Depression Watch

With Jessie gone, we've been keeping a very close eye on Diavlo. I have been worried sick about how Diavlo would take Jessie's passing. When we returned Friday evening with an empty trailer, Diavlo stood and watched that trailer, expecting Jessie to unload. I wish I could have told him so he'd understand. I have no idea if they understood that Jessie left this earth or if he thinks I was cruel and simply sent her away.


What I wasn't banking on was Mayhem. I should have realized that she too would slip into a mild depression as well. As herd mates, I didn't realize how bonded she was to Jessie. Of course, Jessie was the take charge kind of mare (although Diavlo seemed to be pretty bossy all winter). But without Jessie there to seek attention, Diavlo and Mayhem have been hanging out more without any fighting. With Jessie's passing, Diavlo and Mayhem are bonding. They don't seem to wander far from the gate or each other.


Before Jessie's passing, Mayhem and Diavlo wouldn't be seen 100 feet beside each other. Now, they are side by side and when one moves, the other one follows.


I know they are both dealing with the loss of Jessie and fighting their own depression. I know that Mayhem has lost a number of other herd mates over the years. Sadly, I was so wrapped up in my own world that I never noticed her depression. Diavlo's devotion to Jessie caused me to pay attention and now I realize that Mayhem has dealt with loss so much more than anyone else at the Sanctuary other than myself. Being such a young horse coming into the Sanctuary, she's had to deal with saying goodbye to so many of her herd. I do know Diavlo has had to say goodbye to three others of his little herd in the last year. He's the last remaining one from his herd.


We are keeping a close eye on both Diavlo and Mayhem. I continue to send the kids over to check on them and give them treats but even treats don't seem to brighten their day. It hasn't yet been three days of mourning but I believe that there will be weeks of depression that we will be dealing with for both Diavlo and Mayhem.


If only I could tell them that it'll be alight and I'm sorry for having to take their Jessie away.

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.

Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday to last summer with Mayhem

Trivia Answer 5

Trivia Question 5:
How many mares live at the Sanctuary and who are they?

There are TWO mares at the Sanctuary and they are Mayhem and Lace.

Thankful Day 23

Thankful Day 23. I am thankful for so very much. I am thankful for all the supportive people in our lives and in the horses' lives. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankful Day 17

Day 17: I am thankful for warm-ish weather. It beats single digit temps and needing to put on three layers of clothes just to do chores. (Sorry pics are all old, need to be on a different computer).

Returning from Summer Retreat

Junior and Lace are home from their "Summer Retreat" much to Mayhem's delight. She's been stuck hanging on the fence line waiting for them to return or hanging out with the ponies. I think she was practically giddy when they returned. Lace, not so much but she was happy to trot around the pasture and check everything out. Junior went right to eating.

The heat took its toll on Junior so he isnt' has plump as I had hoped. But the heat is also taking its toll on Bo as well. So the two hardest keepers are having a rough go of it with this summer heat in the upper 90s with humidity to boot.

I forget how well trained Lace is. I tied her to the trailer to load Junior first. I had forgotten and loaded Lace first only to realize I needed to do the ol' switch-a-roo. Wouldn't you know, I had tied Lace too short and while I was closing the center divider, Lace decided to self load. Of course it didn't go well because she was still tied and *I* was in the way. We collided but I think she took the brunt of the hit.  I guess she was ready to go home. Unfortunately, the flies at the summer retreat are terrible. I have no idea why because the neighbor's feedlot doesn't exist any more but the flies still seem to swarm the minute there are animals.

I am sure that Lace will put Mayhem in her place. When I went out this morning to do chores, all three were standing by the red shed enjoying the morning breeze. When I'd left to pick up Lace and Junior there was a slight breeze but by the time I got home (a full hour later), we had wind. I hate driving in wind, so I was glad I'd made the trip as quickly as possible.

I am hoping that the pasture for these three will hold out. I need to get the other pasture sprayed  before they get into it. The weeds took over a portion of it so hopefully I'll find the time to do some spraying.  Mayhem has been in there a week or two and she's only trampled down along the fence line.

So now everyone is home and happy. I love that Junior and Lace can go to their "summer retreat" to fatten up and get a break but I am always happy to have them come home. The place doesn't feel right without the entire herd relaxing at home. Because the Sanctuary is "Home".

Meet and Greet with Mayhem

If you were on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BorderlandsHorseSanctuary/) last night, you might have noticed we did a Monday Meet and Greet with Mayhem. For those that might not want to listen to me ramble (and watch the poor video), let me introduce you to Mayhem.

