Animal+Rights+Community+Service+-+Emily's+Reflections

11 November 2009
Beginning Thoughts... media type="custom" key="5292363"

I have enjoyed my time at Northwestern Stables - so far, it's one of the best community services I've been in. Working with the horses is such a great experience, and the woman we work with, Julie, is great.

One of the horses there, Spot, is a retired riding horse who went blind. He still lives there, and he's supported by donations from everyone who goes there. One of our jobs is to groom Spot, since he doesn't get the daily grooming that some of the horses that get ridden every day do.

Most of our work involves maintenance of the stables, and not working with actual horses. For example, the first day we shoveled manure from the turn-out pens for the horses. Other jobs we've done include sweeping hay out of the barn, replacing bulletin boards, LOTS of raking leaves, taking out old fence posts, and bailing water out of ditches in front of the indoor arena.

[[image:kitty_cottage.jpg width="444" height="339" align="left" caption="The Kitten Room at the Kitty Cottage"]]3 February 2010
Recently we have been working at a place called Kitty Cottage, which is a three-story house where they keep abused and abandoned cats. It is a no-kill no-cage shelter with about 40 to 50 cats. We play with the cats and help to socialize them so that they will be able to be adopted into normal homes. They also try to raise awareness about spaying and neutering cats, and the effects of declawing.

At the stables, we have focused on cleaning and painting the jumps from the outside riding ring. The effects of weather and horses chewing on them has worn off the paint, and we are refurbishing them.