Unrealistic Expectations

I happened to be going through some classifieds today just to see what the prices of horses are going for. I've been trying to avoid looking knowing that I can't bring anyone home and are currently maxed out.

What threw me were two ads. One was someone trying to sell a 29 year old mare for $800. Why do people insist on using horses until their very last day on earth and then expect someone else to buy them? Why aren't horses allowed a decent retirement? Oh sure, maybe a little ride here or there but these owners were suggesting that she teach another young person to ride and that she could be used hard still. Maybe she can but I guess I'm a bit of a softy. Let these oldsters enjoy a relaxing ride and a good long retirement.

The other was someone complaining about the quirks of their horse and that was the reason for getting rid of him. Most horses have quirks and most horses find new homes because of those quirks but these quirks were outrageous. The quirk that blew me away was that the horse wouldn't tolerate having his bridle path clipped. Do you know how many horses at Borderlands can't stand a clippers? The other quirk was that the horse didn't like loading and standing patiently IN the trailer. Umm, again, I have at least one that freaks out in the trailer and a couple that don't have the patience to stand in the trailer like good boys and girls.

"Quirks" like rearing or bucking or something along those lines, I've seen time after time. But the quirks that this person were complaining about?!?! Be realistic. Everyone has quirks. Hell, I have WAY too many quirks for this person.

I guess my mind is simply boggled by the expectations people have on animals. They expect perfection every time, yet we ourselves are never perfect. I'm a "Type A" sort of person who expects perfection, but I'm learning to get over it and simply be happy with what I have until I can concentrate my time on fixing the issue. It's like loading Bo. He freaks out in a trailer. I haven't worked him much to expect him to not freak out. It's on the list of things to work with him on and we'll get there. But I wont' get rid of him because he gets upset standing in a trailer or being hauled 1/8 of a mile.

Come on people, let's be a little bit more realistic in our expectations of what a horse should and could do. And don't forget that the old deserve a retirement too. We are all working towards retirement, why aren't horses allowed the same thing?

Rampage Through the Countryside

I managed to catch another headcold late last week. I was just getting over the last cold and WHAM along comes another one. I spent most of Saturday sleeping while Mike, Mom, Dad, and Grandma put up fence so that I could move Rabbit, Queen, and Mayhem into the pasture. It's a good thing because all hell broke loose this morning.

I was sound asleep when our little min pin sounded the alarm that someone was in our driveway this morning. The neighbors were headed into town and were almost run over by our herd of eight running down the road. It was about 8-8:30am at the time. Thank goodness for neighbor's stopping in to tell us what was going on. I was in such a fog but woke in a hurry. Mike and I grabbed a couple lead ropes and a bucket of grain and jumped in the truck to track them down.

I didn't figure they would be too hard to catch. Was I wrong!

I have yet to figure out what spooked them but they took the majority of the one strand of electric fence down. We followed their tracks for about three miles before we spotted them in an alfalfa field. Luckily they were at a dead end so I thought it would be fairly easy to catch them.

Again, was I wrong!

Thanks to Bo, Jim, and Zeke the herd took off across the alfalfa field. I couldn't chase after them so Mike went after them with the grain bucket. I had high hopes that I could call them in with just grain. Stupid me for thinking such a thing.

After a bit of coaxing, Mike was able to catch Bo. Of course, he went with just a grain bucket and no lead rope. Bo did a number on Mike and really tossed him around but we were able to get a lead rope on Bo. Mike went to go get the truck and trailer and I thought I could coax the boys home down the road at a nice steady walk.

Again, was I wrong!

I had a firm grip on Bo but Jim decided to take the herd into the bean field at a nice even trot. Of course Bo decided to totally flip out. Bo freaked out and tossed me around but I wasn't going to have any of that nonsense. While Mike went to get the trailer, Bo and I had a discussion about manners. Unfortunately, his ground manners leave much to be desired when the herd is around, add to that a fast disappearing herd and Bo went (excuse my language) ape shit. In the end, Bo was on one side of the fence while I stood on the other to ensure that I wouldn't be completely trampled. Unfortunately all fencing around these parts consists of barbed wire. As Mike was pulling in with the truck and trailer, Bo lunged at the fence and cut his chest. Luckily it wasn't deep but it was yet another wound to treat.

We loaded Bo and went looking for the rest of the herd. They were just over the top of the hill and were all up by the truck and trailer. I was able to get my hands on Zeke and was trying for Jim but Jim decided to be the jerk that he is and took off, with the rest of the herd in hot pursuit. I was able to get Zeke loaded and Mike went after them, with little success.

I took Zeke and Bo home and came back with more lead ropes but after more than an hour of chasing, Mike and I knew it was time to call in reinforcements.

Let me say, we have such wonderful guardian angels. I made a few phone calls and my angels were on their way! I will forever be in their debt! When my angles arrived (with a saddled horse in tow), we headed back down to where we'd last seen the herd. Luckily they were there. I think everyone but Jim wanted to be done and back home.

My guardian angel mounted up and went for a short ride to bring everyone in. When she brought the herd in, we caught everyone (except Jim) right away. It took another five minutes or so just to catch that mean ol' Jim but we did. I will be honest and say that there were a number of curse words thrown out at Jim. I'm sure everyone else was thinking what I was saying.

We loaded everyone up into the two trailers and headed home.

Jim is now in the Timeout Pen until further notice. I will NOT tolerate that type of behavior. The rest of the herd is standing in the drylot waiting for me to make a decision on what to do with them. I would much rather not throw hay as I can't lift anything due to my health. But it'll take a good four hours to move the temporary fencing and at this point, we will NOT be putting everyone back over there. Jim will stay here and I think Bo and Zeke will be stuck here as well. I repeat, I will not tolerate bad behavior.

By the time we had all the horses back home and everyone on their way, it was after noon. By that time, both Mike and I were starting to get sick because of the heat. We've been hiding inside ever since trying to ward off getting sick again. As I type this, Mike is asleep on the floor with the little min pin alarm clock curled up next to him (even though it's hot in the house).

I have a few ideas of what we'll do to resolve the issue but I'm not sure they are going to work. I have a feeling something spooked the horses. Three fourths of the fence was taken down so something had to have spooked them to do that much damage. But for now, the temps are going to be too high to do anything for the next few days. If/when I do put the horses back over at the neighbor's, there will be three less horses (Bo, Jim, and Zeke) and there will be a lot more powerful electric charger on the fence. I want those horses scared of the fence next time they go over.