We brought Mayhem in to the Sanctuary as a twofer deal. We really wanted her mother Rabbit but the owner wasn't willing to hang on to the pair until weaning and wanted us to take Mayhem and bring her back when weaning was ready. I wasn't thrilled with the idea so I gave him $50 for Mayhem and she's been with us ever since. That was in September 2011.

At the time Mayhem was only three months old. By no fault of her own, she's always been on the back burner. And that's my fault and cross to bare.

We weaned her in November and I put her in with the ponies. I've been a little shocked as the pictures in this blog post are from Mayhem this week, standing in a pasture by herself. It's something that's never been done. She's always been with someone else and ALWAYS been herd bound. She has always freaked out before now. But with the heat and being stuck with the ponies, I think maybe she was ready for a break. Or she's finally come to an age where she can handle alone time. I think she realizes Rabbit is never coming back and I hope she knows that Lace and Junior will return at the end of the month. But I'm not sure. She seems a little different these days.

Mayhem has had many strikes against her. I guess that's why I never considered putting her up for adoption. The previous owner had bought Rabbit when she was pregnant. She'd been breed to a blue roan stallion and was guaranteed a blue roan. As you can tell, Mayhem is NOT a blue roan. She is the spitting image of her mother, Rabbit.  Both Mayhem's parents were registered but there was a mishap with the signatures on the stallions papers so we never did get Mayhem registered. I should have pushed the issue but I didn't. But Rabbit was only "needed" for the foal and when the foal wasn't what the owner wanted (color only), she too was no longer "wanted". I can't come to terms with throwing away a life because one isnt' the right color and the other only needed to serve a purpose for a short period of time and then was no longer wanted.


When she came to us, Mayhem had no name. I tossed around a few ideas and was going to call her Havoc but my sister suggested Mayhem and it stuck. You see, when we name animals, it always seems to be odd names. Our first little dog, a minpin, we ended up naming Trouble (and it fit). We also named our first rescue, Chaos (and it fit). So if you have a Trouble and a Chaos, why not have a Mayhem as well. It doesnt' really fit her but that's ok. I was told once by an old cowboy that horses with mean and wicked names were the best horses and those with fluffy names were the worst to ride. So far, it holds true!

So besides being born a sorrel rather than a blue roan, Mayhem also had an umbilical hernia. Because she was always pushed to the back burner, I never got it fixed. We have about half the money set aside for the surgery but I still  hesitate. I'm sure people think I'm insane for not getting it done but Mayhem has had a rash of illnesses. I thought she was colicing so I called the vet. Our vet was out of town so I hauled Mayhem to Dakota Large Vet Clinic only to discover that she had colitis. She's recovered from that without any ill effects but it was a learning realization for me because we trailered her there. She'd only been in a trailer two times. Once to come to the Sanctuary and once to go to the vet. You see, she really HAS been on the back burner. I'd only ever taught her to be halter broke and to stand tied...and that's it! Bad horse mom! But in talking with DLVC, the surgery was double the amount that we were told by our normal vet so I was again taken aback and have struggled to come up with the money. There is a big difference between $400 and $800. To some it's just a drop in the bucket, but to us, it's a lot of money that can buy hay.

While we were at the vets during that episode, we discovered that Mayhem also has a heart murmur. So that's why I question doing surgery. Will her heart give out during the surgery and kill her or will the hernia kill her? Which is the lesser of the two evils. For now, I'm still saving up money. I know it sounds ridiculous as we've had her for seven years but every time there was money in my pocket to care for her, someone else got sick. She's always been on the back burner so there she sits. Again, me being a bad horse mom.

I also had her out in the trees one summer and she poked her eye. So now she also has a spot in her left eye that I am sure will give her problems when she gets older. It doesn't seem to bother her right now (she can see perfectly out of it) but I have no doubt that later on it will bother her.

Mayhem is a good horse, she's just been shafted by me putting her on the back burner for so many years. I want to send her to a trainer but that has to be out of my own pocket rather than the Sanctuary's. I also thought it would be neat to take her and Maverick and get them trained to drive because they are a matched pair. I sometimes do a double take and think that Maverick is Mayhem or vice versa (that's how much they look alike). She's a typical red mare and things need to be her way. She's not as easy going as others but she's still fairly easy going.

