Crazy Busy

It's been a crazy last couple of days. I'll post later but wanted to say we are here AND I almost forgot that it's ALREADY the 18th of August and I haven't done the horse of the month! I'm losing track of summer. Check back later tonight or tomorrow morning to find out what we've been up to.

Photosensitivity

I didn't read the entire blog post
http://rtfitchauthor.com/2014/08/14/tainted-hay-suspected-in-horses-sun-sensitivity/

But the discussions about photosensitivity reminds me of Rain.

I can very much sympathize with the horse owners who are dealing with this right now. I guess it has now been 10 years since Rain experienced the same thing. He ate something bad out in the pasture and I was sure we were going to lose him. His hind legs swelled up and the white socks on his back legs were sluffing off. It was terrible to watch. I cant' imagine if he would have been all white!

But he recovered from it, although he has lasting effects from the bout with photosensitivity. He is now very susceptible to weather. I am not sure if it would have happened anyway. But when we ran blood tests at the beginning, his organs were already damaged. I cant remember now if it was his liver or kidneys that had been damaged.

Now we have to watch the weather. If the temps are above 80 degrees, there's absolutely no riding him. In fact, he goes in search of shade. If the temps drop and there's any sort of wind, he has to go into the barn, or wear a blanket. If there's any bit of rain or snow, the blanket has to go on. I'll find him standing in the leanto off the barn when the wind is blowing during the entire winter (and beginning of spring). It's his standard spot and no one will fight him for it.

I will be interested to see how these horses recover from their ordeal. Rain still does not have hair on the back of his white socks. I will also be curious to see how these same horses will be affected in years to come. I wish I had the ability to talk to each owner or that a university would do a long-term study on these horses to see the effects of photosensitivity. It could really save some horses from a lot of pain if we knew more.

At least my little gelding recovered, with a little less hair on his white socks, and a little bit more weather temperamental, but I'll still love him to pieces and spoil him the best I can. Which reminds me, I need to find his winter blanket and fix a few tears he put in them this past winter. I need to look for a sheet or a lightweight blanket as well. Anyone have one for free or cheap?

Super Panic Mode

I was just thinking this morning that we haven't welcomed any new horse members into the family since July 2011. With the way things are going, it'll be awhile before we can welcome anyone in. It breaks my heart but the reality is what it is.

I was also thinking last night while doing chores, that I'm in panic mode. By the time I finally get out to do chores, it's dark. I'm going to have to start a new routine soon. But there's also so much that HAS to be done before winter. There's also so much that would be NICE to be done before winter. I need about five days straight of working on these projects to get them done. If the old wives tale holds true, the katydids starts singing a week or two ago. So that means we'll have a heavy frost in six weeks. I hope it's not true. But I want to be cautious and make sure that we are ready this winter.

So far I'm not. There's no hay in the barn, there's no small squares of hay, there's no alfalfa small squares either. I'm going to go into super serious panic mode in about three more weeks. I need to start buckling down and getting things done but after a full day of work, and then caring for the Bear, I'm done in. And then I still have chores.

I was going to move the corral panels last night for the ponies but I ran out of energy and daylight. So instead I used one of the last remaining small squares that D and J donated earlier this summer. Those have been an absolute blessing. But tonight I absolutely HAVE to move the ponies. Even if it's pitch black and raining, I'm going to have to move those ponies. Luckily where I'm moving them to is a place they've already grazed. The grass is coming back after last week's rains. I was worried that there wouldn't be any place to put them and they would be on hay for the rest of the year.

I'm hoping with another week in a different location, that the other places I've put the ponies will come back so I can just keep pushing them around the yard until the first hard frost  (fingers crossed that it'll be awhile).

I need a solid four hours every night to get stuff done at work. By the time I get out there, it's too dark to start any projects. It usually takes me a little bit to build of a bit of steam to get a project really going. I may just have to walk out there with pen and paper and start writing down what absolutely HAS to get done so I can hopefully mark off a few here and there as I go.

I am thinking that maybe with the upcoming Labor Day holiday, that I can get some things done. We used to go on vacation during that time but that isn't going to happen. So I want to take advantage of a three day weekend and work as quickly and efficiently at getting things done. Anyone want to help?

Happy Birthday Baby Bear!

I didn't get anything horse related done last night. It was Garrett's birthday yesterday! Hard to believe that it's been two years since he was born. It's been a wild ride so far. We've had so many "adventures". 

