Throwback Thursday

Joe not long after arriving at the Sanctuary

Throwback Thursday is to our sweet, sweet Joe. He'd been run through an auction, picked up by a rescue, adopted to a youth camp, and then discarded when his body wore out. His face showed signs of neglect when someone left the halter on too long. The rescue that pulled him from the auction apparently cut the halter off. When Joe came to us, he was hide covered over bone. He also had a neurological problem where he couldnt' walk straight. We were able to put the weight back on but could never fix the neurological problem. 

He didn't stay with us along, but he left a deep impression on my heart and soul. NEver once did he carry a grudge for all the neglect and ill will done upon him. He was a stoic gelding that deserved so much more. His final days were filled with love and grain. I only wish I could have done more.

Remembering Joe

I decided I would finally sit down and pull some pictures off the camera. I wasn't exactly sure what I would find. I started with pictures from late June/early July. And what beautiful face should I see, but sweet Joe, RIP. The following pictures were taken not long after we brought Joe and Thor home.


You can see in the above picture the issues Joe was having with his hind end. In the end, the vet diagnosed it as a neurological disorder. We kept him in a different pasture but I thought the small hill he walked up and down to get water was causing the problem. We'll never really know what happened. But he was pampered. I dug out a brand new fly sheet and fly boots to protect him so that he wouldn't have to fight flies while being unstable on all four legs.

Here's a closet up (sort of) of Joe's face. This is the reason to NEVER leave a halter on for long periods of time. The rescue that pulled Joe from the auction pulled the halter off and head to deal with the halter having grown into his face. Poor guy.
I have a feeling that Joe was actually much older than 22-25 years old. When I looked into his eyes, there was so much wisdom. When you look into the eyes of younger horses, that wisdom isn't there.

The following are side views of Joe's face. This is why you NEVER leave halters on. I cannot emphasis this enough! Even leaving halters on in a pasture is tabo unless they are breakway halters. Always check your halters to make sure that they fit properly! Otherwise, your poor horse could end up just like Joe.


I forgot in my last post that we lost another soul. He just happened to be two legged with feathers instead. The place doesn't seem the same without Rooster crowing all the time. It's rather dull. We were just starting to teach each other some tricks. RIP Rooster man.


I'll leave you with a final picture of Joe. This picture is one of my favorites of the ones I downloaded here tonight. Looking at Joe motivates me to ensure that all old horses find a soft place to land where they can live out their lives (be it a few years or a few days) and then die with dignity surrounded by loved ones knowing that they will be missed once they cross over.

June 2010 - October 11, 2010

Joe's Sunset

The evening of Joe's passing we had an absolutely gorgeous sunset. I'll thank Joe for it. The memories are still too fresh to talk about his passing. But I wanted to leave you with some pictures of the skies (courtesy of Joe).

Damn Phone Call

I made the dreaded phone call this morning. I hate, hate, hate making these types of calls. It seems every year I'm stuck making this damn phone call. Why won't people be more responsible for their animals and the well-being of their animals? I know the answer. Because making that phone call and going through with it is so very, very hard. But it still makes me angry. Angry beyond words.

I've had Joe at Mom and Dad's since the middle of August. His back end has been bad from long before we brought him home. The pasture we had him in was too hard on him. Mom and Dad's pasture was much flatter so that's where he's been. He was beyond thin when we brought him home but he plumped up nicely between the different pastures (but always stayed on the thin side). But it appears that no amount of grain will put weight on him. He's been getting soaked mash, free choice grass, and hay but declines the hay for the most part.

Mom and Dad came down to work around the place this weekend and Mom mentioned that Joe's health is declining. I knew it was coming but wanted to ignore the situation as long as possible. Not having Joe here made it a little easier to ignore the true facts.

But the time has come.

I hate playing God.

I'm upset that the previous owner didn't have the damn sense to take care of the issue. Instead she pawned him off and made someone else make this terrible heart wrenching decision.

I'm tired of being the one to put these horses down. It seems I've lost at least one a year since 2007 and it's typically in the fall that I make the damn call. It's a cursed call. I hate it. Hate, hate, hate it.

But it's the right thing to do and I don't and won't let Joe suffer. My concern now will be Thor. He has been best friends with Joe since the MN rescue that pulled them from the auction. It's been at least two years together. Thor is a protector. I'm at odds on how to handle Thor as far as who he could possibly "protect" and which herd he should go into.

I think for a few more months there won't be any more horses coming in to Borderlands. Every time I'm forced to put a horse down, it opens old wounds that are still fragile from the previous death. I'm sure if you dig through other posts, you'll see the list of those that Borderlands has known and lost. But today I don't have the energy to list all of them.

I'm angry and heart broken. I need to go and take pictures so that everyone can see his weight progress. He gained weight so nicely (although he always stayed thin).

My one request to you all...go hug your horse. Someday they will be gone and you'll realize you didn't spend enough time with them.

More Storms

Last night another storm blew through. With hit and miss internet, we had to rely on tv and phone calls to track the storm. I'm always nervous when a storm blows through.

We had planned to look at a horse for sale. The horse was advertised as a "rescue" horse but I didn't get the story on how it was a rescue, only that the previous owner (not the current owner) had "rescued" the horse. I have no further information on the horse.

