Upcoming Spring Storm

Here's an expert from our local news station:

Storm Center Update-Monday AM

April 8, 2013, 7:29 AM by Brian Karstens

SIOUX FALLS, SD - A major early spring storm will be heading for the plains the next few days, packing the potential for a foot of snow in some areas, ice, and heavy rain.  First, the ingredients for a major snow event are in place.  Deep snowcover to our north is keeping the air very cool just north of KELOLAND.  This system will have no trouble drawing down this colder air for northern, central, and western KELOLAND.  Even the southeast will see this trend too starting tonight.  It appears a classic April storm will head our way.  Here a few details according to the various regions of KELOLAND.

Southeast:  After a mild day today, snow and freezing rain will arrive tonight west of the James Valley into Tuesday morning.  Temperatures will be falling quickly behind the cold front, so expect a big drop in temperatures the next 24 hours.  The colder air will be in place late tonight, with a rain/freezing rain/snow mix near Sioux Falls and points northwest.  A winter storm watch has been posted for Sioux Falls and areas northwest.  We need to watch the icing potential northwest of Sioux Falls late tonight and tomorrow.  We are concerned that warm air aloft combined with cold winds at the surface will provide the ingredients for at least a couple of tenths of inch of ice.

A second surge of precipitation will develop in southeastern KELOLAND in the wrap-around snow behind the main low Tuesday night into Wednesday.  This may be the most important feature to watch for snow potential in the southeast.  When we combine these 2 pieces of the storm, snow totals of 6” or more seem reasonable, including in Sioux Falls.   Blowing and drifting snow could also be an issue, so stay tuned for updates.

A few more thoughts.  First, this moisture will help the drought.  Secondly, ranchers and farmers will want to take note that this powerful storm will be hard on young livestock with cold north winds and wet heavy snow.   Third, travel will be poor at times and could be nearly impossible in some of the hardest hit areas of KELOLAND.  Stay tuned to the latest information through the day . 

My thoughts....oh goodie. But at least this gives me a little bit of time to prepare for this storm. My only wish is that I didn't have a meeting scheduled for tonight. I may be doing final prep work in the dark after the meeting. Anyone want to stop out and help tonight?

That's SD For Ya

We are going to have an almost 30 degree weather change in the next 24 hours. I knew we were going to get some type of weather but I didn’t realize it was going to be so drastic! We had drizzle and light showers Sunday. It was a good day to relax and enjoy watching the rain fall. If we could have a week straight of that type of weather, I think we’d have a reduced threat of another drought.  I don’t think we got enough rain last night to amount to a hill of beans though.  That’s South Dakota for ya.

This morning we woke to fog. Not just any ol’ type of fog. Dense Fog. I rank fog up there with blizzards.  I hate driving in fog. The only time I wish we had wind is when we have dense fog. I want the wind to blow it away. Instead we had wind and rain yesterday and fog this morning. Yeah, that’s South Dakota for ya.

Depending on which weather service map I look at, we are predicted to get rain tonight. Both the weatherman and the weather map online say we are going to get freezing rain tomorrow along with lower temps, almost a 30 degree swing. Oh goodie.  Except when I read the forecast, they say little to no ice accumulation. How does that work?  “Rain or freezing rain. High near 34. Breezy, with a north northeast wind around 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Little or no ice accumulation expected.” That’s South Dakota for ya.

I guess from Tuesday night until sometime Thursday, we are predicted to get some snow. At least we aren’t getting the six+ inches of snow that’s predicted in the middle of the state. Don’t get me wrong, I think we need the moisture but I’d just as soon have it as rain instead of snow. It takes a lot of snow to get a decent amount of moisture. I’ll take it in spring rains, thank you very much.

I’m not looking forward to this drastic temperature change. I’ll be busting my butt tonight to get all my chores done before I have to head to another meeting. I swear I’m gone more now than I ever was.

