New Jersey Virtual Herd - SRoH

This video was made to send to our Veterinarian. First clip is 5 days, and second is 1 week post concussive event on September 12, 2023. Molly suffered another concussion in June 2023. The September concussion was witnessed as she barely bumped her head (top/poll) on the stall door guard in the evening. The following morning She could not find the floor with her feet on a hard surface. Before anyone gets judge mental or opinionated, understand that this horse has a very unique story, and a very important purpose. She is under veterinary care, and is about to embark on a physio/neuro rehab (pt/ot) guided by professionals who have experience in this unique situation. We believe that Miss Molly has earned every chance to recover. We do not know yet what the outcome will be, though we would love the support and rally from those who trust in the power of horses to heal! Both us and themselves. Donate to Molly’s rehab here: Spring Reins of Life is partnering with Friends for Pegasus to Fundraise for Molly’s recovery💚. www.springreinsoflife.org www.friendsforpegasus.org

A tree came crashing down during a private client session today. WoW. Edith donkey on one side of fallen tree, GusArchie donkey on the others side. WHERE is 3rd donkey? Where is Gloria donkey?! Gloria is outside the barn lot. Yes. She crashed through a 14ft metal gate to flee the falling tree! Gansta Gloria is weight bearing on all 4, she is very sore and tender on both stifles, gaskins and hips. On pain management, Bemer, and anti inflammatory help. Yikes! #treefall #njvhedith #njvhgusarchie #njvhgloria #thingsthatcrash Follow the Herd at https://www.linktree.com/njvh_sroh IG: @nj_virtualherd

May is Thoroughbred Month in the Horseworld. And our Herd has a Thoroughbred. Not just a TB either, a Chestnut TB...In fact, our Herd has a Chestnut Thoroughbred Mare! Yes. And she is a founding horse in all of the programs. Syriana, aka Syri. Known to be a diva princess, and can also breath fire. Yep, all that AND she is a brilliant equine-assisted therapy horse. A seasoned professional working with more than 2700 trauma survivors and hundreds of private clients over the years. Today Syri is helping with an "Intro" to her work at Operation Horse (Veterans). Following our intro you will see a video created by UpWorthy on November 11, 2015 Veterans Day about the services provided to NJ Veterans at Spring Reins of Life. Please watch the video where OIF veterans explain in their own words "Why Horses", and then visit the fundraising page to donate $5 or More www.classy.org/team/495361. Syriana and her colleagues need your funding support for them to be in the arena with Veterans with PTSd. May does have a lot of horse racing going on, and it is also a time for raising awareness. There is an exciting opportunity May 1st-31st, 2023 during Mental Health Awareness Month. Our nonprofit Spring Reins of Life is part of a national #SeenThroughHorses campaign and is looking for donors and fundraising volunteers to support Veterans Programming 2023. WANT TO HELP? NJ Veterans were the first population to return to nonprofit Spring Reins of Life 501c3 by their request in 2021. In 2022, Spring Reins of Life got creative and found ways to fund Operation Horse for the year via local community sponsorships, one week or one month at a time. Without enough boots on the ground volunteers it was an exhaustive effort, yet it did work! This year in 2023, the Herd is getting a bit back to work as the Teens population have returned via 2 long term grants that SRoLife achieved in 2022. However that leaves the Operation Horse veterans programming in need of support. Spring Reins of Life is going for the entire year of programming for Operation Horse Wednesdays, the goal is set for $35,000. Which is a lot. Yet the results that are yielded are priceless. #SeenThroughHorses campaign is sponsored by @HorsesForMentalHealth and @zoetisequine where for the entire month of May awareness is being raised about how Horses can serve as a viable solution to mental health issues. You can support these efforts by joining the SRoLife fundraising team, or make a one-time donation at: https://classy.org/team/495361. ### This Herd of seasoned professional Service Animals (horses and donkeys) were effectively unemployed by the pandemic crush for nearly 2years. We lost everything that had been built for 11 years with both businesses. Slowly the Herd is finding some ground to stand on. Pandemic crush was tough. Any support is welcomed in any amount towards the care and upkeep of our esteemed colleagues. The Herd Support (directly benefits the horses): https://gofund.me/65699f5f Other: https://linktr.ee/njvh_sroh

