2012 Cheat Sheet

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

Bo

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

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

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

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

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!!!

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

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.