My anger at Jim is beyond words. Had he been a good boy, we wouldn't have had to spend four hours in the heat trying to catch everyone. I may very well haul him to Madison and bring King home. At least then, I could leave Zeke and Bo here and then put the rest of the herd at the neighbor's. We'll see. It all depends on how long my irritation level stays sky high.

These are the days I wonder why I do what we do.

It's Raining!!!!

It's raining! I know it might not be a hot topic for some but it is for us! Except for a brief shower a couple weeks ago that only settled the dust, this is the first rain we've had since Memorial Weekend! I don't know how much we've received or how long it's been raining but it's glorious.

I woke to the sound of rain this morning, which is the second best sound to my ears (first being a whinny). I know the temps are supposed to go back into the 90s next week but I've so enjoyed sleeping with the windows open and feeling the cool air.

It's amazing how rain can either lift or damping ones spirit. Today, it lifts mine!

Breaking Heart

I like to read Joe's blog every day. He runs Thoroughbred Friends, also known as TBFriends.

When I read his blog today, it broke my heart. I'm copying his post from day here so you too can read what he had to go through...

Friday, July 27th... It happens frequently. I see it often. Horses who die because of human neglect. He was only 5 years old. There is a racing tattoo. In this condition the neglect must have began two years ago. Which means he would have been 3. Every horse should have a name. It’s a dignity thing. Our vet Lisa said lets call him Ryan.Yesterday Ryan arrived with another gelding. The other gelding is also neglected, but he should improve. Ryan doesn’t have a chance. We had to carry Ryan off the trailer. He almost fell to the ground. If Ryan wants to move an inch he has to hop. He stands on the ball of his left heel. Despite his pain Ryan lets out a happy sigh. He sees our gelding Burning Blur and tries to get closer to him. With all the horses on our ranch, there is no better friend than Burning Blur. How did Ryan know this? In 4 hours Ryan ate 7 or 8 carrots. A large tub of grain. Two full buckets of water. In those 4 hours Ryan received dozens of hugs. Over and over he was told sorry this happened to you. And then Lisa put him to sleep.I am showing pictures of Ryan below. His neglect should never have happened.There are thousands of places on the internet to go for help. One place says no, you move on to the next. With all the choices, all the possibilities, no horse should ever end up in this condition. But they do. It boggles the brain.Have a good weekend. Where did July go? Summer is flying by…Joe


To top that off, I read on a rescue's Facebook page, that a rescue had to watch an entire semi load of horses drive past headed for slaughter. It's hard enough knowing that the horses are being slaughtered but it's more and more prevalent these days. Breaks my heart.

Inevitable

I realized today that I am putting off the inevitable. It seems it happens every year but I guess that’s what happens when you run a sanctuary full of old horses.

We decided last week to keep Dude home to doctor his shoulder (which is slowly healing) and kept King with him for company. It’s my fault that Dude blew through the fence when we took him over to the neighbor’s but he got naughty afterwards. So instead we decided to take him to Mom and Dad’s. The weather finally cooled off last night where I had enough energy and wasn’t afraid of hauling horses in a hot trailer.

Dude and King both loaded like old pros that they are and were ready for their adventure. When I went to unload King, he got his front feet off the trailer and down went his head to snatch some grass. He didn’t even have his back end off the trailer and he was already too busy eating to care where the rest of his body was! I so wish I would have had a camera.

The minute we put Dude and King into the pasture, I never saw them again. The weeds are about shoulder high on the horses so the only way to keep track of them was to look for King’s white back. I guess there is a bonus of having white horses; it’s easier to pick them out at night and in pastures. Dude blended in pretty quick (and he’s just a hair shorter than King). Those boys didn’t lift their heads at all. Even when we went to leave, those boys didn’t give me a backwards glance. I don’t blame them. They haven’t had the joy of a pasture in a couple of weeks now. They will definitely be happier where they are at.

When we got home, I decided that we might as well take advantage of the empty dry lot and put Queen and Rabbit in it so we wouldn’t have to constantly fill water tubs (until we can put them out on pasture). It’ll make graining those two a lot easier too. This morning when I went to toss out some hay, I noticed wads of hay all over the place. That’s my sign. It’s depressing but I knew it was coming. Queen is going downhill fast. Fast or faster than Thor actually. I know I need to call the vet and make the appointment but I’m wrapped up in a few personal matters that need to be taken care of first. I should have put them down earlier this summer when we had so much heat, but I don’t think either Mike or I were ready to say goodbye. I guess we are both being a little selfish. Thor really turned into Mike’s horse and Queen turned into my horse. Queen has been there this past year when everything else fell apart and I needed a comforting shoulder to cry on. I’m struggling with the thought of losing her and not seeing her appy butt out in the pasture. Even thinking of it now has my crying like a baby (yeah, can’t see the screen through the tears).

I know it’s a part of sanctuary life. I would rather know these horses for a very short period of time than to never know them at all. But each one takes a little piece of me when they go. But I would rather have my heart scattered and had the opportunity to know so many wonderful souls than to have a full but empty heart.

I’m not sure when I will be able to make the phone call. I expect it’ll be in the middle of August. I had hoped to wait until the end of September but it doesn’t look like that will happen. Even though we will be losing two, we wont’ be accepting any more in until possibly late fall or next spring. Finances and health dictator the numbers that we can manage. Unless someone wants to sponsor one or two of the horses, we’ll have to wait to take in any more. I’m devastated by that thought because I’m seeing a few old warriors that desperately need a retirement home and I can’t offer them that opportunity at this time. I know that they will be bought by someone, used hard, and then discarded like an old rag and I would love the opportunity to give them the retirement that they so desperately deserve. Who wouldn’t want the life of luxury: wake up when you want, eat, poop, drink all when you want, enjoy good company and know that your safety and well-being are being taken care of by someone else.

I’m sure I’ll post again later today. I wanted to fill everyone in on a conversation I had with friends about the latest horse sale that they attended. I havent’ been able to attend any sales lately due to conflicting schedules, heat, and health. One of these days I’ll be back to normal again.

Cooler Temps

Driving home today from the paying job and I was able to enjoy cloudy skies and cooler temperatures. When I pulled in the driveway, the skies opened up and started sprinkling. Mike and I stood outside soaking in the few rain drops that fell from the sky. I'm sure the heat will return but I sure do enjoy the cooler temperatures. I can actually start doing chores before 9pm every night if this type of weather keeps up!

To celebrate the cooler weather, I'd post a few pictures from last Saturday when it was so hot.  You may notice that everyone is wearing halters. Because the boys are staying in only one strand of electric, it's safer to leave the halters on in case they escape. When we return the herd to the big pasture later on, the halters will come back off. But for now, the boys are enjoying a better pasture and I'm enjoying watching happy horses.

