Borderlands Horse Sanctuary

Sheza Music Star - Gentle Spirits Horse Rescue and Sanctuary

2012-02-14T11:13:00.002-06:00

Last Friday afternoon I had the opportunity to stop over at Gentle Spirits Horse Rescue and Sanctuary. Savanna is headed to their sanctuary location to get a bit more one-on-one time to see if that will help with her standoffishness. The ladies at Gentle Spirits have done a fantastic job of bringing Savanna up to weight and getting her used to the idea that there will always be food and a kind word. What she really needs now is her own very special person to love her the way each horse deserves. In her short time on Earth, she has probably seen and experienced more than some people do in their entire life. Savanna needs a break in life.

While visiting with Savanna, I fell in love with Leeza. There are certain horses that I instantly fall in love with. Leeza is one of them. I was only around her for a very short time (it was freezing out last Friday). But in that very short period of time, Leeza made a HUGE impression on me. She’s only a seven year old and although she’s not trained for riding yet, she’s smart. Don’t let her age fool you, she’s simply never been educated. We all need education to further ourselves in life. I do believe that Gentle Spirits did back her to see how she would handle the experience. All went well. She is a super laid back mare and once she’s had a little bit of training will be a fantastic horse that will get you noticed in the show ring or out on the trail.

Leeza at ISU

I know I’m not supposed to play favorites but Leeza is more than a diamond in the rough. I wouldn’t insult her by saying she’s a diamond in the rough, she’s already a diamond and simply needs to be cleaned and polished for the right person.

Let me give you some further background about Leeza. She’s a registered black and white paint with a registered name of Sheza Music Star. Her number is 00826698. She came from Iowa State University with other horses Gentle Spirits took in. She is reportedly unbroken but other horses from ISU have turned out to be nicely broke to ride. She’s a very sweet mare and easy to handle on the ground. Gentle Spirits gave Leeza another chance. Now she just needs to find the right person willing to put a little bit of time on her.

If I wasn’t running a horse sanctuary, if I was simply looking for a project horse, or a horse I was willing to send to a trainer, Leeza would be it. I’m not really a mare person, but she really was someone I would be willing to take home and put some time and energy in to (not that I’m not willing to do that with each horse we bring in, but if I wasn’t a sanctuary, I would be considering Leeza). She’s an “in your pocket” type of horse that will follow you around and craves attention. I think she wouldn’t have minded if we’d stayed with the herd all evening just petting and talking with her. Leeza is most definitely a lover. She lowered her head to my chest and let me give her a great big hug (and let me rest my cold cheek and ear on her to warm up). She simply stood there taking in all the attention.

Now I know I should be promoting Savanna as she really does need to find her own person, but so does Leeza, and for that matter all of the horses up for adoption at Gentle Spirits. Leeza may be young and uneducated, but she has that calming personality. I have only found a few horses that have a presence about them and I do believe that Leeza has that “presence” about her. So, if you are looking for a project horse, consider looking at Leeza. She’ll definitely get you noticed and you won’t regret your decision.

Leeza at Gentle Spirits

Flower Watch

2012-02-13T21:18:00.002-06:00

It's been a very rough weekend. We are on Flower Watch. Somehow, somewhere she stepped on a nail. The prognosis is not good. She's currently on bute and antiobiotics. We've soaked her foot in warm water with epson salt and betadine. We've wrapped her foot and she's in a pen close to Rabbit and Mayhem. She's wrapped in a blanket to ward off the chill and to keep her warm if she decides to lie down. She's not eating her hay but she's devouring her grain, beet pulp, and alfalfa. So far she's still drinking and eating (somewhat). Unfortunately, she stepped on the nail with her left front, which happened to be her good foot. Her right front has the ankle issue. I am debating on putting polo wrapps on her legs to see if that would help with the circulation in her front legs. But I don't know if they would interfere more or not. She is to be on antibiotics for the next 14 days. She's to be on bute for 5 days and then nothing for 5 days (as the meds are hard on their organs). We are also supposed to soak her foot every other day and keep it wrapped. I'm hoping to soak her foot every day. What's the worst that soaking could do? If she's still dead lame after this treatment, we will have a discussion with the vet to see if there are any other alternatives.

Please keep Flower in your thoughts. She's in a lot of pain but she's sassy enough to tell me "what for". She may have only been with us since mid-July but if feels like she's been with us for years.

Peppy Cutter King

2012-02-11T20:50:00.002-06:00

I've discovered one thing with white horses, it's impossible to keep them clean. King has taken to adding new spots on a weekly basis. I have to do double takes on him to make sure that what I'm seeing are just mud spots instead of anything else.

I swear King likes to roll in the mud more than any other horse (or for that matter either of the dogs). On the bright side, at least King is happy and that's all that really matters.

Little Things In Life

2012-02-09T08:12:00.000-06:00

The other evening I was late in getting out to do chores (which seems to be the norm as of late). But as I was puttering along getting everyone’s grain and hay ready for the evening, I noticed the moon. It was absolutely gorgeous. Had I been on schedule, I would have missed the big bright orange moon shining down. I enjoyed doing the rest of the chores in the orange moonlight. It seems a little odd to have a harvest moon in February but I’ll take it.

This morning when I went out to do chores, it felt like I was surrounded by thousands of tiny diamonds. We had a thin layer of frost and with the yard light shining, the ground simply sparkled. Even going into the shadows of the barn, the ground still sparkled. Everywhere I looked, I saw tiny diamonds glistening.

Sometimes the monotony of chores drags me down but then I experience little things like the ground layered in diamonds or the sky filled with a pumpkin orange moon. It’s those simple things in life that I look forward to. There’s so much drama and so much commotion that it’s nice to “discover” and appreciate the small things that we sometimes take for granted. Had I not been out doing chores that evening a little later than normal, I wouldn’t have seen the moon. This morning, had I stayed in bed (which I so desperately wanted to do), I would have missed the sparkling grass. So the next time you’re trudging along doing your routine day, something as simple as a warm breeze upon your face may just brighten your day.

In other news, not that there really is anything exciting going on at Borderlands as of late, the blind pen refuses to pull their heads out of the round bale in the mornings. The only time Babe, Thor, and Queen surface is in the evening when they demand their grain mash and alfalfa flake. Earlier in the week we put a new bale in and pushed the old bale to the fence line for the big herd to rummage through. They’ve pretty much devoured the rest of the bale, besides having their normal morning and evening hay. I sort of like having that little bit of extra food sitting out for those that get the munchies in between breakfast and supper.

Today is the last day of warm weather and then we are getting blasted with cold air. Of course it’s all relative. What I would call cold this year was probably a heat wave last year. We are supposed to dip down below zero Friday night and it doesn’t appear that Saturday’s highs are going to be any better. I hate going from the predicted 41 degrees for today’s high to 17 degrees for tomorrow’s high. It’s just so hard on the horses, especially the old ones. I may scurry around and blanket the older ones (and Rain). We’ll see what the weather is like when I do chores tonight. At least the highs are still above zero degrees!

Ivan and Brego

2012-02-07T22:17:00.002-06:00

Ivan sporting frosty whiskers. He's always keeping a close eye (or a cocked ear towards his buddy Brego).

I have no idea what Ivan was checking out. Where one goes, the other follows. I'm not sure who the shadow is either.

Robins and Geese

2012-02-07T08:58:00.001-06:00

In my last post, I talked about what a difference a half-an-hour makes. Sure as could be, I had the same experience last evening. I so desperately wanted to get home early and play outside before the cold weather set in. Unfortunately work and other commitments interfered. When I stepped outside to get Flower started on her beet pulp a little over an hour after getting home, the temps had already started changing. I was shocked to hear the wind howling as loudly as it was. When I went back outside a half-an-hour later, much to my dismay, the wind was even more fierce and the temps had dropped considerably. No playing with the horses for me, just chores.

I haven’t been paying attention to the weather lately as we really haven’t had any. No major storms, no below zero temps, no below zero wind chills (knock on wood). Our mild weather is making life so much easier but I wonder how much it’s messing with everything. On Sunday I stepped outside and heard a robin singing. That’s right, the first of February and I heard a robin. I didn’t see it but I heard him. While we were visiting with family, I also saw and heard geese. It’s awfully early for all these birds to be migrating but the weather feels more like mid to late March rather than the first of February. Luckily the horses haven’t decided to start shedding out their winter coats.

It’s been fairly quiet on the home front luckily and I hope to keep it that way. The weather is supposed to be cooler the rest of this week so I expect the horses will be a little bit more grumpy than they have been. This morning I found Babe, Thor, and Queen buried in their new round bale we pushed in last night. I can always tell when we push in a new bale, I don’t see hide nor hair of those three until a few days into the bale. I guess they are searching for all the prime hay first.

Half-An-Hour

2012-02-06T13:58:00.001-06:00

It’s amazing what a difference a half-an-hour can make. I was reminded of that very thought this morning. I simply couldn’t get out of bed on time. It was early enough yet that Tommy wasn’t demanding his morning hay. But instead of fighting the ever tiredness that is sanctuary life, I caved and snoozed for an extra half-an-hour. Oh what a glorious half-an-hour it was.

I ended up going out to do chores about the time I normally come in from doing chores. What a morning it was too. I grumble sometimes to myself when I’m out at 5:30am in the dark and cold. But this morning made up for it. The moon was shining so brightly and gave off a yellow ting to make the moonlight less stark. The stars were out and I could see for miles. The overall feel this morning was one of calm and beauty. I wish I had a camera that could take pictures in the dark. What a gorgeous morning to do chores.

I finally made it back in from chores (about the time I was supposed to be headed to work). I finished getting ready and a half-an-hour later was ready to hit the road. Do you know what a half-an-hour difference makes? In that half-an-hour, the fog had rolled it. Luckily it wasn’t too thick and the skies were already starting to lighten (another difference a half-an-hour makes).

Had I gotten up sooner, I probably would have been able to enjoy a fogless drive to work and a full, beautiful moon for my drive. But that half-an-hour of extra sleep was oh-so-very-much-needed. I know that the days are getting longer, but running behind a half-an-hour also gave me the opportunity to discover how much more added daylight we actually are getting in the mornings. I am so looking forward to this summer.

As it is, the other day I was out doing morning chores (in February) and I thought to myself how much it felt like mid-March. I’ll never understand this crazy weather. Mother Nature always reminds me to never take for granted our surroundings.

Foggy Sunday Morning

2012-02-05T09:38:00.002-06:00

Woke this morning to fog. Finally had a few minutes to snap a few pictures before heading out to hang with the family (gotta have that quality family time!)

Hope you enjoy, I'll return later with what little we've been working on.

View looking out into the big pasture.

Bo and Zeke

Zeke

Brego and Ivan

Dude (sporting his bad roach job to get rid of the cockleburs last fall, King, and the cat with nine lives!) Chaos - "Aww mom, you know I don't like to take pictures. Where's my treat for doing this?"

Mild

2012-02-02T11:56:00.001-06:00

It’s hard to believe what gorgeous weather we are having. I was thinking to myself this morning during chores that it feels more like mid-March rather than the first of February. I’m very thankful that this winter has been so mild. I know for a fact I would be struggling if we were dealing with the 20 below temps and the 40 below wind chills we dealt with last winter. I do expect to get a decent amount of snow sometime in March. It’s just a feeling I have, no hard facts/evidence.

I’m hoping tonight to get into the drylot and do some serious cleanup. Although it has been warm, it’s always dark by the time I get out to do chores so I haven’t had time to do any cleaning. Now that we’ve had gorgeous weather for a week, I want to take advantage before the temps drop and the snow starts to fly.

I haven’t really been paying attention to the weatherman lately. I probably should. I know they are trying to decide which of the three weather models to follow for this upcoming storm. But as long as the winds aren’t screaming and the sky isn’t dropping feet of snow in hours, I’ll be content. I’m usually such a worry wart when it comes to winter but it’s been nice this year to sit back and enjoy the fantastic weather.

The horses are enjoying the mild winter too. Every morning and evening when I go out to do chores, no one is crabby; no one is fighting with another one. Everyone has a fairly even temper (although occasionally Chaos will go after Maverick or Bo). But for the most part, everyone is content and I love content horses. I’m hoping also with the milder winter that we won’t run through as much hay. I am still saving up for this year’s hay (long story). My hope is to not burn through it all so that I won’t have to buy any for the summer months. By the rate the blind pen is going through hay, I’ll have enough rounds to make it through until mid-summer. It’s not the highest quality (not like the big squares) but it’s still decent and what the blind pen doesn’t eat, we push to the fence line for the other horses to eat.

I was hoping to sneak a ride in on Maverick this afternoon but if I’m cleaning the drylot, I guess it’ll have to wait. It always seems like there’s something else that has to be done before I can go and “play”. Usually when we get a January thaw, we start getting ice and that means absolutely no riding. There’s barely any snow left and just patches of ice from where I’ve been walking. I expect when I go out to do chores tonight there will only be the snow piles Mike pushed up remaining. I’ve actually been rather shocked in the amount of snow that has disappeared over the past four to five days. I was tromping through snow earlier this week and now there’s just a little bit left. I won’t complain, that’s for sure. It just seems odd to not have snow in February. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that 2012 will be mild winter!

Off Topic - Hometown

2012-02-01T08:08:00.001-06:00

I was going to post today about our lovely (yet crazy) warm weather. But my mind keeps drifting back to last night’s news. It’s totally unrelated to life at the sanctuary but it does make me wonder what this world is coming to. I grew up in a small(ish) town (not as small as the town we live by now). I never really thought much of it. It’s the town I grew up in and the town I call “home” because that’s where my family lives; it’s where my relatives are buried and where someday, I expect to be buried. Oh sure, when I grew up I moved away but I came back (sort of; it’s only a 30 mile/30 minute drive). I have pretty strong roots and am loyal to my last names.

My hometown is very rarely in the news. Maybe once a year our local news does a story about our hometown (if that). Oh sure it’s a college town but the streets roll up at night after 10pm. As a teenager, I was always home before dark thanks to driving a little yellow car with headlights permanently stuck on bright and no dash lights (totally embarrassing for a teenager). As much as I grumbled about that car, it also taught me values (I am still driving the car I “upgraded” to when the little yellow car finally died). I’ve been driving my “upgrade” for 15 years and it has over 200,000 and to me it still seems “new”. Yes, I know, I’m weird.

Last night as I was heading to bed, the news mentioned a shooting in my hometown. I know no other information. But it’s scary to think that someone in a relatively small town would shoot someone (not on accident). Actions like these really make me wonder what is coming to this world. I’ve seen the cruelties dealt to horses (abuse, neglect, etc.). I shouldn’t be surprised that those same cruelties would be dealt out to people. I know there is good in people. I spent last night with a wonderful group of people. I was even commenting to Mike the other day. I’d had a bad day at work last week and out of the blue, I had a friend check in to see how things were going. Just a quick note to say “hi, how’s it going?” really cheered me up.

It may take more effort to do good things than bad, but afterwards you always feel better doing something good for someone else. Doing something “good” or nice doesn’t have to entail a huge plan or lots of money. So today, I’m challenging everyone to do something nice for someone else, a phone call, a pat on the back, even a sticky note saying “hi, was just thinking about ya”; it doesn’t have to be much, just something to bring a smile to someone’s face to let them know you are thinking about them.

One Away

2012-01-31T22:01:00.003-06:00

I try to post on the blog and on Facebook. I'll admit I don't stay "up" on the latest technology to really spread our cause. But tonight we reached 99 likes on our Facebook page. Who wants to make it 100???

King. Love those partial blues.

Sightings

2012-01-30T08:17:00.001-06:00

I stepped outside this morning at 5:30am. The sky was filled with stars and Tommy let out a whinny to say he was ready for his breakfast. As I looked over to the barn to see if anyone from the big herd was standing their patiently waiting for their morning grain, I saw Sam, the Belgian. I knew it couldn’t be but he was there.

I’ve had it happen before. It seems to happen more often now than ever before. I guess it’s due to the number of losses we’ve had over the past few years. A quick glance turns one horse into another horse. It always causes me to do a double take because I know my eyes are deceiving me. It’s simply my brain registering what used to be rather than what really is.

What I saw this morning was a combination of King and Dude in the yard light reflection. I’d seen a two-toned horse. With the light shining the way it did and the combination of how King and Dude we standing made it look like Sam was still with us. It’s hard to believe that today marks the one month passing of Sam. I didn’t realize it until just now. Maybe that’s why I thought I saw him this morning. I never did see a sign for Sam when he crossed over, not like I did for Dick the Percheron we lost back in August (when I saw a shooting star that night). Maybe Sam was giving me a sign, I don’t know.

I’ve had the same double take happen a few other times. Earlier this summer I was in the blind pen and I happened to glance up and see my very first horse, Tiny Dictator. I did a double take. Of course it wasn’t Dictator, it was Ivan. If Ivan were to sport a star and a huge snip, along with two hind white socks and a brand, they’d be spitting images of each other. Oh sure, the body shapes are a little different but it’s still fairly the same.

Same goes for Maverick. I’d taken a picture of Maverick at a weird angle. When I was flipping through the photos, I thought it was my beloved Arabian, Ace. Again, I had to do a double take, almost the exact same coloring and almost the exact same stripe. Maverick’s is a little straighter than Ace’s was. Ace also had a little white on his back leg which made his hoof a different color. But at a quick glance, my heart skipped a beat.

The double takes also happen with the dogs. We lost an amazing dog a few years back on Christmas day. Knowing Farley couldn’t be alone, we went to the Humane Society and adopted Gypsy. She has very similar markings to our beloved LeRoy. I guess I have a thing for black and tan dogs. I was cleaning the stalls in the barn and looked up to see LeRoy standing in the doorway. Again, I did a double take. Of course it wasn’t LeRoy, he’d been gone for a few months. It was Gypsy checking out my progress and doing her imitation of supervising.

It’s those quick glances that sometimes make my heart skip a beat. It’s those fleeting images that make me remember those that have gone before us. The other day I was thinking about one my fears. I know, it’s silly. But one of my fears is being forgotten. What will happen when I am gone? Who will remember me? But then a very calming thought came over me. It won’t matter who remembers me on earth, because I will (hopefully) be greeted by all the wonderful animals and people that have gone before me. It’s a little hard to explain; my logic doesn’t always make sense once I type it out.

I’m taking the “Sam Sighting” as a sign that Sam has settled in to Heaven and that he’s found all his friends that have gone before him. It is never easy saying goodbye but knowing that we were able to give them a safe home, love, and a dignified passing is all that I can ask for in life. I only wish that we had the capacity to do the same for more. I’ll be thinking of Sam today.

Light A Candle

2012-01-30T07:12:00.000-06:00

I couldn't have said it better myself:

http://homeatlastsanctuary.blogspot.com/2012/01/lighting-candle.html

Lack of Posts

2012-01-29T18:58:00.002-06:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been fighting a losing battle with a chest cold. Me + chest cold = nothing getting done except minimal chores. I'll be glad for spring and green pastures. I'm not sure who'll be more happy, me or the horses when spring/summer rolls around.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-25T20:04:00.001-06:00

Good ol' Queen

Fred

Rabbit

2012-01-24T21:50:00.001-06:00

When she wants to, Rabbit can actually move out. She's loving the retirement life.

The Weatherman Was Wrong

2012-01-24T09:04:00.001-06:00

The weatherman was wrong, real shocker there. Luckily he was wrong for the better, no below zero temps overnight. I couldn’t figure out how the cold air could possibly come in while we were out doing chores last night. It was so nice without much wind. Because we have drill practice tonight, I decided I’d be proactive and get some of tonight’s chores done last night. I piled extra hay on my wheelbarrow for the mares and I threw an extra sliver of hay on the sled for the ponies. I love being proactive and cutting down on chores when I know I’ll only have a few minutes the next day. I need to be more proactive.

I was digging around in my tack room for a different bit for Jim and I came across an almost new waterproof canvas sheet. I forgot that I even had one, let alone where it went. I guess it’s a sign I need to do some cleaning and organizing to figure out what all I have.

I figured this morning would be cold and the air would practically take my breath away. Nope, I was pleasantly surprised by the damp warmish air that greeted me as I walked out the door. I love still mornings with nothing stirring the air. Of course with the warmer weather we have fog, but it wasn’t too bad. The fog actually made the morning air quieter. Everyone seemed to be fairly calm this morning too. The fog, temps, and quiet really has a calming effect on the herd (or maybe it’s just me). But it was nice to toss out hay and not deal with crabby horses. I love it when everyone gets along.

I counted 90 days from today and we are into April for any precipitation. The last time we had fog was back around Christmas so that puts any precip the end of March. I expect we’ll make up for the lack of snow at the beginning of the winter season at the end of the winter season. But I can definitely handle that instead of the other way around. Luckily this winter hasn’t been as hard as the past two.

Tonight we have drill team practice and I’ll be hauling Maverick this time around. We’ll see if he’s still the same, bored horse he was the last time I started riding him around in circles. He gets so bored riding in an arena but that’s exactly what I need and want. I won’t be using him for drill team but need/want to see what he does. It’ll be nice to have a couple of sanctuary horses representing during practices, at the very least.

The Weekend In Review

2012-01-23T09:33:00.000-06:00

We spent last week fighting the cold weather and even colder wind chills. I’ll be glad to see that type of weather disappears. I wasn’t sure what the weather was going to bring us Friday morning as the weatherman had been talking snow and slick roads.

We didn’t have time or energy to unload the stock trailer and decided that the enclosed gooseneck would be the better bet to keep the horses warm while hauling. I hate hauling in the winter but the gooseneck really has been a blessing. I managed to oversleep but still wake up in time to load the horses and hit the road for our 9:30am appointment. Unfortunately Mother Nature and people were against us. We got behind the snow plow going 25mph. Luckily we’d already called the vet to say we were going to be late. Apparently I need to start planning better so I’m not late any more. We lucked out that the vet wasn’t busy due to the weather.

I am cautious when pulling the big gooseneck. I’m still getting used to it, although I’m pulling it every week for drill team practice. But it’s going to take me a while to feel comfortable knowing where everything is at (it was the same when I started pulling the bumper pull stock trailer). After five miles of going 25mph, we finally had a break and I was able to pass. Talk about white knuckles for me. Snowy, slippery roads, pulling a six horse trailer loaded with my kids trying to pass a snow plow with his blade down.

Luckily we made it to the vets’ in one piece and unloaded. We decided to start on Jim first so that we would have plenty of time to work on Thor. We put Thor in a stall because I was worried the noise would upset Thor. Thor was pretty pleased with himself eating hay while Jim got his teeth floated.

Unfortunately, I didn’t think before the vet tranquillized Jim that Jim is actually much smaller than he looks. After the tranq, we all realized that Jim is a light weight. Luckily the vet worked fast and kept a close eye on Jim to make sure he wouldn’t go down. It took until after Thor’s float and hoof trim to wake up. Glad we did Jim first. It didn’t sound like Jim had too many sharp points but I wanted to make sure that he was good to go know that we are using him for drill team practice (and we can show off what a rescue horse can do).