But as the storm neared, I made a few phone calls and we opted for looking at the horse today to avoid the bad weather. I'm always nervous about looking at new horses. Of course I consider each of my horses a family memeber and can't possibly let one go.

I kept an eye to the sky as the storm came closer. Before the storm hit, we had lots of wind and thunder. I decided then that I better put Joe and Thor in the barn. Joe takes so long to eat that I figured he could devour his mash and stay dry.

Before the skies turned pitch black I went back outside to let Thor and Joe out. Joe was not impressed. Just as I was about to head in, the skies opened up again and poured. Joe tucked his head over the gate so that at least his head would stay dry. I decided he'd better go back in. So I prepared his stall and Thor's stall for the night. I think Joe was more than happy to go back into the barn. I worry about him standing in his stall since it's concrete (nothing I can do about except save for stall mats).

After I had them settled the skies stopped pouring and I grumbled to myself for having put the horses in the barn even though the storm is over. But as I was falling asleep I heard rain on the roof so I knew I made the right decision.

Joe and Thor were more than happy to get out of the barn this morning. But it felt good to know that they were safe and dry in the barn last night.

We'll see what tonight brings us.

Joe Went Down....

The temps are getting higher and the mosquitoes are still bad. I mowed where Joe, Thor, Tommy, and Skippy hung out in the lawn. I'm hoping mowing the lawn pasture will bring the grass back and keep the mosquitoes down.

We've had Joe and Thor now for over a month now. I'd like to think Joe is putting on the pounds but it's always such a slow process. When I got home yesterday after work, I couldn't find Joe. I thought maybe he'd busted through the electric. Nope, he was standing with his nose in the corner of the leanto. I think he prefers it in there, soft ground, shade, and a view of his buddy.

I've been worried about Joe's hip from the day after we brought him home. I started him on bute. I had to bute him every day at first and now it's every other day or so. He now isn't walking crooked which makes me happy. He's still off and sore in the back. But last night he shocked me. I turned my back on Joe to look at something and when I turned around he was down. Not down as in colic or in pain. He was down TO ROLL!!!!!! And he did it in his fly sheet!

I didn't know if Joe went down if he'd ever be able to get back up! He proved that he can! I'm sure it's the bute speaking but i'll take what I can get. I was so excited to see Joe roll that I had to stand there and watch. So even though the hip pains him, he can still move around. I really thought I would have to put him down immediately. But with the bute, and now standing in the lawn pasture with a bit softer ground (I think), he's doing alright.

I had planned to euthanize him before our vacation early August but I may hold off and let him enjoy the entire summer. I know I'm putting off the inevitable but I can't do it. I can't put him down with those hips and ribs showing. I'd rather pay extra in rendering fees and have him cross over the Rainbow Bridge fat and sassy then skinny and hungry.

Tomorrow is the Lake County Saddle Club Poker Ride. I'm a bit nervous. I'm not sure who to take. I keep thinking Maverick but I've not ridden him out of the drylot, let alone a huge trail ride. The temps are supposed to be high (92) so I thought maybe I'd take Maverick anyway since it'll be too hot for him to do much. But then they mentioned wind. I'm just not sure now. I'm too chicken. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Lawn Pasture Time

I wasn't brave this morning like I'd hoped I'd be. The pasture Joe and Thor are in is drying up. There's still enough but it was a pasture with old grass, so nothing lush. I would like to pull Joe and Thor off that pasture during the day to give it a rest. I put up one strand of electric in the lawn for the lawn pasture. But I don't think one strand is good enough to hold them in.

In the picture, you can see I had them out on a different part of the lawn. They mowed it down pretty good and it helped them get accustomed to me a little bit better. I'm hoping tonight to add a second strand of electric and then I won't worry as much. I'm half tempted to keep them on the lawn pasture for the next week straight but we'll see how it goes.

The pasture they are currently in was full of tall grass. I've found that the tall grass isn't lush and doesn't provide a lot of grass. Now once it's been eaten down for a season, the next season it will come back thicker and closer to the ground. I hope that's the case for this pasture anyway. When we first started putting up the fence, the grass was so high and I couldn't walk through it without a struggle. Joe and Thor have successfully weaved paths through the trees making it easier for me to walk around.

I did let the ponies out into the grass. I had been running them from their pen back to the red shed. Unfortunatley they'd eaten it down to the dirt so I needed to move them. With the strong breeze we have today, I won't worry about the mosquitoes carrying them away. They are in the treeline right now in tall grass that isnt' very lush. I'm sure if I were to take pictures it would look lush but when you look close there really isnt' all that much good grass. My hope is that the ponies will eat down the grass and help get rid of any places for mosquitoes to live.

Short grass = less mosquitoes!

I did get a voice mail from the trainer (who trained Chaos, Maverick, and Brego). We'd talked this spring about him borrowing Tommy. He's finally got everything lined up so I'll need to talk with him to find out what his plans are. I'm a bit worried for Skippy but it would do them both good to be seperated. I can't do anything with Skippy unless Tommy is around. Being THAT herdbound is unacceptable. But we'll see how it goes and if Skippy gets too upset we'll either tell the trainer he needs to take Skippy or that we'll need Tommy back. I'm not sure how long they are wanting to use Tommy but it will do him good to do something other than stand around and be bored all the time.

