Lots Going On

Looks like we are gearing up for another storm. I had this winter storm marked on my calendar so I shouldn't have been surprised, but I always am. Much has happened since I last posted. It's all a mix of work, extra work, family, and horses.

But here's the gist of the horse related activities:

• The trainer who had Tommy and Skippy this summer/fall is ready to bring the kiddos back.
• That means I need to find a place to put them. All the corral panels are either in use or ear marked for temporary pens/stalls for this winter.
• We pulled Rabbit out of the pen to wean Mayhem. Rabbit is hanging out on the fence line watching Mayhem. I've never weaned a horse before so this is very stressful for everyone involved. The boys have never been around a mare and foal before so this is all new to them too. I've had to lock the geldings in the dry lot otherwise they want to hang on the fence next to Rabbit. And Rabbit gets upset because she's not in eye sight of Mayhem (because the boys are blocking her view).
• Rabbit has aggravated her right hind leg so I'm not sure what to do with her now.
• A winter storm is coming and I don't know where to put everyone. Rabbit will destroy the barn but if I put her in the hay shed next to Mayhem, will that ruin the weaning efforts?
• Jim and Thor always fight. But this weekend pointed out that Thor is more in charge than I thought.
• Ivan CAN pull his "man part" into his sheath. We measured him for a blanket but I haven't had time to order it yet. But on the bright side, Ivan can pull it in to his sheath so he's really ok (but I'll still buy him a blanket). Not sure if it's uncomfortable to pull it into the sheath or if he prefers to let it all hang out. But either way, we won't have to worry as much. When the weather warms again, I'll return to applying Nitrofurizon just to keep everything lubed up.
• Brego scratched his eye and now has a spot on his right eye. It's getting better and he can still see out of it. But there is always that concern that he'll have problems in the future.
• Still don't have the leanto built or the fence put up (going to attach the temporary fence to the lean to). Not sure if we'll get it built now that everything will be covered in snow.
• We did repair a portion of the fence along the mare pasture and the dry lot. There wasn't much holding it all together. Luckily the boys don't push too much. I still need to do some fencing so that I can pull the electric fence down. I forgot the solar panel fencer last year in my hast and I don't' want to lose it again (and in the process re-break it).

So that's it, in a nutshell for everything that's been going on with the horses at Borderlands. Lots of other things going on that seem to be taking a majority of my time. I know I'm letting the little things bother me so maybe if I tackle some of the smaller projects I'll not be so stressed out.

It'll be nice to have the ponies back. I sure have missed those naughty ponies. I'm anxious to hear how they behaved for the trainer. I'm sure I'll have stories to tell you all when they come home. I need to make arrangements to get them home. The trainer wanted to drop them off this weekend but I wasn't around. So hopefully they don't mind hanging on to them until tomorrow when I can have a plan in the works for where I want to put them for the winter.

There's always something going on at Borderlands!

Happy Thanksgiving

Just wanted to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. We are truly blessed at Borderlands to have such wonderful horses and such caring people. Thank you for all you do and for all your support. We couldn't do it without you.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy 5 Month Birthday

Happy five month birthday Mayhem. I can't believe that you're already five months old. It seems like just yesterday we brought you home. Of course you were 2 1/2 months old when we brought you home.

You have grown so quickly (and I haven't even gotten any recent pictures to record your milestone birthdays and growth spurts). You've also come along way. You're turning into such a diva. Even though I don't get to spend more than about a minute with you in the evenings you are such a doll and insist that I groom you.

Even at five months you're starting to come into your own. You are a sweet girl. Hard to imagine the place without you now. I look forward to many more monumental birthdays with you.

Apologise and Rambling

I want to apologize for yesterday's blog. I realize I need a thicker skin to do rescue but it's aggravating none the less. I will do my best to keep my cool and point out the facts and not let my emotions get in the way. But remember, this is a blog and the information is what I have been provided or know about a horse. Some people might not appreciate their horses being called "rescues" or the matter in which the horse came to Borderlands. For those that are offended by the word "rescue" perhaps I'll look for a different word that better associates these horses. For those that are offended by the facts about a horse coming to Borderlands, they are facts and will remain that way. Tracking the history of a horse is very helpful but not always necessary. The goal of Borderlands is the horse. If you don't like how Borderlands is run, provide positive comments or no comments at all.

Now moving on to better topics, it looks as though the winter is officially here. Unfortunately I didn't get everything done that I needed to. Good thing for corral panels. I may need to do some temporary fencing to fix an issue that I overlooked all summer.

We had terrible weather yesterday (freezing drizzle) and it sounds like we'll have freezing rain and snow on Wednesday, along with below zero temps. Just thinking about the temps makes me exhausted. I don't yet have everything set up to pull horses so I'll be working frantically tonight to get stalls ready for tomorrow when I get home from work.

