Prince Update

If you want to continue following Prince’s new adventures, check out Gentle Spirit’s website and Facebook page. Here are two experts from Kathi at their Sanctuary location in Forest City, IA (don’t forget to support this fantastic rescue/sanctuary!!!):

Prince has settled in beautifully! He has walked the entire edge of the fence and can find everything. He even finds the corral panel that separates him from the herd… he’s in the small pen with Blake, George, and Chip. An incredible beautiful and smart boy. (Friday November 25th)

It’s amazing how Blake and Chip know Prince is blind…they are so kind to him. Prince follows right behind Blake and Chip is always standing close as if to guard him. Chip is mellowing and seeking out attention since Prince came in. (Monday, November 28th)

I knew Prince was smart. I’m glad that others get to experience and learn about his intelligence. A big Thank You to Gentle Spirits for taking Prince in and to G for reaching out to help your boy find a new home. I wish there were more owners who cared so deeply about their horses rather than dumping them at auction.

Best Blessings

Our Thanksgiving weekend was packed full of amazing friends and family. As I reflect over the past few days, I am still thankful for everyone’s support.

On Thanksgiving day we loaded Prince to take him to Gentle Spirits. Prince wasn’t so sure about loading but after a little bit of time, he decided that it was alright and he loaded like he’d been doing it for years. I guess as long as it’s his idea, he’ll do it. We unloaded Prince at Gentle Spirits and put him in their round pen. Instead of introducing him to the Renner, SD herd, Gentle Spirits decided to put him in to the Sanctuary in Forest City, IA. He’s in with a few of the older horses (if my memory serves me correctly) so that they can observe him and begin his evaluation for more training. We were blessed to enjoy Thanksgiving with Gentle Spirits. Let me just say one thing, those ladies know how to cook! We had a wonderful afternoon and I met some amazing horses that are up for adoption through Gentle Spirits. Those ladies are fabulous. If there is a local rescue to support (besides Borderlands!! ), I strongly urge you to support Gentle Spirits.

While at Gentle Spirits, I saw Savanna. Let me say, she looks fantastic. She’s almost downright fat. I’m so happy to see a nice full butt and no ribs or hips sticking out. I knew once Prize was weaned and she could concentrate on herself that she would pack on the pounds. I’m ecstatic that she was able to put on so much weight before winter actually hits. I’m sure once the snow flies, she’ll be up to her right weight and by this spring she’ll be downright fat. Thank you Gentle Spirits for doing such a fantastic job on Savanna. I’m so glad she gets a second chance at life and that you’re helping to find her a home that will love her forever. She deserves just that!

We fell into a food coma Thursday night but woke fairly early to do final prep work for our winter supply of hay. The weatherman forecasted a calm day, so our hay guys decided to deliver the hay. I ordered extra hay not knowing exactly who we would have with us. The guys arrived with a semi and a flatbed full of hay. They had to run back to get a second flatbed full of hay after lunch. By 2pm the hay guys were back and quickly unloading the bales and putting them under cover. There really is nothing more comforting than a barn full of good quality hay. By 4pm all of the hay was stashed away into the hay shed and hay barn. I need to figure out how many round bales the blind pen will run through and then use up the remaining round bales for the big herd before I switch over to the good big squares. Once the herd gets a taste of the big squares, they’ll refuse to eat the round bales. The only misgiving I have with the hay is the price. Now that I have the hay sitting in my buildings, I have to come up with the cash. After having just paid last year’s hay bill, I am not excited to try to find the money for this year’s hay already. Luckily I’m not paying the standard price for this hay but it is higher than last year. So, if anyone would like to donate towards the hay, it would be most appreciated.

Babe seems to be enjoying Prince’s absence. It does feel a little weird not having him here. Even though he was only with us for four months, he was such a ham. Of course, I’m sure Babe is happy not having someone snitch food right from her mouth. She does seem to be calmer already. I still haven’t decided yet what I’ll do for herd arrangements. Queen seems to be in the “outs” with the other mares in her pasture. I’d prefer to keep her in that pasture because it has better protection but she’s getting pushed around even by Flower. I still haven’t figured out what their disagreement was all about. But it may be that Queen would be happy with Thor, Babe, and Sahara. We’ll see though. I’m still just trying to get things done before the ground freezes and I can’t do any more fencing repairs.

We were planning on putting up a temporary shelter in the blind pen but I didn’t read the instructions before pulling the box out. Apparently we need three hours and at minimum two people with lots of tools that seem to have gone MIA. I swear all of our tools disappear. We finished putting up the snow fence on Friday but had to go in search of yet another pair of pliers as the ones we were using disappeared. I swear tools simply grow legs and walk away.

Saturday we didn’t do much with the horses. But I did get to enjoy some quality family time and hide inside away from the 40mph wind. I also didn’t get to do much on Sunday as I was having an “off” day and thought it would be safer if I stayed away from heavy machinery or for that matter most of the tools that I could find. If it could break, it did. I thought it would be safer to hide in the house instead.

