Wednesday Ramblings

I think it’s winter. We had snow yesterday morning and again this morning. I was worried about Rabbit getting chilled so I threw a canvas sheet on her. Big mistake. She’d trashed the last one I’d put on her last year but I thought things would be different this year. Nope. She trashed another one. Hopefully I can repair it but I have to walk the pasture to find the missing parts. She did an amazing job of tearing it all to pieces. I’m a little mad because that was the one and only waterproof sheet that was fully intact and had no rips or tears. Can’t have anything nice when it comes to horses!

It’s been fairly quiet the last couple of days (knock on wood). Last night I was able to get out to do chores before dark. The yard light is officially gone so now I am doing chores in the dark. The night before last I was out after dark. One little flashlight does not give off enough light when you’re in the dark and the moon is hidden behind clouds. Hopefully we can call someone by the end of the week and get it fixed before too long. I don’t like being outside in the dark during the fall when all the wild critters are out. At least I let the dogs out to run around when I am doing chores and they tend to scare away any critters that may be wandering around. Farley is a big lug and although he wouldn’t hurt a fly, most critters don’t want to tangle with him.

I’ve been wrapped up with the paying job the majority of this week and it looks like the rest of the week will be the same so not much is going to happen at the Sanctuary. I’m already starting to brainstorm ideas for the next fundraiser. I have two different ones in mind so now the hard part will be deciding which one to go forward with (or throw caution to the wind and do both)! I don’t want to burn anyone out on all these fundraisers either (or myself for that matter)!  But I do have a few ideas I want to try out. So far the two fundraisers we’ve done have been a complete success. We will definitely do another playday next year and we will definitely do an Easter Basket Silent Auction (and have activities for the kids!) for Easter. I had a great time during both events so hopefully others will too!

I’m not sure when we’ll do the next fundraiser but keep your eyes peeled because we will definitely have one. I was already looking at the calendar for 2014 to decide when we’ll do the Easter Basket Silent Auction (and other activities). Easter is in April so we’ll plan on having the event sometime before Easter. So mark your calendars now for a great event!

My mind has pretty well turned to mush after the playday fundraiser on Saturday. Hopefully I’ll be able to get into the swing of things a little better after this week. I have to turn my mind off and not think about the upcoming winter. I’m a little worried that we don’t have enough hay. I guess if we do run out, hopefully we’ll be able to find a few bales at a reasonable price. I’d feel more comfortable if I had about 10 more big bales in the shed but beggars can’t be choosers. Of course, if I had 10 more bales in the shed, I wouldn’t be turning away horses that deserve a retirement home.

There is an auction coming up next weekend but I’m not sure I have the stomach to go. I haven’t been to an auction in about two years. I have no idea what prices are like for the loose horses. We’ll see if I go. If someone else says they’ll go, then I’ll definitely go. I’ll have to sit on my hands of course but it would be good for me to educate myself on the current prices of loose horses. I hate auctions this time of year though so we’ll see how it goes.

"S" World

I heard the cursed “S” word this morning. SNOW. We have the potential for some light snow tonight. I guess winter really is just around the corner. I shouldn’t complain. It is the end of October and we are just now starting to get frost on the ground. But I have to complain about snow. I think it’s mandatory in this region.

I’ll have to take a closer look at the forecast as evening rolls around. I thought I heard that we’ll start out with cold rain and then switch to snow. If it starts with rain, I may have to consider stalling or blanketing some of the horses. I was hoping to get all the blankets patched up before using them but if it rains, I don’t want anyone to get a chill. I was able to waterproof a majority of the blankets last week and had them laying out on the lawn until last night. I figured if we were to get rain or snow that I better get them up. Now they are piled in the utility room patiently waiting for me to patch up all the tears and wholes. It’s a bit daunting but it’ll be nice to have the blankets fixed and not have to worry about them. Why or why did I not think about this task earlier in the year?!?!

Last night I went out to do chores early. It’s probably a good thing. I think the fox has taken up residence in the hayshed. Yesterday I had the dogs out and Gypsy and Farley pushed the fox out of the shed and Gypsy managed to tumble the fox head over tea kettle. Had I not seen it with my own eyes I would have said people were lying. I am afraid that there might be something wrong with the fox. He seemed awfully dazed and confused. Gypsy is not fast so for her to knock over a fox makes me think that there’s something very wrong with the fox. It’s the same one that rushed past my leg earlier this month. Fox should not be tame.

Luckily the last few nights have been nice with the full moon shining. The real problem is that the yard light finally died. The last couple of nights the light wouldn’t come on while I was out doing chores but would be on in the morning. Last night and this morning, that darn yard light wouldn’t come on at all. So now we have to look at replacing the light bulb….again. I thought those big light bulbs were supposed to last a few years but I guess not. I learn something new every day. I’m not exactly sure when we’ll get it fixed but hopefully soon. The night before last, Gypsy attacked a raccoon that has been living in the grain bin. I ran back to the house to get Mike (and the gun), but the raccoon was already gone by the time Mike got there. That’s one of the downfalls of being out when there’s only one of us outside. I am so used to both of us being outside that it’s hard to catch these darn critters when I have to run back to the house.

