A time was set to meet with the people from Hard Copy, on October 1^st 1998, the same day Stern's hearing was set in the Miami County Court. The Humane Society representatives would meet Hard Copy at Mr. Stern's farm. Several other TV shows, magazines and newspapers from all over the country contacted the Humane Society. The Humane Society volunteers were again, overwhelmed with the media attention.  The days could have been filled with interviews and no work progressing with the ponies. The Humane Society members decided that the ponies were more important than becoming media stars.

The work began in earnest on the ponies and their living conditions. One of the first problems was with the physical condition of the ponies. The vets advised we only feed the ponies brougham hay. So, as the offers of donations of hay were called in, the volunteers had to make sure it did not have any fescue or red clover in it. As in any starvation case, the Humane Society had to start out slowly feeding the animals in order to prevent them from foundering, as recommended by one of the vets. Some local people felt the Humane Society was not giving the ponies enough food during the first few days of the rescue, and started pouring grain onto the ground for the ponies. Again, the Humane Society had to ask the media to please ask the public not to feed the ponies and explain the reasons why and how dangerous this was for the ponies. The media came through and the feeding stopped. Then, there was the problem of how to get the hay to the ponies. The local people were wonderful in their donations. Some of the donators had methods of transporting the hay, but for most donations, HSH had to find transportation.  Very few people had flat bed trailers that could be used on a regular basis, because of this the rescue was unable to obtain much of the donated hay. But, the people that did trailer in hay were heroes, those first several weeks of the rescue.

With hay donations pouring into the phone lines every hour the members of HSH decided it was time to have one person handle the phone calls for hay, feed, and offers for flat bed trailers. A volunteer was asked if she would mind receiving these calls at her home number.  It was important to have someone that the Humane Society could trust to keep good records in regards to these calls and keep the  Humane Society president updated on any problems.  A volunteer was suggested by a consultant to the Humane Society, she was said to be very trust worthy and understood the food requirements.   So, she was put in the position to handle anything in regards to the food donated, and the delivery of the food.

After such an overwhelming beginning things seemed to be falling into place. Two members from HSH were researching different adoption documents used for other rescues and re-writing them to fit the pony rescue.    The vet that volunteered setting up other volunteer vets, and ferriers for the work that was soon to start on the ponies, seemed to be under control, and the hay was being delivered and stored. The tumultuous of the preceding days seemed to be slowing down enough for the Humane Society members to start planning a major two day clean up of the junk on the property, securing the barn that had held "Clicker" and cleaning the water tanks for fresh water. Clicker had been removed from the barn (a job that took several hours)and was put in a pole barn for evaluation by  Kansas State Veterinarians and a local veterinarian.  He continued to walk in circles to his right, this was a concern and it was hoped that he would be able to over come this problem.

September 25^th 1998, Elizabeth and Danny  were placed in charge of the clean up (Elizabeth was a board member for the Humane Society). They went out to inspect the farm to see what needed to be done. Danny worked for the KWB Construction Company and explained the situation to the owner. The owner graciously offered to loan Danny the crews Gehl forklift to help with the clean up. The crew had to give up two day's of work when Danny took the forklift, but they wanted to help.  Danny talked to a neighbor near the Stern property and made arrangements to park the forklift there the night before. Saturday morning arrived sunny and hot. Elizabeth, Danny, and Rachel (their daughter) met around 30 volunteers on the farm. Elizabeth and Rachel passed out rubber gloves, bleach, brushes, and trash bags that Elizabeth had bought.  Elizabeth was very  concerned about the filthy condition of the farm, and the potential for exposure to bacteria, and disease.

Right at the beginning, the volunteers met with problems. Mr. Stern would not allow the volunteers on the property. The Sheriff had to be called out to the property to assist. The Sheriff Deputy talked to Mr. Stern and he finally stepped back. Water and snacks were provided by Danny and Elizabeth and the work began. Again, a problem with Mr. Stern.   Mr. Stern would not allow the volunteers to use any of his water to clean the water tanks and water the ponies. Again, the Sheriff had to be called and again Stern backed off.

While the volunteers slaved away under the hot sun, Stern's attorney showed up with several Mylar balloons and a sign saying "Get Well Ponies". Stern and his attorney, laughing all the while, tied the balloons to the fence near some of the ponies. The ponies became frightened and Elizabeth (concerned the ponies would hurt themselves) took the balloons down. Soon, some of Stern's supporters and neighbors showed up and set up a beer and cookout party blocking the drive and making the volunteers walk through them to get to the dumpster. While Stern and his friends partied, the volunteers continued their hard work. The barn that had fallen down on the pony "Clicker" was secured and made stable with the use of the forklift, so as not to fall on any other ponies. Danny; driving the forklift, and several volunteers loaded junk cars, and other dangers to the ponies onto flat beds to be moved off the property. Tons of loose dangerous trash was picked up and thrown away by the volunteers. The water tanks were emptied of their trash and scrubbed to shining. The water tanks were then filled to the top with clean, fresh water. When the ponies heard the tanks being filled, they came running. They stopped dead in their tracks when they got to the tanks. Rachel and another volunteer realized that the ponies were afraid of the clean sparkling water. But, thirst overcame fear and soon the ponies were fighting to get to the tanks and enjoy their portion of the fresh water. As the day wore into the late afternoon, Sterns friends became bolder with their comments to the volunteers. Elizabeth became concerned about the building tension between the volunteers and Stern's friends. When one of the volunteers asked Mr. Sterns to use his tractor to hay the ponies. Mr. Stern told him he would not allow him use the tractor.   Elizabeth commented, " that it was obvious that Mr. Stern and his friends were not on the same page as the workers." So, Danny used the forklift to hay the ponies that day. Eventually, the harassment reached a peak and Elizabeth decided to stop the clean up. "We are not going to clean this man's property while he sits on the back of his neck and impairs our work", one of the volunteers stated.