A helping hand for the horses

Lost and found

Nobody is ever really prepared for raising kids. If you knew some of the weird scenarios and situations you’d find yourself in as a parent you either a) wouldn’t have imagined it and, more likely b) wouldn’t have believed it.

So years ago, when I one day saw my eldest dive to the ground at the base of a shrub as we were walking towards a restaurant my initial reaction was to shout, “What the hell are you doing?” until he stood up, victoriously displaying a $10 bill in his hand. At the age of about six, I discovered he had the curiosity of a magpie and the eyes of a hawk when it came to money on the ground.

I learned not to panic when he would suddenly veer off course and hit the ground – his record find being two $20s on a camping trip. It may not sound like a lot but over the years, his uncanny talent grew and it definitely added up.

Leaving the pool one night he found a $20 sticking out of the bank machine. We brought it down to the service counter and the manager held it for a week or so. When nobody claimed it, he gave it back to my son.

My sister used to date a guy who collected old vinyl records and found about $700 tucked into a record sleeve. I’ve long dreamed of uncovering a similar pot of gold but my finds have been pretty unexciting – I found a $20 a few years back while out for a jog and once found an old $1 bill (remember those?) in a pair of boots a friend had given me. She politely declined when I offered it back to her.

My hopes were raised when, while renovating the house we bought a decade ago, my husband came in carrying a large can.

“Guess what I found,” he said.

“A bunch of hundred dollar bills?” I hazarded hopefully.

“Nope. The former owner.”

Turns out the cremated ashes of the previous homeowner had been stored under the floorboards for decades. We returned them to his last living heir.

You never know what you’re going to stumble on in life. While doing a radio documentary about the scrap metal industry, a fellow I was interviewing recounted being paid $100 to scrap a car and finding $100,000 hidden inside of it.

When my son (the magpie) was in kindergarten, he found a small diamond ring and though he later told me he was tempted to keep it, he handed it in to the daycare lady who was able to track down its rightful owner, one of his classmates. The girl’s mother was so impressed with my son’s honesty that she wrote him a nice letter which I still have today, 18 years later. It’s a nice feeling.

All these money finding memories became dinner table conversation fodder last weekend when the magpie celebrated a birthday. In respecting his environmental views, I passed by Vert Essentiel in Vaudreuil-Dorion to pick up some Earth-friendly, bottle-free, locally-made shampoo bars.

And while I normally don’t give my phone number and email address in stores to receive news and promotions, this time I did. Not 10 minutes after driving away with my purchase, I received a phone call. Turns out I had dropped a $20 bill in the store while paying for the products and the staff realized it had to be mine. They could’ve kept it and I would’ve been none the wiser. But they didn’t. And that’s a great feeling.

PHOTO COURTESY MIKE GRENIER

A new tractor for A Horse Tale Rescue is a necessity in dealing with snow, hay, and the 800 lbs. of manure produced daily by the 14 horses currently cared for by the non-profit organization.

Trying for a tractor

A Horse Tale (AHT) equine rescue organization has launched a fundraising campaign to secure money for a purchase of a much-needed tractor.

“With the onset of our landlord retiring, we need to be self-sufficient and get our own tractor to take care of the essential services of running a 14-horse barn,” said AHT Executive Director Mike Grenier. “Manure management, mud/ paddock management, snow management, pasture management and hay are all services we need a reliable tractor for.”

The non-profit organization located in Vaudreuil-Dorion is volunteer-run and is home to retired calèche pullers as well as other horses whose owners could no longer care for them.

Their ‘We Need a Tractor’ campaign will be running over the next four weeks and, to date, has raised $5000 of the $15,000 goal.

The link on CanadaHelps.org explains in detail the challenges of dealing with a growing manure pile (800 lbs a day!), along with all the other seasonal maintenance issues associated with caring for and feeding the horses.

For more information and to make a donation, consult ahtrescue.org/en/

See more photos on our Facebook page.