From our herd to yours, we hope you have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
We hope that you are blessed this holiday season and all the seasons in between.
#MerryChristmas
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Monday, December 16, 2019
Pause
We are pushing the Pause button on all social media (unless it's an easy share on Facebook). It's now time to sit back, enjoy family, and reflect. It's time to be silly, laugh lots, enjoy one another's company, and simply be.
I've been too stressed for too long and it's taking its toll not just on me but also my kids and the horses. I would love to promote the Sanctuary during the year-end push but what we need now is rest.
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
We hope to see you all in 2020 with a new and fresh outlook on life.
I've been too stressed for too long and it's taking its toll not just on me but also my kids and the horses. I would love to promote the Sanctuary during the year-end push but what we need now is rest.
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
We hope to see you all in 2020 with a new and fresh outlook on life.
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Life the Last Month
Life at the Sanctuary has been pretty busy the last month. The weekend before Thanksgiving, we packed up our bags and headed to the South Dakota Capital. We had been invited to participate in Christmas at the Capital. I'd only been there once before but love Christmas and so wanted the Sanctuary to be a part of it. We finally got our ducks in a row and were invited to participate. I love our tree. Each horse that has stepped foot on the Sanctuary is now adorned as an ornament on a fresh tree in the Capital. I love how it turned out. It's such a magical experience. I hope that we can do it again some time. I know I will be requesting to participate again. It really put me into the Christmas spirit seeing all the fresh trees and decorations and holiday cheer. It's rather magical. I'd highly recommend going!
The Tuesday after Thanksgiving was #GivingTuesday and #ForSouthDakota South Dakota Gives day! It was a jam packed ay of activities to showcase not just our Sanctuary but all nonprofits (that signed up) to see all the amazing work that these nonprofits are doing for South Dakota. There are so many out there I had no idea about. I so wish I could spend more time with each one getting to know them and learn more about their cause. During #GivingTuesday we had each Sanctuary horse write Santa a letter asking for one small item. We are continuing to collect items to fill their stocking. It's great fun!
For the month of December, we are doing the 12 Days of Sponsorship to get our senior horses sponsored. By sponsoring a horse, we can open our doors to more deserving seniors. As of today, we have been asked to take in 35 horses. Some may laugh at that number as it pales in comparison to what they have taken in or what they get asked but of us, it's a huge number. For me, every no is a knife to the heart knowing that I can't help them. If we can't help them, who will. I can only hope that others step up and help those that we cannot. As it is, we did say yes to 5 horses this year, which is more than we have in the past.
So for the 12 Days of Sponsorship, we post a horse and their "Match.com" profile of sorts. It's great fun and it helps me see the horses for who they are and rather than the ailments that they may have. We don't introduce ourselves with our ailments first. We introduce ourselves with who we are, what we like and what we don't like. I need to step back and remember that. They are all horses and being a horse comes first. Treating their ailments as they grow older is just a part of Sanctuary life. It's a good lesson for me to remember.
And it doesn't end there! Tonight we are headed to Tractor Supply in Sioux Falls to team up with Almost Home Canine Rescue to put up a Giving Tree! We are so excited to have a Giving Tree again. We've gone in with other organizations in the past and had so much fun. Sadly our schedule is so busy we have to ride on coat tails for this event most of the time. Luckily Almost Home is very forgiving of my schedule and in all honestly, they hold a special place in my heart since we used to foster for them years and years ago!
So even though I'm so far behind things are looking up. And when I joke that things are so far behind... I mean so far behind that I ran out of socks and I either had a choice of wearing my 7 year old's socks (which are too small) or I wear hospital socks from some of my previous trips. Yep, that far behind!
Hopefully once our Christmas tree is up, I'll be more in the Christmas spirit again and we can have some holiday cheer! I do love Christmas and if you don't, we invite you to visit and hope to get you into the Christmas spirit with the horses!
The Tuesday after Thanksgiving was #GivingTuesday and #ForSouthDakota South Dakota Gives day! It was a jam packed ay of activities to showcase not just our Sanctuary but all nonprofits (that signed up) to see all the amazing work that these nonprofits are doing for South Dakota. There are so many out there I had no idea about. I so wish I could spend more time with each one getting to know them and learn more about their cause. During #GivingTuesday we had each Sanctuary horse write Santa a letter asking for one small item. We are continuing to collect items to fill their stocking. It's great fun!