The mare and filly will definitely go in but I may reduce the number of stalls they have to play in. Moving them to only two stalls would give me four stalls in the barn for Jim, Rain, Zeke, and Brego. Those are the four that need to be in out of the weather the most.  I know everyone else will stand in a leanto to stay out of the nasty weather. I’m debating on either putting Rabbit and Mayhem in the hay shed stalls or just throwing a blanket on Rabbit. My preference is in a stall but we’ll see. If I stall them tonight, they will be stuck in their stall until Wednesday  morning because of the weather. I guess that’s not all that bad. The only catch is that the one stall is demolished thanks to Sahara and I never got around to getting it fixed. So I’ll have to come up with something tonight quick if I want to put Rabbit and Mayhem in and I’m really leaning towards that option. Rabbit’s heaves are starting to flare up. I need to make a little stall for her in her pen so that she can eat her grain in peace and get the meds she needs instead of having Mayhem steal them from her. I desperately need to separate those two. I’m debating on putting Mayhem into the Colt Starting Challenge that’s going to be held by Gentle Spirits Horse Rescue and Sanctuary. Then she’d be adopted out but I am not sure yet. I need to just get through the next 72 hours first.

Even though Bo and Babe have shelter, I may end up putting blankets on them too. I’m worried that the temperature swing might bother them. I’m sure I’m being over protective but I don’t care. You can be over protective of an oldster and a hard keeper.

So the next 24 hours is going to be absolutely crazy and I’ll definitely be scrambling to get everything done before the nasty weather sets in.

In other news, I was so exhausted Saturday that I didn’t really do too much with the horses other than chores and filling water tanks. I don’t typically take naps but I took at least two yesterday without even knowing it. You know you’re tired when you’re reading a book and don’t realize you’ve fallen asleep until you almost drop the book.  Here I thought I was still awake and reading the story! I did mess with Mayhem a little bit. If I don’t enter her into that Colt Starting Challenge, I won’t be able to send her to a trainer until next year. She still has her umbilical hernia that needs to be repaired. We’ve had too many other expenses to take care of that issue. But I also want to get Ivan in to the trainers for a quick refresher. I guess I’d prefer to give Mayhem an extra year. Her actual birthday isn’t until June 24^th so I’d prefer to let her grow a little bit more before putting her into vigorous training. But she is lacking in ground work so I thought I’d mess with her. She also cut herself on the fence. She’s taken to squeezing her neck in between the gate and post to snitch the hay that falls from the wheelbarrow (that I don’t scrape up and toss over). So she ended up cutting her neck. I swear those young ones are so accident prone!

Sunday we ended up running around town for a good portion of the day. When we did finally get home, it started to rain so I ended up doing my chores in the drizzle.  Teach me not to go out earlier.

Mike is going to go turkey hunting this coming weekend so I need to get everything figured out for when he’s gone. When he was gone for training, we had everything figured out so I wouldn’t have to worry about feeding and making sure the Bear was ok. I need to get everything figured out again so that I don’t have to stress over it. Luckily he’ll only be gone over the weekend so there won’t be too much stress of having to rush around to do chores. Hopefully the weather will be nice for this weekend.

I’m sure to be absolutely exhausted tonight making sure everyone is safe and dry. At least we are going to get moisture so I won’t complain.

A Need

I can’t get her out of my mind. I saw an ad for a free older horse on our local classifieds. She fits all our criteria. Of course it would be an owner surrender instead of a rescue from an auction but I’d prefer to get them BEFORE they go to auction rather than at auction.  But I can’t offer her a retirement home because we are full. That thought alone breaks my heart.   I’ve now had to decline a few horses that fit our criteria (or simply not respond to the ad) and that thought really bothers me.

It feels like I’m not doing anything these days. I know that’s not true and with Sanctuary work, there is only so many spots before you are full and can’t take any more. But it still feels like I’m not doing enough. Here this broodmare sits, having made babies all her life and now she needs a safe retirement home and we can’t offer it. The owners are trying to do right by finding her a new home before the only alternative (for them) is an auction. I’m torn by wanting to take horses in, in this type of situation but I have my reasons for wanting to step up.

If we could find her a lifetime sponsor, I would go and get her in a heartbeat. She’s not too terribly far away either.  Although, all the horses that we have taken in, have been fairly close.

