Oh Goodie...

From our local meterologist blog for the upcoming weather......

SIOUX FALLS, SD - 

Snow continues to expand across KELOLAND, with a general 1-3” possible in many areas today.  High temperatures will be very cold with readings near 7 in Sioux Falls, 0 in Aberdeen, 8 in Pierre, and 25 at Rapid City.  The snow chances will continue tonight as temperatures remain cold…below zero in many areas East River after midnight. 

Look for more cold weather the next couple of days.  Highs will struggle to get above zero through Thursday in many areas East River.  It does look dry, however, into Thursday as high pressure from Canada settles into KELOLAND. 

A warmer trend is ahead on Friday and Saturday, but more wind is expected and blowing snow could be an issue.  We’ll be watching those conditions the next few days.  We also expect dramatically colder weather by Monday with highs in both Aberdeen and Sioux Falls at -5 to -8.  This will likely be the coldest air of the season so far.

Weather Change Again

Where do I begin? This entire month has been a blur and the last few days have gone by so fast it’s hard for me to remember all that’s happened.

Saturday was beautiful! It was the nicest day we’ve had in a very long time. The temps were in the 40s! All the horses were enjoying the warm weather and not having to wear blankets. I know I enjoyed doing chores without having to deal with the bitter cold.

Gentle Spirits Horse (GSH) Rescue and Sanctuary hosted a Christmas party Saturday late afternoon that we were invited to. Of course we had to go! Oh what fun we had! It’s always so much fun getting to meet fellow horse rescuers and be in a place where we all have the same passion for helping horses. We met some of GSH’s volunteers and supporters so it was nice to put faces to names. We also had the opportunity to meet the current adoptables of GSH. I fell in love with Jackie, a 20 year old black solid paint mare. If we weren’t full and turning horses away, I’d be bringing her home. She reminds me so much of Queen that it almost hurts to think about it.  Oh don’t get me wrong, Butter and Flirt are drop dead gorgeous. I can’t tell the two apart but one of them has the most gorgeous golden dapples and amber eyes that are to die for. And to top it off, when they were both trotting around, I could see them in shows doing hunter, saddle seat or any other type of English. Those two saddlebred mares are going to be something else in the showring. I bet they’ll place every time with the right owner. They may be a little standoffish now but that’s because they hadn’t been handled until last year when GSH took them. They’ve come a long way and I bet with a dedicated owner, they’d be placing in shows by the end of the season. They have such a floating trot, it’s gorgeous. I had to wipe the drool off before it started to freeze to my face. Go check them out. You’ll not be disappointed. The pictures do not do these mares justice!

But I digress (as always when it comes to talking about horses!), after we met the horses, we went in to play games and hang out. When we arrived at GSH, the temps were almost 40 degrees. We were only able to stay for an hour (the Bear wouldn’t let us stay any longer). By the time we left, the temps had dropped 10 degrees. It took us only a half an hour to get home but in that time, the temps had dropped another 10 degrees.  I knew that cold front was going to come in but I didn’t realize it would come in that fast.  While we were at the party, the weatherman said that we were in a wind chill advisory! And by the time we got home, and I got bundled up to do chores, they were right! It was FREEZING out! I hadn’t wanted to blanket anyone before we left so I went about getting the mares and ponies out of the wind and bundled up first. Rabbit was very happy to get out of the wind and snug in her blanket. Of course, the evening meal of grain helped to keep her side tracked.

Once I got the mares and ponies settled, I started in with the big herd. Everyone was starting to get crabby so it took a bit more work convincing them that they needed to go where I wanted them to go. (Of course I hadn’t the foresight to get the stalls ready before hand!)  Luckily earlier in the day, Mike and the Bear had gone out and scraped the drylot so that walking was a lot easier and so that I could pull my hay cart with a little bit more ease (except when the horses go to grab a bite of hay and pull the entire wagon over).

Once I had everyone stalled, I went to work on getting them blanketed. I decided that Brego’s blanket didn’t fit him so he’d going back to the crappy Jeffers blanket and I’d put the new blanket on Jim instead. Jim’s canvas blanket is nice and heavy but it’s just not as good as the others that I prefer. So now Jim has his very own blanket that works fairly well. I’m not sure it’s 100 percent perfect but it’ll be better than nothing and shouldn’t annoy him like his old blanket. Out of the wind, the temps weren’t all that bad but walking back to the house, I was glad I’d put everyone in for the night.

Come Sunday morning, we were dealing with subzero temps again for the high. Let me just say, I am SO ready for spring to get here so we can get rid of these subzero temps. Anything that had melted and was slushy on Saturday is now a sheet of ice. If we get any more thawing and freezing temperatures like this weekend, the driveway is going to turn into a sheet of ice. As it is, in front of the barn is already a sheet of ice and I have to watch my step every time I come in and out of the barn (a bit tricky when hauling buckets of water back to the mare pen).

