Newark Star Ledger comes for a visit (April 21, 2011)

The press release by Centenary College attracted the attention of the NJ newspaper the Newark Star Ledegr. The paper was interested in sending a team to the equestrian center to cover the story for print, and video. I was so excited by this! The college and Team Suki would gain some recognition for what they were doing for my girl. This would wonderful publicity for the college as well. We are so used to hearing about negative events and the terrible things that people do to one another, that this would be a nice story for people to read. The girls got Suki ready for her photo shoot and interview. They even lunged her in the morning to (as Dr. Fugaro put it)"get the crazies out"! By the time I arrived at the equestrian center Suki was shining and beautiful; ready to be a star! A representative from the college was present as well as me and Team Suki. The Star Ledger sent a reporter, videographer and photographer. The vidoegrapher had won Emmy awards...Suki was certainly feeling special! Each of us were interviewed by the reporter, and then again on camera by the videographer. It started with Suki being walked from her stall to the front barn where photos were taken of her graft site and a variety of other photos. All I can say is this is where Suki's "star power" really came through. As the photographer clicked away Suki "modelled". She was actually tilting her head, turning it, and generally "working the camera". We all laughed so hard. Suki's nickname has always been Super Model, and she certainly lived up to that name! Everyone kept talking to her, fussing, and photgraphing. Suki enjoyed every minute of it...she was a natural! We were also going to shoot some footage of Suki being lunged, so Kim took her to the outdoor arena. I wanted someone from the team to lunge Suki because this article was about Suki, the team and the college. People are always saying how wonderful it is that I saved my horse and remain so dedicated to her care. But it has taken us a long time to get to this point, and I did not do it alone. It literally took a village. Suki can be a little unruly in new situations or if something really interesting catches her eye. As Dr. Fugaro and I stood by the rail he leaned over and whispered "maybe we should have tranqued her!" I had been thinking the very same thing! But I'll give to that girl....Suki knows when she needs to put out, and does it in style! Once again, she modelled for the camera and did her very best to be the star that she is! Kim with Suki and the photographer and videographer

The day went really well, and once again, the team worked really hard to make it a success. I hate the way I look on the video, though. I was speaking so fast! In fact it took several days before I would even watch it! The print piece came out on a Sunday, with a littlepreview photo on the front page....ABOVE the fold! I'll admit, I was excited. The article was great, but there was one major error....it named the site of the fire as Blue Hill Farm....That was where I had boarded when I first bought Suki. The fire was actually at Pink Star Equestrian! They corrected it on line immediately, thankfully, with a correction regarding the print piece the following week. The link to the article which also contains the video http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/remarkable_recovery_of_severel.html January 17, 2012 yesterday I found at the my nine year old cat, Rugby has kidney cancer and will likely only live a few more weeks. He is comfortable and happy, and I am sure will let us know when it is time. This just breaks my heart. There isn't anything that I can do except keep him comfortable. My 5 year old son will be devastated. I ordered two picture books about the death of a pet to help prepare him. Last night when I was grooming Suki I spoke about it. She was very subdued and kept nuzzling me, which was a tremendous comfort. Animals always know how to read us and comfort us.