Warmer Weather

What a difference 24 hours makes. This morning doing chores was a tad on the chilly side. All the horses were happy for their morning feeding and no one was pushing. They all dove into their food.

 

I'm excited that the weather is supposed to be better over the weekend. Life is so much easier when the warmer weather rolls around. Luckily the rain and snow that fell yesterday ended before I went out to do chores. I'd considered putting everyone in if it was cold but no one seemed the worse for ware. I am ready for warmer weather so I can play with the horses and get them looking like something other than wooly mammoths.



 

We are still gearing up for the upcoming Easter Fundraiser!! It's still two weeks away, but that means two weeks of preparing and worrying that it'll be a success.  Please tell your friends and family! It's been a long winter and this fundraiser is a great way to get the kids out for a couple of hours.

 

Off Track Thoroughbreds Post

A great story to start the weekend...

http://offtrackthoroughbreds.com/2014/03/28/blinded-everglades-horse-ribbons-at-hits-ocala/

Crazy Weather and Brego

It's definitely spring in South Dakota. Yesterday was in the upper 50s to lower 60s but there was gale force winds. By the time we came in for the night, the wind had picked up even more. All afternoon while we were running errands, there was a haze in the sky from the dust that the wind was blowing around. I'd left blankets on a couple horses and regretted the decision but it was so chilly Wednesday morning.

And now we are supposed to get rain, turning into snow later today. Of course the weatherman couldn't predict exactly when that was going to blow in so I left blankets on thinking that would help cut down time for morning chores. I don't think anyone really complained.

But the difference from last night's 30 mph wind and this morning's calm, creeped me out a little. You could just tell something was coming yesterday but this morning, it was calm as calm could be. I'm guessing it was the calm before the storm.

Hopefully we won't get too much snow. Luckily the temps were warm enough yesterday that when we finally got home, we were able to clean out the drylot in preparation for pushing in a couple of round bales for the weekend. Ivan was most displeased about being tied up with the other five, while his buddy was in the barn.

I've also come to the conclusion that Brego is Bob in cognito! Even with his teeth floated, Brego eats SO slow. I used to water down all the grain but quit over the winter because it was too difficult and exhausting to haul warm water from the house and the water would freeze before it would soak into the grain over this winter. But I'm guessing that I'll have to go back to soaking Brego's food. I think he also doesn't prefer the mix of grain I give him. I'll have to come up with some type of method but will have to come to terms that he's going to be a slow eater and that at some point, he'll be the horse that takes an hour to eat his grain every night. I guess I shouldn't complain. I haven't had a slow eater in about two years so I enjoyed that time. Now I'll have to figure out a new routine to make sure Brego gets enough time to finish up his grain and lick out his dish.

Doing More

In the past six months, I've been asked (or have seen where someone needs help) to rehome a total of nine horses. And that's without putting out any feelers. Nine old warriors are looking for new homes. I think all but two fit into our criteria of being over 20 years old. Unfortunately we aren't able to take any one. I'm afraid of where those nine horses will or have ended up. Two are secure at the moment in their current locations but the others, are possibly being sent to an auction. It breaks my heart that we cant' open our doors to more old warriors.

I know we need to have all our paperwork lined up but there's no time at the end of the day. So I'm feeling stressed and helpless. There's so much more I SHOULD be doing, but there's only so much this mind and body can do.

I think Rabbit and I are starting to connect more. Hopefully she can become my go to mare, my comfort mare so on days like today, I can simply go in search of her and give her a great big hug and breath in her horsey smell and have her mane tickle my face. And then maybe I can get some peace from a heart and mind that knows we should be doing more.

Fundraiser Jitters

I’m really starting to panic about the upcoming fundraiser. I know it’ll be just fine but I want it to be a success. Last year Easter was so early but this year Easter is really late so I’m struggling. I’m now wishing we would have had our fundraiser this past weekend but I know no one is thinking Easter right at the moment. Hopefully we made the right decision by having it the weekend BEFORE Easter but we’ll see. Fingers crossed.

I’m slowly trying to put a list together of all the stuff that we need. I know we’ve done the fundraiser once before but little things change here and there and there’s also things I want to change and improve to make the event that much better.

I’m struggling with marketing and advertising. So please pass along the information to anyone that might be available April 12^th from 1-4pm if they are bored or have kids and want to get them out of the house. We are coming up with more fun craft ideas for the kids so we’ll be keeping them hopping from one activity to another! With it being such a long winter and having kids myself, I do appreciate the opportunity to get out for even just a few hours to help burn off that excess energy.

But it seems that everything is all happening all at once. We have three weeks until the fundraiser but this week is full of non-Sanctuary related activities.  I’m afraid Mike’s grandpa isn’t doing well so we will be going out of down for a day or two. We already have help to care for the horses but it just adds extra stress. Thanks to Glen and Carol S. for donating some bales (and for Tom J. for donating previously…we are using the last bale he donated along with the two that were donated and picked up yesterday).

And right after the fundraiser is done, Mike is headed out of town. So it seems that there’s going to be lots of stress for me in the very near future.