Maybe the snow will detour the critters from coming out. I guess we’ll have to wait and see until then. Will be scrambling tonight to get a few last minute projects done before the snow flies.

Playday Success and Thank You

The playday was a success! And it’ll definitely be a yearly event (just earlier in the year)!! We had a great time and I learned a few things about what works and doesn’t work. We’ll probably skip a silent auction (although that went over pretty well) and just do a concession stand (closer to the arena)! I’m learning!!

I want to thank Larry and Freida Fossum and the Cowboy Way Church for letting us use their arena. I know it’s a lot of work to get everything set up to do a playday and they did a fantastic job working the arena up as best they could even though we had rain in the morning. I know everyone enjoyed the facilities. I want to thank Stacy Albers for helping get everything set up with the playday and figuring out what games to play. She pretty well took over and got all the games set up each time. I want to thank the Parker Saddle Club for letting us use their timer/eye (and Tanya for running the timer).  I want to thank all those that donated to the silent auction, bake sale, and concession stand and for those that donated their time to get everything set up. I couldn’t have done it without you. And I want to thank everyone who participated in the playday and bought items on the bake sale and silent auction. The rough count shows that we brought in about $600.00. I was ecstatic when Mike said how much. That will help with the hay bill for sure!

Thank you everyone for visiting with the Sanctuary horses (and for not poking fun of me or the horses for the amount of cockleburs that are in their manes and tails). I promise, it’s high on my priority list to get all those burs out. It’s a daunting task at times when I know they’ll get more in their manes and tails the next time they go out to pasture or roll. Maybe after it dries up a bit we can tackle the cocklebur bushes and get them disked under (at least in the drylot). It does bother me so thanks for not mentioning it or at least being sympathetic when seeing all the burs! We’ve been fighting those darn cockleburs for years now and it seems it’s a losing battle.

Everyone’s donations and participation humbles me. I struggle to ask for help; we try to be self-sufficient so asking for help is very difficult. But everyone’s willingness to help my cause is very awe-inspiring.  I am overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity and am so grateful that I am left speechless.

At the end of the day on Saturday, I was exhausted. It was a happy exhausted. All the hard work of getting everything figured out and set up paid off while I watched people play in the mud with their horses. It amazes and humbles me that people were willing to come out to support us. I couldn’t ask for a better support group. I loved watching everyone participate in the games and loved watching everyone’s expressions during the events.

On a side note, I was able to take pictures after the camera landed in the mud but we do have to get a new camera. It no longer wants to work. The poor thing has been beaten too much over the last few horse activities and landing in the mud puddle was the final straw. I did get some good pictures and will post them to the blog when I get a chance.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you all for your support and generosity. I am eternally grateful.

Playday Today!

The rain is gone and the sun is shining. Should be a good day for a playday! Hope to see everyone there!

Final Prep for Fundraiser

We are in the final stages of preparation for the upcoming playday. I guess I’ve been more focused on the silent auction and bake sale, which is really the minor part of the playday. But I want everything to be a success.

I had a bit of a panic attack yesterday so I worked like crazy last night after finally getting home. I baked until midnight so that my nightmare of being unprepared won’t happen. We have a lot to round up tonight but I think everything is in good order.

We will be bringing some of the Sanctuary horses to the playday for a meet and greet. So even if you don’t have a horse to ride, you can still come out and get your horse fix by hanging out with the Sanctuary horses and watching people ride.

Hopefully the weather will hold. I did pick up hot chocolate and apple cider so there will be warm beverages to enjoy while people wait for their turn even if it’s chilly out. The weather keeps changing (typical for South Dakota). As of the latest report, we are at a 10% chance of isolated showers before 7am on Saturday with a temp of 51. At one point I thought I saw a forecast of potential snow (but not anymore)!  The snow can hold off for a little bit longer! I am NOT ready for winter.

Last night when I was getting home from running errands for the fundraiser, we got home after dark (again typical of South Dakota in the fall/winter). For some reason the yard light wasn’t on. At first I was a little worried but then realized it’s a full moon. I was able to see just as well without the yard light on because the moon was out. This morning was the same way. We had a beautiful harvest moon this morning. It makes getting up early a little bearable.  Hopefully whatever was wrong with the yard light won’t happen again tonight. This morning it was on (go figure!) We’ve had a few super dark nights and I do rely on the yard light. Now that we are into the full swing of harvest, the wild critters are going to start coming out. I’d rather not meet face to face with one of them.

Speaking of meeting face to face with wild critters, I did have an encounter with a fox. Last week some time, Mike saw a fox hanging out by the garage. We’d seen him a couple times that morning. I went out to do chores later in the morning. I was in the hay shed piling up hay when all of a sudden there was a flash of red right by my leg. The fox we’d seen early had been in the hay shed and came within about two inches of me. If he would have come any closer, he would have knocked into me! That’s the closest I’ve ever been to a fox (and I’d like to keep it that way).