After we pulled Jim out, he took a few wobbly steps and I went back to get Thor. Thor was happily eating away. After the last episode with a different vet, we warned our vet that Thor is a lightweight and it doesn’t take much to knock him out. Because Thor is blind, I wanted to do a hand float instead of a power float. I think the noise would have upset Thor too much and my goal is to keep Thor as calm as possible. It didn’t take long for the vet to float Thor’s teeth. He only had one sharp point and the rest were ok. While Thor was still out of it from the tranq, Mike and I went after Thor’s hooves. When Thor went blind in March, Thor wasn’t adjusting well. He was adjusting better than others and could handle some situations but I knew he couldn’t handle having his feet trimmed in stocks like we’ve done in the past. So I took advantage of the tranquillizers and the stocks and worked at Thor’s feet. He stood without moving (thank you drugs!) and were able to get his feet back to some semblance of normal. I’ll continue to work on his feet while he’s eating his grain but I wanted to spend some time really going after his hooves. Hopefully now we can manage his hooves a little bit better. We’ll see how it goes.

Luckily Jim woke up about the time we were finishing up Thor’s hooves. Thor was pretty much awake by the time we finished. Thank you half dose of tranquillizer. They loaded into the trailer like champs and then we headed home.

I ended up leaving Jim in the barn to have his morning hay. When I went to let Thor back into his pen, Queen decided she wanted to escape and started wandering around. I had the barn door open so she wandered in there to see if there was any leftover grain in her stall. I decided I’d leave Queen in with Jim for the afternoon to munch on the leftover hay from a previous night.

When I did let Jim out, we went straight over to Maverick and started playing. It was rather cute to watch those two. Who would have thought that those two would best of friends. It’s an odd combination. But were playing and rearing up. I so wish I would have had a camera. I rarely see the horses play like that. I guess Maverick missed Jim and Jim missed Maverick. Such an odd friendship.

I ended up doing chores early Friday afternoon so that I could make it to the Mitchell Horse Sale. But by the time 5:30pm rolled around, I was exhausted. I hadn’t hardened my heart to what I would see and couldn’t face it. I feel guilty that I didn’t go. Even watching them to remember them is better than not being remembered or forgotten. But I couldn’t bring anyone home and I couldn’t bring myself to deal with knowing that my hands are tied. Maybe next month I’ll attend but we’ll see. I need a few days to harden my heart against the cruelties people dole out.

What I can’t understand is how cruel people can be. Thor, who is completely blind, trusted me to load him into trailer, lead him into a new area, and protect him during all of it. He trusted me to keep him safe. And yet, there are so many people who don’t even think twice about beating a horse, starving a horse, etc. I can’t fathom it. It’s beyond my comprehension. The trust the horses put into us and the deception people deliver to the horse is beyond what I can handle these days.

Saturday was a terribly nasty day. Blowing snow and terrible winds kept me inside for the majority of the day. We rushed through the evening chores so that we could attend the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Banquet. It was nice to get away for a little while and be surrounded by good people fighting for a good cause (even if it wasn’t horses). I had debated on putting the horses in Friday night as the temps were supposed to plummet and the winds were still fierce but I didn’t think standing in a barn for that long a period would do anyone good.

Sunday was warm and quiet when we woke. I can’t believe what a difference no wind makes. Of course, the temps were warmer too! I’d left my phone in the truck on Friday and didn’t think to grab it until Sunday morning. Sure enough, lots of messages. We hooked the trailer up and headed to drill team practice at 2pm. As always, I was running late so we didn’t start practice on time. I need to start telling myself to be at places an hour earlier so that I am not late any more! We practiced for a little while and then headed home to do chores.

We pushed a round bale in to the blind pen. The bale only lasted two weeks. I think the previous bale wasn’t as good (too stemmy). We pushed the remaining portion of the old bale over the fence line for the big herd to rummage through to see what was good. Those old horses in the blind pen are sweethearts. I threw some alfalfa for them and they happily munched on that while we had the gate wide opened pushing snow, the old bale, and then the new bale around. I don’t even think any of the three picked up their heads to see what was going on. They do love their food.

I know it doesn’t sound like we did that much this weekend but after fighting the cold temps all last week, having a quiet weekend was necessary. I don’t think the weather is supposed to be too bad this week, except for tonight’s below zero temps . But it’s only for tonight and the weather looks good the rest of the week. I’m anxious for spring now that we have a few inches of snow. But on the bright side, maybe now the horses won’t roll in the pen and pick up cockleburs!

Busy Days

2012-01-22T19:00:00.002-06:00

Exhausted. The last few days have been jam packed with activities. When I have more energy tomorrow, I'll post what all we've been doing. Until then, here's a few pictures to tide you over.

Mayhem

Brego

Babe

Thor (with the eye that was already blind when we got him. Sorry, not as flattering of a picture of Thor as I should probably post).

Chaos

Ivan

Dude

King

Maverick (with Brego and Zeke in the background)

Blankets, blankets, and more blankets

2012-01-19T09:39:00.000-06:00

It’s a good thing I didn’t hit snooze one extra time. I was hoofing it to get everything done this morning even with getting up earlier than normal (ok, getting up when I should be getting up). I’m glad that I had the stalls ready the night before, otherwise chores would have taken over two hours to finish last night. As it was, we walked through the door two hours almost on the dot after getting everyone settled for the long night. Let me just say, I am not fond of this cold weather. Everyone seemed pretty chipper last night doing chores.

I pulled the more delicate flowers into the barn and then went about blanketing everyone else (who I had blankets for). I wish I would have had the good sense to try on blankets this past weekend when the weather was nice. I had to do some fast adjusting last night to get some of the blankets right. Luckily Sam’s old blanket fits Thor almost to a T. I was pretty shocked. Those two have such different body shapes/sizes but Sam’s blanket works perfectly for Thor, so now it’s Thor’s blanket. Thor was pretty content to eat his alfalfa while I messed with the blanket. Babe gave me some trouble because I couldn’t get the front chest buckles buckled. She wouldn’t lift her head from her alfalfa, the stinker! I also put a blanket on Brego since he wasn’t going into the barn. He’s a little bit thinner skinned but he’s young. He does like to hang out in the new leanto. I figured he’d be happier with a blanket and hanging outside with Ivan than between two grumpy horses in the barn. I wasn’t sure how well blanketing Brego would go. I haven’t really done too much with him in the form of handling, saddling, blanketing, etc. But he took it like a pro. I think he knew what I was trying to do.

This morning when I went out to do chores, I was surprised that the wind wasn’t more fierce. But the temps were below zero and I guess with just a little bit of a breeze we were dealing with twenty below zero wind chills. I guess I was rushing around so much that I didn’t feel the cold too much. I did manage to get a different blanket on Flower. She is definitely NOT a 72. I’ll have to figure out a different blanket for her but I didn’t want her to go without for today’s cold weather. Bo is also NOT a 72. I put the brand new blanket on him this morning too. I love trying out new blankets but I wish I would have had more time to play. Zeke got his old blanket with the tail flap that’s half ripped off. Hopefully Maverick leaves it alone. I put Jim in Rain’s green blanket after I fixed the belly clip. I should have switched Jim and Rain’s blankets so that Rain could be better covered but he’d been wearing his old heavy canvas blanket for the past couple days so I didn’t want to do any swapping since rain was warm. I don’t like the canvas blanket as well since it doesn’t protect as much of the belly but it’s sure heavy and that’s what Rain needs right now. I also threw the old red canvas blanket on Rabbit. I wasn’t sure how well she would handle the blanket but she wore one all last winter. I think she appreciated it. Queen was already tucked in her blanket and was happy to get into the barn last night. I think she just wanted her grain.

I do hate letting the horses out of the barn after putting blankets on. The horses act like it’s new horses instead of the same horses just wearing different colors. I swear they all freak out and act like I’m putting new horses into the herd. Even Mayhem got squirrely after I put the red canvas blanket on Rabbit. Luckily Rabbit wont’ take any gruff and has a fairly big bubble. She put Mayhem in her place pretty quick.

I wanted to leave everyone in blankets today because the high for today is only 1 degree above with wind chills still in the 20 below zone. I’m not too thrilled with this type of weather and I don’t think the horses are either. But I’ll rest easy knowing that they are staying warm (as long as Maverick keeps his grubby hooves of the blankets!)

Luckily the low for tonight isn’t supposed to be as cold and I don’t think they are predicting the wind chills like they were for last night and today. I still evening is so much easier to do chores in. Unfortunately, the weatherman is now calling for 100% chance of snow tomorrow. It’ll make the trek to the vet a little bit interesting. Hopefully the snow will hold off until after we get home. I would prefer to take the big trailer but I am not good at maneuvering around the vet’s parking lot; it’s pretty small as far as I’m concerned. I don’t think I can get the big trailer turned around without risking hitting a vehicle. Instead I’ll use the stock trailer and keep the blankets on. I’m not happy about it but that’s about my only option. Unfortunately the stock trailer is full. I scored a deal a couple weeks ago when someone was selling stall doors. I picked up three for less than the price of one! But we’ve never unloaded the doors and they are super heavy. I guess we’ll be unloading doors tonight.

The weatherman also said that Friday night’s temps are supposed to be about nine below zero. I have no idea about the wind chill. I took all of Friday off to go to the vet, get chores done early, and head to the Mitchell Horse Sale. I’m worried about the weather. No one is going to want to be sitting in the stands when they start the loose horses because the doors are pretty much open the entire time. Loose horses only get about 30 seconds in the ring (at the most). I guess I’ll just do chores early, put horses in the barn and head to the sale wearing layers. I hope the weatherman changes their tune but we’ll see. An evening sale with super cold temps doesn’t mean there’s much hope for those poor loose horses. I’m more than worried for them. I sure wish we were in a position to take one or two in.

I’m hoping tonight’s chores don’t take two hours to finish. With the colder temps though, I wouldn’t doubt that it takes that long. Last night as Mike and I were walking to the house after wrapping up chores, we started taking bets on how late it really was. I expect we’ll do the same thing tonight.

Cold Temps On Their Way

2012-01-18T09:01:00.002-06:00

Well, I opened my big fat trap and sure enough the quiet disolves. I looked at the weather forecast yesterday before heading out to do chores. It's a good thing because we are dropping into some nasty weather. Luckily the high today is 29 but there's a wind chill. I have Rain and Queen snug in their blankets for the day but I'll have to do some rearranging tonight to figure out who goes where.

I've lost three stalls and haven't had time to repair for this winter. I'm really kicking myself right now too. But I did do a lot of prep work last night to make tonight's chores a little bit easier, knowing that the weather was going to be bitterly cold by the time I get out to do chores. I like having happy horses, not grumpy horses.

I prepped the stalls and threw out extra straw in the new leanto, "Habitat for Horses" shelter, and with the ponies. I should probably be throwing out new bales of straw every week or so just to make life that much more comfortable.

This morning I couldn't find Queen. I assume she was in the shelter, snoozing on the straw. I noticed Brego was in the leanto. He even decided to go for a roll in the straw before coming up for breakfast. The ponies didn't care at all for my extra efforts but I'm not surprised.

I'm anxious and a little nervous about this weather. The way I have the stalls set up and the pens set up aren't as ideal as I'd like them to be so I'm struggling with who should go where. It's going to be a guessing game tonight.

I expect I'll be blanketing the horses in the barn for tomorrow's weather. I'm going to have to do some fast thinking to get a few of the blankets repaired tonight and on different horses. It's all stuff I wanted to do months ago but never had the time or energy.

With the high tomorrow being only 4 degrees, I want to make sure all the "delicate flowers" are covered and stay warm to avoid the wind chill. Thank goodness we haven't had to deal with this type of weather for the past month. I am guessing I would still be as ill-prepared as I am.

I do get to try out the two brand new blankets I bought at TSC, yet another clearance find! I don't have the corral panels set up yet to put Maverick in (he demolishes everyone else's blankets) so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that he doesn't decide to rip up a blanket during this cold snap. That gelding drives me nuts some days. This morning Maverick and Rain got in to it. They were just playing but to stand and watch those two play made me appreciate the little things in life.

Keep your fingers crossed that the weatherman is wrong and we won't get the wind chills like they are prediciting. The older the herd gets, the more I worry.

Winter, Candy Canes, Vet, and Cinderblocks

2012-01-17T11:48:00.002-06:00

Sorry, I couldn't think of anything to name this post.

Knock on wood, we haven’t had too much excitement lately. I almost consider that a victory! The weather was beautiful this weekend so I snuck out for a few hours Sunday to do some cleanup in the hay shed. I’ve been neglecting the loose hay and thought it best to get it cleaned up before the predicted snow started to fly. We also spent a good portion of that time moving and stacking pallets that the hay used to sit on. The horses were happy to get a midafternoon snack and I was happy to get everything cleaned up.

In our efforts to get things cleaned up, we needed to park the big trailer. No problem, park it by the barn so it’s out of the way of snow but can easily pull it out for drill team practice. I’m now taking Zeke (non-rescue) and Jim (rescue) to practices so at least we’ll have one representing the sanctuary! We unhooked the trailer, parked the truck, and I started chores Sunday evening. I scored a Weatherbetta fly sheet for $15 at Tractor Supply. Hellooooo clearance! So glad I checked. I’m not sure who will wear it but I couldn’t pass up that deal. It was originally $64. Crazy! I’ll admit that I’m a total clearance/deal shopper! We unloaded the grain and I asked Mike to put the flysheet in the trailer. I was too lazy to find a spot in the messy tack room (it needs a severe cleaning overhaul). Well, as I’m dumping grain into the barrels, Mike asked if he could get my help right away. Apparently, the ground was thawing and along with the placement of the concrete cinderblock, the cinderblock broke into five different pieces. It’s a good thing Mike saw the broken cinderblock when he did. I can’t imagine what kind of damage we would have been dealing with had the trailer fallen. I’m guessing we would have been facing replacing or repairing the jack. We were both thanking our lucky stars that Mike caught it when he did. It sure didn’t take long for that cinderblock to break. So for those that may possibly use a cinderblock to hold up your trailer, put a piece of wood underneath the cinderblock so there’s less strain when the ground freezes and thaws.

It’s a good thing we spent the time on Sunday cleaning. We had to run errands all day Monday and dealt with dropping temps and wind during evening chores last night. I decided that I better get a blanket on Rain because the winds were strong and the weatherman predicted snow. I had a different blanket on Rain earlier but he managed to break one of the belly band clips so I switched him over to his old blanket (that Jim now uses). It needs to be repaired but I figured it would hold well enough for this cold snap. Hopefully I’ll have time to figure out how to even repair the darn thing (either of the blankets for that matter). I swear I’m not allowed to have anything nice!

The wind was pretty fierce last night while doing evening chores. I wasn’t sure the “Habitat for Horses” shelter was going to survive the east wind. Luckily it did but it’s already taken a beating. I guess I should have put it in a different spot. Mike contacted the manufacturer to get new parts already. Hopefully next summer we can come up with a better location or better anchoring system. I’m sure he’ll put his skills to good use and figure something out. Last night when I went to feed Babe, Thor, and Queen, I couldn’t find Babe. I couldn’t imagine Babe being in the shelter what with the wind blowing and making such a racket in the shelter. So I climbed over the gate to investigate, thinking maybe she’d gone down and I couldn’t see her. Nope, she’d been in the shelter with all that racket and hadn’t heard me hollering for her. When she emerged, she started in on her whinnying telling me I should have come and got her sooner! That girl cracks me up.

I was in Walmart and went through the clearance section. They had boxes and boxes of left over candy canes. I stocked up. I think we are set now for a long time. Babe’s owner told me that Babe loves candy canes so I had to stock up on them. I wanted to see if some of the other herd liked candy canes too. It’s about half and half. But we are stocked up for a little while anyway. I’ll never be able to look at candy canes again without thinking of Babe!

Thor and Jim have an appointment with the vet this Friday. I want to get their teeth floated. Since bringing Thor home last summer, I haven’t had his teeth floated. He’d dropped some weight earlier this winter but I’m now graining him. But I don’t want to take any chances so I’m hauling him in to get his teeth floated. It’ll have to be a hand float instead of a power float. I don’t want to upset him. We are also going to work on his hooves. Ever since he went totally blind, he’s been really uncomfortable. It’s only been in the last month that he’s settled down to the way he used to be. I didn’t want to stress him out by trying to load him into the farrier’s stocks to trim his feet so I had to make the decision to let his feet go longer than what I want. But since he’ll be tranquilized for his float, we’ll be able to work on his feet and not worry about getting stopped on or kicked. Now that we are using Jim for the drill team, I want to make sure that he’s ready for the extra work. Jim has a tendency to lose weight over the winter. It’s nothing drastic but because I always keep a close eye on everyone, I could tell that he’d lost a few pounds. He’s on grain and he’s packed the pounds back on but if there’s any chance the weight loss is due to his teeth I want to nip that in the bud right away. Jim likes beet pulp but only in moderation. I guess he doesn’t like the amount I typically give to Flower. Last night he turned up his nose at it. I guess I have to put it in Sam’s old beet pulp dish for him to like it. Go figure. If they can snitch it, it’s a wonderful treat. If it’s something I give them, they aren’t interested.

This Friday is also the Mitchell Horse Sale. I’m planning on attending. I can’t bring anyone home. I promised Mike that I would sit on my hands. But I didn’t promise that I wouldn’t be waving my butt in the air to bid! If anyone wants to go with, I’d sure love the company. They are expecting 40 horses through the consigned section and who knows how many through the loose section. I’ll be there with pen and paper in hand to write down stats. It’ll be an exhausting night. I’m sure to drive home in tears. The consigned horses start at 6:30pm followed by the loose horses. I sure hope I’m not one of the few people left in the stands at the very end.

I had thought winter was here but the colder temps and snow finally made it last night. I guess I need to start paying attention to the weatherman now that winter is finally here. At least it waited until mid-January before coming. On the bright side, it’ll be moisture into the pastures, which we greatly need.

I’m not sure if I’ll post again this week or not. There really hasn’t been anything too exciting as of late to report, which is exactly what I like and need right now. Luckily 2012 has been a fairly quiet year so far with no emergencies. I think it’s about time we finally get a break.

Pro-Slaughter Challenge

2012-01-13T14:22:00.001-06:00

Absolutely love this guy! He's put up a challenge and I thought I would spread his challenge.

http://habitatforhorses.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/the-1000-pro-slaughter-challenge/

Save a Horse. Be Bold.

2012-01-13T09:53:00.003-06:00

Wow is all I have to say:

http://habitatforhorses.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/i-quit/

What a well written piece. Everything he says rings true in my heart. I do love the part about horses never lying to you, never running you down to others, never cheating on you, never leaving you for more money, etc.

Project Sage, another fantastic hores rescue, is having a fundraiser. You can buy a t-shirt that says "save a horse. be bold."

Those two thoughts really ring true. It's time we all stepped up and did our part. Lets make 2012 the year we all did our part to better the world for horses.

Bo - Then and Now

2012-01-12T20:13:00.007-06:00

As promised, here are pics of Bo. Since Blogger is hating me and my pictures, I posted the first month and ten months later.

The first five pictures are of Bo the day after the auction. He'd spent the night in the barn. The pictures don't show how bad he really is. The winter coat hides a lot too.

(sorry, blogger hating on my pictures)

The next set of pictures are of Bo a week later on 3/20/2011. He'd been wearing a blanket to it's a little bit easier to tell how thin he really was at the time but the pictures are still deceiving. Even after groomings and blanketing, the crusted hair was still so thick.

(stupid blogger)

The following are five days later on 3/25/2011 after still wearing a blanket every day to ward against even the slightest bit of cold.

The following set of pictures are from just the other day (just shy of 10 months). My apologizes for the cockleburs.

Winter Has Arrived

2012-01-12T07:43:00.001-06:00

Amazing what a difference 24 hours makes. Yesterday morning I woke to blustery winds. I figured I’d be doing morning chores in the cold but was pleasantly surprised to be greeted with warm temps, no snow, and water bucks completely free of ice. When I left for the paying job, I saw a few snowflakes and by the time I’d traversed three of the four corridors of the I90 corridor, it was snowing pretty well.

Fast forward to last night’s chores. Cold temps, blustery winds whipping everything around, and grumpy horses. I didn’t get out to do chores until after dark so there was the added bonus of the ever dropping temperatures after the sun set. I was none too pleased and frankly exhausted by the time I had everyone fed. Luckily the snow had stopped falling (horizontally) but the winds were still strong. The poor little “Habitat for Horses” shelter isn’t fairing very well. The winds really beat it up last night. Hopefully after the wind dies down, we can go and re-secure everything so there’s less flapping. Thor, Babe, and Queen were content to keep their heads buried in the round bale and ignore our efforts with the shelter…figures.

This morning was an even bigger wake up call. Frozen water buckets, hungry horses, wind, and snow. I thought I saw Rain shivering but when I pulled his blanket out, he decided he didn’t want to wear it. I guess he knows when he wants the blanket and when he doesn’t. Darn kid. I guess I should have pulled the other blanket that was quieter but I’m sure he still wouldn’t have had anything to do with it.

Bo on the other hand came up when I was walking away to see what I had. Today marks our 10 month anniversary together. I’ll post pictures (hopefully tonight). He’s still thinner than I prefer but I like my horses fat in the winter. He’s overly vocal about his evening grain. This morning he met me at the fence and let out a huge whinny to tell me he was anxious for his breakfast. I may need to increase his grain ration or add in something else. I have a few ideas up my sleeve I’ll try before deciding on his new and improved diet. For his sake, I’m glad that we have had such a nice winter so far. Bo has heart and a strong will to live. I can’t imagine any other horse (besides Savanna) that has that strong a will to live. Just remembering how thin he was amazes me to think that he survived. I’m so glad that he’s now safe at Borderlands. He will be a constant figure at Borderlands until the last day of his life and a symbol of why we need to do what we do. Whoever thinks it’s just the old and crippled horses going to slaughter need to do some research. Had Bo had any weight on him, he would have gone to the feedlot and we wouldn’t have been blessed with his presence. It would have been a shame to lose such a fantastic horse. Even the well broke horses (the ones everyone is looking for) can end up at slaughter if they don’t have someone looking out for them.

I heard a nasty rumor that the temps are going to stay in the single digits for most of the day and our low will be zero. I’m not looking forward to tonight’s chores. I plan on tossing out extra hay again to make sure everyone is happy and full. I’m ready for spring.

A Good Blog Post

2012-01-10T13:39:00.003-06:00

Another good horse sanctuary asking for help: http://homeatlastsanctuary.blogspot.com/2012/01/fund-raising.html

Other than not being tax deductable, I thing Borderlands is similar to Home At Last. Most of the horses at Borderlands didn't have a future. The animals at Home at Last were at the end of the line. I hope that we are never forced to see the same hardships as they are.

Much of what the founders of Home At Last say is echoed at Borderlands. I'm amazed at how closely we think on the same lines. If you are looking to donate to a 501c3 rescue, Home At Last is a sanctuary Borderlands approves (not that we have much weight but what we've seen has been very up front with nothing but the care and love of the animals as their number one concern.)

