Happenings This Week

Earlier this week we put the ponies in with Rabbit and Mayhem (much to Rabbit's dismay). I wish it hadn't been so dark otherwise I would have gotten some really good action shots. Those ponies did hot laps around the pen, bucking and rearing and getting everyone else all stirred up. Even the big herd was riled up, racing around watching those ponies. Mayhem joined in with the running and bucking. She must have watched Zeke a few times because she kept her tail raised like an arabian instead of the Quarter horse that she is.

Rabbit was most displeased by having ponies in her pen. I thought maybe she would have a tough time adjusting to two little monsters in her pen now that she's blind in the right eye but he doesn't seem to care. She put the ponies in their place every once in a while. For being blind in one eye and a little lame in the backend, she can still flatten her ears and take two huge lunges at the ponies to get them to move. I secretly think she's loving having the ponies in the pen to boss around. Mayhem is too laid back for her to boss around so Rabbit doesn't really have anyone to pick on. Now she has the ponies to pester. It looks like she's annoyed but I really think she enjoys the company. I had the ponies in with Rabbit a couple of years ago and it seemed to work out just fine. So hopefully this arrangement will work out for winter.

I'm also starting to believe in miracles. I was devastated to see Bo so lame. None of the tests came back with any reasoning for his lameness. The next step was x-rays but I needed to hold off on doing that until after paying a few vet bills down (which are still sitting on the kitchen table). But before we moved Bo and Babe to their winter pen, I noticed that Bo was moving around a lot better. He is still a little off but not to the same degree. I figured Bo would go lame again when we moved him to the winter pen because he was pacing the fenceline. He did get a little bit more sore than I'd wanted but he seems to be getting better. We still don't know what happened to him but he seems to be improving. I expect it's something neurological, which is devastating but Bo seems to be able to go through anything. I can't keep him as quiet in his winter pen because it's not adjacent to the big herd. But if it seems like Bo is getting better, I may put him back in with the big herd. But it'll be a few more months before that happens I'm afraid. Through all that he's been through, he's still a happy-go-lucky horse.

This weekend is supposed to be nice so I'm hoping to get over to the neighbor's and tear down the temporary fencing. I've been meaning to get over there since we brought the horses home at the end of October but there doesn't ever seem to be any time. I want to get a few things buttoned up before winter really sets in. We still need to do some serious fencing in the drylot. We had a dead tree take down some fence and only because we keep the horses occupied with round bales have they not escaped. So I'm hoping this weekend to do some serious fencing so that when the first serious snowfall arrives, we'll be ready for winter.

I also heard a report of a mountain lion in the area. Someone saw a mountain lion chasing a deer a few miles north of where we live. I was a little concerned for the ponies, until I realized they are in with Rabbit and she's bossy enough to take a mountain lion down. I was also worried about Bo and Babe but they are closer to the house and I can keep a close eye on them through the kitchen window. It's a little un-nerving but I guess that's the price we pay for living in the country.

Avoiding Another Auction

There's another horse auction tonight that I'll be avoiding. Why do I feel so guilty for not going? I can't bring anyone home, I can't promote any of those loose horses, and yet I feel guilty.  Why do auction days cause me to have a heavy heart? I should be doing more but I don't know what more I can do.  Oh sure, there are things I could do but there are more time constraints on me now than there ever was before.

I know I need help in publicizing the sanctuary and therefore possibly bringing in more funds so that we could take in a few of the older, deserving horses that need a soft place to land for their remaining days on this earth, be it a few days, a few weeks, a few months, or a few years.

We are thinking of having a fundraiser in January. We were going to try for Christmas but there's so much going on and we are too far behind now to get the fundraiser going so we are thinking of pushing it off until January. Would anyone be interested in helping? If there's an interest, I'll explain more in an email but if we don't get it off the ground, no sense in boring you all with the idea. :-)

Maybe this coming year we can focus on the necessary paperwork and fundraising. I forsee another tough summer for hay next year, which means even more horses without a home for winter. I don't want to keep having to say no to those old warriors that deserve a retirement.

Comfort Horse

When we lost Queen in September, I lost my “comfort” horse. You all know the one, the horse that you cry in their manes, the horse that you tell your secrets to. 

Last night I was just in a bad mood for no apparent reason.  None of the horses seemed overly interested in me except one. When Brego saw me climb over the gate, he walked up and stood right next to me. For some reason, Brego knew exactly when I needed the most comforting. He stood there and let me hang on him and kiss him while the others just stood and watched. I’m not sure if Brego was simply lonely for attention or if he knew I really needed a bit of attention myself.

This is actually the second time that Brego has caught me off guard. I don’t consider him my “comfort” horse. We’ve never formed a very tight bond, not like with Queen. Oh sure, we enjoy each other’s company and know what to expect but to really know what the other will do before they do it, I haven’t gotten that with Brego…yet.

This summer Brego surprised me again. When we had them at the neighbor’s Brego came up to investigate my gigantic belly. He kept putting his nose on my belly. I’m not sure if he was smelling or just wanted to keep his head at that level. But it seemed like he wanted to comfort me (and the baby).

