Weekend Activities

The past few days have been filled with family and lots of laughter. We had a well-deserved break from sanctuary/rescue work (not that it looks like we’ve been doing much as of late).

We’ve been treating Babe’s head wound. I think it’s getting better. Her owner came out early last week and gave her a “sweating to the oldies” headband look. I busted out laughing when I saw it. I know, I know, I’m being mean. But she looked so cute although I feel bad for her.  I think the infection is slowly healing.  I need to get out and do chores before it gets pitch dark out. I missed the injury until it got bad because I haven’t been out during the day since daylight savings time. I’m doing thorough body checks now to make sure everyone stays healthy.

Saturday we pushed in round bales to the big herd. We bought a cinch net and tried it out this last time. It saved the bale and we could have waited to push bales in for another day but having only one cinch net, two bales, and nine horses, there wasn’t enough room on the bale with the cinch net to let all the horses at the hay. The weather was decent so we buckled the little G-Bear in the truck and worked as quickly as we could to get the bales in. I’m going to be pinching my pennies so that we can buy another hay net. What a handy thing for all horse owners who feed round bales to have. There’s no mess and it makes the bale last a lot longer. Granted the bales we have aren’t the greatest and that’s why we are using them now instead of in the middle of winter when they can keep their head buried in the bale longer.  When the real cold sets in, we’ll have high quality hay to feed instead.

I’m also wondering if the cinch net wouldn’t work for Rabbit. She can’t be on a round bale because of her heaves. Her heaves flare up even when I just toss hay, although pitching it from the round bale into her pen seems to keep the heaves down. But I’m wondering if she can’t bury her head in the bale, if that would help. It’s a theory I want to try. At some point we won’t be able to get our big squares and will have to convert to rounds (something I’m not really looking forward to until we get a tractor that can actually lift round bales).

I also decided to put Bo back in with the big herd. I don’t think he’s 100% sound yet but I had no choice. I’m keeping a close eye on him to make sure he doesn’t go totally lame again. We still don’t know what was wrong with him. The blood work came back negative for everything so maybe it was a severe muscle pull but I don’t think so. I think there may be something neurological but who knows. He’s a bit off but he was still a bit off when he was in with Babe. But the other night he kicked the crap out of Babe and she was a hurting girl. Luckily it wasn’t too severe and she wasn’t lame on the leg for more than 24 hours. But I do NOT tolerate bad behavior towards the blind horses. Makes me furious. So, if we have to pull Bo out of the big herd, I’ll have to do some rearranging to see if I can get Bo back in where I have Babe right now but have it so that they aren’t in together. For now Babe will be alone until she recovers from her head injury and to make sure that the kick to the shoulder/leg doesn’t flare up.  (We seem to be having a rash of bad luck this fall, like every fall it seems).  Babe’s owner suggested that we might get a goat because she used to be in with a goat. I’ll keep an eye on Babe’s demeanor and then decide what to do. The neighbor has goats so I may see if I can’t snag a goat for a little while to see if that helps Babe’s mood. She’d been down in the dumps ever since we lost Queen and Thor in September. Putting Bo in with her was a bad mistake. She got more flighty and was very uncomfortable with him pushing her around all the time. So we’ll see how things go with her being in a pen with a bale in front of her 24/7 first before we make any more herd adjustments. I had thought of putting Brego with her but for now, we’ll just let her come down from all the changes.

In other more up-beat news, Borderlands is participating in a Festival of Trees this weekend. I don’t have all the details but it’s going to take place Sat Dec 1^st and Sun Dec 2^nd in Colton, South  Dakota.  There is a silent auction where you can bid on decorated trees. Borderlands is donating a tree for the festivities. As always, we are going the unconventional route. So if you happen to make it to the Festival of Trees, you’ll be able to spot our tree with ease. I don’t know the times but it takes place at the Lutheran Church in Colton, South Dakota.  I’ll try to post more of the details later but thought I’d give you all a heads up in case you wanted to sneak over to look at all the beautifully decorated donated trees and enjoy some holiday festivities to get you into the mood.

Also, we are going to have a fundraising brainstorming meeting this Saturday, December 1^st at Borderlands starting about 5:30pm. I would love to see you there.  Just let me know so I know how many pizzas to order. Of course I have to feed you if you help! That’s the rule at Borderlands. If you help, I can’t pay you but I can sure feed you. It’s the least I can do. So, if you’re free this coming Saturday please join us to come up with some fundraiser ideas. I want to focus 2013 on fundraising so that I don’t have to say no anymore. There are too many well-deserving horses that need a soft place to land be it for a few days, weeks, months, or years. Everyone deserves a retirement.