Bo is Sick

Bo is off his feed again. I think I know the problem. It's going to be a battle.


So in January, I brought home Lightening who became best friends with Zeke. That left Bo on the outs. Zeke has since come around a little but they still aren't total BFFs because Lightening won't let that happen. But with Bo not feeling all that great, Zeke has been hanging out with Bo more.


In February Bo caught a cold of some sort. At first I thought maybe it was his dislike for the weight booster and he was coughing over it because it's a bit of a powder and that's why he was picking through his food. I also figured he'd get over it if it was a common cold. Nope, it got worse. And even during that time, Bo's coat looked funny. The temps finally warmed up so I pulled his blanket. Don't worry, he had a thick coat, but he was starting to shed but he looked awful. There was just something not right with his coat. But I couldn't put my finger on it. I blamed it on him not feeling well or being stressed over Lightening.


In March the coughing was so bad you could hear his breathing rattle in his head. I put him on uniprim and he improved right away. No coughing, no rattling in his head. But I ran out. So I started him again this past Sunday on uniprim and now he's turning up his nose at grain so can't get the cold taken care of.


I mentioned to Mike all the symptoms and that Bo is turning up his nose at grain even though he has hours to eat it. Then Mike said the six letter word I HATE hearing.....


U.L.C.E.R.S.


Bo could very well have ulcers. I was graining him like I did Junior but certain grains can cause ulcers. And I'm afraid with the stress of Lightening and trying to figure out where in the herd dynamics he belonged, catching a cold, and having to eat so much grain to maintain his weight, that Bo developed ulcers.


I don't have anything confirmed but you can tell he's a hurting guy. Even looking at him last night he looked dumpy. I felt so bad for him. So tonight, instead of his nightly grain that he so looks forward to, I'm going to try some soaked alfalfa and see if he gobbles. If  not, we may be hauling him in to the vet to see if we can't get a diagnosis on if it truly is ulcers. I may go ahead and buy the ulcer medicine even though it costs a fortune. If it means that it will make Bo feel better, I'll do it.


Bo has been through hell and back. He deserves so much better. I can't wait for spring and summer so I can get him on grass. I think that the only way to cure his ulcers is to take him off the grain. But the only way to  maintain his weight is through grain. So what happens this fall/winter when I have to put him back on grain. I think I have a solution but it will require a different grain (one I've been wanting to use but dont' have easy access to).


So stressful. So, don't take for granted that what works for one horse will work for another. In this case ,what worked for Junior to fatten him up, actually caused Bo more harm and now he's losing weight. Oh if only each horse would come with a manual.

BEFORE and AFTER Pictures of Junior

I've been meaning to post AFTER pictures of Junior for awhile. We've had Junior since November 2014 and he's been a hard keeper. I could never get his topline looking good or even his butt to look anything like a big fat quarter horse.

I started graining him this fall and all of winter. I also threw a blanket on him to ward off the South Dakota cold and snow. I think that combination did the trick. Because Junior is looking fantastic.

Don't get me wrong, he looks good now but it's taken me two years to get him to this point and I'm not exactly sure what the final push was to get him to look THIS good.

See the rounded butt? It wasn't there six months ago. But I have learned that if I take him to Madison in the spring and again the fall before the grasses dry up for the winter, Junior gains just enough weight and then we start pumping him full of grain and he's happy.

You can even see a nice topline on him where you don't even see his spine or where the ribs connect to his back. That's something I'd been dealing with for two years. I guess three pounds of a grain combination, along with a supplement, high quality hay/alfalfa, and a winter coat did the trick.

Compare this picture to the last picture to get an idea of why I'm so excited. I realize to most Junior just looks like any ol' horse. But the difference is astounding...at least to me. I am not sure why the chance, but i'll take it and continue to use the same grain ratio and other methods.

Junior is pretty happy with his feeding time. No competition for his grain, just enough mares to keep him happy, and a full bale of hay/alfalfa (I think the hay/alfalfa really helped beef him up).

