Pushing Bales

We had a busy night last night. Mike is out of town starting today and all day tomorrow so that leaves me in a bind on how to manage caring for the horses and caring for the toddler. Oh sure I could run out after my son goes to bed and do chores since that's what I've been doing for the past two months. But we were fortunate enough to have hay donated a month back and I kept half the load of hay back just for this particular issue.

Last night Mike and I worked as quickly as we could putting in the round bales for the big herd and the mares/Junior. These are smaller type round bales but very easy to manage and handle. Four bales went into the big herd and one into the mares/Junior's pen. Some of the bales started unrolling so I'll be out there Friday night shoveling in the loose hay into the mares/Junior's pen. No point in letting good hay go to waste when we are in a drought and who knows what price of hay will be like this coming year (never mind I still need to pay for last years hay ).

After we finished putting in the bales, we tackled the one other problem. Well, it wouldnt' be a problem just yet but in another two to three weeks, it would be a problem. The fence line in the drylot is not great. It's an old cattle feedlot so the fence posts have all rotted away. The horses destroyed the rest of the fence line. Two years ago we put up a new fence and cattle panels. Unfortunately Dude figured out how to climb the cattle panels and bend them so he could reach the tender grass growing up on the other side. He never did figure out how to get to the other side. Chaos on the other hand has figured it out a couple of times.

With Mike being gone for two days straight, I didn't want to take the chance of having a loose horse. Oh he wouldn't be loose, he'd be in a pasture but I don't want to risk anyone getting out right now and devouring all the grass and getting sick. So we took all of the remaining corral panels and put them along the east fence line. I knew this day was coming so I'd stashed away all of my corral panels that weren't being used (and some that were) specifically for this purpose until we could get the fence finished. Last fall Mike and J. put in new fence posts but we didn't have the time or money to finish getting the fence line in. the fence was decent but come spring, we both new that the horses would eventually be pushing on the fence line.

It's a good thing that we were out there putting in the corral panels. The horses had already been pushing on the fence line and managed to pop the top part of the gate off its hinge. Luckily it was still secured enough so no one could go in to the big pasture but it's another reason why we need to get some serious fencing done. But that means more money out of my pocket.

I'm trying to figure out how to pay for last years hay, vaccinations, fencing, and a possible fundraiser idea. It's all big ticket items with big ticket costs. I try to do things as cheaply as possible but it seems like everything is coming all at once. There hasnt' been any extra cash in to the Sanctuary for years. All of my discretionary money I used to have for the Sanctuary was taken up with medical bills. Now that those are paid for, I can stash a little back, but that's not the way to run a Sanctuary. I know I'm doing things wrong and would love some help.

I'm already starting to get baby brain and can't figure out a few things. I know that certain tasks have to be done and I used to be able to come up with the plan, who was going to do what, and identify what supplies we need. Now...not so much. Now, I know that there's a problem. Know that it needs to be fixed. And know that I can't figure it out. Yes, it does get that bad. I am not to that point just yet but it's coming, faster than last time.

Lets just hope that we have an easy summer. Enough rain to avoid a drought and keep the pastures going so I don't have to worry about feeding horses while I'm in the hospital. No tornados to rip the roofs off run in sheds, rip shingles off buildings, and destroy corral panels.  No major medical issues for anyone. An easy summer. I thought I could do a couple of fundraisers but I can't seem to get anything figured out passed the jumbled thoughts in my head. Lots of ideas but no energy to follow through. Lots of half ideas but can't figure out how to get them formalized.

I'll just keep plugging along. But if anyone has any ideas on ways to help, or want to volunteer their time to come and work on a project, I'd be eternally grateful.