Hospital Ward

Last night we rearranged pens again. Hopefully this arrangement will work. We put Bo back in with the big herd Saturday but he seemed like he was off more Sunday and Monday. But on Tuesday when I looked, he didn’t seem as bad. But I don’t want to risk him getting hurt again or being off still. I don’t  know what’s wrong but my theory is that if he stays off concrete, doesn’t get pushed around, and stands on fairly soft ground (soft for it being almost December), then maybe he’ll come out of whatever it was. Maybe it was something neurological, maybe it was a severe pinched nerve. Who knows?

So last night after everyone had their grain, Mike and I hauled corral panels in to Babe’s pen. We divided the pen into two smaller ones. I have nowhere else to put Bo otherwise. I don’t want him in with the mares and ponies. I don’t think that’ll give him any relief. And right now there’s no round bale in front of them so not as ideal for gaining weight quickly before winter sets in. 

The dilemma is water.  We have the 100 gallon tank with heater in the pen but dividing it means that someone won’t get the warm water. We opted for Babe to have the big tank even though she won’t drink that much. We need to encourage her to drink so that’s who gets the big tank. Mike is working on a new game plan for Bo so that he can have warm water all the time too. We divided the pen so that Bo would have 24/7 access to the round bale. When we push in a new round bale in another week or so, we’ll rearrange the pen a little bit different to give Babe a bit more space.

 Babe was very upset last night when we brought Bo over. She didn’t realize that she was in a pen by herself because she could still hear Bo. I know she was depressed being alone and now maybe this setup will work better. Bo can’t push Babe around and maybe will simply keep his head in the hay bale until he’s fat (which is hard to do).

Where Babe and Bo are currently used to be the pony pen, and then it turned into the naughty timeout pen. Now it’s the hospital ward. Babe is recovering from her head wound and Bo is recovering from his leg injury or whatever is wrong. So the pen is not so lovingly dubbed the hospital ward until further notice.

This arrangement will work out well for me. It’ll make graining Babe and Bo easier. Last night I fed Bo in the barn and had Zeke, Jim, and Rain in too. Rain snuck under the chain dividing him from Bo and stole some of Bo’s grain. I gave Rain an earful when I found out he was snitching. Ivan wants to be in the barn at all times too. He loves his grain.

The weather is supposed to be fairly nice this weekend. Hopefully I can pull out the temporary fence in the mare pasture before the ground freezes. So not looking forward to winter. We have just a few more little projects to do outside before winter sets in. It’s nice to be able to tick off a few of the projects on our list. I can pass on the snow but we do need precip soon. We are still in a drought and if we don’t get anything soon, we are going to be in a world of hurt soon. We need rain and at some point, I’d even be fine with snow (just not yet).  If we go into another year of drought I’m afraid of what’s going to happen to the horse market even more. But I guess that’s a topic for another discussion.

I can’t believe that it’s almost December. I’ve always been at least one or two months behind. I lost half my summer and all of the fall with the G-Bear’s arrival (but it was worth it). Now it’s time to buckle down and get a few more projects done before the end of the year. I’m looking forward to 2013 and all the adventures we’ll be having.

1000 Posts

As the title says, this is our 1,000 post! Hard to believe that I could find enough to talk about, and yet I do. I know much of what I talk about is boring to most but it helps me keep track of our day-to-day activities and more importantly, when we say hello to a new member of the family.

We have seen a number of new family members and said goodbye to a number of family members also. We have been blessed with new friends. Some have come and gone, others stay (probably for the sheer amusement of the next funny story like chasing Zeke and Bo when I'm two days away from my due date...see picture).

I started the blog in March 2009, with some rambling thoughts and continue to ramble now three and a half years later. This year saw less rambling and will probably continue with that lack of daily posts until I can get into the swing of caring for an infant and caring for 15 horses.

I enjoy blogging although I need to be better about adding more pictures. We have grown as a sanctuary both in numbers and in knowledge. Much of the experiences have been an adventure but I look forward to sharing more adventures with you.

