Neigh Savers Foundation - Horse Rescue

10/28/2024

GivingTuesday is on December 3, 2024. Please keep this date in mind & make a plan to donate. Two very generous donors have offered to match 5K each for a total of 10K. This means your donation is DOUBLED!!!

If you've been following us you are aware that we do not regularly solicit for donations or hit you up with a barrage of emails and social media requests. This is our only annual online fundraiser.

If you believe in us & our model, please make a plan & set aside funds. YOUR DONATION WILL BE DOUBLED!!!

We will use all funds raised to buy much needed Alfalfa for our nearly 30 Sanctuary horses for the winter months & to provide care to those horses either not sponsored or partially sponsored.

Neigh Savers -- proudly serving the community for the last 18 years!!!!

10/15/2024

At the Sanctuary we saw both the comet & the northern lights!

09/27/2024

A little armchair visit to our Sanctuary located in Mendocino County, California.

09/17/2024

A beautiful autumn like evening at the Sanctuary. We recently acquired two geldings that needed a home after their elderly owner who lived in the area passed away.

Meet Outlaw, a quarter horse & Simon, a paint. Both are in their teens. Neither horse has a sponsor.

https://neighsavers.org/portfolio-items/outlaw/

https://neighsavers.org/portfolio-items/simon-2/

09/02/2024

We hope you are enjoying your long Labor Day weekend! It's hard to believe this holiday signals the end of the summer!

But because this is Labor Day and on behalf of all hard working people and even animals we wanted to feature a very special horse and one of his biggest fans.

Lava Man was a horse of no special pedigree commonly referred to as a "blue collar" horse. But this horse was extraordinary. He ended his racing career having earned over 5 million dollars!! Lava Man was a worker through and through. He was retired 3x and told everyone NO, I need to go back to work. He was happiest at the track, teaching young horses the ropes and thus was affectionately called "Coach Lava Man."

At our Sanctuary Gala Opening we had an extensive Silent Auction offering including a saddle cloth donated by Doug O'Neill Racing, the barn that Lava Man raced for and later worked for as a pony horse. This item had the most bids of any of our 94 offerings at 26 bids. It also sold for the highest price at a little over $1000. It was won by Yvonne Kirby, a long time supporter of Neigh Savers. I will let Yvonne tell her story in her own words with photos of the saddle cloth framed and other memorabilia Yvonne has collected over the years.

"First of all, I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for all you do for these wonderful animals. I am incredibly grateful and excited to have won Lava Man's saddle cloth. It means so much to me.

Lava Man, who was once claimed for $50,000 wound up being inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2015. He changed so many lives, he is intelligent, handsome, courageous, and has such horsonality. I was so fortunate to see many of his races in person.

So many of us know his many accomplishments - Hollywood Gold Cup, Sunshine Millions, Santa Anita Handicap, Pacific Classic, etc., etc. And, of course, the stable pony for Doug O'Neill, "The Coach". We all remember him escorting "I'll Have Another" and "Hot Rod Charlie." He was so good with the young horses and babies.

I recall we traveled from Texas to CA to see Lava Man lead the post parade in one of the featured races but he was ill and could not do it. We met Ms. Sharla Sanders, who was awesome. I won Lava Man's Picture and his horse shoe. Ms. Sanders took us to the stable area to meet Doug O'Neill and Lava Man in person.

In 2022 Lava Man was retired to Old Friends, I am so looking forward to visiting him there with cookies.

This year I was diagnosed with oral cancer and had an operation in April. I am cancer free at this time and being able to acquire Lava Man's saddle cloth meant the world to me.

I cannot thank you all enough. Blessings and love and hugs to you all. 🤗💖🙏Yvonne"

08/26/2024

We want to congratulate our friend David K on his 10 year anniversary of adopting off track Freckles. Freckles was part of our retraining program at Bear Creek Stables with Jenny Whitman.

David says: "I just noticed Freckles & I passed the 10-year mark together back in April. He is simply the best horse ever, and continues to thrive here in North Carolina."

David's wife Jennifer later adopted OTTB Bunny & shortly thereafter the family relocated from California to North Carolina.

08/14/2024

We capped off our most amazing weekend with a Champagne Brunch for all guests that had time to attend before making their journeys home.

As in keeping with our theme, all the food was homemade, entirely from scratch. We used real cutlery, glasses and plates. However, we had a little treat in store for all guests upon arrival. A commemorative mug was given to each person that featured our logo and Sanctuary Opening Date as a souvenir of the weekend.

Event Coordinator Bliss Seifred made her incredibly delicious quiche pies along with fruit salad that included blackberries picked from the Sanctuary and other home baked pastries such as fruit pies and yummy caramel scones. Thank you Sarah, Melissa and Julie for preparing the brunch as well as vet Dr. Bethany, who was able to help out on Sunday morning.