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I haven't had time to do anything with the horses since last week. Camping and family have kept me away from the very basics of chores these last few days until last night. Now that I have everything set up for lawn pasture time I might have more free time to actually work with some of the horses instead of just stare at them.

I did put flymasks on everyone last night. I wasn't sure if everyone would keep them on over the night time period or not. Only Maverick and Jim didn't keep theirs on. The flies are starting to get fierce already which surprises me. But at least I have enough masks to go around to keep everyone happy.

I shouldn't be surprised that the days are getting shorter but I am. I had to do chores in the predawn light. I get so spoiled in the summertime not having to do chores in the dark both morning and night. I can't seem to get as much stuff done in the evenings because it's starting to get dark sooner (and the mosquitoes drive me in).

Hopefully tonight I'll get the last of the lawn pasture fenced in so Joe and Thor can enjoy some actuall lush grass for a little while. My hope is the lush lawn pasture will help pack on the pounds for old, sweet Joe.

Routine

I had to rush through chores last night. I had to work extra yesterday and only found time enough to throw some grain and that was it.

I did have the forsight to grain Joe ahead of time. I left him in the barn to give him adequate time. I am always rushing him as of late and I feel bad. So last night I put him in the barn about 7:30pm and didn't get back out until almost 8:30pm. When Joe heard me come out of the house, he whinnied! It was hilarious! I guess he was tired of standing in the barn by himself (even though Thor was guarding the barn).

I guess Joe had had enough standing in the barn and was ready to get out. Usually I am rushing him and have to drag him out of the barn. I always feel terrible not giving them enough time to enjoy. But last night Joe shot out of the barn and headed over to the permanent pasture to get a drink of water. No leading him this time!

I did stop at the vets yesterday and picked up some Bute for Joe and some Equi-Sec of King. I think the summer heat causes King to have more sore muscles than in the winter time. It could also be due to his flat feet but I have a plan for that too. But for not I'll start giving him his medicine and he'll hopefully show some improvements and not be so sore. I feel so bad for King.

I did let Sam in for his grain (and ran back in to the house to do more work). When I snuck out quick to let him out almost everyone was up at the barn. I normally have them come up to the drylot and then lock them in (so they stay off the pasture and to help them stay away from the mosquitoes). Unfortunately Jim and Maverick were still out in the pasture. I didn't have time to go hunt them down so I left the pasture gate open.

This morning when I went outside to do morning chores, everyone was standing up in the drylot. Here they had the entire night to be out on pasture and they were still up at the barn. I do love this routine. It made me smile seeing Sam, Brego, and Zeke all hanging out in a half way snoozing position. It was too cute. I wish I would have had the camera.

Tonight will be a short night for chores also. We have our monthly saddle club meeting. Hopefully everything will go alright and we'll get people to show for this weekend's Potluck Trail Ride. I guess it doesn't matter if there aren't a lot of people. Mike and I are going down no matter what! It will be a well deserved "mini" vacation.

Realizaton about Joe

This has been a very stressful week for me. After trying to hunt down facts on what I thought was a potential abandonment, I had a realization about Joe.

It may be that I'll have to put Joe down this fall. He had a bad day yesterday. Joe must have fallen sometime this past winter or spring (before I got him). I can't imagine how the previous owner could have ridden him the way he is now. When I went to pull him into the barn, he walked crooked. Not just crooked but practically sideways. It may be that I need to take him to the vet sooner. But I'm afraid of what I'll hear from the vet.

I'm going to be selfish for a little while and allow him to graze and gain weight before I make any decisions. Is this cruel, possibly. But at this point, I've been so stressed with changing jobs, planning the wedding, besides being rattled to the core with this horse deal this week that I can't take any more stress. Selfish I know. But I can't emotionally take any more change be it good or bad.

I'm hoping Joe will have a good day today. It may be that the pasture he is in is too hilly. Mike suggested I drylot him with the mares so that he doesn't have to move up and down hills. I considered the idea but the mares are in a pasture with a hill also. If I drylot him, he won't gain weight as quickly as I'd like since he wont' be on grass 24x7.

I'm thinking of creating a new "lawn pasture" which is flat and I'll keep a close eye on Joe. While he was standing at the barn patiently waiting for his grain, I saw that his left hip gave out and it pained him. He had to catch himself with the other leg but it startled him. So there is something going on. I'm not sure that my pocketbook can afford to investigate what is wrong. I'm afraid poor Joe's body is simply giving out.

We'll simply take every day as a blessing and see how each day goes. It may be that I need to stock up on bute for the time being just to make Joe comfortable. I gave him a dose of banamine (not the best idea but that's all we could come up with to make Joe comfortable last night). I don't want to stall him for fear of making him super stiff.

Luckily we'll have a three day weekend and I can keep him on flat ground to see if that helps. If it helps, then I'll keep him there until there is no more grass and move him to mom and dad's pasture which is flat. I'd prefer to get more weight on him before he has to travel again.

I'm glad that I was able to bring him home, a little disappointed that he was in such bad shape when the gal sold him to me, and I guess I'll have to look at it that I am blessed to have Joe in my life for however long his body can hold up.

