Thank you...

I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of our supporters and friends out there.

As you all know, these past eight months have been very difficult for me and my family. Tony's passing completely devastated me and changed my life forever.

Things that were once so important to me, are not so important anymore, and vice versa. I have learned that grief does that- it is a process- one that cannot be rushed or slowed, one that has to run it's course in both your soul and your life.

Tony left me many wonderful gifts- ones that I intend to use wisely and on doing things that are important to me (and were important to Tony) and things that are close to my heart.

I have taken a bit of a hiatus from rescuing- yes, Shiloh will continue, it will remain the wonderful, fun, interesting and peaceful place that it is, but things have changed a bit. Now I am solely financially responsible for all of the animal lives at the ranch- they are totally and completely my responsibility. Of course, we do take in donations and we have many, many very generous supporters- but when it comes down to it, donations or not- the animals need to eat. I have always said that a person who runs a rescue (unless it is a large organization like the HSUS, Best Friends, etc) MUST be able to pay to feed and care for all of the animals in the rescue out of their own personal finances. A rescue should only have as many animals in it as that person can personally afford each month. That way, if the donations were to suddenly stop- the animals needs can still be met properly. This is the responsible way to rescue.

So, with this in mind, we are working on responsibly getting our numbers down at Shiloh. We currently have 150 horses in the rescue, our goal is to eventually get it down to about 60. We are only taking in horses by a case to case basis and working with all of our adoptables to try to eventually place them. This will be a long process, not something that can be rushed. We have many, many older horses in our sanctuary, most of them over the age 25. These horses will be able to happily continue to live out their days with us, getting all of their needs met until their time to pass onto Greener Pastures arrives.

This process of getting our numbers down may take 1-2 years but we will get there eventually.

I am also planning to continue my showing- this is important to me and something that I enjoy very much. Showing has always been a very family event for us and I love spending this time with my family. That is very important to me now.

As many of you know, Sally and I will both be moving to Shiloh very soon. Both of our manufactored homes are now set at the ranch. This will be a wonderful change for both of us and we can't wait to live out at the ranch. Our lives will be so much easier without the daily commute and who wouldn't want to be woken up by the braying of Donkey Otie and the Breakfast Club and the whinnying of the rescue horses?

Thank you to all of our friends and our Shiloh Family who have helped make these sad months easier and happier for us- we love you! Sally and I could not have gotten through the difficult times without you.

My animals, both at the ranch and at my home, have been great consolation for me. They have eased my loneliness and sat close to me while I cried, they have kept me busy and showed me that in the face of great loss, life still goes on. I started the rescue all those years ago to give peace and comfort to hurting horses and other animals, I never knew that one day, Shiloh would turn around and rescue me right back.

- Posted from the road on my iPhone!