Check out this butt!!! In the past, that butt wouldn't be so round, there's be the look of an old horse butt. Of course he's 29 so I do expect an old horse butt but when I pulled the blanket off mid winter and saw that butt, I was astounded. Don't get me wrong, I pulled the blanket off before but it was always in the dark and I was always in a hurry so seeing a fat butt in the daylight made me happy

I think I was getting an evil look from Junior on the above picture.

This was Junior last spring (2016). You can see where the ribs connect to his spine and that his topline has dropped. You can also see where the hips meet his back and that it's not a round butt even thought he'd been grained and had a blanket on. I do think a lot of his weight gain this year has to do with the qualify of hay/alfalfa we are feeding this year. Last year we had straight hay but this year it's a first cutting hay with a little alfalfa and a second cutting hay with more alfalfa. It's just what our hay supplier had so we went with it.

Apparently the hay /alfalfa did the trick. Hopefully we can get the same stuff this coming winter so we can keep Junior fat and happy! I much prefer to feed more hay/alfalfa and less grains and supplements (cheaper and less worry of ulcers...which is what I think Bo has..but more on Bo later).

Now that Junior is looking like a champion, does anyone want to sponsor him each month? Monthly sponsorship is $100 and that covers his grain/supplements and farrier. Or do you want to do a half monthly sponsorship for $50? Or even just a one time sponsorship to keep Junior happy? Just let me know so I can tell Junior! ;-)

Pics of Lace

I'm taking advantage of my phone working (it's already starting to flake out again) and getting pics of the Sanctuary horses. Now that it's warmed up, my phone wont' freeze and I can post pics to Facebook and then post to our blog! Yay for finally  moving into the 21st century!

Way back in December 2015 we took in Lace. I have been terrible about posting pictures of her. So I'm making up for it by showing pictures today! I went out yesterday during early feeding and took pics specifically of Lace to show her off.

I hope you enjoy!

I hadn't been graining her but with Junior and Rabbit getting grain, she was giving me a pitiful look. So I caved and give her a scoop of sweet feed. She loves her grain. In fact, she's boss mare when it comes to grain (after Junior goes into his stall). She won't let Mayhem eat any grain. I was worried that Mayhem would take all of Lace's grain. Nope, Mayhem doesn't even come close to Lace when it's feeding time.

From what I gathered, Lace was once a barrel racer. I think that information is true. She loads into a trailer like a dream and refuses to turn around in a trailer. She insists on backing out.

She also loves to have her feet trimmed. Well, maybe love isn't the right word but she does LOVE attention and the farrier visit only gave her more time to be around people and handled. she loves to be around people. So I think she definitely was pampered in her early years as a barrel racer.

I'm not sure when she turned from a barrel racer to a broodmare. When we got her, she'd been at a breeders north of the Sanctuary for only about two months. I think she'd been with her previous, previous owner for a few years prior to that but I don't know for sure. I would love to know what babies are out there that came from Lace. I haven't done any digging but would love to know where they are and if we have the space and the funds and when they fit our criteria, open our doors to let them retire here as well. Although I doubt that any of her babies are old. Lace is only about 23 years old but I need to verify with her papers.

You can see in the above and below pictures that her right knee is enlarged. The farrier looked at it and said that part of it is hard and calcified and the other half is full of fluid. It doesn't typically bother her except when she's trimmed so we'll look at buting her before we do another trim. When we did trim her and the farrier stretched her leg out from, Lace did some stretches as well. So I do think she is used to the old barrel racer stretches. I need to remember to start stretching her legs out to see if that would help keep her limber.

There's just so much wisdom in Lace. She's seen so much and knows so much it's amazing. I think at some point she's going to be my heart horse. She seems to know when I need a little bit of encouragement. She isn't yet to Queen's heart horse standards but I haven't really given Lace the opportunity as I'm not around as much as I would like. But I don't think it will be much longer before she's my go-to heart horse for when I need a hug and a good cry into a mane.

I am so glad that we opened our doors to her and that we took the leap of faith to say yes to an older mare. There's something about these older mares that really grabs at my heart. I used to be an all gelding type of girl but these mares are really getting into my heart. So much wisdom. So much heart.

