Well damnit all. I had higher hopes that the vet might give me a better prognosis on Flower. There's STILL heat in her hoof six weeks later (even after healing the puncture wound and having an abscess break).
But she's still hobbling around and her other leg/foot is starting to give out.
I scheduled a vet appointment for this Thursday at 2:30pm. We will either resolve the issue or put her down. Those are the options. Pretty black and white as far as I can see.
I may not be around much the rest of this week. Trying to keep it together and not succeeding very well. Guess this is the life we live being a Sanctuary. Still sucky no matter what way I look at it.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
My Enemy - The Wind
The goal this year was to simplify. It’s a lot tougher goal than I had expected. I wanted to focus more on home life with family and less on non-important aspects of life. Most might think it a simple goal but it’s not. Every time I turn around it seems like something else happens. But I guess that’s the price we pay for running a sanctuary in South Dakota.
Last night I was late in getting home. I don’t think twice about running to town to pick up grain for the horses but I do for grocery shopping. I think I know the answer but I’ll leave that up to your imagination. So after finally making it home from restocking our cupboards, I ran outside quick to start the mares on their beet pulp before I snarfed down a bite to eat. The wind was so fierce last night.
I hate wind. I’m not talking hate in the sense that it annoys me. I loathe wind. I see why some of the early pioneers went mad because of the wind. Every time I turned around last night, something else blew into my face. I don’t wear glasses, I don’t wear contacts. Herein lies the problem. Dirt, hay, debris always flies into my face. The other night, I had either debris or hay fly up into my eye. I am very protective of my eyes. I hate people getting close to my face and when there’s something in my eye I can’t get out, I panic. I was sure I was headed to the ER. Twice before I was able to sneak in to actue care to have the debris taken out (with a needle) but it was late and the only thing open was the ER. Lucky for me, Mike is patient and understands my panic when messing with my eyes. No ER visit, no needles to my eye. But I digress.
I heard tarps flapping while out feeding the mares so I took a peek around the corner and saw something I’ve been expecting but dreading. The Habitat for Horses shelter in the blind pen didn’t survive the 30mph wind (who knows what the gusts were like). It was going to take more than just me to dismantle the shelter in the wind so I got Mike and we went to work, fighting the wind, flapping tarps, bent poles, and Babe supervising. Yes, Babe is a great supervisor. I believe she’s the type that wants to dig in and “help”, also known as micromanaging. The sun was just setting when we went outside to rescue the remainder of the Habitat for Horses shelter and it was pitch black by the time we had enough of the pipes torn down and the tarp in the shed. Lots of swear words fell out of my mouth I’m afraid to admit. But when you’re dealing with 30mph wind, tarps flapping in the wind, pipes bent at odd angles, and bolts so snug in their “homes” that only a BFH will get it out, it’s hard not to swear. I know what you’re thinking, “What’s a BFH?” Leave a comment and I’ll tell you.
After we got the tarps put away and most of the pipes pulled out of the way so the blind horses could get to their water trough, I went back to doing chores. I struggled with keeping my composure while throwing hay. I tried to place it somewhere where it wouldn’t blow to the next county in 10 seconds (not an easy feat). I’d given up all hope of getting any hay to stay in Mayhem’s pen. That pen is on the top of the hill and depending on which way the wind blows, nothing stays. I decided I would put Mayhem in with Babe and Thor. It seemed like the easiest solution. I don’t think Babe or Mayhem minded one bit (or Thor for that matter). Babe once again went to town supervising me leading Mayhem in to the pen. I think she was happy to have another mare in the pen with her. I’m going to leave Mayhem in with the blind horses for another day or two until the wind dies down. I wanted Mayhem in a pen by herself so she wouldn’t get herd bound. She’s slowly working through that issue but if I leave her in with the blind horses for too long, I’ll be back to square one. Only in the last month has she been in a pen by herself. She’s never technically been “alone” before until this past month and even then I wouldn’t consider that “alone” as she can see the blind horses but doesn’t have them standing right in her pen. Not sure if that’s the best method for working through the herd bound issue but that’s what we’re doing, at least for now.
