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Help Pegasus Soar!
As you know, The Pegasus Project is changing lives every day for horses and humans by fulfilling our mission to rescue, rehabilitate, retrain and rehome neglected, abused and abandoned horses throughout Texas. To continue this work, we depend upon the ongoing generosity of our supporters. To assist us in our fundraising goals, Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) is sponsoring North Texas Giving Day on Thursday, September 19th. Each donation of $25 or more made to The Pegasus Project on September 19th will help us receive extra bonus funds from CFT for our work with the horses.
More than $2 million in bonus funds are available to qualifying nonprofits!
In addition, every donation made to The Pegasus Project through the North Texas Giving Day website on September 19th helps our chances of winning prizes given throughout the day ranging from $500 to $7500! With more than 75 total prizes being awarded, our chances to maximize your gift are great.
Members of the Pegasus board of directors and other generous donors will be providing matching funds for gifts made in connection with North Texas Giving Day. With the bonus funds from CFT and these matching funds, your gift of $100 will turn into more than $200!
So, please mark you calendar for September 19th, save your pennies, and plan to donate generously!
By visiting the North Texas Giving Day Pegasus link between 6am and midnight (Central Time) on September 19th and donating $25 or more, you will make a tremendous impact on the work Pegasus can do. With your help, we WILL reach our
$80,000 fundraising goal
on North Texas Giving Day! These funds will go directly to the care, support and training of the forty-two rescued equine currently residing at the Pegasus ranch.
Want to schedule your donation early? No problem! Beginning at 8am on September 9th and continuing through midnight on September 19th, donors can log on to the Pegasus link on the North Texas Giving Day website and schedule their gifts to The Pegasus Project, which will then be processed on September 19th.
For the 30 days leading up to North Texas Giving Day, we will do a special promotion on our social media pages. Please follow us on Facebook and
Instagram so you can share in the excitement and remember to give between September 9th and September 19th!
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~APRIL~
It's Never Too Late
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| April in all her glory - September 2017 |
On January 26, 2016, we received an email from the director of the Doris Day Equine Center about a mare in need of rescue. The Rusk County Sheriff's Department had accepted a 14 year old mare relinquished by her owners after neighbors called authorities to the scene. The unemployed and disabled owners had given away the mother and sister of this mare, but no one had accepted "April" who was slowly starving to death in their care. They claim that April was born to them 14 years prior and had never left the property. Rusk County officials picked her up but quickly realized that April needed more intensive care than they could provide. Pegasus to the rescue!
April was delivered to the Pegasus ranch the evening of January 27, 2016. She was so weak that she fell down trying to back out of the trailer. After several attempts, we were able to get her back on her feet and into a nice, roomy, comfy stall full of deep shavings. We gave April a little senior feed, a flake of beautiful alfalfa, and a hay net full of coastal Bermuda. Safely tucked in for the night, she began to fill her belly.
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| April on January 26, 2016 at the Sheriff's pen |
At some point in the past, April had sustained a serious injury to her right eye. Upon arrival at Pegasus, her eye was swollen, cloudy and bulging slightly. All the hair around the socket was rubbed off, and she had large cyst-like nodules under the eye. Our veterinarian sent cell samples from the nodules to pathology, which indicated a nonmalignant sarcoid. For the injury to her eyeball, we treated the eye with antibiotics, but the damage was done. Over time, the eye continued to give her trouble, and so in 2018 much to her relief, we had the eye removed. When we treated April with antibiotics for a respiratory infection, the unsightly nodules beneath the eye disappeared. Over the course of the last three years, the appearance of the eye area has improved greatly, with the hair growing back, little by little.
Although April was in terrible physical condition upon arrival, she had the fastest recovery in the history of Pegasus. In just over two months, she reached appropriate weight. At heart, she's a real easy keeper! She has been easy to care for and is kind and willing. April didn't know much, and her ground manners were rough. She did not understand about getting her feet trimmed or respecting personal space. We slowly worked with her to teach her what she needed to know about life with humans, and now she's a dream.
When Pegasus accepted April, we didn't really have the room. We took her in because she was in such desperate need and no one else was stepping up. As it turns out, Pegasus really needed HER. We had an orphan foal, Sloane, on our hands and no horse suitable to raise her. After pairing them in side-by-side pens, we realized how kind April was being with Sloane. So, when the time was right, we moved them into a pasture together, and the result was beautiful. April accepted Sloane as her own and did a fine job of raising her. It's so nice when you get more than you give. April gave Pegasus and Sloane an amazing gift by nurturing this lonely little orphan.