I have been wondering what winter is going to be like. I am worried that we don’t have enough hay. I know it’s already mid-October but we are feeding hay already and the temps are starting to drop. I shouldn’t be surprised that winter is just around the corner. I’ve been watching Canadian geese flying south already. I was hoping that they would hold off and we’d have a long fall. Somehow I don’t think that’ll happen.

The last really nice day (when it was in the 70s), I washed some of the winter blankets. Why I didn’t wash blankets when it was 90 degrees out instead of the 70s, I have no idea. But that’ll teach me! I was able to get the majority of the blankets washed before I ran out of time. There’s still a handful that I need to take care of. I was able to take an inventory of blankets while I was washing. It’s a nice feeling. I also went ahead and did some waterproofing on the less dirty blankets. I wouldn’t say that I “cleaned” the blankets but rather that I got them “less dirty”. So anyway, on Wed I waterproofed seven blankets and they are all out on the lawn. I didn’t get a chance to pick them up before the last frost so I have to pick them up tonight. I still need to fix all of the tears and holes before winter sets in. I learned my lesson the hard way that if you don’t fix the hole immediately, it only gets worse and the outcome is a destroyed blanket. With the price of blankets and the number of horses that need blankets every year, I will make sure that the holes get patched. Hopefully in the near future I can sit down at night and do some blanket patching before the real winter sets in. When it rained last week, I was tempted to throw blankets on but instead I put the horses in the barn. Now that I have clean and soon to be repaired blankets, I can spend an afternoon adjusting the different blankets to different horses so that during a major snowstorm, I wouldn’t be fighting the wind, cold, and wetness that usually happens when I’m out blanketing horses.

I don’t think I’ll post anything again today. After this afternoon I’ll be busy getting things ready for tomorrow’s fundraiser. We have a LOT of items up for the silent auction. Come on out and see what all we have! Bring your horse and enjoy a day of play before the weather turns! Before you know it, winter will be here and this may be one of your last opportunities to get a ride in before it gets bitterly cold! So come on out, tomorrow, Saturday October 19^th at 1pm to the Cowboy Way Church arena just south of Hartford, SD. We’ll have a great time! Hope to see you there.

Silent Auction Items

Wow, we have some amazing items donated for the silent auction. I am really excited for Saturday!!!

I asked earlier this week (or maybe it was last week) for donations. Boy howdy! Ask and you shall receive! We have some amazing silent auction items up for grabs. I won’t spoil all of the amazing donations but we do have a framed and signed print, some horse books, horse shoe art, and a number of other really amazing items. I’m feeling rather humbled right now for all the donations and time put into making this event go off without a hitch.

Let’s hope that the weather holds.  The arena is drying out and so is the parking so we should have a great day in store. We’ll also have baked goodies to snack on in between all the activities.  I hope to see everyone there. If I don’t post again, it’s because I’m scrambling to get the finishing touches on everything. I will admit, I’m not organized for this event but everyone else is organized and raring to go!

Winter on It's Way

Last week we had a gentleman stop out and ask us if we had room for one more. Unfortunately at this point, we don't. I'm still trying to figure out how to swing another mouth but don't see how we can. I guess that's why I'm pushing to do more fundraising even though we are a private sanctuary and not non-profit (yet). It's always a heartache for me to say no. Now is the time we should be stepping up and doing more but our finances say no more can come into the Sanctuary until we have a few things under control. Mike and I are the sole money makers for the Sanctuary and with the hospital bills from the past year piling up, we've had to put a stop on bringing anyone else in to retire. 

The upcoming playday may have to be rescheduled because of all the rain. I'm not going to complain about the rain! We haven't had any since July so I'm thankful and hopefully it'll make the pastures come back. We hopefully didn't over graze the big pasture. That's my biggest fear. 

Because of the rain, I had to put some of the "delicate flowers" into the barn. I think they were all ready to go in and get out of the cold and wind. I do need to make a few more temporary stalls so that everyone can get in out of the rain. Ok, so everyone can but I'd rather they be locked in instead of having the choice to stand in a runin shed. 

With all the rain, I had to put Mayhem in with the ponies. I think Tommy is loving the idea of pushing Mayhem around. He's been acting all macho since Mayhem was in there. But this morning when I went out to throw hay, Mayhem and Tommy were standing side by side. I'm not sure if Tommy was trying to intimidate Mayhem or what or if they are starting to be friends. It's hard to say with those darn ponies. I am happy that Mayhem is away from Rabbit. She was picking up some of Rabbit's bad habits. I don't like it that Rabbit is alone but maybe this way she'll soften a little. She's got such a tough outer shell. I think she was given a rough lot in life and never given the chance to be pampered. We'll see if I can crack that shell. I've been trying for three years now.

We have a lot of stuff to get done before the snow flies. I'm afraid that winter is just around the corner. I don't think that we'll have a very long fall. The weatherman is already talking about another cold snap. The farmers almanac said that we were going to have a bitterly cold winter. I think we are starting to see the beginnings of it already. Unfortunately, I'm not ready for it. And I'm afraid we might not have enough hay if we have to feed extra hay during all the bitter cold. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Mayhem