Ashley Clements Update!

From Ashley's Mom!

"I have great news!! Ashley has been getting out of her chair and building up her muscles. The meds are working great and she has permission from her doctor to go back to a fairly normal life style. She of course can not get up and run marathons but she is slowing getting back to normal. Her main goal is to start riding again and I think with a little more strengthening she will be back in the saddle in no time J

She even talked to her coach at Massaponax High School and after a modified tryout she made it back on the cheerleading team (no real cheering for her yet though!).

Please let everyone know that it has meant a great deal to Ashley and her family to have the support of so many people. She really loves all of the cards, gifts and calls she has gotten. They have improved her spirits tremendously and we can not thank everyone enough for that!!!

We are very blessed to have such wonderful, caring people in our lives…..THANK YOU!!!"

(Note from Susan! I'd say that maybe two months ago, Ashley would throttle me for posting this photo, but given her journey, I think that an o/f photo with a big smile for the camera is perfect! What do you think, Ash???)

Free Horse to Good Home ONLY!!!!

From Cynthia at Stillwater Farms:

"A good friend of mine has a sweet and pretty 5yo, 15.2H APHA gelding that is FREE to good home. He is a gorgeous B&W paint with 50/50 markings. He is still green, been mostly a trail/ backyard type of horse but has alot of potential. The reason he is FREE, is because he has a sarcoid over his right eye. The vets say it can be surgically removed, or if the cosmetics don't bother you, just leave it. His owners don't have the time or money to mess with it. I attached a photo. If interested, please contact Mariam or Shane at
s.mortenson@us.army.mil or 703-407-5842."

Update from Annette Clements regarding our Friends, Ashley!

We had another doctor apt. today and we have some GREAT news. The doctor gave Ash permission to get up and try to walk around for small amounts of time. She did a little today, she even went to the barn (not to ride, to watch someone else ride Allie) but it wore her out pretty quickly. We are going to work on it day by day to see if we can get her back to normal. Her meds are still making her nauseous, but they are WORKING!! We are on the right track!!

A note to all from Lauren Kirby sent for Ashley

Lauren Kirby has sent you a link to a blog:

My prayers go out to Ashley. I was diagnosed w/ dysautonomia in 2005. W/ good medical care and strong support I made a very successful recovery. I found the dinetwork.org is a wonderful organization that helps patients and families cope and understand these disorders/disease.

What is POTS Disease?

How wonderful it is to have friends! Ashley's friend, C.C. Holt wrote the following.

"Hey Susan!"

I was looking up POTS Disease, and these are all the symptoms.: ,I was wondering if you could put them on your site so people could understand what Ashley is going through.

Dizzy , lightheaded, chest pain, heart pain , Shortness of breath, blurry vision , tingling , sweating, vertigo, ectopic heartbeats, low standing pulse pressure, Frequent urination, Reactive hypoglycemia , difficulty sleeping, Central sleep apnea, Low grade fevers , mild chills , general flu like symptoms, positive anti-nuclear antibody tests (ANA test), Chronic fatigue and weakness, uncommon food allergies, highly drug and chemical sensitive, night sweats, irritablebowel syndrome, Difficulty swallowing, Numbness in palms and soles, acral coldness, dramatically reduced sweating, poor balance, abnormal gait, Eye pain, poor memory"

Ashley...all your friends are thinking of you, praying and wishing you well! You'll be back in the saddle again! BIG HUGS!!!

Susan

Prayers for Ashley!

Dear Friends,

I recently heard from from Annette Clements regarding her daughter and our friend, Ashley. Annette wrote:

"Ashley was medivacted to Fairfax hospital on 4/21 after she collapsed. She was completely unresponsive for almost 2 hours. She spent 9 days in the hospital and is home now but is in a wheelchair and she is unable to walk. We took her to a specialist and they have diagnosed her with POTS Disease. It is a disease that affects your autonomic nervous system which controls your heart rate and blood pressure. We are hopeful that with the right meds Ashley will be able to walk again and possibly even ride again. She is on meds now but her body is rejecting them. I will keep you posted on her progress!"

Annette asked that I let you all know that Ashley and her family want to thank all who have called and given their support through this horrifying experience. She really appreciates everyone’s concern and encouragement!

My thoughts and prayers are with Ashley and her family. And Ashley and Annette BIG HUGS too! To all of Ashley's friends, I'll keep you posted as to her progress!