So it may be that I have a new “comfort” horse. Only time will tell but it was nice last night to give Brego a few extra kisses and a hug before heading back in for the evening. I guess blessings come in all shapes and forms and when you least expect it.

100 Degrees to 5 Degrees in Four Months

It's hard to believe that just four short months ago we were dealing with such intense heat. Today we are in the teens with a wind chill of five degrees. Yup, you read that right, five degrees. Four months ago you'd have to add a ten to the five. 105 degrees some days.

The cold snap took me a bit by surprise. Luckily last weekend we rearranged pens so that we had water tanks in the right locations. We need to do some fencing to get the ponies in with Rabbit and Mayhem. I think right now they are enjoying their barn life instead!

Last night when we went out to do chores, the water tanks were frozen over. Luckily Mike had almost everything gathered and ready to turn the heater on. But it's still a shock to the system to see such thick ice covering the entire tank. Luckily the temps are supposed to go back up after today. I hate seeing teens for the lows. I just dread the thought of winter being around the corner. There's still so much to do and so little time to get it all done. Well, actually, there's only a little bit of fencing we need to do to wrap up everything before winter really sets in.

Saturday night Mike and I pushed in round bales to the big herd. I never liked the idea of round bales because then I couldn't regular how much everyone got and I was worried that some of the non-aggressive horses would get pushed out. So far everyone is behaving. It's not top notch hay so they aren't always standing at the hay bale with their head buried. I have seen them all surface even if it's just for a little while. So I guess rounds aren't so bad after all. I expect that in the middle of winter, I'll be back to feeding from the big squares but those are a better quality.I guess for now it's a win win situation. The horses get to eat non-stop on those bales and later when they need better quality, I'll be back in a routine. This last week I went back to work (part time). After three months off, it was a big of a shock to get back to the paying job. It'll be an even bigger shock this week when I go back full time. I don't think the horses enjoy this lifestyle change.

When we were getting ready to push bales in Saturday night, I thought I saw lightening. I was busy haltering everyone so that we could get the bales in before company came. We weren't supposed to get any weather until after midnight. Nope, weatherman was wrong, again. I was finishing up haltering the last horse and I saw lightening in the sky again and felt a couple of drops. Mike had to deal with pushing in bales during a downpour. When he came back in, I had to go back out and let the horses go. I forgot what it was like to have thunder and lightening. The lightening was so bright, it was like daylight. It's been a long time since we've had a thunderstorm. But it felt a little weird having a thunderstorm in November. At least we didn't get the freezing rain and snow that the other side of the state got. They can keep the snow for as long as possible. I'm fine with rain. Ill not complain about the much needed moisture but I do need to keep a close eye on the weather these days to knwo what to do for the horses.

Emma - Gentle Spirits Horse Rescue and Sanctuary

Saturday I had the pleasure of meeting Emma. She's available for adoption through Gentle Spirits Horse Rescue and Sanctuary. You can read all about her at:

http://gentlespirithorses.net/index.php/info/gsh0129_emma

I have a soft spot for blind horses because they have to adapt to their surroundings differently than others. Emma is a gem. I didn't mess with her too much but immediately saw the old soul in the young body. She is wise for her years. I don't know if it comes from her past or if she was born an old soul. Either way, she is one amazing girl. 

When one of the founders of Gentle Spirits took me out to meet the horses, Emma was stretched out snoozing in the sunshine. Having had multiple blind horses, I don't often see a blind horse so relaxed that they are willing to stretch out and snooze. Many horses get spooky when going blind in one eye and here Emma is blind in both eyes and yet she's as cool as a cucumber. 

I think with the right person, Emma could really blossom into an amazing horse (although she has already blossomed under the care of Gentle Spirits). So, if you already have a horse and are thinking of bringing another into your home, Emma may be your girl. Having a blind horse is a new challenge but speaking from experience, a blind horse will teach you more than you could ever imagine. I've considered it an absolute blessing to have Babe at Borderlands. Whoever snaps up Emma will quickly learn also that blind horses tend to have more to give than other horses.  

Life In A Nutshell

The little G-Bear and I made it through our first day back to reality. I'm not sure if the horses like it better or not. Sunday morning I got up fairly early (thanks to daylight savings time), and headed out to do chores. I've been using the big rounds instead of the big squares to feed until the snow flies. The rounds take more time to pitch hay and I figured I could feed the rounds while I was still at home.

Knowing that I would have very limited time in the morning and at night, Mike and I decided that it may be best to simply push in a couple of round bales to the big herd. I couldn't toss out enough hay from the rounds to the big herd. I can handle tossing hay from a round bale to four or six horses but not all fifteen. It's just too much and takes too much time (and I use way too many naughty words).

I decided it was time to play musical pens so that I could get everyone set for the winter months. We still aren't completely done but are at least closer than before. I put the ponies in the barn and will be there until later this week when I can repair the blind pen, which is now the mare pen.

