Weekend Update

It seems we missed out on the freezing rain and snow. Hopefully we'll be able to do some last minute fencing. I had hoped to do some fencing this weekend but the weather forced me inside. Alright, not really "forced" me, but the weather wasn't pleasant on Saturday and it was darn right cold Sunday. To be truthful, I was pretty well played out by the time the weekend rolled around.

The sun was shining Sunday when I went out to do morning chores. Sahara was stretched out soaking in the sun (some days it's good to have a black coat). I could tell that Babe was starting to fade. She just had that look about her. Prince and Thor were busy at the hay bale.

While I was feeding the big herd, I heard Babe. She was nickering, but to who I have no idea. She is rather talkative, which normally gets Thor to talking too. But when I looked, Sahara was stretched out fast asleep and Babe was curled up. I can say I've only heard/seen a horse nicker while laying down less than a handful of times. It was so hard not to bust out laughing.

I'm not sure if Babe was telling her herd to leave her alone while she took a quick nap, was trying to figure out where everyone was, or if she was nickering herself to sleep. And what do you know, I didn't have my camera to catch the scene. Babe looked way too cute all curled up.

Queen, on the other hand, gave me the stink eye Sunday morning. I'd thrown a canvas sheet on her Friday while she was eating her grain. I didn't want her getting chilled because they were predicted freezing rain. Any bit of rain and Queen can't get warm. Of course I didn't have any grain Sunday morning but I thought the hay would be good enough.

Nope. Queen turned her head a couple of times to give me the stink eye. Each time she did, I told her she wasn't allowed to bite me. Queen HATES to be blanketed but it's the nature of the beast now. She's too old to not be blanketed but I have to be very careful when I do throw a blanket on her. Thank goodness for big heavy coats. Whoever said horses don't have feelings never met Queen. How many horses give you "the look" when you go to blanket or unblanket them.

I can't believe that this week is Thanksgiving. I'm so far behind. I've spent all of this fall repairing things that have broken. But it comes in waves. We'll spend one entire year simply fixing things that break and one year building new and then return to fixing other things that break. It's frustrating and never ending but I guess that's the price we pay for moving in to an old farm that once had cattle.

Snow

Weatherman predicted snow for today, along with freezing rain. It could be worse....

Just kidding. No snow so far although we've heard reports of snow and freezing rain. Hopefully Borderlands can stay in this litte protected pocket. But at least it isn't as bad as the winter of 2010. I'll leave you with some "off topics" pics from that winter.

Gypsy's ears dont' tand up on their own. It was that windy!

Can you find my trailer?

Mares

I had the holy bajeebers scared out of me this morning. I typically feed the ponies first in the mornings, then feed the older mares, and finish up with the big herd, which is exactly what I did this morning. It's dark. The moon is out and the yard light is on but it's still dark. The yard light only shines so far.

I had just finished tossing hay to the ponies, turned around, and saw something coming at me. My mind wasn't thinking fast enough and I couldn't comprehend even what would be walking towards me. It wasn't something small like a skunk, dog, raccoon, etc. It was something tall. Actually, my mind thought "who in the world is that walking towards me, there shouldn't be any person out at this time of morning."

Then my mind registers what it is that was walking towards me. Any guesses? Oh come on, you know you want to guess.






Have you guessed yet?







Still waiting....






Alright, I'll be nice....




It was.............















Mayhem.

That's right. Our little yearling filly some how managed to get out of the fence and was coming to see what I was doing. I seriously almost fell over from shock. Of course, then I start to look around for the other three older mares. If Mayhem is out, that means the others should be out. But I looked and no one was around.

Luckily Mayhem isn't like Sahara and I can easily handle her. We walk to the barn together. More like, Mayhem followed me to the barn. Luckily she's a smart girl and didn't want to be alone any more. I opened the barn door to get Sam and the mare's evening meals started (soaking beet pulp) and Mayhem decided to join me.

I just tossed a lead rope over her and led her back to her pasture. At first I didn't see any broken boards and assumed she jumped the fence like she did one other time (darn filly). But I hadn't noticed any scraped legs or injuries so I wasn't positive she'd jumped the fence.

I had to have a disagreement with Flower about who was coming in to the pasture and who was staying in the pasture. She was ready to come out. Now that she's up to about the right weight I don't do morning grain and she's very displeased with me.

Once I got Mayhem back into the pasture, I looked around. She's just small enough to get her head in between the boards to snatch the fallen hay. I figure she must have put her head through the fence and jerked back pulling the board down. How in the world she managed to get under the other boards, I have no idea.

I propped the board back up and put another couple boards in the way. It's yet another fencing job I need to take care of tomorrow before the snow hits. I had such high hopes of wrapping up some of my fencing jobs this weekend but that doesn't look to be the case now.

So besides finding all the waterproof sheets/blankets for the oldsters, we'll have to do some additional fencing to make sure we don't have another escape episode. I swear, these mares are going to be the death of me yet!

