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Program Ed Koeneman introduced the program informing those present that following the program they would know more about Clydesdale horses than that they appear in beer commercials. He enjoyed learning about them when his daughter Susie interned at their Clydesdale Preserve in Gilbert. Director Rebecca Stivers and board member Dianne Lindeman told of their mission to preserve the breed which is threatened with only about 15,000 still alive throughout the world. They currently have five on their Preserve in Gilbert - four mares and one gelding. They range in age from 14 to 24. It is very close to being a geriatric herd. They plan to introduce some younger Clydesdales to their family in the relative near future. Dianne said that three years ago she got involved responding to a facebook message. She lives just down the street from the preserve. She said these big but gentle horses steel your heart. Getting involved as a volunteer gave her the opportunity to learn more about the breed and the preservation foundation. She said caring for these large animals is hard, dirty, rewarding work. She said the animals on the preserve are very pampered - probably why the twenty-four-year-old has lived so long. Her children volunteer with her. The dynamics of Clydesdales becoming extinct is because the jobs they used to do no longer exist. They have lost their purpose. They promote them as riding horses and drill team entertainment as ways of finding new purpose. Other draft horses are also on the extinction list. They are taking their business plan to the United Kingdom to try to get them to create volunteer non profits to care for the breed(s) and inspire the next generation. Legislation to protect the draft breeds is needed to keep them from being sold as a source of meat and being bred for that specific purpose. When Susie was working at the preserve, she drug Deb Koeneman along to help. It became her friday-night job. Deb loves them! They host about 100 events each year to provide education as well as raise funds. Families come out to wash the horses and have coffee. They host a spring and fall dinner for supporters. They go to schools to teach about the Clydesdales. They have an educational puppet show for pre-school through first grade. One of their events is "Christmas with the Clydesdales. They have had to cease having their events during COVID-19 in order to keep their volunteers save. Their volunteers are everything to them. Some of them are relatives others are moms whose kids have matured. Draft horses were used in both the first and second world wars. Just a small number came back. After the second world war, draft horses were replaced by tractors. The population never bounced back. Younger generations of people living today have not picked up on the idea of breeding new generations. They have no memory of the way of life when these big animals contributed to a family's financial well-being. Bert Millett commented that his grandfather had cared for horses on the front line. The Clydesdales were not the best war horses. They were not fast. Some of the soldiers did eat horse meat to survive. To save the breed, they need to breed - but do so very conservatively so they can thrive in a show world. To successfully breed for show, breeders and their supporters need to educate, prepare interesting presentations, provide hands-on situations where people can be up close and personal with the horses. Food and medicine for their horses runs about $100/day. They have a small pasture where they now have a fruit and berry orchard to bring in revenue selling organic produce to get money for hay and food. None of their volunteers have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Everyone was invited to visit their website and check out the volunteer page. Their twent-four-year-old is unusual. When they were a working breed, their lifespan was much shorter. Horses were part of the family. Steve Ross, who was raised in southern Iowa, said that his family and two draft horses - Dick and Dack - whose work was taken over by tractors in the '50s, but his family couldn't part with their beloved horses who were part of the family. They lived on the family farm until they died of natural causes. Equine therapy for those with special needs works well with the Clydesdales because they are such a gentle giant. Members were invited and encouraged to attend an event when they are safely able to resume those activities at the Preserve.
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President Dan has been opening the Zoom meeting about 11:15 to give Rotarians a chance to informally visit before the meeting is called to order. Each week a few more join in on this new way of safely socializing!
Tuesday, August 25 - Rotary International President Holger Knaack and The Rotary Foundation Chair K. R. Ravindran announced that the African region has been certified wild polio-free!