Doing the Right Thing

I was reading a blog and someone said a very profound statement. It’s something that I thought I would share and something that may help inspire me in the near future.
“…very often, we don’t do the thing we know is the right thing, and I’ve been trying to understand the why behind this in each situation.”

The instant I read that statement I knew what the author was meaning. I’ve heard countless statements where people say they can’t do something for one reason or another. It’s time we all step outside the box, step out of our safe zone and do what’s right and stand up for what’s right. I could touch on life at the sanctuary or rescuing horses but that simple statement could mean anything for anyone. I don’t want to tamper with the thoughts that pop into your head when you hear those words “Do the right thing”. Unless you were raised in an unethical manner, we all know what’s right and wrong. It’s simply a matter of stepping up or speaking up.

The author also touched on another thought “And, similarly, what does it mean to you to achieve whichever goals you’re working toward? What does success look like? Do you really want those goals, or do you just think you should want them? And, if you really do want them, then what are you willing to sacrifice to achieve them?”

Pretty profound. I like to think that I’ve given up a lot of things for the horses at the sanctuary. But is there more? At this very point, I am sacrificing all that I can but in a few months, I might be able to do more because it’s the right thing to do.

So I’m going to challenge everyone to step outside the box and do what’s right. Make sacrifices to do the right thing if it means you’ll achieve your goal. I’m sure that I’ll return to those two statements when life gets tough at the sanctuary and I think I can’t continue on. If you always do the right thing, even if it’s the hardest thing possible, you’ll always have a clean conscience. We are looking at a very tough remainder of the summer and fall. Life already seems hard but if we all do the right thing, maybe life will be easier for even one person.

Hay and Fencing

So I was talking with my hay guy this past Saturday. He pulled through for me yet again. I'm not exactly sure how many bales we will get but we will have enough (fingers crossed). My hay situation is a bit odd. My uncle and another farmer have a deal, although I'm not totally privy to it. But I work through my uncle to get the hay. This year he decided that instead of baling and then storing the hay, that he might as well bale and then deliver the hay (not much else to do other than watch from an air conditioned vehicle all the corn shrivel and dry up). So, wouldn't you know, I think we are getting our hay this weekend. Luckily the weather is supposed to only be in the mid 80s but I have to do some serious cleaning in the hay shed and hay barn before they can put the hay anywhere.

I let the mares wander around on the concrete next to the hay shed to try and eat down the weeds and they made a mess (and its' been too hot to do any bit of cleaning). So now I need to figure out how to get everything clean before they get here. It's always something.

I am also hoping to get some fencing done this weekend and move the mares to the other pasture. If there's anyone willing to help, I'd appreciate it. I can't pay in money, but I can feed you!

I did have to move Mayhem in with the blind horses much to their dismay. I was afraid Mayhem was going to start pushing on the fence. She decided to do laps around the drylot last night much to Babe's disgust. Mike suggested that because Mayhem is so young, that we consider finding her a new home (since she really doesn't fit into our program). I haven't ruled out the possiblity but I'm still unsure that I will. She's got a registration application but she still has the hernia I need to take care of and although she has decent breeding, I'm afraid someone will think it's good enough and turn her into a broodmare. We dont' need any more broodmares popping out babies. She may also at some point develop heaves and I can't stand the thought of people breeding mares that have heaves. That's what happened to Rabbit. I know what its' like to not be able to breath, compile it with a distressed body due to carrying a foal, giving birth, and then caring for a foal by your side. It just seems cruel and makes my lungs hurt just thinking about it.

So hopefully the weather will break and we'll be able to enjoy "cooler" weather. We moved the big herd on Saturday and they've been drinking water like crazy. I'm so used to the automatic waterer that I dont' keep track of how much they actually drink. Being in a pasture where we have to haul water, it makes me take not a little closer.

We have a 100 gallon tank completely full along with a 275 water tote. When the heat index slips over 100 degrees, the horses drink a lot more. We it's not as stinky hot and we have some relief from the sun, they don't drink as much. As it is, we are hauling water every day to make sure that they will never run out. Without the water tote, I'm afraid we would have to haul water twice a day.

I have to keep a close eye on Chaos and Rain. Being black, they have a harder time staying cool. So far Rain doesn't seem to be affected by the heat. Chaos on the other hand seems to be taking it a little bit harder, but then again, he doesn't really fade like Rain does.

I know they are enjoying their time at the neighbor's and I really am relieved by having them at the neighbor's knowing I won't have to toss hay. I prefer having happy horses and the herd is definitely happy.

Tomorrow we are going to haul Dude and King to mom and dad's. There's no more grass for the ponies so I'm not sure what to do with them other than hay them. I may move them into the big drylot so they have more room. I have one other place to put up some electric but I don't have enough chargers to keep all the fences going. I may have to see if I can find a cheap one at Campbell Supply or Tractor Supply. I somehow don't think there is such a a thing as "cheap" when it comes to electric fencers.

Once the mares eat down the grass in the new pasture, I'm planning on moving corral panels to make it a more permanent pasture. I'm not sure when we'll get it back to being a permanent pasture with decent fencing. I'm guessing either this fall after the weeds dye off or sometime next spring. It does mean we'll be doing some serious clean up. But for now, electric fence will suffice. I'm tired of throwing hay and I hate seeing all that expensive hay being used up now when I know we'll need it later.

Thoughts on an Idea

As I type this post, we are currently at 99 degrees with a heat index of 104. It's simply too hot. With the heat and no rain comes the topic on everyone's mind...hay and hay prices.

It's about a month ahead of schedule but people are starting to post free horses. I realize it's better to find them homes now rather than wait until this fall or winter but it's still a little scary. All the discussion boards I follow are currently talking about hay prices and the lack of available hay.

The hay discussions are starting to really ramp up on these discussion boards and it leaves me worried. I am unfortunately not able to take on any more at this time due to my health and finances. If we could get sponsors for some of the horses, maybe we could look at bringing one or two horses in to retire for what little time they have left on this earth. I know some will look at culling their "useless" horses and I'm expecting that many of the old will be tossed aside.

I know the different discussions about slaughter. But there are other options. I've been mulling it around in my head for a long time. Would there be interest or a need in a low cost euthanasia clinic? I haven't figured out many of the details or the costs involved but I am curious to know if people would be willing to spend a few bucks on their beloved old horses to ensure a kind end rather than earn a couple bucks and dump them at an auction (even then they may not make any money, they may break even or have to pay in). Again, I don't have any details but I want to know what people think about the idea of having such a clinic. Let me know what you think on our facebook page. If there seems to be a need, I'll see what I can do. We already have two that have to be put down this fall. It would be too cruel to make them endure another winter knowing full well that they won't make it even if we have another open winter. I'd like to know your thoughts.