2012 Cheat Sheet

2012-01-08T19:19:00.004-06:00

Let me say just one thing before going any farther. I've been under the weather for the entire month of December so the place and the horses don't look at nice as they should. But I did want to finally add some pictures and thought I could give everyone a cheat sheet so you know who I'm talking about all the time. It'll also help me remember how old everyone is.

Skippy

9 year old registered mini gelding

Tommy

11-12 year old shetland gelding (guessing at the age)

Queen
34 year old appaloosa mare

Thor

24 year old belgian gelding

Babe

30 year old appaloosa mare

Chaos

7 year old breeding stock paint gelding

Dude (My Blazing Skip)

15 year old registered quarter horse gelding

Rain

14 year old arabian gelding

King (Peppy Cutter King)

14 year old registered paint gelding

Ivan

11 year old thoroughbred gelding

Jim

23-24 year old tennesee walker gelding

Zeke

19 year old arabian gelding

Brego

7 year old quarter horse gelding

11 year old national show horse gelding

Maverick

7 year old quarter horse gelding

Mayhem

2 year old quarter horse filly (still need to register her)

Rabbit (Rabbit Choker Niki)

19 year old registered quarter horse mare

Flower

25 year old appaloosa mare

Friday Ponderings

2012-01-06T07:56:00.001-06:00

I may be a worrywart but this weather is fantastic. I didn’t get a chance to ride last night but at least doing chores was super easy. No coveralls, no frozen water buckets, no cranky horses. As long as we get some type of moisture to keep the pastures and the hay ground going, I’ll not worry. Warmer weather makes a huge difference with the horses. They are all less grumpy and in general content to stand around and do nothing.

I’ll admit that it is still a little odd not to run to the barn the minute I get home from work to get Sam started on his grain or have someone banging on the barn door demanding they be let in for their evening meal. Maybe that’s why I think it’s so quiet now in the herd. Although, Bo lets me know in no uncertain terms that I need to get out there and grain him. He’s vocal, probably the most vocal out of the entire herd (except maybe Queen when it comes to her grain).

It almost hurt my feelings going in the house last night after chores. It was dark but still so warm and gorgeous out. Weird to say something like that at 7pm on a January evening. With the warmer weather, I don’t think we are running through as much hay as normal, which is a good thing. I’m trying to figure out if we’ll have any extra hay for this summer (to feed Babe and Thor). I’m still worried about hay and hay prices for this coming year. I’m still pinching pennies to pay for this year’s hay.

We pushed a round bale in the blind pen last night. I typically just throw the grain dishes over the gate but because we had to push a round bale in, I had to coax Thor and Babe to a different spot. They love their routine and were a little disgruntled that I wasn’t feeding them right at the gate. They got over it pretty quick. I left the gate open when I brought in the grain. Queen decided she’d be “sneaky” (if it’s possible for a 34 year old arthritic appaloosa mare to be sneaky) and wandered out of the pen, thinking the grain would be out there instead of in the pen. It took her only a minute to realize she had to come back into the pen to get her grain. I didn’t want to scold her for “sneaking” out. I left the gate open to see what exactly she would do. I try to humor her as much as I possibly can. Any horse that’s 34 years old should be humored and get whatever they want.

This morning when I went to check on the blind pen, Babe was curled up in her normal sleeping spot snoozing away. I love watching her sleep. There’s just something so relaxing about watching a horse sleep. While Babe was snoozing, Queen and Thor were having an indepth discussion. I’m not sure what they were “talking” about but I interrupted them. They both moved away from each other and acted like they hadn’t been “talking” to each other. It was rather funny. Ok, so I’m easily amused. But it really does make my heart happy to see that those two are bonding as strongly as they are. I know Thor had a thing for Queen when I put Thor in with them after Joe’s passing. I didn’t think Thor would be attached to Queen after over a year but I guess you can’t pick your kid’s friends. But I am happy to see that everyone in the blind pen is doing so well. I sleep easier knowing those three are pretty well bonded.

This weekend is a horse auction. I’m not sure if I’ll go or not. No matter what, I’d have to sit on my hands. Anyone want to go with?

We need to focus on major repairs this year. Sometimes I think it’s a blessing to have moved in to an old farm place and other times I think it’s a curse. Last night Mike and I had a lengthy conversation about a gate. The fence post is rotting off and the gate is starting to lean. It would normally be an easy fix except that the fence post is surrounded by concrete. I know I’m not explaining it well, but there’s no way to reset a new fence post with how the concrete and fence line up. We discussed our options on how to improve it (in the dark while Maverick kept pestering Mike…hahahaha). I’m glad to be where we are but I expect we’ll be spending 2012 repairing things that break. Usually we spend about a year making improvements and spend two years fixing things that break. I think we are to year two of fixing things that break. Knock on wood all of the items that have broken haven’t been serious or catastrophic. I think we’ll be spending most of 2012 fencing.

Standard Routine

2012-01-04T13:37:00.004-06:00

In this age of technology, life is supposed to be easier so we can do more. I'm not sure that's actually the truth. I think I just pack more in and try to make everything work. I was thinking the other day about a typical day at Borderlands and thought I would share. Oh sure, there are days where we do extra around the place or where we get home late so we don't haul extra water back to keep the 100 gallon tanks completely full for the mares and the blind pen.

But I thought I would share in my torture so you too can see the basic routine.

5:00am – Wake up, don coveralls, and head outside to do chores.

5-5:30am – Throw hay to ponies, break open their water, bring out fresh water, and do a quick once over on Tommy and Skippy. Throw hay to the mare pasture, check water, and do a quick once over of Rabbit, Mayhem, and Flower. Walk back to the blind pen, check water, and do a quick once over of Queen, Babe, and Thor. Throw hay to the big herd in the drylot. Ensure there are enough extra piles for everyone to eat and move around. Do a quick once over of Dude, King, Rain, Chaos, Bo, Jim, Zeke, Brego, Ivan, and Maverick. Check water.

5:30-6:00am – Get ready for work (shower, find half way clean clothes, and make lunch).

6:00am – Wake hubby up so he’s not late for work. Let dog out and start car if frosty out.

6:15am – Head to work.

7am-3:30/4pm – Start paying job.

3:30/4pm – Head for home.

4:30/4:45pm – Finally home. Let dog out, get mail.

5:00pm – Chat with hubby for a few minutes to see how his day went and play on computer for a few minutes.

5:30pm – Head out to do chores.

5:30-7pm – Chores (this is the routine as it currently stands, it was much longer when Sam was around.)

Pull Bo and Jim into barn and prepare their grain (ok, not really pull, they rush in but you know what I mean).

Prepare Flower’s and Rabbit’s grain. Pull Flower out of the pasture and grain her. Grain Rabbit (in the pasture).

Prepare Queen, Babe, and Thor’s grain. Haul grain back to blind pen and feed.

Climb the gauntlet of gates and doors to get to the alfalfa. Grab slivers of alfalfa for Babe, Thor, Queen, Flower, and Rabbit.

Toss alfalfa to Queen, Babe, and Thor.

Pull hay into wheelbarrow and haul over to the ponies. Make sure there’s enough for night and morning feeding. Toss evening feeding and stash morning feeding out of Skippy’s reach. Do a once over on Tommy and Skippy to make sure they are ok and happy.

Go back to the hay bale and pull more hay for Rabbit, Mayhem, and Flower. Pull enough for both morning and night feeding Stack the alfalfa and trudge back to the mare pasture. See if Flower is done (most likely not).

Check in on Bo and Jim to see how far along they are with their grain, usually not done yet.

Trudge back to the hay bale and start pulling hay for the big herd for both evening meal and morning meal. Insert explicative when the hay decides to not cooperate (we’re talking the big squares by the way).

Climb a few gates and peek in on Bo and Jim. Typically they are done by now. Open up the barn to let them out and toss grain dishes out of the stalls.

Climb back over the gates and drag hay wagon full of evening hay closer to the drylot fence.

Fight the big slivers of hay into smaller piles and start tossing.

Get to the recently climbed gate and toss the remaining hay over in big slivers.

Climb over gate and grab one of the slivers.

Start dragging and dividing the remaining hay to make enough piles in enough spaces so everyone gets enough hay without fighting.

Do a once over on everyone to make sure they are ok and happy.

Climb over the gate again and drag the yellow hay wagon under cover. Thank my lucky stars for the second hay wagon already ready for the morning feeding.

Climb into the blind pen and pull grain dishes. Do a once over to ensure everyone is ok and happy.

Carry grain dishes back to the barn.

Check on Flower to see if she’s finally done with her grain. Toss a sliver of alfalfa for Rabbit.

Open the gate for Flower and toss the remaining alfalfa. Toss evening hay into piles. Do a once over on Flower, Rabbit, and Mayhem. Climb out of the pen.

Carry the dishes back to the barn.

Pick up all dishes for next night’s feeding.

Prepare Flower’s beet pulp mash for next night’s feeding.

Mike usually hauls water while I’m doing the other chores. But if he’s gone and I haul water, add an extra half hour.

Haul two 5-gallon buckets of water to Tommy and Skippy.

Haul three to four 5-gallon bucks of water to the mare pasture.

Haul three to four 5-gallon bucks of water to the blind pen.

Double check the automatic waterer in the big pen is working properly.

Let the big dogs out to run and play. Haul water to their pen and feed.

Trudge back to the barn and feed the cats.

Say a prayer and a blessing that you are done with chores one more night.

7-10pm – Make and cleanup after supper, laundry (I swear I get dirty just stepping outside), a little bit of computer time, and fall asleep the minute the weather comes on.

New Year's Resolution = Need Your Input

2012-01-03T10:59:00.002-06:00

Call it my New Year’s resolution; call it refocusing; call it whatever you want but I need your input, advice, and help.

I know I mentioned it before but I am going to actually ask this time. What are some things you’d like to see more of at Borderlands? Keep in mind it’s just me and my time is pretty limited. Would you like to see more pictures, less of my rambling, more links to other educational blogs/websites?

What are some good fundraiser ideas you can think of that we could possibly do at Borderlands? I’m looking for all kinds of ideas but please don’t be offended if we don’t use your idea right away. They are all fantastic ideas but there is a limit to what I can do (at least right now).

I’ve already received a few fundraiser ideas from some of you and I’m very thankful and already brainstorming/working on getting these fundraisers started. But I’d like to spend 2012 educating people about horses, horse slaughter, and the need for retirement homes for old warriors.

I know it’s not feasible to do one fundraiser a month but it would be nice to have one or two really big fundraisers this year. I have a few ideas of where the funds would go if we were able to raise money. I’ve been tossing around some ideas in my head for a while and I think it would help the community in the long run to apply those funds.

So here’s my request to you: What are some fundraiser ideas Borderlands Horse Sanctuary could do this year? I’m also looking for people to help with fundraising and marketing so that we can better spread the news of where the horse industry currently stands. You don’t have to have any background in either area; just a drive to get the word out about the plight of the horse.

Also, I found out that there will be a horse auction Friday January 20th at the Mitchell Sale Barn. Would anyone like to go with me? I’d love the company and hate going alone. I’ve never twittered before but I’m also considering twittering the sale (if I can figure out how to twitter by then). Do you think people would be interested in me twittering an auction? I don’t know exactly what I would be doing (technologically stupid). I know some people simply can’t attend an auction. They are emotionally draining but maybe we could get more people involved that wouldn’t be able to attend otherwise? Or am I just wasting time? What are your thoughts?

I’m going to start asking you all for feedback. I’d really like to spread the word about horses and the only way to do that is with your help. I’ve reopened the blog for comments but if you do leave a comment, please include your name instead of Anonymous. I realize if you aren’t a “follower", silly blogger shows you as “anonymous” but I’d really like to meet everyone so please include your name. I like to know who I’m talking to.

Don’t forget that we also have a Facebook page. I tend to blabber about the horses on there too. I’m typically faster in responding to Facebook comments than I am blogger comments. But the more input, advice, etc. you provide, the better we all can promote horses and their well-being.

Thanks for all your help and happy brainstorming!

Rain (the horse) and Cold Weather

2012-01-03T09:27:00.000-06:00

I think winter is finally here. Oh sure we don’t have any snow yet but the temperatures this morning said otherwise. Winds out of the south are supposed to be warm but this morning those winds were cold! Both Thor and Queen were out of the wind in their shelter while Babe had her head buried in the round bale. The ponies told me in no uncertain terms that they thought I was late in getting out for morning chores. Flower was standing out of the wind while Rabbit supervised my feeding. Everyone in the big herd was standing out of the wind this morning. They weren’t too keen on standing where I threw the hay piles but I can’t open the gate. If I do, I’m afraid it’s going to fall over. I have to figure out how to repair the fence post because it’s rotting off but surrounded by concrete. So instead of dragging my little hay cart around I just toss hay over the gate.

I always do a quick “once over” of everyone to make sure no one has huge cuts or bite marks. I noticed Rain shivering like crazy. Poor guy can’t regulate his temperature. Ever since he got sick a few years ago even the slightest weather change causes him problems. I had figured that Bo would be the one to have problems but he was trotting around to keep warm and searching out hay piles away from the other horses.

Rain was trying his hardest to stay out of the wind. I finished throwing hay and grabbed a blanket. Of course I grabbed Zeke’s blanket and not Rain’s so had to readjust the straps. The weatherman is calling for 44 degrees today but Rain was so cold I couldn’t leave him standing there shivering. I tossed out some extra hay to help him warm up. Out of all the horses, out of all the breeds, and out of all the horses coming from different situations, it’s Rain who has troubles handling the weather change.

Rain is my personal horse and was never considered a rescue. But he gets as much pampering as the others. I couldn’t consider getting rid of him, especially knowing that his system has been compromised and we’ll always have to keep a very close eye on him when the weather changes. He can’t take extreme heat and humidity and he can’t take extreme cold or wind. Poor Rain has the least heaviest winter coat out of all the horses. It makes life easier when it comes down to shedding but now that we are in the middle of winter, it’s really hard on him.

Rain has two different winter blankets, although Jim confiscated one when the weather gets cold. But I may have to invest in a few more blankets for him to ensure that he doesn’t get chilled. Here I’m always worrying about Queen and if she gets chilled by a rain she’ll never get warm. Poor Rain gets chilled by the slightest breeze. He has a permanent spot in the leanto off the barn so that he can avoid the winds. I do think the wind cuts right through him. I guess he has a thin skin besides a thin winter coat.

I’m hoping that the winter blanket survives today. Maverick has a tendency to EAT blankets. I don’t have the corral panels set up yet to put Maverick in the “naughty pen” just yet. It’s been on my “to do” list but the weather hasn’t been bad enough to need the pen. I guess we are in to winter and I better set up the pen.

As it stands, the blanket Rain is wearing right now (Zeke’s blanket) has a huge rip thanks to Maverick. Maverick got the bright idea that Zeke should have a butt flap instead of a tail cover. So the blanket reminds me of long underwear with the butt flap for “emergencies”. I expect I’ll see Rain’s tail hanging out of the blanket when I get home. I had such high hopes of getting all the blankets repaired this fall but the time got away from me. Hopefully I get Zeke’s blanket (and Rain’s blanket) repaired before we head in to real winter with cold temperatures.

I don’t hold much faith that the temperatures will actually hit 44 degrees. If it does, Rain may get a little toasty in the blanket. But the weatherman also said that the wind was going to be fairly strong all day today. I guess I would rather have Rain comfortable in a blanket standing in the shade then having him stand in the leanto trying to shiver himself warm.

Hello 2012!!!

2012-01-01T09:15:00.004-06:00

Hello and welcome 2012!!! Boy am I glad to see you!

In a nutshell, 2011 was filled with loss of friends and family, accusations, health issues, financial concerns, and emotional strains. But 2012 is a new year and I forsee many great new adventures. I am very excited to see 2012 roll in (although I slept through the first few hours).

I've been debating on asking, what does everyone want to see more of at Borderlands for 2012. But I'm unsure that I'll be able to do any more than what I'm already doing. I was reading someone else's blog and how they were setting their 2012 goals. They said to pick one word and then chunk their goals. Well, I'm no where near setting goals or even being able to chunk them into groups. But I do have one word that I want to focus on for 2012, Simplicity. Not sure that's exactly a good word when running a horse sanctuary but this year I'm going to focus more on the horses and leave the politics and drama to someone else. I'll continue to follow my heart and do what I think is in the best interest of the horse.

I would also like to meet you, either in person or online. So this is my invitation to you. If you would like to meet the horses of Borderlands, let me know and I'll be more than happy to show you around.

Here's to a new year with new adventures!

Goodbye Sam

2012-01-01T08:56:00.004-06:00

We said goodbye to Sam this past Friday. It was a dreary day but Sam was snug in his blanket until the very end. We spent hours pulling cockleburs out of his mane, tail, and winter coat. I love our vet. He's so understanding of the lose I go through each time. I'll also admit that I'm impressed. I noticed it this time because Dick's passing was so fresh on my mind. Each time my vet is required to put a horse down he says these little words "Horse, please forgive me."

Friday night's chores were a blur but last night doing chores it just felt wrong. There wasn't the hour long wait for Sam to lick out his dish. I've been waiting on someone to finish their meal for years, starting with Ace, then Bob, and then Sam. Last night I didn't have to wait on everyone, they were waiting on me.

I know Sam is with his old Amish Belgian teammate(s), Bob our Percheron, and his QH buddy Bubba.

I will miss your goofy whinny and your banging on the barn door demanding to get in the barn for your evening meal. The herd doesn't look right without the two-toned blonde color in the mix.

Goodbye my sweet Sam Man. You are missed. You have a very special spot in my heart.

I'll try to post more pictures of Sam during his stay at Borderlands but blogger is giving me fits again.

Happenings Over the Past Few Days

2011-12-29T08:36:00.000-06:00

Seems I haven’t really posted much over the past couple of days. Life at Borderlands has been a whirlwind for a little while with the simple day-to-day activities. We spent most of the week prior to Christmas getting ready to have Christmas and hanging out with family. It was so nice to spend time with family. It’s been a rough year for all of us so it was nice to join together and simply enjoy each other’s company. I caught a little bug right after Christmas. Mom if you’re reading, don’t worry; it could have been that I needed a day to recoup from all the excitement.

I haven’t had much time to spend with the herd over the past two weeks other than their standard chores. I can’t think about what tomorrow will bring, otherwise I’ll start to cry. I spent over an hour pulling cockleburs out of Sam’s tail (and that is with the show sheen detangler). I’m sure I’ll spend another hour pulling cockleburs out of his mane and wooly coat tonight. I don’t want to do it and I keep thinking maybe I’m rushing. But last night, Sam kept looking back at me while I worked on his tail. He needed to go outside and walk around to relieve the pain from his ulcers. He’ll never be over the ulcers even when he’s only on beet pulp and hay. I know it’s time to let him go and it’s a good thing I already made the appointment because I’m simply too exhausted now to make that decision. I keep thinking there is something more that I can do. I know there isn’t and I don’t want him to suffer and lose any more weight. We’ve been blessed with a super mild winter (it’s crazy to have 40 degree temps for Christmas!). If we didn’t have this mild winter, if we were to have a winter like we did the past two years, Sam would be in much worse shape. So I know it’s the right time, but it’s hard to let go. Knowing that I’m losing Sam is part of the reason why I haven’t posted much (besides the Christmas hubbub). I don’t want to bring anyone down during a time that should be filled with joy.

This morning when I went out to do chores, Thor was curled up snoozing away. This is only the second or third time that I’ve seen Thor lying down. The last time I saw him down was due to a hoof abscess last fall. Of course, he was in with Babe and Queen at the time too. It seems Thor is finally adjusted to life with his disability. I can finally breathe knowing that he’s adjusted. Watching a horse try to adjust is tough when you can’t explain to him everything that’s going on. But Thor seems pretty content. He took a love nip out of Queen the other day. And now that he’s curled up sleeping shows he’s pretty comfortable with his two ol’ gals.

When I pulled Queen out, I changed up Flower’s feeding. I think she may have dropped a bit of weight now that her BFF isn’t in with her any more. I’m going to have to go back to her old feeding ration to see if that helps any. I’ll be keeping a close eye on her to make sure she packs the pounds back on. I don’t think she lost much but it’s enough for me to notice. Poor girl. If she hadn’t started harassing Queen as much as she had, I probably would have done a different setup. But I’ll go back to the feeding ration that she had this fall and I bet she’ll bounce right back.

We did think Mayhem was colicing the other evening. Just what I wanted, a colicing filly on Christmas eve! I think instead Mayhem was simply being lazy. But I didn’t want to take a chance so I pulled her out of the pen and we walked around for a good half an hour. She was farting and had gut sounds when we noticed her down (not rolling around but curled up). We walked for a little while and she started getting a little feisty. I figured that was a sign that she was just fine but was being lazy and eating while lying down instead of standing up. What better way to protect your food than to lay on it so no one else can get to it. Not sure where she learned that one. When I realized she wasn’t colicing but being lazy, we did a little bit more walking and a lesson on standing near the garage. Yup, she pooped on the lawn so there was no doubt that she was simply being lazy. That girl drives me nuts some days.

I’m trying to think of other activities or events that have taken place over the past few days. The last few days have been a blur with not a lot of horse activity. We’ve had some fantastic weather lately and I still haven’t had a chance to do any riding. Of course everyone is covered in cockleburs from head to hoof so the idea of pulling a horse out to groom (aka pull cockleburs) and then go for a ride seems like a lot more work. I guess I’ve gotten lazy lately. But pulling cockleburs when I could be riding is irritating. And the worst part is that I know once I pull the cockleburs out, the darn horse will go back and roll and pick up more cockleburs. It’s a never winning battle. I’ll be happy for about three to six inches of snow.

Please keep Sam in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow. The appointment is scheduled for 9am. I’m sure I’ll be a wreck. I’ve been in denial so I expect it’s going to hit me pretty hard tonight and tomorrow morning. Sam will be reunited with his old Amish teammate(s), his QH buddy Bubba, and his Percheron friend Bob. I’m sure Sam will be excited to see all his old friends again but I’m sure going to miss that goofy guy.

Reckless, The Mare

2011-12-29T07:15:00.001-06:00

Rather fitting to post this now that War Horse has been released.

Reckless, The Mare

This horse was a pack horse during the Korean war, and she carried recoilless rifles, ammunition and supplies to Marines. Nothing too unusual about that, lots of animals got pressed into doing pack chores in many wars.

But this horse did something more. During the battle for a location called Outpost Vegas, this mare made 51 trips up and down the hill, on the way up she carried ammunition, and on the way down she carried wounded soldiers.

What was so amazing? Well, she made every one of those trips without anyone leading her.

One can imagine a horse carrying a wounded soldier, being smacked on the rump at the top of the hill, and heading back to the "safety" of the rear. But to imagine the same horse, loaded with ammunition, and trudging back to the battle where artillery is going off, without anyone leading her is unbelievable. To know that she would make 50 of those trips is unheard of. How many horses would even make it back to the barn once, let alone return to the soldiers in the field even a single time?

Here is a clip of her story and photos to prove where she was and what she did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIo3ZfA9da0

Reckless was retired at the Marine Corps Base in Camp Pendleton where a General issued the following order:
"She was never to carry any more weight on her back except her own blankets." She died in 1968 at the age of 20.

