Friday, May 9th... The morning journal today is dedicated to the following:

Destiny Vazavez
Alia Yah
Nahomy Vasquez
Christian Villafana
Emily
Sebastian
Henry
Jeremiah
Monica
Monesha Claggett
Robert Bazua
Angel Delgado
Kevin Leon
Livette
Olivia Vasquez
Lizabeth Andrade
Henry Toribio
Merieneiana Arriaga
Jesus
Iram
Mrs. Cheryl Dean - teacher at Valle del Sol Elementary School in Coachella, California. Her 3rd Grade Class.

Not much money in the town of Coachella. These kids have very little. Yet they collect cans and bottles, turn them in for cash, and then send the money to help horses in need. The kids write Cathy and I letters, complete with drawings of horses and barns.

And so today I dedicate my morning ramblings to the 3rd grade class in Coachella. Horses are universal. Your e-mails this week prove how horses are loved all over the world.

There is an attorney in San Francisco who wants to help Alissa with her advertising campaign. Free of charge. There is a newspaper person in Los Angeles who also wants to help. More than 400 e-mails for Alissa, who hopes for the abuse and deaths of race horses to stop.

One of my favorite letters came from Kristin. She is 14, and lives in Santa Rosa, California. Kristin gives me permission to share. This is part of what Kristin has to say: My dad is a tough guy, but when Eight Belles died he cried like a baby. He was embarrassed when my sister and I saw him crying. We went out to eat and no one talked about Eight Belles. It was really quiet. All of a sudden in the middle of dinner my dad says we should go around the table and tell how much we mean to each other. There was my mom and dad and my little sister and my brother. We all took turns telling how much we love each other. This would never have happened if Eight Belles was still alive. Our family never says this stuff. We know we love each other, we just never say it. When Eight Belles died she made something in my dad change. He got all mushy, and this was the best family dinner we ever had. I told them about your ranch, and we would like to come visit and maybe someday I can get my own horse. Or at least maybe I could hug one of your horses. I wish I had lots of money to help Alissa. I hope Eight Belles is chewing on green grass in heaven. Thanks for listening. Kristin.

To the 3rd Grade class in Coachella, California. We love your letters and your drawings. Thank you very much for recycling cans and bottles, and helping our horses. It is difficult to fully express what this means to my wife and I. We really appreciate your thoughts and efforts. Thank You.

Joe

In 2007 we found new homes for 529 horses, and here are 4 of them.

Top Left: Noelle is with Charlie Pink. If you made a list of the nicest people on earth, Noelle would be at the top.

Top Right: Stephanie from Woodland is with her handsome new guy R Tax Man.

Bottom Left: Maddie and her new gelding Flaming Al. Flaming Al is one of my all time very favorite horses.

Bottom Right: In cold and wet weather our friends Becky and Brooke came to adopt Super Coy, and he is a hunk.
    Located in Northern California, TB Friends is dedicated to the rescue and placement of horses that have been abandoned or neglected. Usually these horses arrive from the race track. The horses obtained by TB Friends are often saved from the brutal trip to rendering facilities in Texas.


    When possible TB Friends takes care to select horses well suited to make the transformation to riding mount or show horse. Our proximity to the bay area race tracks, along with the throwaway nature of the racing industry, unfortunately results in a situation where there are many horses in need of rescue, and therefore many horses from which to choose.


    At TB Friends we manage to rescue about two hundred horses every year. When we place a horse there is no charge for the care that we provide them here at Shelton Farms. We only ask for the cost of a horse's rescue and transportation to the farm. For most horses this amounts to less than $1000 dollars.

    Sadly, we can not save them all. We are limited by the number of horses that we can care for at any one time. However, as we find homes for the horses we have rescued, we replace them by rescuing others. For this reason we ask you to consider purchasing a horse from our farm. Not only are you likely to obtain a beautiful animal, but you will also help us to save more horses.
You can call me on my cell at 530-383-2120. If I do not answer it means I am probably busy with a horse. Or on the couch with a rerun of Malcolm In The Middle. Just leave a message and I will call you back soon.