I'm hoping this weekend to get a ride in to recenter and refocus myself. I'm mentally exhausted after the past two months of activities. I did pull some pictures off the camera and will post more in the next day or so. So there may be a few posts with just pictures. :-)

Monday Ramblings

This weekend was rather quiet for messing with the horses. We spent Saturday afternoon in town. On the way home we saw some omnious clouds and figured we'd better hurry home. By the time we parked the car, the thunder was non-stop. We heard on the radio heavy rain, hail, and strong winds. I decided I'd better get Joe in since his body can't handle any sort of bad weather.

In go the ponies, Joe, and Thor into the barn. I rushed off to find the mares to get them into stalls too. They are simply too old to stand bad weather. The rest of the herd had the leanto and protection of the barn. I was still worried but they are strong, young boys. I'd still perfer to have a 20 stall barn to run everyone in during storms like we had Saturday. I'm sure glad that I did pull horses. The rains came crashing down and we even got hail. I'm not sure the size but it was enough for me. We lucked out and missed the stronger, damaging winds. After the rains, we still had lots of thunder and lightening. Luckily the only damage we received were shingles torn off the roof of the house.

On Sunday I decided to be brave and pull Joe and Thor out to eat grass in the yard. Their pasture is getting beaten down from the constant walking. There wasn't much lush grass in that pasture anyway. My biggest concern is that the pasture Joe and Thor are currently in was supposed to be the mares's pasture for Sept and October. I'm not sure if I'll have Joe up to weight by then or not. So to try and eleviate some pressure on the pasture, I fenced in the yard from the chicken coop to the barn. I've had horses in there before and it works perfect. My only issue is that I only have electric at this time (no corral panels like I prefer). Both Joe and Thor seem to respect the electric but I didn't want to chance it today with being gone for work. Tonight when I get home, I'll pull them out to eat the better grass. I'm hoping tomorrow I can let them out in the morning. Both Joe and Thor were hovering by the gate hoping they could get out this morning. I guess that grass meets their approval!

I also extended the pony pasture. Tommy and Skippy have eaten down where they were currently. I decided to be lazy and just add more electric fence and extend the pasture so all I have to do is open a gate and they'll have the entire yard. It beats me having to halter and lead them to their pasture. This way their water is closer to the barn and I can keep a better eye on it. Again, I was too nervous letting the ponies out on the grass for the entire day. This new grass is a bit more lush so I want to work them up to it. I know some people don't approve of putting ponies on pasture since there's the risk of founder. I know of others who will put their ponies out on pasture and not think twice. I've worked the ponies up to grass but I want to make sure that I do the right thing. They are much happier out on grass even if it's only for a few hours.

I doubt there will be any riding time tonight or much this week since it's going to be so blasted hot. My alfalfa guy stopped out yesterday and said he'll be cutting alfalfa this week so I should have 75 bales ready for me by the end of the week. That means I'll have to hustle around and get the hay barn cleaned out and ready for all those bales. I still have some of the older bales from last year (that aren't the greatest). I guess this means I'll have to do some serious rearranging. I'm not sure if I can fit 75 bales on that side. But I'll figure something out. It always makes me feel better having hay and alfalfa sitting in wait for the winter.

More Joe Time

Nothing exciting right now (knock on wood). Joe is really liking grain time in the barn. Although I think he was a tad jealous. The herd took awhile before they came up and I already had Joe in the barn eating. I'm not sure he even looked up when I let Sam in.

Joe was almost done when Sam dived into his grain mash. But Joe stopped what he was doing and watched Sam. I think he was jealous. I think had Joe not been locked in his stall he would have tried to sneak a bite of Sam's mash! That Joe! He LOVES his grain!

Because of the mosquitoes I'm keeping a flymask on him since he had reactions to mosquito bites...poor guy. I have to keep him in an arabian fly mask so that it doesn't rub on the hairless spots. He doesn't seem to mind his flymask either. I brushed him down last night thinking that might help with the mosquito bites (helps with the itching). I think he was really relaxed and had to push his head against the gate to stand. Joe really does have those puppy dog eyes.

I'm sneaking out of work early today to run some errands, including grocery shopping for the horses. Hopefully I'll get caught up and can start getting things done around the place.

Pasture Time, New Stalls, and Joe

I need to get pictures of Tommy and Skippy when I let them out to grab a few bites of grass. The expression on their faces tells it all. The way I have their "pasture" set up right now is long and narrow. It pretty much gives them a straight race track to gallop full out from one end to the other. Skippy loves to run. Tommy prefers to buck and kick up his heals and then run. I've had to keep them in a smaller pen so they don't always get to stretch their legs as fast or as much as I'd prefer (or they would prefer). Letting Tommy and Skippy out into the lawn pasture makes a big difference. I do like having happy ponies. Happy ponies means a happy pony caretaker.

I also pulled Joe out last night so he could dine in the barn. I'm always switching things up for these poor horses! Last time I put Joe in Sam's stall but last night I put him in a different stall. I do think Joe prefers being in the barn! I wasn't sure and I'm still leery of leaving him in the barn all night but that might be the way I go for the summer.

Thor does not appreciate this short seperation. He spent the entire time Joe was in the barn pacing and trotting all over the pasture. The only issue with the barn is that it gets stuffy and a little hot (but better than outside with the hot air and mosquitoes). So I'll have to wait and see what I do. I can't decide. But I know Joe likes being in the barn. I just don't know how hard it will be for him to stand on concerte for the evenings. I still can't tell if he's gaining weight, maintaining weight, or losing weight. I know it's only been a few days on this new grain/beet pulp mash but I'm so anxious to see weight on him. I'm sure it will be six months before he's where he really should be and another few months before he's fat where I want him.