And on a side note, Borderlands is run solely through my paycheck with very little assistance from anyone else. We don't ask for donations as we aren't a non-profit just yet. We also don't have volunteers to take care of the horses. My paycheck funds the sanctuary and all of my free time is taken caring for the horses. I dare anyone to work 40+ hours (but be gone for 10 hours a day, working and drive time), care for 17 horses (ok so there's only 15 right now as the ponies are at the trainers), house work (yup, I'm the only one who does the skirt work), and does family activities (more activity now due to personal issues). Let's see how someone else stands up to that grind for more than a month before they decide it's too much for them. Ok, I'll stop with my ranting.

Thor came up lame early last week so we took him to the vet but without stocks he was not helpful. Luckily I think it was only a stone bruise as he's walking just fine now. Sam also is doing better. It seemed like he was losing weight and was very unhappy about the hay feeding situation. I think I've fixed that by giving him morning soaked alfalfa while I toss out the hay and toss out hay while he's still in the barn at night so there's no uproar by the rest of the herd. Thanks to some new friends, I'm following their advice and giving Sam Tums. Yup, that's right Tums. He eats them like treats (and he insists on his Tum when he walks out the barn). He seems to be doing better and has kept on the pounds.

I'm a little worried about Ivan. After contemplating, we decided to leave him out but he'll be going in when the weather drops below zero and when the wind chill is below zero. With his "man part" permanently sticking out, I want to protect him as much as possible. As Mike pointed out, he's probably dealt with it for years (for sure since last January/February). We measured Ivan, so I'm going to order him a blanket. If anything I hope that the blanket will buffer some of the wind. And since he's a Thoroughbred with thin skin, we're both thinking he'll need a blanket during the cold months of winter.

I'll be switching Rabbit over from her waterproof sheet to a waterproof blanket. She was just starting to put on a winter coat when this nasty weather hit. She doesn't have enough padding yet to withstand the wet weather so I insist on, at minimum, a sheet. We'll see how things progress but I'm betting the blanket will go on soon and stay on. I also noticed she's lame on her left rear. Not exactly sure what's going on but will have the vet look at her when we get her teeth floated. Not sure when that will be. Mayhem will be five months old tomorrow. Still debating on weaning a month early to give Rabbit some time to pack on the pounds. But with the nasty weather coming, I may leave them together over the long holiday and see how things play out.

Keep your fingers crossed that the nasty weather will be short lived and we wont' receive too much nasty weather this winter as a whole. Pray for those horses left out in a pasture with no protection. My heart goes out to them.

Ranting and Raving

I am aggrevated, irritated, insulted, and down right sick of people telling me what I should and should not be doing. All I am doing is presenting facts. Nothing more. I am not trying to be rude about it, I'm simply giving the facts that I know.

I am tired of people insulting me along with those people who are trying to do the right thing. Instead those people are bashed time and time again for doing what they thought was right. It might not be the right thing, but at least they tried.

I'm tired of people preaching to me about certain things but in the same breath telling me that they are going to avoid the situation (and stick their head in a fricking hole.. not their words of course).

I'm insulted by people telling me that I didn't provide the correct information. No, what information *I* was given is what I'm providing. Is the information *they* where provided correct, who knows.

Once a horse leaves an owner's possession, who knows what will happen. Contract or no contract, the horse is damned anyway. I'm not willing to change my practices and I'm not about to change any of my information.

Any horse in Borderlands possession is the sole property of Borderlands. I have signed only ONE contract for a horse. I have, and will abide by that contract. All other horses have been taken in on good faith and will follow BORDERLAND POLICIES and no one elses. If someone begs differently, to bad, you gave up the horse.

What I have provided in this blog are the facts as best as I can provide. Some obviously is my ranting and raving. But remember, this is MY BLOG NOT YOURS. DO NOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO. If you don't like it, follow Fugly's advice (http:www.fuglyblog.com) and stop following this blog.

My aplogize to those innocent of this rant.

Rambling

I saw another shooting star last night while doing chores. Not sure if that's a good sign or not.

I pulled Thor from the mare pasture last night. After having the farrier look at Thor, I decided I'd put Thor in with the mares so he wouldn't be on dirt/concrete and pestered by the geldings. Well, last night was the last straw for that. I DO NOT tolerate kicking a blind mare. Thor made it clear that he was going to protect Queen and not Babe and lashed out at Babe when she bumped into him. He also managed to demolish one of those over the fence plastic feeders.