P.S.

How bad was the battle for Outpost Vegas? Artillery rounds fell at the rate of 500 per hour, and only two men made it out alive without wounds. Just two. And also a horse, and she was wounded twice.

Jett (aka Prize) Picture

2011-12-28T17:35:00.002-06:00

Check out Jett! He's growing like a weed. Here Jett is with his herd mates. He'll be almost eight months old in January. Doesn't he look cute?

Christmas Blessing

2011-12-24T16:12:00.004-06:00

What an amazing Christmas blessing we were given this afternoon. Thank you S and E for stopping out to share in our Christmas. S and E stopped out to drop off bags of grain and treats for Babe.

I had no idea that Babe absolutely loved candy canes. Babe had to share. Queen insisted that she have some treats too and some attention. Thor wasn't as thrilled with the candy canes and left them to the "girls". But he did want in the action of petting and some lovin'.

This may have been a tough year, but days like to day remind me how blessed we truly are. I am so grateful to everyone this Christmas. So from my herd to yours, Merry Christmas.

Lost a Horse

2011-12-22T08:42:00.001-06:00

This morning I managed to lose a draft horse in a drylot. It’s not the first time I’ve lost a horse but it is the first time I lost one in a smaller area. I’ve lost the entire herd in the pasture. Of course I blame that on the hill that is our pasture. I’ve walked the entire pasture to discover that they managed to wander into the big drylot or were on the other side of the hill that I didn’t happen to walk all the way around.

But this morning I lost Thor. Babe had her head buried in the round bale (typical for her). All I ever see of here these days is her butt. Queen was snoozing by Babe but let out a whinny when she saw me. She’d missed her alfalfa last night because we were late in doing chores (starting chores at 9pm means I cut down on just about everything). I thought Queen’s whinny would set Thor or Babe off but it didn’t.

I grabbed a couple flakes of alfalfa, climbed the gate, tossed alfalfa to Babe and Queen, and went in search of Thor. I had a feeling Thor was standing in the newly constructed shelter. I’ve never actually seen him in it and was wondering if he’d ever used it before. Sure enough, Thor was in the shelter snoozing away. It’s so hard to wake a sleeping horse, and even harder when they are blind.

I made a bit of noise and promptly put the alfalfa to his nose. For Thor, that’s the best way to wake up, with a nose full of alfalfa. He “sees” through his nose. Babe “sees” through her ears. It’s amazing to watch how those two have managed to adapt to their disability.

Thor went to town on his alfalfa and I left him there. I was rather tickled that he was in the shelter. I wasn’t sure if it would be something either Babe or Thor would go into as it’s a tarp building and makes noise. If you can’t see it but you use your other senses, will that bother them. Apparently not. I’ve had to give Babe her alfalfa in the shelter too. I expect I’ll find all three in that shelter at some point.

Surprisingly enough, the shelter is pretty small once you put Thor in there. Oh sure there’s room for all three, but Thor really filled the shelter. It’s supposed to fit a vehicle and it fit Thor perfectly. Beings that both Babe and Thor are blind, I wondered if they would even go into it. I guess my worries are over. They both know where it is at and will go into it when they want. Wish I had one or two more of those garage in a box shelters. They really do work nice for the horses. It’s not permanent by any means but it is additional shelter if they so desire and works perfect as a wind block.

So the lesson for today is: if you lose a draft horse, carry some alfalfa.

Thoughts on Slaughter

2011-12-21T15:30:00.002-06:00

With the prospect of slaughter looming in the US, I’ve been reading people’s comments. Why the pro-slaughter people are more vocal, I’ll never know. But they insist that what they are doing is right. They insist that their horse, once it has no use for them, should be sent to slaughter.

Perhaps it’s time to explain why I am adamantly opposed to slaughter.

As the economy declined, people lost their jobs. People who had been working for 30 years but hadn’t reached retirement were now unemployed. Unemployment does not last forever and it does not provide for anything except the bare essentials. Anything extravagant had to go by the wayside. Those people who had worked at a job for 30+ years were also older and in the eyes of the employer, less desirable because they could hire someone much younger for much less. This is all information that you already know. We’re talking people, but what’s the difference with horses? Only that people have a voice and horses do not.

Because someone deems a horse “too old” or "lost his job" does not mean they should be shipped to slaughter. Why are these older horses not guaranteed a retirement home? Granted, they shouldn’t be put out to pasture to starve to death, but we don’t allow that with our grandparents do we? My mind is boggled by the midwest’s way of thinking. If you can’t use them, slaughter them. If you think they are too old and your reasoning is that you don’t want them to starve, you send them to slaughter. Why don’t you do right by your horse and euthanize? I know, because of money.

Money is the sole reason behind why people do or do not euthanize. It costs more to euthanize than it does to send to a sale barn.

But why do the sale barns outright say they do not take in the thin, blind, or crippled? Aren’t those the ones that go to slaughter. Some maybe, but mostly they are the plump horses. The thin, crippled horses help fill a load but they aren’t the sought after horses. So the crap the pro-slaughter people are spewing about the old and crippled going to slaughter is a lie.

If you take on a horse, you are responsible for their well-being for their entire life. Not until the novelty wears off, not until you decide that some other hobby requires all your time, not until you decide that they cost too much. Why are horses (and dogs/cats) not considered family members? You don’t dump your parents once they start to annoy you. You don’t dump your kids because they are naughty.

I know I’m rambling. But there are just too many pro-slaughter people spewing uneducated information and people are listening. I know I don’t have all the facts. But I am not willing to sit back and listen to all these lies. We are supposed to be in the season of giving. So why not this Christmas, do the right thing and help a horse. Spread the word about horrors of slaughter, educate people. Our only hope is to be as vocal as the pro-slaughter people.

Queen

2011-12-21T08:04:00.000-06:00

I was still on the fence deciding what to do with Queen. I think she told me this morning. It’s not as ideal for her (and Flower hates it), but Queen is relaxing and becoming boss mare of her herd of three.

This morning when I went out to do chores in the dark, Queen was curled up next to the round bale feeder. I think she was struggling to keep her head up. This is the first time in a long time that I’ve seen Queen lie down. Being in with Rabbit, I don’t think she could get up fast enough and get away but with Thor and Babe, she’s perfectly content to curl up on some loose hay and snooze (and steal their food without them even knowing). It’s still not a completely ideal situation but it’s better than before. I think Queen may very well miss Flower but has relaxed enough that she doesn’t mind. Or it could be that she prefers the other hay instead of the big rounds. I’m betting that’s more the case than anything. That girl loves to eat. I swear she follows me with her eyes when I throw hay for the big herd.

Last night Queen put Thor in his place. Poor Thor was just trying to smell out his food and Queen interfered. Queen let out a squeal and a half-hearted little hop. Thor simply backed up. He’s still not comfortable being blind and not being the one to protect. But he fell in love with Queen last year when I put him in with Babe and Queen after Joe’s passing. I’m still on watch though to make sure that Thor is adjusting to a new member in his little herd. I’m not sure he really wants to share his round bale. Every time he’s at the round bale, Queen is standing off to one side. When Queen is eating at the round bale, Thor is standing at a different corner of the pen. I don’t think he’s hungry but I’m sure he’s missing Sahara. Poor guy has lost so many. I wish I could explain to him what’s going on.

Flower does not like this set up. I’ve found her close to the fence next to the main herd. Where she stands, she can keep an eye on Queen. I know she misses Queen but she was getting a bad attitude (thanks to Rabbit). Apparently Rabbit is a bad influence on these mares. Unfortunately, Mayhem has taken to hanging out with Rabbit. I don’t think it’s the mother/daughter bond. I think it’s because Rabbit gets her away and is boss mare. Mayhem thrives on leadership. As long as Mayhem doesn’t pick up those bad boss mare habits, I guess I’ll let them stay together. But if I see some bad habits forming in Mayhem, I’ll have to pull one or the other for a little while. Next year’s summer pasture setup is going to be interesting too. Not exactly sure how we’ll deal with everyone but I’m sure we’ll come up with something.

The weatherman is talking rain or flurries for late today and tonight. I need to remember to grab Queen’s blanket for tonight’s feeding. She still gives me the stink eye whenever I get near with a blanket or a sheet. But I have learned, that she’ll just deal with it. If I tell her she can’t bite me and I stop for just a second adjusting and buckling her blanket, she’ll just give me a stink eye. If I keep at it, she’ll bite me. Thank goodness for big heavy winter coats. I’d love to buy her some Whinny Warmers but they are $50 for four. They are like tube socks that keep the horse’s legs warm. Queen has arthritis and I think it would be a fantastic idea but I don’t think she’d let me mess with her legs. I’m not sure if the other two older mares would benefit from them either. I’m sure they’d just knock my head off. I guess it’s a good thought. But wouldn’t Queen look cute in her blanket and some leggings? Just picturing it makes me smile. I can just see the look on her face. I’m sure I’d be able to put those Whinny Warmers on her front legs once and then she’d start biting me harder than when I put on her blanket. I’ve left Babe’s light weight blanket on because that pen gets a bit more breeze and is less protected from the winter chill. She doesn’t seem to care one way or the other. I’m sure blanketing is more for me than anyone else (except Queen).

I’m still wondering what this winter will bring. Today is the shortest day of the year. I’m glad that we’ll soon be getting longer days so I might actually get something accomplished outside. When it’s dark by 5pm, it’s really hard to get motivated to do anything but basic chores. Lately I’ve been sound asleep by 8pm. Guess I’m playing catch up from this summer when we wouldn’t even come in the house until after 10pm. But I am looking forward to longer days. I’d like to see the herd in the daylight more than just on the weekends.

It Takes a Village

2011-12-20T11:39:00.002-06:00

The below is a link to an amazing story. The author is so right when she says "it takes a village". I couldn't manage the sanctuary without everyone's moral support. I hope that 2012 will allow me to bring in more horses to provide them with a forever home that they so deserve. With talks of slaughter plants opening up in the US, we depserately need support in ensuring these warriors land in soft places for the rest of their lives. Everyone deserves a retirement.

http://thetdnblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/it-takes-village-one-mares-journey-back.html

Distrubing Rumor

2011-12-20T08:11:00.002-06:00

I heard a disturbing rumor this morning. Through the grapevine there is gossip that a slaughter plant is planned for this area. If not this area, one of the surrounding towns. I have no proof. I have no hard facts or evidence. It's only speculation and gossip through the grapevine.

But I would rather have these facts out in the open for people to listen for instead of being blind sided. I am out of the loop when it comes to the horse industry. So I have no evidence if this rumor is in the works or not. But I wanted to share. Yes, call me a gossipwhore if you must but we need to keep our eyes and ears open to keep such a monstrosity at bay.

If anyone hears anything, please post a comment so that we can all be properly informed and knowledgeable.

Relocating

2011-12-19T12:04:00.001-06:00

With Sahara’s absence, Thor became upset. I had hoped that he would settle down quickly but he knew he was missing a horse. I decided it might be wise to try putting Queen in with Babe and Thor. I don’t like the location as it isn’t quite as protected but Queen wouldn’t get pushed around like she has been for the past few months. I’m not convinced I’ll keep this arrangement because Queen still has to be stalled at night when the temps drop. She’s just too old to withstand super cold temperatures even when she has shelter to go in to and a snug blanket.

Queen seemed pretty content after I gave her some alfalfa and grain. All three seemed to settle down. In fact, Babe seemed the calmest out of the three. Queen watched over the fence to spot Flower and Flower continued to whinny but she eventually settled down when I threw her a flake of alfalfa. She’s been attached to Queen since the day we brought her home. I kept a close eye on Flower at first to make sure she didn’t try and take down the fence. She seemed to settle down last night and all was quiet this morning. But we’ll see where everyone is standing this afternoon before I make my final decision on who goes where.

Queen wasn’t at the round bale this morning so I’m not sure that I’m convinced she’ll stay. But for now she’ll stay with Babe and Thor and have 24x7 access to hay and a lot less pushing. If she seems depressed, I’ll put Queen back and she’ll just have to deal with being pushed around. After the snow flies, I may simply put her back anyway. I know Queen doesn’t like change (neither do I). But she’s been getting pushed around for a month or more and that irritates the holy heck out of me. You respect your elders. I know that isn’t the case in the horse world but I’m the boss mare and it’s my rules.

Babe’s mood definitely improved after Prince went to Gentle Spirits. She’s much calmer. I hadn’t realized how upset she’d gotten but she’s definitely back to the Babe I remembered. Poor girl. I feel bad for not having noticed it sooner and making her put up with a naughty paint for so long. I’m hoping that with Queen back with Babe, those two will bond again. Queen was always in charge of Babe so hopefully Queen will feel up to being “boss mare” again, although I don’t think Babe cares because there’s food right in front of her nose all the time.

We did get a few things accomplished yesterday when Mom, Dad, and Grandma came down. We finally finished tarping all the hay and got the remaining loose hay from a round bale scooped up and tossed over to the horses. Now the aisle is clean again and we can get the truck or tractor in to the drylot if necessary after the snow flies.

We’ve missed out on any snow so far. I expect we’ll have a brown Christmas. It won’t be the first or the last brown Christmas. I do hope for some snow so that the pasture is covered and protected from the horses and so that the horses stop picking up cockleburs. Teach me not to get out there sooner and spray those damn plants when I had the chance. Now I’ll be dealing with cockleburs all winter. And I’m not talking one or two cockleburs at a time. I’m talking 50 to 100 at a time. Not as easy to pull out when it’s cold, dark, or I’m in a rush to get somewhere with a horse. I’ve relegated myself to being the scuzzy rider who shows up with burs everywhere. Yup, I’m “that” person.

I’ll keep you all posted on Queen’s progress. Not sure if she’s checked out her new shelter or not. I know Babe has a couple of times. I had to go in search of Babe the other day (yes, I lost a blind mare in a small pen). I think she almost prefers the shelter. If Babe could just figure out how to get the round bale in to the shelter, I think she’d be in heaven.

Appointment

2011-12-19T09:27:00.003-06:00

I couldn't bring myself to make the appointment for this week. Seemed too cruel to put Sam down two days before Christmas, especially with all the losses we've been experiencing lately. I made the appointment for next Friday at 9am. So I'll have two weeks to enjoy Sam's company. I know I'm putting off the inevitable. I'm being selfish. If the weather turns bad before next Friday, I'll reschedule for sooner.

But it gives me an extra week to recover from the other losses and prepare my heart for another loss. I am hoping that 2012 will bring no more losses and only heartfelt joy.

Sahara

2011-12-19T09:00:00.001-06:00

I made the unpopular decision. I’ve discussed the topic with others and we were all in agreement. I’ve done the best I can and it wasn’t good enough. We chose to put Sahara down this weekend. I know it’s an unpopular decision by many. I’ve had many people tell me “be the dominant mare”, “Show her who’s boss”, etc. Each time those people said such things, I offered Sahara to them and each individual declined the offer and quickly stopped talking about Sahara’s options. Who wants a dominant, crippled filly? I would have gladly handed her over to someone who had the knowledge and patience to train her. I do not.

I know some will be angry that we didn’t try to do more with her. We could/should have taken her to the vet to have her legs looked at. It would have required extensive surgery costing a large amount of money that I don’t have. Remember, I pay for the entire sanctuary out of my pocket and I don’t have a high paying job. I’m just a peon trying to cover the cost of the mortgage along with feeding for the horses. The money is not endless. I have to take into consideration the other 19 horses standing in the pens/pastures.

I could have sent her to a trainer, but to do what? She couldn’t have been a riding horse. She should never be bred. Who wants a dominant pasture pet that you have to work with every day for the next 25 years, if her legs held out that long.

I had to make the decision of what was best for Sahara and for the rest of the horses. I completely understand those that disagree with my decision and would rather not follow what we do at Borderlands any more. But remember one thing, I offered her to you and you declined for your own personal reasons.

I am sad. I am upset. I am angry, angry at the world, angry at the previous owner, angry at being the one that has to do what someone else couldn’t do, angry at being the only one willing to step up and do the right thing. I knew when we took her, that her life would be short. But I wanted to ensure that she would know kindness for the brief time she was at Borderlands.

Had she not been as dominant, we would have worked through the issues. But I can’t risk getting hurt. I can’t risk anyone getting hurt. I have to think of the other horses and what Sahara was taking away. Her passing does not open up a spot for another. Not yet anyway.

My heart is very sore. In a two week span, I will have lost two uncles and two horses. It is simply more than I can bear. This is the time to be thankful and filled full of good tidings and cheer. All I can do right now is muster through the impending dread that is hanging over me. Losing someone is tough, even when you know it’s going to happen. Losing someone when you are the one that has to make that call is heart breaking. I am emotionally drained to the point of exhaustion. I would very much like to curl up into a ball for the entire week and just ignore all that is happening around me. But that is unfair to those around me so I’ll muster on. I’ll apologize now for not being as chipper as I would like to be, especially this time of year. All I ask is that you don’t take anything or anyone for granted. Perhaps that is the meaning I am to focus on this Christmas season. Rejoice in the love of my family and friends and act as though each day is the last so enjoy the heck out of it.

Sam

2011-12-17T22:45:00.003-06:00

Sam gave me the sign I've been looking for. It's not the sign I was hoping for but I have to listen to what he's telling me. I had hoped to wait on calling the vet to make that awful appointment. But tonight Sam told me he's ready.

I'd given Sam his nightly beet pulp (slightly frozen because I didn't bring it in overnight) and he didn't polish it off like he normally does. Not sure if it was because it was cold or because he's simply giving me that sign.

After rejecting most of his beet pulp with ulcer powder, I let Sam out of the barn. He promptly went out passed the horses and laid down. He rolled a little (I'm guessing to relieve the ulcer pains) and decided to lay prostrate on the ground. When I approached he curled up into as small of a ball as a draft horse can. He actually looked small that way.

I sat with him for a little bit, talking about nothing. He decided he wanted up so I moved out of the way. But when he went to rise, he couldn't get his back end under him. He was on a hill so I assume the incline was a large part of the problem. But it took him three times to stand. We have no snow. The minute there is snow, he'll not be able to rise on his own.

I will call the vet Monday morning to see when we can make it in. It's not a phone call I want to make, especially after just recently losing so many other family members. I knew it was coming but had hoped that Sam would be able to enjoy a little bit longer. I need to let him go but with all the losses we've had at Borderlands lately, one more blow is just that much more devastating.

This next week is going to be a solemn week at Borderlands. I will enjoy the few remaining days with Sam and then give him the dignified end that he deserves (as do they all deserve). He will be surrounded by loved ones and will be greatly missed. If I don't post much in the next week, it's simply me trying to spend as much time as possible with Sam before I say goodbye.

As the hustle and bustle continues for this Christmas, remember the true meaning of Christmas and keep close those that you hold dear. Tell and show them that you love them. Time is precious.

Wordless Friday

2011-12-16T07:46:00.001-06:00

The Other Shoe

2011-12-14T07:25:00.005-06:00

No one ever described the shoe to the saying "Waiting for the other shoe to drop."

Perhaps it depends on the person and/or the situation. For me, its' a six inch stiletto steel toed shoe. Yup, you read it right. It seems the other shoe has either dropped or has at least toppled over.

It's the middle of December and we are experiencing rain (not snow). I'm not complaining but I'm worried about what will happen when the temps finally drop back to normal. As it stands right now, Babe and Queen are snug in their blankets to ward off the chill of the fog and drizzle we've been experiencing for the past two days. We are to get more of this weather for the next few days. At some point, I expect the freezing rain/drizzle will turn to snow. Until then, I guess I'll be satisfied we are getting some moisture.

I was informed last night of another death in the family (two-legged). I need to be with family during this difficult time to support them as they have supported me through tough times. I will return in a few days to share life at the sanctuary. If you need anything, just leave a comment or post something on our Facebook page. Go tell your loved ones you love them and give your animals a great big hug. See you all in a few days.

The Old Ones

2011-12-13T15:13:00.004-06:00

This was taken from Beauty's Haven discussion board on the Alex Brown Racing (ABR) Forum under Horse Rescue. I couldn't have put into words what they wrote. It also just happens to explain my love for the old ones at Borderlands. Beauty's Haven may not be near Borderlands but they do amazing work. I'll apologize up front for "borrowing" the text from the discussion but I simply couldn't have said it more eloquently.

The Old One
The young couple had made their usual hurried, pre-Christmas visit to the little farm where dwelt the elderly parents with their small herd of horses. The farm had been named “Lone Pine Farm” because of the huge pine which topped the hill behind the farm, and through the years had become a talisman to the old man and his wife, and a landmark in the countryside. The old folks no longer showed their horses, for the years had taken their toll, but they sold a few foals each year, and the horses were their reason for joy in the morning and contentment at day's end.

Crossly, as they prepared to leave, the young couple confronted the old folks. "Why do you not at least dispose of the “Old One." She is no longer of use to you. It's been years since you've had foals from her. You should cut corners and save where you can. Why do you keep her anyway?" The old man looked down as his worn boot, scuffed at the barn floor, and his arm stole defensively about the Old One's neck as he drew her to him and rubbed her gently behind the ears. He replied softly, "We keep her because of love - only because of love."

Baffled and irritated, the young folks wished the old man and his wife a Merry Christmas and headed back toward the city as darkness stole through the valley. So it was, that because of the leave-taking, no one noticed the insulation smoldering on the frayed wires in the old barn. None saw the first spark fall. None but the "Old One".

In a matter of minutes, the whole barn was ablaze and the hungry flames were licking at the loft full of hay. With a cry of horror and despair, the old man shouted to his wife to call for help as he raced to the barn to save their beloved horses. But the flames were roaring now, and the blazing heat drove him back. He sank sobbing to the ground, helpless before the fire's fury.

By the time the fire department arrived, only smoking, glowing ruins were left, and the old man and his wife. They thanked those who had come to their aid, and the old man turned to his wife, resting her white head upon his shoulders as he clumsily dried her tears with a frayed red bandanna. Brokenly he whispered, "We have lost much but God has spared our home on this eve of Christmas. Let us, therefore, climb the hill to the old pine where we have sought comfort in times of despair. We will look down upon our home and give thanks to God that it has been spared."

And so, he took her by the hand and helped her up the snowy hill as he brushed aside his own tears with the back of his hand. As they stepped over the little knoll at the crest of the hill, they looked up and gasped in amazement at the incredible beauty before them. Seemingly, every glorious, brilliant star in the heavens was caught up in the glittering, snow-frosted branches of their beloved pine, and it was aglow with heavenly candles. And poised on its top most bough, a crystal crescent moon glistened like spun glass. Never had a mere mortal created a Christmas tree such as this.

Suddenly, the old man gave a cry of wonder and incredible joy as he pulled his wife forward. There, beneath the tree, was their Christmas gift. Bedded down about the "Old One" close to the trunk of the tree, was the entire herd, safe.