And then I need to look at Sam. When he came home more than a year ago, he was thin. Once out on pasture he gained weight but then got sick in the fall, lost a ton of weight, and looked terrible. After figuring out the correct grain mash concoction that would work for him, he gained some weight and looks to be about the right weight now that he's on pasture. So it's taken an entire year to put the right amount of weight (although I'd prefer if he was a bit chunkier but that wouldn't happen). It also took Brego six months to gain back the correct amount of weight from when he was starved. So I'm guessing that could be the case with Joe too (six months until he's to the right weight)! Oh for easy keepers like Thor.

Dad was also down working at Borderlands yesterday too! I didn't see any tire tracks but once I opened the barn door I definatley new Dad had been working his magic on the place. Last week he'd brought supplies to build a sliding stall door. We discussed the best option and decided to go a different route than what Dad figured. The current stall set up requires one stall to be secured with chains and I'd prefer a different method. But with the number of horses currently at Borderlands, it's more important to simply have enough stalls than having stalls that function easily. I'm content with securing a stall with chains if it means I get a new stall out of the deal.

With this new additional stall I'll have six stalls and now that Dad knows what I want for stalls, I'm sure he'll squeeze in that seven stall. I've also got an idea for a stall in the hay shed, which would give me a third permanent stall. Last year I used corral panels but I'd like to reserve corral panels (in the winter) for emergency stalls instead (probably in the big red shed).

And I know what you're thinking. There's 15 horses and only nine stalls (six in the barn counting the new stall and three stalls, counting the temporary stall, in the hay shed). The rest of the horses use the leanto off the barn. I prefer keeping the less aggressive horses and the "delicate flowers" in the barn and keep the bossy horses outside where they will push to get into the leanto.

So we'll see how things progress. There's so much to do and I simply can't seem to get up enough energy to do more than simple chores. I hope that I'll have energy tonight to get something accomplished. I need to feel like I've done something more than just minimal chores these days. Maybe I'll look at Dad's handy work and that will motivate me!

Joe and the Barn

Last night I decided to pull Joe out of the pasture. This is the first time since bringing him home that I've done anything with him outside the pasture. He willingly went into the barn for his grain mash. I think where there's grain, Joe will follow!

I wanted to see if Joe would lick up all the grain like Sam does or if he would leave some behind like Jim. Joe is like Jim but not to the same degree. I think Joe simply gets tired of eating. But I would like to start pulling Joe out in the evenings so he doesn't have to fight flies and mosquitoes.

Thor is not impressed. He whinnied until the herd came up for the evening. Then he settled down. I do prefer that the horses have a best friend but I do require the ability to pull a horse out at any time and not have them so herd bound that I can't even work with them or have to worry about the other horse blowing through a fence. I do the majority of the chores alone and can't risk getting hurt or having a loose horse on the place.

I'm planning on continuing to pull Joe out so that he associates the barn with good things. I did the same thing with Sam and he prefers the barn to any other place (as do most of the other horses).

With Mike digging the holes, we were able to get the cedar trees planted before being carried away by mosquitoes. Oh what I would give for a 20 stall barn so that I could run the horses in at night to protect them from mosquitoes and bad weather.

We also had a terrible storm blow through last night. I saw the lightening as I was falling asleep around 11:30pm last night. I think the only reason I woke up was that the wind was blowing the rain on me. I hustled to shut windows and fell back to sleep immediately. I did worry about the horses standing out in the storm. Mike stayed up until 2am when the storm finally passed. Silly guy! But if we had a nice 20 stall barn with fans and AC I wouldn't worry so much about storms and protecting my "kids" from insects.

I guess having that big of a barn will be the dream goal. Maybe some day. At this point, I'd be happy with enough stalls to keep the horses out of bad weather in the winter along with a few additional open fronts.

Not sure what the plan will be tonight. If there's no wind, there will be no riding. The mosquitoes are just too bad these days. If there's wind and the horses are up, I may try to sneak a ride in. Otherwise I'll just putter around with the horses.

Finally... A Ride

I've been itching to go for a ride. I realized the other day, the last time I was on a horse (besides the five minutes on Zeke riding up to the church for my wedding) was back at the first of May for the Wengert trail ride. I can't believe I havent' been on a horse in more than a month! It was driving me CRAZY!

Luckily the boys were up when I went out to start chores. Rain has been acting a little off. I think it's because we havent' been riding partners this year. So I decided to snag Rain and go for a very short ride. I thought just down the road would be a nice ride for us. Rain and I are both out of shape and we could use some together time. It was also so darn hot I didn't want to tax him too bad since he's so suseptible to weather and heat stroke/heat exhaustion.

I saddled up and we headed down the road. Luckily there was just a tiny breeze to keep the mosquitos at bay. That is, until we turned around. That's when Rain got upset and wanted to run home and the mosquitoes started taking after us. But we kept to a collected trot home. I loved it. Rain would blow air through his nose and he sounded like such an Arabian! :-) Sweet, sweet Rain.

