Monday, September 12, 2011
Skywatching
I had my skywatch photos but blogger didn't like me. Thought you'd at least want to see a couple pictures.
Looking Up?
Thanks to a very good friend, I went on a very much needed trail ride. I'd thought about bailing because I was so stressed over getting everything done. But she convinced me that I should go riding instead. Thank you Stacy A. for hauling my lazy butt around and convincing me to go. I am rejuvenated (albeit a little sore). :-) I should have taken Chaos but I took Zeke instead as Chaos is still in Madison. I'll be hauling him and the other three naughty horses home this Sunday.
While on the trail ride, I noticed an oddity. On most rides, people ride geldings. This time around, the majority of the horses were mares, and there were many riders on this trail ride. I'm not sure if it was due to most mares being out of season or what. I guess some people figure they might as well ride their newly bred mares and others just prefer to ride mares. But even if some were bred, they were broke to ride. I'm not really thrilled with bred mares because it means more horses born into this world, but each mare on that trail ride goes to show that you don't have to JUST have a broodmare. Mares can ALSO be used as riding horses. So hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel and people will be more willing to TRAIN their mares instead of selling them at auction when they can no longer produce babies or decide they no longer want to make babies. There is hope.
While I was playing, Mike, Mom, and Dad were busy working on the place fixing things the horses smashed this spring/summer. It's amazing how much a horse can ruin if you don't keep up with it. They broke the door frame going into the barn this spring and also damaged the door. Along with that, they broke the corner of the leanto off the barn. Mike, Mom, and Dad worked like crazy to get everything fixed and now it looks and works beautifully. I owe them so much.
After a long but very fun trail ride, I had work to do. I got to work doing normal chores but figured I'd better get the herd at the neighbor's home. The pasture is gone over there and the horses needed to come home. Hopefully in a couple of weeks, I can haul some of the horse back over, if the grass comes back (keeping my fingers crossed). I first loaded up Sam and Rain. When I got back for Dude, Ivan, and Brego it was dark. Luckily the moon was out but it was still dark. I hate loading horses in the dark. Silly me didn't tie Ivan up right and he escaped while I was preoccupied with Dude's temper tantrum. Luckily Ivan let Mike catch him (after a little bit) and we loaded Ivan and Brego quickly before Dude started doing somersaults in the trailer. I'm not exactly sure what Dude's problem was last night. Some days it's hard to tell what his problem is, other than he's naughty. It's such a shame that he has "hunter's bump" and cannot be ridden. He would have made a perfect ranch horse.
We got everyone settled and then had to push a round bale in to the blind pen. The blind horses managed to mangle a fence line and I'll be working on that tonight. But with the big herd home, I wanted to distract the blind herd to make sure they stayed away from the mangled fence. Hopefully no one decides they want to join the big herd.there's always some type of fencing to do. Does anyone have a cheap or discounted bale feeder they would like to sell?
Tonight is drill practice so there won't be much time for anything but chores. The days are getting so much shorter. It's now dark by 8pm and I simply can't get everything done. I have a two column page and a half "Honey Do" list that I can't seem to get very far on. Although I am inspired. After seeing the progress Mike, Dad, and Mom made on the place, I am rejuvenated and ready to get cracking on yet another big project! Lets get these projects done before the first snowfall! eep...snow!
While on the trail ride, I noticed an oddity. On most rides, people ride geldings. This time around, the majority of the horses were mares, and there were many riders on this trail ride. I'm not sure if it was due to most mares being out of season or what. I guess some people figure they might as well ride their newly bred mares and others just prefer to ride mares. But even if some were bred, they were broke to ride. I'm not really thrilled with bred mares because it means more horses born into this world, but each mare on that trail ride goes to show that you don't have to JUST have a broodmare. Mares can ALSO be used as riding horses. So hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel and people will be more willing to TRAIN their mares instead of selling them at auction when they can no longer produce babies or decide they no longer want to make babies. There is hope.
While I was playing, Mike, Mom, and Dad were busy working on the place fixing things the horses smashed this spring/summer. It's amazing how much a horse can ruin if you don't keep up with it. They broke the door frame going into the barn this spring and also damaged the door. Along with that, they broke the corner of the leanto off the barn. Mike, Mom, and Dad worked like crazy to get everything fixed and now it looks and works beautifully. I owe them so much.