At the first hint of smoke, she had pushed the door ajar with her muzzle and had led the horses through it. Slowly and with great dignity, never looking back, she had led them up the hill, stepping daintily through the snow. The foals were frightened and dashed about. The skittish yearlings looked back at the crackling, hungry flames, and tucked their tails under them as they licked their lips and hopped like rabbits. The mares pressed uneasily against the "Old One" as she moved calmly up the hill and to safety beneath the pine. And now, she lay among them and gazed at the faces of those she loved. Her body was brittle with years, but the golden eyes were filled with devotion as she offered her gift -- because of love -- only because of love.

Author – Reverend David L. Griffith

(from Beauty's Haven...said more eloquently than I ever could)
We are very blessed with many “Old Ones” that have been, are, and will be. I’m asked often why we take in an old one that will only be a pasture pal and live out its days here, and the answer is always the same – because of love. You see, the “Old Ones” not only help to guide, teach, and take care of the other horses – they teach we human caregivers too. They give us strength and encouragement. They appreciate and simply understand. And during the time they are with us - no matter if it is a day, months, or years - they know they are loved, and when it is time, they will cross Rainbow Bridge with their dignity restored. Too many times, as their walk up to Frosty’s Knoll begins, I’ve seen the horse stop and look at me, then hold its head high as though reflecting for a period of time, and then we walk on - and I feel so engulfed by love, gratitude, and sadness. The horse actually gives me the strength to walk on beside them - they reassure me that it is time and meant to be and I find comfort in that. God bless them all - they will live forever in our hearts. I truly thank each and every one of you for helping us to help the horses – be it by prayers, donations, networking, words of encouragement, etc. Our devotion to helping horses is strong and without you, we couldn’t do what we do. Many thanks to all of you. We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a blessed holiday season!

Heartfelt Sympathies

2011-12-13T08:30:00.000-06:00

As a sanctuary, we daily deal with the thought of death. It’s not an easy topic to discuss. It’s not an easy topic to watch first hand. The alternative however, is much worse. I can’t explain the pull/drive to run a sanctuary rather than a rescue. Watching someone grow old is hard. Making that final decision is excruciatingly painful. It doesn’t get easier with every passing. Every passing takes a little piece of my heart. But I would rather have my heart scattered to the winds than to have a whole heart without loving anyone.

I sometimes wonder if I simply have a hardened heart because of all the losses we have dealt with over the years. I don’t think so. It’s hard to say goodbye and let go. I guess that’s why I haven’t let Sam go just yet.

But I can only handle so much death in one year. I’ve lost two two-legged family members this year and a four-legged (horse) family member (with two more that will pass soon) and three four-legged (dog) family members. I may not have been close to each and every one, but their passing leaves a mark on my heart. I will never grow numb to the passing of a loved one.

I’m not sure what’s harder. Dealing with death or watching someone else go through the same process. Last night we lost a family pet (one of the three dogs mentioned above). It wasn’t unexpected and we were all prepared. However, it’s never easy.

But I’m also in a little bit of shock. Last night I also found out that a classmate from high school passed away this weekend. I don’t know the details, nor do I think I want to know. The idea that a young person should pass over without experiencing a long life is hard to swallow. How could someone the same age as myself pass away? He was so young. It doesn’t seem fair.

Shocks and loss like last night help put my life back into perspective. Life is fragile and rote with peril but it is also filled with love, family, and friends. I am blessed to have all three in my life. My way of returning my gratitude is running the sanctuary. I know I sometimes get bitter but under the disappointments and hurt, there is always the realization that life should be cherished, the bad with the good. This Christmas I will count my blessings and be thankful for all the wonderful people and animals in my life. My heartfelt sympathies go out to the family of my classmate.

Jim - the dog

2011-12-09T05:52:00.002-06:00

Look close at the picture and tell me what's wrong?!?

I have no idea why Jim was carrying around a stick. Of all the horses to do something corny like that, I would have figured it to be Maverick. Apparently Maverick's bad habits are rubbing off on Jim. Jim walked around with that stick for a good five minutes. He was even poking Maverick with the stick.

I can just see Maverick's and Jim's conversation about the stick:

Maverick: "Jim my best friend, pick up that stick and walk to the dry lot. You'll get the food people's attention."

Jim: "A stick? Carrying a stick is beneath me....but, if you say it'll bring us food I'll do it."

Maverick: "You might have to carrying it around for a little while to get their attention."

Jim: "Why don't you carry this stick?"

Maverick: "Because they expect me to do something like that. They won't expect you to do it and will pay attention to us this way."

Jim: "But I don't care if we get any attention from the food people. I just want food."

Maverick: "If you carry a stick, it'll give them something to talk about at the very least and will make them wonder."

Jim: "If you don't behave, I'll wack you one with this stick. Where's my treat?"

I'll never figure out what Jim was doing with that stick. I've never seen him carry anything around like that before. But it was worth watching. Those horses always bring joy to my heart.

Habitat for Horses Project

2011-12-08T18:22:00.002-06:00

What an amazing day and what amazing volunteers. B and G arrived early this morning to help work on what they dubbed our project "Habitat for Horses". I wanted a shelter for the blind pen and bought a Garage in a Box. Pretty handy but worthless instructions!

I cannot express my gratitude enough for B and G's hard work. Those two ladies are some hard working volunteers. I can honestly say I haven't met many people who work as hard as those two ladies. Simply blows my mind.

I was standing around "supervising" during a part of the construction because I couldn't get over the generosity and hard work I was blessed with today. Once we had the tarp on, Babe was in the new shelter "supervising". I think she was as excited about the new shelter as I was. She stopped in to "see" what we were doing twice.

Words escape me on the generosity bestowed on us. B and G worked in the constantly dropping temperatures and increasing wind throughout the entire day without a single complaint. I don't know of too many people who would do such a thing AND work so hard with a smile. I cannot thank you, B and G, for all your hard work. Babe, Thor, and Sahara thank you too.

Bo the Clown

2011-12-07T14:18:00.000-06:00

I’ve taken to feeding Sam his nightly beet pulp right after I get home from work. That little bit of extra time gives him just enough time to have almost his entire dish polished off after I come back out to start graining the other hard keepers and getting the nightly hay ready. I hate rushing Sam as his beet pulp is the main supplement and the hay isn’t really helping any more. I’ve come to the conclusion that I just can’t say goodbye yet. I’ll wait until the new year before I make the decision, but for now Sam will remain with us as long as his ulcers are held off with the use of the ulcer powder. The power is working but it’s not as good as the paste from the vet.

Sometimes, as the case was the other day, I try to get some of the others in to the barn for their nightly grain right after I get home from work (before I even go in the house to let the little monster dog out). I decided I’d get Jim and Bo started on their nightly grain the other night and then head in to change clothes and find my coveralls.

When I returned to the barn, bundled for the cold weather, Bo was happily enjoying himself. He’d managed to confiscate an empty grain bag. He has the horrible habit of grabbing a bite of grain and then hanging his head over the stall wall, wherein he loses some of his grain (he had his teeth floated this summer…he’s just a messy eater). Apparently the bag he confiscated had some of that allusive grain.

As I stood there watching him, he licked the bag clean and then proceeded to pick up the bag and swing it all around his stall to see if he could get any grain out of it. Once he was done flinging the bag around, he continued with the licking to see if there was anything extra. Bo had me in stitches. I didn’t want to make my presence known because then he’d stop. But it was so hard to not fall over with laughter. Bo is such a ham.

It’s hard to believe where Bo might have ended had Borderlands not been there to pull him that fateful March day. Bo is such a sensitive horse; I can’t imagine the emotions he was feeling before, during, and after the auction. I don’t know if Bo is just a “happy-go-lucky” type of horse or if he knows that he’s now in a safe place. I feel a little closer to him than to others and I’m not sure if it’s because Bo has that experience of going through an auction and knowing that we were there to help or if he’s just that happy of a horse. I’ll never really know. I have discovered that older horses pulled from auctions have a better appreciation for what we do. Maybe I’ve just been lucky with the few we’ve pulled, but it seems like each of those particular horses show a bit of gratitude. Maybe I’m just crazy for thinking such a thing. All I know is that I am so very grateful to have Bo in our lives and I will enjoy every minute that I am allowed the opportunity to share in his life. I have decided it is my mission to spread the word of Bo’s story so that other horses don’t have to go through the same horrors that he went through.

Wordless Tuesday

2011-12-06T05:56:00.000-06:00

Did someone say treat?

Bo and Cockleburs

2011-12-05T18:55:00.002-06:00

I almost didn't post the below picture. Every horse in the big herd is covered in cockleburs. Until we get a layer of snow, I'll be pulling those prickly burs out of their manes and tails. It's gotten so bad that the darn cockleburs now stick to their winter coat.

I decided Bo was just too darn cute not to share, cockleburs or not.

Bo was watching Flower and Mayhem nap the other day. I'm not sure if he wanted in on the napping action or if he wanted to spoil their nap. Either way, he "supervised" instead. He's such an amazing horse. I'll never get over the fact that he came very close to being served on a dinner plate instead of standing out in our pasture/pen.

We are truly blessed to have Bo in our lives. He's been with us for nine months and life wouldn't be the same without him. He holds a very special place in my heart.

December Memories

2011-12-05T08:37:00.001-06:00

When I stepped out of the house this morning, we had flurries. Finally, just a little bit of snow to add to my holiday cheer. After spending two days inundated with Christmas, the little snowflakes made me smile. Of course, it helped that we put up Christmas lights on the barn so I could enjoy lights while doing chores in the evening and the morning. Just two strands of icicle lights really light up the area.

I also realized this morning that two years ago today, we brought Jim home. Oh how I remember that adventure. I’d been in contact with Jim’s owner for a few months trying to coordinate a time. It was down to the last minute in deciding if we would take him or not. The owner said they were taking him to auction if we weren’t picking him up. That summed it up. On a cold Saturday, I attended the Sioux Falls Regional Livestock horse sale to see what prices were like. I had to sit on my hands knowing we would go Sunday December 5th to pick up Jim. I had been tempted to go to the auction that Jim’s owner was attending. I had thought of holding out on buying Jim and waiting to snatch him at the auction for much cheaper but I didn’t want to take the risk of going against a killbuyer and losing.

It was cold that Sunday December 5th. I was worried that Jim would get chilled so I brought along a blanket. Jim stood for the blanket while I froze my hands fumbling with the buckles. Jim loaded like a champ too.

We had talked with the owner and found that they were disappointed in the amount of money they got for their horses. I knew that Jim would have gone for that same cheap amount. We are in Quarter Horse country. Not many people are interested in a 21 year old Tennessee Walker. I’m glad that we now have Jim standing in our place. I can’t imagine what he would have had to go through. I expect he would have ended up on a dinner plate overseas somewhere had we not brought Jim home.

That night we unloaded Jim and put him in a stall so he could warm up and get used to us. The next day we moved him to a covered pen and pulled the horse trailer over to block any extra wind. That day (Monday) was the start of a terrible snow storm. It’s hard to believe that two years ago today we brought Jim home and began dealing with the worst snow storm in over 10 years.

It’s amazing how fast time flies. I can’t imagine this place without Jim and yet it’s only been two years. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we have an open winter that’s not too cold. I could handle a little bit of snow to cover the pasture and temps in the teens and twenties. But I’ll be pleased to hold off on the snow for another week or so.

Merry Christmas Jim. Glad you are home to stay.

Additional Research

2011-12-05T07:24:00.003-06:00

Others are starting to speak out also about bringing back horse slaughter to the US. The following is a good blog with additional footage/research for those unaware of what goes one.

http://babayagasmirror.blogspot.com/2011/12/solutions-instead-of-slaughter.html

Nap Time

2011-12-04T19:12:00.003-06:00

Found the camera and we actually had a little bit of sun today. Flower and Mayhem were both snoozing out in the pasture/pen. Thought I would snap a few pictures of them quick.

Farley wanted in on the pictures too. He's our loveable oaf of a big black lab. He prefers to be a lap dog.

Mayhem had been all stretched out snoozing but she decided to get up about the time I found the camera and came back out. Luckily for me, Flower decided to continue snoozing.

I'm so happy that Flower is back to the right weight. I was really worried when we first brought her home that she wouldn't pack on the pounds. She proved me wrong. She's getting a little cantankerous now as the weather gets colder.

Please excuse the poo. Why she decided to lay down RIGHT there I have no idea.

Rabbit is looking fat as ever. IT's amazing what a year can do. She's now on an antihistamine because her heaves are terrible now. Poor girl. I can't imagine how she ever managed to carry a baby with her heaves.

I don't think Flower even realized I was in taking pictures.

Mayhem is growing so fast. Hard to believe that she's gotten so big so fast. She's almost the same size as Queen. Mayhem and Rabbit stay closer together (although not herd bound) and I sometimes have to look twice to figure out who is who.

Alternative to Horse Slaughter

2011-12-02T05:52:00.003-06:00

Check out Kathi of Gentle Spirits. Prince is a star now!

Now is the time we really need to push to help the horses more.

http://www.kimt.com/content/localnews/story/Alternatives-to-Horse-Slaughter/mxPMpki1ek2btPqRgLBCNg.cspx

Risking Life and Limb

2011-12-01T14:06:00.001-06:00

I don’t want to do it but I don’t think I have a choice. I think I’m going to have to risk life and limb. I’m going to have to start blanketing Queen. I’m going to end up making that girl pretty cranky with the constant blanketing. She has a nice winter coat but today’s wind was the deciding factor.

I need to do some rearranging this weekend and get Rabbit out of the pen/pasture that Queen is in. It’s a really protected pen and close to the barn for when I need to pull Queen during subzero temps. Rabbit is just too hard on Queen and I’m seeing a very visible behavior change in Queen. I hope once Rabbit is in a different pen that Queen will go back to her cranky self. Even Flower seems to be picking on Queen and I won’t tolerate that type of behavior. I was taught to respect your elders, and I expect the herd to do the same thing with the horses. Too bad no one taught them that lesson.

The hard part will be deciding what blanket to put on Queen. I need to go through my limited supply of blankets and see what would best work for her. Last year I had a Jeffers blanket. It had big leg straps and buckles so I could work fast to avoid getting bitten. It also only had one belly band (it’s not like Queen will go down and roll around a lot, like the youngsters). But it’s super soft and can tear easy. With it being soft, it probably doesn’t cut the wind like I need and want her blanket to do. I also need to figure out what size she really needs to be in. I’ve had her in a 78 and that’s just a couple inches too big. I know I have a 75 but I was using that on Zeke, who I’ll need to blanket when I haul him this winter.

I may have to break down and buy her a brand new blanket if I can’t find one that will work for her all winter. I may have to buy a brand new blanket for Bo too. He needs a hefty duty blanket. I expect he’ll be in a blanket for a good portion of the winter. He’s a hard maintainer. Queen isn’t but she can’t afford to get wet.

I was on a discussion board and there’s a company that sells Whinny Warmers. They are leggings for your horse. If I thought Queen would let me mess with her legs, I would look into it. Unfortunately, I think she’d rather knock my head off instead. But it’s a way to keep their legs warm (sort of a modified version of leg warmers). I may look into buying a set for Babe or Flower. The only problem is that they are rather spendy and you should really have two pairs. One to wear and one to wash when they get dirty or wet. It might not be as suitable for our area as I think. But I may look at doing something with Queen’s legs so her arthritis isn’t so bad. I guess I need to put her on joint supplement too. She’s gotten really stiff but that could be from being chased by Rabbit (darn mares!)

I guess I’ll just see how everything works out this weekend. Hopefully I’ll have time to figure everything out on Sunday. I’ll have to try a couple blankets Friday night as the weatherman is predicting snow Saturday and I don’t want Queen to get wet. She doesn’t have the ability to warm up and dry off once she gets wet.

Prize (aka Jett) Update

2011-11-30T05:57:00.003-06:00

Hard to believe that Prize (aka Jett) will be seven months old. His adopted mom (and guardian angel while he was at Borderlands) posted pictures. I couldn't resist and wanted to share. Sorry for the first pic. Blogger is hating on my pictures laterly.

The first pictures is of Jett the day after he was born. So small and mouse gray.

Here Jett is at almost seven month old, racing across the pasture. He's definitely going to be a stunning horse. Thank you S for adopting Jett and giving him a loving home to grow. We are truly blessed to have known this little guy. I can't imagine what life would have been like had we not been at that awful Easter auction.

Prize playing with Newman, one of the most awesomest dogs I've ever met!

Doesn't he look all grown up already?!!? He's one stunning little man.

Green, Brown, and White

2011-11-29T05:51:00.003-06:00

I know, it's not a picture of a horse. But it's hard to take pictures when it's already dark when you go out to do chores. I'm already missing the color green but luckily we aren't dealing with any white. I did hear a rumor that we might get a little bit of snow this week but for now, I'll enjoy the color brown but will resort to pictures to see green.

Prince Update

2011-11-28T10:03:00.000-06:00

If you want to continue following Prince’s new adventures, check out Gentle Spirit’s website and Facebook page. Here are two experts from Kathi at their Sanctuary location in Forest City, IA (don’t forget to support this fantastic rescue/sanctuary!!!):

Prince has settled in beautifully! He has walked the entire edge of the fence and can find everything. He even finds the corral panel that separates him from the herd… he’s in the small pen with Blake, George, and Chip. An incredible beautiful and smart boy. (Friday November 25th)

It’s amazing how Blake and Chip know Prince is blind…they are so kind to him. Prince follows right behind Blake and Chip is always standing close as if to guard him. Chip is mellowing and seeking out attention since Prince came in. (Monday, November 28th)

I knew Prince was smart. I’m glad that others get to experience and learn about his intelligence. A big Thank You to Gentle Spirits for taking Prince in and to G for reaching out to help your boy find a new home. I wish there were more owners who cared so deeply about their horses rather than dumping them at auction.

Best Blessings

2011-11-28T09:01:00.002-06:00

Our Thanksgiving weekend was packed full of amazing friends and family. As I reflect over the past few days, I am still thankful for everyone’s support.

On Thanksgiving day we loaded Prince to take him to Gentle Spirits. Prince wasn’t so sure about loading but after a little bit of time, he decided that it was alright and he loaded like he’d been doing it for years. I guess as long as it’s his idea, he’ll do it. We unloaded Prince at Gentle Spirits and put him in their round pen. Instead of introducing him to the Renner, SD herd, Gentle Spirits decided to put him in to the Sanctuary in Forest City, IA. He’s in with a few of the older horses (if my memory serves me correctly) so that they can observe him and begin his evaluation for more training. We were blessed to enjoy Thanksgiving with Gentle Spirits. Let me just say one thing, those ladies know how to cook! We had a wonderful afternoon and I met some amazing horses that are up for adoption through Gentle Spirits. Those ladies are fabulous. If there is a local rescue to support (besides Borderlands!! ), I strongly urge you to support Gentle Spirits.

While at Gentle Spirits, I saw Savanna. Let me say, she looks fantastic. She’s almost downright fat. I’m so happy to see a nice full butt and no ribs or hips sticking out. I knew once Prize was weaned and she could concentrate on herself that she would pack on the pounds. I’m ecstatic that she was able to put on so much weight before winter actually hits. I’m sure once the snow flies, she’ll be up to her right weight and by this spring she’ll be downright fat. Thank you Gentle Spirits for doing such a fantastic job on Savanna. I’m so glad she gets a second chance at life and that you’re helping to find her a home that will love her forever. She deserves just that!

We fell into a food coma Thursday night but woke fairly early to do final prep work for our winter supply of hay. The weatherman forecasted a calm day, so our hay guys decided to deliver the hay. I ordered extra hay not knowing exactly who we would have with us. The guys arrived with a semi and a flatbed full of hay. They had to run back to get a second flatbed full of hay after lunch. By 2pm the hay guys were back and quickly unloading the bales and putting them under cover. There really is nothing more comforting than a barn full of good quality hay. By 4pm all of the hay was stashed away into the hay shed and hay barn. I need to figure out how many round bales the blind pen will run through and then use up the remaining round bales for the big herd before I switch over to the good big squares. Once the herd gets a taste of the big squares, they’ll refuse to eat the round bales. The only misgiving I have with the hay is the price. Now that I have the hay sitting in my buildings, I have to come up with the cash. After having just paid last year’s hay bill, I am not excited to try to find the money for this year’s hay already. Luckily I’m not paying the standard price for this hay but it is higher than last year. So, if anyone would like to donate towards the hay, it would be most appreciated.

Babe seems to be enjoying Prince’s absence. It does feel a little weird not having him here. Even though he was only with us for four months, he was such a ham. Of course, I’m sure Babe is happy not having someone snitch food right from her mouth. She does seem to be calmer already. I still haven’t decided yet what I’ll do for herd arrangements. Queen seems to be in the “outs” with the other mares in her pasture. I’d prefer to keep her in that pasture because it has better protection but she’s getting pushed around even by Flower. I still haven’t figured out what their disagreement was all about. But it may be that Queen would be happy with Thor, Babe, and Sahara. We’ll see though. I’m still just trying to get things done before the ground freezes and I can’t do any more fencing repairs.

We were planning on putting up a temporary shelter in the blind pen but I didn’t read the instructions before pulling the box out. Apparently we need three hours and at minimum two people with lots of tools that seem to have gone MIA. I swear all of our tools disappear. We finished putting up the snow fence on Friday but had to go in search of yet another pair of pliers as the ones we were using disappeared. I swear tools simply grow legs and walk away.

Saturday we didn’t do much with the horses. But I did get to enjoy some quality family time and hide inside away from the 40mph wind. I also didn’t get to do much on Sunday as I was having an “off” day and thought it would be safer if I stayed away from heavy machinery or for that matter most of the tools that I could find. If it could break, it did. I thought it would be safer to hide in the house instead.

I still can’t bring myself to call the vet for Sam and Sahara. I’m putting it off for another week. I’ve been using some power ulcer medicine and that seems to be helping although it’s not a cure-all but rather just a mask. Sam is slowly losing his weight and I know the inevitable is coming. It’s just hard for me to let go.

I’m hoping the weather holds so I can get a few more outdoor projects done before winter sets in. We’ve had such a fantastic fall that it’ll be hard when the ground freezes and the snow flies. But I’ll take every opportunity to enjoy this nice weather. There won’t be much time to do anything extra with the horses until the end of the week. I have a few errands to run and by the time I get home from work on any given day, it’s already dark. I need to start planning to work on my projects during the weekend. We’ll see how that goes.

I did get to see a few pictures of Prize this weekend. Prize is now proudly renamed Jett. I’ll post a few for everyone to see later. He’s growing like a weed. It warms my heart seeing all of these horses grow and discover themselves. Watching Savanna and Prize (aka Jett) grow and become super healthy is the best blessing.

Winter Hay Supply Arrived

2011-11-26T22:39:00.002-06:00

Ever since we moved to Borderlands, we've had a little saying that if you're going to do it, go big. Yup, that's exactly what we did Friday. Our winter supply of hay was delivered. I sure do love these guys! There are few sights better than a trailer load full of hay.

I call the semi the Jolly Green Giant. That semi always brings me hay and it always makes me happy (and it makes the horses happy too)! I ordered a few additional bales not knowing exactly who all would be at Borderlands. Those extra bales screwed up my poor hay guys. They had to come down twice with the flatbed loaded full of hay.