The weather has been weird lately. I’ll be happy when it warms up enough and the wind doesn’t blow. There were two nights that I didn’t bother hauling more than two buckets back to the mares and ponies because I’d dump the entire bucket and only half would make it into the water tank. Very discouraging. But it means that when it’s nice and calm out, I have to haul extra buckets. Hauling water has never been one of my favorite chores.

Everyone is starting to shed. I’m itching to get out and do some brushing and loving on the horses. I know spring is “officially” here but for us in South Dakota, spring isn’t here for another couple of weeks. I can’t wait to go outside without having to wear coveralls, heavy coat, hat, gloves, and heavy winter boots. Soon.  Spring will be here soon. As will the fundraiser! Eep!

Myhre Studio Donation for Easter Fundraiser

Once again Myhre Studio graciously donated to our annual Easter Fundraiser. Here's the details of their amazing donation!

Everyone who signs up wins! 

Our goal is for 10 people to sign up and raise $990 for your organization! 

(507) 283-4325

 (888) 514-9378

125 East Main Street - Luverne, MN 56156

 jjuhl@MyhreStudio.com

w w w . M y h r e S t u d i o . c o m

Photography by Jim Juhl

Frequently Asked Questions

How Does this work?Our goal is to raise the maximum amount of money for your organization. Here’s just a couple of things to keep in mind:When buyers sign up for a certificate, they are agreeing to purchase the certificate. All buyers must fill out our "Sign-Up Sheet" and your bid sheet (if that is your requirement). All buyers must complete this information so that we can mail their certificate to them and make sure they received it.
All payments will be made at auction check out. Please be sure your "check out staff" are aware of our offer and are sure to charge the buyers who sign up! After payment is made, each buyer should be given an auction receipt. We will mail the certificate as soon as we receive the "Sign Up Sheets".What do buyers get?


Everyone who signs up and pays $99 to your organization receives the following:
a custom portrait session (regularly $250) at our studio or area location.
a $150 credit towards a portrait purchase.   



What’s the fine print?
    Gift certificates may not be combined with other certificates or offers. In other words, a buyer cannot buy multiple certificates and apply them to a single order. A buyer may purchase multiple certificates to use on multiple sessions, for example, a family portrait and a children’s portrait.
Gift Certificates are non-transferable.


Gift Certificates are not redeemable for cash and have no cash value
Can I purchase multiple certificates?A buyer can purchase multiple certificates for separate sessions. For example, a family session and a children’s session. Only one certificate can be used on a session. Certificates are not transferable and must be used by the purchasing family.

Are there limits on where we can go for the photo session.The certificate is good for sessions in the studio and area locations. Locations outside of the area can be arranged for an additional charge.
I want to buy certificates as gifts for my office staff. Can I do that?This certificate is limited to families, individuals, children and pets and is not transferable to others but we do have a special offer for businesses. Please call the studio for more information.
What if we sell out of certificates?Our goal is to help you raise money, so keep selling! We will honor any number of bidders who take us up on this offer. All we ask is that you have winners fill out the contact information so we can mail the gift certificate.

Spring or Winter?

I can't figure out this crazy weather. Yesterday morning I woke up to no snow and today I woke up to three inches of snow and ice. Typical SD spring but it's still weird. We are supposed to be in the 40s today and 50s tomorrow. I think with the constant fog we are dealing with, we'll be lucky to see 30s.

Last night when I went out to do chores, it was snowing like crazy. I swear I always end up doing chores during the worst weather. I figured that I better get the horses in to the barn and stalls so that they can dry off. I had no idea what the temperatures were going to be like overnight and all the horses were wet (except Rabbit and Rain who had blanekts on). It was nice to get all the chores done before it got dark out but I wish I would have waited until after most of the big flakes had stopped falling.

By the time I got the old horses and hard keepers into the barn, it stopped snowing. Typical SD fashion. But I decided I would rather have the horses in the barn to dry off before going out. They were ready to get out of the barn this morning but only because I hadn't given them the high quality hay. I decided I would just throw a couple of small squares to them instead. I figured they wouldn't be too upset after having worked on a round bale.

Thoses horses are spoiled. The small squares are good but the horses are picky apparently. Although Bo and Zeke polished off all their hay with  no problerms. We'd pushed round bales in last Wednesday night and they lasted for the most part until this morning. There's still a little left and I'm sure the horses will nibble on it over the next couple of days.

We'd put a ring around one bale and a cinch net over the other. Somehow those horse managed to pull the cinch net off, along with the outer layer of the round bale. Of course, I wasn't thinking fast enough and didn't pull the cinch net up before it snowed so now it's buried under 3 inches of snow. I'll have to dig that out tonight. So now I'm back to feeding the horses morning and night. I could get really spoiled with using round bales only.

The last I heard, we are supposed to have another round of not so good weather coming in tonight and again on Monday. I know we aren't out of the woods yet, we are still in winter technically and it'll be another month of this weird weather before spring really arrives. I won't complain. We really do need this moisture and the snow this time around was heavy with moisture, unlike all the snow we've gotten so far this winter, which was light and fluffy and blew around all the time because it was so dang cold.

Here's to hoping we see some sunshine this afternoon!