After a long but very fun trail ride, I had work to do. I got to work doing normal chores but figured I'd better get the herd at the neighbor's home. The pasture is gone over there and the horses needed to come home. Hopefully in a couple of weeks, I can haul some of the horse back over, if the grass comes back (keeping my fingers crossed). I first loaded up Sam and Rain. When I got back for Dude, Ivan, and Brego it was dark. Luckily the moon was out but it was still dark. I hate loading horses in the dark. Silly me didn't tie Ivan up right and he escaped while I was preoccupied with Dude's temper tantrum. Luckily Ivan let Mike catch him (after a little bit) and we loaded Ivan and Brego quickly before Dude started doing somersaults in the trailer. I'm not exactly sure what Dude's problem was last night. Some days it's hard to tell what his problem is, other than he's naughty. It's such a shame that he has "hunter's bump" and cannot be ridden. He would have made a perfect ranch horse.
We got everyone settled and then had to push a round bale in to the blind pen. The blind horses managed to mangle a fence line and I'll be working on that tonight. But with the big herd home, I wanted to distract the blind herd to make sure they stayed away from the mangled fence. Hopefully no one decides they want to join the big herd.
Tonight is drill practice so there won't be much time for anything but chores. The days are getting so much shorter. It's now dark by 8pm and I simply can't get everything done. I have a two column page and a half "Honey Do" list that I can't seem to get very far on. Although I am inspired. After seeing the progress Mike, Dad, and Mom made on the place, I am rejuvenated and ready to get cracking on yet another big project! Lets get these projects done before the first snowfall! eep...snow!
Joy and Sorrow of Fall
The blog posts from Home At Last really seem to be hitting home for me. I thought I would share another of their posts.
http://homeatlastsanctuary.blogspot.com/2011/09/that-time-of-year.html
Being a sanctuary is a little different than a rescue. Sanctuary life means watching your beloved old friends grow old and then being responsible for thier final breath on this earth. It's a devistating decision but a responsible decision because quality always overrides quantity.
We too have horses on our "watch list" and will have to make decisions soon on whether certain horses can last another winter or if they will go peacefully on a sunny fall day. As much as I love fall, I also dread it knowing that there are hard decisions to make in the near future.
http://homeatlastsanctuary.blogspot.com/2011/09/that-time-of-year.html
Being a sanctuary is a little different than a rescue. Sanctuary life means watching your beloved old friends grow old and then being responsible for thier final breath on this earth. It's a devistating decision but a responsible decision because quality always overrides quantity.
We too have horses on our "watch list" and will have to make decisions soon on whether certain horses can last another winter or if they will go peacefully on a sunny fall day. As much as I love fall, I also dread it knowing that there are hard decisions to make in the near future.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Your Thoughts on an Idea
I was reading Joe's blog, Thoroughbred Friends (aka TB Friends). He posts daily about horses and life at his rescue. He brought up an amazing idea, a community rescue. People donate one dollar towards the rescue of a horse. The details are still in the works. I truely think this is a fantastic idea. Borderlands will most definitely be sending a dollar towards the rescue of a horse. Read his blog to see more details. http://www.tbfriends.com/
Perhaps we could do something similar for a horse in need in the South Dakota area? What are your thoughts on the idea?
Perhaps we could do something similar for a horse in need in the South Dakota area? What are your thoughts on the idea?
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Out of Sorts
Sorry for not posting over the long holiday. I've been out of sorts lately. I've successfully lost the camera so whenever that resurfaces, I'll take pictures of the herd if I can get out before the sun sets.
We had absolutely gorgeous weather, perfect for riding. But I didn't go anywhere or do any riding. I will admit I was disappointed.
Saturday we moved the horses around at the neighbor's. They've been grazing over there for four weeks and we are trying to eek out as much grass before having to bring them back. The big pasture isn't holding up. This fall we will be spraying and hopefully fertilizing. I'm afraid we'll be feeding hay much sooner than I had anticipated. I guess we will be on the lookout for additional hay to cover the extra months of hay instead of pasture.
