Plodding Along

How can it be July already? The last I looked, it was the first of May. I'd like to say I've been busy doing Sanctuary stuff but I haven't. I'm bouncing from one child's activity to another for the past two months. I'm home just long enough to take a shower, check on all the horses to make sure they are in their respectful pens/pastures, and sleep for a few hours. That's it.


It's difficult to get anything done when we are so busy. Whoever said the lazy days of summer didn't have kids (or animals).


I DID however move corral panels last night. I was a little shocked that the mosquitoes weren't as bad so I took the time to move corral panels so the ponies could enjoy a different spot on the lawn. Their lawn pasture was done and they needed to move. Hopefully I didn't leave them on it so long that they burned down all the grass and only left the weeds. But if they did, at least now I can go in and spray the weeds. I'm so far behind on getting rid of weeds it is ridiculous.


We have a ton of projects that need to get done but we aren't home to get them done. I scheduled a cleanup day for July 20th. If I don't schedule a day to work, we'll fill it with other stuff. So hopefully we can tackle a few of the projects. I'm not sure if anyone will show up but we'll at least have a down day to get stuff done.


I was really hoping to get a skid loader so that we could haul manure. With the rains we got this spring, all of the fields surrounding us are empty. We could easily spend the next few weeks here and there spreading manure but I'd prefer to get it all done in one grand swoop and then do another one this fall when it's not so much. Our manure spreader is fairly small so we need to either make a million trips or find someone with a big one. We also need a skid loader to get into the lean to and it would make loading the spreader 10 times easier.  I'm not sure if we'll ever get one. It's on the long list of things we need to purchase.


And even though we've been running, it's always after the paying job finishes up (or I have to take vacation hours). Sadly, we are still dealing with having no vacation hours after the furlough (no I'm not a government employee but I work in a government building and was therefore unable to work). So now I'm very limited on what little vacation hours I have. So even some of the  major projects I would do alone during the day, I can't get done because I can't take any vacation time. I know I shouldn't complain about vacation time. I'm lucky to have it but I still struggle on juggling everything on my plate.


For the past two weekends, Rain and I have been performing with Dakota Thunder Mounted Drill Team at Estelline and Irene. I was always worried about pushing him because he's 21 and the oldest horse on the team. I also was really worried this past weekend because of the heat. Amazingly, he had no problems (but I did). Never underestimate those older horses. Hopefully I can start working with my personal gelding, Lightening (aka Satan), so that I can start using him for drill team rather than Rain. At some point, Rain won't be able to perform any more. The problem is, I have perfect trail riding horses, which is what everyone was looking for at one time. But I made those horses a promise so they are with me until the end.


I'm trying to get a few things figured out for the next few months, as far as upcoming activities but that's not going so well. So if anyone would like to help, I'll fill you in on all the details.


I am taking Jim, Dude, and Rain in to the vet on Friday to get their teeth looked at. Jim isn't putting on weight and still looks thin after a month on pasture. Dude hasn't picked up any  more weight and Rain always has wavy teeth. So I'm hauling all three in to have them checked out. If Jim's teeth are good, then it's a matter of needing to pump him full of senior feed and supplements. He's now on my permanent watch list (along with Lace). Both are thinner than I like but we are going to lose Lace for sure. Jim is a bit of a shock although he sometimes loses weight in the spring. But he's not picked it up so hopefully it's just his teeth and not some other underlying cause. He is really starting to show his age in the face. So if his teeth are ok, then I need to prepare myself for the inevitable. I'm not yet prepared to lose another one just yet. But that's part of Sanctuary living. Everyone grows old and some day has to leave this earth. We haven't really taken on anyone new except My Girl. It feels weird not having more but with our schedule, it's nearly impossible to do right for everyone. I hate saying no but I'm sort of stuck at the moment. I hate that the waiting list keeps getting longer and sadly, most people aren't willing to let a horse sit on a waiting list until a spot opens up at the Sanctuary. But we will simply continue to do what we can for who we have and keep plodding along.