BarnBiz n’ Bits

Konarou, West Africa

From our revolutionary constitution to our heartfelt convictions, Americans reach out to those in need because of who we are and what we believe: All people are created equal.

Our country’s collective compassion has fed the poor, educated the illiterate, cared for the sick, and responded to disasters worldwide. The American people have engaged in an unprecedented commitment to humanitarian causes, striving to empower people from all walks of life and to have a positive impact on the world in which we live.

In the forefront, U.S. military personnel provide the manpower required to carry out our missions of goodwill. Offering a better life to those they serve, soldiers dig wells, build schools, and transport medical equipment to villages from Croatia to Columbia. Their presence promotes the health and economic well being of suffering populations.  While their actions are benevolent, ask any soldier and he will humbly reply, “I’m just doing my job.”

Through today’s mass media venues, bad news tends to crowd out good deeds. It’s understandable that a bombing or celebrity breakup makes headline news rather than the digging of a well or the opening of a school. But it’s important to remind ourselves that Americans are “waging peace” by extending our hand to those less fortunate, for in our helping hands they will also find our hearts.

In support of the USAFRICOM Mission in Africa, Operations Chief MSgt Graham Hilson, USMC contacted FCP earlier in the year regarding a project in the Republic of Benin. Their goal was to enhance interoperability in Humanitarian Civic Affairs with the Beninese. One year in its planning, a multi-purpose building used for both a schoolhouse and community center was in order for the poorest village of Konarou.

With many structural considerations at hand, FCP design consultant Kathy Cvelbar provided government agencies with details on various wall options available to meet their unique project requirements. MSgt Hilson selected FCP’s Durawood product for its “sustainable materials” value. The look of wood and the durability of 100% recycled plastics impervious to moisture and insects with little to no maintenance made Durawood the perfect option for this African-bound building!

Upon its arrival, the construction project provided challenges for the 48 Naval Seabees and Marine engineers who unloaded a container of puzzle pieces that would soon resemble a schoolhouse. A remote community within the Republic of Benin, Konarou has limited resources. Working around the clock under extreme temperatures, soldiers mixed concrete by hand to pour the building’s foundation. Villagers worked side by side with military personnel as they excitedly helped with the building’s installation, completing it in just 10 days.

SCPO John Beck, Naval Mobile Construction BN11 conveyed the villagers’ joy. With smiling faces and “home cooked” meals, the people of Konarou expressed their gratitude to the American soldiers for the gift they soon would receive.

School-aged children will no longer attend class outdoors under a thatched roof. The new schoolhouse will accommodate 90 students, three times more than their existing structure allowed, thus offering hope for a brighter tomorrow. LTG Mathiew Boni, Benin Army General stated, “This will inspire education for the children of Konarou, for now they have a place to learn in a secure location.”

With song and dance, hundreds of visitors came from far and near to rejoice in the school’s opening day.  Two very different worlds united in celebration of their significant contribution and combined team work.  The pride in every soldier’s face was evident as they stood tall during the school’s dedication ceremony.  When asked about the troops, Major Gregory Butcher- G-4 Force Engineer U.S. Marine Corps Forces Africa— portrayed them as “worn out, which means they’re happy right now!”

The Marine Corp’s extraordinary undertaking in building hope for the village of Konarou stands as a testament to the greatness of the United States. To our valiant men and woman in uniform, we salute your benevolence; you will be remembered by those whose names you will never know.

On behalf of FCP, we wish to thank the United States Marine Corps for the wonderful opportunity of participating in the Benin Schoolhouse Project.

God’s blessings to you all
_____

Editor’s Note:

Special thanks to MSgt Graham Hilson for his generous use of video links and personal photographs. They brought our story to life!

It’s a Small World

When FCP shipped the Benin Schoolhouse, we had no idea what the fate of this little building would be. We waved goodbye to the tightly packed cargo container as it headed for the continent of Africa via New Orleans!

In retrospect, we were hoping to hear that all went well in our endeavors and possibly receive a photograph or two. We never imagined what would happen next!

Tiffany Danahy, daughter of FCP’s project coordinator Kelly Mortensen, lives with her husband, USAF Airman stationed at the NATO base in Aviano, Italy. During a long distance chit-chat with Mom, Tiffany commented on a news story being aired on the Armed Forces Network.

“Hey, those look like barn walls and sliding doors with grilled windows. It’s a barn!” she exclaimed. “Marines are building a barn in Africa? For kids?”

