of horses you can put on your pasture without ruining it (if
carefully managed). And if you are north of the mason dixon line and have only
15 stalls then your limit is 15 horses. Taking more than that will not be fair
to the horses.
Many rescues need to be rescued financially is what we hear from transporters
who pick up horses at other rescues. I expect all programs to struggle
financially as the need will always be higher than resources, the work more than
you have people and the cost more than you have money but you have to be
sensible about how many horses and what you can take but be sure you have the
capability to do the best for the horse. I use a 2k planning figure needed for
each horse and on average each horse will take at least 1k but planning for
needing more helps.
Be prepared to be lied to more than the IRS. People will tell you anything
when they want a horse and will tell you anything when they want you to take a
horse or take a horse back. Find ways to get the proof in what they are saying.
Proof is the only thing that is acceptable... vet records, current pictures or
pictures that are dated on the print. References need to come from their
trainer, vet, farrier and employer only. With that said, expect the best out of
people but be prepared for the worst which means getting independent proof.
What people tell you about the horse is centered around their experience so
you have to study the person and the environment to understand the horse as its
not the horse talking about themselves. If a
person who has never owned a horse goes to the track and buys a TB off the track
and thinks its crazy is totally different from someone who has trained TB's for
20 years and rides TB's 5 times a week. It's all relative to the persons
experience. And if the horse is extremely difficult maybe the person doesn't
know how to establish respect with a horse or maybe they horse never gets turn
out, if its not confident may mean that the person who has him does not know how
to build confidence in the horse. Ask all the important questions which includes
find out about his environment, find out about the donors experience, how long
they have had the horse and how many times they have ridden it in the last year.
Always, always always tell the truth and be open about each horse, the horse
depends on you for his entire life and the adopters depend on you to keep them
safe and help them make good decisions.
A bad volunteer or worker is worse than no help. Get rid of anyone that is
negative, difficult or their heart is in the wrong place, even if they are a
volunteer. You will have no time for negativity. Get people around you that
believe all things are possible because when you believe that, its true.
Don't expect donations or grants for several years, until you've proven
yourself with several hundred success cases. When you ask for money ask for a
particular reason and its needs to be an important reason. If you are wondering
how you survive and pay for the horses care, well you take it out of your own
pocket and the pocket of your board members for years and from the adopters who
adopt horses from you.
Figure out what you can take and can't, look at finances, dependable people
that will always be there for labor and facilities to decide what your niches
are and focus on those
Collect at least one year's overhead before taking your first horse, if you
want to take in 5 horses then have 10k in your pocket to get started, that is
money just for the care of the horses, not doing any farm improvements or
maintenance.
Take on the easy stuff first, starvation and neglect just takes food, then
once you are successful with that, go with soft tissue injuries (tendons and
ligaments, bows), then once you are successful with that.
You do not need to be a 501c3 (non profit) to do rescue and help horses. You
can go to auction, buy a skinny horse, take it home and fatten it up and sell it
and track it for life and that is animal welfare. You don't even have to be a
501c3 to take donations, if people care about your work and want to support it
they can give you money and supplies which becomes 'gifts' or income on your
income taxes. You can not give tax deductions unless you are a 501c3 but trust
me, just because someone has an IRS designation does not mean they are really
helping horses. The IRS knows nothing about what is best for horses, they only
look at your forms and approve your requests when your plan looks good. There
are 501c3's today that are abusing horses, neglecting horses, abusing people's
donations and even being charged with neglect/animal cruelty and going to jail.
There are also 501c3's that are basically horse traders, they don't have
thorough applications, they don't do contracts and some only track horses for 2
years, that is not animal welfare, its just horse trading, that is just
polishing up a turd, but its still a turd. Let your work show how you care
about horses, not your designation. Know the law and regardless of how your
company is structured, whether you are a sole proprietary, corporation or LLC,
know and follow the law. Once you have 5 to 10 years under your belt you may
want to get a 501c3 designation when foundations that give grants will finally
start to look at you for grants.
Put everything you do with donors or adopters in writing and have strong
contracts that will hold up in court.
