Melissa Givner Fire & Injury Relief

Melissa Givner owner and trainer of Rhinestar Performance Horses were recently effected by the Thomas fire. Usually she has Mondays off at the barn but had to finish up last minute details for care instructions while she was gone. She was about ready to leave the barn and had forgotten to give one of her clients' horse his second dose of meds. When she came back up the hill with his meds she noticed a huge glow on the other side of the mountain. She ran down and called the owners of the property to notify them of a fire. Melissa was one of the last people at the barn that night.  One of the last boarders was about to leave and she stopped her to warn her. They decided to call 911. The fire visually looked like it was on Wheeler Canyon Rd on the hill behind them since the glow was so large. Michelle, the other boarder there, ran down to tell the manager while Melissa started calling all her clients and friends to notify them that there is a fire nearby and they need to get to the barn. After calling all her resources, she started calling other fellow boarders at her barn to warn them. The manager went over to a neighbor's house to find out the fire was at Steckel Park. That afforded her the time to get all her clients horses, personal horses and friends horses evacuated from the property. Her vacation time ended up living at the Ventura County Fairgrounds for a week caring for 7 horses in her group and an additional 6 horses from her barn helping with feeding and watering. Everyone in her group stepped up to give Melissa a few nights rest at home and daily chores. She was expecting a week's worth of loss of income from her trip but it ended up as a loss of income for several weeks due to the high amounts of smoke that make it unhealthy to train horses. Melissa's 2 personal horses were also effected by the smoke causing unexpected medication cost and with the loss of income due to the fires things have been finicially difficult. Melissa is a very passionate horse trainer that gives 110 percent to every horse that is in her care and training program. She's always giving to her clients and going the extra mile for every horse. Her family that lives in the Upper Ojai Valley also lost their pool house, barn and shed and she recently helped clear out all the metal and scrap. During her time off she donated her time to friends on a emotional level, donated Halters from Cowboy Dressage to the Upper Ojai relief center and worked on healing the horses that were effected from the fires and smoke. Just recently she fractured and lacerated her left big toe and also lost her left toe nail. She is going to need 6-8 weeks and may need surgery. Let's help her out just like she helped so many people know ahead of time and helped them get their horses out of the fires. We want her to be able to get better and get back to doing what she loves to do.  Melissa is a very gifted and talented Natural horsemanship trainer that also specializes in Cowboy dressage. Please check her out on Facebook at Rhinestar Performance Horses New update: Melissa had her appointment with the orthopedic and they recommended surgery. It's going to add more medical expenses and few more weeks to the healing process. Thank you all for the love, support and prayers.