5th Annual Light the Night & Luminary Walk

Saturday, March 7th we are hosting our 5th annual Light the Night! New this year will be the Luminary Walk!


Donate $5 in honor of a loved one (two-legged or four-legged) to light a luminary! This year Light the Night will take place at the Sanctuary. We are returning "home" for this fun fundraiser and want you all to experience home as well.


New this year is the Luminary Walk. Wander through the luminaries to see all those being honored. Enjoy the quiet and solitude. See the luminaries and the stars and realize how small we really are in this great big world.


Come before dark to meet all the senior horses and see where your donations are going! All proceeds go directly to caring for the horses. We want our seniors happy and sassy in their twilight years!


To donate, go to www.paypal.me/borderlands, donate through the Sanctuary's Facebook page, email us at borderlandshorsesanctuary@yahoo.com (to work out details), send a check in the mail to 26160 457th Ave Humboldt, SD 57035, or stop out on March 7th!


We hope to see you there. Thank you for letting us honor your loved ones!

Brainstorming

I love brainstorming ideas for the Sanctuary. There's always so many amazing and adventurous ideas. Some ideas have been done before. Some work, some don't. I'm always game to try anything. I have a long list of ideas I'd love to try but we are too small right now to tackle them. Even though we've been around for along time (ok, maybe not incorporated for long but we've been providing sanctuary to horses for years), we are still very, very, very small.


I would love to grow and be much bigger but reality is, we have to continue to stay small. With juggling three kids, a paying job, and taking care of the horses, there's very little time to fundraiser and get our name out there, let along search for grants and ask for donations.


So I'm going to ask for a favor. I need your help. I need your ideas. Maybe some of my ideas are too grandiose and we'll never get to do them. But maybe you have an idea that's never been done before. Maybe you have a never-been-done, thinking outside the box kind of idea and I'd LOVE to hear it. We might not be able to do it right away, but maybe we can.


The biggest thing is to get our name out there. The catch, we have to say no because there's only so much space and only so much money to care for our seniors. We have to be picky on who we take in and that's so heartbreaking for me. I hate to say no. But if we have some amazing fundraisers that can be annual events, I'd LOVE to tackle them. I'm a worker bee at heart so I'm good at plugging along, getting stuff done. I'm not good at promoting and asking.


So if you are good at marketing, good at asking, good at being an extrovert (can you tell I'm a painfully shy introvert), then we need you. Even if you ARE an introvert, we NEED you too! I need all the help I can get.


Send me your ideas, send me your thoughts. Lets join forces and see what we can do for the horses!


I want to be prepared for winter. I want to make sure that if there is an emergency case this fall or winter, we can open our doors to these deserving seniors. Or even this spring (which seems to be the case more in the past few years), that after a long hard winter, we'd love to open our doors to a senior who deserves to relax and not have to worry about their needs any longer.


So lets start doing some brainstorming. Send me your ideas, your thoughts, your suggestions. No idea is too big or too small (ok some might be out of our line of budget but we can still aspire to it in the future!) Too bashful to comment on our blog? No worries. Email is at borderlandshorsesanctuary@yahoo.com. Right now, I'm the only one that reads the emails in this account so your ideas are safe with me (until we move forward with it and I'll need your help!)


Even if you aren't local to the Sanctuary, even if you are half way around the world, send me your ideas! Maybe something that works in your area has never been done in this area and we can be the first to try it! I love brainstorming. Lets get some ideas flowing.

On To the Next Adventure

We had fun at the Downtown Hartford Farmers Market. I'm hoping we can go back next month and maybe bring one of the horses. We were double booked with my daughter's open house for preschool so those that stopped out had the chance to talk with one of our amazing volunteers. For those that stopped the chat, thank you! And for those that donated, a huge thank you! Every dollar counts in helping with the horses.

I sometimes feel like we are at a disadvantage because we aren't a rescue taking in any age of horse and adopting them out. But then I realize, we are all in it for the same reason, to help the horses. And my heart lies with the older senior horses and all their wisdom. We may not adopt out but we can do long-term fosters of pasture puffs if anyone is interested. I hope that my children will not stuff me in a home and forget me as I get older. I hope that by having the Sanctuary and horses, that we instill in them the qualities that we should respect our elders no  matter if they are human or pet.

We had a lot of fun at the Farmers Market. We have lots of ideas for upcoming programs but need volunteers to get them off the ground. With three kids (and only one of them running with their activities at the moment (lord help me when all three are running)), we could use many more volunteers. If you're interested in hearing some of our ideas for programs or want to work with the horses (no riding), let us know!