After she was weaned, I did put her in with the older mares (Queen and Babe). It seemed that by putting Mayhem in with the old mares, Mayhem became old. She learned from all that knowledge and wisdom. I love putting a young one in with the old. It keeps the old ones active and vital and it gives the young ones wisdom and a sense of balance. It's a bit of a game to figure out who to pair with who as far as young and old because we dont' typically have any young ones but when we do, we have to figure out who fits with who and I think the balance worked out for Mayhem (and Babe and Queen).

So that's Mayhem in a nutshell. She's been shafted in life but doesn't seem to let that bother her (she doesn't know).  She's patiently waiting for her boyfriend, Junior, to return but I'm sure Lace will have something to about it.

Mayhem is a fairly easy keeper but we would still love to have her sponsored. You can sponsor for a month ($100), half a month ($50), or a one time sponsorship. You can donate at www.paypal.me/Borderlands. Or if you'd like to help with her training, either donate or come and spend some time with her so she has more handling, other than just me. Mayhem really should be worked and messed with more than what I can do. If you'd like to donate towards her surgery, that would be very helpful. I wouldnt' feel like such a failure for letting her down if we could get the surgery done. Until then, she'll continue to be on the back burner.

Happy Monday

Mayhem as the sun sets

Stretching Legs

After the big herd moved out to pasture, I spent a few minutes and let Mayhem and the ponies out on some of the lawn that Junior, Lace, and Bo have been eating. The pasture Junior, Lace, and Bo have been on for the past almost two months is done so I was looking to use up the lawn pasture before moving corral panels.


I was also able to find some rouge weeds and get them sprayed when I sprayed the other pasture. I decided to see what the ponies and Mayhem would do on grass. There wasn't really anything left so thought it would be a good time to get them adjusted to grass as well. They were only on the pasture for two days before they burned down a couple of spots.


We had to move the blue trailer around so I lost some fencing. I'll blog about the trailers in another post.


But for now I wanted to show some more pictures of the horses. I had to move the ponies and Mayhem back to their pen but I'm going to play musical pens this week because I'll be gone Friday and Saturday night for the Estelline Rodeo. So those three will go back into the smaller pen that still has a round bale that the big herd hasn't demolished. That bale should last them until I can get back Sunday morning.


After this weekend, I'll be moving corral panels around and getting the next pasture ready. I'll finish up using the lawn pasture and then we'll go from there. I'm trying to save my pastures in case we are going into a drought. After living through a drought recently, I'm not sure I can handle another one so quickly on our heals (it was a few years ago but I'm still not recovered from it financially).


But for now, I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of the ponies and Mayhem. Mayhem was unimpressed with Bo being on the other side of the fence and Lace seemed overly crabby about having Mayhem anywhere close to Junior. Aah, the joys of mares!

Tommy stretching his legs.

Skippy is unimpressed with this heat and humidity

Skippy stretching his legs

Mayhem, Tommy, and Skippy on the "lawn" pasture. This "pasture" is done too so we'll be moving them to a different part of the lawn next week. Until then, they'll be back on a drylot, eating hay.

Happy Friday

Happy Friday!

What A Week

It's been a week. The paying job has sucked away all my energy and enthusiasm so I'll try not to be a drag today.


Last night we had THUNDER and LIGHTENING!!! How crazy to have a thunderstorm in March. At least it wasn't thundersnow.


The weatherman had been saying that we'd be getting snow and then rain from Wednesday through Friday. We got a few snowflakes Wednesday but nothing to accumulate. It looked pretty falling from the sky and even prettier as it disappeared when it hit the ground. I was worried about Rabbit so I threw a sheet on her Wednesday night thinking we'd get rain on Thursday and I didn't want her to get chilled.


We had rain. About 20 minutes of light rain/drizzle and that was it. But I was glad I had the sheet on her. On Wednesday everyone in that pen was kicking up their heels. Lace was tearing around and throwing kicks left and right. Mayhem was chasing Penny (or new dog..one of these days I'll tell you about her and in how we got her). Junior even let out a HUGE buck. It was such a big buck that all FOUR feet were off the ground. It was so fun to watch him. He's 29 and feeling fantastic.


Even Rabbit was willing to run and throw a little buck. Her run was more like a very slow lope, but she loped...on her bad shoulder. AND bucked a little. I took it as a good sign.


But after putting the sheet on her and seeing her Thursday night dead lame again, I wasn't sure what to do. So I pulled the sheet thinking that maybe it was putting too much pressure on her shoulder. It's a catch 22. Her shoulder hurts no matter but anything touching makes it hurt more so she lies down. But I'm afraid that she'll get chilled lying down so I put a blanket/sheet on her. But apparently that causes pain. So what's a girl to do to take care of her failing mare?