I was going to call the vet yesterday about Flower but wanted to see if there was any heat left. Sure enough, there’s still heat. So I’m going to call and schedule an appointment to have the vet out to do whatever it takes. I hate to see what that bill will run.
By the time we were done with chores and everyone was catching the piles of hay blowing in the wind it was 10pm. I was exhausted. That’ll teach me to be late in getting home. About three hours later, after only having a couple hours of sleep, I woke to a terrible sound. I’m not talking the wind. I fell asleep to the sound of wind. I woke to the sound of hail. Yes, HAIL in March!!! That’s too crazy! I guess from now on, we are going to put everything away that has to be put away because we could possibly have terrible hail storms all summer. Odd that we would have hail were in years past we would have blizzards instead. If we would have had snow during this wind, I think we would be in a blizzard. I somehow think we are past any chance of snow. I wonder if I’ll be proven wrong. I’m not sure how long the hailstorm lasted. I don’t think it was very long but the regular storm raged on while I fell back to sleep.
This morning everyone seemed ok; possibly a little bedraggled and tired but still ready for their breakfast. Flower was down again. I wish I would have put a sheet on her but nothing I have fits her sheetwise. Guess that’s something else to add to the list, along with wormer, and paying Flower’s original vet bill.
I’m hoping tonight goes a little smoother and there’s less wind. Life is so much easier when there’s no wind. I don’t expect the wind to die down until after I’ve done my evening chores. We’ll see. If you hear cursing on the wind, it’s probably me.
Last night I was late in getting home. I don’t think twice about running to town to pick up grain for the horses but I do for grocery shopping. I think I know the answer but I’ll leave that up to your imagination. So after finally making it home from restocking our cupboards, I ran outside quick to start the mares on their beet pulp before I snarfed down a bite to eat. The wind was so fierce last night.
I hate wind. I’m not talking hate in the sense that it annoys me. I loathe wind. I see why some of the early pioneers went mad because of the wind. Every time I turned around last night, something else blew into my face. I don’t wear glasses, I don’t wear contacts. Herein lies the problem. Dirt, hay, debris always flies into my face. The other night, I had either debris or hay fly up into my eye. I am very protective of my eyes. I hate people getting close to my face and when there’s something in my eye I can’t get out, I panic. I was sure I was headed to the ER. Twice before I was able to sneak in to actue care to have the debris taken out (with a needle) but it was late and the only thing open was the ER. Lucky for me, Mike is patient and understands my panic when messing with my eyes. No ER visit, no needles to my eye. But I digress.
I heard tarps flapping while out feeding the mares so I took a peek around the corner and saw something I’ve been expecting but dreading. The Habitat for Horses shelter in the blind pen didn’t survive the 30mph wind (who knows what the gusts were like). It was going to take more than just me to dismantle the shelter in the wind so I got Mike and we went to work, fighting the wind, flapping tarps, bent poles, and Babe supervising. Yes, Babe is a great supervisor. I believe she’s the type that wants to dig in and “help”, also known as micromanaging. The sun was just setting when we went outside to rescue the remainder of the Habitat for Horses shelter and it was pitch black by the time we had enough of the pipes torn down and the tarp in the shed. Lots of swear words fell out of my mouth I’m afraid to admit. But when you’re dealing with 30mph wind, tarps flapping in the wind, pipes bent at odd angles, and bolts so snug in their “homes” that only a BFH will get it out, it’s hard not to swear. I know what you’re thinking, “What’s a BFH?” Leave a comment and I’ll tell you.
After we got the tarps put away and most of the pipes pulled out of the way so the blind horses could get to their water trough, I went back to doing chores. I struggled with keeping my composure while throwing hay. I tried to place it somewhere where it wouldn’t blow to the next county in 10 seconds (not an easy feat). I’d given up all hope of getting any hay to stay in Mayhem’s pen. That pen is on the top of the hill and depending on which way the wind blows, nothing stays. I decided I would put Mayhem in with Babe and Thor. It seemed like the easiest solution. I don’t think Babe or Mayhem minded one bit (or Thor for that matter). Babe once again went to town supervising me leading Mayhem in to the pen. I think she was happy to have another mare in the pen with her. I’m going to leave Mayhem in with the blind horses for another day or two until the wind dies down. I wanted Mayhem in a pen by herself so she wouldn’t get herd bound. She’s slowly working through that issue but if I leave her in with the blind horses for too long, I’ll be back to square one. Only in the last month has she been in a pen by herself. She’s never technically been “alone” before until this past month and even then I wouldn’t consider that “alone” as she can see the blind horses but doesn’t have them standing right in her pen. Not sure if that’s the best method for working through the herd bound issue but that’s what we’re doing, at least for now.