Pics from the New Pasture

Checked on the horses this morning. It's too darn hot! I was a weiny and stayed in the car while Mike checked fence. I'll leave you with pictures. It's too hot to even comment on the pictures. 



Neighbor's Pasture and a HUGE Thank You

Hallelujah! We received rain last night. Of course it wasn't all that much but a little is better than nothing! I wanted to dance in the rain until I big raindrop hit me square in the eye. I took it as a sign to go in and enjoy the sounds of rain instead.

The pastures are done and even with the rain, it won't come back. I noticed today that even some of the trees are starting to dry up. Luckily the neighbor's pasture is still ok, although it's drying up too. The canary grass is about waist high and in normal years it would be over my head (ok, so I'm short but it would still be taller than me).

Mom and Dad are camping near our place this weekend so I asked if they would come over and help before the heat really set in. I first want to thank everyone who offered to come out and help with the fencing and moving the horses. When we move the horses again, I may take you up on your offer or when I find the energy to move the mares to a different pasture.

We decided to leave Dude and King home and will haul them to Madison sometime this week. I want to keep Dude close to home so that we can doctor his shoulder wound. King is also really fat so we all thought maybe it would be a good idea to keep King with Dude and then Mom and Dad can regulate how much they eat at their place. Dude was not impressed by being left out of all the action.

We loaded Ivan, Brego, Chaos, and Rain into the stock trailer and hauled them over to the neighbor's. We made them walk the fenceline so that at least this group of horses would know where the fence was. We also started flagging the fenceline, which is what I should have done in the first place. It's a good thing that we walked the fenceline. Sometime between yesterday and today a deer ran through the fence and pulled it down in one spot. I guess I'll have to walk the fenceline every morning and evening to make sure it's not down. I'm not happy with leaving only one strand of electric up when they are so close to the road. I'm hoping that they'll eat it down and then I can run a second strand just to be on the safe side.

Ivan and Brego settled down right away and went to town eating. Chaos and Rain didn't take much longer to follow suite. Ivan and Brego really turned into easy keepers when it comes to moving them around in pastures. When we ran out of flags, we went back home to catch two more horses to bring over. Bo freaks out in a trailer so I knew he would need the entire front portion of the trailer all to himself. But we decided to take Maverick and Jim over first. Maverick is a bit of an instigator but he seemed to do ok. Dad lead him down the fenceline to where we started flagging and then let him go. He settled down right away but when I let Jim go they started trotting around. Luckily it didn't take long for them to settle back down.

While Mom and Dad flagged the bottom portion of the fenceline, Mike and I went back for Zeke and Bo. That's when the herd decided that they would get spooky and start running around everywhere. Maverick was the culprit. Everyone (even Jim and Ivan) were on a steady lope around the bottom portion of the pasture, much to my dismay.

Dad and I had to hang on to Zeke and Bo for a good five minutes while Maverick got all the _ _ _ _ and vinegar out of himself. I think the herd was too hungry to really care for very long that other horses were in with them.It's not like Zeke and Bo weren't with them a half an hour ago. Silly horses.

I let Bo go and he went trotting off towards the herd. Luckily no one seemed overly concerned, although there was a bit more wandering than eating and then dad let Zeke go. Same thing happened. Not much drama after letting them go.

We stood around for awhile to make sure that no one would blow through a fence. Thank goodness for the ties. Otherwise, I'm sure they wouldn't have seen them and we would have had loose horses. My only concern is that of all the horses over at the neighbor's, all but one are either dark sorrels, bays, or blacks. Zeke is the only white horse in the group. It's going to make trying to check on them in the dark a little tricky.

The pictures are hard to show off the neighbor's pasture. The brown at the bottom of the photo is actually the mares' pasture. As you can tell, its' all brown and dried up. The mare pasture drops down into the CRP, which we aren't yet allowed to use (and probably wont' use because the fences are bad). The green between the brown mare pasture and the road is the CRP. Then it's the neighbor's pasture. It's hard to tell from this distance. I was too lazy to walk farther out into the mare pasture to try and get a better picture of the herd. I didn't realize that the horses would look like dots.

 Mike thinks the horses are in about five acres of pasture. We'll see how long it lasts. We hauled over water and a water tote so we wouldn't have to fill the 100 gallon take every day. With the temps the way they are, it'll be interesting to see how long the tank and tote last with eight horses.

 I'll try to get better pictures either tonight or tomorrow and post them. But I wanted to give you a quick glance at what we were doing this morning instead of joining the fun at the Colton Jubilee Days. I want to apologize for not making it out today. I was really looking forward to chatting with everyone about the sanctuary. I know I don't advertise on the classifieds so many don't really know anything about us or what we do. But if you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to talk your ear off about the sanctuary and the horses.

With the money raised from the donations today (btw...thank you SO MUCH!), we are planning on buying safe choice grain and beet pulp for Queen, Thor, and Babe. If there's anything left over, we'll pick up a bag or two of sweet feet for Bo and Rabbit (it's how I hide Bo and Rabbit's supplements...Bo is on a muscle builder and Rabbit is on an antihistamine for her heaves). I want to personally thank everyone that donated and for those that helped collect the donations. Words don't do justice to my gratitude and appreciation. Your thoughtfulness and kindness humble me.

Thank you

Colton Jubilee Days

Saturday is the Colton Jubilee Days. Unfortunately do to the heat and heat index, they wisely cancelled the ride to keep both riders and horses safe. Some will still ride in the parade but the trail ride is cancelled. I had planned on taking the ponies and possibly Bo but with the heat and my health, we opted to keep all the horses at home.

Also, because we didn't get to move horses last weekend, we are going to try and move horses first thing Saturday morning while it's still cool. Once it hits about 80, I'm done for so we need to get it done right away. Mom and Dad are also camping near us so they can make a quick trip over and be here first thing in the morning to help out.

Mike did suggest a different way of moving certain hoses so we'll see how it goes. We just need to get the horses out of the old pasture because there's simply nothing left. I also need to keep Dude at home to treat his shoulder wound.

I'm not sure how long it'll take to move horses so we may have to miss the Colton Jubilee Days. A good friend graciously made a donation can. We might not be able to visit with you, but I'd be more than happy to chat about the horses some other time or show off the horses (when it's cooler). Just drop me a line on our Facebook page and we can make arrangements to meet up or have you stop out. Any donations are always graciously welcomed and will go straight to feeding the sanctuary horses. Thank you everyone for all your support. We couldn't do it without you.