Because we are so busy, we do ask that you text or email when you want to stop out for a visit (I am never near my phone where I can actually call or when I have time to call I can't hear very well). That way we can make sure we are home when you want to stop out since our schedule is so crazy.

We have our farrier visit tonight and will be tackling most of the horses. Our schedule and the farrier's schedule were super busy this summer so we got off on trims. Hopefully, we'll be able to catch everyone and get caught up.

Now we need to start concentrating on getting the funds for our winter supply of hay. We have the hay already baled and waiting for us. Now it's a matter of paying for it and getting it to the Sanctuary. Mike is running to Delmont tonight to pick up 50 small squares of hay. Our hay guy didn't have small squares this year and we need a small stash for those nights when the horses are in the barn, when we can't get round bales in for a day or two, and when I travel with the horses. We are paying $5 per bale and are getting 50 bales so if anyone wants to help donate to our small square bale fund, that would be fantastic. Or if you want to help us with our big round bale hay fund, that would be great too! I want to make sure we have enough hay for all our horses so they stay fat, happy, and sassy all winter.

Downtown Hartford Farmers Market

Today we are headed to the Downtown Hartford Farmers Market! We are so excited to participate and talk to people about the Sanctuary (and see everyone's goodies from their gardens).


We will have brand new tshirts for sale! Hopefully they will make people laugh (and buy them!)


So if you're in the neighborhood, stop on out to Hartford and swing through downtown from 5-8pm! We will be there!

Light the Night 2019

One week from today is our annual Light the Night fundraiser. I'm a little nervous because I've been so out of the loop. But I decided to take a chance and have the fundraiser during the Tri-State Horse Expo and hope that we get more interest. I've failed in advertising so hopefully people will help spread the word.


You're asking what's Light the Night?


It's a way to honor your loved ones, both two-legged and four-legged. It's my favorite fundraiser. For a $5 donation, we will light a luminary in honor of your loved one. Just tell us the name of your loved one, and we will personalize the luminary.


We will light the luminaries at dusk. I also take individual pictures and try to tag those that donated. It's a pretty amazing thing to see. All those luminaries glowing in the dark.


I just hope that we have a great turnout and that there are no more storms. There's rain/snow predicted for the next five of the six days and they aren't even talking about the weather for next weekend!


But we'll do it rain or shine because it's at the Tri-State Horse Expo at the W.H. Lyons Fairgrounds. We hope to see you all there. And if you want to donate, just let me know. You can send donations through paypal at www.paypal.me/borderlands

Kat Dog Fashion in August

We have exciting news we have been anxiously waiting to share!

The Sanctuary is team up with Kat Dog Fashion (https://katdogfashions.com/) for the month of August! Kat Dog Fashion is a local business that is graciously helping out the Sanctuary for the entire month of August.

For every purchase you make for the entire month of August, Kat Dog Fashion will donate $1 to the Sanctuary!

There's so many choices to purchase items (both for your animal and yourself!) This is a great opportunity to help out a local business (local to Sioux Falls anyway) and a non-profit. I've very excited to team up with a new business and local to the area. I love supporting local businesses and I love that Kat Dog Fashion loves supporting non-profits!

So go check them out and dont' forget to purchase a few items! For every item, the Sanctuary will receive $1 and every dollar counts!

Tell your friends, tell your family, share with everyone!

https://katdogfashions.com/

Upcoming Events

I'm not sure where the last few days have gone. I've wanted to post a few different topics but ran out of time and energy. By late afternoon I was done "adulting" and needed to ..... well I'm not sure what I needed other than not be responsible for much.


We've had beautiful weather the last couple of days and that makes life easier for everyone. Everything is starting to dry out very quickly. I'm excited yet nervous. With everything drying out, the farmers are going to be in the fields soon. But we still need to get everything lined up to haul manure. It's turning into a mountain instead of a hill. The problem is the weekends are filling up quickly. In May, we have one weekend were we could possibly do it and that's only if the farmer isnt' in the field already. I'm not sure if we can get everything lined up by then.


This weekend we are going to be very busy and I hope you all get a chance to stop out. Tomorrow we are going to the Meet the Breeds demo and meet and greet at the Sioux Empire Fair Grounds (by the Old McDonald Farm building). It'll be from 10-2pm and there's going to be all kinds of dogs. Of course we'll be the odd ball and only horse related sanctuary but hey, that's just what we do! The Sioux Empire Kennel Club is putting on the event. We've never been there before but it should be fun.


Sunday, we'll be at Reclamation Ranch in Mitchell for Helping with Horsepower's Fun Day and Tack Swap. That's from 12-6pm. I'm excited to go to both events but this one will be in an area that we haven't ventured before so we'll be meeting a lot of different people. Always excited to talk about our senior horses and what we have to offer.