I ended up pulling her sheet last night and sure enough, a thunderstorm with thunder and lightening rolls through about 11pm. We didnt' really get anything for rain. Maybe a couple of sprinkles but nothing really.


After seeing Rabbit Wednesday, I had hoped that I could maybe let her enjoy the spring and even summer while the ground is soft. But after seeing her yesterday, I'm back to not really knowing when to make the call. I don't want to wait too long but I don't want to end her life if she's feeling better. I hate this part of Sanctuary. And she was off her grain last night too. So now I'm even more worried.


I have TWO horses off their grain...Bo is off his too. So with two horses not feeling 100%, the paying job stressing me enough to make me feel like I'm going to stroke out, and worrying about funds and fundraising for the Sanctuary I've come to the end of my wits and nerves. I'm not really sure how to move forward at the moment. I know it'll get better and a good nights sleep will help everything. It's the waiting and wondering that is the worse. It's been a hell of a week.

Name Game Bonus Trivia Answer

Name Game Bonus Trivia Answer!!

TWO of the current residents were named by the Founder and Executive Director of the Sanctuary. Those two horses are Chaos and Mayhem. Do you see the trend?

Sorry, super old pic. This was a spring pic from a few years ago. She looks fat these days

Name Game Bonus Trivia Question

Name Game BONUS Trivia Question!

How many current residents were named by the Founder and Executive Director of Borderlands Horse Sanctuary?

Bonus Answer will be revealed tonight!

Name Game Trivia Question #6 Answer

Name Game Trivia Question #6 Answer:

Chaos and Mayhem both could have been registered had their not been a paperwork snafu.

Name Game Trivia Question #6

Name Game Trivia Question #6:

Who could be registered if a paperwork mishap hadn't

happened?

2017 Sanctuary Residents

Jim - 30 year old Tennessee Walker gelding

Maverick - 12 year old grade Quarter Horse gelding

Ivan - 16 year old Thoroughbred gelding

Dude (My Blazing Skip) - 20 year old registered Quarter Horse gelding

Chaos - 12 year old grade breeding stock paint gelding

Rabbit (Rabbit Choker Nikki) - 25 year old registered Quarter Horse mare

Brego - 12 year old grade Quarter Horse gelding

Zeke - 25 year old grade Arabian gelding

Bo - 16 year old National Show Horse (Saddlebred x Arabian) gelding

Mayhem - 7 year old registerable Quarter Horse mare

Junior - 29 year old Quarter Horse gelding

Skippy - 14 year old registered Miniature Horse gelding

Tommy - 15 year old Shetland Pony gelding

Lace (whitelacenpromises) - 22 year old (Need to double check) registered Paint mare

Throwback Thursday (and more)

Finally getting back to our weekly Throwback Thursday #TBT.

This is from last week before I put Lace and Mayhem in with Rabbit and Junior. I was a little nervous that Lace would do some kicking at Rabbit or Junior (neither of which can handle a blow or move fast enough to get out of the way). But I never saw any kicking. In fact, just the other day I saw them all standing together in the shade by the red shed. It made me smile. Mayhem was in between Rabbit and Lace and Junior was on the far side. But Junior is a soft soul and really doesn't like more than one or two horses around him. Being in a herd of four makes him uncomfortable. But Mayhem is now hanging out with Lace and Junior is hanging out with Rabbit so all is good.

Friday I plan to haul Junior, Lace, and Brego to Madison so they can get some better pasture time. I should probably take Rabbit so that she doesn't have to deal with the hill but I need to get some of the harder keepers up to Madison so they can eat the better grass. That way it'll help take some pressure off the pastures as well. Four horses on the little pasture won't hold out for very long... and the big pasture isnt' divided like it needs to be so we are going to have problems in another month or so.

Lace is finally letting down. When we first got her I couldn't put her in with anyone because she'd kick at them. She still chases the ponies (but I think she does that just because she can...Rabbit does the same thing). So I think Lace has finally let down from her past ordeals. She was bounced around for a little bit before we got her. Her previous owner had her only for 2.5 months and I think the owner before that had her for two years? I don't think that Lace does well with change. I think moving from one pasture to another and keeping at least one or two herd mates the same isnt' a big deal but uprooting and having to make new friends everywhere is too hard on the old girl.