Not Ready

I've not been near a tv to hear the weather in about six days but I've heard an ugly rumor that this Saturday we are to get rain and snow. There go my plans to really wrap up some major fencing and other projects. I may be outside despite the rain and snow to finish up a few projects that absolutely have to be done before the ground freezes.

I'll be honest, I'm not looking forward to winter. I never really do but it's even more so this year. With so many oldsters, I'll be worried sick. Any time there will be a chance for snow I'll worry about what I should do. Do I stall them in the barn, do I blanket them, how cold will it get, do I need to start feeding extra hay/grain, etc.? It's a never ending debate in my head to make sure that the horses are well taken care of during these colder months.

I'm not exactly sure when our winter supply of hay will be delivered. Luckily I have the CRP hay we picked up last month to feed the herds. I just dread the thought of winter and all the additional chores.

Luckily Mike had the forsight to plug the water heaters in yesterday morning. Unfortunately the water in the blind pen is not as protected and was frozen over before we realized how cold it really was. I'm so grateful to Mike. He's now taken it upon himself to keep the water tanks full. So while I throw hay during the winter months, Mike fills water troughs. I really am spoiled. Hopefully some day we'll be able to put in some new water lines for additional automatic water troughs. But that's all in due time.

I need to pull all the blankets out and assess the damages done last year. I never did get around to repairing blankets last spring and I want to have everything repaired, waterproofed, and labeled for size so I don't have to fumble in the dark and cold with a wrong sized blanket on a cranky horse.

I'm sure there's more I could ramble on about but I'm exhausted. The last few days have been draining (and could be why I haven't seen the 10 o'clock news/weather in awhile). I'm hoping that life will finally settle down now and I can tackle some important projects that I've tabled over the past few months, including taking more pictures!

Flower Power

It's been awhile since I last mentioned Flower's weight gain. I really didn't know if she would pull through when we picked her up in the middle of July. Had we taken her in now instead of July, we would be looking at other options. Luckily she's made a full recovery. That girl has a special place in my heart. There are a few that come in to the sanctuary that instantly feel as though they've been here all their lives. Flower was one of them (along with Queen). We are truly blessed to have Flower in our herd and I enjoy her company immensely.

Flower still has a few additional pounds to pick up but she'll get there. The weight increase has been incredible. The pictures don't do it justice and it's hard to show the weight gain on an appy! :-) But I'll leave you with a few pictures to show how much weight she really has gained. Sorry for the poor quality pictures. The only time I could sneak a few pics was just before the sun set.

The first few pictures are from a week after bringing Flower home. She had been sick at her previous home with what I don't know. But she's a trooper!

It's hard to see in this picture but her hips, spine, and ribs were all protruding. Where her spine and her hips connect along with her whithers is where I watched the most. Those are one of the last places for her to fill in but she did it. That girl loves to eat.

Four months later, she's back to the right weight. I'd prefer her to be a little overweight but I'll take what I can get. Enjoy the remaining pictures of Almost Fat Flower.

I love the two little white marks on her leg.

No more ribs, no more hips, and no more protruding whithers. The only thing that will take her down now is that right front ankle but she doesn't let that bother her. When it's grain time, she trots to her dish while Queen sedately walks (of course there's an almost 10 year age difference between those two girls...Flower is 24 and Queen is 33).

I look forward to seeing Flower fatten up even more. I love watching her eat grain. She gets the same expression I do when I eat chocolate. It's comforting to know she'll have a safe and loving home until her time comes. Watching her gives me the strength to continue on with rescue/sanctuary work. Every ol' girl should have a good retirement.

Unplugged

Some of you may have noticed my absence in blogging or posting on Facebook. It’s not as though we aren’t swamped at Borderlands. In fact, I can’t seem to see the end of the “to do” list any time soon. Well, as long as the ground doesn’t freeze that awful “to do” list seems to keep getting longer.

My lack of blogging isn’t because I’m angry, upset, mad, depressed, etc. I was talking to a very wise woman and she suggested that I “unplug.” I was explaining some of the pressures I’ve been dealing with lately (horse related and non-horse related) and she mentioned that she “unplugged” for a few weeks and thought I could benefit from “unplugging” also. I thought it a wonderful idea and have been “unplugged” to some degree for the past two weeks. I’ve been lurking in the background but simply not posting on Facebook, blogging, responding to emails/texts, etc. At first it was hard not to comment or let you all know what I was doing, but it got easier as the days went on.

I don’t mean to ignore or offend anyone by not responding. But I simply needed a break. As the wise woman said, those that stick around during your absence will be your true supporters. So I want to thank those who contacted me personally to check in and make sure that I was doing alright. I am truly touched by your concern and generosity. It gives me that “warm and fuzzy” I needed to continue on. I really couldn’t continue without your support.

I have a number of hard decisions to make in the near future so I may stay “unplugged” but I wanted to resurface for just a little while to get you up to speed. I’ll refrain from delving in to my personal life, as I’m sure I’ll bore you to tears. But here goes what’s coming up in the near future for the horses.