I've also wanted to talk about Bo but that'll need to be for a different post. Yesterday was 2 months since his passing. AND yesterday was Help-A-Horse day. I'd wanted to post something about it but ...well... I was pretty well done in for the day.


So we'll be busy this weekend talking with people and enjoying the weather. I need to get my act together but I seem to be slowing down rather than stepping it up lately. With the warmer weather, we need to get our stuff in gear and get a bunch of stuff done. There's too many half finished projects that need to be wrapped up this spring into early summer.

Light the Night 2018 Another Success

Our third annual Light the Night was another success. This has to be my all time favorite fundraiser and event that we do all year. It's so humbling to see the number of loved ones being honored. 


Pictures are worth a thousand words so I'll leave you with pictures rather than my ramblings.

Throwback Thursday

This #Throwback Thursday is to two years ago during our first annual Light the Night fundraiser. This is  my absolute favorite fundraiser we do all year. Simply donate $5 in honor of a loved one (two-legged or four-legged), and we'll light a luminary in honor of your loved one.

Luminaries this year will be lit on Saturday, April 21st at the Legion Hall in Renner, SD. We'll light the luminaries at dusk. If you'd like to light a luminary, simply donate through paypal at www.paypal.me/Borderlands and tell us who you want us to honor.

Looking forward to another great Light the Night fundraiser. This is such an honor for us to put on such a wonderful fundraiser.

Light the Night - 2018

Light the Night is fast approaching!


It will be held Saturday, April 21st at the Legion Hall in Renner, South Dakota from 6-9pm.


To participate, donate $5 in honor of a loved one and we will light a luminary during our Light the Night fundraiser. Proceeds will go to our vet bill and for spring shots.


You can donate at www.paypal.me/Borderlands or send checks to
Borderlands Horse Sanctuary
26160 457th Ave
Humboldt, SD 57035


Please pass along the information. The  more luminaries, the more fun it is to see all those being honored on this very special night.

Happy Scavenger Hunting

We had a great time at the Tri-State Horse Expo this past weekend.

We ran a scavenger hunt for the kids. I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids, the parents, or the vendors! I know I had a blast watching the kids hunt for all the hidden cartoon horses. I hope the vendors who participated in the scavenger hunt had fun as well. It's definitely something to do again next year!


We met a lot of great people and I definitely got my "horse fix" after talking with everyone about horses. The Tri State Horse Expo is a great way to kick off the riding season and I'm so thankful that we were able to be a part of it this year.


We had freezing rain Friday so I didn't get to blanket the horses like I had wanted to. We were running so late that everyone didn't seem to mind getting a little wet except for Brego and Zeke, and they ended up going into the barn for the night (but were ready to get out first thing in the morning).


Of course, the day-to-day care of the horses comes first so we had to get our morning chores done before heading in to the Expo. Unfortunately, we also needed to put hay in Sunday morning. Of course, we judged it wrong and waited until Sunday morning when we should have gotten up and put hay in Saturday morning when the ground was still frozen. Oh well, at least the tractor didn't get stuck.


I would have waited to put hay in for another couple of days but Mike headed to Fargo this morning so it's just me wrangling horses and kids. I also wanted to get the hay rings out of the mud and onto the concrete so that we don't have to worry about getting the tractor stuck the next time we put hay in. We'll be moving the mares and Junior once they polish off the bale we put in last week. They are tearing up the pasture. I hate to stick them in mud, but we need the pasture for them this spring and summer.


There's lots to catch up on but I am behind on everything so I'll have to post again later with all the thoughts rambling around in my head. But for now, I wanted to tell everyone thanks for stopping by the booth during the Tri-State Horse Expo. I had a lot of fun and am excited for spring to finally arrive!

Lost Penny Day

A penny might not seem like very much money and in fact, in some cases, it's rather a nuisance. But we've all stashed pennies away for a rainy day and realized that pennies do add. up.

Lost Penny Day is the perfect day to take a moment to recognize that despite the fact that pennies may not seem like they are worth much, they can still be found and used to help those in need where very penny counts and adds up.

We count our pennies every day and it's amazing how quickly a few pennies can add up and help the Sanctuary horses. Would you consider donating a few pennies on Lost Penny Day?

You can donate through PayPal at www.paypal.me/Borderlands or send your pennies via mail at:

Borderlands Horse Sanctuary

26160 457th Ave

Humboldt, SD 57035

Annual Playday Success

The 4th annual playday and obstacle course are in the books! It was yet another successful year and I'm so very grateful to all those that came out to support the Sanctuary.