Never Ending Heat

This heat has pushed my coping skills to the limit. Because of my health, I don't dare be out during the hottest part of the day to make sure the horses are cool. The pastures are burned up and I'm throwing hay. The price of hay is already sky rocketing. I did get my order in but I may not get everything that we need. What few bales I have left over from last year are going to have to hold me over until fall; so much for using them at the beginning of winter and cutting down on the cost of hay.

The heat has also maxed out my temper. I am forcing the mares to stay in their dried up pasture until I can come up with some other idea. Rabbit and Mayhem broke into my hay stash and trashed a big square bale. Queen also broke in to the hay shed and was wandering around in the stalls. They were there long enough to do damage to everything so now they are in their pen and won't get out until I can get some fencing done in the other pasture.

It's too hot to do any fencing. I am so very grateful to everyone who volunteered to come out and do fencing Sunday. Mike and I did sneak out Sunday to put up fence but I had a bad feeling where we were putting the fence was in a bad spot. I couldn't be out there to flag the fence line or double the line either.

I decided Monday morning at 4:30am that I would unhook the gooseneck (since two of the six stalls were taken up with corral panels), that I would switch to the stock trailer. I was able to catch Brego and Ivan right away and then coaxed Dude in too. Dude has to be the first at everything so I figured he'd better be over at the new pasture.

Bad Idea.

I should have grabbed Dude, King, Rain, and Chaos instead. Dude got Ivan and Brego running and the minute Mike drove away, Dude blew through the fence. Of course it wasn't really all his fault. He didn't even see it. What I didn't like was that he wouldn't let me catch him so that I could walk the fence and find out exactly how much damage he'd done to the fence. Not letting me catch you means a very ticked off me, especially when it was already in the 80s by 8:30am. By that time I couldn't catch anyone. So I walked the fence, found exactly where it was broken (of course without the proper tools to make it work) and finally caught Dude. I left halters on knowing that something like this could happen.

Unfortunately I didn't have any lead ropes (otherwise I would have never been able to catch him). With Dude in tow, I walked up to the trailer but Ivan and Brego decided to take off and I was left dangling from Dude's halter as he started to rear and spin around. I don't remember, but I swear I was lifted off the ground a couple of times while trying to get him out of the pasture. His bad behavior (and blowing through the fence) was more than my temper could handle.

I loaded Dude into the trailer, he trashed around like a four year old throwing a temper tantrum, and I proceeded to put him in the timeout pen. He's herd bound and I was pissed (excuse the language). He's never been alone but I was sick of his bad behavior. I know he was just missing Chaos but he needs to have manners and having him toss me around like a bag of potatoes was the last straw. I put him in the timeout pen and went to retrieve Ivan and Brego.

Luckily Ivan and Brego are pretty laid back. They've been in a tiff with each other the last few days so I wasn't sure if putting them in together would be good for them or not. Luckily, it was good. They behaved and didn't try to blow through any fence. They were pretty content to hang out in the pasture and rather disappointed to load back into the trailer. (On a side note: Brego is starting to get a soft spot in my heart. The other day I was having a bad day and I was walking through the gelding herd. Brego came up and "checked in" to see what was going on. None of the geldings ever come up to console me but Brego did. Even if he can't be ridden, he may very well become my solace horse.)

When I returned, Dude had himself all sweated up and managed to mangle one of the corral panels. I won't even imagine what type of force he inflicted to bend a corral panel. Unfortunately, he managed to put a huge gash in his shoulder with no way to stitch it up either. I put some betadine on it. I wanted to doctor it this morning but I'd left everyone out in the pasture because it was 11pm when I got home last night to do chores. I'll see what creams and meds I should put on it. But in the end, Dude settled down for the first time ever after being alone for a few hours.Of course the heat played a big part in it. But I'll take what I can get.

So now I'm left with a pasture waiting for the herd but I need to go back out, add an extra strand of electric, a more powerful charger, and add flags to the entire fence (or at least where it's practically buried in canary grass or move the fence out of the canary grass and make the pasture smaller). Either way, in 100 degree weather, I don't want anyone out there. I can sneak over there and mess with the fence for a few minutes at a time. I don't want someone to drive a distance and then work their butts off only to get sick. I've been sick from the heat; it's not pretty.

I'm simply ready for a break from this heat. I want to dance in the rain. This heat is bringing out my bad temper and melting away what little "filter" I might have in toning down what I shouldn't say. So if I say something you don't approve of, I'm sorry. But it's the heat and the stress of everything and I now simply can't handle it. I've put myself into "timeout" a few times this month already. I'm betting it'll happen more and more if the heat doesn't break. Keep your fingers crossed that we'll get some rain and cooler weather soon. Otherwise, I may not post much more until I can be more positive.

Having a Heat Wave

I'm having a hard time coming up with topics right now. We haven't done much at Borderlands because of the heat. As I type this, the temp is already at 95 with a heat index of 97. The heat is making it hard for my little brain to even come up with topics, well, upbeat topics anyway.

The weatherman said it was going to be 99 today and 100 tomorrow. Then supposedly we are getting a cold front. How can you call a cold front 90? But I'll take it because next weekend we are supposed to be at 100 again. It's going to make the Colton Jubilee Days smoking hot but luckily we'll be sitting in the shade. If I'm lucky there will be shade and the extreme heat won't come until later in the day.

I had hoped to get up early yesterday morning to work on putting up electric fence but the body said no. Mike and I are still fighting this headcold which is now turning into a chest cold. Add to it the heat, there was no way either of us could muster the energy to crawl out of bed and put in electric fence.

Now I'm wishing we would have done it anyway. We did wake up early this morning and head over half way early to start putting in fence. After about an hour, I had to give up. Too hot, and too much walking was the end of me but luckily Mike had more energy and was able to get all the electric fence up. It wasn't yet 90+ when we came in but I'm thinking it'll have to be tomorrow before we put the electric fence up and bring the horses over. I'm considering taking the day off to get it all done so I can keep an eye on the horses and get it all done before the heat sets in. That or I'll do it on Tuesday and take a day off the paying job since it's supposed to be "colder" then. Sad to think that 90 is colder.