Track horses for life. Yes, its harder and thankless but its the only way to
keep horses safe forever. If you only track for 2 or 5 years, then they can
still go to slaughter or to a bad home after that.
Do not release the horses ownership ever or only after many years and only to
those that have proven in all ways they want the horse forever and are giving a
good home (get proof of this) and don't ever allow resale of the horses you
release ownership of.
Get a website and keep it yourself. A professional can do the structure but
you do the day to day work.
You must have one full time person in the barn and one full time person in
the office to return calls, answer the phone and answer emails, to market the
horses, to talk to adopters and donors about the horses. You need one full time
person for every 500 horses you put into homes to track them, to keep databases
up, address changes, annual updates, etc.
Require in writing an annual update of every horse with dated pictures,
signed by their vet and a current coggins.
Get your office stuff in order early. A functional database of horses and
people, filing systems in both hard copies and in the computer.
Get a good camera and video camera, a good printer, good computer, scanner
and fax. all these are a must to function.
Protect horses for life, its the best thing for the horses and its the only
way you are going to get the good horses from owners who really care.
Yes, bad things happen to good horses and just because someone will pay big
money for a horse does not guarantee its a good home.
A horses welfare is more important than the money. Keep your priorities
straight.
No matter how much it hurts financially, keep the horses safe and get them
back when things are not going well, even if you have to go get them yourself.
Be prepared for horses that are stranded or deserted by adopters and even foster
parents, starved by adopters and fosters, even sold by adopters. Be prepared to
take them all to court. Keep good historical records to you have plenty of
evidence.
Take a picture of every horse that comes to you as soon as it arrives and
take a picture at the trailer when it leaves. Video of walk, trot canter at
arrival and departure will prevent anyone from saying something different.
Have witnesses for everything you do, even consider taping conversations with
adopters before they take the horse so you have proof that you told them about
the horse and what the rules of adoption is.
Review your contract in depth with adopters and donors.
Have a good way to do background checks on adopters. Its critical to know
they are who they say they are, they live where they say they live, they have
not been charged with crimes, they are not a fellon, they are not a horse
trader, they own the land/farm they say they do. PACER at uscourt.gov is a good
way to see everyone's court history (bankruptcies, civil and criminal court
cases), many county records are available on the computer to see who owns the
land they say they own. You can get a satellite view of their home to make sure
there is room for horses.
Always get Vet and Farrier references. Many times they will not say anything
negative but if they are not totally positive or hesitate at all, then there is
something wrong. Many vets will not tell you what is wrong but you can hear
hesitation in their voice... don't adopt to them.
See them ride or get a video of their riding, handling and tacking up a
horse.
Go see the farm the horses will be at or get state representatives to go look
at the farm.
Have a way to protect horses from being taken on liens at boarding
facilities, in divorces and court cases with adopters. If you give away
ownership of the horse, then the horse becomes there property which means they
can lose it to another person for not paying bills, in a divorce or in a court
case, for back taxes or for crimes.
Establish long term relationships with each adopter and donor and they will
better follow your requests to take care of the horse. You are here for the
horse, that is your number one goal but the only way you can trust anyone is to
get to know them well.
Expect things to go wrong, adopters lives change, they get divorced, they get
pregnant, they lose jobs, they have illness or family tragedies and all those
things displace horses in their homes. Be prepared to take the horse back
immediately if this happens.
When people say they can no longer keep horses because of finances, get the
horse back immediately because if you leave it there there is a huge risk of it
being sold or starved/neglected.
Try hard to 6 days a week and not 7, take a day off. Yes, of course, you have
to feed and turn out but rest the rest of at least one day. Try to work 8 hours
a day and not 12, 14 or 16. Take vacations, have friends away from rescue.
Protect your employees and volunteers from burn out. Its the biggest problem
among rescues.
Keep good records, keep all your promises, treat people and horses with
respect and be fair, expect them to follow your contract and you follow your
contract.