Because we are a Sanctuary there's not a lot of urgency and major calls for help. We focus on the day-to-day and making sure that the golden years are (if not the best), the most leisure for our senior horses. But with the generosity from everyone, we continue to move forward and are excited to continue our journey.

We could not run the Sanctuary without everyone's help. And the playday this weekend was a very good example of everyone's generosity to help out wherever they needed, be in running the gates, setting up obstacles, manning the concessions, and just providing a fun environment to hang out, talk horses, and enjoy everyone's company.

We will DEFINATELY have an obstacle course again next year. Although next year I think we'll have to make it more challenging! So if you have ideas on how to make the obstacle course more fun (or even the playday more fun), please let me know. I am always looking for ways to make this fundraiser more appealing to everyone.

I have much more to share but my introvertedness has gotten the better of me so I'll leave you with a few pictures and I'll return with much more in a little while.

Running the Obstacle Course

Enjoying Horses and Talking with Friends

Getting Ready to Run Barrels

Running the Obstacle Course (pulling a straw bale)

Freaking Out

So the fundraiser is in exactly 24 hours from now and I'm freaking out. For lots of reasons too.


I shouldn't be freaking out. It's not like I haven't held this type of fundraiser before but it's that I've thrown in a few extras, like the Obstacle Course. But I'm sure it'll all run smoothly no matter what. It's just my typical fashion to totally freak out because I'm a total Type A and want it to be a smashing success (not that it won't but I always have high expectations for everything).


So Wednesday night Mike called around to see if the Menards in Mitchell had our roofing nails. We have to have special Ondura roofing nails, nothing else works. No one in Sioux Falls had them but after a 20 minute phone conversation and being passed around to multiple departments, we scored the boxes of nails we needed. The only problem was, we didn't have time to get them Wednesday night. So we hopped in the car last night and drove the hour to Mitchell to get them. We could have had them shipped, but I wanted them in my grubby little hands so that we could work on the roof on Sunday, even if it's just to patch the hole. We're supposed to get rain Saturday but the hole will just have to sit open .


I'm planning on going down tonight to set up the obstacle course in the arena. I have friends heading down there to ride anyway, so I can mooch some help in getting stuff set up and seeing if what I have for an obstacle course will work or if it's silly. I'm a bit nervous for the obstacle course for some reason. I just want everyone to be satisfied with their experience. Sounds silly.


I had hoped to get tshirts made but I blew that one out of the water. When I realized my mistake, I sat and cried for a good solid five minutes. It was a total bonehead mistake on my part and money that could have really helped. But we'll see how it goes. It's not the first time I've had an idea that I've had to scrap because I either didn't have time, or I messed something up.


And this is exactly why I don't get on Pintrest. I'd have such high expectations and I'm a total Pintrest Fail Mom/Horse Owner so there's a no go. I'll keep my  Pintrest fails to myself instead of sharing and being embarrassed.


I may be posting a bit more on Facebook page to try and tempt more people into coming. I spent last night after getting back from Mitchell baking cookies. So cookies, brownies, and puppy chow are ready to go for tomorrow. If I don't crash tonight, I'll be baking up a storm. I'm sure to crash though. I feel a nasty head cold that will steal my voice coming on pretty quick.  And there's still lots to do even after the fundraiser tomorrow.


We still need to pick up the hay down in Harrisburg. We haven't had any time to get it in the last two months. Well, we did but it takes a bit of organizing and that was one battle I didn't want to fight with Mike so I let it go. But the guy wants it gone so we are going to have to make arrangements. Maybe we can get it all done Sunday but we'll see. Anyone want to haul a load of hay for us?


Lots to do and lots of freaking out to happen over the next 24 hours. I may be online more just to freak out and share in my freaking out.

Apocalypse

I can tell I'm stressed about the upcoming fundraiser. Apparently more so than I even know. I'm sure most of you have had those nightmares where you walk into a class to take the final test only to realize you hadn't attended any of the classes previously and didn't have a clue what the test was about.


I've been having dreams about the fundraiser and it's the same dreaded feeling. I have no idea why. I guess because I'm totally not prepared. Once again I'll be winging it. Which apparently is the norm for me. I even dreamt about an apocalypse the night before. How crazy is that? But I think because there's the arena rent to cover ($250), and the weather isn't going to be gorgeous (even though we DO have an indoor arena), I'm still worried. It's always the unknowns. It's not like we haven't had a fundraiser fail before but I worry nonetheless.


