What's New: Chilly Pepper

I know God put this in front of us, so we are here, but sometimes it is just really hard. Even though we did not cause the situation, we are the ones who have to listen to the stallions and mares screaming for each other. We are the ones in the middle of the stallion fights and due to the lack of gelding, there are so many more in small areas than is normal. We are also dealing with horses with long standing injuries and we are the ones separating the families.
Unfortunately we are not able to stay in the trailer on the property this time, so there are food and lodging expenses, as well as many miscellaneous expenses. We have had to purchase lots of rope to tie the panels together, hardware for fixing dangerous situations and the list goes on and on. Many of the expenses are small, but they do add up. Hay prices are rising due to the extreme winter, and the initial budget was $250,000. At the same time these costs are being incurred to secure these 500+ horses their forever home, our rescue still has it’s normal expenses, with the additional “ranch hand costs.

But we will get this done with your help. Y’all have been amazing, and saved so many lives already. With the 30 that have already gone out, TOGETHER WE HAVE SAVED OVER 300 LIVES – JUST SINCE OCTOBER. THANK YOU!!

P.S. If you have donated via a check and it hasn’t cleared quickly, please understand we are stuck here in South Dakota and even when we can get mail forwarded we are hours away from a bank, and we normally work straight through, 7 days a week. There were also several pieces of mail that were lost from around October. We just received them. If you are worried about a donation, please call me at 530 339 1458. Thank you!

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Folks have asked “Does that mean the horses are safe?”. In reality, the answer would be No – Not yet! Until ALL these horses land safely in new homes, there is always a risk. If there is no money to feed them or a place for them to live, then “NO”, they would not be safe. However, the whole reason we are here is to MAKE SURE they end up safe, and that takes everyone!!

This is PHASE 2. – I hate to say it but it is where the real work begins. We are on a limited amount of time and we have to keep going.

This is one of, or possibly THE largest rescues ever. There is so much riding on this. If we cannot pull together and save 810 horses, how on earth can we take care of horses if the borders are closed. This is huge folks, we must succeed. We want slaughter eliminated – then we need to come together and show that we can “git ‘er done”.

Meanwhile my little monkies back at the ranch have nearly gone through all their milk and munchies again. But they are doing very well and thanks to Pete Dunham who is taking care of those kids, I can be up here in balmy South Dakota saving more lives lol.

Matt picked up 4 more horses for Chilly Pepper and is once again on the road.

Fleet of Angels adopted out my crew sorted and loaded out 10 horses yesterday. I have to say I am so grateful that Elaine and Barbara handle all the paperwork. Never have I been so glad to just be “horse-girl” lol.

Hay prices are jumping due to the severe winter and we need help in this endeavor. The expenses for a rescue like this are horrific. We need everyone to help us save these horses. Whether it is a home, financial aid, prayers, sharing the information, helping deliver horses, well the list is endless.

THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE! YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT ARE THE ONLY REASON IT IS HAPPENING!!

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This is Matt’s 5th trip to SD, my 4th (as I lived there for several months) and as it is approximately 1100 miles each way, well that adds up quickly. It costs roughly $900 per trip, and that is just for fuel, motel and an oil change etc. Normally we wouldn’t drive this far over and over but this was a situation God clearly put in front of us. It is and has been exhausting, but knowing at least 270 are in (or will be lol ) in loving homes, it is worth it.

SITUATION UPDATE: Matt and I have more horses to pick up that were already in the 270 number. We are picking up for another sanctuary who agreed to take the horses and they need to go through our place for vetting and hoof care etc. We are responsible for all the preliminary care and then the sanctuary will be giving them a life long home for the rest of their lives. So we need funds for those 10 also. We also need to pick up our stallions and a couple other special needs kids. They were supposed to be picked up a long time ago, but due to the weather and an emergency pick up from CA, this is the soonest we could get back.

So we really need help so we can continue helping the horses in what ever way we are needed.

COURT DATE – The State is trying to remove the horses from ISPMB. If this happens, they have asked Fleet of Angels to be responsible for finding them safe homes and to take on all responsibility of their care.

If this happens, we will need to continue to load, sort and help these horses find a safe place to land.

If this does not happen, I have been told that the numbers would still need to be reduced, so again, we would most likely need to be on hand to help with placement of the horses who were not staying.

