Happy 3rd Birthday to GusArchie Donkey 9/24/21
Augustus Archibald was born under a full harvest moon on September 24th 2018. Generously I got to witness his entry into the world and it is a miracle of life, and I did fall in love instantly. He took his first breath at 1:01am.
Today we celebrate him 3 years old? What?!
This year he had to be isolated from his family for over 6 months because of a late arrival left testicle. Then the right one never joined us. GusArchie had to go to the hospital for surgery. It all went well and he was home in 2 days. And ultimately back with his family (see videos).
Very grateful you were born Donkey boy. You bring joy to many.
Happy Hee Haw Birthday!
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Delivering Christmas Pears to Herd (Edith 10th Happy Birthday) 2021
Christmas Pears for the Herd in double celebration of Edith’s 10th Birthday! (Santa Pears at her request). 🎄🤩
This is a 2 part video. Christmas Pear celebration and Edith the Donkey’s “Christmas Eve Gotcha-date Story”.
Pears by Irina. Delivery by Airforce Veteran and Herd caretaker Stephen Cherry.
Merry Christmas everyone! HappyNew Year!
NJVirtualherd.com
@EdiththeDonkey (Facebook)
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Merry Christmas Almost - Santa's Missing Suit! Dec 22, 2021
Santa made special treats for the herd (home-made) and was planning to deliver them, before Christmas. Then Santa's suit went missing! Oh no! He would not come with the treats without his suit. Never dull around here for sure.
NJvirtualherd.com
SpringReinsofHope.com
SpringReinsofLife.org
Follow us on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Youtube (NJ Virtual Herd) - these are professional service animals who are moonlighting as other things so that we can stay surviving (still not back to "normal" after being forced to shut down for 17 months).
All supports are appreciated.
Merry Christmas everyone!
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Happy 19th Birthday to Syriana! aka Diva Princess Redhead TB Mare
October 1, 2010. A young (5yo approx) redheaded TB mare took one flying leap onto a horse trailer to join us! Her leap of faith. Turns out she does NOT load easily...This became her gotcha date. Grateful.
Syriana (Syri) is a founding Herd member with us. Her gotcha date is October 1st, 2010 - that was the day she took a flying leap of faith to join us onto a horse trailer which was leaving NY state to come to central New Jersey and start Spring Reins (Pittstown, NJ). Neither of us knew if this was going to work out or not, yet we both loved a bossy Appaloosa/TB who was really the one running the show. 11 years later, Syriana has helped thousands of humans live their lives in a better way. And she has won our hearts as well. She is exquisite, divine (and yes a DIVA), she is sensitive, she is dramatic, she is a GREAT actress, it is pretty much all about her, and she is physically beautiful.
Thank you dear Syriana for all you have done, risked, given, led, guided, and danced for us. You are priceless and we love you. Yes, even with your ears pinned. So very grateful you were born!
NJVirtualHerd.com
SpringReinsofHope.com
SpringReinsofLife.org
Music: Musicstockproduction - Acoustic (Copyright Free Music) https://tunetank.com/t/3upn/5257-acoustic
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Happy 4th Birthday to Gloria Donkey - July 4th 2021
Gloria arrived to us as a 5 month old jennet by her mother's side in December of 2017. Momma donkey (Edith) and her daughter Gloria were gifted to us on 12/24/17 after a traumatic auction-kill pen-rescue-hospital experience. Because Edith's gotcha date was now to be Christmas Eve, we wanted to give Gloria her own day. Guestimating her approximate birth month to be July, and her name Gloria - it seemed fitting that we gift her the Fourth of July.
(and yes this is posting late, we need a skilled video editor)
Happy Birthday Gloria! We are all so glad you were born!
https://www.njvirtualherd.com
https://www.springreinsoflife.org
https://www.springreinsofhope.com
Royalty Free Music in this video: Musicstockproduction - Acoustic (Copyright Free Music) https://tunetank.com/t/3upn/5257-acoustic
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3 Donks Walk into a Bar...
