Greetings!

We've had a whirlwind of a year! And looking back, it feels like the time passed in an instant but so many things happened. The first thing I want to mention is our eternal gratitude to our Team of Volunteers who make it all possible. And we are so blessed by professionals (our Veterinarian, hoof trimmer and hay supplier) who are compassionate, skilled and irreplaceable.

And thank you, subscribers, old and new. This newsletter speaks our heart and soul. Dharmahorse is primarily a Sanctuary and the horses (& mules) stay with us for life. This takes a deep commitment to them as individuals and as a herd.

Our population has changed several times during the past 15 years. Some are still with us! Sage, Luna, Andy and Dream Cat are here thriving (Dream Cat turns 30 this coming year!).

And we remain forever thankful to our donors, patrons and foundations who fund the care, healing and support of all the equines, tiny and huge!

While so many of our intakes come from dire situations, sometimes a beloved equine needs a soft landing and in August, we took an owner surrender named "Sugar". Her people were moving out of country and she is blind.

Her only real option was "retirement" somewhere or Sanctuary. Healthy, sweet and coping well with her loss of sight, Sugar came to us. She had lost her pony companion the year before and he had worn a bell to keep her calmly aware of his presence. We put the bell on Andy, living right beside her, and they are good friends.

Our next intake, in September, was a tiny mini-stallion we named "Nugget". He was an estray. His teeth were a disaster, he was starved, had Habronema infection in his eyes and an injured penis... and, he is in his 30's!

Vet care, hoof care, soaked foods and so much love has transformed Nugget physically and emotionally. His age and being a mini puts him at risk if we geld him, so we will leave him "as is". We built a buffer zone panel fence to keep him from contacting other equines and things are going very well for Nugget.

Our most recent intake is "Hope". A grade mare, in her 30's... an estray. Her teeth were horrid, the dental work has made her comfortable, but she has no molars. There are signs that she is prone to allergies. Her ears are full of calluses and her eyes weep. She will stay in a fly mask & will need one with ear mesh.

So, Hope will need chopped, soaked alfalfa hay the rest of her life.

We brought the hay chopper from DH1 to DH2. Thank goodness we have it!

And our really exciting news is the adoption of the amazing Mustang gelding "Red" - now "Zephyr". He is young, loves to be ridden, is sound & healthy. He has a funny, sweet personality and really needed his own family.

Enter Laura, who hit it off with him immediately. He now lives with another sweet gelding with heaps of room and impeccable facilities. Laura is an experienced and kind horsewoman. Red/Zephyr hit the jackpot.

In the past year+ we said goodbye to four beloved horses. Gita (late 30's and blind), Annie (mid 20's), Billy (mid 20's) and Juniper (late 30's). This is part of keeping them in Sanctuary for life.

This also means there is room to save others. In that time, we took in Sugar, Red, Deva, Chinquapin, Dalai, Nugget and Hope.

We had a successful and delightful fundraiser that brought in exactly the amount of money we needed to FILL the hay barn! Our volunteer, Jenn, organized the whole thing and it was more than a success, it was fun for everyone.

A sad thing happened. Our beautiful kitty Dharma crawled into the horse trailer we had picked up Hope with. We didn't know (she had gone up the wheel area, onto the spare and through the slats!). We found it by going back on video cameras after trying to find her that night.

She is microchipped and spayed... while it has now been a month, we still hold hope that she will find her way home or the shelter (I check daily), the "lost pet" sites I've used or the many posters our volunteer, Alexis, put around will get her back to us.

Rachel has been working with Cassi, wearing a saddle. We want Cassi to have as many positive experiences as possible and some variety in her life.

Beast of Burden blog:

How do we change the mindset of "using" animals to one of stewardship? We set an example...

Rachel with Nugget:

Our Store

We have these three designs (art by Linda, Billy and Katharine) available on mugs, shirts, toddler clothes and more:

THE DHARMAHORSE STORE

All proceeds go to the horses! Great gift ideas!

We see each horse here as an individual with physical, mental and emotional needs that are dynamic and fluctuate with the weather, the seasons, their changing bodies as they age and who they live with as a herd.

Hawthorn Berries

We wish you well. We hold this planet and all who fly with her in love & light.

Mahalo!

Katharine, Mark, the DH Team & the Dharma Horses