And now the weatherman says we are to get snow for the next three days. And following the snow is another arctic blast of cold air where the high is below zero. Oh I hate those types of days. It means extra hay, extra grain, freezing water buckets, and freezing fingers. I won’t complain about the snow. I’m hoping that the snow will help with the moisture and we won’t be in the middle of a drought any more. Oh how I loathe the word. But it’s so cold that the snow that falls now lacks any moisture so it’s more of a nuisance than anything else.  I’m sure hoping that the temps warm up and that what snow that does fall, is the nice heavy snow that is full of moisture!

I’m not sure what the next couple days will bring us other than more work because of the subzero temps. But I’m hoping to get caught up on a few things so that come 2014, I can focus my attention on the Sanctuary. 2014 is the year of the Horse so it’s imperative that we do something to celebrate it! Now, to come up with ideas. I’d love to hear your suggestions!

Gentle Spirits Horse Rescue - Jackie

Gentle Spirits Horse (GSH) Rescue and Sanctuary invited us to their Christmas Party yesterday. I had the opportunity to meet to current adoptables and I fell in love with Jackie. She is a 20 year old solid black paint mare. If we weren't full and turning away horses, I'd be taking her home in a heartbeat. She'd be one of my heart horses for sure!

She reminds me so much of Queen who would notice when I was upset and come and comfort me. I think Jackie is the same type of horse to the right person. Seriously, I'm in love with her. She was so respectful of my space and stood perfectly still while Tiffany and Nina put a blanket on her. She's such a doll. Of course, I have a thing for black horses but there's something more about her than her looks. She has an old soul that just speaks of her wisdom and experience.

I think Jackie would be the type of mare that would flourish under the care of a young teenager (or younger). She's the type that would take care of her owner and bring comfort when needed. I cant' stress enough how much I'm in love with this mare. She's simply a sweet mare that needs her own owner that can pamper her.

If I remember right, Tiffany said she was a bit of a more dominant mare but she respected my space and didn't push me around. She was pretty content to just hang out with me and since I'd never met her before, I was pretty pleased with her desire to just chill out with me (and I didn't even have any treats).

If you're interested in Jackie, here's her description from the GSH website. The description and pictures do not do this mare justice. You need to go visit her in person to see the wisdom and kindness in this sweet mare's eyes!

Jackie was obviously well cared for in her old home but could no longer stay there due to the fact that her previous owner has past away and the kids were not into horses. She has been out in pasture for the last 10 years and has many a baby with her pasture mate Duke. She was confirmed in foal when she came into the Gentle Spirit program and had her foal, Sheldon, December 2013. She is now enjoying being a pasture buddy at the Renner location but would love to have her own person and her own pasture. She is one of the first to come up for attention and has been very respectful. She is alpha mare, and occasionally kicks out or chases the other mares, but nothing that we consider abnormal.

She's easy to catch, respectful on the lead with occasional pushiness but she is easily redirected. We've been working on picking her front feet up and she's improving, and using a foot-rope to pick her back feet up. We did take her to the vet/farrier on 6/20 to have her feet done under sedation to give her a relaxed, good experience, and she did very well. He said she has very good feet for her age, and for the amount of time it's been since she had a full trim.

At nearly 21, we are adopting her out as a companion horse, though that's solely because younger horses are a priority to train at this point. There is no physical reason - just her age- that would stop anyone from seeing if she is broke and/or training her to ride at this point in her life. She's a big, beautiful mare who has raised many babies and now deserves to just be Jackie for a while.

Weather Change

Ah the joys of living in South Dakota....

From our local meteorologist:

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become mostly clear overnight.  Lows will fall to the teens and twenties by daybreak.

Saturday will be cooler with thicker clouds along with the passage of a cold front.  Highs will be in the twenties and thirties with increasing north winds throughout the day.  Winds will gusts as high as forty miles per hour on occasion as temperatures remain steady or slowly fall during the afternoon.  Along with the clouds and cooler air, scattered flurries or light snow showers will also be possible.  Any snow that falls will stay less than a half inch.

Sunday will be cold.  After morning lows in the single digits and teens below zero, highs will only make the single digits and teens above zero.  The cold air will last into next week along with scattered light snow.  While the moisture is limited, an inch or two of snow cannot be ruled out on any given day.

Relaxing

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I was glad to be home on Christmas Eve day to avoid the weird weather. The snow went from little flakes to big fat flakes and then to small snowflakes again but luckily we didn’t have any wind. The snow fell so quickly that while we were out playing (and doing chores), we were covered in a layer of snow.  Visibility was low but it made for a picturesque scene Christmas Eve.