While we were over at the neighbor's putting in fence, I could see exactly how bad our pasture is. There's absolutely nothing. We are east river South Dakota and our tradition was to go to the Black Hills every Labor Day weekend. Our pasture currently looks like west river terrain and it's only mid July. I'm definitely worried. There's absolutely nothing left. Luckily the neighbor's pasture is pretty good still. Our hope is that we made the fencing large enough to keep them content for one week and then next weekend we can move the electric fence to a different area. I'd rather not burn up and totally trash the neighbor's pasture like we are doing on ours.

If we don't get some rain soon, there is going to be in influx of horses being dumped soon. Typically August is the beginning of the dumping season but with the weather the way it is, I can see that it'll either start sooner or that there will be way more horses pushed into the auction and slaughter pipeline. Unfortunately, we can't take in any more. If there were more funds coming in (other than my paycheck), or if someone were to sponsor one or two horses, we could possibly take in one or two old warriors but right now, I want to make sure that those horses here are taken care of and we are going to be pinching pennies to make sure that everyone is well taken care of thanks to this damn drought.

Because my mind is mush right now (thanks to the heat and this head cold), I thought maybe I'd dig into the archives and look for some chilly pictures. Sure enough I found a few right away. The following two pictures were taken two years ago. I'm walking through a snowdrift that took the snow grader three passes to bust through.  In the distance off to the right is where we are going to put the horses (between the first and second power pole and then straight to the right in the first picture).

I want to thank the volunteers who said they would come out this morning and help. After hearing that the temps were going to be even higher, I didn't think it wise to put anyone at risk. Mike and I have both been sick because of the heat and I didn't want to risk anyone else getting sick. We can run over and putter for an hour and then head in where it's cool. I would feel guilty for putting people to work in this heat. When it ever does cool off, I'll beg for help. I need to get some electric fence up in the mare pasture I thought we couldn't use. Otherwise, I'll be hauling all three mares up to Madison for a week or so to eat down that pasture.

I hope everyone stays cool during this massive heatwave. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that we'll get some type of rain soon to break this drought. I just don't know how much longer we can hold out without any rain. It's making life even tougher than when we were dealing with sub zero temps. I guess this is the type of weather that makes us hardy (or crazy) South Dakotans.

Emergency Fencing

The weatherman just predicted upper 90s starting Sunday with no rain forcasted in the near future. We are going to try and get up early each morning this weekend to try and do some fencing. The neighbor graciously allowed us to put up electric fence and move the big herd over.

Our pastures are burning up and there's nothing left for grass anywhere. So the sooner we get the horses over to the neighbor's, the better. We just have to try and beat the heat. Not sure how fast we can work but we'll plug along until it's too hot to move. Both Mike and I are really sensitive to the heat so not sure how much we'll get done.

I also want to get Babe shaved. It's supposed to be 99 on Monday. The last time the weatherman predicted a 99 degree day, it hit 100+. It's just too darn hot for her to deal with this type of heat.

So, any volunteers on helping put up electric fence or shaving Babe (in the wee hours of the morning to beat the heat?)

When One Door Closes...

…another one opens. I’ve been racking my brain to figure out what to do with the big herd. The pasture is done. The only visible green are the milk weeds that came up after Mike sprayed. I knew the mare pasture was done (although Rabbit and Mayhem are still making an attempt at finding the last green shoots of grass).

But I walked out to get Jim last night and knew for a fact that there was nothing left in the big pasture. The bottom of the pasture is full of fox tail. We haven’t been able to use the bottom of the pasture for two years. It was too boggy this spring to spray and now it’s too late to do anything. There’s no point in throwing grass seed or fertilizer. It doesn’t look like we are going to get any rain any time soon.

I realized just yesterday that we haven’t gotten a drop of rain since Memorial Weekend. I was going through a few pictures and the last time I can remember rain was that weekend. It wasn’t a lot but it was enough to keep things wet. It was misting the first day and then we had a decent rain. After that, I can’t remember any rain. It’s been a month and a half with no rain and nothing is surviving.

Yesterday morning our neighbor returned from his trip and asked Mike what happened to our pasture. Even from the road the pasture looks terrible. Mike and I had both been considering begging the neighbor to let us rent out his pasture but we hadn’t quite gotten up the nerve. I hate to impose and find it rude when people stop out and ask us if they can use one of our buildings. It just seemed a bit over-zealous of those people. So I didn’t want to do the same thing to the neighbor.

Luckily for us, the neighbor’s plans fell through and when he was approached by someone else to use his pasture, he said it was already spoken for. Then he told Mike that if we wanted to use it, we could. When Mike told me the good news, I burst into tears. Last year we used the neighbor’s pasture but stayed out of a good chunk of his pasture so that he could hay it. He said this year we could use the entire thing. Last year we moved the horses about once every one to two weeks so they were at the neighbors for one or two months (I can’t remember now). It was such a relief to not have so much pressure on the pasture. And now we are blessed with getting to use the ENTIRE pasture. I don’t like having the herd in one strand of electric but at this point, I don’t think the herd will care. They will most likely be pretty content to stay in greener pastures.

I had thought of hauling Rabbit up to Mom and Dad’s for the rest of the summer but if we can throw up some electric in the other mare pasture, I think it’ll hold for at least a month. That way, we could pull two horses from the big herd and take to Mom and Dad’s. I don’t know how lush the neighbor’s pasture is but I know Mom and Dad’s pasture is really lush. If I take two of the harder keepers and haul them north, then maybe I won’t have to worry as much. I haven’t quite decided yet. I’m still tossing around ideas and need to come up with the best case scenario.

Mike and I will be out putting up electric fence at the neighbor’s this weekend so we can pull the big herd immediately. There is absolutely nothing left in our pasture and neither of us want to start feeding hay just yet. The price of hay is going to be high so I want to save as many of our current bales as possible. I also have to pay the hay guy for last year’s hay. I got off a few months last year and can’t seem to get caught back up. So instead of saving up for this year’s hay, I’ve been saving up for last year’s hay. It’s frustrating but at least all our debts will be paid and I’ll just have to keep plugging along.

We are supposed to be back in the upper 80s and even upper 90s by this weekend and next week. Neither Mike or I can handle the extreme heat right now so we’ll hopefully get up early this weekend to get the fencing done and the horses to the neighbor’s place while it’s still cool. If anyone wants to help, I’d be more than happy for the extra hands. I’m not exactly sure when we’ll start but the earlier in the morning, the better. It might take us the entire weekend to get the electric fence up, but it’ll be worth it in the end. I’d feel so much better if I could get everyone out on greener pastures for the next two months. I’m not going to be able to do anything for the entire month of August so the sooner we can get the horses on green pastures, the better.

