Fred Shute is an exceptional Jewelry maker, and a long time 'Rumor Mill News' reader. He has partnered, with RMN, to sell his absolutely breathtaking Sterling Silver Jewelry at a bargain price. You might remember when he brought his 'Intrinity' silver jewelry to us a few years back.

Fred's story is one of joy, tears, tragedy, courage and healing. You can read about his spiritual connection to horses, below, or click on the included link to look at some of his items.

RMN Reader's special: Pony Love Mini Pony – Just the pony pendant and a loop to suspend it from a chain for a necklace. With amethyst (color may vary). Pony measures about 28mm in length.
$33.33

Just in time for Christmas!
https://frederickshute.com/product/pony-love-sterling-silver/

You can also find Fred's Pony Love ad on the right hand side of the RMN page.

Lynda

Frederick is a Master Jeweler & Metalsmith, with over 40 years of experience in the jewelry trade, design, and creation. He has a flair for very artistic creations that typically have a metaphysical purpose. Most of his creations are wearable, and all are functional – using sacred geometry and crystal frequencies to enhance your lifestyle.

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The purpose of the Pony Love jewelry is to raise awareness of the profound connection between humans and our equine companions involved in the healing arts.

The Pony Love Story

The following, in Fred’s own words, is the brief story of the conception of the Pony Love jewelry line.

“I was diagnosed with hantavirus in October of 2021. I had become very ill, falling down a lot, often delirious, and was almost constantly incontinent. My situation was exasperated by having to live in a house with no running water for over 8 months. I had the house I was living in Rimrock sold out from under me and there was nowhere to go with 5 dogs. Then a very good friend offered me refuge on a property he had near Benson, Arizona. But there was no hot water and many problems. Still, as my health continued to deteriorate, I was happy that my dogs were safe.

One night I fell down in the gravel outside my house and could not get up. I crawled on my stomach very slowly across the yard and up the ramp into the house and managed to crawl into bed. I was covered with diarrhea and shivering. I thought this might be my last night on earth.

But I did wake up the next morning and called an ambulance. I was terrified as I was driven away watching my dogs standing around knowing there was no one to take care of them . (Throughout my entire ordeal in several hospitals, those dogs never strayed from that house. I was able to find friends to stop by occasionally and give them food and water). I was taken to Benson Hospital where I had 7 litres of fluids removed from my abdomen. The doctors and nurses were shaking their heads saying” We can’t deal with this !” I was taken to a hospital near Casa Grande but eventually ended up at Tucson Medical Center. I had stage 4 liver and kidney failure and sepsis and gangrene in my vital organs and was informed that I had very little chance to survive. But they decided to operate anyway.

I finally was moved to pre-op while the operation kept getting delayed. I was there for seven hours but a peculiar thing started happening. I had seen a rendering of a horse done by Pablo Picasso a few months earlier, and it kept rolling around in my head. I felt like there was a horse in the room with me and I became very calm. Picasso’s horse kept staring at me. I accepted my fate. I had made a mess of my life, but I had tried my best. I was going home. But I vowed to myself that if by some miracle I survived, I would make Picasso’s horse into a piece of jewelry. I remember the surgeon putting his hand on my shoulder and saying” We’re gonna do our best buddy”. He seemed to be tearing a bit, but I might have been hallucinating by then. I was rolled into the operating room.

What happened next is inexplicable. Some people claim that there was some kind of intervention-but that is another story.

The next day I was alive and everyone was incredulous. I spent a couple weeks recuperating and enduring the excruciating pain of having my wounds changed daily. They had drilled through my scrotum to get at the gangrene and sepsis. The operation had been successful ! I was sent back to Benson Hospital, where the kindness and care of the people there humbled me every day. I was eventually allowed to go home.

My 5 dogs who had been able to freely go in and out of the house the whole time had not strayed at all. Perhaps this was the biggest miracle of all.

I became obsessed with horses, reading everything I could and immersing my self in the energy of these noble beasts. I was able to go into town occasionally and there were horses everywhere. Had a horse saved my life ???

I could hardly walk and couldn’t drive, so I was stuck at home for a while recuperating.

Then my old guitar started calling me. I had this song by Michael Martin Murphy stuck in my head. My guitar had two broken strings and was beginning to warp, but I tried anyway. When I got to “ There’s a hoot owl howling out my window six nights in a row”, I would start sobbing . I could be dead and never have heard this song again ! I might have never heard any of my hundreds of favorite songs again.

I had to get new strings.

I couldn’t find strings in Benson.

I had to get new strings.

I had to sing.

I finally got the courage to go on a mission to get strings. I couldn’t even wear clothes, and I had this giant catheter attached to me. I wrapped my bathrobe around me and decided to go for it. Somehow I managed to climb into my truck , I backed up and almost hit a tree. I could only wear river sandals as my right foot was broken and they kept getting stuck on the/ foot pedals. I made my way slowly down my driveway and the dirt road, over the railway tracks and inched onto the freeway heading to Tucson. I was still a little delirious and I could only manage 45mph, but that was enough to get every asshole from El Paso to Tucson to honk at me and give me the finger.

I made it to a guitar store on the east side of Tucson. I stumbled in with my old guitar and begged for help . I had to get strings. The kindness I experienced that day changed me. They said they could put on some new strings and tune it up for me-just come back the next day. They looked at this decrepit half dead man in a robe and catheter hanging down….I smiled and looked at them and said … Mr Bojangles…. Please…”

There is a comraderie among pickers, and that day an older man stepped up and said “Gimme that guitar”.

I went to my truck and tried to sleep. The mission to that point has thoroughly exhausted me. I was in bad shape. After awhile they brought my guitar out to the truck.There were 5 of them. They had put on new strings , polished it up and gave me a new case. I fumbled for some cash but before I could dig it out of my bathrobe one of them put his hand on my arm and said “ it’s gratis partner”. They were talking about calling an ambulance but I insisted that I would make it home. On the drive back the drivers were nicer and I felt like I was being escorted home. There were horses everywhere and it seemed like they were all looking at me as I passed.

When I arrived home 5 dogs were going crazy ! ‘He did it ! He got the strings !!! They escorted me into the house and I tried to sit down but couldn’t . I finally wedged myself against the wall and started: ‘ She comes down from yellow mountain…..” I played that song over and over for days and when I wasn’t , I was listening to Michael.

We all know that ponies are different creatures than horses, but the Pony she named Wildfire brought me back to life. Michael Martin Murphy’s voice brought me back to life.

So now I am all about Love and I am all about horses. I discovered the miracles happening every day when these beautiful people bring healing horses together with disabled children, with Vets, with people with all kinds of ailments. It is the Purpose of the Pony Love Foundation to provide support, awareness and financial assistance to the organizations that do this work.

Can horses save the world ? I think that they can. It’s time to saddle up and let the horses lead this world back to sanity.

https://frederickshute.com/pony-love-product-line/