I still can’t bring myself to call the vet for Sam and Sahara. I’m putting it off for another week. I’ve been using some power ulcer medicine and that seems to be helping although it’s not a cure-all but rather just a mask. Sam is slowly losing his weight and I know the inevitable is coming. It’s just hard for me to let go.

I’m hoping the weather holds so I can get a few more outdoor projects done before winter sets in. We’ve had such a fantastic fall that it’ll be hard when the ground freezes and the snow flies. But I’ll take every opportunity to enjoy this nice weather. There won’t be much time to do anything extra with the horses until the end of the week. I have a few errands to run and by the time I get home from work on any given day, it’s already dark. I need to start planning to work on my projects during the weekend. We’ll see how that goes.

I did get to see a few pictures of Prize this weekend. Prize is now proudly renamed Jett. I’ll post a few for everyone to see later. He’s growing like a weed. It warms my heart seeing all of these horses grow and discover themselves. Watching Savanna and Prize (aka Jett) grow and become super healthy is the best blessing.

Picture Sunday

Figured you were all tired of listening to me ramble on about stuff so instead I'll leave you with pictures.

Prince

Sahara - look she does stand tied...or about 30 seconds at a time.

Thor enjoying his grain mash

Babe - girl after my own heart. This girl loves her grain mash as much as I love my chocolate.

Babe - her age is showing a little bit but she's still a tough cookie.

Thor

Sahara watching Thor and Babe eat

Prince and Sahara

Prince - he's such a looker

Prince - he's definitely a Prince Charming

Spittin' Fire

Poor Babe. She likes her pen quiet with no drama. She hasn't gotten a quiet day in a while. When Thor went blind, we messed Babe's world up by putting those two together. I've since had to rearrange living arrangements much to Babe's dismay. Hopefully things will settle down after a little while and Babe can go back to enjoying her drama free days.

We put a round bale in the blind pen Sunday night. It's not net wrapped so the horses pull half the bale out onto the ground. I was in the pen scooping it up and tossing it over for the big herd (who think they are starving). Thor and Babe were rather disgusted with me. They thought it was grain time. I kept telling them they had to wait but they wouldn't listen.

While I was scooping up hay, something got into Sahara. I have no idea what. Apparently no one has ever told her that her front legs are croocked and that she should take it easy. She took off like a bolt of lightening, racing around the pen. She was running and bucking for the pure joy of it.

Of course, that commotion got Babe into a tizzy. It also set Prince off. He started loping around with his head held high and his tail outstretched (boy is he a looker when he does that). Any time Sahara would take off with lightening speed across the pen, Prince would lope or trot around. At one point both Sahara and Prince were bucking around the pen. Poor Babe. She hates all that commotion.

It was fun to watch Sahara feeling good. She was running and bucking and farting all around the pen. Putting the young ones in with the old sort of tones down their spunk but it sure didn't have that affect on Sahara. It's probably a good thing that no one told her that her legs aren't straight. It sure didn't stop her from a full gallop around the pen. She'd always stop close to Thor. She must find comfort in Thor. That or Thor was her stopping spot for racing around the pen.

Prince looked gorgeous trotting around the pen with his tail out (makes his tail even more luxurious). I was surprised to see him let out a few bucks but apparently he was feeling good last night too. I sometimes forget that he's only 5 years old. He'll stand tied while I feed Thor and Babe and the only thing he does is paw every once in a while and tries to untie himself.

The other day, while Prince was standing tied, King came over and started harrassing Prince. Then it dawned on me, we have two paints one named King and one named Prince. Thought it was rather a neat idea. So now we have a Queen, King, and Prince. Never knew we'd have royalty. At one time we had a Queen, King, and Ace! I don't play poker but it sure felt like we had a full house.

Luckily both Sahara and Prince settled down after just a short time and Babe was able to back to a less drama filled pen. And to not forget Thor, he could have cared less about all the commotion. He just stood their searching for his grain dish. That boy may have lost his sight but he now has a better sense of smell. I did think it very cute to watch Sahara race around the pen and go straight to Thor, like Thor was the "safe zone". Rather cute.

That Sahara. She sure was spitting fire last night.

Prince aka Eye Candy

I'm really impressed with Prince. Not only is he "eye candy", he's also darn smart. He's taken being blind pretty well. We have come to the conclusion that he can see certain things (shadows perhaps) during the day but he is completely blind at night. He's much slower to move at night than during the day.

I was late to do chores last night so had to grain Thor and Babe in the dark. It's all a new routine for me, so it's going to take awhile to adjust. But Thor was immediately at the fence. That boy can smell. I believe his other senses really kicked in after he lost his sight. He uses his nose so much more now than ever before.

Babe did circles until I got the grain mash in front of her. Thor was already gobbling down his grain mash.

