Helping Rosalie Raphael

Many of you may know Rosalie Raphael as the “Silk Lady”, but Rosalie has been much more than that to all of us for many many years. She has been a friend, a listening ear, an advisor (sometimes even if you didn’t ask for it ), and a cheerleader. She has held many roles in Fort Erie, a trainer, an owner, and of course as we mostly know her- the lady who makes racing silks!

If you know Rosalie as well as I do, you know that she wants nothing but the best for everyone. She roots for your horses to win, she comes by and visits just to find out how your week went, and most of all she loves horses as much as any of us.

After the passing of her previous horses, who lived long happy healthy lives under Rosalies care- spoiled and overweight, she was so excited to finally get 2 more horses. She knew she could offer them the same thing as she always has, unconditional love and care. Lots of treats, living the way horses should- on turnout with a clean stall to go into every night. Rosalie purchased 2 mares off the track, and was very excited to get them home.

Tragedy struck for Rosalie on October 23rd, the night before her horses were to ship home her barn caught fire and burned to the ground. Nothing was left, every last bale of hay she had stashed away, her grain, even the water pump from the well to supply the horses with water.

Although there is much to be thankful for, she is left without a barn or way to care for these horses now. Lucky is not often a word you would use to describe a situation like this, but it was so lucky that the horses had been delayed to ship home and were not in the barn that day. It was lucky that the fire trucks arrived in time to stop the fire from reaching the house. And it was lucky that all of Rosalie’s rescue cats were able to get out of the barn in time. Iñ times of dark, you have to focus on the light!

If you have fond memories of Rosalie, have ever purchased Silks from her, or even just had the opportunity to meet her, we ask that you may find it in your heart to help her out in this tough time. A small donation will go a long way to help her out now

Rosalie now has unforeseen expenses to buy hay, grain, and pay to rent stalls at a nearby facility for the winter. Our goal is to help with building a new shelter, small barn, and fixing paddock fences so eventually her horses can come home. She will also need a new water pump, and water well shed so that she can not only have running water to the barn again for the horses, but for her own house as well.

We are hoping to fundraise a small amount to help her with these costs. Rosalie would never ask for help, but this is a great opportunity for us to give back to her, with the same amount of pride that we had when we raced our horses in the stunning silks she had sown for us all of these years! Horse people support each other in times of need.