Keep a black list up to date on anyone that hurts horses and be prepared to
share it. Anyone that breaks your contract, that starves horses, that is
convicted of abuse or neglect, that sends a horse back to you in poor shape
because you will want others to know what has happened. The reason there is so
much fraud in the horse industry is because bad people are getting away with
murder. We can stop these people by sharing and publishing these lists. Our
blacklist saves horses all the time because people look up people's names before
selling horses and when they find their name on our blacklist the horse does not
go to them. People like horse traders and people that lie about horses will
target rescues and programs like ours and yours because they can get horses for
cheap and then lie and cheat people for money using your horses. Don't just
place horses with people because they are nice, get proof they will keep the
horse and take care of it.
Many adopters will over estimate their abilities on their application in
order to be approved. Its human nature to think you are better than you are,
that is why you have to place a horse with them that is under what they think
their capabilities are and go conservative when placing horses. They will in
many ways misrepresent themselves because they don't know better so you have to
protect them from themselves. Many times we've given people a chance with
the horse at the level they thought they were and were sorely mistaken and of
course, the adopter always blames you that you misrepresented the horse.... they
forget they misrepresented themselves or they don't even understand they are not
a good rider or that their experience is much less than they stated in their
application.
Getting them to come and ride the horse will help some but many horses go bad
once they leave you. You know how to set up the horse to be successful with a
rider, they do not so the horse starts going bad as soon as they are moved to
the new location. In a month, the person can't even handle the horse because the
horse now thinks the are in charge of the person, not the person in charge of
the horse. They don't get that the biggest part of the puzzle is them, not the
horse. If they are good, the horse will be good and if they don't know how to
develop confidence and respect in the horse and spoil the horse then the horse
will be bad with them.
Always try to do the right thing. If you ever have any question about what is
right, more likely than not, the right thing is always the hardest thing do to.
The right way is rarely the easy way out.
Believe you can do it and you will. Focus on results and the results will
come.
Work toward solutions and the solutions will always come.
Yes, you can do this and we need help!!
1. Spend
an hour a day with your horses, not just feeding, training and turning out, but
real quality time doing something that is enjoyable for the both of you.
Grooming or hand walking is a great way to bond with your horse and good for
both you and the horse.
2. Get
your loved ones more involved in your horses. Divorce is the biggest reason we
see horses coming back to us. Don't just share the work, share the fun too and find
something they really enjoy doing with horses.
3. Learn
a new discipline, go to a clinic, a horse show, or equine affaire. Come to one
of our clinics or watch a training video. If you are an adopter you can check
out books and video's from SWAP's Library for just shipping costs. Take a lesson at least once a month or Bring your adoption horse
here and we will help you.The better you are, the more fun you will have.
4. Make a
plan for your horse after you are gone or if you have a major injury, let your
will executor know your plans. Make a plan for emergencies or financial bumps
along the way for your horse. Have a plan if you or your horse gets injured,
even for the tough times of year like winter (or summer down south). Ask friends, family and neighbors
to be part of your plan. Most people can not resist someone when they are asking
for help for the welfare of an innocent animal.
5. Get yourself healthy and in better shape to
prevent injury, to live a long life and to more enjoy your horses. Eat 1-1-1
(one ounce of dark chocolate, one ounce of fresh walnuts, one glass of red wine
daily) and 2-2-2 (2 servings of fresh vegis, 2 of fresh fruit and get 2 sources
of fat free calcium). Drink 100 ounces of spring water a day, get a whole
house water filter. Change over to Sea-salt. Take one teaspoon of apple cider
vinegar every morning to keep your body alkaline (cancer and disease can not
grow in an alkaline body).Eat more fish and chicken and less red meat. Get a
good air cleaner and do daily deep breathing exercises, get outside in the fresh
air and sunshine for at least 1/2 hour every day. Get away from high fat food,
processed foods, fast food, can or boxed food, sugar or artificial sweeteners,
soda and don't eat anything if you can't read all the ingredients and know
exactly what is in it. Clean all vegis and fruits thorouhly, buy organic, buy
ocean caught fish, not farm raised, buy fresh meat and raw milk, not packed or
processed. Eat only natural carbs (potatoes, rice, oats) bake/broil or steam
everything. Get 8 hours of sleep, reduce stress/risk (reduce commuting by car
pooling, tight schedules, cell phone use in the car, watch or read the news only
once a day or better yet once a week, stay clear of
negative people
and those very negative chat rooms and bulletin boards). Stop Complaining and be
Thankful for what we each have. Do one hour of walking, yoga or weight
training every day and it will make you strong, lean, look great and you'll get
wonderful complements from friends, coworkers and loved ones and the horse work
will be easier and more enjoyable.