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| April with the orphan foal, Sloane - March 2016 |
After April was fully rehabilitated and had completed her job of raising Sloane, we began to test out whether she could learn to be a riding horse. We are happy to report that she took to training like a champ! April has proven to be a willing, trusty trail horse who likes to move on out. She is sweet and confident and kind. The loss of her right eye does bother her in the least. April will be perfect for someone with a gentle hand and quite temperament who wants to take nice easy rides. She attaches strongly to her pasture mates and gets along with mares and geldings alike. April really likes the young ones! If you have a soft heart for a horse with a rough past and a few cosmetic scars, April (who is now 17 years old) may be your girl!
Click the following link to view her full photo album: April
If you are interested in adopting April, read all about our adoption process here:
Adopt
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| Anthony & April - March 2018 |
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A Note from Allyson
The Good News Just Keeps Getting Better!
Last month I told you about the amazingly generous donation Pegasus is receiving from Anne & George Ellis to build a cover over our 100' x 200' arena. I also mentioned that their gift of $250,000 will be sufficient to build the cover with a 40' overhang, dirt work, concrete, and Priefert stalls but that we will need to raise additional funds for electrical work, lights, fans, and a few additional details. We planned to launch our
TURN THE LIGHTS ON campaign once the construction plans were finalized. Well, that campaign is no longer necessary! Yet another donor read the newsletter and contacted us to provide the funds for the additional costs.
Gary & Kathie Heidenreich have been supporting The Pegasus Project for several years. Their generosity has always been humbling, and their commitment to our success is breathtaking. Because of the Heidenreichs, Pegasus has been able to expand our training program and properly staff this incredibly labor-intensive mission, ensuring the best outcome for each and every horse.
Having served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations, the Heidenreichs appreciate how difficult it is to raise money. Realizing that Pegasus has North Texas Giving Day pending in September (our largest fund raiser of the year) and knowing that funds from North Texas Giving Day are necessary for Pegasus' every-day operations, they decided to relieve us of the stress of raising so much extra money. It is their desire for the Pegasus facility to be first class and for our staff and the horses to have everything they need. Consequently, the Heidenreichs have donated $100,000, which will allow us to pay for all the electrical work, lights, fans, automatic waterers for the stalls, a sprinkler system, a restroom, plumbing, a septic system and more! Once again, we are overwhelmed by their generosity and grateful that they have made the Pegasus mission their own.
On another happy note, Pegasus trainer, Anthony LaSpina, held a fundraiser on Facebook during the month of July, seeking donations for Pegasus in lieu of birthday gifts for himself. Because you all love him so much, Anthony raised more than $2000! He is designating those funds to purchase a ProCutter Mechanical Cow Training System to the arena. Working horses on a flag is an excellent training tool and has long been on our wish list. We are so grateful to Anthony for this gift.
If all goes as planned, construction of the arena cover should be completed by October 4th, followed by installation of the stalls and all additional construction and electrical work. Fingers crossed that the entire project will be completed before the end of November. We are hoping to host a ribbon cutting party for all of you before the end of the year to honor the Ellises and the Heidenreichs. Stay tuned for that important date!!
So, all of you who were planning on contributing to
TURN THE LIGHTS ON,
we would love to have you as Challenge Fund donors for North Texas Giving Day instead!! Please contact me with details on how you can be a champion for the horses in this way!
Allyson DeCanio
President, The Pegasus Project
For questions or comments, email: allyson@mypegasusproject.org
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August 15 - Pegasus Partners Happy Hour at Chuy's Tyler
September 19 - North Texas Giving Day
October (dates TBD due to arena cover construction) - Bruce Logan Horsemanship Clinic
November 2 - 8th Annual Ride for a Rescue
November (date TBD) - Arena Ribbon Cutting Party
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PEGASUS PARTNERS
Thursday, August 15th
6:00 pm
Chuy's
5935 S. Broadway Ave.
Tyler, Texas
Monthly, fun,
information-packed meetings for
Pegasus supporters at various locations throughout the year. All Pegasus Partners at the $25/month level and higher are Happy Hour members. Membership includes a car decal, a Pegasus hat or t-shirt, a Pegasus logo wine glass and an open invitation
to every meeting!
Discuss the latest Pegasus news and connect with other like-minded horse fans. (Your wine glass is free, but the wine isn't! We know how much you drink!)
Click here to join:
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DO YOU LOVE
WHAT WE DO? BECOME A PEGASUS PARTNER!
Did you know Pegasus relies entirely on private donations? Our regular monthly donors, known as
Pegasus Partners
, are our most treasured assets. For as little as $10/month you can help provide us with a predictable source of income at a much lower cost than any other fundraising method.
While we are very
appreciative of
one-time donations, the monthly donations of our Pegasus Partners
allow us to plan ahead.
Our ability to save these helpless horses, donkeys and mules depends on YOUR donations!
We cannot do this without you! Please consider making a monthly donation so we may continue to rescue horses that have no future without us.
Click here to join:
PEGASUS PARTNERS
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