The neighbor to the south of us is putting in a pasture. I thought at one time they had a horse but I haven't seen it since they started building their house. I'm guessing they either boarded the horse somewhere else and want to bring him home or they think having a horse is romantic (insert snicker here) and want to do all the work of getting a horse. I'm curious to see what happens.

When we got back I hosed Rain down. He was completely in a lather but he gets that way coming home if he doesnt' expend some of his energy before hand. Because it was so hot and because of the mosquitoes I didn't want to work him too hard. But I hosed him off and put him in a stall to dry out. I'm not sure if the ride helped Rain or not. But it was so nice to get out and enjoy the weather even if it was stinking hot.

The ponies amazed me yesterday also. I had them out on grass surrounded by electric. fence I'm not sure what happened but they must have gotten into the fence and pulled it down (luckily I didn't actually have the fence plugged in). I guess that's my sign to move them to a new spot on the lawn. I did some pony pasture fencing and tonight they'll have a bigger pasture to roam around in. I'm slowly getting them used to grass again. My biggest fear will be that I dont' pay attention and they founder. But it's a slow progress of grass intake so hopefully I'm doing the right thing. The ponies are much happier these days and much easier to handle!

Joe seems to be in good spirits. He really likes his beet pulp/grain mash. He licks his dish completely clean. I have to leave Thor tied so Joe doesn't get pushed out. But once there isn't much left in Joe's dish I can let Thor go and Thor takes one lick and walks away, leaving Joe to polish off his supper. I may separate them for longer periods at a time so I can keep a closer eye on Joe and get him into the barn for supper feedings. I've learned I cannot feed Joe his grain next to any grass. On Sunday I plopped his grain dish down in grass. Joe takes one bite and slobbers half of it out on the grass (exaclty like what Bob used to do!) That means the grain mash goes everywhere. Well, Joe licks everything up and licked up grass and caused himself to choke. He choked twice Sunday until I realized it was my fault for having the grain dish sitting on the grass. I'd rather I had the dish in the barn so Joe could lick up his grain on concrete (like what Sam does now!) So we'll see. I may start making Joe come into the barn for his supper.

The mosquitoes were so bad I put a flymask on Joe. I need to find a better one. I just grabbed one and the mask rests right on the bridge of his nose where the halter had dug in at one time and now where there is no hair. I'm thinking I'll go dig out one of the arabian fly masks and see if that fits him better. Or I'll go buy one of the longer fly masks that covers the entire nose and see if that helps. Luckily the mask doesn't touch the spot on his cheeck where there's no skin. I think this might have been the first time Joe has ever worn a flymask. He wasn't comfortable with the velcro but he was too busy eating to do much more than spook in place. We'll get Joe pampered yet! He defininately deserves a pampered life after the hard life he's lived.

I'm hoping tonight I can sneak another ride in. But I still need to get the cedar trees planted before they die completely (although I think they may already be dead). It's the thought that counts right?

Best Friends

Joe and Thor are pretty much inseparable these days. Glad we were able to bring both home. It would have been too hard otherwise. These two are just sweethearts.

Joe and His Grain

Silly and sweet Joe. Joe and Thor have not yet been at Borderlands for a week and Joe has already figured out the grain routine. At the very beginning, he was at the end of the pasture and I had to lure him in. Over the last couple of days, Joe has been fairly close but still out in the middle of the pasture.

Last night Joe was up at the fence patiently waiting for me. I went to pick up the feed dishes and he whinnied at me. That was the best sound I'd heard all day! I sometimes wonder if I made the right decision; maybe someone else could take care of them better, maybe someone else could pamper him more; maybe I'm not the best caretaker. But that whinny, that whinny summed it up. It doesn't matter if I'm not the best, in Joe's eyes, I'm the crazy grain lady and that's all that matters.

There is definately something wrong with his right hip. He favors it greatly when he comes up for grain. Of coures everything is so mushy that it's hard to really see how well he walks. I just hope that Joe is actually putting on weight instead of dropping weight. From one angle it looks like he's maintaining the weight and from a different angle it looks like he's dropping weight.

Of course it's only been four full days so of course Joe can't pack on the pounds in four days. I think I need to increase his grain ration but I want to work him up to it slowly as I can't monitor him as well as I'd like.

I'm thinking of starting Joe on beet pulp but I'm not sure if he'll go for it or not. He devours the grain but everyone else did the same and always turned up their nose at the beet pulp. So I might try two dishes; one with just soaked senior and a second dish with beet pulp and soaked senior.

I also started Joe on probiotics to see if that would help him too. I've bought the powder probiotic before at Tractor Supply but I happened to be at Walmart and they were clearancing out a bunch of jars. So I snatched up a few and we'll see if they do any good for poor ol' Joe.

I just hope I can get some weight on him. The cream I put on his scars/wounds on his back seems to be doing the trick. The flies are staying off of it. If I can't keep the flies off Joe, I'll invest in a good flysheet although I'm not sure that will work until I put him out with the rest of the herd. His current pasture has a lot of trees.

I'm not sure if I'll get to do too much with the horses tonight. We have a bunch of trees we bought at the Minnehaha County Conservation Office and we need to get them planted. I tried to prep everything yesterday and looked at some of the trees we planted awhile ago from the same place. Last night was all about yard work, stuff I've put off since before the wedding and had to wait on because of the weather.