I would like to spend 2013 fundraising so that when the need arises, we don't have to say no to another horse that deserves a soft place to land. I am curious to know what you would like to see more of at Borderlands. More pictures, more posts, more about each individual horse, a newsletter? I'm game to try just about anything but am curious to know what others would like to see. Keep in mind I might not be able to do much but I would at least like to have the thought in the back of my mind so that if the time permits, I could do something more. So if you have an idea or a request, please let me know. Send me an email at Borderlandshorsesanctuary@yahoo.com or leave a comment on our Facebook page. If you are a follower, you can leave a comment on this post.

I look forward to hearing your ideas and to writing another 1000 posts. Thanks for sticking with us!

Festival of Trees

To get everyone in the holiday spirit at Borderlands, we decied to participate in the Festival of Trees this coming weekend. We are donating a tree for the silent auction. All fundraising monies will be given in memory of Darla Van Asselt to the Feeding South Dakota Backpack Program at Tri-Valley and Chester schools. We may be small and a private sanctuary but everyone needs a little help now and again and this is one way we can help. 

So, if you would like to get into the spirit of Christmas (or want to see the tree Borderlands donated tree), stop on out and bid on a tree!

Festival of Trees
First Lutheran Church
Colton, South Dakota

Silent Auction and Music

December 1st and 2nd from 2-4pm to view and bid on the donated trees (and wreaths). Enjoy piano and vocal Christmas music (and if it's the same lady singing, GO and listen. She is absolutley amazing! If she had a CD, I'd buy it, she's that good.)

December 2nd 4-5pm Organ Christmas Concert
December 2nd 5pm they announce the auction results.

http://www.augie.edu/related/flccolton/forms/2012%20Festival%20of%20Trees.pdf



Borderlands will be at the festivities on Saturday. We will miss out on who gets the decorated Christmas trees, wreaths, etc. but we will be getting ready to participate in the Parade of Lights in Hartford, South Dakota. So if you happen to be in the Hartford area, stop on our. I'll be riding Zeke. The parade starts at 5pm. I'll be riding for the Cowboy Way Riding Angels drill team.

Hope to see you at the Festival of Trees on Saturday and at the Parade of Lights on Sunday!

Weekend Activities

The past few days have been filled with family and lots of laughter. We had a well-deserved break from sanctuary/rescue work (not that it looks like we’ve been doing much as of late).

We’ve been treating Babe’s head wound. I think it’s getting better. Her owner came out early last week and gave her a “sweating to the oldies” headband look. I busted out laughing when I saw it. I know, I know, I’m being mean. But she looked so cute although I feel bad for her.  I think the infection is slowly healing.  I need to get out and do chores before it gets pitch dark out. I missed the injury until it got bad because I haven’t been out during the day since daylight savings time. I’m doing thorough body checks now to make sure everyone stays healthy.

Saturday we pushed in round bales to the big herd. We bought a cinch net and tried it out this last time. It saved the bale and we could have waited to push bales in for another day but having only one cinch net, two bales, and nine horses, there wasn’t enough room on the bale with the cinch net to let all the horses at the hay. The weather was decent so we buckled the little G-Bear in the truck and worked as quickly as we could to get the bales in. I’m going to be pinching my pennies so that we can buy another hay net. What a handy thing for all horse owners who feed round bales to have. There’s no mess and it makes the bale last a lot longer. Granted the bales we have aren’t the greatest and that’s why we are using them now instead of in the middle of winter when they can keep their head buried in the bale longer.  When the real cold sets in, we’ll have high quality hay to feed instead.

I’m also wondering if the cinch net wouldn’t work for Rabbit. She can’t be on a round bale because of her heaves. Her heaves flare up even when I just toss hay, although pitching it from the round bale into her pen seems to keep the heaves down. But I’m wondering if she can’t bury her head in the bale, if that would help. It’s a theory I want to try. At some point we won’t be able to get our big squares and will have to convert to rounds (something I’m not really looking forward to until we get a tractor that can actually lift round bales).