Happy Friday

Junior and Rabbit hanging in their hiding spot

Where's Skippy - Day Five in Ireland

Where's Skippy at in Ireland?

Leave a comment on our Facebook page to be entered to win!

https://www.facebook.com/BorderlandsHorseSanctuary/

Tell your friends to join in the fun. The winner this month will be entered to win the Grand Prize

Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday to Junior (and one of the mares.. i can't tell which one) enjoying their pasture

Where's Skippy - Day Four in Ireland

Where's Skippy at in Ireland?

Leave a comment on our Facebook page to be entered to win!

https://www.facebook.com/BorderlandsHorseSanctuary/

Tell your friends to join in the fun. The winner this month will be entered to win the Grand Prize

Why Nothing Gets Done

People ask me why certain things don't get done or why I can't simply get something off my plate. It's never a mean question just hard for some to grasp the extend of what I do around the Sanctuary.


So I'll give you an example. I have to laugh at it because otherwise I'll cry. It's typical "me" style any more.


I talk about our dry lots or the pens. We have two. One large, and another that is connected but much smaller. It's actually one huge pen but with a portion of the big pen divided. It was set up that way before we got there and I've kept it because having two pens is handy.


The fencing between the two pens was never good and at one point I needed to put the ponies or a yearling into that pen and needed sturdy fencing. I ended up using my old super heavy corral panels. I used to use them all the time, but they were beasts to move and I needed a substation fence. I had hoped to put a new fence in but so far, that hasn't happened. It's been years of using those corral panels as a fence to divide the two pens.


A few years back we had a tornado miss the Sanctuary buy a half a mile. We had major wind damage and in some cases have never repaired the damage (thinking the little run in shed we built and the tornado took the top off). The wind pushed the corral panels that divided the fence but because there were four panels and they were somewhat secure but leaning, I left it be. It was too heavy for me to lift alone. Those panels are heavy!!!


The gate between the two pens is cobbled together. It's fallen off the hooks more times than I can count. So in the end, I tied it shut with twine. Yes, there are many uses for twine at the Sanctuary. I'd opened the gate a couple weeks ago so that I could run the horses when instead of letting them out on the pasture. I don't want the horses on the pasture because they'll tear it up. I used to tie all the horses up but I've since gotten lazy and it takes an hour to halter and tie all 11 horses. Simply opening a gate is so much easier.


So last week everything was ok when I put the horses into the smaller pen but I had to rig the gate shut...hello twine! When I was done, I let the horses out, tied the gate shut to the corral panels and all was good.


Well last night we needed to put hay in before it rained again. It was getting dark but I wanted to hurry. At the time I couldn't figure out why the twine was so tight. I knew I had tied it to the gate but it hadn't been that tight. I pulled out my trusty knife and cut the twine and...


BAM!


The entire fence line (four corral panels) fell to the ground! I thought about trying to life it myself but decided that would be silly because Mike was sitting in the tractor waiting for me to open the other gate. By the time I got Mike, the horses discovered the downed fence line and ran into the smaller pen. By the time I got Mike and got back to the fence line, half the herd ran back into the bigger pen and the other half stayed in the smaller pen. By this time, it was getting dark and the horses were running and farting up a storm. I thought I was going to get run over at one point!


Mike and I got the fence put back into place (and of course secured with TWINE!). But then I had the challenge of getting everyone BACK into the small pen. Luckily all the horses except Lightening know that when I holler for them, they come. I will have to work on Lightening but he'll learn quick enough. Once I got Lightening into the small pen, we were good to go to put hay in.


So, what should have been about a 20 minute job to push horses into a different pen, pull hay nets, put in bales, pull net wrap, and put the hay nets back....took more than an hour. And people ask me why I don't get more done...that's exactly why.


