This year seemed to fly by faster than any other, and it’s hard to believe the end of another year has arrived.
It was a very busy year especially with activities at the ResqRanch. My goal for the year was to really study ways on how to improve our YouTube channel which is what I started in January while also simply trying to recover from the busy holidays.
In February I took the longest standing members of the team to Las Vegas to see U2 at the Sphere, and to visit the local SeaQuest aquarium. Certainly a trip to remember!
March was the huge 4 ft snow storm (they interviewed me on the news before the storm!) which blocked me in for days, and led to me being late to appear at the year’s Rocky Mountain Horse Expo despite not only being the veterinarian for the event, but also a vendor, and an instructor. And add to that, the low turnout for the event, due to the weather and travel difficulties, is what led to few people showing up to bid on 6 wild horses baby’s the Bureau of Land Management brought there to raise awareness about the plight of the wild horses. We ended up with the last 2 that no one placed bids on. That had not been on the to-do list for the year, but I just could not see those 2 beautiful little fillies going back into holding pens and an uncertain future, when we had room for them at the ResqRanch. So then we had wild horse baby’s to train.
April brought the arrival of Keiko, our Japanese imported shiro-utsuri koi fish thanks to the wonderful folks of the Rocky Mountain Koi Club. Now we had this valuable fish to care for and try to feed for growth so she could be competitive at the koi show in August.
May of course brings our annual Kentucky Derby party, and this one was the best yet with a great turnout and lot’s of new friends!
June brought the Evergreen rodeo and a chance for me to speak to members of the community, especially those with children, about the ResqRanch and the summer programs we offer.
In July, a long, hot month where the horses were really bothered by the flies, I had my accident with Cesar, broke my left arm, got a concussion and nearly lost my right eye. That really slowed things down a bit for a few weeks while I recovered. But I was well enough to go to our annual booth at the VegFest downtown Denver, where I had the opportunity to speak to many people about plant based diets for pets.
In August, really missing our house rooster, we adopted a quail and 2 elderly rats from the Denver Animal Shelter. I quite enjoyed living with a cute little house quail bird! This was also the month we took Keiko to the koi fish show, where again we had the opportunity to speak to many folks about how to help keep their beautiful fish healthy. Also in August we adopted Dixie, the 28 year old Arabian mare whose entire herd died of old age leaving her alone. I also began trial testing on a coconut oil fly and wound spray for the horses which worked extremely well and we hope to have it for sale by 2025.
In September we went to a continuing education seminar in Beaver Creek at the Ritz Carlton for a couple of days, where we learned even more about Librella and other great new medicines available for pets. And then also was our annual appearance at the Riley’s Pet Supply customer appreciation event where we got to speak with lots of clients who shared with us their wonderful success stories.
In October I rode (and videoed) one of the new Mustang filly’s for the first time, and continued my relentless pursuit of studying marketing on the side to continue to improve our YouTube channel and making more videos demonstrating our positive reinforcement training techniques especially with the help of our primary assistance trainer, Patti.
In November I was accepted onto the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce board of directors, and went on my first college tour with my oldest daughter. We visited my Mom for the holiday in Ohio, and spent hours preparing for awesome Pet Pictures with Santa events.
December has been a whirlwind of prepping our two separate Pet Pictures with Santa events, on two different days, and locations, and the very first time we ever had it at the ResqRanch! Then it was time for our ResqRanch board meeting, and our annual Aspen Park Vet staff holiday party which we had at the wonderful Tuscany Tavern this year, and then I hosted a neighborhood party the next day, as well.
Yes indeed, no wonder it went fast! It’s been a very busy year of continuing to provide great service to clients at the hospital, and with a few new team members, and even a new AI microscope allowing us to take our diagnostic capabilities to the next level. It was a year full of events, and fellowship with animal lovers from all walks of life. We vastly improved our YouTube channel, and our abilities to get the word about the ResqRanch, we got a new horse training volunteer (welcome Kylea!), and even got our first grant, for $15,000 for our Pathways for Veterans project. We had two fundraisers at local restaurants the Bread Lounge and BeauJo’s Pizza, and even had the team of Great Day Colorado spend the day volunteering at the Ranch to help clear the way for those new pathways coming soon.
Goals for 2025, continue to improve the YouTube channel and get enough watch time to qualify for more valuable tools available to nonprofits. Continue to improve our donations although this year through the work of my team those donations increased by 61% and allowed us to make many more improvements on the ranch including new front gates, a camera system, windows in the classroom, tractor repairs, and new cabinets to hold feed and equipment. In 2025 we really want to have enough donations to expand our shelters for the animals from the weather, and continue to improve our barn and classroom for the comfort and safety of students and animals alike. This year we also want to really embrace volunteers at the Ranch, for all kinds of jobs, from hanging flyers and helping with events, to cleaning and organizing tack for our soon to be open Tack Shack (think thrift store for horse equipment), as well as to acquire even more volunteer horse handlers to help us continue to care for the animals in our care. Hopefully this is also the year we finally find another vet who is a good fit for Aspen Park and can help provide care even more days of the week, and allows me to be more available to develop and expand our online and summer programs for children and adults, at the ResqRanch this year, so we can reach, touch, and improve even more the lives of families, veterans, and children, through the use of understanding self respect and boundaries, addressing mental health issues through drawing the parallels between respecting animals with positive reinforcement training, and how those lessons can be applied into our personal lives to empower us and overcome fears, anxieties, and improve feelings of self worth.
I am so grateful for my entire team, as I could not do it without them, and am looking forward to all the new team members that will join us in the new year.
Here’s to wishing you and your family, all the best for 2025, the best yet! If we just take a moment to look around, there is much to be grateful for, generous people who all just want to be heard, and understood, especially regarding their almost fanatical devotion to their animals, my kind of people! Prayers for peace, prosperity and good health in the new year and for many years to come. Thank you for your continued love and support! I appreciate you all!
-DrQ and the Crew Aspen Park Vet and the ResqRanch.