Dear Friends
In August we welcomed 3 new residents to begin their safe and forever home with us; The farriers were back out to give the residents' hooves a trim; Had a study done on the horses by Western Kentucky University; Had a great group come out to help with projects; And we share our Wildlife Picture of the Month.
— Mary and Paul Gregory, Cole, Brad, The Volunteers and all the Horses
Retirement Home for Horses, Inc. at Mill Creek Farm
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Welcome to R.H.H. Margarita
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Laurie Waggoner escorts Margarita off the trailer
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Margarita in her new pasture
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Bridget Haxbo, Laurie Waggoner and Mary
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MARGARITA, a 30 + year old pony mare arrived for her lifetime retirement at Mill Creek Farm. Rescued by the South Florida SPCA, she had been found in a banana grove severely underweight and starving.
LAURIE WAGGONER, Director of SF SPCA Ranch Operations and BRIDGET HAXBO, SFSPCA staff member transported this sweet, lovely little pony to her new home.
We are so grateful for the love and care the South Florida SPCA team give their rescues and their great efforts in trying to find the very best homes for them.
Margarita will be sharing a pasture with little Bracken, another SFSPCA rescue who arrived in 2011. They both require special diets and feedings and will enjoy each other's company as they dine together.
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Robin opens side door for DITTO
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 | L to R: Members of Orange Co Sheriff's Office Mounted Unit:
ROBIN REYNOLDS, Stable Mgr,
SGT LARRY SLIMICK, and MASTER DEPUTY LINDSEY WHITESELL
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Volunteer Raymond gives a welcome carrot to Ditto
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Retired from the Orange County Sheriff's Office Mounted Patrol and greatly cherished by their unit, Major & Ditto were ready for a lifetime retirement.
Major, a Thoroughbred, served the citizens of Orange Co for 10 years, performing at many Riderless Horse law enforcement memorials and funerals as well as parades and events.
DITTO, a Standardbred, served for 17 years and worked many high profile events during his time at work.
Both Major & Ditto retired from racing before working in law enforcement for Orange County.
We are honored to have them here at Mill Creek Farm and look forward to helping them have a wonderful, tranquil and a care and love filled retirement.
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Wildlife Picture of the Month
The GREEN LYNX SPIDER
(Peucetia viridans)
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These pretty green spiders are often found on green plants. They can be useful in agricultural pest management since they hunt several moth species and their larvae. However they also prey on beneficial insects such as the honey bee.
The female builds egg sacs containing 25-600 bright orange eggs which she guards attacking anything that comes near by squirting venom up to a foot away.
It seldom bites humans but when it does its bite may be painful but not deadly. We respect the defenses of all the insects we come across at Mill Creek Farm!
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"If it's Wednesday it's Farrier Day"
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Farriers JASON HUBBARD (L) and DWAYNE DAVIS head to another pasture
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Team Leader CHRISTINE doing her usual excellent job of organizing
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PEARL and COMMANDER queueing up
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WHITNEY with the lovely and patient RAINY
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Every Wednesday our Farriers are out to work on 20-25 of the horses' hooves. We start at one end of the farm and work our way around and start all over again. It is great to have them here each week so that any issues that might come up can be immediately addressed. Our motto is:
"Healthy Hooves = Healthy Horse"
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| Thanks for Helping the Horses
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JASON NANCE, UF Levin College of Law professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Mary survey the good works
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UF Levin College of Law Student Ambassador, KENDALL MABRY did a fine job of organizing
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These super volunteers spent a Thursday working at the farm...clearing weeds out of the area in front of the tack room as well as painting the benches and touching up tables and sign boards.
On behalf of the retirees, THANK YOU so much for all your hard work. Over the years the UF Levin College of Law students have done some amazing projects here at Mill Creek Farm and we are extremely grateful for their volunteering efforts.
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Western Kentucky University
Heads South
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LtoR: Dr. Jennifer Gill, Beverly Gartland,Zoe Desloge, Tori Willis and Paul.
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Tori and Beverly with HOPE
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Gathering info from the horse bios ( breed,age, history, date of arrival at RHH, etc )
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Dr. Jennifer Gill, Asst Professor of Equine and students Beverly Gartland, Victoria Willis, and Zoe Desloge from Western Kentucky University spent a week at the farm conducting research on equine nutrition and metabolism, breed and age related predispositions, quantification of pasture intake, as well as other evaluations.
They observed and assessed all our horses (or all that will allow their approach with their tape measures) as well as taking soil samples from the pastures.
We are grateful for their research work on our senior horses...a population that may be overlooked when it comes to knowledge concerning health and nutrition.
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The horses and all of us were happy to see RHH's good friends BRIAN LANE, wife KRISTA and young lad CLAYTON and lassie TATUM at the farm on Saturday's Visitor Day.
BRIAN from ALACHUA PRINTING prints our monthly Gazettes, RHH's yearly calendar, stationary and all our printing needs.
And we just love them....and are so grateful for the attention and care Alachua Printing provides for the sanctuary's printing needs.
(https://alachuaprinting.com/)
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Where There's a Will.... Your bequest to the Retirement Home for Horses, Inc. will enable us to continue caring for abused and neglected horses even when you are no longer here to share their world. Please consider these wonderful animals when you are planning your estate. Thank you.
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Help By Sponsoring a Horse Click on my name to learn more about me
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By co-sponsoring a horse on an annual basis you can have a special relationship with your “retiree” while helping to contribute to the cost of care for our horses.
We will send a Certificate of Sponsorship along with photos, information on your horse as well as updates throughout the year on your new friend!
To begin your yearly co-sponsoring we ask that you commit to a minimum of 3 months ($150) in advance which will allow us to create your sponsorship package.
Co-Sponsoring a horse is a unique opportunity to make a difference in helping us help our horses.
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Create a Fundraiser for RHH
Go to our Facebook Page and choose
"Create Fundraiser."
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What is Amazon Smile?
AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon with the same products, prices, and shopping features as Amazon.com. The difference is that when you shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of your choice.
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Come Visit the Horses.We Invite the Public out each Saturday from 11-3 to meet the Retirees.Make sure to Bring lots of Carrots, Apples and Bananas with you.
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You Can Help Make A Difference
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Volunteer or make a contribution
The task of providing a refuge for these noble animals is not an easy one. We count on donations and manual help from those who share the same love and respect for horses as we do. Please use the button below to learn more.
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A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE FLORIDA DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL FREE 1-800-435-7352 WITHIN THE STATE, or (850) 410-3800 – calling from outside of Florida. The department's website is www.800helpfla.com. [s. 496.412(1)(c), REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. #CH3218
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