I also decided to put Bo back in with the big herd. I don’t think he’s 100% sound yet but I had no choice. I’m keeping a close eye on him to make sure he doesn’t go totally lame again. We still don’t know what was wrong with him. The blood work came back negative for everything so maybe it was a severe muscle pull but I don’t think so. I think there may be something neurological but who knows. He’s a bit off but he was still a bit off when he was in with Babe. But the other night he kicked the crap out of Babe and she was a hurting girl. Luckily it wasn’t too severe and she wasn’t lame on the leg for more than 24 hours. But I do NOT tolerate bad behavior towards the blind horses. Makes me furious. So, if we have to pull Bo out of the big herd, I’ll have to do some rearranging to see if I can get Bo back in where I have Babe right now but have it so that they aren’t in together. For now Babe will be alone until she recovers from her head injury and to make sure that the kick to the shoulder/leg doesn’t flare up.  (We seem to be having a rash of bad luck this fall, like every fall it seems).  Babe’s owner suggested that we might get a goat because she used to be in with a goat. I’ll keep an eye on Babe’s demeanor and then decide what to do. The neighbor has goats so I may see if I can’t snag a goat for a little while to see if that helps Babe’s mood. She’d been down in the dumps ever since we lost Queen and Thor in September. Putting Bo in with her was a bad mistake. She got more flighty and was very uncomfortable with him pushing her around all the time. So we’ll see how things go with her being in a pen with a bale in front of her 24/7 first before we make any more herd adjustments. I had thought of putting Brego with her but for now, we’ll just let her come down from all the changes.

In other more up-beat news, Borderlands is participating in a Festival of Trees this weekend. I don’t have all the details but it’s going to take place Sat Dec 1^st and Sun Dec 2^nd in Colton, South  Dakota.  There is a silent auction where you can bid on decorated trees. Borderlands is donating a tree for the festivities. As always, we are going the unconventional route. So if you happen to make it to the Festival of Trees, you’ll be able to spot our tree with ease. I don’t know the times but it takes place at the Lutheran Church in Colton, South Dakota.  I’ll try to post more of the details later but thought I’d give you all a heads up in case you wanted to sneak over to look at all the beautifully decorated donated trees and enjoy some holiday festivities to get you into the mood.

Also, we are going to have a fundraising brainstorming meeting this Saturday, December 1^st at Borderlands starting about 5:30pm. I would love to see you there.  Just let me know so I know how many pizzas to order. Of course I have to feed you if you help! That’s the rule at Borderlands. If you help, I can’t pay you but I can sure feed you. It’s the least I can do. So, if you’re free this coming Saturday please join us to come up with some fundraiser ideas. I want to focus 2013 on fundraising so that I don’t have to say no anymore. There are too many well-deserving horses that need a soft place to land be it for a few days, weeks, months, or years. Everyone deserves a retirement.

Fundraising Meeting December 1st

For those interested, we are having a fundraising brainstorming meeting Saturday December 1st at 5:30pm at Borderlands. Just let me know if you can make it so I know how many pizzas to pick up!

Happy Thanksgiving

From our herd to yous,  Happy Thanksgiving

Wrapping Up Projects

It's been fairly quiet on the homefront (knock on wood). The last couple of days I've had just enough time to do chores in the dark and that's about it. I  miss being able to do chores in the daylight. I've been rushing through chores the last few days that I missed that Babe had cut herself.  The pen she's in now isn't ideal. But any other scenario I ran to put her in a different pen didn't work either. Luckily Babe is making the best out of the situation. She's such a trooper, love that mare. She somehow managed to bang her head the other day (not hard to do, poor thing). So now she's sporting a swollen eye and a cut just under her ear. I'll never know what she cut it on. Mike looked all over the place to see if there was something sticking out but couldn't find anything.

I wasn't able to catch the cut right away. It's hard to do a thorough exam of horses in the dark. But she's on antibiotics now just to make sure that she kicks the infection immediately. With the weather turning colder, I want her system to be prepared for weather and not run down. Always when I see injuries, I think worst case scenario. Maybe I've been hanging out with our vet too much. My biggest fear was that she was going to lose the eye (granted she's blind in that eye but that we'd have to physically remove the eye).