Lucky for me all of the hay is under cover. I wasn't sure if we would get all the hay in the hay shed and hay barn or not. Lucky for me, our hay guys knows how to really pack those bales! I still have to tarp everything but with the wind we had Saturday, I thought I'd prefer to keep my feet on the ground instead of going tarp (er...kite) flying.

Now the hard part of the hay, paying for it. Unfortunately, the price of this hay did go up but that was to be expected. With the drought down south and my hay farmer digging up a good chunk of his hay ground for beans and corn, I expect that the prices will continue to rise. I pay by the ton so it's a little bit cheaper in that respect. But it's still a big chunk of change considering that I pay for the entire hay bill out of my paycheck. Hopefully once we are non-profit I can search for grants. Until then, if someone wants to donate to the hay fund, it would be most appreciated.

We have to figure out how many round bales remain from when we bought the 40 in October. I want to have enough to get the blind pen through the winter months. It's best to keep Thor and Babe happy with a full belly.

But it does feel good to have our winter supply of hay tucked away. I'll never say I'm ready for winter, but if we were to get snow, the horses would have full bellies. Lets hope that we have a mild winter.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T07:26:00.000-06:00

From my herd to yours, Happy Thanksgiving

Mayhem

Rabbit

Giving Thanks

2011-11-23T13:40:00.004-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

I’ll be blunt. This year has been tough; tougher than other years. But even through all the tough and rough times where I feel like I’m coming out of a losing fight with a bull, I’m still very thankful and blessed.

I’m so very thankful for the moral support everyone has given this year. I know I’ve been hard on some of you. Many personal, physical, financial, and emotional issues flared up this year that I struggled with. I know I’ve said and done things I regret and I’m thankful to those that stuck by my side. For those that I offended and who no longer run in my circles (but possibly read the blog), I’m sorry and hope that we can simply agree to disagree and continue being friends.

I’m truly blessed to have so many caring people in my life. Words escape me and I don’t know how to show my gratitude. A simple thank you doesn’t seem like it’s enough. I’ve met so many new people this year and am thankful for the opportunity to spread the word of what Borderlands does. Lord knows we aren’t flashy or boisterous about the cause, but we are dedicated. Some days it feels like I’m fighting a losing battle, and then I talk with someone. Even just a simple “hey how’s it going?” really does seem to lift my spirits and gives me courage to continue fighting the battle to educate people about horses.

I know I’m opinionated and sometimes set in my ways (it’s that Type A personality that I have), and I know I’ve offended some this year. But I am very thankful to those that plugged their ears while I ranted on about nothing and still stood by my side. It really does mean the world to me. Again, words escape me.

I’m also very thankful for all the wonderful horses in my life. They can be a pain ( Skippy Tommy ), but I wouldn’t trade them for the world. Each horse has such a distinct personality. I genuinely enjoy my time with them and appreciate the little bit of quality time I have with each.

People have mentioned before that they don’t know how I do it. I’m forced to make the decision to euth when the time comes and it’s a devastating decision. But it’s worth it. I am blessed to have the opportunity to be the care taker of a horse be it for years or just a few months. Someone once said (paraphrasing because I can’t remember) “Rescue isn’t about the length of time you are with an animal, but the quality of the animal’s life.” Sometimes a dignified death is better than a long drawn out painful life. My hope is that I do justice by each individual animal to ensure their quality of life and to ensure that they have a dignified life and death. It’s tough, don’t get me wrong. Each loss takes a piece of my heart but I would rather have my heart scattered to the four corners of the Earth knowing that I did right than to never have loved and lost.

I’m also very thankful to my family (two-legged that is) for all the support they’ve given me this year. It’s been a tough year for all of us but I see life getting better and getting easier for us all. I cannot describe the gratitude I have for my family. There aren’t many willing to dig fence posts with a bum arm, clean countless stalls, figure out how to move hay (round bales) when the only equipment available is a truck, travel distances to pick up materials to make my life easier, haul hay (with a smile), or simply be there to catch me when I stumble and lose my faith in myself. My only wish is that there were more people like my family in the world and I only hope that I have half as much strength and stamina as my family.

I am blessed and from the bottom of my heart thankful for all that I have, the friendships I depend on, and the support to continue running Borderlands.

I hope you all get a chance to have a wonderful Thanksgiving. May your thanksgiving day (and all the days to come) be blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving

Four Corridors

2011-11-23T12:24:00.001-06:00

I know some might think I’m a little over excited about winter weather. If I worked close to home, I probably wouldn’t be as concerned (although I’m not sure). To give a better perspective of my typical drive, I deal with the I90-I29 corridor. For you folks in South Dakota, I’m sure you’ve heard the news/weather talk about it. For you folks in other areas, it’s a magical and mysterious place where odd weather hits.

It’s actually rather odd. I live in the south west corridor. I work in the north east corridor and drive through the north west corridor from home to work. Each corridor I travel through is different. Take for example this morning, I heard a report about fog so I hopped on interstate instead of taking my beloved back roads. No fog at home (south west corridor), and had I traveled my backgrounds, I would have encountered some light fog in the north west corridor, and we were socked in with dense fog in the north east corridor.

So I know I sometimes I get freaked out and talk about it. That’s because I drive through three of the four corridors and each corridor can (and occasionally does) have a different weather environment. It’s hard for me to estimate the weather, especially when the bad weather typically comes from the west, so I head straight in to bad weather.

My favorite is when a blizzard warning is issued for the county next to ours. Unfortunately, we live only three miles from the county line. Mother Nature doesn’t pay attention to those county lines. There is a weird phenomenon with the interstate though, so I blame those four corridors for my interesting and sometimes hairy drives to and from work.

So the next time I ramble on about work and you can’t figure out why I’m over reacting, keep in mind I’ll be driving through possibly three different weather environments before I can reach home. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’ll be an easy winter.

High School Drama

2011-11-23T10:31:00.001-06:00

I thought when I walked across the graduation stage I’d be done with petty high school behavior. It’s ridiculous how some can act. And yet, I’m smack dab in the middle of it. Lucky for me, I’m the “principle” in the matter and not one of the high schoolers. I’m sure you’re all scratching your heads trying to figure out what or who I’m talking about.

It’s those mares! I swear they are more like teenage girls than old mares. I don’t know who said what to who and when but all hell broke loose last night. I still am having problems figuring out who is mad at who but I know for one thing Queen is the one taking the brunt of the disagreement. I’m glad I’m not in the middle of it but I am going to have to figure out a resolution fast.

Before Savanna went to Gentle Spirits, Rabbit was with her. When Savanna left, I put Flower, Queen, and Mayhem together. Let me tell you, those people who say that the “mother/daughter” combo needs to stay together are wrong. There is absolutely no love lost between Rabbit and Mayhem. In fact, Rabbit was downright hard on Mayhem for a little while. Unfortunately, that bad attitude has rubbed off on Mayhem to some degree.

Rabbit is now in charge of that little herd of mares and it’s taking its toll. When we brought in Flower, she stuck to Queen like glue. I couldn’t pull Queen out of the pasture/pen because Flower would freak and trot on her bad leg making her limp even more. They’ve been best friends ever since Flower arrived, eating out of the same grain dishes, eating from the same hay pile, etc.

Until last night.

I have no idea who started it but Queen has been pushed from the herd. I realized lately that Rabbit has been a bit harder on the other mares but she has made it her job to keep Queen away from the hay these last few days (don’t worry I put out additional piles). Apparently, that bad attitude has rubbed off on Flower. Now when I went to grain Queen and Flower, Queen squealed and spun away (well, spun as fast as a 33 year old mare can spin). I’m furious. I threw hay out and even Mayhem came over and pushed Queen out of the way. Actually, I think Mayhem wanted to eat with Queen but by that time Queen was skittish of everyone.

I’m furious at both Flower and Rabbit. I have always believed in respecting your elders, be it two-legged or four-legged. I don’t care. You give Queen the respect that she deserves or your ass is getting booted out of the pasture.

I had thought of just pulling Queen out and putting her in with Babe and Thor (once Prince leaves for Gentle Spirits) but didn’t really like that idea. It’s that much farther away to lead Queen to the barn where she will have to be stalled during the super cold months. She doesn’t have the ability to stay warm and can’t warm up/dry off once wet. So I want her in the barn where it’s about five degrees warmer at night. The pasture that she’s in is just that much more protected too.

I don’t really like where I’ve had to leave the ponies. I’d rather that they had more room so I’m devising a plan. I had thought of dividing the blind pen to give Babe some relief from Prince. But now that Prince will be leaving us very shortly, I didn’t think I needed to divide the pen. But it does leave me space to do some maneuvering. So I think I’m going to divide the blind pen (although it’s going to be tricky trying to get the round bale in to the blind pen only (Rabbit can’t be on a round bale because of her heaves and the ponies should never be on a round bale). But Babe and Thor don’t need a gigantic drylot. They prefer to hang on the round bale most of the day anyway or soak up the sun. I think for the winter months, I’m going to put up a temporary fence and put Babe and Thor on one side and Rabbit, Tommy, and Skippy on the other. Then all the horses will be in close proximity. Rabbit stayed with the ponies all last winter and it seemed to work out just fine. She keeps those naughty little ponies in check. I’ll still have to do some wrangling to get everything figured out to work properly but I think that’ll be the best solution.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Flower will go back to her sweet self if the problem “teenager” is removed from the situation. Perhaps in the spring/summer they can all go back together but for the winter months, I am not going to risk Queen’s safety and happiness over a trivial little squabble. Now, if the squabbling continues between Queen and Flower, I’ll have to simply open up the blind pen and put Queen in with Babe again, put Rabbit in with Flower and Mayhem, and stuff the ponies back in their protected winter pen and leave it at that. But we’ll see. I at least have a couple different options to work with.

I can never figure out why I’m so exhausted at the end of the day. I think just keeping everyone happy and healthy is a full time job at Borderlands. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that my plan will work. I hope that I can get all the switching done by the end of Friday. I thought I heard another nasty rumor that we are to get icky weather again on Saturday. Yeah, that’s right, I said icky.

Here’s to hoping the high school drama will be resolved soon!

Attach of the Round Bale

2011-11-22T09:41:00.001-06:00

I can’t believe that in three days, it will be Thanksgiving. Labor day was just last week I swear! I seem to lose my days faster than I lose my train of thought. I didn’t have any motivation this weekend so I wasn’t able to accomplish anything. I’ll blame it on the weather. Luckily Thanksgiving weekend is supposed to be gorgeous (for this time of year). Hopefully I’ll be able to get a few little tasks wrapped up and feel better about the impending winter.

I had hoped to sneak out last night to snap a few pictures but it was pitch dark when I finally made it out. And let me tell you, a half unraveled round bale still hurts when it falls on you! I’ve been feeding the herd hay that we picked up in October. Unfortunately, it’s round bales instead of small squares or the big squares I prefer. I can’t just dump the round bale in the big herd because not everyone would get their fair share. I can’t dump a round bale in the old mares’ pen because Rabbit has heaves. So instead, I unravel a portion each day for the horses. No one is really impressed by this method because I can’t gauge how much I’m actually portioning out each morning and evening. I try to over load them a little in the evenings in case I don’t throw out enough in the mornings.

Last night I was fighting the old mares’ round bale and it started to get tippy on me. I wasn’t paying any attention and WHAM! Darn round bale fell right on my head and right shoulder. You know me, I let out a few choice curse words and continued on with feeding. But I’m a little sore this morning. Silly how a bale could do a little bit of damage. I’ll be glad when we get our winter supply of hay and I can start feeding the big squares instead.

Unfortunately I’ve broken my little hay wagon. It wasn’t all that great when I bought it. The first one was fantastic and lasted for a few years but this one I bought last year is junk. I’ve managed to rip the sides off and it has the knack of rolling an extra three inches from where I originally placed it. Frustrating at best. But now that the little wagon no longer has a side, I can’t use it to contain the hay. I’m left with the wheelbarrow. Not a big deal but I have to make multiple trips and it gets tippy. Of course, whenever some hay falls out and trips me up, I end up letting a few choice words fly. I forget how hay can go everywhere. I’m wondering if I couldn’t compose some type of poem for my dislike of hay in inappropriate places.

This morning when I went out to do chores, I discovered that Skippy had managed to pull the sled full of hay close enough for him to devour his morning hay ration. OOOOOo that little pony! He’s absolutely naughty some days and drives me nuts! But he’s just so darn cute, how could I resist. That’ll teach me to leave the morning hay in reach of a pony!

Weekend Update

2011-11-21T09:04:00.003-06:00

It seems we missed out on the freezing rain and snow. Hopefully we'll be able to do some last minute fencing. I had hoped to do some fencing this weekend but the weather forced me inside. Alright, not really "forced" me, but the weather wasn't pleasant on Saturday and it was darn right cold Sunday. To be truthful, I was pretty well played out by the time the weekend rolled around.

The sun was shining Sunday when I went out to do morning chores. Sahara was stretched out soaking in the sun (some days it's good to have a black coat). I could tell that Babe was starting to fade. She just had that look about her. Prince and Thor were busy at the hay bale.

While I was feeding the big herd, I heard Babe. She was nickering, but to who I have no idea. She is rather talkative, which normally gets Thor to talking too. But when I looked, Sahara was stretched out fast asleep and Babe was curled up. I can say I've only heard/seen a horse nicker while laying down less than a handful of times. It was so hard not to bust out laughing.

I'm not sure if Babe was telling her herd to leave her alone while she took a quick nap, was trying to figure out where everyone was, or if she was nickering herself to sleep. And what do you know, I didn't have my camera to catch the scene. Babe looked way too cute all curled up.

Queen, on the other hand, gave me the stink eye Sunday morning. I'd thrown a canvas sheet on her Friday while she was eating her grain. I didn't want her getting chilled because they were predicted freezing rain. Any bit of rain and Queen can't get warm. Of course I didn't have any grain Sunday morning but I thought the hay would be good enough.

Nope. Queen turned her head a couple of times to give me the stink eye. Each time she did, I told her she wasn't allowed to bite me. Queen HATES to be blanketed but it's the nature of the beast now. She's too old to not be blanketed but I have to be very careful when I do throw a blanket on her. Thank goodness for big heavy coats. Whoever said horses don't have feelings never met Queen. How many horses give you "the look" when you go to blanket or unblanket them.

I can't believe that this week is Thanksgiving. I'm so far behind. I've spent all of this fall repairing things that have broken. But it comes in waves. We'll spend one entire year simply fixing things that break and one year building new and then return to fixing other things that break. It's frustrating and never ending but I guess that's the price we pay for moving in to an old farm that once had cattle.

Snow

2011-11-19T12:43:00.003-06:00

Weatherman predicted snow for today, along with freezing rain. It could be worse....

Just kidding. No snow so far although we've heard reports of snow and freezing rain. Hopefully Borderlands can stay in this litte protected pocket. But at least it isn't as bad as the winter of 2010. I'll leave you with some "off topics" pics from that winter.

Gypsy's ears dont' tand up on their own. It was that windy!

Can you find my trailer?

Mares

2011-11-18T07:58:00.003-06:00

I had the holy bajeebers scared out of me this morning. I typically feed the ponies first in the mornings, then feed the older mares, and finish up with the big herd, which is exactly what I did this morning. It's dark. The moon is out and the yard light is on but it's still dark. The yard light only shines so far.

I had just finished tossing hay to the ponies, turned around, and saw something coming at me. My mind wasn't thinking fast enough and I couldn't comprehend even what would be walking towards me. It wasn't something small like a skunk, dog, raccoon, etc. It was something tall. Actually, my mind thought "who in the world is that walking towards me, there shouldn't be any person out at this time of morning."

Then my mind registers what it is that was walking towards me. Any guesses? Oh come on, you know you want to guess.

Have you guessed yet?

Still waiting....

Alright, I'll be nice....

It was.............

Mayhem.

That's right. Our little yearling filly some how managed to get out of the fence and was coming to see what I was doing. I seriously almost fell over from shock. Of course, then I start to look around for the other three older mares. If Mayhem is out, that means the others should be out. But I looked and no one was around.

Luckily Mayhem isn't like Sahara and I can easily handle her. We walk to the barn together. More like, Mayhem followed me to the barn. Luckily she's a smart girl and didn't want to be alone any more. I opened the barn door to get Sam and the mare's evening meals started (soaking beet pulp) and Mayhem decided to join me.

I just tossed a lead rope over her and led her back to her pasture. At first I didn't see any broken boards and assumed she jumped the fence like she did one other time (darn filly). But I hadn't noticed any scraped legs or injuries so I wasn't positive she'd jumped the fence.

I had to have a disagreement with Flower about who was coming in to the pasture and who was staying in the pasture. She was ready to come out. Now that she's up to about the right weight I don't do morning grain and she's very displeased with me.

Once I got Mayhem back into the pasture, I looked around. She's just small enough to get her head in between the boards to snatch the fallen hay. I figure she must have put her head through the fence and jerked back pulling the board down. How in the world she managed to get under the other boards, I have no idea.

I propped the board back up and put another couple boards in the way. It's yet another fencing job I need to take care of tomorrow before the snow hits. I had such high hopes of wrapping up some of my fencing jobs this weekend but that doesn't look to be the case now.

So besides finding all the waterproof sheets/blankets for the oldsters, we'll have to do some additional fencing to make sure we don't have another escape episode. I swear, these mares are going to be the death of me yet!

Not Ready

2011-11-17T12:29:00.004-06:00

I've not been near a tv to hear the weather in about six days but I've heard an ugly rumor that this Saturday we are to get rain and snow. There go my plans to really wrap up some major fencing and other projects. I may be outside despite the rain and snow to finish up a few projects that absolutely have to be done before the ground freezes.

I'll be honest, I'm not looking forward to winter. I never really do but it's even more so this year. With so many oldsters, I'll be worried sick. Any time there will be a chance for snow I'll worry about what I should do. Do I stall them in the barn, do I blanket them, how cold will it get, do I need to start feeding extra hay/grain, etc.? It's a never ending debate in my head to make sure that the horses are well taken care of during these colder months.

I'm not exactly sure when our winter supply of hay will be delivered. Luckily I have the CRP hay we picked up last month to feed the herds. I just dread the thought of winter and all the additional chores.

Luckily Mike had the forsight to plug the water heaters in yesterday morning. Unfortunately the water in the blind pen is not as protected and was frozen over before we realized how cold it really was. I'm so grateful to Mike. He's now taken it upon himself to keep the water tanks full. So while I throw hay during the winter months, Mike fills water troughs. I really am spoiled. Hopefully some day we'll be able to put in some new water lines for additional automatic water troughs. But that's all in due time.

I need to pull all the blankets out and assess the damages done last year. I never did get around to repairing blankets last spring and I want to have everything repaired, waterproofed, and labeled for size so I don't have to fumble in the dark and cold with a wrong sized blanket on a cranky horse.

I'm sure there's more I could ramble on about but I'm exhausted. The last few days have been draining (and could be why I haven't seen the 10 o'clock news/weather in awhile). I'm hoping that life will finally settle down now and I can tackle some important projects that I've tabled over the past few months, including taking more pictures!

Flower Power

2011-11-16T07:18:00.004-06:00

It's been awhile since I last mentioned Flower's weight gain. I really didn't know if she would pull through when we picked her up in the middle of July. Had we taken her in now instead of July, we would be looking at other options. Luckily she's made a full recovery. That girl has a special place in my heart. There are a few that come in to the sanctuary that instantly feel as though they've been here all their lives. Flower was one of them (along with Queen). We are truly blessed to have Flower in our herd and I enjoy her company immensely.

Flower still has a few additional pounds to pick up but she'll get there. The weight increase has been incredible. The pictures don't do it justice and it's hard to show the weight gain on an appy! :-) But I'll leave you with a few pictures to show how much weight she really has gained. Sorry for the poor quality pictures. The only time I could sneak a few pics was just before the sun set.

The first few pictures are from a week after bringing Flower home. She had been sick at her previous home with what I don't know. But she's a trooper!

It's hard to see in this picture but her hips, spine, and ribs were all protruding. Where her spine and her hips connect along with her whithers is where I watched the most. Those are one of the last places for her to fill in but she did it. That girl loves to eat.

Four months later, she's back to the right weight. I'd prefer her to be a little overweight but I'll take what I can get. Enjoy the remaining pictures of Almost Fat Flower.

I love the two little white marks on her leg.

No more ribs, no more hips, and no more protruding whithers. The only thing that will take her down now is that right front ankle but she doesn't let that bother her. When it's grain time, she trots to her dish while Queen sedately walks (of course there's an almost 10 year age difference between those two girls...Flower is 24 and Queen is 33).

I look forward to seeing Flower fatten up even more. I love watching her eat grain. She gets the same expression I do when I eat chocolate. It's comforting to know she'll have a safe and loving home until her time comes. Watching her gives me the strength to continue on with rescue/sanctuary work. Every ol' girl should have a good retirement.

Unplugged

2011-11-14T15:50:00.001-06:00

Some of you may have noticed my absence in blogging or posting on Facebook. It’s not as though we aren’t swamped at Borderlands. In fact, I can’t seem to see the end of the “to do” list any time soon. Well, as long as the ground doesn’t freeze that awful “to do” list seems to keep getting longer.

My lack of blogging isn’t because I’m angry, upset, mad, depressed, etc. I was talking to a very wise woman and she suggested that I “unplug.” I was explaining some of the pressures I’ve been dealing with lately (horse related and non-horse related) and she mentioned that she “unplugged” for a few weeks and thought I could benefit from “unplugging” also. I thought it a wonderful idea and have been “unplugged” to some degree for the past two weeks. I’ve been lurking in the background but simply not posting on Facebook, blogging, responding to emails/texts, etc. At first it was hard not to comment or let you all know what I was doing, but it got easier as the days went on.

I don’t mean to ignore or offend anyone by not responding. But I simply needed a break. As the wise woman said, those that stick around during your absence will be your true supporters. So I want to thank those who contacted me personally to check in and make sure that I was doing alright. I am truly touched by your concern and generosity. It gives me that “warm and fuzzy” I needed to continue on. I really couldn’t continue without your support.

I have a number of hard decisions to make in the near future so I may stay “unplugged” but I wanted to resurface for just a little while to get you up to speed. I’ll refrain from delving in to my personal life, as I’m sure I’ll bore you to tears. But here goes what’s coming up in the near future for the horses.

We are going to lose Sam. It’s becoming more and more obvious that I have to call the vet and make an appointment in the next week or so. I hate this time of year. Thanksgiving always means death to me. I’ve already lost a two-legged family member this month, now I have to “play god” and make that decision about a four-legged family member. Sam’s ulcers are causing him pain. I took him off his grain diet and had him solely on beet pulp and timothy hay pellets/grass hay. He was on the ulcer medicine (I’m drawing a blank on the name.. .OmnisomethingorotherthatIcan’tremember). He was on the meds for two weeks straight, slowly getting better. But the minute he went off, he started going downhill again. I have no choice but to euth. I cannot afford the medicine. For a month’s supply of the ulcer medicine, I was billed $240. That cost was not planned and now I have to figure out where that money is going to come from. I’ve decided to not use all of the ulcer medicine and see what happens (I have him on a different powder ulcer medicine which doesn’t seem to be working…it’s a big ulcer). Sam is losing weight because of the ulcer and because he’s not on any grain ration. I figure he’s already lost 20 pounds. I need to call within the week and make an appointment. I just hate calling. It’s that awful call. I’ve already lost too many family members this year. Sam has been with us for a few years now and it’ll be hard to not see that gorgeous guy or hear him let out his goofy whinny. I’m devastated but at a loss as to what my other options are.