I was going to call the vet yesterday about Flower but wanted to see if there was any heat left. Sure enough, there’s still heat. So I’m going to call and schedule an appointment to have the vet out to do whatever it takes. I hate to see what that bill will run.
By the time we were done with chores and everyone was catching the piles of hay blowing in the wind it was 10pm. I was exhausted. That’ll teach me to be late in getting home. About three hours later, after only having a couple hours of sleep, I woke to a terrible sound. I’m not talking the wind. I fell asleep to the sound of wind. I woke to the sound of hail. Yes, HAIL in March!!! That’s too crazy! I guess from now on, we are going to put everything away that has to be put away because we could possibly have terrible hail storms all summer. Odd that we would have hail were in years past we would have blizzards instead. If we would have had snow during this wind, I think we would be in a blizzard. I somehow think we are past any chance of snow. I wonder if I’ll be proven wrong. I’m not sure how long the hailstorm lasted. I don’t think it was very long but the regular storm raged on while I fell back to sleep.
This morning everyone seemed ok; possibly a little bedraggled and tired but still ready for their breakfast. Flower was down again. I wish I would have put a sheet on her but nothing I have fits her sheetwise. Guess that’s something else to add to the list, along with wormer, and paying Flower’s original vet bill.
I’m hoping tonight goes a little smoother and there’s less wind. Life is so much easier when there’s no wind. I don’t expect the wind to die down until after I’ve done my evening chores. We’ll see. If you hear cursing on the wind, it’s probably me.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Weekend Update
Sorry for the lapse in any posts. I knew I wouldn’t have much time to blog the week before the SD Horse Fair. But I thought I would have time last week. Apparently I needed time to recover. I really didn’t do anything horse related other than standard chores all last week.
I did start Jim back on a bit of grain. He started to lose a little weight so figured I’d better get him on some grain. With constantly using Zeke, I started him on a grain supplement too. I want him in tip top shape for Drill Team. We are not practicing for three weeks so I’m giving him a three week reprieve. Hopefully I’ll be able to convince him that going into the barn every night for grain will make it easier to catch him once we do start back to practice. Bo already knows the routine and is at the door impatiently waiting for his nightly grain. I think Zeke and Bo are becoming best friends so it makes getting those two settled for their evening grain a little bit easier.
I let Queen and Flower out to eat a little bit of grass these past two days. I turned my back yesterday and both Queen and Flower made it to the front lawn. I guess that’s the tastiest grass on our place. I’m waiting until tomorrow to call the vet. Flower isn’t improving. I had such high hopes that it was a deep abscess but it’s been three weeks of absolutely no improvement. I’m afraid there’s more damage than I originally anticipated. So tonight I’ll do one final check to see if there’s any heat still in her hoof and then I’ll call the vet. I really want a second opinion. My opinion is pretty negative right now and I need a second opinion. If the vet confirms my worst fear, we’ll put her down that day. If there’s hope its’ still only an abscess, we’ll continue to work through it. But she’s down more than up these days and I will not allow anyone to suffer. I’ve prolonged the phone call for too long as it is.
Mike has been going out and grooming Flower, Queen, Babe, and Thor now that the weather is nice. I think he even snuck out and brushed down King. He’s shedding like crazy. Of all the horses, he came out of winter the best. If the weather continues to stay as warm as it is, we’ll have to start him on his meds. I don’t know the scientific name (or even the layman’s name) for what’s wrong with him. Every summer he comes up lame. When I took him to the vet to evaluate him, the vet said that it’s acid buildup in his muscles. There’s a powder medicine he is one but last summer was so cool and mild that the muscle issue never flared up. But with the warmer temps, I expect he’ll have problems and I’d rather not see him limping around. I may put shoes on him too just to keep him a little bit more comfortable. I bought EZ boots but they don’t fit his gigantic feet. Maybe if I have shoes on him, we can go for short walks up and down the grass of the driveway to keep his muscles limber.
