| Who's
New? | | We recently rescued a baby horse named "Magic Paints
The Wind." He is a paint horse, almost a year old and gorgeous. He was rescued from a place near us that
buys and sells horses; the problem is that while he was waiting to be purchased, he was not taken care of properly.
Magic lived in a 24-by-24 foot stall with 25 other horses! They could not move at all, had no food or water, and were
standing in their own waste. Magic was completely shut down and depressed, his hooves were overgrown, his coat matted
and dirty, and he was very thin.
Once safe at The Gentle Barn in a roomy 24-by-24 foot stall all to himself, surrounded
by the company of other horses, we set to work to heal the damage done to him. We fed him top quality hay, gave him
Super Blue Green Algae to boost his immune system, trimmed his hooves, groomed him till he shone, took him on long walks to
bring back his spirit, and spent cool summer evenings massaging him, telling him that we love him, and kissing his yummy soft
nose.
Magic is now a happy-go-lucky, sweet, fun-loving yearling who is going to have a wonderful, rich life
and will never look back on those dark, hopeless days before he came to The Gentle Barn.
Native Americans
believe that horses with a white face and a brown bonnet over the ears have mystic qualities and bring blessings to those
who love them. We are very excited to receive whatever magic "Magic" might have for us! Come and
see him on a Sunday, he is very special!!! |
| Animal Workshops
|
Starting in the fall, we will be hosting farm animal workshops
where kids ages 8 to 18 will learn all about how to care for, feed, trust, and love horses, cows, sheep, goats, pigs, turkeys,
chickens, dogs, cats, emus, and llamas.
We are testing interest right now, so please let us know if you would
be interested in enrolling your child for this one-of-a-kind, exciting, hands-on, educational, animal adventure. |
Memorial
|  This month we remember our beloved rooster "Owl," who recently passed away. He was actually born at The Gentle
Barn and lived to be 8 years old. Usually, we do not have babies at The Gentle Barn. We believe that if we have
the room for another animal, we would rather rescue one than breed, but owl slipped through the cracks. His
mother "Daisy" was determined to hatch her eggs, even though we would always find them and take them away from her.
Each time we would take her eggs away from her, she would peck us and make wild angry clucking sounds. Well, one day
she outsmarted us and found a place to hatch her egg that we could not find, and out came little Owl. Daisy was
a proud mother indeed and she raised him to be a very gentle, kind, protective rooster, whom the hens adored. The hens
would sit and groom him and fuss over him for hours. They are at a loss now that he is gone - actually, so are we all.
We especially miss him at 6 in the morning when he used to wake us with his joyful music; the silence now is deafening. |
| Upcoming
Event |
An elegant "Hoe-Down" is being organized as a fundraiser
for the new "Gentle Village." We are currently working out the details, and an update will soon follow.
Keep an eye out for your invitation. |
| | What's
Happening? |  The Gentle Barn's violence prevention program runs September through June, so we do not have the pleasure of working
with private groups right now.
We spend the summer months getting our program set up for the fall, getting
the office in order, planning our fundraising strategies for the year, continuing to rehabilitate those who need it, giving
bubble baths to all our horses, and hosing down our panting pigs.
Even though we are not hosting our regularly
funded groups, the horses, cows, goats, and sheep are still plowing through 100 bails of hay a month, the pigs still need
their 2 squares a day, the poop still needs to be picked up, the trees need to be watered, now more then ever, which means
we need to truck in even more water, the office needs to be run, and the bills still need to be paid. Please help us
get through this critical time; we need your support, now!
Thank you so much for your donations! No
amount is too small, even 10 dollars buys a bag of feed!
And now is a great time to volunteer your time...Please
call us for more info. |
Willie the
Rottweiler
|  Willie still needs a home. He is a 6 to 7-year-old, unusually small, purebred Rottweiler who was rescued from the Lancaster
hoarder. He lived his whole life outside, on concrete, in the freezing cold and extreme heat. Because of the neglect
and torment to his body, he has damage to his hips, which does not inhibit his walking, but makes him walk slowly. He is very affectionate, loyal, protective, sweet, has a wonderful smile, and desperately needs someone who is home most
of the time. Someone who is retired or who works from home would be perfect. Nice, slow walks around the neighborhood
would be great, but mostly he just wants to sit next to someone and look lovingly into their eyes. Whoever
adopts Willie will be very lucky to have him. He is all the company and hugability of a big dog, while being low maintenance,
gentle, and a pleasure to have around. |
Can You
Guess What I Am?
|  I love to strut around the barnyard. It feels like I am flying, but I actually cannot fly. I am the second
largest bird in the world, after the ostrich. I have a very long neck, sharp beak, and small ears. I also have
two sets of eyelids, one for blinking and one to keep out the dust.
What am I? That's right, I
am an EMU! My name is Yoda and I love to have the public visit and stroke my neck and feathers. I am very happy
now living at The Gentle Barn, as I was rescued from undesirable conditions in another part of the Valley. |
| Volunteers
of the Month |  The volunteer efforts of Nancy Osgood and Howard Jackman are truly appreciated and welcomed. Their tireless efforts
and support are beyond giving. They both have been the power behind the cat adoptions and placements. Just
about every Sunday, Nancy along with Howard's help, bring all of the cats from the boarding facility to Petco in Valencia
and run adoptions there from 11am to 4pm. Due to their tireless efforts, we only have 7 cats left to place into loving homes.
In addition to placing the cats, they have helped with home checks, taking the cats to the veterinarian, when
they have needed to go and visit with the cats in their spare time.
Thank you both, you have both earned
The Gentle Barn animal hero award. We love and respect you both, we don't know what we would do without you. If
you would like to help Nancy and Howard on Sundays, or would like to adopt a cat, please call The Gentle Barn office and we
will get you in touch with them. |
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