 

 

Brainstorming - Need Your Help

My mind is always trying to come up with the next great idea for a Sanctuary fundraiser. Awhile back I wrote down some ideas but I ended up using that piece of paper as a bookmark for a few books that I've been reading. Saturday night I finally looked at my bookmark to read some of my ideas. I know it had been awhile since I'd written those ideas but I wanted to see if any of them were still of any relevance.

99.9% were still relevant and that I can and should be doing. I was tickled that those same thoughts I'd had awhile back are still in the back of my head trying to come up with a way to get them into motion. I'm great with coming up with ideas but terrible with follow through.

Then I noticed it. These great ideas that I had awhile back (and I still have and want to do), was from November 2011. I'm not sure why I wrote the date but it made me glad that I still had the same ideas but disappointed. It's now August 2014 and I've done NONE of those activities. I'm no farther today than I was three years ago. So I had a little bit of a pity party Saturday night.

But I got over the pity party and now I'm even more determined to follow through with at least ONE of those ideas on that brainstorming list. I want that list to be something more than just a bookmarker.

Anyone game to help me? Some of the ideas are going to require a LOT of work but others won't take as much work. Anyone want to help and see if I can get at least ONE of those ideas off the ground?

Back from Vacation

Sorry for the lapse in posts. Saturday we went on our annual family vacation. It's a tradition that we've been doing for 30 years and hopefully for another 30 years. We head to the Black Hills and spend a few days resting, relaxing, hiking, and simply enjoying the beautiful scenery. This year seemed even more beautiful for some reason.

Were we stay every year is fairly rustic. There is no cell phone reception, no internet, no computer, and in fact, very limited tv and we typically don't even turn it on (which is good because it's a tiny 13 inch black and white tv!) All that I could hear (besides the kids playing), was the wind in the pine trees and the water gurgling in the stream. Such relaxation.

We got back yesterday evening and I had just enough time to count heads to make sure everyone was still alive (although I had fantastic help while we were away to make sure everyone stayed happy). I'm afraid it may take me a few days to get back into the swing of things, but once I am...look out.

I'm also nursing a few bruises. I fell off Zeke Friday night before we left for the Hills. It's my own fault but I'm moving a bit slower. But now that I am refreshed, I'll hopefully be re-energized to tackle some major Sanctuary projects.

East

What a weird night. Storms typically come from the west. But last night as I was standing outside talking with a friend that stopped at the Sanctuary, black clouds that had been to the east started rolling the wrong direction. We were standing there and all of a sudden the skies opened up and poured rain!  Mike was out with the little Bear and by the time they got in (I'd already run in to the house with my friend), they were soaked. Bad mommy moment. I should have gotten the Bear since I run and Mike won't. He only trots. :-)

But after my friend left, I tackled the daunting challenge of moving the corral panels alone. I was able to back the horse trailer up to the far side of where I'd had the ponies to load the corral panels into the trailer. That is SO the easy way to go about moving corral panels instead of loading them two or three at a time on to a wheel barrow or my little yellow hay wagon.

Unfortunately, I wasn't paying any attention to how I had the corral panels so when I finally got the panels up and going (I started from both ends), I discovered I had half backwards. I was NOT about to undue all that work (the sun had already set and the mosquitoes were starting to come out). So I just tied it with twine. Thank goodness for twine.

Luckily I didn't get too soaked moving corral panels. I was afraid moving the corral panels would mess up my shoulder to the point that I'd have to sleep on the floor again because it hurt that bad. But it must be on the upswing because today it doesn't hurt that bad. The ponies were happy to get in to the new pasture. I dont' think they even wandered in to the back part of the pasture (behind the shed). I'm sure by the weekend, they will wander back there.  Unfortunately, I think the only thing back there are weeds. I always have such good intentions to clean up after where the ponies have eaten down so that it makes the place look nice. But I don't. Always too much going on.

I saw Mayhem for a few minutes last night. She came up to eat weeds on the other side of the fence. Darn filly! I think they are enjoying their new pasture. I just hope that it holds out. If we get more rain, maybe I can move them back to their old pasture for a week to give the new pasture a break.

We haven't had a decent rain since all the flooding back in June. I'm hoping that next week the weatherman is right and we'll get some rain. The rain we got last night was just enough to get everything wet but not enough to do much good.

A few years back we planted a couple of spruce trees and white pines. They all died during the drought two years ago so we replaced them. Hopefully we can keep up with watering them each night so they can get established. Having some evergreens along the driveway would help with the wind that comes up the driveway during the winter.

And it's August 1st! (not sure how that happened so quickly). So it means another Horse of the Month. I need to dig through some pictures to see who should be spotlighted again. I am going to go offline for a few days. I'll post again soon but need to get a few things accomplished.