This video is the short version of Miss Molly’s story. We worked hard to create a way to tell her story in under 5mins to submit to The Dodo. We did so on 8/24/22 and for several months have attempted to follow-up without ever confirming if our submission was even received. So, while the folks over @TheDodo may not agree, we DO believe that Miss Molly has an incredible, true, miraculous story to share! Therefore, we will launch it here – on our tiny barely noticeable channel for The Herd. Launching this in May 2023 to help bring awareness to our need for Veterans Programming funding at Operation Horse/Spring Reins of Life. As part of the Seen Through Horses Campaign 2023 we are putting this video out there to show the power of horses to be healed and to heal. Thank you, Miss Molly! Xo HELP us fundraise for Veterans in NJ at Operation Horse: https://www.classy.org/team/495361 #njvhmissmolly #springreinsoflife #horsesformentalhealth #traumarecovery #killpenrescue #therapyanimal #veterans #newjerseyveterans #horsesthatheal #ptsd #suicideprevention The first time I saw Miss Molly was on a cool Saturday morning of October 6, 2016. She arrived with 5 other horses who had been rescued from the kill pens in Kaufman, TX to a horse trainer where we shared a facility in Hillsborough, NJ. Upon stepping off the trailer the shipper handed the lead rope over saying “whatever happens, do not take this horse’s halter off” …which was the first sign that the mare’s description was misleading. Advertised as “Hip tag #7479, 16h Palomino mare, well broke, sweet, friendly, sound, solid and sane”, there stood a thin, wide-eyed, hyper-vigilant, traumatized large Palomino who clearly had endured her own type of warzone from humans. As time traveled to the winter months, we noticed that while horse people had a hard time getting near Molly, the PTSd Veterans that attended our Operation Horse program at Spring Reins of Life could innocently walk up to her and pet her on the face. On April 1, 2017, Miss Molly unofficially joined our Herd and moved with us to Hunt Cap Farms in Three Bridges NJ. My first moments in handling this mare were to back her off of a trailer in the pouring rain, with my heart pounding as I breathed deeply, I asked her to step back off the trailer and get us both safely to the ground, and we would figure out the rest one step at a time. She did so. The next several months were spent giving Molly the space to find her way back towards feeling safe and building trust. This included patience, consistency, routine, and interaction without an agenda attached. She had professional help from Dr. Shoemaker DVM to erase the central nervous system reflexes to bite or strike (the hind kicking involved too much danger to work on, yet at least she became safe to handle in the front end). Fortunately for us, Dr. Maria Katsamani PsyD who co-facilitates Operation Horse is also a skilled horse trainer who has a specialty in gentling traumatized and abused horses helped her a great deal towards accepting a new way of interacting with humans. We did get her halter off (and on again). Over time Molly traveled a long journey out of hell and onto her road of healing and recovery, she had a lot of support yet the last few hardest miles she had to make on her own. Ultimately it was the Veterans we work with who helped her reach the highest steps in her recovery. She could feel safe with them because their minds spoke the same silent language of PTSd. She does still have her triggers yet has learned to manage them in a way that is far less traumatic to herself or others. Consistently when working she will engage or approach the MOST internally wounded Veteran in our groups in a way to take them with her to a place of acceptance and feeling safe. In November 2019, we were presented with a plaque from the New Jersey Department of Veteran Affairs which states: “The 2019 Therapy Animal of the Year – Miss Molly” which is fitting in that as NJ Veterans opened a door to save her life, She has returned the favor many times. We are so proud of this mare. Molly is proof that no life is so far gone that it cannot be saved, and that, Love is the greatest healer of all. Miss Molly, The Golden Girl Christianna Capra “CC”, ES at SRoL, Molly’s handler Maria Katsamanis PsyD, MHP at SRoL, Molly’s trainer Judith M. Shoemaker DVM, Always Helpful Veterinary Services Team Molly: Kerry Nagrod, Mindy Drake, Darlene Hengeli, Stephen Cherry, Phyllis Nunan, Laura Quick, Diane McMahon, Jessica Docar Veterans Pictured with Molly: Stephen Cherry, US Air Force Veteran Angel Aponte, 1st Sergeant/Drill Sergeant US Army Veteran Gerald Aponte, US Marine Corps/US Army Veteran Ray Quesnel, US Marine Corps, Vietnam Combat Veteran Barbara J. Arndt, US Marine Corps Veteran

How to do the urine in stalls. Ammonia is bad for feet and especially airways (respiratory). It is easy to do well if you take the right sequence - Pee no problem!

How to fill? Where to Hang? Where not to hang? Please unfold (fluff up) the flakes inside nets. Hang so that cannot slide around or flip over fence or panel. ❤️

Putting 2Ton Tony to bed in winter. Located in Bedding stall. Around dusk 2Ton will start searching for safe night. If horse stalls are shut and bedding door open he will go in the stall. Will not go up into bed however. Here is a short video to show “going to bed” Instructions on feed etc are taped on back of bedding stall door.