So either Matt and I have 3-4 more trips to secure the horses that are already in the 270 number if nothing changes, or we will be there longer if more horses need to be rounded up and sorted. In any case, we also are incurring added expenses to hire someone to stay at Chilly Pepper and take care of all the horses that are already there.

We want to thank everyone again who has been part of this. Y’all are the ones who make it all possible!!!

If anyone does not receive their end of year tax receipt, please call me at 530 339 1458. For some reason there were a couple of folks whose information did not show up on their credit card donation. * Tax receipts will all be sent out by Jan 30th. Again, you guys are amazing and are so very much appreciated.
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We got an emergency call today. One of the really big trees crashed through and destroyed some of the panel fencing at our place in CA. Thankfully, although DaBubbles panicked and was running around loose, Seanna and Carl were able to lock him up safely in one of the shelters. So now Matt has to postpone his trip back to South Dakota to pick up our stallions and go pick up the remaining horses in CA.

While I was writing this, we were informed that the road between here and our place in CA is shut down as a result of the weather? So hopefully tomorrowhe can pick them up.

Again, never a dull moment or one to rest.

Meanwhile, we are busy at home feeding, working on the nursery, trying to play “catch up”, vetting, getting hoofers trimmed and trying to get more shelter set up for the additional horses that will be coming to Chilly Pepper. We now need to set up an even larger “blind playpen”, as we already have two and more coming.

We are going through hay like crazy and the babies are absolutely loving their milk. Unfortunately with six on milk powder and milk pellets it can be a real damper on the budget. But all of them are doing much better and that is what it is all about.

PHASE 1 of the ISPMB Adoption Campaign has been completed. Thanks to lots of hard work and the amazing love and support y’all have shown, the 270 horses we were allowed to adopt out have been safely loaded and transported with zero injuries.

DUE TO OUR SUCCESS the remaining horses being removed by the County have been offered a chance to avoid auction. We are very happy to have more and more folks stepping up and joining “the team” to make this happens. There are some really amazing folks joining in to ensure this mission will protect any horses the County takes from ISPMB.

We have been asked to continue managing the ground crew and we will need to head back to South Dakota so we can continue sorting and loading any horses who need placement.

These are the official updates:

AMAZING NEWS – A CHANCE TO SAVE EVERY SINGLE REMAINING HORSE: http://www.fleetofangels.org/single-post/2017/01/06/SD-state%E2%80%99s-attorneys-file-motion-seeking-transfer-of-ownership-of-at-risk-wild-horses

This is a statement made by Elaine Nash, Fleet of Angels, who was solely responsible for creating, organizing, and managing a comprehensive national campaign to get the ISPMB horses adopted and in safe homes, at the request of SD state’s attorney, Steve Averly.

“IT’S OFFICIAL. . . .
Two SD State’s Attorneys and the SD Animal Industry Board have officially filed a motion to remove the remaining 540 (+/-) horses from ISPMB in Lantry, SD.
To prevent the auction and possible slaughter of any of the horses, Fleet of Angels has joined forces with Habitat for Horses- an equine rescue in TX, Return to Freedom- a wild horse sanctuary in CA, and numerous other animal welfare organizations who will collaborate with us to insure that every horse is fed during both the legal process and the adoption process, and they will help FOA insure that every adoptable horse is placed in a good home.
Only with the help of hundreds of people- including all of you who make up our ground crew, administrators, adopters, transporters, donors, and other providers, will we be able to protect all of the horses if they are removed from ISPMB. If the ISPMB horses are entrusted to us to place, it will be a massive, difficult, hugely expensive job, and we will need everyone’s help to be successful.
We’re already at work raising funds for this effort because we’ve agreed to pay the counties all they’re owed to date, plus we have to cover the cost of hay for the horses during this process in order to save them from auction. We will be counting on you to contribute to this effort, and participate in any way you can. We can do it. We must do it. We will do it!”

To donate to the Fleet of Angels TRANSPORTATION fund:
www.ISPMBHorseRescueMission.org
Tax deductible

To donate to the HAY fund:
www.wildhorsesanctuaryalliance.org
Tax deductible

To donate to Fleet of Angels’ general fund to help with some of the many other expenses:
www.Paypal.com (FleetOfAngelsOrg@aol.com)
Not tax deductible

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