During the Horse Fair, I found an incredible saddleseat saddle. I’ve been itching to try saddleseat out and think Bo would do fantastic in the showring. I still haven’t gotten on him yet. He dropped some weight at the end of winter so I’m trying to put the weight back on before I start making him work. But I had high hopes of showing him this year. It’s not going to happen but next year, watch out! I’ll have had enough time to mess with him and learn how to do saddleseat without making myself look like a fool.
I pulled Rain out Saturday and tried on the saddleseat. He is definitely not made for anything English. He’s a fat little arab and he’ll be prone to high withers and a swayback in his later years. Even though he’s a total spaze, I tend to pull him out for all my English riding. I have no idea why.
When I went to pull Rain out of the pen, Maverick let me know his disappointment in not picking him. I really need to start messing with Maverick. I’m hoping to do just a little bit of cattle work with him. I’m not sure how much we’ll actually get to do but I’m going to try and squeeze it in now while the weather is still nice. I think both Chaos and Maverick are bored and I need to really start using their mind. I don’t think they would be content even just to do simple trail rides. We’ll see what I come up with to engage their minds.
Rabbit is getting more vocal these days. I stuck her in with the ponies and although she tolerates them, I think she’d prefer to be in with the mares. She’s too hard on the old mares and would be absolutely cruel to the blind horses. I don’t want her back with Mayhem yet. Mayhem was picking up Rabbit’s bad habits and that’s not allowed. So for now, Rabbit will just have to suffer the ponies’ torture. I think all three secretly enjoy the company and harassing one another.
Saturday was such a gorgeous day. I wish I would have had a camera. Ivan decided he’d take a snooze but instead of curling up or stretching out, he was curled up but with his feet in front of him like he was getting ready to get up. Twice I looked over and he had his nose to the ground in between his front legs and his eyes were shut. He was wobbling back and forth. Silly horse. I don’t mess enough with Ivan. But he has his best friend, Brego to keep him entertained. Wherever one goes, the other follows. Although Ivan has picked up a bad habit of pushing Bo around at feeding time. I’m not exactly sure what’s the deal but any time Bo comes close to hay I’m tossing out, Ivan comes over and gets in the way of Bo. I guess Ivan is a little jealous. I may have to spend time with Ivan to see if that helps any.
I’m not sure if I’ll blog much this week. Hopefully I’ll have more energy. I missed out on the most beautiful day this weekend by sleeping 14 hours. I guess I really needed to recover from all the prep work and the excitement of the horse fair. If the weather holds out, I’ll try to snap a few pictures of the herd but I won’t make any promises.
I did start Jim back on a bit of grain. He started to lose a little weight so figured I’d better get him on some grain. With constantly using Zeke, I started him on a grain supplement too. I want him in tip top shape for Drill Team. We are not practicing for three weeks so I’m giving him a three week reprieve. Hopefully I’ll be able to convince him that going into the barn every night for grain will make it easier to catch him once we do start back to practice. Bo already knows the routine and is at the door impatiently waiting for his nightly grain. I think Zeke and Bo are becoming best friends so it makes getting those two settled for their evening grain a little bit easier.
I let Queen and Flower out to eat a little bit of grass these past two days. I turned my back yesterday and both Queen and Flower made it to the front lawn. I guess that’s the tastiest grass on our place. I’m waiting until tomorrow to call the vet. Flower isn’t improving. I had such high hopes that it was a deep abscess but it’s been three weeks of absolutely no improvement. I’m afraid there’s more damage than I originally anticipated. So tonight I’ll do one final check to see if there’s any heat still in her hoof and then I’ll call the vet. I really want a second opinion. My opinion is pretty negative right now and I need a second opinion. If the vet confirms my worst fear, we’ll put her down that day. If there’s hope its’ still only an abscess, we’ll continue to work through it. But she’s down more than up these days and I will not allow anyone to suffer. I’ve prolonged the phone call for too long as it is.