So although the door (or gate) is closed because there’s no grass in our pastures, the neighbor opened a new door (or gate so to speak) to give our horses the opportunity to graze. I am eternally grateful to our neighbor. I am blessed to know such amazing, awesome, and thoughtful people. I can’t put it into words.

Also, I don’t want anyone to forget about the upcoming Colton Jubilee Days. I’ll be sitting in the shade with the ponies. Mike even mentioned that we should bring Bo. So if Mike can come with, we’ll probably bring Bo along too. And then you can meet the most amazing gelding ever! He holds no grudge against what was done to him and is such a ham. I love talking about him and would love to have the opportunity to show him off to you. So if you can make it, we will be there for sure with ponies in tow and most likely Bo too. It’s next Saturday, July 21st in Colton. I sure hope you can make it. If it wasn’t for our good friend running the trail ride, I wouldn’t have this opportunity to share Bo’s story or other horses of Borderlands. Again, I count my blessings and am eternally grateful to such amazing, awesome, and thoughtful people. My gratitude is beyond words.

It always seems that when I think I hit rock bottom, I am blessed with the kindness of friends to lift me to the clouds. I couldn’t run the sanctuary without everyone’s moral support and encouragement to continue on in my passion. Thank you everyone for your kind words, thoughtfulness, and willingness to help when I so greatly need it. We are truly blessed at Borderlands with such wonderful people (and horses). Your generosity humbles me and leaves me speechless.

Helpless

Yesterday I stood in the drylot doing my best to not lose it completely. I know it was from sheer exhaustion (no sleep and this darn cold). There were too many things against me yesterday, or so it seemed but I'm sure it was the exhaustion.

The same person who we got Thor from is now dumping about 20 horses on the local classifieds.  I feel so helpless and yet the bile keeps rising up in my throat. I know it was never a permanent home but I get
so angry when people don't think about the long term plans for a horse.

Add to that, I'm facing a sad realization with Thor. I had hoped to wait to lay Thor to rest until September but I don't think that's going to happen. He's still dropping weight. I'm not sure if it's the heat or not. I've wormed him, he's on 24x7 round bale of hay, he gets grain, and he had his teeth floated. I'm sure there's more that I could be doing but I'd only be prolonging the inevitable. I just wish I didn't have to make the decision as soon. I had planned on taking both Thor and Queen in at the same time but maybe that's not fair either. I'm not sure I'm strong enough to say goodbye to two at one time anyway. 

Whatever the case may be, the realization that we are going to lose Thor much sooner than expected simply crushed me. As I type this, I'm sitting in tears trying to keep myself composed and I just can't. Life isn't fair some days. I'm sure it's the exhaustion still speaking but it' hard to be positive when faced with that terrible decision.

If the heat continues to rise, I'll have to make the decision sooner than I thought. I didn't want to make any decisions until at least the end of August but I am now looking at putting Thor down sometime this month. The weatherman is already calling for 90s next week. I'm just not sure that Thor's body can hold up to that type of heat. If we are going to have heat like we did last week, I'll be making the call to the vet in the next week or so. 

I'll apologize now if I'm down in the dumps for the next few posts. No sleep, being sick, dealing with family matters, worrying about the price of hay, worrying about the cost of feed, realizing that it's almost the beginning "season" of dumping horses, and dealing with this constant drought and pastures drying up has me over my limit on coping. Some days I feel helpless.

Moving Pastures

Yesterday evening was more productive than I had hoped for. S and E came out to check and repair fence in the early afternoon. I felt guilty for not being able to stand the heat (even when it was only in the 80s). I wasn’t sure what the weather was going to be like when I went outside to do chores but it was surprisingly nice out.

That little bit of cool breeze helped motivate me to get a few extra projects accomplished. The mare pasture is completely dried up. Oh sure, they are making an attempt at finding the last morsels of grass but there’s nothing lush out in the pasture. I had hoped to haul Rabbit to Mom and Dad’s but it was too hot and I was too tired. Instead, while S and E were here, they volunteered to help set up a few corral panels so that we could run the mares in the grass between the hay shed and the red shed. There’s not a lot of grass but more than what’s out in the pasture. This morning only Queen was willing to come out right away. It took a bit of coaxing to get Rabbit out and of course then Mayhem followed. I put Mayhem back with the mares last night so that I could have everything set up and ready for this morning. Rabbit went to town chowing down on the grass. There’s shade and access to their other pasture (to get water and possibly catch a breeze) so I’m not too worried. I don’t know how long that little patch of grass will last but I may have an idea that will work in a week or two if I can get help moving more corral panels around. If we can do some quick fencing in the blind pen and use those corral panels and the light weight corral panels we recently bought, I might very well get to use the other mare pasture that I thought was lost. We’ll have to wait and see how things progress. If the weather stays out of the nineties I might actually be able to get more done outside.

I also wormed all the mares, Thor, and the ponies. I know I’m out of rotation for worming but I’m playing catch-up right now. With the hell that broke loose last September/October and being sick for the first six months of this year, I haven’t been able to get as much done. So now I’m trying to get caught up and possibly get ahead (although that’s almost impossible these days).

I have a meeting in town tonight so I won’t be able to worm the big herd but the goal is to get everyone wormed again this week. Bo is going to give me a workout but everyone else should be fairly well-behaved. Whoever messed him up did a really good job of it. He’s head shy and will be that way until I can work with him on a consistent basis. I’ve had other head shy horses and with consistency and patience, they came around. I know Bo will come around too. I can’t imagine what type of abuse he had to suffer to be so head shy. I can swat him on his nose when he tries to snitch a bite of grain from the little yellow grain bucket I use to call the herd in and he doesn’t have any issues. But when it comes to actually putting a bridle on or giving him wormer, he gets very upset. I am always shocked and amazed at how cruel people can be.

Also, mark your calendars July 21st for the Colton Jubilee Days. A very good friend is hosting a trail ride with a free will donation. Those donations are going straight to Borderlands to care for the horses. We are greatly honored and privileged for this opportunity. I can’t explain in words my gratitude for this kind offer. I won’t be able to ride and chat with everyone during the ride but I will be there before and after the ride, possibly with ponies in tow. I’ll be the one sitting in the shade. I would love for you to stop over and chat. Just be warned. Once I start talking horses, you might not get away from me for awhile. I do love talking about the horses of Borderlands and sanctuary life. I promise I won’t rant about the horse industry or some of my other opinions. I’ll just chat it up about the sanctuary horses and if I have Tommy and Skippy along, I’m sure they’ll butt in on the conversation and demand some attention too!