As you can imagine, Mom was quite amused from her location on the opposite end of the phone line.  Tiffany had grown up around barns so she knew what she was looking at…she just couldn’t figure out why there was one in Africa housing children instead of livestock!  When it finally registered with Kelly, she blurted, “That’s ours!  We built that!”

After a little research on the AFN Europe website, we were able to find the video link and view the building’s installation for ourselves. That day FCP employees stood tall, just as our brothers in the Corp. We were all proud to be Americans!

From California to New Orleans to Africa to Italy and back home again, we do indeed live in a small world!

Many thanks to Tiffany for finding our story!

We hope you enjoy viewing the attached news link as reported by Valerie Resciniti, Armed Forces Network Europe, July 2009.

The Benin Schoolhouse Project from FCP, Inc. on Vimeo.

With increased temperatures comes the potential for your horse to become seriously exhausted, or even worse, develop heatstroke.

If a horse loses fluid (as sweat) faster than he takes in water, he will gradually become dehydrated. The average horse drinks 10 gallons of water each day; horses working in hot or humid weather conditions may drink twice as much.

Horses need water both during and immediately after work. It is a myth that allowing a horse to drink right away will lead to serious health problems. If he waits, he may not drink enough to replace the fluids he’s lost. He should be offered water not much cooler than the air mixed with electrolytes.

Heat stroke can happen to horses whether they are working hard, standing in stuffy stables, or traveling in trailers. Learn the signs of serious exhaustion and heatstroke to keep your animals safe when the temperatures are not fit for man nor beast.

CALL A VETERINARIAN AND TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION IF YOUR
HORSE EXHIBITS ANY OF THESE CRITICAL SYMPTOMS:

Serious Exhaustion

• Body temperature between 104 and 106 degrees
• Rapid breathing and elevated heart rates that persist after 30 minutes rest
• Depressed or unresponsive
• Dehydrated but not thirsty (pinch skin on neck to determine hydration)
• Mild sweating
• Irregular heart beat “Thumps” (appears as rapid hiccups)

If you suspect exhaustion-or worse call a veterinarian immediately. Then start cooling off procedures until help has arrived.

Heatstroke

• Horse’s skin will be hot and dry
• Heart and breathing rates will be fast
• Body temperature between 106 and 110 degrees
• Gums will appear “muddy” instead of pink
• Weakness and depression
• Stumbling, collapse, possible coma and death.

Should this occur, a veterinarian had better be close by. The horse will need repeated rinses in cold water; ice water enemas, in some cases; intravenous fluids and medication. If he survives, serious illness and permanent brain damage can result.

What to Do Until the Vet Arrives

Use shade, cool water, breezes, or fans as best you can. Sponge or spray the large blood vessels along the inside of legs and belly. Offer sips of water.

“Cool” Tips To Keeping Your Horse Healthy

• Provide ample fresh, cool clean water. Check buckets and troughs daily
• Sponge or hose down the large blood vessels along the inside of the legs
• Try to reschedule workouts for early mornings or late evenings
• Use electrolytes if your horse is sweating hard
• Provide shade shelter to avoid direct sunlight
• Apply zinc oxide cream to horses with pink noses to prevent sunburn
• Consider setting up fans to circulate air in stuffy hot box stalls
• Take care of yourself! If you’re overheated, you could miss the warning signs

Anyone involved with working horses should learn to check his heart and breathing rates, gums, hydration and temperature.  Your veterinarian can show you how. Understanding your horse’s limits and needs are the best way to keep him safe when the temperatures soar.

In these uncertain times we have seen increased health care costs, rising food prices, budget cuts and layoffs. It is more important than ever to review our spending habits. Over the last few years people have changed the way they look at the value of a dollar. There are bargains out there and you don’t have to look far!

Our animals need shelter from the blistering sun, torrential rain and wind associated with today’s climate. It is important to thoughtfully consider and make wise decisions about how we can provide our animals with the protection they need. If you have considered a shelter in the past but didn’t think it was affordable, there is nothing like the present to jump on the bargain bandwagon.

With FCP you can design a structure to meet the needs of any barnyard budget!

ECONOMY MARE MOTELS

• Mare Motel
• Inexpensive solution to “housing” animals
• Offers open, healthy way of living
• Available in a variety of sizes and styles – Breezeway, Shed Row and Back to Back floor plans

ECONOMY LOAFING SHEDS

• Loafing Shed
• Multi purpose structure can be used as storage for equipment, feed, garden tools
• Offers partial enclosure for protection against wind, rain, snow
• Wall Options…FCP gives you choice!
• Available in various sizes

ECONOMY PASTURE SHELTERS

• Easy Shelter
• Provides shade
• Can be installed virtually anywhere
• Variety of styles and size affordable to everyone
• Can be used to shelter animals, cars, boats, and equipment

Just because you are on a strict budget doesn’t mean you have to give up quality. FCP has developed a line of affordable and quality—built structures. All three options above meet those standards. Whatever your needs may be, there are options to fit every budget. But more importantly, protection from the elements will keep your animals happy and healthy!