Now had I had time to fix the fence in the first place or had we the funds to provide a proper fence, life would be easier. But instead I'm limited in time and funds and make do with what we have. Even if it's cobbled together with TWINE! :-)


So, before you ask me why I don't get more done, please remember this story. I'm not mad about it or upset when people say those words, they simply have no clue that even simple tasks sometimes don't work out like they should.

Wishlist Wednesday

This Wednesday, we wish for hoofpicks! They seem to grow legs and walk away at the Sanctuary. We would love to have enough to keep handy in a couple of different places around the Sanctuary.

Where's Skippy - Day Three in Ireland

Where's Skippy at in Ireland?

Leave a comment on our Facebook page to be entered to win!

https://www.facebook.com/BorderlandsHorseSanctuary/

Tell your friends to join in the fun. The winner this month will be entered to win the Grand Prize

Where's Skippy - Day Two in Ireland

Where's Skippy at in Ireland?

Leave a comment on our Facebook page to be entered to win!

https://www.facebook.com/BorderlandsHorseSanctuary/

Tell your friends to join in the fun. The winner this month will be entered to win the Grand Prize

A Huge Thank You

A huge thank you goes out to Nadine M for donating towards Rabbit's Buteless supplement. It's such a great feeling to know that we have great supporters. With the Buteless, hopefully we can ease Rabbit's pain in her shoulder long enough for her to enough some spring sunshine and grass before we have to say goodbye.

Pictures Coming!

Hopefully you'll be seeing new and more pictures on the Sanctuary's Facebook page (if not the blog). I'm trying hard to be more organized with pictures but we'll see how long that lasts. I had hoped that with a new phone, I'd be able to post more. I was wrong. Well, I can but I apparently take a lot of pictures. And when I say a lot... I mean... from mid May to mid October, I took 6,000 pictures. And I would have taken a ton more but my card filled up. It took a bit to get everything transferred over and there's a few weeks where I didn't take pictures. I had terrible issues in getting everything transferred over. And of course, my phone doesn't work outside when it's cold so no winter pics.


I'm sure you're asking, well why don't you pull out the camera? Good question. Basically, it comes down to me being lazy. Batteries were dead, it's typically not easy to get to, and uploading pictures isn't nearly as easy as it is on my phone (as long as I don't overload it with pictures and then I can't upload to the Sanctuary page).


It's all a bit of a catch 22 for me (all stemming from not being motivated). I am trying to get motivated so we'll see.


I feel bad because we've had Lace now for over a year and I don't have any decent pictures of her. I'm sure you're all thinking I'm full of horse poopy and making her up. Well, she DOES exist! I promise. :-) She's such a doll. So glad we have her. Better pictures coming...someday.

Pic taken last night!! She's fat and sassy (Dude in the background trying to get in on what's going on. He thinks he's in charge around here)

I'm working on a very fast approaching fundraiser that will be here in less than a month. I'll share more details later but figured I'd blab a little today in hopes that my headache would go away while blabbling.


Bo is still off his grain but I think it has more to do with taste than not wanting to eat. I restarted him on uniprim and he doesn't like the taste of it or the weight booster. But he's still coughing so I want to make sure that he kicks this cold. He doesn't look nearly as bad now but I think that all had to do with him shedding out his winter coat. He had one heck of a coat. It's almost like he had two coats. The first one he just lost, which made him look terrible (downright sick) and this second one which isnt' too bad...makes him look like the rest of the horses. And to think, he even had a blanket on for most of winter! So my last card I'm going to play is watering his grain down and turning it into a mash to tempt him into licking his dish clean. We'll see how that works.


Rabbit is still lame, and will be forever. I had hoped that maybe with the softer ground, she'd improve. I just can't figure out when to make that call. I'm simply dreading the decision. I will be struggling with that for a little while longer.


So not too much to report but hopefully there will be more pictures. Mostly horse pictures with general day-to-day status but I have a couple that will either make you laugh at me or cringe. Either way, it'll make for a good story (someday)!

Where's Skippy - Day 1 in Ireland

Where's Skippy?!

