Hello All!
Before I get to the Busy Summer we are in need of LOTS and LOTS and even MORE volunteers this Saturday for our first Trail Blazing event. We will be working with the ELCR and a local trail blazing group to clear lots of trails for our horses! The event will start here at 10:00 am, Saturday August 29th. Hope to see you there!
Well, it certainly has been quite the summer! We started out our summer with the Kentucky Horse Park Adoption Fair. Guidance Up, Proper Authority, Supersonic Sun, Invincible Vince and Danzaway all went and strutted their stuff wonderfully, we couldn't have asked for better behaved and better looking horses! Fortunately, most of those guys have been adopted.
Guidance Up ("Benny") went to a local family where their daughter is learning how to ride, on him! Proper Authority went to a very nice lady from Western Kentucky where he will be a pleasure/trail horse- what a life:) Supersonic Sun shipped to Missouri to become a fulfilled life long dream of owning a horse. She absolutely adores Sunny and is so grateful to have him. Danzaway went to Cincinnati, where he is spoiled rotten (not that he wasn't already)! He will be an event and show horse for his new mother. PHEW! Well that gets us through June!
In July and August we participated in the KHP Media Day where 60 journalists from around the country came to see what different organizations, from the KHP, do! Susanna took MMSC mascot, Ferdinand's Star and showed him as a dressage horse, spring intern graduate Brittany Hawkins took Take the Balance and showed him as a Western horse and I (Melissa DeCarlo) took Fly Lite as a hunter. Despite the nasty weather, "Henry" (Take the Balance) was WONDERFULLY behaved and loved to show himself off...meanwhile the other two had a few issues, but nothing they didn't work out of- hey? what can you ask of horses who haven't been off campus in a while? :)
In July and August we adopted out Happy Bert, Alphadomo, Nobucksfortuck, Todd T. Shrupolini and Gentle Bandit! Happy Bert went on to be a therapeutic riding horse in Iowa, Gentle Bandit is now a trail horse with two wonderful volunteers from the MMSC, Todd T Shrupolini went home with Chef James (yes a chef:) ), and Alphadomo and Nobucksfortuck have gone to Cincinnati to be field hunters and pleasure horses for their new owners! Like I said, BUSY summer!
We also got some new horses on campus. Impressive John R is a BEAUTIFUL little guy who is really sensible about life, You Lucky Devil is a handsome 8 year old who is just aiming to please and Shooby Dooby Do is a very friendly, large horse who could make a GREAT eventer/jumper. I'm not sure if you guys have met Twitchy Witch or not, but if you haven't seen her yet, I suggest you check her out @ www.secretariatcenter.org. She is a BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL mare who would excel in dressage or in the hunter ring.
We were also so pleased to welcome Mr. and Mrs. Paul Chandler from Wisconsin back to the MMSC. They had previously sponsored a stall in the name of the granddaughter who passed away very young and they wanted to see the plaque actually up! Mr and Mrs Chandler are such nice people we hope they return soon with their whole family so we can let the little ones ride!
We were also visited by Mr. Kirschenbaum, a Maker's Mark representative, and a few of his friends! They all rode and Mr. Kirschenbaum got to go on a trail ride with Supersonic Sun- what a great visit.
While we were on the subject of visits, Nina Bonnie brought a LEGEND out to our center during the USHJA/USEF Hunter Derby finals. Mr. George Morris came out to see us and commented on what a WONDERFUL job we were doing- he even said "Thoroughbreds really ARE the best breed" and from talking to him, Mr. Morris really means that. It was so wonderful to hear his kind words about what we are doing and to have him visit the center!
Today we had a chef from the food channel come visit us! She learned alittle about natural horsemanship with Fly Lite and got to ride a little bit. They were very nice people and she seemed to enjoy herself. Please watch the Food Network for us and Fly Lite:)
As usual, we have been doing our Interactive Demonstrations every Saturday at 12:00. The MMSC is really lucky to get such great crowds who are really interested in learning about what we do and why we exsist.
As usual, I encourage you to check our website and facebook often and I will try to write more frequently now that the summer has slowed down a bit. We will keep getting horses in and shipping ones out so keep in touch! This year we have adopted out 20 horses since March 1! Our goal is 40 so keep telling your friends about us:)
Look for us at some shows this fall as well as at the UK Volunteer Fair on Wednesday September 9 from 10am-2pm! Everyone is welcome to visit whenever they like (see our website for hours). Hope to see you soon!
Melissa DeCarlo