6. Read
at least one book on training your horse and one on care each year, if for nothing
else but just inspiration. SWAP has a great
library of books/videos that adopters can check out for just the cost of mailing
it.
Click here to
see our Library
7. Get
carrots/apples everytime you go to the store, your horses will love you for it and
always come running when you call. Don't feed candy or anything sweeter. Carrots
are sweet enough. Get rid of the sweet feeds and you'll get rid of the hot horse
once and for all.
8.
Realize that if you are having a problem with your horse, more likely than not,
the problem is you. Learn more, practice more, ask in a different way, be
patient, change their environment or daily schedule to better suit them. Taking
better care of a horse always brings out the best in that horse. Good
feed/hay, time to rest in a quiet stall out of the elements, lots of fresh water, time to be with you and time to
just be a horse, time with their buddies, farrier and vet care always done is a
good start. The biggest part of this relationship puzzle is you, not the horse.
If you are struggling, then you need to learn more and get better.
9. Ride
at least once a week, regardless of weather. Use this time as your down time for
healing, your therapy, your time to relieve stress and the pressures of daily
life. Even if you don't ride, go sit and read a book in the pasture with the
horses or sit in the barn and listen to them munch on dinner, away from the
crowd and noise of your day. Enjoy the peace and quiet, enjoy hearing happy
horses eating dinner or grass in the pasture.
10. Spend
time leasurely grooming your horse once a week. Rubber curries are shine makers.
You will have a beautiful horse and a very loyal friend who will do anything for
you.
11. Come and spend a week at SWAP HQ,
volunteering and focusing on helping a horse and giving will change your life
plus it will be the best vacation you ever had. Help
an animal in need, whether fostering, being one of our state reps that goes out
to check on our horses in their homes or helps us approve adopters in their
area. Find horses in need and help us find them homes. Buy a horse at a slaughter
auction, get it fat and trained and we'll help you place it into a good home. Foster and
volunteer for your local small animal adoption program. I promise, the good
things you do will come back to you a hundred times over. Every person has a
talent they can offer and if you help one horse or one dog or cat find a good
home, you have changed their life forever.
12.
Know that every goal is obtainable and it starts with a single step.
Take that first step today!! No matter what it is or how big, YOU CAN DO IT!!
Every goal that is written down will come true (really!). Every famous person,
every great or notable scientist, author, trainer/rider, parent or friend
started out as just a thought, just a goal. Remember to take one step today to
reach your goals.
13. Start
every day with thinking about, what is the most important thing I can do
today to change my life and make it better. Do that one thing and in 30 days
your life will be totally different. Can you imagine what your life would be
like if you did that for 60, 90 or even 365 days a year. The opportunities are
endless.
14. Want to keep your horse sound for life? (That should be every horse owners
number one goal) do a
long slow warm up (cold muscle is easy to injure, a warm one is nearly
impossible to injure). The very best cool down is hand walking your horse for 1 hour after every work out.
Yes, get off the horse and walk with it. Its great exercise for you and a good
time for you to bond. Stop riding your horse during cool downs and stop using a
hot walker, do something good for you and the horse, hand walking. Its also the
best rehab for over work and injuries, the only thing better is hydro therapy
and swimming your horse. Allow soft tissue and hard tissue to
become more conditioned before going into any training program... that usually
means 3 months of at least 3 days a week for soft tissues and 10 months of work for bones to become strong
enough to jump or do any strenuous training program. Don't start any upper level
work, jumping or extensive training until the horse is fit and at least between
age 4 and 6 and has been conditioned for at least 10 months (especially if the
horse has never been jumped/worked or not been jumped or worked in the last
year).