We were in the midst of installing the trough heater - needed to be drained and hooked up. The donks got thirsty, so that’s why the one bucket on ground. 😘🥰
Youngest GusA is first, then sister Gloria fits herself next to. Momma Edith drinks last.
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Happy Thanksgiving 2021 - from the Herd!
Thanksgiving Day. A day of giving thanks. Today we are grateful for many things. Today, we have a home where we are safe, today we have hay in the barn, today we have dinner awaiting, today we have friendlies who help out, and today we have treats! WoW. Thank you!
If you keep it simple there are always things to be grateful for, anything that makes you smile is valuable. Like the afternoon sunshine on your fur, it feels warm and yummy. Especially after eating apple turkeys...
Keep peace, celebrate love. Say thank you.
Thank you to Irina for creating and bringing "Apple Turkeys" for the Herd, and to Eugene for being "on the spot cameraman" (good job!). Happy 22nd birthday to Nikita from Mif!
Learn more about NJVH at: https://www.njvirtualherd.com
SpringReinsofHope.com
SpringReinsofLife.org
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This Herd of seasoned professional Service Animals (horses and donkeys) were effectively unemployed by the pandemic NJ Covid19 lock-down for 15 months.
We lost everything that had been built for 11 years. We are slowly finding some ground to stand on. WANT TO HELP?
1. Hire a Herdmember directly at NJ Virtual Herd. https://www.njvirtualherd.com for virtual meeting breaks, happy hours, event cameos, guided tours, interactive field trips and more. They each provide a viable service for corporate team calls where a healthy "mental break" is good for the team, or simply just awesome water cooler talk that leads to laughing and moral boosting. Trust us, they are really curious, creative, and industrious beings - who out of work for months now have a lot bottled up and want to share! Check out what our 4-legged colleagues have to offer your company or team today - the guarantee is that it will not be boring.
2. Donate Funds to Help Pay Rent and Buy Feed (hay y'all horses really do eat like horses...) While we are slowly going back to work, winter is upon us and nothing is back to normal. Please donate $5 for hay and supplies at "The Herd Support" Gofundme: https://gofund.me/65699f5f
3:. Volunteer! If you are local to Central New Jersey we are working to rebuild our volunteer base (and everything else). As SRoLife is a volunteer run organization, there is room for physical farm work, administrative and management assistance, and specialized skilled volunteers (carpenter, plumber, etc). If interested or talented contact us.
Spring Reins of Life 501c3: https://www.springreinsoflife.org
Spring Reins of Hope llc: https://www.springreinsofhope.com
NJ Virtual Herd: https://www.njvirtualherd.com
Follow the HERD on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Rumble (@njvirtualherd)
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Random candids with GusArchie (Donkey Days #2)
Random Candid Donkey Days #2 (with GusArchie)
The "GusArchie Donkey Days" are melding into episodes as he is continuous in his adventurous curiosity and joyous spirit. See, already there is a 2nd episode to his days of being a donkey!
To learn more about this adorable donkey boy, read his bio by visiting: https://www.njvirtualherd.com (meet the herd section), or if you are on fb you can visit his momma's facebook page @EdiththeDonkey (All in the Family of Donkeys).
Thanks for watching. Have a happy hee-haw moment!
GusA.
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Random candids with GusArchie (Donkey Days #1)
Random Candid Donkey Days #1 (with GusArchie)
The "GusArchie Donkey Days" are melding into episodes as he is continuous in his adventurous curiosity and joyous spirit. This is the first of what we think will be many more to come...
To learn more about this adorable donkey boy, read his bio by visiting: https://www.njvirtualherd.com (meet the herd section), or if you are on fb you can visit his momma's facebook page @EdiththeDonkey (All in the Family of Donkeys).
Thanks for watching. Have a happy hee-haw moment!
GusA.
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This Herd of seasoned professional Service Animals (horses and donkeys) were effectively unemployed by the pandemic NJ Covid19 lock-down for 15 months.