This video will guide how to hang hay nets, where they can and cannot go. Goal is to avoid their hooves standing in muck and mud. Check ground space before choosing a spot. Tie in a way that will keep net from sliding around, flipping over the top of fence or panel, or in a tight or narrow space.

How to recycle hay from night before in stalls. $ave hay, $ave money! Using the hay rake (“finger rake”) am able to save hay from the bedding. Needs to be inspected as not all piles of hay are salvageable. Can repurpose this hay in three ways. Yet in order to clean the stall (and give a fresh dinner plate) is to deal with this hay… Hoping the video makes it easier for barn homies to understand than the cryptic instructions left.

Recycling hay from night before when doing stalls. Use the finger rake. Finger rake also helps to prepare sweeping the hay plate. What are you talking about??? Goal is to remove hay dust and other debris from where the horse (or donkey) eats their hay…hence “hay plate”.

Filling and Fluffing Hay Nets for OUTSIDE. Written notes in manual. Visual easier I think. Somewhat different from inside nets, yet the concept and procedure the same. Flakes of hay must be “unfolded” before being tied up in a net. Prevents ulcers, stress, anxiety around food, and gum damage. Prepared in a way that serves the horse, nets can be a great way to save hay and money as well as provide forage for hours. (The Why’s are important for me, it’s never about me. WHY is always about them and what promotes their health / not what is necessarily most convenient...)

UV Visor for Junior Mif Please pay attention as she’s had some relapses and we want her to keep the right eye. Directions to put it on and When Why (this is for the Winter 2022/2023 from Doc Oliver)

Posting as a test into the Barn Care videos for Volunteers. Isnt this just so cute though? OK more serious ones to come. https://linktr.ee/njvh_sroh This Herd of seasoned professional Service Animals (horses and donkeys) were effectively unemployed by the pandemic NJ Covid19 lock-down for 15 months. We lost everything that had been built for 11 years. We are slowly finding some ground to stand on. WANT TO HELP?

THANK YOU to EVERYONE who Voted for this crazy special bird. 2Ton held 1st place for weeks and won his 91 animal group with ease. Quarterfinals got a bit sticky with competition, and 2Ton held 4th place, then 3rd, then 2nd for 1/2 a day, then back to 3rd. Ultimately he lost to a Fox! Sad for him bc he has been hunted by Foxes here on the farm. Alas. We all have it a good run. Because 2Ton loves the spotlight we are figuring out how we can let him shine to help us earn our keep. More to come, please stay tuned in to his antics and Follow the Herd www.linktr.ee.com/njvh_sroh Thank you all again for supporting this effort. Would have been a lot of fun. Let’s see what’s next…? #rooster #njvirtualherd #americasfavpet #therapyrooster #roosterforhire #bestofnewjersey

THANK YOU to EVERYONE who Voted for this crazy special bird. 2Ton held 1st place for weeks and won his 91 animal group with ease. Quarterfinals got a bit sticky with competition, and 2Ton held 4th place, then 3rd, then 2nd for 1/2 a day, then back to 3rd. Ultimately he lost to a Fox! Sad for him bc he has been hunted by Foxes here on the farm. Alas. We all have it a good run. Because 2Ton loves the spotlight we are figuring out how we can let him shine to help us earn our keep. More to come, please stay tuned in to his antics and Follow the Herd www.linktr.ee.com/njvh_sroh Thank you all again for supporting this effort. Would have been a lot of fun. Let’s see what’s next…? #rooster #njvirtualherd #americasfavpet #therapyrooster #roosterforhire #bestofnewjersey

Redcat. Self-appointed therapist on our team since 2014. He is a perdiem worker in that it’s by the minute usually and not all the time. He enters the healing arena when needed. Most often for a specific reason such as anxiety from a human about integrating with the horses. And, he flys in like Superman to aid in panic-attacks with a paw on foot seconds before onset. Redcat does not mouse, at all! Hence only poses as a barn-cat. He also doubles as an equine nurse alert- if one of them is ailing and we don’t know yet - he will stay vigil until help is provided. Basically he more than earns his keep. Redcat is loved by all, even those who are not “cat people”! 😻🙀😼😹 #cuteanimalplus #followus #love #cute #serviceanimals #therapyanimals #reels #reelsvideo #bestofnewjersey #cat #barnlifestyle #springreinsoflife #njvirtualherd #equineassistedtherapy #catoftheday #catlover #felineassistedtherapy #anxietysupport #fancycatsuit #redcat #instacat