I really want ot start focusing on these old broodmares. It's such a shame to see these older broodmares go into the slaughter pipeline after they've served for years making babies (and possibly having a career before that even). I'm still brainstorming ideas for these old broodmares but I'll come up with something. If you have ideas, I'd love to hear them.

Second Half

Holy smokes, were did the first part of 2016 go? It's been a crazy few months and I'm going to do my best at getting back to giving you updates on what's going on around the Sanctuary. It's pretty quiet these days and I don't get to spend as much time with the horses but I still want to give updates and post more pictures.

I was going through pictures on my phone and realized that a year ago I was pregnant and starting to feel the strain of it all. Now I'm still stressed out with everything going on but I have a very mobile 10 month old. Crazy how time flies.

The last few days have been cooler so the horses aren't as crabby. Thank goodness! I need to get back to medicating Rabbit every day. Mike left for work this morning and noticed that Rabbit was lying down. It was in a spot where he wasnt' sure if she was lying down because she wanted to or if she'd fallen and couldn't get back up. She was half way facing the upside of the hill. He didn't want her to be cast so called and let me know. Luckily I was working from home at the paying job so I trotted on out. She was just relaxing and got up when I approached. She's getting stiff but I think this pasture isnt' helping her much. There's a steep hill she has to climb if she wants to enjoy some of the more lush grasses. But I don't have any other options unless I haul her up to my parents. But I want to haul Junior and Brego up because they need the additional weight and they have a pasture that hasnt' been grazed since last September so it's fairly lush and rich...and perfect of horses who can't keep weight on. I'd prefer to haul Bo up but he has no ground manners so I won't subject mom and dad to that.


I'm going to be playing musical pens this weekend. Once I pull Junior out, I'll add Lace and Mayhem in with Rabbit. Hopefully Lace behaves herself. She's really mellowed out over the past six months. She was SO angry when we first got her. But she's come around. I think being near the geldings has really helped. If she is mean to Rabbit, I'll have to consider putting her in with the big herd and pulling King out. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that we can look at dividing the big pasture during the long weekend. But that also means I have to pull King out because he does not respect electric fence. But that also means having to feed him hay. But I already feed the ponies hay so I guess it's no different...just costs more.


I may try to put up a few temporary fences (i.e., corral panels) to keep King in if I do decide I don't want to throw hay. Unless I want to use electric, I'm out of places to put horses temporarily for grazing. There's one other spot I'd like to try but I'm not going to push my luck because it's too close to the road. I would LOVE to put up some nicer fences so then I can look at expanding my temporary grazing options.


There's been a little bit of progress going on at the Sanctuary. Dad sprayed the thistles. I'm not sure which ones he went after or if they will even die but at least it's something. I'm going to go after the burdock so I don't have to deal with cockleburs in the very near future. There's just so much that has to be done. Luckily the days are still fairly long and I can sneak out after the kids go to bed.


We are also getting progress in our house. Hopefully with the remodel in full swing, we'll be able to get it done soon and I can have at least one massive chaos completed. I  need less chaos to function apparently.


I need to get blankets washed, repaired, and waterproofed. Anyone want to help me? I don't want to do it when its' too stinking hot but I want to get it done so I can take an inventory and see what we need. We don't have blankets enough this winter for everyone.

And I was right. "That time of year" is almost here. I got asked again last night if I wanted to take another horse. This is the second time this week that I was asked. So the real need is just around the corner. Does anyone want to help? Does anyone want to sponsor a horse? Even $10 a month goes a LONG way in helping sponsor a horse!

Here's to an amazing and super busy second half of the year!

Happy Birthday Mayhem

Happy Birthday Mayhem!

I can't believe that another year has gone by (and you still hasnt' been to a trainer). You sure have changed over the past few years. You've gone from a scrappy little filly to a beautiful and very stunning mare.

I remember the day you stepped off the trailer in September six years ago as a three month old. I just wish life hadn't gotten in the way so you wouldn't have been put on the back burner. Even though life has handed you a few hard knocks, you don't seem to let that bother you at all.

I'm glad you were born a sorrel and are now a part of our Sanctuary.

Mayhem is the spitting image of her mother, Rabbit. She is also really good at keeping the older mares on their toes and making them feel spry and useful. Lace has finally taken a liking to Mayhem. It only took almost six months for Lace to mellow out and enjoy Mayhem's company. Mayhem would prefer to be with her boyfriend but for now, she is next to Lace. Where one goes, the other follows. Crazy how friendshisp are made.