Mike has been going out and grooming Flower, Queen, Babe, and Thor now that the weather is nice. I think he even snuck out and brushed down King. He’s shedding like crazy. Of all the horses, he came out of winter the best. If the weather continues to stay as warm as it is, we’ll have to start him on his meds. I don’t know the scientific name (or even the layman’s name) for what’s wrong with him. Every summer he comes up lame. When I took him to the vet to evaluate him, the vet said that it’s acid buildup in his muscles. There’s a powder medicine he is one but last summer was so cool and mild that the muscle issue never flared up. But with the warmer temps, I expect he’ll have problems and I’d rather not see him limping around. I may put shoes on him too just to keep him a little bit more comfortable. I bought EZ boots but they don’t fit his gigantic feet. Maybe if I have shoes on him, we can go for short walks up and down the grass of the driveway to keep his muscles limber.
During the Horse Fair, I found an incredible saddleseat saddle. I’ve been itching to try saddleseat out and think Bo would do fantastic in the showring. I still haven’t gotten on him yet. He dropped some weight at the end of winter so I’m trying to put the weight back on before I start making him work. But I had high hopes of showing him this year. It’s not going to happen but next year, watch out! I’ll have had enough time to mess with him and learn how to do saddleseat without making myself look like a fool.
I pulled Rain out Saturday and tried on the saddleseat. He is definitely not made for anything English. He’s a fat little arab and he’ll be prone to high withers and a swayback in his later years. Even though he’s a total spaze, I tend to pull him out for all my English riding. I have no idea why.
When I went to pull Rain out of the pen, Maverick let me know his disappointment in not picking him. I really need to start messing with Maverick. I’m hoping to do just a little bit of cattle work with him. I’m not sure how much we’ll actually get to do but I’m going to try and squeeze it in now while the weather is still nice. I think both Chaos and Maverick are bored and I need to really start using their mind. I don’t think they would be content even just to do simple trail rides. We’ll see what I come up with to engage their minds.
Rabbit is getting more vocal these days. I stuck her in with the ponies and although she tolerates them, I think she’d prefer to be in with the mares. She’s too hard on the old mares and would be absolutely cruel to the blind horses. I don’t want her back with Mayhem yet. Mayhem was picking up Rabbit’s bad habits and that’s not allowed. So for now, Rabbit will just have to suffer the ponies’ torture. I think all three secretly enjoy the company and harassing one another.
Saturday was such a gorgeous day. I wish I would have had a camera. Ivan decided he’d take a snooze but instead of curling up or stretching out, he was curled up but with his feet in front of him like he was getting ready to get up. Twice I looked over and he had his nose to the ground in between his front legs and his eyes were shut. He was wobbling back and forth. Silly horse. I don’t mess enough with Ivan. But he has his best friend, Brego to keep him entertained. Wherever one goes, the other follows. Although Ivan has picked up a bad habit of pushing Bo around at feeding time. I’m not exactly sure what’s the deal but any time Bo comes close to hay I’m tossing out, Ivan comes over and gets in the way of Bo. I guess Ivan is a little jealous. I may have to spend time with Ivan to see if that helps any.
I’m not sure if I’ll blog much this week. Hopefully I’ll have more energy. I missed out on the most beautiful day this weekend by sleeping 14 hours. I guess I really needed to recover from all the prep work and the excitement of the horse fair. If the weather holds out, I’ll try to snap a few pictures of the herd but I won’t make any promises.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Acero Goes Home
Wednesday evening found us loading Acero up for his ride home. Believe it or not but this champion Peruvian Paso is only about five miles from Borderlands. When we unloaded Acero, his owner came out and called for him. The look in his eyes and in how he handled himself after knowing he was with his owner is heartwarming. For anyone who says horses don’t remember, I wish you would have been there. Acero saw his owner and acted like a different horse. It was comforting to watch him relax and enjoy himself.
We talked with the owner for a very short time. Apparently Acero has only had two owners, which is unheard of these days. For being 30 years old and having only two owners goes to show the dedication towards this horse.
Very few of the Borderlands horses can say that they’ve had only two owners in their entire life. Some have had countless owners. Although I was very happy to find out more information about Bo last month. Although she wasn’t the owner, she wanted to know how Bo was doing and to give me the real story of what happened instead of spreading rumors. I’ll share that story later.
