Life is Insane

Life has been insane lately. There's no time to breath, let alone think Sanctuary stuff lately. Just trying to stay afloat. The paying job has me so busy that all I can do is chores and then I'm back to working at the paying job to not get as far behind, or is it to keep my boat afloat? Either way, I'm getting farther and farther behind or my boat is quickly sinking.


It makes it tough to focus on Sanctuary stuff and I'm frustrated.


Of course sick kids and running kids to their appointments is getting more difficult. I'll be in trouble when they are in school and school activities. They are easy peasy at the moment (what with only being 2 and 5).


So if you have been wondering where we are at, we are here, MIA but here, frantically working.


I am starting to panic. I have a lot to share and a lot of it is really good but internet at home doesn't work and the paying job, well you know.


So I'll try to post again later this afternoon with a few of my thoughts so you'll feel my stress and pain (you're welcome).

Losing Junior

We’re going to lose Junior.

I’m not sure exactly when but it’ll be sooner than I thought. I’m guessing by the end of the month we’ll have to say goodbye. I am cursed with bays. Junior is the last of the super hard keepers. I’m not sure what I’ll do with myself once all the hard keepers are gone. Bo and Junior have been my hard keepers for the past few years and now there won’t be anyone nearly as hard keepers as those two.

I hauled them to their “summer retreat” the first of June in hopes that Junior and Lace would pack on the pounds. With 24x7 pasture and grain, I had hoped they’d put on weight. They’d have the same here but usually they do better in their summer retreat but not this year.

I have been checking on Junior on a regular basis and he continues to lose weight. It’s not for lack of care or feed or trying. He’s simply no longer able to maintain what little weight he has. He was always a hard keeper. From the get go in November 2014, he was tough to put weight on. Only one winter were we able to put weight on and that was a mix of amazing hay/alfalfa, grain, and a ton of blankets.

I havent’ scheduled the appointment because I havent’ been around him enough to know if he’s given me a sign. I think he has and I’ve ignored it. He’s not a touchy feely horse and the last time I was up there, he put his head into my chest. That’s definitely a sign but I’m still ignoring it.

I am sad to see him leave this world but in truth, when he came to us in November 2014 at the age of 26, I didn’t think he’d last more than a year or two. In fact, he’s lasted until the ripe age of 30. He’s lived a life of luxury since coming to the Sanctuary. No work, no demands, just a couple of mares to keep him happy and away from the commotion of the big herd. He’s never liked big crowds so we always kept him with the mares. Mayhem will be devastated but she’ll adjust just as she had to when she lost her mother, Rabbit May 2017.

That’s the hard part of having young-ish horses. They get attached to older horses and when they leave this world, they leave a whole in the herd and in the hearts of everyone at the Sanctuary (both two-legged and four-legged).

I’m coming to terms with losing Junior but it still stinks. I can only imagine that in his younger years he was an amazing horse and riding partner. He’s been a fantastic horse at the Sanctuary. No real demands but he’ll watch you like a fox when it’s time for his grain. There are very few who could love their grain more than Junior.

I haven’t called the vet yet because I don’t want to hear what they have to say. With it being only a few months where the rendering trucks refuse to take horses euthanized with the chemical, I doubt that anything has been resolved. I had hoped that Junior would at least last until fall so we could bury him out back in the field but that isn’t going to happen. I am guessing that we will still need to find a place to bury him on the old farm place and have to call in a favor to have his body taken care of. We will use the chemical to euthanize as I don’t see shooting him as the respectful way to end his life on this earth. He deserves a better end. I haven’t called because it’ll mean calling for favors to take care of his body. I struggle with that part of death. I’m there until the last breath (and even afterwards) but I can’t be there for the removal. But now I’m going to have to figure out what to do with him afterwards. I guess that’s just how things will be for the Sanctuary until something is figured out.

I’m sure I’ll continue to talk about Junior these next few days but his leaving is weight heavily on my mind these days.

Pictures are from last spring after coming out of winter looking fantastic.

Wishlist Wednesday - Buckets

This Wishlist Wednesday, we wish for buckets. It doesn't really matter what kind of buckets they are, as long as they are clean.


We use a number of 5 gallon buckets to haul water for the ponies or to fill water tanks in the winter. Water buckets are always a necessity when having horses. We use them not only for water, but also for grain.


We'd be tickled with any type of bucket, be it a 5 gallon bucket, a water bucket specifically for horses, or any other kind of bucket. Size doesn't matter either. We use a number of the bigger buckets to haul water but we also use smaller buckets to haul grain to different pens.


Buckets range from $5 to $20.

Tip Tuesday - Fly Control

Now that we are in full swing of summer, the flies are coming out. In South Dakota, the terrible biting flies tend to come out around July (although they came out early and were biting everyone in June). Here's a few infographics that will hopefully help with the flies this season

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July Already?

How can it be almost mid July already? Last I checked, we were headed into June and now all of a sudden it's July. The last four weeks have been a blur all revolving around the paying job. I had to help wrap up a big review right around Memorial Weekend and then was only given about a week reprieve to catch up on everything that got pushed in the shuffle before the next review started up. Least to say, I've spent the last four weeks in such a daze of mass chaos, it's been exhausting. Luckily the review is just about over and my part is about done but now it's time to play catch up. But in dealing with this big review and with playing catch up, there's been very little time to do anything with the Sanctuary other than chores.