Couldn't resist including a few more photos of our horses. I don't think any of us get enough of these beautiful beings. Our resident super star Lumpy makes an appearance as well. He likes to hang out in the back area. Guests were able to stroll through the property on their own with a coffee, orange juice, champagne or mimosa to toast to the day and to the weekend.

08/09/2024

On Saturday July 13th we held our opening gala luncheon at the lovely Dancing Crow Winery in Hopland, CA. We pre-sold all of our 80 tickets! The luncheon was in honor of our donor Helen Barbara Johnson who gifted her property to us upon her passing in August 2022.

The luncheon also featured a Silent Auction with 94 packages to choose from! We exceeded our fundraising goal for the auction and for the event in total. Thank you to the donors that came and supported the Neigh Savers Foundation, now in its 18th year.

Neigh Savers was able to apply all revenue from ticket sales for the concrete pad and improvements we are making to the old barn as our very generous donors underwrote the costs of the event. Thank you again for making this a wonderful, fun & successful event and a glorious launch of our Sanctuary!

Our appetizer trays were created by Bliss Seifred, one of the Event Coordinators, from locally sourced products. Our desserts were a selection of pies baked entirely from scratch by Event Coordinators Bliss Seifred and Sarah O'Rourke with Sanctuary Volunteers Melissa Mead Howze and Julie Dauer. The blackberry pies included blackberries picked at the Sanctuary. Our catered lunch was provided by Ellery Clark Catering and each table received two bottles of local Dancing Crow wine. The centerpieces were created by Sierra Pinches and featured hand painted horseshoes, fairy lights and wildflowers picked at the Sanctuary.

Enjoy the photos of a joyous day and occasion. When we inherited the Sanctuary we doubted we could get it into serviceable shape in a span of less than two years, especially considering the first year was primarily dedicated to horse health and that the estate itself had no monetary assets.

Thank you for making the many long journeys to celebrate with us! People came from all parts of California, from Oregon and one guest even flew through a hurricane from Texas to join us! There are great things ahead for the Sanctuary and we hope to share this beautiful place and its horses with you for many years to come.

In gratitude on behalf of the Board of Directors we thank you.

08/06/2024

Recap - Sanctuary Gala Weekend - Event 2
Sanctuary Tours

We had the pleasure of hosting most of our guests over two days on two very different tours. On Saturday morning, July 13th, we had scripted & guided tours. Thank you Team Tour Leaders, Julie, Caroline, Sarah & Melissa.

Melissa L. Mead Howze also generously created and donated logo inspired polo shirts for all the volunteers. Thank you Melissa for your generosity!!

On Sunday morning, July 14th, during the Champagne Brunch, those guests that wanted to walk the entire property went out informally accompanied by our tour guides as one group.

These photos are a compilation of both tours. Please enjoy these fabulous photos of our guests and horses interacting and of our beautiful and serene property.

Please note that most of our horses are not fully sponsored. You can get more involved in the Sanctuary by choosing a horse and your level of sponsorship. A quarter sponsorship is only $40/month.

You can browse available horses for sponsorship opportunities below. A few of our horses are fully sponsored but this is noted in their profile.

https://neighsavers.org/sanctuary-horses/

You can sponsor a horse from this link:

https://neighsavers.org/get-involved/sponsor-a-horse/

08/02/2024

Sanctuary Opening Gala Weekend
Recap of BBQ

Our kickoff BBQ event on Friday night July 12, 2024 was in honor & appreciation of those donors that are full or partially sponsoring a horse at the Sanctuary, Neigh Savers Board Directors, Principals and Volunteers.

All food served at the BBQ was freshly prepared by the team of Event Coordinators Bliss & Sarah along with Sanctuary Volunteers Melissa & Julie.

The food & drinks were donated by Bliss, Sarah, Melissa & Karin. No Neigh Savers' donor funds were used.

We served marinated TriTip, Chicken, Homemade Mashed Potatoes (Vegan & Regular), made from starter Garlic Bread, A Vegan Chopped Salad, BBQ Corn on the Cob, Organic Green Salad from Melissa's garden, Fresh Blackberry and Peach Cobbler, Lemon Bars & Cheesecake. We had 40 guests that sat in the front yard of the ranch house at picnic tables handcrafted by Sanctuary Volunteers from reclaimed wood from our old barn. In keeping with our theme of zero waste we used all real cutlery, glasses and plates as we did with all three of our events involving food. It was a beautiful & magical evening.

In future, we would like to hold additional smaller & intimate gatherings for just our horse sponsors. You can sponsor a horse as follows: $40/month for a quarter sponsorship, $75/month for a half sponsorship & $150/month for a full sponsorship.

