PlayDay Show Bill - Sunday October 19th

Here's the quick and dirty showbill for our upcoming Playday Fundraiser, scheduled for October 19th at 1pm!!! I'll post the address and location soon.

Borderlands Horse Sanctuary Playday Fundraiser

Saturday October 19^th, show begins at 1pm

$10 to ride all events

Additional donations are accepted, and appreciated!

Classes will be PeeWee (7and under) Youth (8-13) and Open (14 and up)

·         Barrels

·         Poles

·         Speed Poles

·         4 in a line (open)

·         Circular Baton (open)

·         2 Man Rat Race (open)

·         2 Man Flag Race (open)

·         Keyhole

·         Boot Race (Junior, Juniors)

·         Pony Express Race (Juniors, and Adults only)

Picture Day

Figured it was about to time to post pictures, even if they were from way back in early summer. Hard to believe that fall is already here. We are so far behind that we will be scrambling to get everything ready before winter. Anyone interested in coming out and helping work on a few projects?

Fundraiser - October 19th

Mark your calendar. Our next fundraiser is scheduled for Saturday October 19th at 1pm. We are having a playday at the Cowboyway Church in Hartford, SD. I'll post more details but wanted to let you all know so you can help us spread the word. All proceeds will go to help the horses!

Good Post

Here's an interesting read. I only read the last blog post but I'll be going back to read more. It is interesting to watch how people react at auctions. Each time I go to an auction, it's the same feeling of utter turmoil and dispare that I can't help more. But I'll let the author tell you  more.

http://soyoumadeittocollege.com/

Goodbye Babe

This week has been very difficult. Yesterday we said goodbye to a very special horse. The place already feels weird without her. This morning I went out to do chores and it felt all wrong not to walk back to her pen and throw her morning ration.  Babe taught me so much, not just in dealing with a blind horse but in overcoming odds and accepting the simple things in life. Yesterday when I lead her out of her pen, she followed without any complaints. She loaded into the trailer like she’d hauled every day of her 31 years.

Trust.

She trusted. I could have led her into the depths of hell and she would have followed, no questions asked. Why? Because she trusted. She trusted me to protect her, to keep her safe. She gave everything. What little I could do for her simply will never be enough in my eyes.

After she loaded, she started whinnying. In my heart, I know she was telling the herd goodbye and telling this world goodbye. She’d given us signs that I’d ignored.

Her old owner (of 26 years) stopped out the night before to say goodbye. Babe loved peppermints. But her owner couldn’t get her to eat them. That was her sign that she was ready to go. Sometimes it’s hard to see the signs and sometimes it’s hard to come to terms with the signs.

Everyone says she was lucky that she had the opportunity to come to Borderlands for the last five years of her life. I think that I was the lucky one. It was such an honor and a privilege to be the one to care for her in her final years. I truly believe I was the lucky one.

Her previous owner posted on Facebook about her passing. I read some of the comments. Babe touched so many people’s lives. It’s amazing to read the comments and it fills me with such joy. How can one horse touch so many people’s lives? Babe did it. And she’ll continue to keep a strong hold on my heart.

I will grieve for her passing but I will also rejoice in knowing that we were both able to cross paths at the right time. So many don’t have tears shed over them for their passing. As much as I say we cannot take another one on, her passing and seeing all those that she touched solidifies my desire to do more for an older deserving horse. She is the reason why I will continue to battle the odds and be a supporter of old horses.

There will always be an open door policy for the children of Babe. No matter what, there will always be a place for them.

My thoughts are too scattered today to really know how to put what I am feeling into words. I am trying to grasp all that she has taught me in the last five years. There’s too much to put into words the knowledge she taught me. She provided an immense amount of knowledge. The old ones have so much knowledge and wisdom. We as humans should be tapping into that knowledge and wisdom.

I can say for a fact that I was the lucky one to know Babe.  May we meet again some day.

Fred

After a very frustrating day, I came home to find our cat dead in the driveway. He couldn't hunt, would rather beg for food but he always welcomed me home. I'm gonna miss him. Goodbye Fred.

Average

The SD Horse Sale posted their September catalog. I tend to look through the catalog just to see if I recognize any of the catalog horses. I also want to read up on what they are saying about the loose horses. Here's their latest:


Loose Horse – On the weigh up end, the horses weighing 700 to 1000lbs and needing to go to feedlots before they will be accepted at plants, usually sell 10 to 20 cents a lb. Horses over 1000 lb selling for 25 to 35 cents lb. Takes a awful good No. 1 to bring 35 cents a lb and we see few of those.

They were disappointed about the lawsuites against the slaughter houses. We need to continue our efforts to keep horses out of the loose horse sale. They outright say horses are going to feedlots. If you read in between the lines, you'll know that these same "feedlot" horses are being fattened and shipped to slaughter.

They also talked a bit about the "average" horse not selling as well. Those horses that have done a lot of work or performed in rodeos bring more money. Which, when selling horses, is really what you need to do. I totally understand and agree that if you are going to breed, you need to get your stock out there to get them exposed to everything and get them into the hands of people who are knowledgeable about horses and want to do right by the horses (instead of the backyard breeders).

The only problem I have is that they were disappointed with the "average"  horse. Well, I'm average. There's really nothing outstanding about my character or overall appearance. If I were a horse, I'd probably be a sorrel mare. :-) But those "average" horses, with the right person, can really shine. Just look at Savanna. She was passed up by so many people at the auction. And now look at her! The right person found her and now she's blossomed into an amazing horse.

Lets turn these "average" horses (also known as diamonds in the rough) into some spectacular horses and don't let them get into the loose horse sales and slaughter pipeline.