Hint: He's somewhere in Ireland this month. Leave a comment on our FB page.

https://www.facebook.com/BorderlandsHorseSanctuary/

Wishlist Wednesday Thanks

Before I posted on our weekly Wishlist Wednesday, I posted a list of wishlist items. And wouldn't you know, one of our supporters had one of the items we needed.

We were in need of another wheelbarrow. It's always nice to have more than one on hand for the jobs we are doing.

Thank you Travis B for donating a wheelbarrow to make our lives so much easier!

Wishlist Wednesday Thanks in Return

A HUGE THANK YOU goes out to Becky H. of Iowa for donating a Dumor Weight Booster for Junior and Bo!! The container of weight booster will help keep Junior and Bo's weight up! I'm so happy that they are coming out of winter with extra weight. They are the two hardest keepers and they are looking fantastic. 

THANK YOU for helping me keep them fat and happy!!!

I'll get better pictures of Junior to show off how much weight he's really gained! My phone is finally able to take pics but it was getting dark and I want to do a full post just on Junior but SO wanted to say THANK YOU to Becky for her generosity! 

Where's Skippy - In Ireland

Skippy is headed to Ireland this month in honor of St. Patrick's Day. We hope you play and give us some great guesses.

Go play, Skippy will post a picture of himself in a location in Ireland. All you have to do is leave a guess in the Comments on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BorderlandsHorseSanctuary/). Each guess counts even if you don't know or don't have the right answer. :-) 

Each time you guess, your name will be added to a drawing. At the end of the week, we'll draw the winner. Whoever wins will be entered into the BIG drawing at the end of the year. We'll have a prize for the Grand Winner, although the prize is still TBD at the moment. 

We hope that you have fun guessing and tell your friends to join in the guessing.

Here's to another fun adventure for Skippy!

Happy Friday

happy friday

What A Week

It's been a week. The paying job has sucked away all my energy and enthusiasm so I'll try not to be a drag today.


Last night we had THUNDER and LIGHTENING!!! How crazy to have a thunderstorm in March. At least it wasn't thundersnow.


The weatherman had been saying that we'd be getting snow and then rain from Wednesday through Friday. We got a few snowflakes Wednesday but nothing to accumulate. It looked pretty falling from the sky and even prettier as it disappeared when it hit the ground. I was worried about Rabbit so I threw a sheet on her Wednesday night thinking we'd get rain on Thursday and I didn't want her to get chilled.


We had rain. About 20 minutes of light rain/drizzle and that was it. But I was glad I had the sheet on her. On Wednesday everyone in that pen was kicking up their heels. Lace was tearing around and throwing kicks left and right. Mayhem was chasing Penny (or new dog..one of these days I'll tell you about her and in how we got her). Junior even let out a HUGE buck. It was such a big buck that all FOUR feet were off the ground. It was so fun to watch him. He's 29 and feeling fantastic.


Even Rabbit was willing to run and throw a little buck. Her run was more like a very slow lope, but she loped...on her bad shoulder. AND bucked a little. I took it as a good sign.


But after putting the sheet on her and seeing her Thursday night dead lame again, I wasn't sure what to do. So I pulled the sheet thinking that maybe it was putting too much pressure on her shoulder. It's a catch 22. Her shoulder hurts no matter but anything touching makes it hurt more so she lies down. But I'm afraid that she'll get chilled lying down so I put a blanket/sheet on her. But apparently that causes pain. So what's a girl to do to take care of her failing mare?


I ended up pulling her sheet last night and sure enough, a thunderstorm with thunder and lightening rolls through about 11pm. We didnt' really get anything for rain. Maybe a couple of sprinkles but nothing really.


After seeing Rabbit Wednesday, I had hoped that I could maybe let her enjoy the spring and even summer while the ground is soft. But after seeing her yesterday, I'm back to not really knowing when to make the call. I don't want to wait too long but I don't want to end her life if she's feeling better. I hate this part of Sanctuary. And she was off her grain last night too. So now I'm even more worried.