For the month of December, we are doing the 12 Days of Sponsorship to get our senior horses sponsored. By sponsoring a horse, we can open our doors to more deserving seniors. As of today, we have been asked to take in 35 horses. Some may laugh at that number as it pales in comparison to what they have taken in or what they get asked but of us, it's a huge number. For me, every no is a knife to the heart knowing that I can't help them. If we can't help them, who will. I can only hope that others step up and help those that we cannot. As it is, we did say yes to 5 horses this year, which is more than we have in the past.
So for the 12 Days of Sponsorship, we post a horse and their "Match.com" profile of sorts. It's great fun and it helps me see the horses for who they are and rather than the ailments that they may have. We don't introduce ourselves with our ailments first. We introduce ourselves with who we are, what we like and what we don't like. I need to step back and remember that. They are all horses and being a horse comes first. Treating their ailments as they grow older is just a part of Sanctuary life. It's a good lesson for me to remember.
And it doesn't end there! Tonight we are headed to Tractor Supply in Sioux Falls to team up with Almost Home Canine Rescue to put up a Giving Tree! We are so excited to have a Giving Tree again. We've gone in with other organizations in the past and had so much fun. Sadly our schedule is so busy we have to ride on coat tails for this event most of the time. Luckily Almost Home is very forgiving of my schedule and in all honestly, they hold a special place in my heart since we used to foster for them years and years ago!
So even though I'm so far behind things are looking up. And when I joke that things are so far behind... I mean so far behind that I ran out of socks and I either had a choice of wearing my 7 year old's socks (which are too small) or I wear hospital socks from some of my previous trips. Yep, that far behind!
Hopefully once our Christmas tree is up, I'll be more in the Christmas spirit again and we can have some holiday cheer! I do love Christmas and if you don't, we invite you to visit and hope to get you into the Christmas spirit with the horses!
Behind
I've wanted to post a few times lately. We are busy and have a few things going on but I haven't had the energy to write anything. So now I'm behind on sharing all that we've been working on. Now that Facebook is the norm for sharing information, I am not as good about sharing all the news in the blog as well.
I'd been very stressed the last few months leading up to November, what with trying to figure out how to bring in the four horses from Canistota. I didn't realize how stressed until after we found a different place for Pepper to go and let Ransom go. I also didn't realize how upset and stressed I was about letting Lace go as well. Losing these seniors is much harder on me than I realize some times. I was worried that I was immune to their loss but I'm not. I know I compartmentalize some of it but when I look back, I realize how much stress there is and how distant I sometimes get afterwards.
Sadly, when someone finds out that we have lost a horse, people immediately think we have a spot open. But people don't realize is that I need time. The herd needs time. We all need time to recover from the loss and get used to a new routine. We have these horses here for a few years and fall into a routine pretty quick so when one finally passes on, it's hard to adjust. It's only been a month and everyone seems to have adjusted, although I think Mayhem is depressed to some degree. Only when Lace and Junior were in Madison was she alone and now that she's in with Jessie and Diavlo, she's not really included in their "group". Dialvo doesn't allow it but I can't have Diavlo in the big herd either because he'll stress himself out and lose too much weight and that will also cause Jessie to stress out and she's already at a dangerous weight. She can't afford to lose any more. So it's a day by day situation and we'll see how things progress.
It's already December 11th and I don't even have our family Christmas tree up yet! Usually I have all the decorations up long before now but there's been so much going on I'm struggling to keep up.
The stomach bug also ran through our entire house over the last few days. That's taken us down for the count. Sadly even with the stomach bug, it still means the horses and dogs have to be fed. So in between bouts of sickness, I slowly walked out to the ponies and fed/watered them. These are the days I wish we had more auto waters available. And these are also the days I wonder my sanity for running a horse sanctuary for old horses in South Dakota. Why not somewhere warmer?!
I have more to share on all that's been going on but will post again very soon.
