Courtesy Stable

02/26/2025

Ladies & gentlemen, friends neighbors & horsemen, lend me your ears. OUR WATER IS FLOWING!!! There is still lots to do, Councilman Jones office agreed to help fund the replacement of new underground pipes, to avoid the freezing in the future. We are in the process of submitting a grant application to redo the mares turnout, to help raise the frost line when the new pipes are installed. We hope to have all of this completed sometime this year, so as to avoid any additional freezing again next year... We need your support, this time financially. Any amount you can give can be donated by check or through our website. We are hoping to raise at least $5k as a match to our funds, in addition to the funding from the SRRF grant.
For now, the immediate "no water" situation is resolved, the temps are above 32. We will advise if & when the water situation becomes critical again & ask for more dropoffs but for now, you can rest easy, the horses have water & are doing well. Please watch for the date of our open house to stop by for a visit soon.
Thank you so much! Cynthia & the courtesy crew & horses!

use this link to donate through network for good for courtesy stable. Thank you!

Horseback riding, boarding, volunteering & more in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park

02/07/2025

SO MANY HORSES, SO LITTLE TIME!!! :-)

02/07/2025

Jan 15, got a call, there is no water at the barn. A while later, everyone had water. I cant tell you how hard its been, that would be redundant and unnessary. I can tell you how rewarding it has been, how much faith I have in people. I can tell you that I will not give up on any horse in my care. Today, I went to the barn in the morning to hook up the pump to the 300 gallon tank to fill the troughs, then filled inside buckets from the barrels, then hooked up yet another hose to pump water up the driveway into the 2 other troughs. Then refilled all the barrels. There are bottles of water in every possible space inside our aisles, and some of you know, our aisles are not that wide. Todays drop off consisted of this (and this happens everytime we request water) the wash stall is full of FULL BOTTLES of water. I felt completely determined & totally satisfied that all of these horses are ok, and all because of you. The Courtesy Stable owners, friends, students neighbors cannot tell you enough how great you are!

01/29/2025

Good Morning from Courtesy Stable, 1/29/25, 7AM, still no running water at our barn. No specific answer from PPR, Josh at Councilman Jones ofice has said it will be fixed & they will take care of the bill. Last evening a few of us went wandering down & found lots of running water. A pipe must be broken somewhere. I've been at the barn since 2005 and didnt have that water.
In 2017, trees were trimmed by streets department, and since then, we've had water running downstream along cathedral rd.
We have always had running water at the barn since 2005, so we are not sure why we dont have it now. All the other barns in the area have water.
THANK YOU TO ALL, who have provided us & are still providing us water, and to one of the best community groups, ANDORRA KIDS and their members! All the courtesy owners & riders for carrying water... all the guys & dolls who are just making it work for us.
We are asking for the city to help us correct the problem.

01/29/2025

I've struggled with how to put into words, we all know the heartache of losing a pet. Benny was a partner, he was my assistant instructor. He was the barn mascot. He greeted everyone with a smile & really loved chicken & cheese. Those were his 2 favs. But he was particular, no fancy chicken, no sauce or breading & american cheese... when I would arrive he would immediately start meowing, I had to sit down, to let him sit on my lap, it was a ritual. It was our handshake, our meet & greet. He would say, hey, sit a while, dont work so hard! He kept me very happy. Everyday, for the last 14 or so years, (i'll find the paperwork), he would come when I'd call him, running across the ring... he was the best barn cat ever. I am going to miss everything about him... he kept me warm in winter & warmer in Summer... he was always there, I loved him so. Such a cool cat. For those of you who have pics, please share them to help us remember him... It's quiet there without him. I remember sitting in the rain, with him on my lap. I will remember a long time, thank goodness for that... memories are there for a reason! I will miss him!

01/27/2025

01/25/2025

New gift..

01/23/2025

Bonnie is the best horse!

01/23/2025

Update 1/23/25. 7AM.
Good morning, while we still do not have running water, a situation has been resolved to allow us to get water from our tank to our troughs & inside, using heaters & pumps. For now we ask everyone to hold your water drop offs please. We will keep you posted as our indoor supply runs down. Next week's temps going above freezing hopefully will free up the freeze, if it is in fact a freeze and not a break, 🤔 but we cant be sure. Please keep watch on our page, we will advise when we start getting low & ask for water again! Thank you all for your generosity over the last week, it has been A LONG WEEK. 🙃 The horses thank you & our people thank you!

01/22/2025

A visit is expected tomorrow from Parks & Recreation. Will keep you posted! Thanks for everything!

01/21/2025

🚨 Water Update 1/18 Evening 🚨

We still don’t have running water due to the ongoing freeze, but we have bags full of empty gallon jugs ready to be refilled!

You’ll find them at the bottom of the driveway by the gate. If you’re able to refill and return a few jugs, it would make a huge difference for our thirsty horses.

Thanks to the kindness and support of our incredible community, we’re managing to keep the horses hydrated during this tough time. We’re so grateful for everyone who has pitched in—you are truly amazing! ❤️

- The BSCS Board (and Chief, Tucker, Lacy, Chili, Ghost, Ranger, Summer, Bonnie, Conrad, Jimi, Lu and GG of course)

01/19/2025

🚨 Water Update 1/18 🚨

PLEASE HOLD OFF ON WATER DROP OFFS UNTIL TUESDAY! Thanks to your overwhelming generosity, we currently have enough water to keep our horses hydrated through the storm! 🐴💧 For now, please hold off on any more water drop-offs until Tuesday morning, as water jugs can’t sit outside in the cold without freezing.

We are so grateful for your support and kindness—our horses (and team) feel truly cared for by this amazing community. Please stay safe in this cold weather, and of course, Go Birds! 🦅💚

- The BSCS Board

01/19/2025

🚨 Update on Water Donations 🚨

Hi everyone, we’ve noticed that the Amazon link to ship water directly to us doesn’t seem to be working well. If you’d still like to help by purchasing and shipping water, here are some great alternatives that can be sent to 901 E Cathedral Road, Philadelphia, PA 19128:

1️⃣ Target (2.5 gal Poland Spring): https://www.target.com/p/poland-spring-brand-100-natural-spring-water-2-5-gal-jug/-/A-14756374 =sametab

2️⃣ Walmart (1 gal Great Value): https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Spring-Water-1-Gallon/14715423893

Every donation helps keep our horses hydrated while we work through the frozen pipe issue. Thank you so much for your continued support and generosity—it truly means the world to us! 🐴💧❤️

- The BSCS Board

Buy (6 pack) Great Value Spring Water, 1 Gallon at Walmart.com

01/18/2025

Hi Everyone, Cynthia here! Another pouring in of kindness from everyone! Friends & neighbors. Next week will be hard, I'm just staying focused on the "one day at a time". Thank you again for the dropoffs