Foster Care

Last week in all the commotion of every day living with small kids and their summer activities, I got a message from my cousin. Last year she'd asked if we had room for her two horses. At the time, I was pregnant and couldn't take on any more. She kept them and figured out how to relocate to a different acreage and get fencing up (beautiful place, wish I could live there).


So when she messaged me last week, I was surprised. Her beautiful mare was coming to the end of her time on this earth. I shared my knowledge on what to expect for the very last minutes on earth and how to somewhat prepare. You can never really prepare for such a loss.


Now her second horse is alone.


We are going to rectify that situation. We will be hauling My Girl to live as a long-term foster. It'll be our first try at it and I do believe My Girl will be absolutely spoiled to no end. More so than she is here. I'm a little nervous about it just because she's not in my care but I know she'll be in very capable hands and will do even better than she is doing here. Can you say super spoiled?!?


My Girl is very attached to Mayhem. But she's going to a home where another red mare will be waiting for a friend and companion to fill the void. My Girl will be the solid figure that this other mare needs.


I had tossed around the idea of taking Mayhem but she's got a few health issues. Although my cousin's mare is accident prone, I didn't think she needed TWO accident prone mares! Both being red mares is a handful so we opted for My Girl.


I also didn't think that My Girl would handle being left behind if we took Mayhem. Lace is still here but she too isn't long for this earth and then who would My Girl hang out with? I figured it would cause My Girl more anxiety to be left behind than to go to long-term foster. And it would cause Lace some serious issues as well. She's very sore on her legs and being run over by My Girl looking for Mayhem would not be good. My Girl has only been here for 3.5 months. Enough to feel settled, which is what I want and I am worried about unsettling her but between the two, moving My Girl is a better option. When we lose Lace, it'll be back to Mayhem being alone. We'll have to fill that spot but I expect that won't take more than a whisper on the wind and we'll have more than we can handle for those wanting to come in to the Sanctuary.


Because of our crazy schedule, we can't take My Girl down until Saturday. I'm hoping we can get her to her foster home right away Saturday and get home. It'll be four hours round trip (not really that bad). But I also have lots to work on at home. We need to work on getting a roof on the old garage. We had to repair it two years ago when the chimney fell in but now the other portion is starting to leak. We need to get back to focusing on our outbuildings before they crumble to the ground.


I'm sure I'll be in a frenzy the closer the weekend comes simply because we will be moving horses around. I don't worry too much about Mayhem but I do worry about My Girl. I dont' like change but I think this move will be ok for My Girl and for the other mare involved. I always seem to put myself in their shoes and worry. If I only I could tell them and let them know its' all for the best.