I'd been very stressed the last few months leading up to November, what with trying to figure out how to bring in the four horses from Canistota. I didn't realize how stressed until after we found a different place for Pepper to go and let Ransom go. I also didn't realize how upset and stressed I was about letting Lace go as well. Losing these seniors is much harder on me than I realize some times. I was worried that I was immune to their loss but I'm not. I know I compartmentalize some of it but when I look back, I realize how much stress there is and how distant I sometimes get afterwards.
Sadly, when someone finds out that we have lost a horse, people immediately think we have a spot open. But people don't realize is that I need time. The herd needs time. We all need time to recover from the loss and get used to a new routine. We have these horses here for a few years and fall into a routine pretty quick so when one finally passes on, it's hard to adjust. It's only been a month and everyone seems to have adjusted, although I think Mayhem is depressed to some degree. Only when Lace and Junior were in Madison was she alone and now that she's in with Jessie and Diavlo, she's not really included in their "group". Dialvo doesn't allow it but I can't have Diavlo in the big herd either because he'll stress himself out and lose too much weight and that will also cause Jessie to stress out and she's already at a dangerous weight. She can't afford to lose any more. So it's a day by day situation and we'll see how things progress.
It's already December 11th and I don't even have our family Christmas tree up yet! Usually I have all the decorations up long before now but there's been so much going on I'm struggling to keep up.
The stomach bug also ran through our entire house over the last few days. That's taken us down for the count. Sadly even with the stomach bug, it still means the horses and dogs have to be fed. So in between bouts of sickness, I slowly walked out to the ponies and fed/watered them. These are the days I wish we had more auto waters available. And these are also the days I wonder my sanity for running a horse sanctuary for old horses in South Dakota. Why not somewhere warmer?!
I have more to share on all that's been going on but will post again very soon.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Goodbye Ransom
Poor Ransom. He was only at the Sanctuary for about two months. I didn't get a chance to really know him. He was a quiet little gelding but was in so much pain long before he came to us. Oddly enough, our farrier knew Ransom long before we knew him. When I posted pictures of the herd on Facebook, our farrier said she'd trimmed Ransom two years ago and that he'd foundered long before that.
Sadly, by the time we got Ransom, the laminitis had gotten much more severe. He couldn't very far without being in extreme pain. He spent most of his time trying to find a soft place in the dry lot or hanging out in the pasture. He wasn't comfortable with the big herd and hung out with his best friend Diavlo or by himself.
I wish we could have done more. Or could have helped sooner. But we have to say no to so many horses and I worry about those that we say no to, what happens to them. At least we were able to say yes to Ransom. Our farrier had come out to trim him but said she couldn't do much without xrays. Sadly, we took Ransom up for xrays last Monday, November 4th knowing that they wouldn't be good.
Our amazing farrier went with to help haul horses and get an immediate answer when we saw the xrays. Truthfully, I didn't know what I was looking at other than a very painful foot. Ransom's bones had rotated and were very close to the sole of his foot. He was very close to walking on his bone.
We confirmed the xrays with our vet. Because we already had Lace's euthanasia scheduled, we'd wanted to get the xrays done on the same day and say goodbye to Ransom if the xrays showed what we were fearing. I didn't want to haul Ransom a second time in the trailer if his feet hurt as bad as I suspected. There would be times that I would walk out and he would simply stand (or be lying down), and groan in pain. I didn't think any extra traveling would be good on him. I wanted to keep his pain to a minimum.
So we said goodbye to Ransom after only two very short months. I didn't get to know him like I'd wanted. It seems unfair that he didn't get to spend more time at the Sanctuary but he was surrounded by his herd until the very end.
We made the decision to put both Ransom and Lace down in November because winter is right around the corner. With the issues facing euthanasia, we wanted to make sure they could be buried on our family land rather than going through other methods of euthanasia and removal that would cost even more than what we can afford. I am glad we have such devoted family to help with the Sanctuary.
Losing Ransom and Lace has been a hard blow to the Sanctuary. Mayhem and Jessie are not adjusting as well because they both relied on Lace. We've been watching them and Diavlo closely to make sure they don't drop too much weight and/or colic. It's always the ones left behind that we have to worry about.
Losing a horse, no matter how long they've been at the Sanctuary, be it two months, two years, or twenty years is always difficult.
God speed Ransom. Please forgive me and I hope we meet again some day.