We are to get nice weather today and then starting tomorrow more rain. The weatherman is calling for more bad weather with big storms rolling in next week. So it looks like still no riding time for me. I'd really like to go for a ride one of these days! Oh well. At least it's horsework instead of housework!

Joe

Sweet, sweet Joe. I don't have any really good pictures of Joe. Mike was able to get one or two pictures of him the first night but it was dark and the flash upset them. I'll try to get better pictures but I wanted to show what happens when you leave a halter on for too long. He's also at least 100 lbs under weight. I know a horse can drop weight pretty quick and it's hard to put back on. But I do get alittle irritated when I know that the previous owner didn't really do that much other than a teeth float and dumped him out to pasture. If you have oldsters, you should be prepared for weight loss and lots of TLC. You can't just dump an oldster out and expect them to survive a rough winter. So you can decide for yourselve....but in my humble opinion poor Joe has had a rough life and I can only hope that I can serve him well and justify his retirement like he deserves.

You can see where the halter rubbed and where the skin was ripped off his nose. It's also along the cheek although I don't have a shot of that yet.

The dark spot on his back (close to his withers) is also a scar. It's on both sides so I'm guessing he was in a fairly bad accident. I wouldn't even think of putting a saddle on his back with those scars. The flies have been bothering them the last day or so. You can also see (sort of) how thin he is. The picture is deceiving but he's definately thin.

Another angle. You can distinctly see where his face grew into his halter. Poor guy. He has the sweetest puppy dog eyes I've ever seen on any horse before. Now don't these pictures make you want to go out and hug Joe?

Thor and Joe

Too tired to blog much about the new boys on the block. But I do think Thor and Joe are settling in nicely. They really are sweethearts. I wasn't sure at first since they were both so standoffish. But they've come around pretty quick once they realized I'm the crazy food lady.

I've taken to haltering Thor while he eats his grain and letting Joe eat without a halter. Joe eats so slowly I want to make sure he gets every morsel of grail. Joe is still so thin that I worry about him. But I think with a good helping of soaked senior every night, he'll gain fairly fast. Thor on the other hand doesn't need any grain but to gain his trust, I'm graining him a bit of sweet feed every night. Because Thor powers through his grain, I have to leave him tied so he doesn't push poor Joe out of the way. Thor is notorious for pushing Joe out of the way. And I've learned this in only three short days.

I'll post more about the new boys but thought you might enjoy some pictures. I'll include emails from the previous owner so you'll get to know both Joe and Thor just like I did.

Thor. Poor guy has a serious sunburn on his nose. I'm trying to treat it. Luckily the skies have been cloudy the last two days and he's been in shade. He's really huge and the old Amish owner that had Thor really took care of him. I can only find one or two harness marks on him (not like Sam where he's covered in harness marks).

To give you a comparison shot between Thor and Joe. Thor is shorter than Sam but he's built like a tank. Poor Joe is still so thin. I can't wait to see what he looks like when he's plump. He also has some really bad scars where the saddle goes. I'm not sure what they are from. The flies were biting at those spots so I put some goop on to see if it would help. I think Joe really likes his soaked senior mush. I'm not sure the old boy has ever had grain before. He wasn't sure about the grain the first night out but ever since then he's the one that brings Thor up for supper.

Another comparison shot of Thor and Joe so you can see how HUGE Thor really is. It also hides the fact that Joe looks so bad. I'll have to get better pictures but they didn't want to be photographed on Friday (their first fill day at Borderlands). I want to get pics of Joe so everyone will know why you never leave halters on a horse for long periods of time.

You can see how thin Joe is. Look at Thor's butt! Never thought I'd be a Butt Girl but look at that butt! It's HUGE! And notice that Thor has a different colored mane than tail. And his mane parts in both directions. Joe is a pretty line backed dun and if my eyes don't deceive me, he actually has some markings on his shoulders like a fat cross. I'll have to take pics for you to see and decide for yourself. Joe likes his grain but I try to leave him alone while he's eating. Everyone deserves some time to themselves when they enjoy their meal. :-)

They have both gone through so much and are pretty well attached. I can see now why the previous owner mentioned Thor after I said I was interested in Joe. It would have been terrible to break these two guys apart.

Thursday Adventure

I can only hope that I made the right mistake. A week or so before the wedding I saw on ad on Kelo for an older well broke gelding. Of course I had to email and ask more about him. Come to find out he was from a lady who adopts from other rescues and uses them in her youth program. She pulls from a couple different rescues and I'm going to find out if she has the same deal with the rescue this horse came from as she does with the other rescue I've talked with.

Well, through our conversations she mentioned she had a belgian she'd like to place along with Joe the QH. I said I'd be interested in both. Unfortunately she needed both Joe and Thor out of the pasture because her youth group camp is this weekend.

I made arrangements to go pick up the horses yesterday. I pretty much bought them sight unseen as she didn't have any pictures of Joe (and I know why now). She did have pictures of Thor on her website but I think she wanted him gone before the camp started. She pushed pretty hard for me to get them before today. I understand but it still seemed a little odd. She does rescue and make people sign contracts and she was very worried about Joe and Thor going to a good home. So I think all in all the previous owner has a good heart.

So we left our place about 5pm to get to Alvord, Iowa by 6-6:30pm. We finally arrived and looked around. We had to wait for them to bring Thor and Joe up. She came and got us and right away I knew I was going home with both.