You can browse horses for sponsorship opportunities here:

https://neighsavers.org/sanctuary-horses/

You can sponsor a horse from this link:

https://neighsavers.org/get-involved/sponsor-a-horse/

07/17/2024

Our Sanctuary Opening Gala Weekend was a roaring success!! Four events over 3 days. The team is exhausted but it couldn't have gone better. We netted enough from our event proceeds to pour the concrete pad for our barn & due to generous pledges we will also be able to rehab our arena, install a 10 stall mare motel & retrofit our shelters as well as bring in massive amounts of gravel needed around certain areas during the wet months.

Thank you everyone who came & shared the experience. It was so good to finally meet so many of you! ❤️❤️❤️

07/12/2024

Only one more day to bid on our Online Silent Auction. 94 items!

Register NOW.

Shown is a sample of lavender products from Wilton Family Farms.

https://www.32auctions.com/July24auction

07/08/2024

Shout out to our helpful Sanctuary kids Sierra & Steven!!!

They're always pitching in with chores & improvements. Plus they are compassionate animal lovers.

Steven is only 9 but operates the excavator & tractor like a seasoned pro. He's also an expert w**d whacker!

Thank you kids. Your contributions are much appreciated!!!

06/28/2024

Our Silent Auction benefitting our Sanctuary is now live!! Browse over 90 items!!

Anyone can bid. Auction will close in 2 weeks at our Sanctuary Gala at Dancing Crow Vineyards in Hopland, CA.

Silent auction 'Sanctuary Opening Celebration' hosted online at 32auctions.

06/25/2024

We just finished another round of irrigation & the horses are loving it. Tonight as Sarah was refilling waterers she had many helpers following her & making sure she was doing it just right!

06/10/2024

UPDATE: 9:54 pm June 12th
The last of 495 bales are loaded in the barn!

It's that time of year again when we harvest our own hay & store it for the coming winter.

Such a satisfying feeling to see the barn filling up. Still got a ways to go but our tireless crew of volunteers showed up again. This year we saved $750 because we didn't need to pay a third party to move it from the field to our barn. Progress!

06/04/2024

The mighty women warriors got together at the Sanctuary over the weekend to put some finishing touches on our Opening Gala. It's going to be unforgettable!! Only two tickets remain. Message us if interested.

We had great fun walking the property & working out our tour script & stops.

Thank you Team Neigh Savers for helping make all the work seem like great fun!! I wish I could infuse your energy & enthusiasm into everything I work on but for now I'm just happy that Neigh Savers is the beneficiary.

Executive Director, Karin Wagner

05/30/2024

Please welcome Jessie the Mule to our Sanctuary. Jessie is shown here with her new friend, Atlas, a draft-paint mix.

05/05/2024

Welcome new horse Atlas to our Sanctuary. Atlas is a 3/4 draft, 1/4 paint gelding. It only took Atlas a minute or so to approve of his surroundings.

In other news, everyone is working hard to get fences up, remove encroaching blackberry bushes & continue with general upgrades & improvements to put our best foot forward for receiving visitors in July.

We are thrilled to share that our Sanctuary Opening Gala is nearly sold out.

Only a handful of tickets remain. Don't miss out!

https://neighsavers.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5326ca833dfb5f01dcf22c5eb&id=b725894e05&e=74c1a5b367

05/01/2024

Please join us for our Sanctuary Opening on Saturday, July 13 at Dancing Crow Vineyards in Hopland, CA.

Only limited tickets still available.

Tickets are $80/pp & include Saturday tours of the Sanctuary as well as an optional Champagne Brunch on Sunday.

https://neighsavers.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5326ca833dfb5f01dcf22c5eb&id=b725894e05&e=74c1a5b367

04/27/2024

This is what old horses can look like when they have hit the golden ticket at the Sanctuary. All are in the mid 20s to 30s. Various breeds. Extra bonus...we didn't lose any horses over this second extremely wet & cold winter.

This year we are building up our alfalfa fund early. Our fundraising goal is 10K for the year.

Please donate here:

https://neighsavers.org/get-involved/donate-2/

03/23/2024

The Sanctuary is indeed a magical & special place.

Be a part of it by becoming a donor.

Learn more about us at neighsavers.org

03/15/2024

The ducks have arrived, safe & secure in their enclosure. Meanwhile the pond is being restored for their pleasure but not until coyote abatement is installed.

The old horses have more or less weathered the worst of winter & signs of spring are everywhere. The North Fork of the Russian River is running at full capacity at the back of the property.

Enjoy the photos!

01/31/2024

Yikes...another atmospheric river about to hit again. That means tons of rock delivered to the Sanctuary came just in time to be spread around this side of the barn.

01/26/2024

SAVE THE DATE

Saturday, July 13, 2024

Helen B Johnson Memorial Sanctuary Grand Opening

At Dancing Crow Winery in Hopland, CA

Tickets & Details to be announced in April.