After the Break

Apparently I can't take a break for very long if I'm near a computer. I'm finally getting things done around the Sanctuary and that makes me happy!!


I've been struggling lately but hopefully with a few more changes, life will get a little bit easier. At least the horses will be happier. I'm all about having happy horses.


Earlier this week, I had just enough time to grab some temporary fence posts (poly posts) and start working on dividing the pasture so that I could finally get the big herd on grass. I do NOT want to be putting in hay all summer. It's good hay but the horses are getting antsy. I had to buy an extra load and that wasn't in the budget. I'm not sure how long I spent putting in posts but I was booking it to get all the fence posts in. I even had to go back and get more but at least the posts are in. Now I need to find an hour to get the electric fence wire onto the posts and then I am set!


I'm not figuring I'll have time tonight to get the wire up but hopefully tomorrow there will be time (and the mosquitos wont' carry me away). Once the wire is up and hot, I will let the horses out Saturday morning! I'm so anxious and giddy I could burst! I'm about two weeks behind in getting horses out on pasture. That makes me grumpy but I've been so far behind these days I guess I better just be grateful for what I do have done.


Before we left on vacation (yes we went on a couple of vacations over the past couple of weeks), and I had a bale with a hay net for Mayhem and the ponies. They hadn't made much of a dent in it. The big herd had eaten almost all of their hay and was left with chaff. I didn't want to put in another bale so I opted to tear down the corral panels and put the ponies and Mayhem into a smaller pen. I already had a bale broke open from a couple of weeks ago that I was using to feed the ponies so they are back to that bale. I'm not going to be able to use most of it. It somehow went bad. There's $70 down the drain...makes me grumpy but that's just the game you play when you're dealing with hay.


But with the ponies and Mayhem in their smaller pen, that meant I could open the gate and let the big herd into the other pen so they could eat the hay. I thought they'd go straight for the hay. Nope. Instead they did a lot of running, bucking, and farting while investigating the pen. It's funny how one minor change creates so much drama. But the horses were happy to have something else to occupy their time and I was happy that they weren't bored out of their minds. When I went in for the night, I saw the arabs running around chasing each other having a grand time. I know that with them running around, they are stirring up trouble and getting the rest of the herd to run around. I'm all for it. Exercise is good for everyone!


With stealing panels to keep the ponies and Mayhem in their pen, that meant I couldn't put the big herd on the lawn any more. But it also meant that I could swing some of the corral panels around and let Junior, Bo, and Lace out onto a small part of the lawn that hasnt' been touched. Mike mowed it a few weeks ago much to my dismay but hopefully that kept the weeds down. I didn't get a chance to get all the corral panels up until last night. But the pasture they are in is already done. It only holds for about a month and with three mouths on that pasture for more than a month, I guess I can't complain. I'd sprayed in that pasture and I'm finally seeing the results. I need to get back out to that pasture and do some more spraying and hopefully toss some more grass seed out. I need to see progress to keep myself happy.


The farrier is coming out tonight to do trims. We cancelled last month's appointment because it was raining like cats and dogs and there was talk of flash flooding. I don't want anyone on the road when the weather is bad so we postponed the appointment until today. Now I have twice as many to do but I'm ok with it as long as everyone stands still and it isn't so blasted hot. King has been off so I'm not sure if the laminitis is getting worse or what. We'll have to discuss his options on what to do to keep him comfortable.


And speaking of heat, it went from needing coats and sweatshirts over memorial weekend to needing shorts and tank tops. Of course we were on vacation when it was so chilly. At one point, I think it was 25 degrees (but we were in the Black Hills so the temps are always colder at night). But now we are dealing with upper 80s this week. It's hard on a body.


Bo is still not doing very well. I need to deworm him to see if that will help some of the issues. He still has a shaggy coat but I dont' think he has Cushings. He's now got patches of missing hair so I'm not sure what's going on. Everyone else is fat and glossy/shiny and he is looking dumpy. Even Skippy has shed out most of his winter coat. He typically doesn't shed out until July so I'm very happy that most of his winter coat is already gone. What's left are spots that he cant' rub off. I will have to find the clippers so I can give him a shave. I am going to have to do some more research on Bo to find out what's going on. If it's not one thing, it's another with him. We keep testing him for different issues and everything comes up negative so I just don't know. He perplexes me.


So the past few days have been super busy and productive. I'm hoping to get back to scraping and painting some of our outbuildings. The barn and tack room are in desperate need of a  good paint job. I had been scraping the tack room until the raccoons started growling at me. I took it as my sign that I better find a different project to work on. Well, I'm tired of being dictated to, especially by raccoons, so we are going to have a 'coming to Jesus" moment this weekend with the raccoons. I want what I want and until I get what I want, this momma ain't happy. And I want that tack room scraped and painted! I'm always looking for volunteers to help with scraping and painting other buildings. I'd really be happy with a fresh coat of paint on all the outbuildings. The place just looks ratty any more.


But speaking of improvements, I'm trying to push to get the roof on the hay barn fixed. It needs a whole new roof and the Ondura sheeting is on sale this week. It's a HUGE chunk of money and I'll have to pay for it out of my own pocket but at least then I won't worry every time it rains. Then we can move on to redoing the roof on the old garage. It's gotten to the point it's so bad, that the nails are falling out. Not good when you have little kids, dogs, and horses to worry about stepping on nails (never mind puncturing tires).


So, lots going on and I'm going to keep pushing myself to get stuff done. But I was so tired last night that I was getting dizzy. That's a bad sign. Hopefully I'll be able to get things accomplished and feel happy about it and get enough sleep that I wont' be dizzy and dragging.


Now that I'm back on my feet, I need to get back to our weekly Monday Meet and Greet. I'll have to make sure that the videos are better (i.e., do them during the daylight instead of at dusk). I have lots to say, just not sure if anyone wants to listen. But I do want to share in our Sanctuary horses so everyone can get to know them better.  Unfortunately my phone doesn't let me go "Live" on Facebook so any videos that I post will be at least a few hours old. Technology seems to be getting the better of me these days.


But I'm making progress, slow progress but it's still progress and that's what I need to see. Now back to the paying job to make some money for the Sanctuary horses!