Sadly, by the time we got Ransom, the laminitis had gotten much more severe. He couldn't very far without being in extreme pain. He spent most of his time trying to find a soft place in the dry lot or hanging out in the pasture. He wasn't comfortable with the big herd and hung out with his best friend Diavlo or by himself.
I wish we could have done more. Or could have helped sooner. But we have to say no to so many horses and I worry about those that we say no to, what happens to them. At least we were able to say yes to Ransom. Our farrier had come out to trim him but said she couldn't do much without xrays. Sadly, we took Ransom up for xrays last Monday, November 4th knowing that they wouldn't be good.
Our amazing farrier went with to help haul horses and get an immediate answer when we saw the xrays. Truthfully, I didn't know what I was looking at other than a very painful foot. Ransom's bones had rotated and were very close to the sole of his foot. He was very close to walking on his bone.
We confirmed the xrays with our vet. Because we already had Lace's euthanasia scheduled, we'd wanted to get the xrays done on the same day and say goodbye to Ransom if the xrays showed what we were fearing. I didn't want to haul Ransom a second time in the trailer if his feet hurt as bad as I suspected. There would be times that I would walk out and he would simply stand (or be lying down), and groan in pain. I didn't think any extra traveling would be good on him. I wanted to keep his pain to a minimum.
So we said goodbye to Ransom after only two very short months. I didn't get to know him like I'd wanted. It seems unfair that he didn't get to spend more time at the Sanctuary but he was surrounded by his herd until the very end.
We made the decision to put both Ransom and Lace down in November because winter is right around the corner. With the issues facing euthanasia, we wanted to make sure they could be buried on our family land rather than going through other methods of euthanasia and removal that would cost even more than what we can afford. I am glad we have such devoted family to help with the Sanctuary.
Losing Ransom and Lace has been a hard blow to the Sanctuary. Mayhem and Jessie are not adjusting as well because they both relied on Lace. We've been watching them and Diavlo closely to make sure they don't drop too much weight and/or colic. It's always the ones left behind that we have to worry about.
Losing a horse, no matter how long they've been at the Sanctuary, be it two months, two years, or twenty years is always difficult.
God speed Ransom. Please forgive me and I hope we meet again some day.
 |
| Ransom checking out the turned over water tank |
 |
| Ransom before we brought him to the Sanctuary |
Goodbye Lace
For those that don't follow us on Facebook, we put Lace down November 4th. It was so painful but I didn't think it fair to make her struggle through another winter simply because I wanted her near.
She had come to us in December 2015 with an enlarged knee, most likely from her previous career as a barrel racer. She'd turned broodmare in a second career and we welcomed her to enjoy her retirement in peace. She was with us for just shy of four years (which is about the length of time our seniors stay with us).
She came to us angry. Whatever had happened in her previous careers and life before coming to Borderlands had taken its toll. We gave her time and space and she came around very quickly. Within a couple of months she was a happy mare again, which is exactly what we want for our horses!
She enjoyed grazing and hanging out with her mare friends (as long as she was in charge). She wasn't "in love" with Junior but she liked being near him. When we lost Junior two years ago, the herd dynamic in the mare pen changed again.
As Lace's knee grew bigger and she put more weight on her other leg, the other leg started to deteriorate. It was a shock last year to see the dropped ligament. I was devastated. We gave her one extra year and she told us she was ready. Her legs were deteriorating quickly and we wanted to do what was right.
Sadly, when I opened the door to the trailer for her final ride, she pulled the lead rope out of my hand and sailed into the trailer. She was ready for a barrel race. It broke my heart. I should have been hauling her wherever she wanted to go but I had no idea she liked to travel. Of course, I think she preferred the new trailer that we bought and was excited to try it out. Sadly, it was her last right.
After we said goodbye, our farrier took her leg so that we can learn from Lace. It's a bit hard to take knowing but if we can help other horses, and others can learn from her, then I guess it's ok. We get updates as our farrier learns more about what had happened to Lace to cause the big knee. And to find out that she was probably in severe pain and had lived like that for years makes me sad. The only consolation is that she knew love, was pampered as much as I can, and she left this earth with a full belly of grass and hay, a warm mash in her belly, and surrounded by loved ones.
You will be deeply missed Lace. May we meet again some day.