We lost everything that had been built for 11 years. We are slowly finding some ground to stand on. WANT TO HELP?
1. Hire a Herdmember directly at NJ Virtual Herd. https://www.njvirtualherd.com for virtual meeting breaks, happy hours, event cameos, guided tours, interactive field trips and more. They each provide a viable service for corporate team calls where a healthy "mental break" is good for the team, or simply just awesome water cooler talk that leads to laughing and moral boosting. Trust us, they are really curious, creative, and industrious beings - who out of work for months now have a lot bottled up and want to share! Check out what our 4-legged colleagues have to offer your company or team today - the guarantee is that it will not be boring.
2. Donate Funds to Help Pay Rent and Buy Feed (hay y'all horses really do eat like horses...) While we are slowly going back to work, winter is upon us and nothing is back to normal. Please donate $5 for hay and supplies at "The Herd Support" Gofundme: https://gofund.me/65699f5f
3:. Volunteer! If you are local to Central New Jersey we are working to rebuild our volunteer base (and everything else). As SRoLife is a volunteer run organization, there is room for physical farm work, administrative and management assistance, and specialized skilled volunteers (carpenter, plumber, etc). If interested or talented contact us.
Spring Reins of Life 501c3: https://www.springreinsoflife.org
Spring Reins of Hope llc: https://www.springreinsofhope.com
NJ Virtual Herd: https://www.njvirtualherd.com
Follow the HERD on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Rumble (@njvirtualherd)
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Happy 22nd BD to Dane 2021
Dane is the leader of our Herd. He is a founding horse for SRoH and SRoL. He is a very unique and talented guy. Dane is turning 22 under a full super flower moon, that is also in a lunar eclipse on May 26, 2021. This is a special celebration in that one thing Covid19NJ 15month lockdown did for us is show how much Dane needs some positive self care time in his world. For that it means re-establishing a bond with his human, and visa versa. Really happy that he had a "party" for this birthday in that over the past decade where he has worked to help more than 2600 trauma survivors and hundreds more private clients or coaching professionals...he got a "hay, happy birthday dude" and back to the nonprofit grindstone.
This year we aimed to make a big deal of his day of birth with guests, gifts, a homemade special cake, and a visit from his friend Dr. Judith Shoemaker! We hope that Dane felt special today, because he is one of the world's greatest horses!
Favory's Mystical Knight DANE, Lipizzaner Sporthorse. (born May 26, 1999)
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This Herd of seasoned professional Service Animals (horses and donkeys) were effectively unemployed by the pandemic NJ Covid19 lock-down for 15 months.
We lost everything that had been built for 11 years. We are slowly finding some ground to stand on. WANT TO HELP?
1. Hire a Herdmember directly at NJ Virtual Herd. https://www.njvirtualherd.com for virtual meeting breaks, happy hours, event cameos, guided tours, interactive field trips and more. They each provide a viable service for corporate team calls where a healthy "mental break" is good for the team, or simply just awesome water cooler talk that leads to laughing and moral boosting. Trust us, they are really curious, creative, and industrious beings - who out of work for months now have a lot bottled up and want to share! Check out what our 4-legged colleagues have to offer your company or team today - the guarantee is that it will not be boring.
2. Donate Funds to Help Pay Rent and Buy Feed (hay y'all horses really do eat like horses...) at "The Herd Support" Gofundme: https://gofund.me/65699f5f
Both Spring Reins of Hope LLC and also its sister organization Spring Reins of Life 501c3 have been shut-down since March 15, 2020. If you are local to Central New Jersey we also are accepting limited volunteers for physical farm work and in the newest version of our virtual world there are ways to volunteer specific tasks and management operations from afar. If interested or talented contact us.
Spring Reins of Life 501c3: https://www.springreinsoflife.org
Spring Reins of Hope llc: https://www.springreinsofhope.com
NJ Virtual Herd: https://www.njvirtualherd.com
From there we are on FB, Twitter, Instagram - Follow us for more.
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GusArchie reunited with his Family!