Easy No-Bake Apple Snaps

Ingredients:

4-Cups    Bran
4-Cups    Applesauce

Mix ingredients together, (batter should be doughy).
On waxed paper, roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness.
Shape using cookie cutters.
Let dough dry and serve!
Store in airtight container.

Bon Appetite’

Chef Louie’s feature recipe is proudly brought to you courtesy of
June Evers
Author of
“The Original Book of Horse Treats”
Horse Hollow Press

Visitors to the San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey habitat will travel back in time to explore the ancestor of animals that roamed California over 10,000 years ago.

Opening May 23rd, the new $45-million pachyderm playground brings together the zoo’s three elephants, and six from the Wild Animal Park in Escondido, to form a single herd. The elephants’ new home features a 2.5-acre yard, a 120,000-gallon pond, and a medical facility where visitors can watch zookeepers and veterinarians feed and care for these 10,000 pound creatures!

In the adjacent 4.5-acre area of the Odyssey, a series of secondary habitats showcase lions, jaguars, wild horses, and camels in a naturalistic environment. Smaller exhibits are home to pond turtles, rattlesnakes, tree sloths, and dung beetles!

The new exhibit also marks the return of the California condor to the zoo for the first time since the 1980s. Once on the brink of extinction, this magnificent bird has recovered, thanks to the efforts of conservationists. Successful breeding programs are now seeing the release of hundreds of condors back into their native habitat in California, Arizona, and Mexico.

Replacing the 50-year-old Horn and Hoof Mesa exhibits to create the Elephant Odyssey was no ordinary undertaking for Rudolph & Sluetten General Contractors. The Odyssey began in September 2007. The site at times resembled orchestrated chaos as 200 craftsmen from all over the world combined their talents to create this most impressive venue.

FCP involvement began when architects presented a most challenging project–custom barns to house condors, wild horses, and camels! These unique structures required a maze of stalls, intricate door hardware with rope pulley systems, and push walls to herd animals into outdoor pens.

With design and build capabilities, the innovative staff at FCP took on the project with ingenious thought. Our dedicated manufacturing team fabricated the complex components required to house these distinctive tenants! Field supervisor Stuart Heilscher took the challenge to heart as his meticulous work ethic directed crew members to undertake each barn’s construction.

All those who participated in this grand venture took with them a sense of great pride and accomplishment in their achievement.  The legacy of Harry and Grace Steele’s Elephant Odyssey will forever impress the millions of visitors who come to the zoo each year. With education and conservation efforts, mankind can protect God’s gift of wildlife.

Reflections from an “Empty Barn” Show Mom

We all reach for the “brass ring” in support of our daughter’s dreams. Recognized by all, feared by show officials—we are the Horse Show Moms. Unconditional fan, chauffeur, banker, and costume maker, we are the self-sacrificing individuals who write the checks, drive the trucks, and are masters at backing a horse trailer. Yes, I am a Horse Show Mom!

With a teary eye, I look past the monitor to a bulletin board on my office wall that is filled beyond capacity with photos of my “children,” both two- and four-legged varieties! A span of some 20 years chronicles the blessings this Mom has received.

There are wonderful moments we Mothers get to experience with our children that are forever imprinted upon our hearts. My foremost recollection was meeting my daughter some 30 hours after her birth. Due to complications (she decided to arrive six weeks early!), I finally got to hold her in my arms, count her fingers and toes, and, with tears of joy, say, “Hi, I’m your Mommy.”  When at last I was able to bring her home from the hospital, I laid her down in a nursery adorned with whimsical hobby horses. And thus it began … a Mother’s love of all things equine had passed on a legacy.

At the tender age of two, my daughter began practicing her showmanship skills. Dixie, my beloved and ever patient broodmare, allowed herself to be dragged about the barnyard for countless hours.

By age six, my girl entered the show ring on our sainted babysitter: Sonny. I remember holding that gelding’s face and giving him the “talk.” With a reassuring eye, he guaranteed me of her safe return. As promised, Sonny’s obligation to his precious cargo was evident as he refused to budge from the line-up at class end. With no other horse moving out, Sonny held steadfast and dared not take a step!  While on-lookers shouted advice from the stands, my daughter very calmly took matters into her own hands. She simply slid off the saddle and led her 16-hand quadruped to the gate and collected her prize. A gracious equestrian from the start, my baby girl turned and waved to those who cheered her resolve.

