Apologise and Rambling

I want to apologize for yesterday's blog. I realize I need a thicker skin to do rescue but it's aggravating none the less. I will do my best to keep my cool and point out the facts and not let my emotions get in the way. But remember, this is a blog and the information is what I have been provided or know about a horse. Some people might not appreciate their horses being called "rescues" or the matter in which the horse came to Borderlands. For those that are offended by the word "rescue" perhaps I'll look for a different word that better associates these horses. For those that are offended by the facts about a horse coming to Borderlands, they are facts and will remain that way. Tracking the history of a horse is very helpful but not always necessary. The goal of Borderlands is the horse. If you don't like how Borderlands is run, provide positive comments or no comments at all.

Now moving on to better topics, it looks as though the winter is officially here. Unfortunately I didn't get everything done that I needed to. Good thing for corral panels. I may need to do some temporary fencing to fix an issue that I overlooked all summer.

We had terrible weather yesterday (freezing drizzle) and it sounds like we'll have freezing rain and snow on Wednesday, along with below zero temps. Just thinking about the temps makes me exhausted. I don't yet have everything set up to pull horses so I'll be working frantically tonight to get stalls ready for tomorrow when I get home from work.

And on a side note, Borderlands is run solely through my paycheck with very little assistance from anyone else. We don't ask for donations as we aren't a non-profit just yet. We also don't have volunteers to take care of the horses. My paycheck funds the sanctuary and all of my free time is taken caring for the horses. I dare anyone to work 40+ hours (but be gone for 10 hours a day, working and drive time), care for 17 horses (ok so there's only 15 right now as the ponies are at the trainers), house work (yup, I'm the only one who does the skirt work), and does family activities (more activity now due to personal issues). Let's see how someone else stands up to that grind for more than a month before they decide it's too much for them. Ok, I'll stop with my ranting.

Thor came up lame early last week so we took him to the vet but without stocks he was not helpful. Luckily I think it was only a stone bruise as he's walking just fine now. Sam also is doing better. It seemed like he was losing weight and was very unhappy about the hay feeding situation. I think I've fixed that by giving him morning soaked alfalfa while I toss out the hay and toss out hay while he's still in the barn at night so there's no uproar by the rest of the herd. Thanks to some new friends, I'm following their advice and giving Sam Tums. Yup, that's right Tums. He eats them like treats (and he insists on his Tum when he walks out the barn). He seems to be doing better and has kept on the pounds.

I'm a little worried about Ivan. After contemplating, we decided to leave him out but he'll be going in when the weather drops below zero and when the wind chill is below zero. With his "man part" permanently sticking out, I want to protect him as much as possible. As Mike pointed out, he's probably dealt with it for years (for sure since last January/February). We measured Ivan, so I'm going to order him a blanket. If anything I hope that the blanket will buffer some of the wind. And since he's a Thoroughbred with thin skin, we're both thinking he'll need a blanket during the cold months of winter.

I'll be switching Rabbit over from her waterproof sheet to a waterproof blanket. She was just starting to put on a winter coat when this nasty weather hit. She doesn't have enough padding yet to withstand the wet weather so I insist on, at minimum, a sheet. We'll see how things progress but I'm betting the blanket will go on soon and stay on. I also noticed she's lame on her left rear. Not exactly sure what's going on but will have the vet look at her when we get her teeth floated. Not sure when that will be. Mayhem will be five months old tomorrow. Still debating on weaning a month early to give Rabbit some time to pack on the pounds. But with the nasty weather coming, I may leave them together over the long holiday and see how things play out.

Keep your fingers crossed that the nasty weather will be short lived and we wont' receive too much nasty weather this winter as a whole. Pray for those horses left out in a pasture with no protection. My heart goes out to them.