So I'm still scrambling. I spent last night shopping in preparation for the fundraiser. And we needed to pick up those blasted nails for the hay barn. And we discovered a terrible bit of news. The manufacturer discontinued the nails (at least in all the box stores)!!! The box stores are not restocking them with anything. So we are left with a HOLE in our roof and no nails. I think we can order them still because they are still available but only through the manufacturer. But that'll take another week to get here so we will have a HOLE in our roof until then!! Mike is going to go up tonight and put a sheet of plywood over the hole until we can get some nails but it totally ruined our night. I was in such high spirits and then that bit of news sort of spoiled the night. And then things continued to spiral down so now I'm a bit on the grumpy side. So hopefully I can pull myself out of this funk. We have lots going on and lots to be excited about. Just disappointed to know that we could be done with the roof (or at least have MOST of it up) by Sunday if we had nails. It's hard to see that you're so close to finishing a project only to come up against a wall. But that is the norm for us. The kicker is the box of nails are super spendy. Or at least it feels spendy. And there's no other alternatives, we looked.


So for the next few days I'm sure I'll continue to dream about the fundraiser, and hopefully it won't turn into even crazier dreams. I'm not sure my brain can handle it.

Obstacle Course and Playday 1st Place Prizes

In the past, we did not provide any prizes for our annual playday. Once we tried handing out ribbons but didn't think people really cared if they got a ribbon from a playday or not.

So this year, we are trying our hand at prizes for first place on each event. The following are the prizes for first place for the adult class. I'm not sure I have them all so there may be a surprise or two tossed in as well. Hopefully we wont' disappoint, but the kids class will be candy bars! Because who doesn't want candy bars as a prize?!?!

There may be a few more prizes to come but these are some of the ones I have on hand. If any interest you, come on our to the playday or obstacle course, saddle up a horse and go like crazy!

I'm sort of winging it with the prizes so hopefully these will tempt everyone into coming out and participating.  And a huge thank you goes out to Jessie P for helping get some of these prizes rounded up. We can always use help (and donations of any kind).

We'll have other items for sale as well. Proceeds will go to the 2017-2018 Winter Hay Fund to keep the senior horses fat and sassy (I mean happy).

So, please spread the word. The more people at the fundraiser, the better we will do and the less stress I will have after the event to come up with funds to cover the remainder of the funds. And a huge thank you to Modern Woodsmen for putting up a matching funds game up to $500! For some, $500 might not seem like a lot, but to us at the Sanctuary, it's a fortune and we are very grateful and humbled by the generous offer for this match game.

Can't wait to see everyone at the fundraiser THIS Saturday, October 14th!

A Day of Training with MSAR CD

Over the shoulder bag (this is an awesome bag with many compartments!)

Clinton Helps the Old Guard CD

Coffee picture (standard 8x10)

Coffee cup and coffee

Baking gift basket with lots of goodies hidden inside

Free haircuts to Stewart School (4 of these are available to choose from) AND Subway in Hartford Giftcard

Coffee cup with coffee

Playday and Obstacle Course Prize Teasers

What's the best way to coax people to attend a playday/obstacle course fundraiser? Why, winning prizes of course (or so I hope).

So I'm posting a handful of prizes that will be available for the first place winner of each event.

Any of these interest you in winning? We also have items up for sale that I'll post as well as another way to temp you into attending. 

Don't want to participate in the playday or obstacle course? That's ok! Spectators are always welcome and encouraged to come!

Please spread the word and share far and wide. This is our biggest fundraiser of the year because I'm really limited on how much time I get to focus on fundraising (rather than caring for kids and horses). 

Proceeds will go to the 2017-2018 Winter Hay Fund to keep the senior horses fat and happy all winter long.

Annual Playday and Obstacle Course Fundraiser

We're finally getting more organized for the upcoming playday and obstacle course! We're dividing the obstacle course into two classes to make it even more fun. One for riding and one for in-hand (for those with young horses or young riders who need a bit more help along the way). This is a great opportunity to desensitize your young ones in an enclosed and safe environment.


Check back on our Facebook page to see more details as we continue to add to the playday and obstacle course with  more good information and teases to get you there.


Spectators are greatly encouraged to attend!

4th Annual Playday and Obstacle Course

4th Annual Playday Scheduled

It's official, our 4th Annual Playday is scheduled for Saturday, October 14th!


We have some exciting news to go with the playday but I want to get all my ducks in a row before I share all the fantastic news! I was riding the pity party the last couple of days and finally got over the funk. Hate when I fall into the "woe is me" crap. It's easy to do. But I have exciting news and I want to share!


So mark your calendars for October 14th, spread the word even if you can't make it because the more people the better!