Helping horses: Feedbags sewn into shopping totes

“Love is in the bag,” says Pleasanton resident Gretchen Kyle — love for horses and everyone who has come forward to help with her project.

About a year ago Kyle had the idea to collect bags that hold grain to feed horses, re-fashion them into reusable shopping bags and sell them to benefit Horses Healing Hearts rescue operations on Camino Tassajara in Pleasanton.

“The bags hold 50 pounds and there are thousands of them, in every trash can in every stable,” Kyle said.

Kyle, 58, has had horses all her life and boarded them at Brown Ranch, where Melissa Austin founded the horse rescue operation in 2011.

“Melissa works tirelessly to help change the quality of life for any horse she is told about,” Kyle said, adding that Austin herself goes in her truck and trailer to pick up neglected horses.

“I have seen her try for over an hour to patiently load a scared, weak horse into the trailer,” Kyle said.

“We have now helped 300 horses,” Austin said.

The group holds several fundraisers a year, and Kyle suggested the bags as a way to make money.

“She said, ‘I love the bag idea but have zero money and zero time to make this happen,'” Kyle recalled. “I’m retired, and I’ve had horses all my life, so I’ve taken on the project.”

“My goal is to give Melissa 50 bags to sell at one of her fundraising events, at $20 a bag,” she added.

Kyle decided the project should be all-volunteer so that when someone buys the final product, all the money goes to the cause.

“A guy said he would make them for me for $8 each, but I felt I could do something more. I wanted the horses to have 100%,” Kyle explained. “The money I spend on labels and threads, that is my donation. We need to get them made for free.”

She arranged with Western Saddlery in Pleasanton to accept empty grain bags for her, including from Golden Gate Fields.

“I put them in the bathtub and wash them,” she said.

She realized that even after washing, they might contain enough grain to trigger someone’s allergies.

“I started calling the horse grain manufacturers, and they’ve given me brand new bags,” she said.

L.A. Hearne, a grain company in King City, sent her 100 bags for free. Purina mailed her 75 bags with photos of baby chicks on them.

But Kyle also needed people to sew the bags since she herself is not a seamstress.

Kevan Turner of DesignCo marketing on Railroad Avenue printed a postcard at no charge to advertise her mission. Jermel Wells from Creatability in Pleasanton created the graphic design for the sticker, also not charging.

“I was going around to quilting shows and begging people, and going to sewing organizations and such,” Kyle recalled.

She approached people in fabric stores, and mentioned with a laugh that some folks would run from her.

“My personality lets me beg people quite easily,” she commented. “If you can sew a straight line, please call me.”

When Irina Etinberg, owner of Kidz Kraftz in Dublin, heard about it, she thought it would be a good project for her students.

“She said, ‘Bring me 20,'” Kyle remembered. “She was one of the first ones to respond in this way, committing to doing it ongoing.”

Kyle also called the Girl Scouts of Northern California, which put her in touch with Karen Rodriguez, volunteer development manager for Alameda County.

“I met with her, she showed me her bag and described the project,” Rodriguez said. “She was invited to a leader meeting.”

At the meeting in late August the leaders — who came from Pleasanton, Dublin and Sunol — took 45 bags for their Scouts to sew.

“I was very excited that I was able to connect with Gretchen when she was looking for some avenues of support for the horses,” Rodriguez said. “It is often very exciting to find different projects the girls can latch onto, not only for the community service but for their own growth and development.”

Kyle ordered tags to go inside the bags that read, “Sewn with love by a Girl Scout” to give each one a personal touch.

She said the endeavor is a good example of how “it takes a village” to help others.

“What I found as I went on is that everybody loves the feeling of community. Everyone needs a bag now, and these are so strong — you don’t have to be a horse lover to buy this bag,” Kyle said.

But, she added, everyone should appreciate that purchasing the bags will help buy food and provide veterinarian and farrier services for a rescued horse right here in Pleasanton.

And Austin said she is thrilled with the unique collaboration and opportunity to offer reusable feed bags to the public.

“It’s a great way to create awareness for our horse rescue — and great for the environment while making money for the horses,” Austin said.

Contact Gretchen Kyle by telephone at 523-3133 or email BigbayRay16@gmail.com. For background on Austin’s horse rescue operations, visit horseshealingheartsinc.org; for current news, go to Horses Healing Hearts, Inc. on Facebook.