I have TWO horses off their grain...Bo is off his too. So with two horses not feeling 100%, the paying job stressing me enough to make me feel like I'm going to stroke out, and worrying about funds and fundraising for the Sanctuary I've come to the end of my wits and nerves. I'm not really sure how to move forward at the moment. I know it'll get better and a good nights sleep will help everything. It's the waiting and wondering that is the worse. It's been a hell of a week.

Wishlist Wednesday

This Wishlist Wednesday, we wish for Dumor Weight Booster. We keep Bo and Junior and this weight booster and have seen some considerable improvements in Junior's weight. Bo has decided he doesn't like it. But Junior eats it all up! And he's actually fat!!!


We've gone through two very large containers of the Dumor Weight Booster and are almost out. It's been a huge improvement for the really tough keepers. You can find the Dumor Weight Booster in TSC although I can't remember the price. I was thinking it was about $25-30 but I can't remember off the top of my head.


But even $5 towards the Dumor Weight Booster would help ease the bank account to keep Junior and Bo fat and happy!

Junior last year before being put on Dumor Weight Booster. This year you can't see his topline or a bony butt!

Quiet Mode

Not much to report today. It's fairly quiet at the Sanctuary. Lots on my mind but the paying job is taking away all my free time. Have some fun stuff in the works so check back, hopefully later this week!

Skippy's Trip

Well, Skippy's vacation to Ireland is getting pushed back a week. We'd planned for him to go this week but the paying job says no, there's too much to do. So next week it is! It'll still be fun and the places will still be the same.


We'll also post the January winner and all the romantic places Skippy went in February. The days seem to be slipping by quickly. Skippy doesn't care if his vacation is pushed a week, but I'm sure Tommy is ready for a break. I'm sure there will be grumblings in their "A Diary of a Horse" blog later this week.


http://diaryofasanctuaryhorse.blogspot.com/

Name Game Bonus Trivia Answer

Name Game Bonus Trivia Answer!!

TWO of the current residents were named by the Founder and Executive Director of the Sanctuary. Those two horses are Chaos and Mayhem. Do you see the trend?

Sorry, super old pic. This was a spring pic from a few years ago. She looks fat these days

Name Game Trivia Question #10 Answer

The resident Thoroughbred at the Sanctuary is....

Ivan

Name Game Trivia Question #9 Answer

Name Game Trivia Question #9 Answer:

Jim is the current Tennesee Walker at the Sanctuary.

Name Game Bonus Trivia Question

Name Game BONUS Trivia Question!

How many current residents were named by the Founder and Executive Director of Borderlands Horse Sanctuary?

Bonus Answer will be revealed tonight!

Name Game Question #8 Answer

Name Game Question #8 Answer:

There are TWO registered mares at the Sanctuary. Rabbit and Lace

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Hope everyone has a Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Name Game Trivia Question #10

Name Game Trivia Question #10:

What's the name of the resident Thoroughbred?

Name Game Trivia Question #9

Name Game Trivia Question #9:

What is the name of the resident Tennessee Walker?

Happy Friday

Happy Friday!!

Name Game Trivia Question #8

Name Game Trivia Question #8

Sorry, this one was supposed to go out Thursday morning. So instead it'll be a triple header!

How many of the current resident mares are registered?

Where's Skippy Going on Vacation

With all that's been going on this week, we forgot to mention that Skippy is going on vacation next week! In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, Skippy will be traveling to Ireland. I'll post more later but wanted to give everyone a reminder that we'll be playing "Where's Skippy" all of next week and hope to see your comments.


We still need to tell you where Skippy went last month on his trip to romantic locations. More coming soon!

Life is Cruel

Sometimes no news is better than good news. Rabbit has two options at the moment.

Option 1: We can take her in and do a muscle biopsy and have the biopsy sent to Iowa State. The vet wouldn't even give us an estimate on how much this procedure would cost. And even if we did get results, there's no saying that there is a cure for what is going on.

Option 2: euthanasia. She's already on Equi-Seq (vitamin E supplement) and buteless. Both supplements are helping but not enough to keep Rabbit comfortable where she can stand without pain.

I know some would be mad for me even considering euthanasia but also consider the following facts:

* She has heaves all year round.