I am also euthanizing Sahara. I expect I will offend some by that statement. If she was my sole horse, if I had more knowledge, if I had more time, I could maybe work with her every day one-on-one and maybe she’d turn around. But I can’t. Any time I get near she pins her ears and turns her butt to me. I know a more knowledgeable person could work with her but I am already stretched thin with 20+ horses to care for. I also can’t risk getting hurt or having someone else get hurt. She’s pinned her ears and turned her butt to other people who have entered the pen. I can’t risk anyone getting hurt. She has crocked legs that means she will be a light rider or a pasture pet. Her attitude does not qualify her for a broodmare in my opinion and she is also grade. She has too many strikes against her. I’ve done my best; it wasn’t good enough for her. She was dealt an unjust life. The only thing more that I can do is ensure that she is given a proper death. It’s not right, it’s not fair, but that’s the only choice I see available to her and me at this time. I will euthanize her the same time we take Sam in.

Prince was supposed to go to Gentle Spirits last weekend but I needed to stay home in case my winter supply of hay came in (which it didn’t). I’m hoping that he’ll go this weekend. He’s been too hard on Babe. I’m sure Babe will enjoy the sole company of Thor after Prince and Sahara go. I worry about Babe as she much prefers a smaller group of horses instead of a pushy gelding stealing all her hay. Prince really needs to have more one-on-one because he’s a fantastic horse. I can’t say enough good things about him. I really don’t this his “disability” will disqualify him from becoming an amazing riding horse with the right person. The difficult part is finding that right person to take him to his fullest potential. I’m anxious to see how he progresses.

Thor cut his head again. I have no idea on what. At least this time it’s not a big gapping cut but it’s still a cut and it concerns me. Poor guy has done everything asked of him and he still gets hurt. I am keeping a close eye on both Babe and Thor as they are both not doing as well on 24x7 hay as I had expected. Granted this hay is CRP hay so it’s older and tougher. We’ll just wait and see. It could be that I change up how we handle winter feeding.

Every year winter feeding is different because of the types of horses we have. This winter will be even more difficult for me as there’s such a variety. I need to move the corral panels and form a small pen in the big drylot. I am planning on putting Maverick in during the winter when I have to blanket. Otherwise I won’t have a single blanket unscathed. Maverick loves to eat blankets and drives me insane.

Luckily we did almost finish the leanto we started building last year. We opened it up for the herd to go in but after we left they didn’t seem too interested; go figure. But I’ll feel better knowing that the big herd now has additional places to go to get out of the wind.

Everyone is still covered in cockleburs. I haven’t had time to do anything with the horses. We’ve been trying to repair fences and fix things that have broken all summer. I need another two months to get everything finished before winter. We are going as fast as we can but there doesn’t seem to be enough daylight these days. I guess I’ll just have to plan my days a little better so I can accomplish all my tasks.

I was thinking of having a “volunteer day” this Saturday but I wasn’t sure how many people would be interested in helping out. There are so many projects but not sure how “down and dirty” everyone wants to get. I think it would mostly be fencing that needs to be done but I’m sure I could come up with other just as “exciting” projects to work on.

I know there is more that we’ve worked on but it all involves preparing for winter and would simply bore you to tears if I went on much longer. I’ll try to do better in posting but I really got spoiled with the whole “unplugged” lifestyle. I expect I won’t be able to stop blabbling on now that I’ve started again. But if you don’t see me online for a while, just drop me a line and I’ll respond and let you know what’s going on.

Noblest Creatures

2011-11-08T09:52:00.002-06:00

Mankind has often enforced a savage dominance over the horse, and for that he should apologize. These magnificent beasts toiled mightily over the centuries to help us tame the wilds, plow and harvest our fields, and transport our possessions, even die in our wars; and sometime under the cruelest of master. I am proud to say that I never participated in their abject slavery. Even so, I humbly request forgiveness from every horse that has crossed my path, for they are truly God's noblest creatures.

Picture Sunday

2011-10-30T08:54:00.002-05:00

Figured you were all tired of listening to me ramble on about stuff so instead I'll leave you with pictures.

Prince

Sahara - look she does stand tied...or about 30 seconds at a time.

Thor enjoying his grain mash

Babe - girl after my own heart. This girl loves her grain mash as much as I love my chocolate.

Babe - her age is showing a little bit but she's still a tough cookie.

Thor

Sahara watching Thor and Babe eat

Prince and Sahara

Prince - he's such a looker

Prince - he's definitely a Prince Charming

Fog Prediction

2011-10-27T10:36:00.004-05:00

Mike said the awful word last night. Scared the dickens out of me. Wanna know what that word was? Starts with an S and ends with a W.

His fog prediction says we are to get precipe/snow November 5th. I missed that bit of fog, thinking it would either be rain or just a dusting of snow. I'm not ready. The last time I thought we were to get precipe/snow the first part of November was a La Nina and there was no way to track the snow. I'm hoping that it's an El Nino and I'll just suffer with a bit of snow if we are to get snow next weekend.

Maybe the snow will stay in other states or the precip will go to states that depserately need it. I can't imagine snow right now. The yard is still a mess and I'm just not ready (insert temper tauntrum).

I expect it'll snow next weekend though. Why you ask? Because Mike is taking a well deserved vacation over November 5th and it'll just be me, the horses, the dogs, and the barn cats over the weekend. So, not really "alone." The plow is finally ready for some action, although I hope there isn't much snow to push. But I would rather be too prepared than not prepared enough.

I'm hoping to sit down and mark the calendar a little closer. Mike was keeping a better watch than me apparently. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it'll only be a rain shower instead of snow. I still have fencing to finish and blankets to wash and mend. The blankets pretty much sat wherever I took them off last spring, thinking I would get to washing, reparing, and waterproofing long before winter rolled around again. Guess not.

On the bright side, we haven't really had any more fog lately. So from what I can tell, there's no major snow storms set in motion until February. Somehow I think this is a La Nina year. Anyone else a nerd like myself and track weather through old wives tales? I'd love to hear your predictions for this winter.

Wednesday Ramblings

2011-10-26T12:56:00.002-05:00

Surprisingly enough, I don't have much to ramble on about. I did finally find the camera and snapped a few pictures last night before we lost all light. It's so hard to get anything done outside now that the days are getting shorter. I don't even want to think about the time change coming soon. I'll be doing all my chores in the dark after the time change. There's about a month where I don't get to see the horses in the daylight except on the weekends.

The only bright side to the shorter days is that I can be inside earlier. Inside earlier means to bed earlier too! I tend to sleep more during the winter months. And when I say sleep more, I mean get close to my needed eight hours of sleep.

I hope once winter sets in I can start doing some of the necessary paperwork to take the sanctuary from private to non-profit. If anyone wants to help or has some good ideas, please let me know. I'm really at a loss and would be ever in someone's gratitude if they wanted to help me out. If we finally become non-profit, I could do more with pulling horses from auctions. Surprisingly pushing papers really could help save a life.

I did hear a nasty rumor that we will have a "wetter winter" or something along those lines. You know what that means? Snow, snow, and more snow. I hope the rumor isn't true and we have an easy winter. If we have another bad winter, I''m afraid of what will happen to so many horses. Of coures I like to spoil the herd here with a warm stall and a blanket. I've been keeping a close tab on fog/precipe but so far the only precipe I have marked on the calendar is for the very end of November. I hope it's a El Nino type of year so the old wives tale of 90 days from fog holds true. If it's a La Nina, we are up a creek without a paddle.

I'm still in the middle of trying to get everything ready for winter. We still have SO much to get done before the ground freezes and the first snow flies. I'm going to be working like a madwoman. If anyone wants to come out and help, just tell me when and I'll have a project ready and waiting for you. I have lots of different projects to choose from. The help is always needed and always, always appreciated.

Old Girls

2011-10-26T06:07:00.001-05:00

Those mares love their evening meal. I'd compare their love of grain to my love of chocolate!

Spittin' Fire

2011-10-25T07:49:00.003-05:00

Poor Babe. She likes her pen quiet with no drama. She hasn't gotten a quiet day in a while. When Thor went blind, we messed Babe's world up by putting those two together. I've since had to rearrange living arrangements much to Babe's dismay. Hopefully things will settle down after a little while and Babe can go back to enjoying her drama free days.

We put a round bale in the blind pen Sunday night. It's not net wrapped so the horses pull half the bale out onto the ground. I was in the pen scooping it up and tossing it over for the big herd (who think they are starving). Thor and Babe were rather disgusted with me. They thought it was grain time. I kept telling them they had to wait but they wouldn't listen.

While I was scooping up hay, something got into Sahara. I have no idea what. Apparently no one has ever told her that her front legs are croocked and that she should take it easy. She took off like a bolt of lightening, racing around the pen. She was running and bucking for the pure joy of it.

Of course, that commotion got Babe into a tizzy. It also set Prince off. He started loping around with his head held high and his tail outstretched (boy is he a looker when he does that). Any time Sahara would take off with lightening speed across the pen, Prince would lope or trot around. At one point both Sahara and Prince were bucking around the pen. Poor Babe. She hates all that commotion.

It was fun to watch Sahara feeling good. She was running and bucking and farting all around the pen. Putting the young ones in with the old sort of tones down their spunk but it sure didn't have that affect on Sahara. It's probably a good thing that no one told her that her legs aren't straight. It sure didn't stop her from a full gallop around the pen. She'd always stop close to Thor. She must find comfort in Thor. That or Thor was her stopping spot for racing around the pen.

Prince looked gorgeous trotting around the pen with his tail out (makes his tail even more luxurious). I was surprised to see him let out a few bucks but apparently he was feeling good last night too. I sometimes forget that he's only 5 years old. He'll stand tied while I feed Thor and Babe and the only thing he does is paw every once in a while and tries to untie himself.

The other day, while Prince was standing tied, King came over and started harrassing Prince. Then it dawned on me, we have two paints one named King and one named Prince. Thought it was rather a neat idea. So now we have a Queen, King, and Prince. Never knew we'd have royalty. At one time we had a Queen, King, and Ace! I don't play poker but it sure felt like we had a full house.

Luckily both Sahara and Prince settled down after just a short time and Babe was able to back to a less drama filled pen. And to not forget Thor, he could have cared less about all the commotion. He just stood their searching for his grain dish. That boy may have lost his sight but he now has a better sense of smell. I did think it very cute to watch Sahara race around the pen and go straight to Thor, like Thor was the "safe zone". Rather cute.

That Sahara. She sure was spitting fire last night.

Bo

2011-10-24T08:37:00.002-05:00

Have I ever mentioned what an awesome horse Bo is?

I have been itching to get on him for awhile now (although I still haven't ridden him yet). I decided I would see how he would react to being saddled and bridled on Friday. He's always so anxious when I tie him to the trailer but he stood while I pulled cockleburs out of his mane.

I went slow and let him sniff the saddle pad and went even slower with the saddle. I know he's been ridden as the previous, previous owner came up to me at the auction to tell me a little about him and that she said he's fast (which means she rode him).

I took him out after saddling him and lunged him both directions. This boy is AMAZING. He knows how to lunge both directions and stops after a loud "whoa".

I decided I'd push my luck with a bridle. Here in lies the problem. He's really hard to bridle. I just threw Maverick's D-ring snaffle and know for a fact that a snaffle wont' work on that boy! He didn't seem too responsive while I was on the ground after getting the bridle on. Now, getting the bridle on was another story. He slammed my arm in to the trailer. He's definitely mouthy when it comes to a bridle. I'll have to experiement on what type of bit will actually work with him. He's going to have a lot of "get up and go". I want to make sure I have a soft landing spot if his "get up and go" takes me for a ride.

But I think Bo is ready for some riding time. He's still thinner than I like, but he'll always be a harder keeper because of his metapolism. Now if I could just get brave enough to swing a leg up and over him.

Weekend Activity

2011-10-24T08:14:00.003-05:00

Saturday Mom, Dad, and Grandma came down to help around the place. Last winter we had a fence break in the drylot. Mike and I cobbled it together and with no horses pushing on the fence, it held. Knowing that those boys are going to be pushing on the fence because there are girls on the other side, that fence won't hold. So Saturday we dug holes.

I had thought I could hand dig the holes earlier in the week. Nope. We are talking clay. There's no amount of hand digging gonna happen to get through a layer of solid clay. We spent all afternoon digging five holes. Luckily Dad's quick eye saw the bolt about to come undone on the two-man auger before we sheared off another pin and had to dig the auger out of the ground (speaking from experience, digging an auger out of a hole is no fun).

I played my weiny card after two holes. Dad took over my spot while Mike had to dig all five holes. We could/should have dug two more to have all the same types of posts but there are two railroad ties that are pretty solid in the ground so we left them and will use instead. Now we need to go back to town to buy more fencing supplies. Seems all I've bought this year are fencing supplies and feed. I'm not talking a couple bucks here and there for materials and feed, I'm talking a couple hundred bucks.

I knew this fenceline needed to be fixed and it wouldn't last after last winter. I just wish I would have had the common sense to take care of it this summer instead of now when everyone is busy trying to get ready for winter. But I feel a thousand times better having those poles in the ground. I can finish that fence even after the ground freezes.

Now I only have three more major fencing jobs that need to be finished before the ground freezes. Everything else will hopefully hold (fingers crossed). There's a few other things I'd like to take care of before the ground freezes but we'll see. I'm hoping the weather holds and I can get more fence posts in the ground before winter sets in. I'm still a little paniced but having those five beautiful fence posts in the ground have taken some of the pressure off.

Last night I pushed Sahara past her comfort zone. I paid a small price for it but it was worth it. We had to run to town yesterday for grain and I snuck in a quick ride on Jim before starting chores. It's too nice to not ride, even if it's just a mile or two down the road and back. A ride helps clear my head some days and Jim seemed like he enjoyed himself.

The blind pen was out of hay again so Mike had to push another round bale in. It's not as easy as it sounds, especially when we are working in the dark. Our tractor isn't big enough to pick up a bale and just dump it in. Here's a rundown of what I had to do.

Halter Prince and tie him to a fence post.

Halter Sahara and hang on to her because she still doesn't stand tied calmly.

Track down Babe as she wanders the pen to feed her her grain mash.

Coax Thor out of the way of the gate and feed him his grain mash.

Lead Sahara out of the blind pen (can't stall her because she'll dismantle yet another stall).

Grab the cable to tip the hay bale on to its side with Sahara in tow.

Hang on to Sahara as she freaks out next to the tractor and have her smash me in to the tractor wheel rim.

Stand with Sahara at end of lead rope while she gets anxious about the tractor coming right at her (in the dark with lights on.....she didn't freak out too bad except that one time but it was a lot for her to take).

Watch Mike loop the cable over the bale and tip the bale over.

Walk to the bale, grab the cable while Sahara sneaks a bite from the bale, and drag the cable out of the way.

Holler at Thor to get out of the way. Apparently Thor ate faster than I had anticipated.

Stand out of the way as Mike pushes the round bale in to the blind pen and then backs out.

Walk Sahara in to the blind pen and then close the gate with Sahara in tow.

Ensure Thor and Babe are done with their grain and unhalter Sahara.

Push Thor out of the way of the hay bale and manhandle the hay ring around and then over the new round bale.

Unhalter Prince (who stook patiently the entire time).

It may sound easier than it really is. But keep in mind, I have a frightenend yearling filly at the end of a lead rope during almost all of it. Sahara did pretty well, except for when I put her in a tight spot between the tractor and some aluminum pallets. She dragged me around for about 10 seconds and knocked me in to the tractor but after that she behaved. That's a lot to ask of a filly, to stand next to the tractor in the dark. We did walk around the tractor while it was running to see if she would freak out over it again but she didn't. I think it was just tight quarters that freaked her out. We'll see what happens the next time we push a bale in. Maybe she'll be better, maybe not. But I think she'll catch on. Now if I could only spend as much time with Mayhem as I do with Sahara.

Gruesome

2011-10-21T15:08:00.003-05:00

There are no words:

http://horsehumane.org/blog/2011/10/21/auction-rescue-horses-in-need/

This isn't just happening in California. The same cruelties are happening right in our own backyards. At this time Borderlands is full but I would like to raise money to rescue one or two horses, rehab, and put up for adoption. At least those one or two horses would be lucky enough to enjoy a second chance at life instead of dying in a gruesome manner.

It just seems like there's more cruelty in the world lately and there's less compassion for any living being. Bo is my daily reminder that there is so much cruelty out there and yet he can put the past aside. We need to do something to promote awareness and stop this cruelty. I'm open to suggestions on what we can do. I'd like to hear your ideas...please!

Sick

2011-10-21T07:14:00.002-05:00

I'm totally rattled. I just found out that Thor, Flower, and Ivan's previous owner dumped 20 horses at last week's auction. I couldn't go because we had to move hay. It's a good thing I didn't go. I was suppsoed to take in three more from this same person but circumstances didn't allow it. I'm afraid those three went through the auction.

I am sick.

How can you brag that you "rescue" these horses when you only use them up and then dump them.

I really think I'm going to be sick.

Wordless Friday

2011-10-21T05:57:00.000-05:00

Sahara

2011-10-19T13:12:00.004-05:00

After deciding to take a step back from a number of activities; I went a step farther back last night (and didn't realize it until later).

I've been struggling with Sahara but with the help of Mike (who pointed out what's going on in her brain), we now have a plan (and thanks to T from Gentle Spirits for giving me the moral support I needed to work with her more).

I realized a number of things last night while messing with Sahara, while watching Mike work with her, and thinking about what T said yesterday:

Sahara is my mood monitor. I cannot be upset when I am near her.

I must only focus on Sahara. My mind must be free of all other ideas/thoughts. When working with her, she has to be my only focus.

I must exude alpha mare from within and exude it in my demeanor. I. Am. Boss. Mare. (hard for me to do since I like the laid back guys).

If my inner self is not calm (even if it looks that way from the outside), I cannot work with her. I must calm my inner self before working with Sahara.

Any leeway I give, Sahara will take it. Give her a centimeter and she will take 10 miles.

Any minor deviance, and she thinks she's boss mare. Sahara requires boot camp. What I say goes and nothing more.

She needs to be handled by multiple people to respect ALL people.

The end of a lead rope is my friend. The end of a lead rope demands respect from Sahara.

Last night I wanted to get some hay scooped up from the round bale feeder (otherwise they waste it). Mike was near so I had him hang on to Sahara's lead rope. He was on the other side of the fence, safe from leaning, safe from hooves, and safe from teeth.

While I was working, Mike made Sahara mind. She wasn't allowed to paw or push. If she did, she got smacked with the end of the lead rope once. By the time I was done and had my little yellow hay wagon full of hay and out of the pen, Sahara was standing calmly near the fence. I probably stood there enjoying the view for a good five minutes while Mike and Sahara patiently stood there.

Maybe I'm too high strung or wired too tight as of late, but it was such an enjoyable view to see those two just standing their, Sahara just standing with a leg cocked. But she was starting to get stressed so we called it a day.

Now that I know she CAN stand alone, we'll work on it more tonight. Not sure if Mike will be able to work with her or if I'll work with her, but in any case, she's just playing me. And I hate to be played. She's a smart girl that is going to demand respect (as she so deserves). She's only a yearling so can't take long periods of training but she does catch on pretty quick. Now it's more a matter of working on us. :-)

Numbers

2011-10-18T14:47:00.003-05:00

******Here I said I was going on hiatus and I can't stop...I'm addicted.
Hello my name is Shanna and I'm additcted to blabbing about the sanctuary horses!******

***********************************************
I'm starting to get my numbers down at Borderlands. It should be the other way around but for now, it is what it is.

Savanna went to Gentle Spirits to find her a perfect home. She has so much potential that it would be silly to keep her here at the sanctuary forever. From what I hear, she's doing amazingly well. I commend Gentle Spirits for their hard work!

Last Saturday, Prize went to his new home. He too has so much potential it would be silly to keep him here when there is someone out there just waiting for him. Congratulations Stacy A. for your new baby boy. Prize is now proudly called Jett! I can't wait to watch Jett grow up and turn into a stunning boy!

Next in line is Prince. Gentle Spirits will be taking Prince in the very near future. They are going to evaluate him and proceed with putting him up for adoption. He's such an amazing boy. He's so calm even for being only 5 years old and mostly blind.

Sahara is also up for adoption but she'll be staying at Borderlands until further notice. If anyone would like to know more about her, please let me know. Just be warned, I can't stop talking horses once I start.

It's always hard to let them go but when you know they are going to a good home, it makes it a little bit easier. Unfortunately there are those that live out their lives at the sanctuary. I now have five on my "watch list." Those are the horses where their health is a concern and if their issues progressively get worse, we will look at euthanizing. I hate to play god but that's a part of sanctuary life.

Sam is currently on the "watch list." Every fall/winter he loses weight. He's on beet pulp, soaked senior, and rolled oats besides hay (and pasture right now). Unfortunately I think the only thing keeping Sam going right now is the beet pulp. The senior flares up his ulcers. Sam's body is not processing the oats. They come out hole. So I can increase his senior feed to try and put weight on, which flares up his ulcers or I can keep him only on beet pulp and hay, keep the ulcers at a minimum, but watch him continue to slowly lose weight. It's finally hitting home that Sam may not make the entire winter. So he's now on our "watch list" and I will keep everyone informed when the time comes (for anyone that wants to say goodbye).

Flower's arthritis is realy starting to flare up. I will be starting her on joint supplement but if winter is bad and her arthritis doesn't improve, we'll be considering her options.

Thor is losing weight even though he's on a round bale 24x7. I'm planning on getting his teeth floated but if that doesn't help, we'll re-evaluate his options. It could be that old age is finally catching up to him and he's finally starting to show his age but he's now on the "watch list".

Babe is also on the watch list. But we have now put her and Thor on a grain mash feeding along with the 24x7 round bale. I already see the improvements on Babe. I love watching her eat grain. Watching her makes me think of when I have a good piece of chocolate. Every last itty bityt bite is mouth watering. Watching Babe, makes you think every bite is mouth watering.

Queen is the last on the watch list. She has perked up considerably since putting her on beet pulp. As long as she remains on beet pulp, senior, and calf manna, she may stick around for another year or so. But when she goes, it could mean that Flower goes with as Flower is joined at the hip to Queen. But Queen is 33 years old so I have to prepare my heart for her loss.

It's a sad realization to have that many on a "watch list" and is stressful. But knowing that their final years have been filled with love and lots of food makes up for it. We are truely blessed to enjoy even one minute of their lives, those that are permanent sanctuary horses and those that have gone on to new homes and new experiences.

If you get a chance, check out Gentle Spirit's website and blog and see what these amazing ladies do for SO MANY horses!

