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To
recognize the contributions of the many indviduals who
make up ASAP, we will be profiling volunteers one at a
time. Many more will be stepping into the spotlight soon!
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N'ice
and Carmen |
Carmen
Burth,
pictured with her standardbred N'ice to the left,
provides an invaluable service to ASAP by serving
as Placement Assistant. "I wanted to help out
and I didn't have much money to give, so I thought
I would give my time," she says. With four children
(ages 22, 20, 14, 9) and two grandchildren (4 and
2) and her work as a web designer, her schedule is
already busy, but her dedication to horses runs deep.
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| When
she was eleven years old, she got her first pony, her very
own Misty, just like in the books she loved to read. It
was love at first sight, but first sight didn't reveal that
the horse had foundered before Carmen had bought her. Breaking
the young girl's heart, the pony died two years later. Her
second pony was kept on a chain at her grandparent's house.
Although mean at the start, even biting Carmen's back once,
the pony turned out to be a good horse. When her father
felt Carmen was getting too big for him, he gave the pony
to a friend. |
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poor
mare, fed only bread (even as she herself was feeding
a baby), was to become Carmen's next horse. Her family
helped this rescue horse get back into shape by giving
her supplements. Another horse, a half-Arabian, Carmen
trained with one of her friends. Her dad eventually
sold both these horses when she was a teenager, but
not without asking Carmen to make a promise: if she
would ever have horses again, they would be with her
for life. |
Cam
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| Carmen
currently has three standardbred horses. She adopted Desperate
Cam and liked him so much that she wanted to adopt more.
After reading about ASAP in a magazine and realizing the
program was conveniently located, she filled out an application.
That's how N'ice, a very pretty standardbred, came into
her life. A year later Carmen got a call from ASAP saying
that Nougat N'ice's mother was available for adoption. "How
could I not reunite them?" Carmen asked herself. When
the mother and daughter were first reunited, N'ice checked
her mother for milk! They knew each other right away. |
Nougat |
As
Placement Assistant, Carmen loves talking to all the
horse people who get involved with the program ("You
know how we can go on," she muses), talking not
only about horses but also dogs, cats and all kinds
of animals. A true animal lover, Carmen has in addition
to her standardbreds four dogs, countless cats, angora
rabbits and a few sheep (to spin the wool). The only
part of her job that is often difficult is getting
in touch with the farriers. |
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Someday
Carmen would like to help ASAP with the horses that
are difficult to place and maybe start fostering.
About ASAP's director she says, "I think Susan
is a saint for all the work she puts into the program."
But without the generous help of Carmen and other
ASAP volunteers, there would be no program at all.
Thanks, Carmen!
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