READER POLL OPINION and the 3rd installment from Shelley Paulson’s ODYSSEO photojournal!

OMG. You readers are awesome!! I asked you to respond to me yesterday and YOU DID!

Yay! In case you missed it, yesterday I asked you your opinion as to why our March Bucket Fund charity horse (March BF story linked here) didn’t garner the donations that most other Bucket Fund charities have in the past (reader poll linked here). In fact, the donations for Adella were down 75% and I wanted to know your thoughts on why. Was it something I said or didn’t say? Was it the subject matter? What was up?

Well, you readers emailed me in droves! I couldn’t even keep up! Thank you. The only way to make the blog better is to have feedback and I am so thankful for your input.

I’m sure some of you are curious if your thoughts were the same as others. Or, maybe you were just curious what other people thought. So, I’m compiling a list of the most common threads and then a few interesting, singular thoughts.

Here goes (in no special order):

1) With the tornadoes hitting, there is too much need there to donate to a horse that is already safe.

2) Gas prices, taxes and the economy in general are sucking my excess funds

3) I was planning on donating on payday

4) I had to click away because the photos were too gory

5) The photos didn’t look that bad… she was safe and just looked cut and bloody but not in desperate need

6) Why donate to a horse that will need years of corrective shoeing and have a diminished quality of life when there are so many that could benefit from being saved that would have a better quality of life

7) Not enough info about the mare. (She is 5.)

8) Not enough info about what happened to the owner. Tired of giving when the owners are not held responsible.

9) The donation link on the email blast was broken. (doh! That was my fault and I fixed it.)

10) You didn’t tell us enough about Habitat for Horses.

11) This is a hoax. (It isn’t but I understand the concern here.)

12) Habitat for Horses’ website says nothing about Adella (True. They are in the process of creating a whole new website and therefore the old website is not current. During this time, they are mainly using their blog which I have attached here. )

13) She is OK and out of danger. I’d rather save a horse who is going to slaughter.

14) It bothered me that you didn’t post it on the 1st of the month. Why did you wait until the 4th/5th? That makes me feel that this story is not very important. (This is my fault. I try to post the new Bucket Fund on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday because those days have the largest readership. I had missed March 1st because I needed additional information about Adella before I felt comfortable to write. Then, I didn’t want to post it over a weekend where readership is slower. So, I posted it on Sunday, March 4th and blasted it Monday, March 5th.)

THANK YOU ALL!

I learned quite a bit. I’m humbled by your comfort and willingness to speak your mind. And, even though the Internet can be so anonymous and impersonal, I have to tell you that I feel totally blessed right now. Honestly, besides Hubby, I don’t think anyone in my family reads this blog. So, I greatly value you and your input.

Shelley Paulson’s ODYSSEO photojournal, Part 3!

I’m so in love with this photojournal because she captures candid moments that speak to me. Also, if you are like me, usually I can only afford the nosebleed seats so I don’t ever have this close of a lens on any performance – let alone fast moving animals and flying people!

So, for me to be able to see the show this clearly is REMARKABLE.

Here is a direct link to these photos where you can see more and see them larger.