I added some additional corral panels to the old pony pen so that Bo and Babe would have some additional sunlight and space to move around all winter. By moving them, I had room to put Rabbit and Mayhem in the old blind pen. I can feed rounds to Rabbit because of her heaves. We will be putting the ponies in with Rabbit and Mayhem this coming weekend also so another reason why we can't have rounds in that pen. We still need to pull the round bale feeder out. It got too late when we were pushing bales Sunday night.

I wasn't sure how well I would be able to handle Rabbit or Mayhem. Having been laid up, I haven't handled either one of them very much. Mayhem did really well. She was a real champ walking around and investigating new objects. I'm hoping to get back to working soon. I wasn't sure how well Rabbit would do. She was acting like she was ouchy all over. I thought maybe it was her eye. Nope, she was just fooling me. She's turned into a "touch me not" horse and just getting close to her she flinches. It doesn't matter where I try to touch her, she flinches. I'm wondering if something in her past is causing her to think that she might get hurt. I was able to get the halter on without her thinking I was going to hurt her. I had thought maybe it was her eye but I discovered it was her ear and not her eye that was bothering her. She is most definitely blind in the right eye but she isn't too spooky about it. She's adjusting better than I had expected. However, if for some reason she goes blind in the other eye, I have a bad feeling that she will not adjust to her new handicap.

Rabbit and Mayhem settled down into their new pen right away. None of the boys seemed all that concerned either. I have to leave the electric fence up in the old mare pasture until we fix the drylot. Somehow Chaos managed to fall out of the fence and hang out with the mares. It's the second time he's escaped into the mare pasture. Darn geldings.

In the evening on Sunday we got home just before the sun set during a steady drizzle. Mike was able to get the bales tipped and ready to push into the pen while I haltered up all the geldings. Unfortunately, the little G-Bear wanted in on the action, so I had to take him for a drive while Mike did most of the work in getting the bales into the drylot. Poor Mike has done so much, he's a godsend. Mike pushed two round bales into the drylot and pushed another into the pen with Babe and Bo. Bo wasn't too thrilled. I think he wanted to be in with the big herd.

I do believe in miracles. I think Bo is getting better but I may be wearing rose colored glasses when I look at him. I had Mike take a peek too and he thought Bo was doing better too. But now that Bo has been in a different pen with different footing and he spent all day walking around this different pen, I'm afraid he may be a bit more sore than before. So who knows. We still don't know what's wrong. I have to get Bo's blood work paid off and Queen and Thor's euth vet bills paid off before accruing additional bills.  But for now, I think Bo is getting better.

I'm still a little concerned that not everyone in the big herd will get to the round bale. I want to sneak out tonight and see who is eating at the bale. I did notice that Dude wasn't at the round bale this morning and he would be the one to push anyone else out of the way. I am most worried about Zeke. I may start babying him a little bit more too. I'll be using him for Drill Team and I don't want him to lose weight. We may start doing beet pulp on Zeke, Jim, Bo, and Babe. I'm trying to get into the swing of work first before we get into the heavy evening graining.

I need to get over to the neighbor's and tear down all the electric fence. I swung over there last night to keep the G-Bear quiet while Mike was working his magic on those round bales (we don't have a tractor that can lift and move round bales. We are stuck pushing bales either with the tractor that isn't running right or the old farm truck). I noticed that one end of the electric fence was ripped off the fence posts and strung on a fence. I have no idea how it got there unless the neighbor messed with it or a deer ran through the fence and snagged it. I'll never know for sure but I want to get everything taken care of before the snow flies. We've already had snow so I want to get cracking on getting all the outside wrapped up before the ground freezes.

I know there's more going on but I'm drawing a blank. This momma's brain is done. I'll be happy to go out and play with the horses and then crash. I missed going to the last two horse auctions. It's probably a good thing but still disappointing that we can't do more.

We are looking at doing a fundraiser next month. Keep your eyes peeled for more details as we get everything ironed out. Also, I believe Borderlands will be donating a tree or a wreath to a church for their silent auction Christmas fundraiser. If anyone is interested, I can send you more information.

Return to Reality

Today is the last day of my maternity leave. I'm not sure if I'll have more time or less time to post our adventures here at Borderlands. Chores are going to be interesting when I do go back to work. I want to burn through all the big rounds before I start using the better quality big squares. But pitching hay from rounds is time consuming and I seem to have less time now than I ever did before.

I prefer to pitch hay, otherwise I can't tell who gets to eat at the round bales and who will get pushed out. With a herd of nine, I expect the less dominant horses will get pushed out but it may be that I have to simply keep a close eye on everyone to ensure they all dine on a round bale.

I'm hoping this weekend to do some fencing and subsequent rearranging of pens so reduce the time it takes me to go from one pen to another. We'll see how the new arrangement works. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it goes well.

We will soon be starting some brainstorming sessions for fundraiser ideas. If you have any that you would like to share, they are always welcome. Please email your ideas to borderlandshorsesanctuary@yahoo.com.

If you don't see many posts in the next few days, it's me simply trying to get into the swing of reality again. We are here as always here plugging along.