* She has summer time allergies which makes her breathing even more labored.

* She has uveitis in the summer/fall months.

* She's 25 years old (not saying that 25 is old but I'm not willing to make her go through extensive tests just to prolong her life for a few months)

So I have to make a very tough decision. Quality of life is most important. But also, I cannot sacrifice the well-being of the others for Rabbit. If I spend all our funds on tests, etc. there wont' be enough for the rest of the horses. I know I will get blasted by some for saying such things. That considering euthanasia is the cheap/chicken way out. I should have funds set aside for this type of stuff. But we are small, and we really are focused on quality of life. And this Sanctuary is focused on old horses. And we have to let those old horses go at some point.

I always struggle with making these decisions. It's easier when you can see the weight loss and know when it's time. But the ones with pain management are more difficult. When is the pain too much? Are they still comfortable, manageable? What is their quality of life?

This is the part of Sanctuary I hate. Trying to decide what is in the best interest of the horse for quality of life. It's playing God and not knowing if you're making the right decision or not. It's all the what-ifs that pile up and make you cry at night. 

Life is cruel some days.

Name Game Trivia Question #5 Answer

Name Game Trivia Question #5 Answer is.....

Who was Brego named after?

The horse from Lord of the Rings.

Brego, the horse is a character created purely for the films. Brego isn't even in the books but he makes a great character in the movies.

Riding

Guess who got to ride the black horse last night? ME

Do you recognize him? Think  back to a little baby posted earlier this week. That's right, it's Jett! All grown up.

We had practice last night and Jett and his buddy Sunny were there for practice (Jett's owner is in charge of the drill team). After practice, I got to hop on Jett. Wowza. Is that boy trained!! He is even more responsive than Rain and there's a HUGE age gap. In fact, with Jett being six this year, he ranks up there with Zeke for being trained. That's right!

So happy to get to watch Jett and his owner through the years. And watch Jett grow up and learn. It's amazing what an education will do for a horse.

I get so wrapped up with the older horses that I forget that they were all young once, just like Jett. It's just a pleasure to watch him. I didn't really have much to do with anything other than being at the action and bringing Savanna home for $20, skin and bone. Little did I know Jett was in that "wormy" belly.

It's amazing what will happen when you take a chance. And even more when you put a ton of time and effort into that chance.

I'm just so happy that everything worked out. Had Jett stayed with us, he would have been lost in the shuffle of the old horses and Jett really is the type that needs attention. And it would have been a shame after seeing what he can do. I can't say that I'm nearly as dedicated as Jett's owner. In fact I am not as dedicated a rider, but Jett's owner is one in a million and it really is fun watching Jett progress.

Crazy how life's twists and turns will lead you to some amazing horses.

Keep up the great work Jett and Stacy.

Name Game Trivia Question #7

Name Game Trivia Question #7:

If Chaos could be registered, what would his breed be?

Throwback Thursday

Our Throwback Thursday is to a few falls ago. I'm getting a bit tired of the odd winter so figured I'd share a picture of Tommy enjoying a quick romp through the pasture before heading in for the night.

Terrible Realization

I had a terrible realization yesterday. It hit me right smack in the face. And it was a huge blow that made me step back and in fact brought me to tears.


We are a Sanctuary for the old and the infirm. Everyone is growing older and there is no way to stop the inevitable. You can prolong it but you can't stop it.


The last horse we lost was Babe in September 2013. That was three and a half years ago. That's a long time to go with no stress of making that final decision.


I realized yesterday that Rabbit's time with us is not going to be as long as I'd hoped. We'll see what the vet says but in reality if we can get the lameness issue resolved, she wont' be with us for very many more years anyway. That thought smacked me across the face...hard.


I am afraid we are going to experience a wave of goodbyes.


I hadn't noticed it...well that's a lie. I did notice but turned a blind eye.