She had come to us in December 2015 with an enlarged knee, most likely from her previous career as a barrel racer. She'd turned broodmare in a second career and we welcomed her to enjoy her retirement in peace. She was with us for just shy of four years (which is about the length of time our seniors stay with us).
She came to us angry. Whatever had happened in her previous careers and life before coming to Borderlands had taken its toll. We gave her time and space and she came around very quickly. Within a couple of months she was a happy mare again, which is exactly what we want for our horses!
She enjoyed grazing and hanging out with her mare friends (as long as she was in charge). She wasn't "in love" with Junior but she liked being near him. When we lost Junior two years ago, the herd dynamic in the mare pen changed again.
As Lace's knee grew bigger and she put more weight on her other leg, the other leg started to deteriorate. It was a shock last year to see the dropped ligament. I was devastated. We gave her one extra year and she told us she was ready. Her legs were deteriorating quickly and we wanted to do what was right.
Sadly, when I opened the door to the trailer for her final ride, she pulled the lead rope out of my hand and sailed into the trailer. She was ready for a barrel race. It broke my heart. I should have been hauling her wherever she wanted to go but I had no idea she liked to travel. Of course, I think she preferred the new trailer that we bought and was excited to try it out. Sadly, it was her last right.
After we said goodbye, our farrier took her leg so that we can learn from Lace. It's a bit hard to take knowing but if we can help other horses, and others can learn from her, then I guess it's ok. We get updates as our farrier learns more about what had happened to Lace to cause the big knee. And to find out that she was probably in severe pain and had lived like that for years makes me sad. The only consolation is that she knew love, was pampered as much as I can, and she left this earth with a full belly of grass and hay, a warm mash in her belly, and surrounded by loved ones.
You will be deeply missed Lace. May we meet again some day.
 |
| From two years ago before her legs started to really deteriorate |
 |
| From three summers ago at the summer retreat |
 |
| Lace from a few years ago, before her legs started to deteriorate |
Monday, November 4, 2019
Waiting
Nothing this weekend went as planned.
We didn't haul hay like we'd planned. It's now all sitting in a different location at the summer retreat. Hopefully next weekend we can get it all hauled home. It's at least moved out of the field so it can't get snowed in. Where it's at now is in a terrible place if the snow comes this week (it won't). This is sort of why I prefer to be as self-sufficient as possible. I really hate having to rely on others because things always happen and they can't help and I'm left holding the bag scrambling to make things work. Or it doesn't get done and that adds more stresses to me.
What's going to happen with Ransom is still up in the air. I have to go to a different vet today to do an x-ray on his feet. My farrier is coming with so we can decide right on the spot what to do. We will hopefully go back to our other vet to put Lace down and if necessary, put Ransom down.
I'm not ready for today. I don't want to say goodbye to Lace but I know she can't make another cold South Dakota winter. Her legs have deteriorated more and this fast approaching cold snap will not do her any good. I'd rather that she leave with sunshine on her back, and grass in her belly. There's no sun but at least there's no snow and it's not bitterly cold. If I think about what's to come this afternoon, I can't breath and I cant' stop crying. It's the part of Sanctuary that I can't handle. I hate this part but I know I have to be the one to make the decision and no one else. If only they would go on their own.
It's simply the part of Sanctuary that I hate. I know that some day I will see them again. They will be without pain. But I will still miss them. I have a hard time with change. I have a hard time with letting go.
And I have no idea what we will do with Ransom. I am guessing that we will be saying goodbye to him as well. It's not fair to make him suffer. He's uncomfortable with the big herd because his feet hurt too much. If we do keep him, he'll be in with Jessie and that will drive Diavlo insane. But I can't keep a water tank going in the middle of winter with four horses on it. It means I'll be hauling 40 gallons or more in the middle of the night because that's when I finally get to do chores, because me doing chores at any other time is an inconvenience to others. So we will wait and see.
I hate the waiting. I hate the not knowing. I am a planner. Today I will simply hate the day.
We didn't haul hay like we'd planned. It's now all sitting in a different location at the summer retreat. Hopefully next weekend we can get it all hauled home. It's at least moved out of the field so it can't get snowed in. Where it's at now is in a terrible place if the snow comes this week (it won't). This is sort of why I prefer to be as self-sufficient as possible. I really hate having to rely on others because things always happen and they can't help and I'm left holding the bag scrambling to make things work. Or it doesn't get done and that adds more stresses to me.