Christmas at the Sanctuary was rather low key, which is fine with me after all the hubbub over the past year.  Apparently Jim and Maverick had a tiff a few weeks back. Now Jim is dining with King more often these days. I’m not sure what the argument was about but the best friend combo isn’t there. I think Jim prefers King’s laidback and slow personality rather than Maverick’s constant harassment and movement. Jim is getting older and would prefer a more relaxed retirement than to keep a young whippersnapper in line. I don’t think King minds the company either.

We are supposed to reach 41 degrees today so I pulled blankets this morning. I put the last new blanket on Brego during the last cold snap. It definitely does NOT fit him correctly. I think I’m going to switch that one over to Jim and save Jim’s for emergencies only. It doesn’t really fit anyone else but it’s good and heavy. I think Jim would benefit more from this newer blanket and would be a bit happier. I need to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t start dropping weight. I’m still tossing around the idea of buying a blanket at the local tack shop that’s on clearance. Not sure that it’s still there but I may call down there today or tomorrow and see. Brego really does need his very own blanket that fits him instead of the ones that I have.

The weather is supposed to stay nice for today and tomorrow. I thought I saw the high for tomorrow as 35. Then Sunday’s high is 3. That’s right. There’s going to be a 30 degree drop in temperature. Never mind that the low for Saturday night is below zero (if I remember right). So there’s going to be a HUGE cold front blow through Saturday. I’m going to have to get myself organized pretty quick Saturday night to get everyone snug in their blankets and stalls. Having such a shift in temperature is so hard on everyone. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on the weather for the next 72 hours.

I’m still enjoying a bit of relaxing before the new year rolls around. But when that new year arrives, I want to set my focus on fundraising and paperwork. So if you’re bored and want to help, please let me know. I’m hoping that 2014 is the best year yet for the Sanctuary.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Wind Chills

With the temps not even reaching above zero, I knew I needed to put the horses in last night. Luckily I had the stalls ready so it didn't take me more than an hour to get everyone situated for the  night. The other night when I opened the haybarn and turned on the light, I heard a thud. So I'm guessing a raccoon is now living in the barn.

But I digress. I noticed when I brought Dude in that he's off in his backend again. He hasn't been off in more than a year but now he was a little gimpy. That or he tripped walking into the barn but I'm going to keep an eye on him to make sure it doesn't get worse. His condition will never get better and will only get worse so I want to make sure that he stays as comfortable as possible. I did some homeopathy/herbal stuff on him a few years back and it seemed to help but I lost my contact for getting access to herbs. So through the winter, I'm going to have to keep a close eye on him. I was wondering if anyone has ever used one of those magnetic sheets to help and if that would be of some help to Dude. I'm curious and if it wasn't a couple hundred dollars, I'd be willing to try. So I want to hear what others think of them first before I spend the money.

But again, I digress. I started debating on putting the horses in last night. It was cold but there was no wind. This morning when I stepped outside, I was glad I had. It was C.O.L.D.! The wind is fierce. Now I'm wishing I would have left the horses in longer. The wind is out of the east, which is supposed to bring warmer temps but so far the wind is better and cuts right through you. I think tonight inbetween wrapping presents and getting ready for Christmas Day, I need to do some sewing on some blankets. I need to make due with what we have for the time being and if the winter continues as it currently is, we are going to need all the blankets we have!

I am starting to think that I need to stall Dude more often. Or at least whenever I stall the hard keepers and "delicate flowers". I don't have enough stalls for everyone in the big herd so I leave the three easy keepers out (Chaos, Maverick, and King). They are all fat and healthy and can withstand more than the others. But when Dude is out, they (except Chaos) get pushed out of the leanto off the barn. But when Dude is in the barn, it seems that everyone is more relaxed and gets a chance to stand where they really want to. I always thought that King didn't like being inside. I now think that it's because of Dude. King's feet are always so tender that he can't move as fast and if he's in the way of Dude, he has to move quick which hurts his feet. He's got such flat feet but I can't shoe him in the winter. I need to find another way to keep him comfortable. But if Dude is in, those three can wander around at their own pace since they are all pretty well equal. Although there is a pecking order and believe it or not, I think King is in charge. When Dude is out, Chaos acts like he's second in command. He buddies up to Dude and gets all the good stuff. But when Dude is in and its' just the three, King is in charge and Chaos can't push him around. The dynamics of the herd always change depending on who is where. Its' rather fascinating.

I can't believe that today is Christmas Eve day. It's amazing how fast time flies. I know I've only posted a few times this month what with all the commotion going on. Hopefully life will slow down a little (hahaha). I've really put the Sanctuary on the backburner these past few months. I've been simply trying to get through each day rather than plan for the future. But I'm hoping after the holidays, that I can regroup and focus on some upcoming fundraisers and other ideas to promote the Sanctuary. The fundraisers we had this year were so successful that I'm motivated to do more this coming year. There is still a need for horse rescue and sanctuary and I want to be able to step up and offer a home to an old warrior this coming year. I don't want to have to say no to someone again!