I guess I'm a little gunshy at the moment. We've had a rash of injuries as of late. It always seems to happen in the fall and I can't figure out why. Horses get sick or injure themselves in the fall right when I'm trying to pay for hay. Or they hurt themselves right before a weather change.

Today is our last really nice day. Hard to believe that it'll be in the upper 60s today and by Friday in the 30s. Don't get me wrong, I love nice weather but I worry that the temperature change will affect the horses. But when I look at the herd now, we don't have as many oldsters as we used to. The oldest is Babe at 30 and the next oldest is Jim at 24.

We were able to tackle one of the projects that have been hanging over my head for awhile now worrying me. Having moved into an old farm that used to have cattle, the drylot wasn't exactly in tiptop shape for fencing. Cattle and hogs are really tough on fencing. Horses are hard on fencing but I think cattle and hogs may be even harder. When we moved in, there was a dead tree right next to the drylot. We didn't want to take the tree down for fear of taking the fence down. Unfortunately no fencepost or tree can withstand the amount of runoff from the drylot (from the nitrogen in the ground from the cattle). So many of the old fence posts were starting to rot off. I expect they were close to 30 year old fence posts. In the mean time, the fencing started to decline and then this summer the big old dead tree finally came down, right on the fence. Luckily we only had one horse escape. Can you guess who it was....Chaos of course! On Sunday Mom and Dad came down to put up new fence so I can rest easier this winter knowing that the horses won't escape.  We'll have to do something different next year. It's not a permanent solution by any means but it'll withstand a few good snowdrifts for sure.

Now I can go into the old mare pasture and pull down the temporary fence there too. I still need to call someone to come and do some major cleanup (another story I'll share at some point...still in shock even though it's been months).

While Dad and Mike were busy in the drylot, Mom, Garrett, and I headed over to the neighbor's to finally pull down the electric fence. I had such high hopes that we would be able to use the one last portion of the pasture but there wasn't enough time and now there's really nothing of nutritional value. We'd gotten a cold rain come through the first of October so I brought everyone home. It just wasn't worth keeping them over at the neighbor's even if I didn't really want to start feeding hay. No one seemed to upset about being back home though. I'm relieved to have that project done too. I didn't want our neighbor to think we were ungrateful for such a kind offer of letting us graze his entire pasture. It held almost the entire summer and fall.

We did push in two new round bales for the big herd Saturday morning. That was after we went and picked up three round horse hay feeders. Someone was moving and selling their hay rings so we picked them up. They all need a little bit of work but it beats the old cattle hay rings that we were using. We also put on the cinch net. At first I was annoyed. Trying to put on a cinch net in the dark for the first time, I had a lot of foul words fall out of my mouth. Because it's literally like a gigantic hay net and I fight with hay nets all the time. Luckily Mike has more patience than I do and we got it on. And I will say one thing! WOW. I  need to go buy another one. The horses dont' make such a mess and they can't power through an entire bale in a few days. I'm really loving this cinch net. Wishing we could afford a second one even if we won't be feeding rounds all winter. But for now, it's a dream. I'll be pinching my pennies so that we can get another one. It'll pay for itself in no time.

So we are now ready for winter snow if it hits. I could handle nice warm rain but I doubt that'll happen. But we are prepared, at least somewhat prepared. I'll never be totally ready for snow, it's always such a shock to my system. But the major proejcts are taken care of. There are a few little projects I want to wrap up this weekend if there's time. Hopefully the snow will hold off a little longer. I'd love for another open winter but we desperately need the precip. So if we could get a little bit of snow and a lot of rain, I'd be just fine with that too.

And if I don't happen to hop on tomorrow, I want to wish you all a safe and happy thanksgiving.  This past year has been an amazing rollercoaster ride for me. I want to thank all of Borderlands' friends and supporters. It is so nice to know that although we may be small and now not as active as we once were (thanks to the little G-Bear), it's still a comfort to have that support and friendship. We truly are blessed at Borderlands.