Prince stood patiently while I haltered him so he wouldn't bother Thor or Babe. Prince is nice and plump (just the way I like them). I tried to lead him around a little but it took a lot of persuading. He doesn't trust me yet to lead him around in the dark. I don't blame him. But I'll be messing with him more now that I'm in with the blind horses every night waiting for Babe and Thor.

Sahara is maybe finally understanding the whole "standing tied" idea but I'm not sure. I tied her securely but she still had three massive blow ups. Talk about a wild bronc. I'm so used to Mayhem who does the whole "ho hum" of standing tied that rearing and pulling hard is different to me. Sahara is most definitely going to use brute force to get her way until she realizes it won't work. She pawed and pawed and pawed and blew up. Then she took a few seconds to catch her breath and went back to pawing before another blow up. This went on for the majority of the time Babe and Thor were eating. Prince and I stayed closer to Sahara but that didn't seem to help. We were far enough away from harm but Sahara was going to have none of this tying deal.

About the time Babe was finishing up her grain, Sahara decided to actually stand (without pawing) and think. I'm not sure if she was working her way up to another blowup or if she was contemplating standing still for a little while. I did see her cock a back leg for just a second. Maybe tonight will go better, or maybe it'll be worse.

Throughout the entire learning session, Prince and I hung out. I did resecure Sahara's lead rope in between her blow ups to ensure that the rope was tied. I swear I can't tie a proper knot still. When I walked away from Prince, I threw the lead rope over his back. Prince never took a step. He patiently waiting for me to return. When I pulled the lead rope off his back, he tried to take an end and chew on it. I guess he wanted a treat. Prince really is an amazing horse. I think with the right person and right training, he'll be an amazing riding horse. Or for those that just want a pasture puff, he'll be some awesome "eye candy".

One + One = TwentyFour

Two weekends ago, plans changed because of the weather. Never fear we always stay busy. On that Saturday we headed to Alvord, Iowa to pick up this sweet girl.
Meet Flower. She is a 24 year old Appaloosa mare who is now enjoying the life of luxury that she so deserves. Here's what I learned from her previous owner.

Flower was a broodmare until she turned 15 years old. Someone trained her really well at that point. Not sure how many homes she's had in her 24 years. Her previous owners had her for a year and used her in their youth program. But Flower wasn't doing well in the larger herd and needed a place to retire. So that's when we stepped in to offer a retirement home for this sweet Flower.

And what a doll she is. She was here 24 hours and it felt like she'd been here for years. She's thin so we are headed to the vet on Friday to get her teeth floated. I want this old girl fat before winter sets in. She's pretty adimate about her grain and tells me what for if I'm not on "her schedule". She's a pretty laid back lady. She's in with Queen, Mayhem, and Sahara. It's really very funny to watch these girls interact. I'll have to sneak some pictures this evening.

Flower steals Queen's grain right from under her nose. It's hilarious. I have to stand watch to make sure Queen gets her alloted share.

I look forward to spending time with Flower and watching her enjoy retirement.





This boy arrived the day after Flower. Meet Prince. I've dubbed him Prince Charming. He is a five year old buckskin paint and the pictures do not do him justice. He had an accident last fall which left him blind in his left eye. This spring he went blind in the other eye. I don't believe he is totally blnd as he doesn't bump into things like the other two blind horses.

He's already very attached to Babe. In fact, he's a little naughty and will steal the hay right from Babe's mouth. It's fun to watch those two. I believe Prince will pair up with another horse quickly but he prefers mares of geldings. Thor isn't protective of anyone these days.


I know he can see a little bit but not sure to what extent he can actually see. He doesn't run in to me, any horses, or the fence. I'm guessing he can see some shadows. At the age of five, I'm curious to see how his sight will progress.

Prince will only be staying with us until October. He will be headed to Gentle Spirits Horse Rescue and Sanctuary where they can evaluate him for riding. I really believe with the right owner, Prince would be an amazing riding horse. He's so mellow, being blind or partially blind hasnt' freaked him out like Thor. Prince takes everything in stride. I'm really impressed.

I dont' think he's completely blind because he doesn't react like Babe or Thor did when they went completely blind. Even with seeing just shadows, when Babe lost all sight, she spent a month or so being even more cautious and paniced a few times. Same goes with Thor. Prince doesn't panic over everything so I know he can see even if it's just slightly.

I am hoping that Prince will be able to find his right person so that he can go far in life. He is so mellow and impresses me every day. When the farmer brought over alfalfa bales and the tractor was running, Prince just stood there by the water trough (right next to the tractor) listening to everything going on. Have I mentioned how impressed I am with this amazing horse. I truley think that Prince could be one outstanding riding horse with the right person. And to top it off, he's drop dead gorgeous. The pictures don't do him justice. It's been so dang hot that everyone is always so sweaty. It's hard to get good glamor shots when it's so dang hot out.

So now you've met the two newest members of Borderlands. We may only have them for a short time but both have made a huge impression on me. Both so very lovely and so relaxed in their new surroundings. You would think they've been at Borderlands for years instead of a week and a half.

I'll try to get better pictures tonight if I can find the time.