I’ll spare you my rant on what I think about people who buy and sell constantly. I am comforted that the horses of Borderlands are home. They are family. We do not sell or trade our family off for a "better" or "newer model". When they leave this earth, a piece of us goes with them. I only wish all horses had an opportunity to have a permanent home.
We are still trying to recover from the SD Horse Fair and all the prep work that went into it. Hopefully I'll have more energy later today to share in some of the latest adventures at Borderlands.
We talked with the owner for a very short time. Apparently Acero has only had two owners, which is unheard of these days. For being 30 years old and having only two owners goes to show the dedication towards this horse.
Very few of the Borderlands horses can say that they’ve had only two owners in their entire life. Some have had countless owners. Although I was very happy to find out more information about Bo last month. Although she wasn’t the owner, she wanted to know how Bo was doing and to give me the real story of what happened instead of spreading rumors. I’ll share that story later.
I’ll spare you my rant on what I think about people who buy and sell constantly. I am comforted that the horses of Borderlands are home. They are family. We do not sell or trade our family off for a "better" or "newer model". When they leave this earth, a piece of us goes with them. I only wish all horses had an opportunity to have a permanent home.
We are still trying to recover from the SD Horse Fair and all the prep work that went into it. Hopefully I'll have more energy later today to share in some of the latest adventures at Borderlands.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Acero - Champion Peruvian Paso
Sunday wrapped up the 22nd annual SD Horse Fair. In the afternoon, Acero's owner became ill. I stepped up to haul Acero to our place until his owner was well enough. Acero is going home Wednesday.
Acero is a 30 year old champion Peruvian Paso. Even at the age of 30, Acero still shows off his dignity and regal stance. When we were getting him settled Sunday night, I came around the corner and Acero was standing perfectly still at full attention looking like he owned the place.
It has been an absolute honor to care for Acero. The following are just a few pictures of Acero. The weatherman said we were going to get rain so I threw a canvas waterproof sheet on him. I'm glad we did. We had a downpour.
Acero is a 30 year old champion Peruvian Paso. Even at the age of 30, Acero still shows off his dignity and regal stance. When we were getting him settled Sunday night, I came around the corner and Acero was standing perfectly still at full attention looking like he owned the place.
It has been an absolute honor to care for Acero. The following are just a few pictures of Acero. The weatherman said we were going to get rain so I threw a canvas waterproof sheet on him. I'm glad we did. We had a downpour.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
22nd Annual South Dakota Horse Fair
I've been wrapped up with the South Dakota Horse Fair all weekend (and part of last week). Zeke and I have been having a great time! He really was meant for the ring. I may try to show him a couple of times (while my health holds out).
I know this is totally unrelated to rescue and I thought I would share in what Zeke and I have been doing for the past few days. It's a shameless plug for the Cowboy Way Drill Team! (And Zeke and I are representing Borderlands at the Fair too!)
The following pictures are from last night's performance!
I know this is totally unrelated to rescue and I thought I would share in what Zeke and I have been doing for the past few days. It's a shameless plug for the Cowboy Way Drill Team! (And Zeke and I are representing Borderlands at the Fair too!)
The following pictures are from last night's performance!
The Drill Team was also asked if four riders would be willing to participate in the 4H Judging Friday morning. We didn't want to disappoint so we made sure to saddle up early. It was for a good cause and we had fun. I've never shown Zeke but just this little taste of it made me realize, I need to put Zeke in the show ring. I'm not sure how the kids placed the four of us riders, but the judge plazed Zeke first! Way to go Zeke!
Here we are after showing. Zeke did a wonderful job of representing Borderlands!
Don't forget to go to Gentle Spirit Horse Rescue and Sanctuary's Facebook page and website to check out the latest news on their current rescue efforts. If you can help in any way, please do. Your donations no matter how big or small really help!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Good Post from Habitat for Horses
Wish they all could have such a fruitful life and a caring and dignified end:
http://habitatforhorses.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/goodbye-my-friend/
Brought tears to my eyes and really choked me up.
http://habitatforhorses.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/goodbye-my-friend/
Brought tears to my eyes and really choked me up.
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