I still need to flip the pasture so that the horses can be on the other part of the pasture. That's my goal for tonight and tomorrow night (mosquitoes be damned). I had to throw hay last night for the horses which chafes me to no end. A pasture ready and waiting and I'm throwing hay!


Speaking of hay, we put in our order for hay. Our usual hay guy is going to pull through for us. We're getting different hay than before, hay with no alfalfa so there's no need to worry about King. I'm not sure yet on price but I'm guessing our pasture hay will be the same as the hay/alfalfa that we have gotten in the past. I guess I should have gone with the better hay and just dealt with King's feet some other way. But trying to do right by everyone isn't always easy or cost effective.  I'm not exactly sure when we'll get the hay but we at least have our order in. Now to figure out logistics and to get it all paid for. We unfortunately won't be getting it delivered by semi so it'll take a few loads to get it all down here. But it'll be Mike and myself hauling so not too big of a deal. Thank goodness we can borrow our hay guy's truck and trailer (it's nice to have an "in" with your hay guy). Now to figure out how to pay for five loads of hay equaling 55 bales. I just hope that's enough. Even though we don't have Ivan or Bo, we may be looking at opening our doors this fall, which means we will need additional hay. We are looking at a cost of about $5,000 to pay for the current hay order.


I've been so under the weather for so long, that I haven't had time to do anything but take care of horses. No time to research grants or look into fundraising opportunities. It's a struggle and I'm disappointed I haven't been able to do more but when you're dealing with medical problems, I guess that's just how everything goes.


Junior has been on my mind for the past couple of weeks. I'll have to post more about him in a little bit but he's weight heavily on my mind. We are going to lose him.


I'm in desperate need of help in getting things done at the Sanctuary. I'm finally crying uncle and admitting that I need help. Granted, we've had offers but with our policies in place, someone from the Sanctuary has to be AT the Sanctuary, at least in the beginning. The problem is, its' summer and everyone is super busy. I'm just not sure how to get it all done. My list is growing but maybe if I actually write it down and plug along on it, it wont be so bad. I wont' want to be like last year where every time I went for a walk at the paying job to try and take a break, my entire chest would constrict and I'd feel even more stressed about the upcoming winter because I'd be thinking about all that needed to be done.


This past weekend I heard the kattydids. That means 90 days from now is our first hard frost. I think that's usually what sets me into a tailspin. It's not like they don't ALWAYS come out early to mid July but for some reason I spend May and June getting horses ready for summer that I don't have time to prep for anything else. And then I feel like we run so hard there's no time to get other stuff done and we are faced with all these tasks that have to be done before the first snowflake. I swear I spend all winter dealing with winter and then all spring, summer, and fall prepping for winter yet again. Of course when you have winter 6 months out of the year (or at least it feels like it), its' hard not to focus on it, especially when you have old horses to care for all the time.


I know there's more. There's lots more going on but I haven't had the time or energy to share all the news. We have lots of good stuff going on but without internet at home, it's been very trying.  Hopefully I can get that resolved soon and can get back to posting more on the blog and getting some of the really good stuff shared out rather than just posting what I can from my phone.


But for anyone that is bored, I need help. And lots of it. There's too much to do and it's looking like my August is filling up fast so I can use all the help I can get ASAP.

Busy

It's been a somewhat quiet week at the Sanctuary. The first day of summer, summer solstics, sure didn't feel like summer though. We had rain, rain, and more rain. I don't have the heart to walk out to the pasture to see how much of the bottom half is flooded. It raises my blood pressure every time I see water standing in my pastures thanks to people not considering their actions. I just hope that the rains we received also fell a little ways north to make sure that the hay ground received enough moisture to make the hay ground grow so we have hay and don't have to scramble to find hay somewhere else.


I am hoping that we can talk with my hay guy in another week or two and see what we can get worked out for a deal. Even if we had just one or two loads sitting at the Sanctuary, I'd feel a lot better. We have a few left over from last year but that's only because we lost Ivan in the fall and Bo in the early spring.


I've been swamped with work from the paying job so there really hasn't been time to do anything as of late. I forsee another week of being completely buried up to my eyeballs with work from the paying job so I may be quiet for yet another week. So much for being productive!


We did finally get the ponies out on grass earlier this week. They don't actually seemed thrilled. I think the flies are bad for them. With all the rain, they turned part of their little pasture into a mud hole. Luckily Mayhem seems to have settled down and she just hangs out in the shade and keeps an eye on the big herd.


So it's been fairly quiet and this weekend is going to be quiet as well for the Sanctuary. More family stuff going on so less time to work with the horses. I do have some good news I want to share and I've been meaning to mention it for awhile but can't seem to find the time. It's about Bo. I'm only now coming to terms with his passing and can talk about him without starting to cry. But I'll leave that for another post.


But until then, I think I have to get back at the paying job so I can try and stay afloat. Hope you all have  a fantastic weekend.

Wishlist Wednesday - Halters, Lead Ropes, and Hooks

It's Wishlist Wednesday and today we are wishing for a handful of items. We wish for halters, lead ropes, and hooks to hang halters and lead ropes on. Our lead ropes seem to keep disappearing (they must disappear with my socks) and although we have halters, not everyone has a designated halter. We'd love to have enough hooks to hang a specific halter and lead rope for each horse instead of grabbing willy nilly. The art of organizing is lacking at the Sanctuary right.