What's going to happen with Ransom is still up in the air. I have to go to a different vet today to do an x-ray on his feet. My farrier is coming with so we can decide right on the spot what to do. We will hopefully go back to our other vet to put Lace down and if necessary, put Ransom down.
I'm not ready for today. I don't want to say goodbye to Lace but I know she can't make another cold South Dakota winter. Her legs have deteriorated more and this fast approaching cold snap will not do her any good. I'd rather that she leave with sunshine on her back, and grass in her belly. There's no sun but at least there's no snow and it's not bitterly cold. If I think about what's to come this afternoon, I can't breath and I cant' stop crying. It's the part of Sanctuary that I can't handle. I hate this part but I know I have to be the one to make the decision and no one else. If only they would go on their own.
It's simply the part of Sanctuary that I hate. I know that some day I will see them again. They will be without pain. But I will still miss them. I have a hard time with change. I have a hard time with letting go.
And I have no idea what we will do with Ransom. I am guessing that we will be saying goodbye to him as well. It's not fair to make him suffer. He's uncomfortable with the big herd because his feet hurt too much. If we do keep him, he'll be in with Jessie and that will drive Diavlo insane. But I can't keep a water tank going in the middle of winter with four horses on it. It means I'll be hauling 40 gallons or more in the middle of the night because that's when I finally get to do chores, because me doing chores at any other time is an inconvenience to others. So we will wait and see.
I hate the waiting. I hate the not knowing. I am a planner. Today I will simply hate the day.
Friday, November 1, 2019
Hauling Hay and Vet Appointments
I got a call last night that our hay can now be picked up. The September flooding in Madison flooded out the road to where our hay is sitting. Now that the crops are out of the fields and the ground is slightly harder now, we can start hauling hay home.
We plan on doing that this weekend. Our hay guy was going to get it out of the field this weekend no matter what so there's no threat of it getting snowed in. Where it's at, is a prime location for snow drifts and making it impossible to get there with a truck and trailer. So we'll be hauling home 55 bales of big round bales. I'll be happy to have them home. Not so happy to pay for the hay. We've been really low on fundraising this year. We've been doing donations through Facebook but discovered the third-party company helping is taking a huge chunk of money so we'll be boycotting their donate button from now on. Sad cuz it was handy. I expect our donations online to go down. But to find the $4,000 to pay for the hay is going to be tough.
But once the hay is home, I'll heave a sigh of relief. It's one less thing to worry about for this winter. I expect a bad winter but know if we are prepared with enough hay, that I won't have to worry about keeping our seniors fat and happy, which is our ultimate goal at Borderlands.
In other news, my farrier is willing to help haul horses to the vet on Monday so I'm waiting to see if Monday works. It's also the nicest day this week (and will probably be the last nice day until spring).
I don't want to go tho.
It means we have to say goodbye to Lace and I'm just not ready. But time is running out to say goodbye and ensure she stays happy and not in pain. Her legs are failing and with the colder weather setting in, I want to do right by her. So we'll be saying goodbye to Lace next week.
We will be doing x-rays on Ransom to see what his feet look like. I expect they are bad so we'll have to make the tough decision to say goodbye to him as well. It's a tough decision no matter what. But I have to say goodbye to Lace and take care of her body now that disposal is an issue these days, it makes sense to make sure Ransom doesn't suffer either. We'll see how it goes.
I'm going to try and get Jessie into the vet as well. I'm not sure if that will work though. She might not load in the trailer. If she loads, she might lose her mind. And if she loads and lets the others load, I have to make sure Diavlo doesn't lose his mind. I'll be taking all his family away from him. He's finally leaving Jessie's side to graze in the non-existent pasture. Ransom is out on the pasture because he doesn't feel good enough to be in the big herd to eat hay. So that means he's staying far away. If we lose Ransom, I may put Diavlo in with Jessie since it'll just be Mayhem and Jessie in the pasture. If we keep Ransom, then he'll go in with Mayhem and Jessie but that'll make Diavlo mad. But I can't keep up with four horses on a water tank. As it is, Jessie drinks a LOT of water. That or it's Mayhem but I can't keep up. I wish we would have been able to get the water lines buried but that didn't happen. I'm going to really push to get water lines buried next spring so that I don't have to deal with hauling water in the winter. We are so busy these days I need to come up with ways to shorten my chores so I'm not out doing chores late at night (like I do most nights after the kids go to bed). It's really tough to don the heavy winter clothes to do chores at 10pm in the dead of winter.