The herd at the neighbor's seemed really spooked when I checked on them Sunday late afternoon. They were spooked enough to take down the electric fence in six spots but luckily they didn't go anywhere. Thank goodness for good boys. While I was checking on the horses, I wandered in to the trees and heard the telltale noise of a tree getting ready to fall. The hair on the back of my neck rose pretty quick when I realized the noise was behind and to the left of me. I thought the tree was going to come down right on me! Luckily I had the good sense not to run to the left where I heard the noise but I didn't have the good sense to run to the right where I had come. Instead I hopped a huge downed tree branch and kept running straight ahead (probably in the line of the tree fall). Luckily the tree didn't go down but myself and the horses were spooked.
The horses were still a little spooked yesterday afternoon when I went to feed Sam his daily grain. Luckily with some fly spray and a few good pats, they all settled down and stood around waiting for Sam to get done eating. Sam turned up his nose at the beet pulp. I guess he wanted his grain first instead. He didn't snoof up all his grain that he dropped on the ground like normally does so I hope all is ok today. I checked on them this morning but only Dude came out of the trees and I wasn't inclined to tromp through tall grass, weeds, and trees to find the other boys in the dark with the smell of skunk hanging in the air. The neighbor has a skunk I can't seem to track down (but maybe that's a good thing as long as he doesn't come visit us).
Chaos, Maverick, Jim, and King are doing well at mom and dad's. They are eating down everything and enjoying the smaller herd situation. I wish I could make smaller pastures/pens so that there's less compitition but there's the issue with the automatic water to contend with. I guess I'll have to come up with something becaues the herds seem to be doing pretty well with this grouping.
I swear Flower is gaining weight but it's so hard to know for sure. I wish so hard that she's gaining weight that maybe I'm seeing things that aren't there. With the cooler weather, I've been putting a sheet on her at night to keep the chill and the damp off her. She tolerates me messing with her but she's found a way to get the sheet off when she doesn't want to wear it any more.
The other morning I heard Skippy whinnying up a storm. I knew something was wrong because only Tommy was replying. Any time those two start in at each other, it means somethings wrong. At first I thought it was just Skippy giving me the whatfor for not getting out earlier to feed him. Nope. Instead, it was Skippy frantically running around with the old mares. He'd managed to fall out of the pen when he was giving himself a good scratch on the fence. Luckily Skippy was more than willing to be caught once the big horses were away. The old mares weren't too thrilled with all the commotion and were happy to see Skippy leave their pasture. Skippy settled right down when he was near Tommy. I swear those two are connected at the hip.
Mayhem is doing amazingly well. When I feed the old girls, I have to tie her so there's no competition between the young and the old. She will stand there for hours. I'll get the old mares fed and then head over to feed Sam and Mayhem will patiently stand there waiting for my return. She really is going to be an absolute doll. As long as I can keep her heaves under control, she's going to be an amazing horse to work with.
Other than basic morning and evening chores, we really didn't do too much over the long weekend. I had hoped to finish up a few projects but I guess in do time they will get done. I'm hoping within the week I'll not be out of sorts and things can return to normal. Until then, if there aren't many posts, it's because I'm still out of sorts.
We had absolutely gorgeous weather, perfect for riding. But I didn't go anywhere or do any riding. I will admit I was disappointed.
Saturday we moved the horses around at the neighbor's. They've been grazing over there for four weeks and we are trying to eek out as much grass before having to bring them back. The big pasture isn't holding up. This fall we will be spraying and hopefully fertilizing. I'm afraid we'll be feeding hay much sooner than I had anticipated. I guess we will be on the lookout for additional hay to cover the extra months of hay instead of pasture.
The herd at the neighbor's seemed really spooked when I checked on them Sunday late afternoon. They were spooked enough to take down the electric fence in six spots but luckily they didn't go anywhere. Thank goodness for good boys. While I was checking on the horses, I wandered in to the trees and heard the telltale noise of a tree getting ready to fall. The hair on the back of my neck rose pretty quick when I realized the noise was behind and to the left of me. I thought the tree was going to come down right on me! Luckily I had the good sense not to run to the left where I heard the noise but I didn't have the good sense to run to the right where I had come. Instead I hopped a huge downed tree branch and kept running straight ahead (probably in the line of the tree fall). Luckily the tree didn't go down but myself and the horses were spooked.
The horses were still a little spooked yesterday afternoon when I went to feed Sam his daily grain. Luckily with some fly spray and a few good pats, they all settled down and stood around waiting for Sam to get done eating. Sam turned up his nose at the beet pulp. I guess he wanted his grain first instead. He didn't snoof up all his grain that he dropped on the ground like normally does so I hope all is ok today. I checked on them this morning but only Dude came out of the trees and I wasn't inclined to tromp through tall grass, weeds, and trees to find the other boys in the dark with the smell of skunk hanging in the air. The neighbor has a skunk I can't seem to track down (but maybe that's a good thing as long as he doesn't come visit us).
