Can You Train a Horse to Roll Over?

Baron was one of the horses Bob worked with that day. Julie Robins gave some volunteers instructions on how to be safe when working with or around horses.  

There were about 6 horses and volunteers in the ring working to develop manners for our four legged friends.  We learned how to make a horse move, backup and stay out of our space.  

BARON

Baron had a mind of his own and being young he didn’t listen all the time.  

After a while, Baron started lifting his leg and hitting the ground, Bob asked someone why was he doing this, since our horse experience was zero.  She said he was bored or was going to go down and roll in the sand.

As Baron decided he had enough of school that day he went down and started rolling all around. It's quite a sight to see if you've never seen such a big animal roll around on his back! My husband stood there and just kept saying "Roll Over Baron" and said to the rest of the volunteers "See what I taught him to do!"  

Bob and I were at Aiken Equine Rescue today and saw the owners of Baron take him away to his forever home. How wonderful for him and a little sad for us.

Sorry to see you go Baron but you deserve a wonderful life as do all the other horses there. at the rescue. As one horse leaves, hopefully there is room for another life to be saved in its place.

The beauty and tranquility of the rescue gives us a sense of peace.  You don’t have to know anything about horses to volunteer there, we certainly didn’t.

Who ever thought my husband, Bob, who had never been around horses prior to moving to Aiken, could teach a horse a trick, and find a wonderful way to spend some of his retirement time!

Come visit Aiken Equine Rescue, just for the view. You be glad you did. We sure are!

Linda Magliola

5/13/2015

Don't Know Anything About Horses But Love Them Anyway? or Musings From A Transplanted New Yorker

Musings From A Transplanted New Yorker

My name is Linda Magliola, my husband Bob and I have been volunteering at the rescue for about 2 years.  

I took this picture of Buddy and Hollywood and caught Buddy just right.  I have this hanging on a wall in my home.  

BUDDY A BLIND SANCTUARY HORSE WITH HIS GUIDE AND COMPANION HOLLYWOOD

We are from New York and have never been around horses, we are city folk.  After retiring to Aiken we wanted to get involve with a worthy cause and Aiken Rescue was it.  

I always loved horses thinking they were such majestic animals.  It is so peaceful and almost spiritual at the rescue, we enjoying being there.  

The past two years usually Bob and I  have been the only two people on Wednesday doing chores.  The past two months three other people have been showing up on Wednesdays and it has made things a lot easier for us.

Aiken Equine Rescue always welcomes volunteers. You don't have to know anything about horses to help out . For a list of some of our volunteer needs go to our website and click on our Volunteer page. We have a list of needs under Volunteer Interest.

Help Feed The Horses At Aiken Equine Rescue Through the Kroger Community Rewards Program!

Do you shop at Kroger? 

Do you have Kroger Plus Card? 

Do you want to support the Equine Rescue of Aiken? 

Do you want to help us without donating one penny of your own money to the rescue?

Do you want to help feed our little Sanctuary Horse Mini Me and the other horses at the Rescue?

MINI ME

Piece of Cake! (Bought at Kroger of course!)

Here are the easy directions to follow to make sure that every time you shop at Kroger donations made by Kroger are accumulated to help support the horses at our Rescue. 

Get your card out and go to this link: https://www.kroger.com/communityrewards

Either Sign In or Create a Kroger's online account. The Orange Buttons and directions are right there on the page. 

Once signed in you can enroll or update your Community Rewards under your Account Settings.

• Select “My Account.”
• Scroll down to the “Community Rewards” section of your account page.
• Select “Enroll Now” or “Edit.”
• Enter the Aiken Equine Rescue or NPO number 57788.
• Click “Save.”

Our listed name is Aiken Equine Rescue and our number is 57788.

It's just a little bit of work that will accumulate donations to Aiken Equine Rescue every time you shop at Kroger's and swipe your card! 

It takes approximately 10 days for the Community Rewards total to begin displaying on your receipt. You can keep track of how much you've earned toward supporting us online under your Account.

We will remind you to renew your selection once a year, during the month of August. 

If you have any further questions while registering, please contact Kroger's Digital Customer Service line at 1-866-221-4141. 

Buy gas, groceries and more, knowing that Kroger is making donations to Aiken Equine Rescue every time you make a purchase. 

We appreciate your help and support! We rely on donations from people like you to feed and care for our horses.

A Young Man Worth Knowing Will Be Missed

A piece of the heart of Aiken Equine Rescue was broken off last night. One of our family, BJ Williamson passed away from a heart attack. 

BJ at Work

Always smiling, always there helping out, driving the tractor, taking beautiful photographs of the rescue just for the enjoyment of the scenery.

BJ  loved his family,. He loved his Equine Rescue of Aiken family too. We are made up of a large family of volunteers with a few staff members thrown in for good measure. We work hard and love what we do for the horses. We also, take it hard when we lose one of our own.

A death of someone like BJ is especially hard, a young man struck down in the prime of life. He had just come back from a well earned vacation to Florida with his partner, James Buck. BJ came back from his  vacation on cloud 9. They had a fun and relaxing time together, not knowing that BJ would be gone soon. 

As Jim Rhodes said: "James Buck, BJ Williamson loved you. He showed his love for the Rescue, Debbie Henderson-Rhodes and myself that will never be replaced...... BJ and James will always be part of our lives and we love you like our own.... always remember the Great times y'all had and there were many.......My Heart is Numb Over Our Loss"

We are all numb. Our Equine Rescue family will miss BJ and we will keep him in our thoughts and prayers. 

The hole he has left in our hearts will remain there, but it will continue to be filled with wonderful memories of a man worth knowing. He was one of us and he will be missed. 

Sample of BJ Williamson Photography

Arrangements for services in Swainsboro GA are still being made. Look to the Aiken Equine Rescue facebook page for information about a Celebration of Life for BJ to be scheduled soon.

James asked that you please send your prayers for peace during this time. His family is asking in lieu of flowers that you make a donation to the Aiken Equine Rescue. "That was BJ's favorite place in the world."

WELCOME!

OUR MISSION: 
Rescue unwanted horses who have suffered from abuse and neglect; work with various racetracks to ‘repurpose’ Off-the-Track-Thoroughbreds; and take horses whose owners can no longer care for them; giving them all a place to stay until they can be adopted by loving families.