We have lots going on in the next week. There's going to be many tears on my part but that's a part of Sanctuary life. Laughter and joy when we open our doors to a deserving senior and even more tears when we have to make the decision to say goodbye.
I'm feeling overwhelmed with everything going on. My head and heart can't seem to take everything that's going on. I could really use some moral support right about now.
We plan on doing that this weekend. Our hay guy was going to get it out of the field this weekend no matter what so there's no threat of it getting snowed in. Where it's at, is a prime location for snow drifts and making it impossible to get there with a truck and trailer. So we'll be hauling home 55 bales of big round bales. I'll be happy to have them home. Not so happy to pay for the hay. We've been really low on fundraising this year. We've been doing donations through Facebook but discovered the third-party company helping is taking a huge chunk of money so we'll be boycotting their donate button from now on. Sad cuz it was handy. I expect our donations online to go down. But to find the $4,000 to pay for the hay is going to be tough.
But once the hay is home, I'll heave a sigh of relief. It's one less thing to worry about for this winter. I expect a bad winter but know if we are prepared with enough hay, that I won't have to worry about keeping our seniors fat and happy, which is our ultimate goal at Borderlands.
In other news, my farrier is willing to help haul horses to the vet on Monday so I'm waiting to see if Monday works. It's also the nicest day this week (and will probably be the last nice day until spring).
I don't want to go tho.
It means we have to say goodbye to Lace and I'm just not ready. But time is running out to say goodbye and ensure she stays happy and not in pain. Her legs are failing and with the colder weather setting in, I want to do right by her. So we'll be saying goodbye to Lace next week.
We will be doing x-rays on Ransom to see what his feet look like. I expect they are bad so we'll have to make the tough decision to say goodbye to him as well. It's a tough decision no matter what. But I have to say goodbye to Lace and take care of her body now that disposal is an issue these days, it makes sense to make sure Ransom doesn't suffer either. We'll see how it goes.
I'm going to try and get Jessie into the vet as well. I'm not sure if that will work though. She might not load in the trailer. If she loads, she might lose her mind. And if she loads and lets the others load, I have to make sure Diavlo doesn't lose his mind. I'll be taking all his family away from him. He's finally leaving Jessie's side to graze in the non-existent pasture. Ransom is out on the pasture because he doesn't feel good enough to be in the big herd to eat hay. So that means he's staying far away. If we lose Ransom, I may put Diavlo in with Jessie since it'll just be Mayhem and Jessie in the pasture. If we keep Ransom, then he'll go in with Mayhem and Jessie but that'll make Diavlo mad. But I can't keep up with four horses on a water tank. As it is, Jessie drinks a LOT of water. That or it's Mayhem but I can't keep up. I wish we would have been able to get the water lines buried but that didn't happen. I'm going to really push to get water lines buried next spring so that I don't have to deal with hauling water in the winter. We are so busy these days I need to come up with ways to shorten my chores so I'm not out doing chores late at night (like I do most nights after the kids go to bed). It's really tough to don the heavy winter clothes to do chores at 10pm in the dead of winter.
We have lots going on in the next week. There's going to be many tears on my part but that's a part of Sanctuary life. Laughter and joy when we open our doors to a deserving senior and even more tears when we have to make the decision to say goodbye.
I'm feeling overwhelmed with everything going on. My head and heart can't seem to take everything that's going on. I could really use some moral support right about now.
Extra Mile Day
Today is Extra Mile Day. Why not Go the Extra Mile today and help out a Sanctuary or a rescue. Don't know what to do? No problem. There are so many nonprofits to choose from that need your help! All you have to do is take that one step to start your journey to go that extra mile.
We'd love your help in going the extra mile!
#ForSouthDakota
#ExtraMileDay
#GoTheExtraMile
#NonProfitsMakeADifference
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)