Chaos, Maverick, Jim, and King are doing well at mom and dad's. They are eating down everything and enjoying the smaller herd situation. I wish I could make smaller pastures/pens so that there's less compitition but there's the issue with the automatic water to contend with. I guess I'll have to come up with something becaues the herds seem to be doing pretty well with this grouping.
I swear Flower is gaining weight but it's so hard to know for sure. I wish so hard that she's gaining weight that maybe I'm seeing things that aren't there. With the cooler weather, I've been putting a sheet on her at night to keep the chill and the damp off her. She tolerates me messing with her but she's found a way to get the sheet off when she doesn't want to wear it any more.
The other morning I heard Skippy whinnying up a storm. I knew something was wrong because only Tommy was replying. Any time those two start in at each other, it means somethings wrong. At first I thought it was just Skippy giving me the whatfor for not getting out earlier to feed him. Nope. Instead, it was Skippy frantically running around with the old mares. He'd managed to fall out of the pen when he was giving himself a good scratch on the fence. Luckily Skippy was more than willing to be caught once the big horses were away. The old mares weren't too thrilled with all the commotion and were happy to see Skippy leave their pasture. Skippy settled right down when he was near Tommy. I swear those two are connected at the hip.
Mayhem is doing amazingly well. When I feed the old girls, I have to tie her so there's no competition between the young and the old. She will stand there for hours. I'll get the old mares fed and then head over to feed Sam and Mayhem will patiently stand there waiting for my return. She really is going to be an absolute doll. As long as I can keep her heaves under control, she's going to be an amazing horse to work with.
Other than basic morning and evening chores, we really didn't do too much over the long weekend. I had hoped to finish up a few projects but I guess in do time they will get done. I'm hoping within the week I'll not be out of sorts and things can return to normal. Until then, if there aren't many posts, it's because I'm still out of sorts.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Another Good Blog
Yet another good blog post from Home At Last. We don't have the same number but we are running up against limitations also. Unless we receive donations or sponsorships for some horses, we don't have the capacity to bring more in (unless I can figure out how to eek just a few more pennies out of every dollar).
http://homeatlastsanctuary.blogspot.com/2011/09/limits.html
And as Home At Last said, go hug your horse!
http://homeatlastsanctuary.blogspot.com/2011/09/limits.html
And as Home At Last said, go hug your horse!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Auction Report from Fugly
Well, the new "Fugly" is attending auctions in Colorado. I'm glad someone else is going to auctions to report the types of horses, prices, and conditions. It's heart breaking and very stressful for both people and horses. After reading the report for the catalog/non-catalog horses, I'm scared to know what the loose horses would have been like.
I still don't know the kill buyers in this area. I know some of the traders (if only by appearance). I wish I had more cahoonas to step up and introduce myself and play hardball with them. You know, schmooze with them to see if I can't get my foot in the door. I don't always have to be the polite little chick sitting in the stands doing nothing. Although my farrier mentioned a name I didn't recongize but apparently the person in question knew me. Creepy. But I guess the more auctions I attend, the more people will recognize me too.
Anywho, I seem to be rambling but I wanted to share the link.
http://fuglyblog.com/2011/09/01/a-day-at-the-auction/
It's hard to take and upsetting but people need to be aware of the situation. Now is NOT the time to play osterich and put your head in the sand. As someone recently said, now is the time to scream!
I still don't know the kill buyers in this area. I know some of the traders (if only by appearance). I wish I had more cahoonas to step up and introduce myself and play hardball with them. You know, schmooze with them to see if I can't get my foot in the door. I don't always have to be the polite little chick sitting in the stands doing nothing. Although my farrier mentioned a name I didn't recongize but apparently the person in question knew me. Creepy. But I guess the more auctions I attend, the more people will recognize me too.
Anywho, I seem to be rambling but I wanted to share the link.
http://fuglyblog.com/2011/09/01/a-day-at-the-auction/
It's hard to take and upsetting but people need to be aware of the situation. Now is NOT the time to play osterich and put your head in the sand. As someone recently said, now is the time to scream!
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