P,..S. "It's Time To Ride" feature photo is Ashley with Allie the day before she collapsed. They got reserve Champion!

"In the Spotlight!" with Ashton and "Chance"!

I am very pleased to introduce you to one of my favorite riders, Ashton!
*******************


Hello, my name is Ashton Stanley, I'm 12 years old and I'm in the "Spotlight".
I started riding when I got my first pony "Polly", I was 5 years old then.
We had her for almost two years, then we sold her. When I was 7 I started
riding my Grandma's horse "J.J.". "J.J. taught me how to love and respect
horses. I was 8 years old when I went to my first "horse" camp at
Touch Point Farm in Culpeper. When I was 9 we started looking for a pony.
We finally found the right one "Chance". At first "Chance was a very, very,
bad horse, it took a lot of time, patience, and training from my wonderful
instructor, Meredith Jones at Touch Point Farm to get him were he is now.
With all the help from Meredith, and our friend, Maggie,
Chance is now just an all around awesome horse. I look forward to many more years of riding and many, many more years with "Chance".

Stillwater Farm

http://www.stillwaterfarmva.com

Dear Friends,

I received an email from my friends, Cynthia and Mike at Stillwater Farm, and it appears that they are doing some liquidation (closing....BLAH!) Cynthia is having a major sale, and I invite you to see her inventory below:

Stillwater Farm is closing it's doors to move onto bigger and better things. Total Farm Liquidation on Equipment & Supplies. EVERYTHING Must Go by end of May. All reasonable CASH offers will be considered, some photos and more info available through email. I haven't even listed everything, so if you're looking for a particular item, let me know.

-2003 John Deere 460 Tractor w/ front-end loader $20K
all attachments (to include bush hog, grader blade, 2 bale spears, post hole digger)
-2003 Mid-Atlantic 4H Stock Trailer $6,400
-2003 Kawaski Mule 4x4 w/ dump bed $5500
-2002 Ford F-250 Crew Cab Diesel 88K miles (matches trailer) $15K
-4 round bale feeders $150ea
-large black tack trunk $150
-Oster Clipmaster $200
-face clippers $20
-2 custom wood mounting blocks $50ea
-tons of turnout blankets (various weights and sizes and conditions) $20-100ea
-several sleazies $20/ea
-tons of halters $5ea
-lunge line and whip $20
-couple coolers around size 72-78 $35ea
-several nice quality leather girths $15-25ea
-1 pair full leather chaps, 1 pair arait half chaps size small/tall $35ea
-4 leather bridles with snaffle bits&reins $40-75ea
-several standing/running martingales $15ea
-several white and colored english saddle pads $10/ea
-15 box fans for stalls $5/ea
-16 saddle racks $7/ea
-15-20 flat back feeder buckets, some fence feeders, and heated water stall buckets
vary from $5ea-$20ea
-50 & 100 foot water hoses and reels $50-100/ea
-several muck buckets and apple picker pitchforks $10/ea
-100 gallon water troughs $40ea heaters available
-tarps in all sizes $10-40ea
-9 cases of horse treats $20ea
- english and western seat savers (GREAT for trail riding) $20/ea
-20 gallon water storage tank for trailer $30
-several pair of shipping boots $25/ea
-1 small barn frig $25
- 4 sets of crossties or trailer ties $10ea
-measuring stick in hands w/ level $20
-2 wheel barrows $40-75
-several fly masks $5/ea

plus more photos/equipment available, just let me know what you're looking for..........

Phone: 540-439-6489 Email: stillwaterfarms@aol.com

Web site: www.stillwaterfarmva.com
Cynthia Still
7261 Covingtons Corner Rd
Bealton, VA 22712
H-540-439-6489
C-540-270-3967www.stillwaterfarmva.com

P.S. From Susan...Cynthia sent me photos, so if you'd like to write me, I can provide you with you them as well.

Best wish to Cynthia and Mike

You gotta love Alpacas!

I had the pleasure of photographing my first Alapaca shoot at Whitestone Farm a week ago, and they are beautiful, curious creatures! For more information please contact Kristen Pruitt at Whitestone Farm

A New Link (to the Author of "My Daughter Grew Up With Horses"

I'm pleased to post this link to Tracy who wrote the essay "Because My Daughter Grew Up With Horses"
The Horse Diary