Dude is in slight pain. I may start him on buteless as well. But his hips are bothering him. I had hoped with the trims that he would be feeling better. He's not. He's still showing his discomfort. This type of weather always causes him some...ice and mud are no good for a horse with bad hips. But I realized that he too will have a shortened lifespan because of those hips. Another blow that hit me hard.


Then I looked at Lace. She's been off the last two or three days but that's because of her knee. She slips and slides in this mud so I am guessing she did something to her large knee. The farrier looked at her knee and said part of it is hard and part there is fluid on the knee. I'm guessing the fluid is from dealing with the  mud but I can only guess. But she was really sore after the trim... I'm sure she'll be fine tomorrow. She even did her own personal stretches during the trim session so I know she knows all about stretching. I may have to start her on stretches too. But that knee is going to take Lace out as well.


For the first time ever, we'll be dealing with physical ailments instead of old age and not keeping weight on. That's going to be even tougher on me. It's easier to see the weight loss and know when the time is to say goodbye but these ailments that cause pain is even worse to deal with.


But I hate the pain.


I have been keeping a watchful eye on Junior and Jim (29 and 30 respectively). They are both doing fantastic. Junior is actually at the right weight but how long will he last... same goes for Jim. His teeth are in exceptional shape so it wont be the teeth that take him out.


Oh the joys of caring for senior horses. So stressful.

Update on Bo and Rabbit

Bo
It took another set of eyes to realize that Bo has a cold. I knew it but it didn't really dawn on me until yesterday. But it explains a lot. I was blaming it on Lightening but I think it's a cold. It's enough to get Bo off his feed, which is very unusual. So I called the vet first thing in the morning. I love our vet. They do what they can to help keep our vet costs down. How cool is that? Instead of running Bo in, they suggested to first put him on Uniprim for the next week. I have a feeling that it's a pretty severe cold and a week might not cut it. But it's a start and we'll see how he progresses.


We bought a bottle of Uniprim when Chaos stepped on a nail Christmas Eve (are you seeing the same trend I'm seeing?) I'm not sure if we'll have enough or if we'll have to go buy another jar. But for now, we'll start with what we have.


We could really use donations towards another jar of uniprim. It's something we need to keep on hand apparently. We'll go for months with nothing and then BAM, everyone needs to see the vet!


Rabbit
It's never a good sign when your vet says they'll have to research more about what's going on. At least not in my books anyway. Last fall our vet had come out (I didn't want to haul Rabbit lame). Her x-rays came back clean. There as nothing wrong with her foot. I had thought it was ringbone or laminitis or something. But the x-rays came back clean. The vet suggested a good trim. Our new farrier didn't think it was a trim issue. Her feet are flat but that's not what's causing the issue. In fact, there's no way for the farrier to even trim the one foot because Rabbit is in too much pain.


But I think we narrowed the problem down to her shoulder. The vet is thinking it's a muscle issue and the farrier mentioned something similar but didn't want to say that was the problem, not being a vet and all. Did I mention I love our new farrier!


When you touch Rabbit's whithers, she shakes like she'd rolled, gotten up, and was shaking off the dirt. That's with just a light touch on the whithers. I'm not holding out much hope though. Not in the vet finding out the problem, but in finding a solution that will keep Rabbit comfortable. It could be that we need to do daily walking and stretching as that has seemed to help. But it's so hard to ask her to walk when she's three legged lame. I may try tonight hand walking her and even possibly doing a stretch on that good front leg to see if even that would help a little.


I'm desperate to find a solution.

Name Game Trivia Question #4 Answer

Name Game Trivia Question #4 Answer is:

How many current residents have people names? SIX

And they are:

• Zeke
• Ivan
• Tommy
• Junior
• Bo
• Jim

Name Game Trivia Question #3 Answer

Name Game Trivia Question #3:

Jett's original name was Sir Prize (because he was a surprise to us!)

Name Game Trivia Question #6 Answer

Name Game Trivia Question #6 Answer:

Chaos and Mayhem both could have been registered had their not been a paperwork snafu.

Name Game Trivia Question #6

Name Game Trivia Question #6:

Who could be registered if a paperwork mishap hadn't

happened?