I know we won’t end up bringing her in to the Sanctuary. So I am also debating on going to either the Sioux Falls Regional Horse Sale or the Mitchell Horse Sale (although I won’t be bringing anyone home). Both are scheduled for April 19^th in the evening. I haven’t been to an auction in over a year so I have no idea what prices are like for the loose horses. I want to go but I’m not sure I can muster the energy. My heart seems to be in more turmoil these days.

Excitement

I was in a grumpy mood for most of yesterday.  So much to do, and so little time. As I was grumbling about this or that to myself while driving up the driveway, I noticed something that really made me happy! Instead of one set of legs in the mare’s pen, there were two sets of legs!! The neighbor’s mare had her baby! We were sure that it would be stillborn just from the way the mare was acting. I guess there just wasn’t any room!! I was so excited I had to call the neighbor right away! The name is still up in the air but the filly is a beauty! She looks nothing like her mother. Her mother is a bay and white paint and the filly is a chestnut overo. Gorgeous! I have pictures but only on my phone so I’ll have to try and get better pictures this weekend.

It’s amazing what good quality care will do for a baby. I was reminiscing about Savanna and Jett and how that birth was. Jett wouldn’t stand for 12 hours and then I had to carry him to Savanna’s side. The new little baby was up and moving around when I got home. This morning when I went out to do chores, the little filly was loping around her mother. It’s a far cry from when Jett was barely able to move around and Savanna was so exhausted she could barely stand to let Jett nurse.  

I’m so glad that we were a part of these little “families”. We’ve had two babies born at Borderlands and in the past three years, we’ve had three babies born (can’t forget the Bear!) With Sanctuary life, we are always wrapped up in old age and the inevitable loss. But with newborns, there’s so much curiosity and discoveries. Newborns are a breath of fresh air for me. I don’t want to take on babies but it is a joy to be around them for just a little bit.  I know understand why people want to start with a very young horse to train. But I’ll stick with the oldsters that have the knowledge and wisdom thanks to age and experiences.

It’s been a crazy week so far with very little time at home. I was able to work a couple horses Saturday but after that I have only been around them long enough to feed and water. Hopefully this weekend I’ll be able to sneak out for a little bit to play although now I hear that we are to get rain. I guess I won’t complain. We desperately need rain. I am excited to finally see a little bit of green these days. If we get some rain, we’ll definitely be submersed in green!

Right Angle

My heart goes out to some friends of the Sanctuary. Easter Sunday they lost one of their dear horses they recently got back. I don’t know the entire situation and at this point, I’m not sure that I want to. But losing a loved one is very hard and our sympathies go out to them during this time of loss.

I was thinking about loss last night during chores. With Jim being off and possibly depressed, I started thinking of the inevitable. The only two on my watch list right now are Jim and Babe. Jim because he’s depressed and Babe only because of her age (although she put on weight over the winter!)

Most of the horses at the Sanctuary aren’t old. We welcomed them in before I had my criteria established and before I knew I wanted to be a Sanctuary rather than a rescue. I’m hoping that we won’t have to deal with any loss this year (besides the loss of our longtime supporter and role model, my grandma). We’ve had to say goodbye to a number of horses over the years and it seems we’ve lost one or two since 2007. Of the ones we’ve lost, all but four were due to old age. Two due to health reasons before they came to the Sanctuary. These two showed immense aggression so we did what we thought was best. Another was a pasture accident although she did have health problems, and the last the vet killed although she did have health problems also. I can rattle off the names and the reasons for the loss but it takes a lot of energy.

While I was looking at the herd the other day, I started thinking that maybe we looked more like a feedlot rather than a normal farm. I’ve kept the horses in a drylot to protect the pasture over the winter. So I started thinking about what it would be like to go to Musick’s feedlot and try to pick out a horse. I tried looking at the big herd without knowing the personalities and quirks of each. If I were given the opportunity to go to Musick’s feedlot to bring someone home, how would I choose? What criteria would I use? Would I look at confirmation? Would I try to pull the weakest from the lot or try to find the one that has the easiest chance of finding a home quickly? Would I look at color? Would their eyes tell me?  I doubt I’ll ever be given the opportunity to pull a horse from Musick’s but I’ll keep thinking of those that are stuck in that situation. It worries and angers me that I am less than an hour away from a feedlot and I’m doing nothing but sitting on my hands. I know that my hands are tied and I can’t bring anyone else home. If I am to bring someone else home, he/she probably wouldn’t come from the feedlot. But there’s so much potential standing out there and I could be making a difference and I’m just sitting on my hands doing nothing.

