Hi everyone,
I have followed this thread on my Carriage Driving List and thought
that there may be someone in this area who might be able to help. You
can read the email thread below for details, but the story in a
nutshell is that Tiny Rubenstein, a wonderful, compassionate,
sweetheart of a person died way too soon and now her non-horsey
husband is doing his best to find the perfect home for Tiny's horses.

We don't have room at our place for one of Tiny's horses, but maybe
you do...or you know someone who does.

Warmest regards,

Bobbi
--
Bobbi McIntyre
Alaria Moss Gypsy Horses
Affordable Farm Services - http://www.affordablemanureremoval.com/
Nokesville, VA

_______________________


Date: Sat, 18 Apr 2009 20:51:56 -0400
From: Katana Rubenstein <katana@...>
Subject: Need homes for Tiny's horses - Can you help?

Another message from Tiny's (Katana's) husband Jeff:

Many thanks again to so many of you who have reached out to me with
your kind thoughts and prayers. The calendar tells me it's been
almost four weeks without Tiny, but for me time seems to be standing
still sometimes.

Years ago I promised Tiny that should anything ever happen to her I would do
everything in my power to ensure that each of her horses is placed in
an excellent home. She and I both knew that I'm not a horse person,
and that the horses really need to be cared for long-term by someone
who is.

I recall now that shortly after we built the farm 20 years ago, when
we had not been married very long, one of Tiny's old riding
instructors died, and Tiny instantly offered to take in and care for
any one of Carol's old retired horses. Before I could even try to
talk her out of it, I found myself driving Tiny with the trailer out
to pick up that huge old "Tar Boy" and bringing him back home to
occupy one of our vacant stalls. "Are you sure you want to do this,
Tiny? You can't use that old horse for anything, can you?" She just
smiled and replied, "All of those horses need good homes. I just wish
I could take more." So I shut up. Tiny cared for Tar Boy just like
her own horses. A few years later Tar died of old age, and Tiny cried
for him, just like she'd owned him his whole life. I remember
comforting her and telling her that Tar was indeed fortunate that
someone like her was there to take him in and make his last few years
healthy and comfortable. She said it was the least she could do. At
the time I thought that was overly generous, but over the years I've
learned that was just the way she was.

I know - and those of you who knew Tiny know too - that Tiny was a
very special person. I know she was special, but I've also learned
that her generosity, passion, and compassion for the health and
welfare of horses (and all animals) is not unique to her. Tagging
along with her to all the shows and CDE's over the years I was often
struck by the great number of others in the horse community who share
those qualities.

So . now I need to reach out to those of you who may be able to help
out Tiny and her horses the way Tiny helped her friend Carol and hers.
My mission now is to find excellent homes for all of Tiny's horses.
She has 24. I've had discussions with the barn staff as well as our
veterinarian and farrier, and we've decided that 6 of the horses are
too old and/or too health-challenged to move out, so we will be
keeping and caring for those until the end of their natural lives.
(Which will likely be less than a few years.) I delivered one horse
to a new home today. So I now have 17 horses that need excellent homes.

Based on what I know Tiny would want for her horses, I have come up
with three criteria that qualify an excellent home. An excellent home
is one in which the horse owner:

(a) Genuinely cares passionately about the health, safety, and comfort of
the horse,

(b) Demonstrates the experience, knowledge, and skills required to be able
to provide appropriate care for the health, safety, and comfort needs of the
horse, and

(c) Has the financial wherewithal to be able to provide that appropriate
level of care for the lifetime of the horse.

Are you one of those generous people who could help me out by
providing an excellent home for one of Tiny's horses? If you are, I
would very much appreciate hearing from you. I have created a little
questionnaire to help me gather information from prospective adopters
in order to choose the best home for each horse. I also made up a
document that briefly describes each of the available horses. You can
download, view, and/or print that questionnaire and horse description
document at www.shadowfax.com My address, email, and fax number are
on the last page of the questionnaire, so you can send it to me after
completing it.

To clarify, I am not expecting any payment for any of the horses.
Under certain circumstances I may be willing to help with
transportation expenses as well. The important thing is to find a
home for each horse that Tiny would be happy with.

Please forward this message to anyone you think might be able to help.
And to anyone who might know anyone who might be able to help. Feel
free to contact me with any questions.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Jeff Rubenstein

jeff@...


(For those of you who missed it, here is what I posted last month: )


From: Katana Rubenstein [mailto:katana@...]
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2009 11:35 PM
To: Listserver CD-L List
Subject: Sad news from Jeff Rubenstein

I am Tiny's (Katana's) husband Jeff. I'm a wreck, and I don't know
the right way to say this, but I thought it was important to let
everyone know.

Tiny has had severe health challenges for at least the last 25 years
of our 30 year marriage. Last week she developed difficulty
breathing, and it got so bad that she actually went to the doctor. It
turns out that she had contracted the flu. Because of her other
health problems, she developed pneumonia and was hospitalized. The
pneumonia became very bad, and then got even worse, so she was
transferred by ambulance to the ICU at the hospital in Syracuse.
After five days on a ventilator, with many IV's of a broad range of
broad spectrum heavy-duty antibiotics and antifungal medicines, and
very good and competent doctors and nurses doing everything they
could, Tiny lost the battle tonight. I was with her when her heart
stopped, as were some friends and family. I am absolutely sure that
right now she is in the land of the Rainbow Bridge, no longer
suffering any pain, smiling, laughing, and frolicking with the dozens
of old friends she has longed to see and be with again.

The CD-L people have been her close and long-distance friends for many
years. Like many of you, Tiny enjoyed hundreds of hours reading
through the posts here. Some she learned from, some she laughed at,
and some made her angry. But she still considered (almost everyone a
friend. My keyboard is now covered with tears, but - as I said - I
thought it was important to let everyone know. I'm not a horse person
at heart, but I love Tiny more than anything and she knows that I will
do whatever it takes to be sure her horses (and other animals)
continue to live the safe, comfortable, healthy lives she provided
them. When I'm ready, I may be reaching out to people here to help me
find loving caring homes for her animals. I don't check the CD-L List
generally, but if anyone would like to contact me my email address is
jeff@....

Thank you.

Jeff Rubenstein