On Thursday, March 18th it rained all day - everyone in the barn wanted to move about. The horses went into the indoor arena together. Then it was time for the donkeys. In the past it was a circus show to get the jennies into the arena and the jack in the aisle with barricades between both. Well, on this day - 2 weeks post surgery... we decided to let the family reunite for just an hour or so with supervision. This video documents that mini-reunion. After more than 6 months apart, this is an All in the Family of Donkeys together moment.
Enjoy!
Watch Part 2 - Donkeys Reunite Part 2 with a big Ass ball: https://youtu.be/mJEnBQJ8r4M
Augustus Archibald (GusArchie) was born on this farm in September 2018. He has led a joyful charmed life. On September 4, 2020 - just shy of his 2nd birthday his left testicle descended and he was separated from his mother (Edith) and his big sister (Gloria) as of that day. On the afternoon of March 2, 2021 GusArchie made a trip to Mid Atlantic Equine Medical Center for scheduled cryptorchid surgery as the left testicle never did appear on its own. The surgery was very successful and GusArchie was home on March 4th and began his healing process. For the first 7 days he was not allowed outside and so he spent the day barricaded inside the barn with Mom2legs (CC) while she did chores.
He went for a walk outside on Tuesday March 9th and that went well (mostly, see other video). The next day our barn vet Dr. Oliver Elbert came to give a post surgical exam and was so pleased with his progress that he cleared him for turnout, so that afternoon (3/10/21) GusArchie went outside! The first thing he did once outside was lick a barrel for more than 10 minutes! He was happy to be in the sunshine. For the next week, he turned out in his private turnout staying separated for safety and healing reasons, doctors orders were that he stay active but quiet while he continued to drain and heal up the incision - at least another week.
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Happy 21st Birthday to Junior Mif! Cake yet no Beer...
Junior Mif is a 21yo AQHA mare who joined our professional team in Sept 2015. Since her first day on the job with actual clients (happened to be a group of women veterans) Mif has brought incredible insights and has led hundreds of trauma survivors to a path of peace and for many a good night's sleep! She is a matriarch and a tough-love momma at that, she also has a wonderfully snarky intelligent sense of humor. She is also Dane's wife (he chose her not us). Mif has many fans.
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In Loving Honor and Memory of Our True Founder in Chief. Spring Thaw
This is a memorial video showing the funeral, national medal of honor ceremony, presentation of the USA flag, and the last birthday celebration of one very powerful Appaloosa horse on March 20, 2020. More than 100 people arrived in 29f (last day of winter instead of first day of Spring) to pay respects. Many were Veterans, some in full dress. Because, He was more than a horse.
Spring Thaw. March 20, 1987 - January 20, 2018.
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Happy Birthday to Miss Molly 2021 - No April Fools!
Miss Molly. Gotcha Date April 1, 2017. Celebrating Miss Molly's birthday today. And this Mare is No April Fool! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLLY!
If you would like to learn more about her journey with us so far there is information in the description of her own playlist here on NJ Virtual Herd channel. This information is also available on the "Meet the Herd" section of https://www.NJvirtualherd.com.
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Miss Molly 2020
Miss Molly. A rescued horse with massive trauma (PTSd) who found her way to our door in 2017...which led to her earning an award. The 2019 Therapy Animal of the Year - Miss Molly (NJ Dept of Veteran Affairs).
See her story here:
https://www.njvirtualherd.com/njvhblog/2019/3/11/change-for-the-better
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NJVMA Service Animal Hall of Fame Inductee, "Straw" 2013
This video was created by the New Jersey Veterinary Medical Association (NJVMA) when our mare, Straw (Zip in the Straw) was nominated and inducted into the NJVMA Service Animal Hall of Fame in March 2013 for her incredible work with trauma survivors at Spring Reins of Life, Inc. 501c3. Straw was also selected for a story in Chicken Soup for the Soul's Miracles Happen book (Feb 2014) called "The Miracle Mare". And that she was. Straw made her transition on April 29, 2014. She is still loved and missed, yet never forgotten.
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