As the years passed, I found myself hanging on the side of many an arena rail. My roles varied from coach and counselor, to those “Calgon, take me away !” moments as I dealt with the ups and downs of a hormonal teenager! I raised my daughter to feel she could accomplish any goal. Good, bad, or ugly, we managed through each show season with determination, and dreamed of another year to come. As thrilling as it was to bring home that blue ribbon, striving for a personal best was most often our greatest satisfaction.

Together we learned from the hardships and the setbacks, the disappointments and the grief, that surrounded our life. Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve … Oh, how the perfect mother syndrome tortured me as my dream of our white-picket-fence family slipped away with an unhappy marriage and impending divorce.

No matter where the day’s journey took us, we always came back full circle to the horses. In this communal meeting place, we discovered the barn to be our neutral territory; a place to talk, a place to be heard … a place for me to listen. In truth, it was in those “barn talks” that my daughter taught me, somewhere along the way, to accept my human foibles and failures. I learned there is no such thing as a perfect life. In spite of all my worrying, I can now say, “Wow, I must have done something right.”

I have spent the last 23 years raising a daughter. I knew the day would come; I just never thought it would come so fast. This past year, I watched her walk down the aisle and marry her high school sweetheart. As images of her childhood flooded my every thought, I realized what a privilege it has been to watch her grow to this day!

How does a mother begin to express the feelings coursing through her as she now faces an empty nest? I am so proud of her and excited for their new life as a couple. Yet the tears stream because it’s difficult to face the prospect of letting go. I never expected to feel this way. While I have endeavored to give my daughter wings, now it is time for me to step out of the way so she may spread those wings and fly.

On the other hand, I should be congratulated as I have now worked myself out of a job! Suddenly, the house seems to stay cleaner all on its own, the electric bill is lower, and there is always a Diet Coke in the refrigerator!

Mine is now a different world, but there is much to be grateful for, too. From years of leaning on that arena rail, I can confidently post on the right diagonal, keep my hands low, and sit back on that flying-lead change … maybe it’s time to put all that knowledge back in the saddle and jog into my own blue ribbon future!  With hopes and dreams, my story will continue along a new and different path–for I was blessed to be a “Horse Show Mom.”

I heard it once said; families are forever and motherhood is eternal. Yes, it is true: we hold our children’s hands for just a short while, we hold their hearts forever.

Ciao La Mia Bambina!

Ti Amo
Mamma

The Pampered Pony

With all the stress a lot of us are feeling these days, we’d like to take this moment to say “pamper you and your pony” by offering a little stress relief tip: Enjoy a day at the “barn spa!” With a little imagination, you and your beloved companion can enjoy a little pampering without spending a lot.  Here are a few suggestions to help you and your four-legged partner enjoy a relaxing barnyard experience.

• Bathe your horse with a luxurious, fragrant shampoo. You can even save money by making your own mane and tail detangler. All you’ll need is some Calgon bath oil beads and water. Mix one part Calgon to 3 parts water in a spray bottle. Spray mane and tail to help recondition. Remember to make sure the area you are working in is slip free. Try using rubber stall mats in the wash area to provide good footing for you and your horse.
• For you: Buy some deep conditioner. After shampooing, apply the deep conditioner to hair and wrap with a towel. Then sit in your most comfortable chair in the breezeway aisle and enjoy reading your favorite magazine while your hair soaks up the nourishing treatment. Both you and your horse will look and feel great!
• Now that we smell better, let’s make those muscles feel relaxed with a little rub down. You can make your own liniment for your horse with just a few ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need:

o 2 pints clear alcohol
o 2 pints wintergreen alcohol
o 2 pints witch hazel
o 1/2 bottle store-bought equine liniments

• Pour all ingredients into a clean gallon container.  Rub onto horse’s legs. Airtight containers work best for storing the unused portion in your tack room!
• For you: Check local listings for a massage training school. You can get a good massage for a fraction of the cost of going to a day spa.
• Lastly, don’t forget those hard-working feet. Again, you can make your own homemade hoof care ointment. Just mix 1 gallon of lanolin and 1 gallon of pine tar into a large container. With your horse standing in cross ties, apply to hooves up to twice daily.
• For you: Soak your feet in a container with warm water using your Calgon bath oil beads and a little Epson salt for an energizing treat.