Poor Joe. His face has marks all over showing where his skin was ripped off by a too tight halter. I'm going to get pics and show you later. He's still so thin. All of a sudden he lost weight and he's only now slowly picking up the weight after a month of pasture and a teeth float. But as Mike and I discussed, Joe probably never had much for grain. I'll have to measure him and make sure that he has a winter blanket for this coming year and a nice dry/warm stall for this winter.

Thor on the otherhand, is massive. He made Joe look tiny. Thor doesn't look anything like Sam. Thor has a body like Bob's and has the coloring of Dude. The bright sorrel with flaxen mane. His tail on the other hand is a bit gray. Unfortunately Thor was used by the Amish and when he lost the sight out of his left eye, they got rid of him. It doesn't bother Thor any to not see out of that eye. In fact, the way he holds his head reminds me of Blondie and how she held her head. She too was blind in the left eye. Thor's feet are massive. I'll have to measure them at some point. His feet remind me of Bob's. Wonder what he'll be like for the farrier.

After deciding they were coming home with me we hung out and talked a bit more. One of the girls had fallen in love with Thor and waited until he was loaded to say her goodbyes. He had to hang out a little bit longer just for her but I didn't mind. We finally got going around 7:45pm.

Thor does NOT like to travel. We got to the West Lyon school near Larchwood and had to stop and readjust Thor in the trailer. He was all sweated up and rather upset for being a big guy. Earlier he tried to turn around in the trailer. Not a good thing for a 2000 lb animal!

Thor finally settled down and we continued to putter on home. When we hopped onto I90 we were able to go between 55 and 60mph but then when we started coming in to Sioux Falls the rain started. Oh how I wish I would have thought to bring a sheet for poor Joe. He was in the back of the stock trailer. I need to buy an enclosed slant load!

We finally rolled in about 9:15pm and we unloaded. Mike went in to make a pizza and I got the barn ready for Joe and Thor. I got them settled for the night and ran in for a quick bite and then back out for more chores.

I figured it would be safest to leave them in the barn overnight because of the stress and impending storm (which I some how managed to sleep through but was a pretty wicked storm). There was lighting in the sky when we finally made it into the house about 10:30pm. I felt so bad leaving Joe and Thor in the barn. I need to find some type of night light so they don't have to be in the barn in the dark. I don't like leaving the lights on overnight. It's an old barn with old wiring.

This morning I woke up fairly early and headed out. Both Joe and Thor were just hanging out. They didn't eat as much hay as I'd hoped but at least they'd gone through some of the hay. I took Thor out first. Boy is he a handful. He was happy to get out of the stall and into the mare's winter pasture. He wasn't too upset that Joe wasn't around. Joe on the other hand was very upset he'd been left behind. So I rushed back and got Joe and got him out into the pasture. I guess both Joe and Thor came from the same rescue in MN. I would have felt terrible breaking them apart.

I stood around for just a little bit to watch the pair graze on the tall grass. Oh how I wish I could have stood there all morning watching them graze. I'm a bit worried that the other horses will cause a problem later today but there's nothing I can do about it. Hopefully no vet bills will insue. I don't think that Joe or Thor will do much but hang out and touch noses with the other horses but I sure hope there isnt' too much excitement while I'm gone.

And to top it off I can't even go home right away after work. We are planning on picking up some of the left over conservation trees so I won't get home until sometime after 5pm! And all I want to do now is go play with Joe and Thor! Oh well. I'll try to get pictures of them out in the pasture so I can formally introduce them to you!

New Memebers

I was going to wait until tonight or tomorrow to post but I have to share! Tonight Mike and I are headed to Alvord Iowa to pick up two horses. They aren't really rescues and they have a permanent home with their current owners if no one takes them. But I do feel that it's rather odd that she was pushing for me to take these two just to make her life easier. I'll be signing a contract with her and will do a buy back policy. But most of those never hold up under any scrutiny. But I'm glad to help out and glad to bring two oldsters into our retirement home.

I do feel guilty that I'm bringing these two guys home and they are taking up two spots for me to pull horses from the auctions. But I get an actual history and know (sort of) what I'm getting in to. I'm not really sure that I know for sure what I'm getting in to but at least I have some sense of history. I also know where one of the horses came from and will make contact with that rescue to give them my information if they need or want it. I've talked with them in the past. They've given this other person permission to find these horses homes that they'ved adopted out. I find it a little odd but I guess I can't control other people.

The only downside is that the current owner has a tendency to buy and sell horses and says she's a "rescue". Just because you sign a contract doesn't mean squat I'm finding out. But if you buy and "adopt" are you really a rescue or are you just dumping those horses that don't work for you and your program?

In any case, we'll be headed there tonight. I wish I had tomorrow off so that I could get everything set up. I'm not sure where I'll be putting these two boys for the time being. I don't want to dump them in with the big herd so they may have to go into the mares' fall pasture. We'll see how tonight goes and play it by ear.

I am excited but I'm also feeling a little guilty. I'm maxed out to the hilt bringing these two guys home and now there are no spots to pull true rescue cases. I shouldn't feel guilty but I do. I'll still go to the auctions and if one cries out to me, I'll bid and figure everything out later.

I'll get pics but I'm sure I won't get them posted any time soon. I'll let you know how it goes later.