We are going to lose Sam. It’s becoming more and more obvious that I have to call the vet and make an appointment in the next week or so. I hate this time of year. Thanksgiving always means death to me. I’ve already lost a two-legged family member this month, now I have to “play god” and make that decision about a four-legged family member. Sam’s ulcers are causing him pain. I took him off his grain diet and had him solely on beet pulp and timothy hay pellets/grass hay. He was on the ulcer medicine (I’m drawing a blank on the name.. .OmnisomethingorotherthatIcan’tremember). He was on the meds for two weeks straight, slowly getting better. But the minute he went off, he started going downhill again. I have no choice but to euth. I cannot afford the medicine. For a month’s supply of the ulcer medicine, I was billed $240. That cost was not planned and now I have to figure out where that money is going to come from. I’ve decided to not use all of the ulcer medicine and see what happens (I have him on a different powder ulcer medicine which doesn’t seem to be working…it’s a big ulcer). Sam is losing weight because of the ulcer and because he’s not on any grain ration. I figure he’s already lost 20 pounds. I need to call within the week and make an appointment. I just hate calling. It’s that awful call. I’ve already lost too many family members this year. Sam has been with us for a few years now and it’ll be hard to not see that gorgeous guy or hear him let out his goofy whinny. I’m devastated but at a loss as to what my other options are.

I am also euthanizing Sahara. I expect I will offend some by that statement. If she was my sole horse, if I had more knowledge, if I had more time, I could maybe work with her every day one-on-one and maybe she’d turn around. But I can’t. Any time I get near she pins her ears and turns her butt to me. I know a more knowledgeable person could work with her but I am already stretched thin with 20+ horses to care for. I also can’t risk getting hurt or having someone else get hurt. She’s pinned her ears and turned her butt to other people who have entered the pen. I can’t risk anyone getting hurt. She has crocked legs that means she will be a light rider or a pasture pet. Her attitude does not qualify her for a broodmare in my opinion and she is also grade. She has too many strikes against her. I’ve done my best; it wasn’t good enough for her. She was dealt an unjust life. The only thing more that I can do is ensure that she is given a proper death. It’s not right, it’s not fair, but that’s the only choice I see available to her and me at this time. I will euthanize her the same time we take Sam in.

Prince was supposed to go to Gentle Spirits last weekend but I needed to stay home in case my winter supply of hay came in (which it didn’t). I’m hoping that he’ll go this weekend. He’s been too hard on Babe. I’m sure Babe will enjoy the sole company of Thor after Prince and Sahara go. I worry about Babe as she much prefers a smaller group of horses instead of a pushy gelding stealing all her hay. Prince really needs to have more one-on-one because he’s a fantastic horse. I can’t say enough good things about him. I really don’t this his “disability” will disqualify him from becoming an amazing riding horse with the right person. The difficult part is finding that right person to take him to his fullest potential. I’m anxious to see how he progresses.

Thor cut his head again. I have no idea on what. At least this time it’s not a big gapping cut but it’s still a cut and it concerns me. Poor guy has done everything asked of him and he still gets hurt. I am keeping a close eye on both Babe and Thor as they are both not doing as well on 24x7 hay as I had expected. Granted this hay is CRP hay so it’s older and tougher. We’ll just wait and see. It could be that I change up how we handle winter feeding.

Every year winter feeding is different because of the types of horses we have. This winter will be even more difficult for me as there’s such a variety. I need to move the corral panels and form a small pen in the big drylot. I am planning on putting Maverick in during the winter when I have to blanket. Otherwise I won’t have a single blanket unscathed. Maverick loves to eat blankets and drives me insane.

Luckily we did almost finish the leanto we started building last year. We opened it up for the herd to go in but after we left they didn’t seem too interested; go figure. But I’ll feel better knowing that the big herd now has additional places to go to get out of the wind.

Everyone is still covered in cockleburs. I haven’t had time to do anything with the horses. We’ve been trying to repair fences and fix things that have broken all summer. I need another two months to get everything finished before winter. We are going as fast as we can but there doesn’t seem to be enough daylight these days. I guess I’ll just have to plan my days a little better so I can accomplish all my tasks.

I was thinking of having a “volunteer day” this Saturday but I wasn’t sure how many people would be interested in helping out. There are so many projects but not sure how “down and dirty” everyone wants to get. I think it would mostly be fencing that needs to be done but I’m sure I could come up with other just as “exciting” projects to work on.

I know there is more that we’ve worked on but it all involves preparing for winter and would simply bore you to tears if I went on much longer. I’ll try to do better in posting but I really got spoiled with the whole “unplugged” lifestyle. I expect I won’t be able to stop blabbling on now that I’ve started again. But if you don’t see me online for a while, just drop me a line and I’ll respond and let you know what’s going on.

Noblest Creatures

Mankind has often enforced a savage dominance over the horse, and for that he should apologize. These magnificent beasts toiled mightily over the centuries to help us tame the wilds, plow and harvest our fields, and transport our possessions, even die in our wars; and sometime under the cruelest of master. I am proud to say that I never participated in their abject slavery. Even so, I humbly request forgiveness from every horse that has crossed my path, for they are truly God's noblest creatures.