Into the big herd Thor went. He was not thrilled but I won't tolerate kicking a blind mare. I didn't see Thor this morning so I'm guessing he was out in the pasture snoozing. I did come up on him yesterday morning while he was sound asleep and dreaming. He spent a large portion of his time curled up in the mare pen these last few days.

Thor does seem to be doing better so I wonder if it wasn't a stone bruise. We are going to wait before we make another attempt at going to the vet. I'll not even mention the hassle of getting Thor to the vet on Monday.

Both Babe and Queen seemed relieved when I pulled Thor out. Wonder what will happen when I put Rabbit in their herd. No luck in finding her heaves medicine at the local shops. Guess I'll order some for her. She does seem to be doing better but I think it has something to do with allergies (now that the combining is done and there isn't as much dust).

Mayhem has become a total diva. She walks right up to me and patiently waits for me to groom her. She is getting a bit naughty so we'll need to start working on manners (and working on halter breaking her).

I was worried that Sam was starting to lose weight. I think his ulcers are back. I was told to try Tums so we bought some but I haven't had a chance yet to try it out on him. I also discovered a better way to grain him. I've always had to deal with soupy grain because of the beet pulp. Now that I'm dealing with pellets instead of shreds life is easier and getting even easier. Sam now gets three separate dishes for his grain mash. One for soaked beet pulp, one for soaked hay pellets (going to switch him over to alfalfa pellets), and one for soaked senior and calf manna. It only took me a year to figure it out. Sam is enjoying his grain. I've also taken to feeding him a small amount of soaked hay pellets (which will switch over to soaked alfalfa pellets) in the morning. He doesn't seem to look as bad as last year (although he had ulcers and a cold last year).

I'm keeping a close eye on everyone to make sure they aren't losing any weight. So far everyone is plump and sassy. I don't have the herd up to full hay ration just yet. Was hoping to wait until the first of December but I don't think that's going to happen. The temps are starting to plummet so we'll see how everything goes. It's about time to turn on the water heaters too.

I'm also debating on when to wean Mayhem. The day before Thanksgiving she'll turn five months old. I'd really like to keep her with Rabbit until she's a full six months old but that puts us right at Christmas. I'm worried that Rabbit won't have enough weight on her yet. She's still thin along her ribs and topline. She's also not putting on her winter coat like I'd prefer. Her belly is starting to get her coat on but nothing else. I did keep a waterproof sheet on her a few days back so I hope that didn't cause any problems. I just don't think she can handle trying to stay warm during a downpour. I need to get more pictures of Rabbit so everyone can see how well she has progressed (and how big Mayhem has grown).

I'm struggling to do chores these days. Still haven't adjusted to daylight savings time. I seem to be doing chores in the dark these days (both morning and night). We also have a pack of coyotes. It bothers me that they are so close. I just hope that they stay away and don't bother the really old and the baby.

No measurable snow as of yet but I'm sure that will change very soon. And then it will be back to the daily grind of winter chores I need to regroup my thinking and figure out how I'll handle winter chores. It means hauling warm water from the house out to the barn and taking in beet pulp to soak.

I'm in communications with another very new horse rescue/sanctuary. If something falls through, we may be getting an old, thin mare. We'll see. Luckily the people involved want to do the right thing (and were totally uneducated about slaughter). Every time I talk with this other rescue, I get so enthusiastic about rescue and education. I really do need to sit down and get things figured out. There's so many who are uneducated about slaughter. Maybe that will be my winter project I'll work on after chores are done and the horses are tucked in for the night.

Thor and a Shooting Star

Saw a shooting star this morning. I took it as a good sign. Well, part of the morning is good. I have an appointment for Thor at 2pm today. It's the latest we could get in. Unfortunately the normal vet is out so we're headed to a different vet office. We'll see if I like them better. Keep your fingers crossed that whatever is wrong with Thor is not major. I dont' want anything life altering. I can handle "pain in the butt", I can't handle life/death altering.

Also, this morning as I was pulling in to the gas station, who should be pulling out but the local (and very skummy) horse trader/killbuyer. He had half a load in his big gooseneck. I'm positive he was headed to Corsica. Luckily it'll be the last sale of the year for Corsica and then they are changing to weekends so maybe I can go and save the worst of the worst. That trader/KB makes me want to punch him in his face. It makes me feel slightly better that he thinks he's a big shot until he goes to one of the more major sales and then he's a nobody and no one bids on his horses. Still, it's disheartening to see horses headed to a fate so unknown. I'm sure he bought them at Saturday's Kramers sale (which I didn't have the energy to attend), and that he's going to take them through as loose horses. Never ending. Need to start fundraising to pull horses from auctions.

I must remember seeing the shooting star and to keep that as a good sign of good things to come. Keep your fingers crossed and please keep Thor in your thoughts and prayers.