I need the connections to get in and scope out the situation. I know there’s a win/win possibility but I need to figure out the right connections and the right angle to make it work. Anyone have those connections?

Busy Bee

I seem to be losing track of time even faster these days. Last night was a totally unproductive day for the Sanctuary. For other activities, we were busy! For those that don’t know, I’m also one of the founders of the Minnehaha County Saddle Club and am currently the Chair. I wanted to promote working with your horse so we started the Minnehaha County Saddle Club Distance Derby (based on the Distance Derby being hosted out of Nebraska). It started April 1^st but I haven’t been able to do anything with it lately because Blogger has been a pain in my rear.

We also decided to see if the city of Hartford would want our saddle club to host a trail ride during their Jubilee Days June 15^th and 16^th. So Mike, the Bear, and I hopped in the car to meet F at the Hartford City Council meeting last night at 6pm.  I thought we were doing good by leaving early. That’ll teach me! Instead of getting there early to make sure the Bear was asleep, we spent those few precious moments scrambling to find the owners of a weiner dog that was racing down our road. The sight of a weiner dog racing down the road makes me bust out laughing every time. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find his owners before the council meeting so we put him in one of our kennels and ran to the meeting, which went off without a hitch. We are waiting for one final approval and then I’ll be busy planning that event!

So back to the weiner dog. What a ham! We did find out who his owners are but they weren’t home last night. He ended up spending the night at our house. Mike was going to drop him off tomorrow morning. When we first moved to Borderlands, we didn’t have the horses yet (nor were we running the Sanctuary). But I wanted to do my part and volunteered to be a foster for Almost Home Canine Rescue based out of Madison, SD.

Oh the stories we can tell you about fostering. I think we fostered for about two years before we called it quits. The Chihuahua was our breaking point but we were able to help out a few dogs. I’d recommend checking out Almost Home Canine Rescue. The focus of the rescue changed a few times over the years but always the final goal of finding unwanted dogs a new home.

I forgot what it was like to have a new dog in the house. I was up more with the dog than I currently am with the Bear! I was able to finally unwind about 11pm. The dog decided he was tired of being in the kennel and wanted out at midnight. We went for a quick jaunt in the driveway and I headed back to the couch. Unfortunately the dog wanted back out at 2am and that’s when I decided to take the Bear upstairs (he fell asleep in his carseat; we are currently going through the teething phase).

So I know it’s totally unrelated to the Sanctuary but that was my night! I’m a little worried about Jim. He’s been off for the past couple of days. I’m not sure if it’s the hay I’m tossing out (this bale isn’t the greatest) or if there’s something wrong. I think he’s depressed but I’m thinking Maverick and he may have had a fight. Jim has been hanging out with King at mealtimes, which is odd. I may need to give Jim some extra loving this week (if I can find time).

The rest of this week is jampacked with non-Sanctuary related activities (drill team meeting, church,  drill team practice with the second drill team).

Nice Weather

The neighbor's poor mare. I feel so bad for her. She was supposed to foal last month but it's been over a month now and still no baby. The neighbor had her vet come out last night and he suspects that the baby is stillborn. I wasn't around to get all the details. If it is stillborn, we'll probably not have the mare at our place for very much longer.

In happier news, the weather is gorgeous! I took advantage of the warmer weather Friday night and filled water tanks before it started raining and the temps dropped. Saturday morning was a little weird for weather. We drove in the Hartford to deposit the money from the SD Horse Fair raffle and the Easter Fundraiser (thank you everyone!). When we drove into Hartford, the skies were clear but when we drove back home, we were met with fog and dreariness. Luckily the fog didn't stay for very much longer.

I was able to sneak out for about two hours this afternoon. I groomed a few of the horses in the big herd (those that wandered up to me while I had brush in hand). I decided I didn't want to waste the nice weather so I pulled Jim out and went for a short ride. He was full of himself today and didn't let his age get the better of him. I also worked with Maverick for a little bit. I definitely need to work with the horses more.