Recap

Where to start. Last Friday and Saturday was the Irene Rodeo. Even thought I couldn't ride, I hauled Zeke and some of the other horses down (gotta represent the drill team!) I had a blast, even thought I couldn't be on the back of Zeke (at least Zeke was out there to represent Borerlands). I know it has nothing to do with the rescue but it was nice to get away even for an overnighter and enjoy everyone's company. Luckily the weather was still half way decent out. I'd already gotten caught by the hot weather earlier in the week and had recovered from being sick. Unfortunately, Mike had the same experience Friday night that I had. It's no fun being sick when you're not at home.

When we finally got home Saturday night, who should be out wandering around but Mayhem. I was so exhausted but had to round her up and put her in the Timeout Pen. She's been there ever since because I haven't had the time or energy to check the fence and figure out where she escaped. She definitely fits her name.

Starting last Sunday, we had super high temps. I don't even remember what the heat index was. All I know is that the heat took its toll on everyone. Even this Friday we had temps over 100 and even higher heat index. I couldn't be out in the hot weather so I couldn't even pamper the horses like I normally do. I hate not being out with the horses to give them baths and treats while they suffer through the heat. Instead, I had to hide in the house until the heat went down just enough. Unfortunately, I still couldn't do too much even after it cooled down a little. I'm now reverting back to doing chores back in the dark.

The heat is taking its toll on the horses too. I realized earlier this week that we are going to lose Thor and Queen. The heat has been too hard on them and they've dropped a ton of weight. I'm not sure what I can do, if there's anything at all. For now, I'll try to make them feel comfortable and see if grain and beet pulp will help perk the up. But I'm coming to the realization that we will lose them this fall. I'm already dreading the day I have to make that phone call. But for now, I'll simply enjoy their presences and take one day at a time.

This morning when I went to let Queen out to wander the yard, I thought she was dead. She was stretched out at the bottom of the hill. From my vantage point, I couldn't tell if she was alive or not (I couldn't see if she was breathing). And then she twitched her withers. That girl is going to be the death of me yet.

I can't remember the last time we had rain. The pastures are drying up fast. The hot temps aren't helping any. I'm not sure what we are going to do. The big pasture is about done for and the mare pasture is completely done. I've been throwing hay to some just to make sure that they have something to eat. I've had one month of not having to touch hay. I'm very worried that we will have to start feeding hay soon. I have no idea what the prices of hay will be like but I'm afraid it's going to skyrocket. 

I would move the mares to the other pasture but we lost the other pasture due to the accident back in February. I've been too sick to work on getting the other pasture ready so now we can't use it. We did buy a few extra corral panels so I might be able to put up some panels and temporary electric fence but I can't be outside even when it's in the 80s. My health and this heat are making it absolutey impossible to do much expect the bare minimum.

I need to take Rabbit up to Madison for the rest of the summer. Mom and Dad's pasture can hold one horse for the rest of the summer (or at least that's our hope). I hate only taking one horse up but Rabbit has been beating up Queen. I'm also tired of Mayhem picking up Rabbit's bad habits. She was getting herd bound so it's been nice to keep Mayhem separate. But I'd prefer that Mayhem pick up Queen's habits instead of Rabbits. It's going to be an adventure getting Rabbit in a trailer. She's not an easy one to load so who knows how long it'll take to get her loaded. But if she's on a lush pasture, there's at least one less horse I have to worry about.

We are also almost out of round bales. Last October we bought 39 round bales and hauled them home (three at a time...yes it was painfuly slow). We are going to have to go in search of more round bales for Thor and Babe. Unfortunately, we need to find a few bales fast. We have one remaining bale and I will be out of town for a few days the first part of August and that's when the bales will run out.

A good friend of Borderlands is hosting a trail ride July 21st during the Colton Jubilee Days. It's a free ride but taking donations. Those donations are going to Borderlands. We are truley blessed and honored that our friend would even consider us. Again, I won't be able to ride but I'll be there to happily talk about the sanctuary. I was thinking of hauling Tommy and Skippy since they are easy to approach and have better manners than Bo. I want to keep the oldsters at home to keep their stress level down but I'd like to have someone four-legged there to represent Borderlands.  I'll be sitting in the shade and if anyone wants to join me, I'd be honored. I'm sure I'll put another plug in for this fun event.

I also want to thank S and E for coming out in the heat today to check fence. It's been too hot for me to do anything but minimal chores so I haven't had a chance to check and find out where Mayhem wiggled her way out of the pasture. S and E found the spot and fixed it for me. Those two are my guardian angels! They also set up some corral panels so that I can run Queen, Rabbit, and Mayhem in the lawn between the hay shed and the red shed. There's not alot of grass but there's more than what's in their pasture right now. I have a bit of fencing to do tonight after it cools down and then I'll open up the gate for them to wander tomorrow morning while I'm at the paying job. I'm sure they'll have it eaten down in less than a week but I'd rather have dirt for lawn with happy horses then a lawn that looks manicured (hahahha...sorry, the thought of an acreage with a manicured lawn doesn't seem feasible to me).

I am considering begging the neighbor to let me rent his pasture. It would beat having to throw hay. I really want to keep what hay we have left for later this summer/fall. It would help cut down on the cost of this winters hay (considering I'm still saving up to pay for last year's hay). I'm always a year behind it seems. But the boys were at the neighbor's last year and they seemed to enjoy being over there. Hopefully we can run the horses over there for a month but we'll see. I may have to do some serious begging but at this point, I'll be happy to see the horses in a decent pasture instead of one that's almost done.

I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting but thought I'd give you a quick rundown of what we've been up to for more than the past week. I may not post much this week either. The paying job has me hopping so there' not much time for anything other than work, chores, work, and a little bit of sleep.  We are still here so if you need to get ahold of us, just leave a comment on our Facebook page, or swing by. I'm always up for a good chat (as long as we go inside where there's air conditioning). :-)

We Are Still Here

It seems another week has flown by. By the time I finish slogging through the paying job, care for the horses, and concoct some meal, I'm too exhausted to lift a finger to post anything. We've also been combating high heat indexes and just plain high temps. Mike and I were both caught off guard by the heat, which made us sick. Luckily it didn't last long and we weren't both sick at the same time.  I've been avoiding going out during the hottest temperatures. I feel bad for the herd but with my health, I can't risk it.

I have lots of stuff bouncing around in my head that I'd like to share but it'll have to wait until later. I just wanted to post to say that we are around, although I don't seem to be getting anything done these days other than keeping my head above water at the paying job. I'll try to post more this weekend to fill you all in on what we've been doing, and things we are looking forward to doing.

Stay cool.