Celebration Time

It’s time to celebrate! I know that it’s not completely Sanctuary related but it sort of is. Today, September 4^th, I made the final horse trailer payment! And what tops the cake, the loan is paid off one year EARLY! That’s right. I scrimped and saved and paid extra those first two years so that it wouldn’t take the full four years to pay off.

So now Momma’s Ride is completely and utterly the Sanctuary’s! Although, now that I’ve been using the big six horse trailer, I’m wishing it was a little smaller (when I’m only hauling one horse). But it has come in handy and I guess it’s never a bad investment to have a big horse trailer when you have as many horses as we do.

I have been considering going to training on evacuation or severe weather and dealing with animals (sorry, can’t think of the proper title right now).  There are no training classes in our area although I haven’t really looked. But whenever I hear in the news of a fire or some other major weather catastrophe, I take into consideration the horses we have at the Sanctuary and the number of spots available on the trailers. We have spots for 10 horses (6 horse trailer and a 4 horse stock trailer) but I’m sure we could cram more in an emergency.  Knock on wood that we’ll never have an emergency where we have to evacuate within minutes.  But it’s always a good idea to have a plan for that “just in case” moment.

There’s a lot of work to be done on the trailer to make it nice. I was putting all the money towards getting it paid off so now maybe we can put a few bucks back here and there to start making it look like a presentable trailer when we pull up instead of a hick-like as it is currently.

I did want to share a funny story. Ok, so it’s just funny to me. The 6 horse trailer is about 38 feet long. It has spots for six horses, mid tack, and an unfinished living area. I pull that bad boy with my truck, which happens to be a 2004 Ford V10 (yes it’s gas) short box (and it too is paid off, and paid off early). The setup looks a little silly but it gets the job done (and I like it so that’s all that matters). When we were on a trail ride a few weeks back, I had the big trailer hooked up and was out for a ride. While I was out, others pulled in and the stood in front of their truck, feet spread, and hands crossed looking at my setup (Mike saw it and told me). They never approached Mike but when Dad and I came back from a ride, they approached Dad and asked him how the truck handled (assuming that Dad was the owner). He sort of grunted and pointed at me (in typical Dad fashion). I think the guy was shocked that a girl was pulling such a big rig. It made me giggle inside. Yes Sir, this is my rig and I can pull it with the best of them (ok, not really but I do it anyway). The lesson from the experience, never underestimate the power of a woman.

Pity Party

So this is mostly a pity party post...sorry. Go ahead and ignore it or join me in my pity party. :-)

The other day I read a comment on a Facebook group of someone asking how to manage working a full time job, enjoying having a horse, and keeping a clean house. I skimmed through a few of the comments and moved on, chuckling to myself.  But in reality, I was really hoping that someone would say something profound and enlightening instead of snarky. I too have been asking the same question.

I have been struggling with how to get everything accomplished on any certain day and even more so when trying to tackle anything on a grander scale. I’ve come to the conclusion there will be nothing accomplished on the grand scale for the next few years.

I guess I chuckled because this person was complaining about trying to find the balance when she only had one horse. Here I sit with 15 horses and running the Sanctuary, working full time, trying to keep the house clean, AND having a one year old to care and tend to (and forget even seeing the husband figure).

Now perhaps I wouldn’t resent my time away from my son as much if my full time job WAS the Sanctuary but that will never be. Unfortunately, until I can figure out the proper paperwork, find the money to submit the proper paperwork, and jump through all the flaming hoops needed, we will continue to be a private sanctuary. I long for the day where we can search and apply for grants as a non-profit. But again, it’s almost a full time job to search and write grants. Maybe someday.

I hate seeing all that I’ve worked so hard for begin to crumble around my feet. Ok, so it’s not really crumbling but there’s no time to fix things that are broken. It has now been two years of not fixing things that break. I’ve learned a bit from living on an old farmstead. It takes two years of fixing all that breaks so that you can spend one year working on a new project. It’s been two years of ignoring all that has broken so now it’s going to take four years to fix all that has broken so that we could possibly look at working on something new.  I’d love to have an open house and invite everyone to the Sanctuary but it’s too embarrassing at this point to have anyone over. We’ve been overrun by weeds and scrub trees.  The place doesn’t look professional. In fact, we are the white trash of the neighborhood at this point.   I’m about ready to set out pink flamingos down the driveway.

If that wasn’t bad enough, I was looking through our local classifieds and noticed that someone was selling their horse. She had a baby a year ago and had come to the realization that she wouldn’t have time to ride and didn’t want her horse to go to waste. I guess I’m selfish. I’m not willing to get rid of any of the Sanctuary horses. Of course, it’s the good ones that people want to ride (the ones I can throw anyone on). No one is jumping at the bit to have a pasture pet for the next 20 years.  After reading the ad about the horse being for sale, I started wondering about my situation.   I’ve made a promise to the horses in the Sanctuary. But I’m feeling guilty about not doing more with the horses but there’s simply no time.

So really, I guess I didn’t have anything positive to say. I just needed to vent a little about the current situation. Don’t get me wrong. I am happy to have the Sanctuary and more happy to have my happy and healthy little boy. It’s simply a life altering experience that I wasn’t yet ready to come to terms with. So if you happen to stop out, please ignore the weeds everywhere and the shabby buildings that need, at minimum, a paint job. We will continue to plug along as the years fly by. It pains me to not bring in more deserving old horses but I am stretched thin. I would absolutely LOVE to have a “working” day to work on a number of projects but I don’t really hear any takers (I don’t blame you). So if my blog posts seem to be sporadic, it’s because I’m at a loss on what to write without being down in the dumps.

On the bright side, we are working on a fundraiser that will take place next month. I’m sure you’ll be sick of listening about it by the time it finally gets here. I’m going to leave you in suspense as to what the fundraiser is.

Happy Labor Day

Have a safe and happy Labor Day!