15. Appreciate what you have and be thankful.
Instead of looking at what you don't have, look at what you do. Thank those
people who have helped you and supported you. The more you give, the more that
will come back to you. When you give something away or give something to
someone/something in need, you make space in your life for something good to
come to you. We are all very blessed, if we just take a moment to look
around and enjoy those things.
16. Get used to using favorite mantra's and visualizations
every day, simple ones that are easy to remember, like 'I can do this, I will do
this', 'this isn't going to get the best of me' or even, 'I deserve the best' or
'the gift of love, caring, and support always comes back' and take two minutes
every morning as you wake and at night as you go to sleep to visualize the life
you want, the you you want to be, Our thoughts become things, what you see
is what you get, if you expect the best, the best will happen, change your
self-talk from negative to positive and I promise your life will change for the
better..
17. Each person is put on this earth for a reason, each of
us has a mission. What is yours? Seek and you shall find, finding is a journey
... in the journey and the search you'll find your life purpose. If you died in
your sleep tonight is there something you haven't done that you need to do or
want to do? Someone you need to mend fences with, burnt bridges to fix? People
you need to tell them how much you love them? Have you fulfilled your purpose in
your life? Ask yourself, Why am I here? How can I make this better? Who do
I want to be? Who am I suppose to be? What reason was I put on this earth? What
is my purpose?
18. Be an inspiration to your family, co workers and
friends. We all fall on our face, we all make mistakes, we all get discouraged,
most times we all get up and try again.... sometimes we need a nudge. Instead of
being negative or doing negative things, be their inspiration. You do believe
they can do it, so why not tell them. If their self talk is negative, then you
be their positive self talk.... eventually they will start to say it and believe
it too. Life is self fulfilling, failure feeds on itself or causes more failure,
achieving does as well. So if you or your love ones are in a negative cycle,
break the cycle by changing your thoughts, your self talk, achieve something
small to get yourself and your family back into the cycle of achievement.
19. We all file a flight plan every single day for our
life. Where is your flight going today? Just like a pilot flying, the winds, the
gravitational pull will change your flight plan and take you off course, so you
must make small corrections along the way to make sure you make your
destination. Have you selected your destination? Have you picked the steps in
your flight plan to get there? Every goal is really that easy, pick the goal and
figure out how to get there. The easiest way to pick your flight path/plan is
find someone who has done it before you, then do what they did. Its all baby
steps you know. Just keep an eye on that destination and keep saying...."here is
my destination, this is where I'm going, this is where I am now, this is how I'm
going to get there.... I will arrive at this time on this day. You can do
it..... its just like getting in your car to go to the store, its just deciding
where you want to go and how to get there, then take that first step. You can do
it!! No matter how big or how outlandish you may think your dream to be...
it is obtainable.
20. Laugh every day and try (as hard as it is sometimes)
to find the positive and the humor in each situation (and have at least one bite
of a truly decadent desert once a week). Life is just too short to not enjoy it
thoroughly.
21. We learn the most and do our best work when we have
fallen on our face, when we are struggling, when we are worried, scared or
frustrated, when we anguishing over something or troubled by it. It is then that
you have true motivation, when you think clearer. The most brilliant ideas come
to people when they feel lost, frustrated, or at the bottom, helpless or
hopeless. Cherish these times because its when you can come up with your best
ideas to your biggest problems and challenges. You see, there is a reason for
the rainy days.
22. You can't make everyone happy, its useless to try and
wasted energy to think you can. 50% of all people will not agree with you at any
given time, don't worry about it and don't let it stop you. 50% becomes a lot of
people when you are in the public eye. As long as you are not hurting anyone and
you believe you are doing the right thing, then go ahead and do it. If you are
wondering what is the right thing to do, its usually the harder thing to do, the
toughest path to take. The easy way out is rarely the right thing to do.
Instead of worrying over what someone thinks of you or says about you, do
something amazing and outstanding to inspire them or at least have them sitting
on the side lines being jealous, secretly saying, "wow, she has guts". One
person with purpose becomes the majority, one way or another.
Always in hope and admiration, Celeita
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