Prankster

2011-10-18T13:43:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I'm hooked. I can't stop blogging. But I am going to back down on a few things so I may not blog as often. But I do have a few stories I'd like to share.

The other night I was out in the pasture, watching the stars and the farmer wrap up picking corn. It was quiet, cool, and I was alone. I guess I just needed some downtime to re-evaluate some things going on right now. No worries for the horses though.

I only sat out there for about a half hour before the wind picked up (go figure it's SD). The horses were down in the low area of the pasture and I decided I wanted alone time. After awhile of laying there watching the stars, I heard a coon singing. I don't really like being alone, in the dark without some type of "weapon". The only thing I had was an empty pop bottle. Not really good a good weapon to protect myself.

So I decided I'd call it a night and head to the house. As I was wandering amlessly back to the drylot, I heard something. It sounded like someone was running right for me. Of course, every nerve freaks out and the hair on the back of my neck stands up. I spin around, wave my hands, and let out a little screech.

Wanna know what it was?!?!

Any guesses?

None?

Not even a single one? Oh come on now, you know you want to say it.

The scary thing running up to me wasn't a coon, or a fox, or a coyote, or a freaky stalker, or anything like that. Nope, none of those.

It was....................................................

Bo

BAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I guess he was just so happy to see me out in the pasture that he came on a fast trot (and he has a ground eating trot). I spooked him with my waving arms and little screech that he took off at a lope past me for a few hundred feet.

When I realized it was Bo, I started laughing. Laughing so hard it brought tears to my eyes. That Bo. He's my heart horse for sure.

As I was talking and petting Bo, telling him what a naughty horse he was for scaring the crap out of me, I heard another noise. Wanna know what the noise was?

Any guesses?

Not a coon, not an owl, not a fox, not a pheasant.......

It was King huffing and puffing up the hill to see what Bo and I were up to. King is so fat now that he practically waddles around the pasture.

I think both Bo and King knew I needed a little bit of "luvin" and they wouldn't leave my side until I climbed the gate. I don't think they were happy that I left.

I've been so caught up with personal matters and looking at the bigger picture that I've forgotten the most important things....the horses.

So I may not go into hiatus like I thought. But I'm going to focus more on the horses at Borderlands for a little while. I hate to "retreat" but I think it'll do me some good... and I think the horses have been telling me this for a while. Who else would come up in the middle of a dark pasture to check out what's going on?

Hiatus

2011-10-13T07:12:00.002-05:00

Due to personal reasons, I'm putting this blog on hiatus. If you need to get a hold of me, please leave a comment on our Facebook page and I'll get back to you.

I Am An Animal Rescurer

2011-10-12T15:30:00.002-05:00

I don't know the author or I'd give credit. I saw this on a discussion board I follow today and it really hit home. Why it appeared today, on a day I really needed the encouragement, I don't know. But I'll take it as a sign. I know some dont' understand the feelings I have towards rescue or the draw I have towards it. I honestly wish that there wasn't job security in rescue.

I Am An Animal Rescuer

My job is to assist God's creatures
I was born with the drive to fulfill their needs
I take in helpless, unwanted, homeless creatures
without planning or selection
I have bought dog food with my last dime
I have patted a mangy head with a bare hand
I have hugged someone vicious and afraid
I have fallen in love a thousand times
And I have cried into the fur of a lifeless body
too many times to count

I have Animal Friends and friends who have animal friends
I don't often use the word "pet"
I notice those lost at the road side
And my heart aches
I will hand raise a field mouse
And make friends with a vulture
I know of no creature unworthy of my time

I want to live forever if there aren't animals in Heaven
But I believe there are
Why would God make something so perfect and leave it behind
Some may think we are master of the animals,
But the animals have mastered themselves
Something people still haven't learned

War and Abuse make me hurt for the world
But a rescue that makes the news gives me hope for mankind
We are a quiet but determined army
And we are making a difference every day

There is nothing more necessary than warming an orphan
nothing more rewarding than saving a life
No higher recognition than watching them thrive
There is no greater joy than seeing a baby play
who only days ago, was too weak to eat

By the love of those who I've been privileged to rescue, I have been rescued
I know what true unconditional love really is
for I've seen it shining in the eyes of so many
Grateful for so little.

I am an Animal Rescuer
My work is never done,
My home is never quiet
My wallet is always empty
But my heart is always full

Late Night Doing Chores

2011-10-12T12:37:00.003-05:00

Sounds like we may have a busy day at Borderlands on Friday. I'll keep you all in suspense on what's going on until Friday rolls around. It'll just keep you coming back. ;-)

Last night I was late in getting chores done (was off playing with our drill team). When I started doing chores (in the dark), there was lightening all around us. I worked as quickly as I could but it still took over an hour. I was gathering up the loose hay from the round bale feeder (no sense in letting that good hay go to waste). Ivan and Brego were up at the barn while Sam and Bo were in the barn finishing their evening meal.

All of a sudden I heard thundering hooves coming. I love listening and watching the horses. Luckily the white horses were in the front and King's heaving breathing (because he's so out of shape) gave them away for who was coming in first. While I was standing their leaning on the bale feeder admiring the horses, a bolt of ligthening lit of the sky and I heard this funny noise. That noise is exactly why the horses came galloping up out of the field. Wanna know what that sound was?

You guessed it....rain. It's weird to hear the rain come before it hits. Unfortunately I wasn't completely done with chores and had to scramble. Luckily it wasn't a drenching downpour like it sounded and I didn't get too wet. The experience would have been more enjoyable had I been done with chores but it still made for a few brief minutes of amazement, watching the horses gallop in to the pen and watching mother nature at work. Looking back (now that I'm dry), I realize I'm pretty blessed.

Check back Friday to see what all the commotion is about.

Finally, a Post

2011-10-11T10:55:00.001-05:00

Sorry for my laps in blogging lately. There is stuff to blab about but I don’t seem to have the energy lately. I think it’s the stress of knowing I won’t get everything done before winter rears its ugly head again. I’m at least a month behind. I can only hope that the ground doesn’t freeze and the snow doesn’t fly until the end of November. I’m not even sure where to start to get you caught up to speed with everything going on. So I guess I’ll just do a huge data dump of everything on my mind and you get the joy of piecing it all together.

I didn’t put two and two together earlier. I was told from my normal hay guy that I have 80 big squares. Who knows the price but they are baled and waiting for delivery. But I ordered 100 bales. The other 20 were supposed to come out of a different field but that didn’t happen. My hay guy dug up all his ground and put most into corn and beans. Everything else he’s shipping to TX. So I have no idea what it’s going to cost me and I wont’ know until January at the earliest. I did just write a big fat check for last year’s hay. That’s right, I had to use up everything from last year and then pay for it. It’s odd but the hay guy wants to wait until January but then the weight tickets disappeared and it took until last month to find them. So the 70 bales from last year and the 8 round bales to feed the horses this summer cost me $3700. Who knows what this winter will be like.

But because I was in a panic, I found someone on Craigs List who was selling hay. I do have hay lined up from a guy an hour away but hauling 20 bales 6 at a time would take forever and cost so much in fuel. So we went yesterday to look at some hay baled out of CRP grasses. It looked good and is only about 10 miles away so I took them all. 39 bales at $40 a pop. It will add up but I gotta have the cash on hand when we start picking them up Wednesday night. Anyone have a flatbed that wants to come and help haul? We are taking three at a time unless I can borrow another trailer (or someone else wants to bring their trailer and donate time and fuel). Luckily the guy is really nice and is going to haul the rounds to the end of his driveway and let us use his tractor to load them, since he wont’ be around when we can get there. It’s going to be a nightly ordeal until we get them all home. I don’t look forward to it all but at least we’ll have the remaining hay. There is a chance I’ll get some additional hay out of a different field from my uncle so I’ll have extra, which we’ll need to keep the blind pen full of hay until late spring.

Mom, Dad, and Grandma came down Sunday to help around the place. Mike has been scrambling to get a plow on the old truck. Our neighbor plowed us out all last winter but he’s moved so it’ll be up to Mike to clean out the snow for us to get to work and for me to work with the horses. Least to say, it’s not going well. The last time I looked, the fuel tank was hanging from the frame. Realize it’s a rust bucket of a truck. I hate to even take pictures because it looks bad. But it runs (when there’s a fuel tank) and it can go through snow since it’s a three-quarter ton and it saves using my truck. We’ll see how it goes. Hopefully we wont’ have any snow any time soon and Mike can get the truck back up and running with the snowplow attached.

While Dad and Mike worked on the truck, Mom and I cleaned out behind the leanto of the barn. It’s been a junk pile for the past few years but I need it cleaned out so we can put up a little building for the older mares. The building will help save me time so I can throw the old mares in while they eat and leave the other mares out (so I don’t have to stand guard). By cleaning out all the old wood, I can now get in and start digging fence posts. Anyone want to help? I need a new fence line put in ASAP. We cobbled it together last winter/spring and the horses stopped pushing on the fence when we moved the horses out of that pasture but now that we’ll have horses hang on the fence again, it’s now become a necessity to get a new fence up. I also have to patch the blind pen fenceline. The first snow, and a few of the fences will just fall over. That’s the “blessing” of moving in after cattle were there. All the wood fence posts are rotting away and all the other fence lines are mangled. I keep my fingers crossed every time I have to open a gate on an old fence post. Hopefully there will be just enough time for me to dig enough holes.

Babe is going downhill, so is Thor. I’m really worried about Babe. I think Prince is really hard on her. I now have to halter and tie Prince up and halter and hold Sahara while Babe and Thor eat their grain. I need to figure out a different fencing situation so that I can give Thor and Babe additional food/grain. If I could tie Sahara up, it would be a big deal but Sahara still doesn’t stand tied. I’m trying to figure out her quirks but don’t have time to mess with her. I threw Sahara and Prince into a stall Saturday night so that we could push our last round bale in to the blind pen and give Thor and Babe time to eat their grain in peace. Bad idea. When I went to pull Sahara and Prince out, I ended up getting Sahara behind Prince while I was standing at Prince’s side. Prince thought I was Sahara (being that he’s blind and it was a new situation) Prince thought I was Sahara and bit me. Totally my fault but boy does it hurt. He left a huge bruise on my rib cage. I’m just happy it wasn’t three inches higher. ;-) hahaha… I just heard every woman wince.

I’ve decided to stall Sahara and tie Prince next to Sahara while I grain Thor and Babe. That’ll give the two older ones time enough to eat in peace and will give Prince time to learn how to stand (which he does) and will hopefully give Sahara time to adjust to being stalled and not stand right on top of someone. We’ll see how it goes. Hopefully Sahara doesn’t break this stall door too.

I think there’s more but my mind is mush. I’ll try to snap some pics but I make no promises. The days are getting shorter so much faster. I’m struggling to get even the basic stuff done before dark.

Gigantic Queen Hug

2011-10-06T07:26:00.003-05:00

I sure do love Queen. She may be old and crotchety but when you really need someone to lean on, she's there. I've been having a rough go of it lately and last night was no different. I decided to wander outside to get some fresh air and ended up at the old mares' fence line.

Queen, thinking I had treats or more grain, came over. She stood with her head over the fence comforting me. I don't know how many of the geldings would have done that. But she kept by my side until I felt better. She would try and wrap her neck around me or bump me with her head to let me know she was trying to help.

Flower came over to investigate too but Queen stood her ground and let me hang on her. She really is an amazing horse. She may drive me crazy some days but she really does know how to make someone feel better.

Thank you Queen.

Recap of the last few days

2011-10-04T07:35:00.002-05:00

Really, we are here. I promise. I've been so darn tired by the end of the day I'm lucky to make it to bed. So much has happened over the past few days. The biggest news is Savanna and Prize.

Gentle Spirits Horse Rescue and Sanctuary graciously took Savanna in to try and find her a new home. She has so much potential (even if I hate that word). She shouldn't be sitting around a pasture at Borderlands. She needs to be loved by someone and Gentle Spirits will find just the right person for her. Savanna is still a little underweight but she'll get there now that Prize is weaned.

I wanted to wait a little bit longer but Savanna needs as much time as possible to gain weight before winter. Savanna did amazingly well with the new experience. She (unlike Prize) loaded like a dream. I really think Savanna knows so much more. She stands tied for hours without a complain (unlike her daughter Sahara). She tolerates almost anything. We just have to go slow around her face. But Savanna jumped into the trailer and we took her Sunday to Gentle Spirits where she met her new pasture mates, Aries, Nikki, and Pi.

We'd been slowly weaning Prize over the past week and Savanna didn't seem too concerned. She whinnied a few times but otherwise she just checked out her new surroundings. I think Savanna was weaning Prize on her own.

Prize is still here but he's a little down in the dumps. He's hanging out with Rabbit, who also is down in the dumps. I think Rabbit and Savanna had become good friends. Poor Rabbit lost Dick the first part of August and now lost Savanna at the first part of October. Lifes been a bit hard on Rabbit. With both Prize and Rabbit down in the dumps, I thought I'd bring Queen over to at least perk up Prize (because Queen loves babies...two legged or four). But Flower would have noen of that. So we'll have to wait a little longer before bringing Queen in to hang out with Rabbit.

Prize is scheduled to go to his new home the middle of October. I'll be sad to see him go too but he's going to a fantastic home who knows how to work with babies. The new owner has already come over a couple of times to get Prize used to her and start halter training. Prize is going to be one fast learner. Unlike his sister Sahara!

Sahara and I have been going round. I decided that I now need to grain Babe and Thor. I think Thor is losing a little weight (probably needs his teeth floated). But that means I need to halter and tie Prince and Sahara. Sahara will have none of the tying. She halters, leads, and backs but will NOT stand tied. She broke two lead ropes the other day. I'm trying to come up with a solution or at least figure out her quirks. She's going to be a challenge. She's trying to be herd boss with me and that will not work. But the more I handle her the better she's getting. I really did just leave her be to be a horse these last few months. The first time I started working with picking up her feet she tried to take a chunk out of me. But now she actually picks up her left leg with barely any asking. The right leg is a little bit more work but she's getting the hang of it. She at least holds her feet up (unluck some of the other horses!) I haven't started working on her back legs. I'll need an assistant for that. I'm sure Sahara will try to knock my head off the first time until we establish that I am in charge. With the tying issue, I'm not sure what to do. I tied Prince up and then kept her close (but still in hand). She was fine but any time she started to paw, I'd correct that behavior. If I would stand still, she would pretty much sidepass around me, never standing still. So I worked her along the fence, just walking up and down. She did panic a little around the post where I had her tied but when she realized I wasn't tying her she stood just fine. The other day when I worked her along the fence and just stood there, she siddled up to me. I know that she's crowding my space (because she was touching me) and that is not right, but she stayed calm the entire time. It almost seemed as though she needed the physical contact to reassure herself that standing was ok. Because she didn't paw once. But she was touching me and almost butted up to Prince. So I guess I'll keep working her and see what she does. I know the space issue is not right but I'm still working on figuring her out. To fix one bad habit I need to figure out some of her quirks. If someone opposes my methods, I will gladly hand over the lead rope to someone else. When I let Sahara go after our "training session" she took off like a bolt of ligthening. Even with her crooked front legs, she can still truck it around the pen. Having her in with the older horses has helped, as it has with Mayhem.

Mayhem is getting naughty. She's come to not appreciate standing tied while Queen and Flower eat. I guess its' about time that I start tapping in to Mayhem's brain and getting her to think. She stands almost as tall as Queen these days. But Queen is a fairly small horse. She is doing well as is Flower. Queen is going to go into winter just fine and Flower is packing on the pounds. She doesn't look so unbearably thin these days.

Sam comes in every night for his evening feeding but I'm going to have to change that up a bit. His ulcers flared and it's due to the grain. So I'm going to have to come up with a different feeding ration for him. I'll be calling the vet later today to get the ulcer treatments. He gets ulcers every fall (I'm guessing due to the grain) but last year I thought we had it under control and it turned into an epic ulcer this spring so I'm not willing to risk it. He's going on ulcer meds. We'll start with the two week daily treatment and then I want to keep him on the maintenance. If anyone would like to help cover the costs, I'd greatly appreciate it. It's such a catch 22. Don't grain Sam and he loses weight. Feed him and he gets ulcers and won't eat. I just need to come up with a different feed for him to keep the weight on. Less senior feed and more beet pulp, timothy hay pellets, and oats I guess. But I'll try a different concotion and see how it goes.

Bo is full of himself these days. He comes in for his daily evening grain. Last night Mike was giving him treats. Bo would tip his head side ways to see the treats in Mike's hands. Oh I so wish I would have had a camera. Bo is such a special horse. We are really truely blessed to have his personality here. He just makes me smile. I'm blessed to have all the horses, but there's something about Bo that just makes my heart flutter a little faster. I didn't think you could have more than one "heart horse". Bo is such a ham and is very demanding for his grain. At least he appreciates his food.

Tommy and Skippy are porking out on the last remaining blades of grass on the lawn. I guess we'll be going in to feeding hay in the next week or so to the ponies. I had to cut off Tommy's forelock. He had a massive unicorn that there was no way I could get rid of. So I took the easy route.

Speaking of cockleburs. Maverick now has a toupe of cockleburs. It's going to take hours to pull everyone's cockleburs. The bottom of the drylot and the bottom of the pasture are full of those painfully sharp little cockleburs.

Last weekend Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Mike helped get the roof on the new leanto (you know, the one we started building this time last year). We have a few more things to do to the lean to to make it more secure and useable by the horses. I'm so excited to get to use it this year. There's not enough time to build another lean to so I bought a "garage in a box" for additional shelter for the pasture that Prize and Rabbit are in. It's just another place for the horses to go. I need to get an area cleaned up by the barn so I can put the new shelter up. We'll see how long it lasts before wind and the horses destroy it.

Last Saturday, Mike and I made a run over to Parkston and bought two round bale feeders. They aren't the good horse feeders but it'll do. I'm sick of watching the horses walk up to the round bales, rub on it, and then proceed to either lay down or pee on it. Makes me so mad! I don't like feeding round bales but the pasture where Queen, Flower, and Mayhem are is dried up and the blind pen does so much better when they have access to 24x7 hay. Thor gets pretty grumpy if he doesn't have hay in front of him. I guess I would rather waste a little bit than have a grumpy draft horse on my hands.

The days are getting so much shorter that I dont' have much time to do anything but evening chores before it gets dark. I haven't messed with any of the horses in the big herd. I had hoped to put the horses over at the neighbor's again because he offered his hay field. I haven't been able to find the time and next weekend is opening pheasant season. I hate hunting season. So we'll see if I find the time to get the horses over there by the end of October. We'll have to talk with the neighbor again to see if he's still ok with it. But less pressure on the big pasture is always a good thing.

I know there is more going on but i'm drawing a blank. It's been a busy few days with absolutely gorgeous weather. Hopefully I wont' be so blasted tired so I can get something done in these last few nice days.

Wordless Thursday

2011-09-29T20:32:00.000-05:00

Dare to Pull

2011-09-28T14:52:00.004-05:00

I can't say I wrote the following, nor cam I give proper credit because I do not know who actually wrote the below text but it's very true. Watching the horses at Borderlands is what pulls me. The knowledge that I CAN help pulls me. The passion to watch a horse experience kindness and contentment pulls me. Rescue/Sanctuary Life Pulls Me.

There are far too many things pushing you. Pressure at home and at work, society’s expectations, debt, a seeming lack of options.

All of these things can weigh heavy on your heart and while a push can be a heck of a motivation, it really only works best when you’re jumping out of a plane or off of the high dive. Sure, it gets the job done, but your heart’s not in it.

Seek what pulls you.

There is an allure to the pull. When your heart is pulled in a certain direction, fear seems to disappear. Something bigger than yourself is calling, beckoning, pulling you to be better than yourself.

You want to follow the pull. You want to chase after it. The pursuit of what pulls you is a great end in itself. When you run after what is pulling you – instead of running from what is pushing you – it’s like you can run forever. The breath of freedom fills your lungs and your legs keep pounding the pavement, feet chasing after one another as you head off towards the horizon in pursuit of one great big dream.

It’s easy to find what’s pushing you. Whenever you feel stressed, nervous, sick, or scared, you’re being pushed. When you feel nauseous (in a good way), relieved, excited, and hopeful, you’re being pulled.

I hope your heart is open enough to be pulled. Sometimes, when it’s been pushed too much, it can close up, confusing any external force as a push, missing out on the pull. It takes real courage to trust again in the hope that you’ll be pulled.

There is no better feeling than being pulled. It keeps you up late so you can work on your passion, convinces you to mortgage your present to cash in on your future, and persuades you to embrace your unique dreams as only you can. Listen to your soul so you can know when you’re being pulled. Then, untether yourself from everything that’s been pushing you so you can be linked to the one thing your heart desires.

Dare something to pull you.

Prince aka Eye Candy

2011-09-28T07:54:00.003-05:00

I'm really impressed with Prince. Not only is he "eye candy", he's also darn smart. He's taken being blind pretty well. We have come to the conclusion that he can see certain things (shadows perhaps) during the day but he is completely blind at night. He's much slower to move at night than during the day.

I was late to do chores last night so had to grain Thor and Babe in the dark. It's all a new routine for me, so it's going to take awhile to adjust. But Thor was immediately at the fence. That boy can smell. I believe his other senses really kicked in after he lost his sight. He uses his nose so much more now than ever before.

Babe did circles until I got the grain mash in front of her. Thor was already gobbling down his grain mash.

Prince stood patiently while I haltered him so he wouldn't bother Thor or Babe. Prince is nice and plump (just the way I like them). I tried to lead him around a little but it took a lot of persuading. He doesn't trust me yet to lead him around in the dark. I don't blame him. But I'll be messing with him more now that I'm in with the blind horses every night waiting for Babe and Thor.

Sahara is maybe finally understanding the whole "standing tied" idea but I'm not sure. I tied her securely but she still had three massive blow ups. Talk about a wild bronc. I'm so used to Mayhem who does the whole "ho hum" of standing tied that rearing and pulling hard is different to me. Sahara is most definitely going to use brute force to get her way until she realizes it won't work. She pawed and pawed and pawed and blew up. Then she took a few seconds to catch her breath and went back to pawing before another blow up. This went on for the majority of the time Babe and Thor were eating. Prince and I stayed closer to Sahara but that didn't seem to help. We were far enough away from harm but Sahara was going to have none of this tying deal.

About the time Babe was finishing up her grain, Sahara decided to actually stand (without pawing) and think. I'm not sure if she was working her way up to another blowup or if she was contemplating standing still for a little while. I did see her cock a back leg for just a second. Maybe tonight will go better, or maybe it'll be worse.

Throughout the entire learning session, Prince and I hung out. I did resecure Sahara's lead rope in between her blow ups to ensure that the rope was tied. I swear I can't tie a proper knot still. When I walked away from Prince, I threw the lead rope over his back. Prince never took a step. He patiently waiting for me to return. When I pulled the lead rope off his back, he tried to take an end and chew on it. I guess he wanted a treat. Prince really is an amazing horse. I think with the right person and right training, he'll be an amazing riding horse. Or for those that just want a pasture puff, he'll be some awesome "eye candy".