Grieving

Hello Everyone-

I want to do this blog for Jim and Cindy Bondowski from Footville, WI. They run and manage the HORSE rescue. About 3 weeks ago they suffered through a major barn fire and lost 24 of their precious horses. I can only imagine what they went through and what they are going through now. I have known Jim and Cindy for a few years now. Their daughter, Deanna adopted Baby Breeze from my rescue when he was only 12 days old. He stayed with Jim and Cindy for about 7 months. Unfortunately, due to Deanna's family issues, Breeze was returned back to me and my program in December 2009. Shawnee was his surrogate mom at Jim and Cindy's place. Taught him how to be a horse. Shawnee is one of the horses perished in the fire. I saw Shawnee only a few times. She is a beautiful girl/mare and raised a couple of orphaned foals. But I don't even know what to say to them. Words escape me even now. How can you console anyone with this kind of trauma? I cry every time I think of this and am crying now for them and their horses. This is a animal owners worst nightmare. There has been news coverage and they have been getting help from everywhere which is a wonderful thing for them. Their remaining horses are now with neighbors and friends since they have no shelter/barn. I am not sure what their future plans are at this time but they are looking to adopt out as many horses as they can. Please view their In Memorial page as well - http://horseincmemorial.blogspot.com/
All i can say is that I am thinking of you guys daily and hope you can pick up the pieces in memory of your babies. And for the ones who desperately need you now. They will help you through this along with your family and friends.
I love you guys.
Love
Jenny

Same old, same old

Hello Everyone-
Just busy with 2 jobs, the horses, and boy do i hate the sun going down so soon in the afternoon?? yes, I do! Can see a dang thing! I am in the process of trying to get a few spot lights that are either solar or battery powered. But I have to wait until Thursday to get them. I looked on the Home depot site and was asked if I needed someone from Home Depot to chat with me on-line. hmmmm? Ok, so i give it a try. Well, I am not entirely sure that it was actually a real person! I ask for the spot light and of course either solar or battery powered and enough light to light up a good sized part of my pasture. She (Michelle) gave me a few options and of course they are lights that are powered by electric power, so i ask her again. She then writes ' i have not heard from you in a while, do you still want to use chat?' She also goes on to tell me the link to order this light on line. I figured, nope, dont want to chat anymore. Better just go to the store and get one from there. I will also be getting a canvas type of shelter for my 2 old guys, Max (24) and Kobb (33). I want them to stay in the exercise pen so that they can always get their grain twice a day. Although I am re-thinking this since Max is now just a big fat tick! He is such a hoot though. When he sees me, its like, hurry Mom! I am starving!! With the cold, rainy weather, I have been giving all of the horses more to eat. I am a firm believer in NOT blanketing my horses just yet. they really need to get their coat all grown in before we put on a blanket. If you put one on too soon, their coats may not develop and then you have to leave the blanket on at all times. I dont have multiple blankets to do that for all of the horses! But I really only have probably 4 horses that will get blanketed this year. Anyhow, the 10 horses that are together are getting 3 bales of hay, twice a day. The last few nights when it was cold and rainy, i give them either 1-2 bales of this marsh grass hay that i have. My horses are very spoiled and they love the hay that i give them. some all alfalfa and some is a mix. Nice hay. the marsh grass hay isnt bad, but its not the other stuff. So I set that out around the perimeter for them to eat. They do eat it, but only when there is none of the 'good stuff' left! I also fed them earlier last night (Sun), so I put out 2 of the marsh grass hay bales. Boy, 5 bales of hay for 10 horses! Yes, they do like to eat! most of that all gone in the morning! HA! I call them pigs, not horses! But I dont even think pigs eat that much! anyhow, we will doing hay again on Sunday, December 5 at noon. Will be getting another 300 or so bales and that should last until February! then get enough to last until next years crop!
I should hear by the middle of December if I get accepted to come to Midwest Horse Fair this year. We plan on taking Mya and Raven next year if accepted. Raven will be good to load, and Mya, well, she isnt that good. Trailering, i hate it!
Antar is doing well with his eye surgery. His depth perception isnt as good at night or twilight, but he will get used to it. He is doing better already. His eye is sinking into his head, but if you look at him at a certain angle, he looks like he has an eye there. I am sure he has no pain anymore. He is dealing with it and that is all we can ask for. he is such a good boy. I love that boy alot. And he is trusting me again too since there are no more meds to give out. And he is gaining a bit more weight -which i like for the winter.
other than that, everything is going pretty well! Will get more pics on here too!
First picture is of Angie and Karlijn. (Surrender horse)
White paint is Cheyenne- Cheyenne' mom is my great friend Michele. (auction horse)
Both horses are from my rescue!

Lovin this weather!

It is November and still we have mostly 50 degree weather. Yippee! I love this weather, the horses love this weather! Sure beats 20's and tons of snow? Why am I in Wisconsin? Oh yeah, job and family. Keep reminding myself. I do love Wisconsin, just dont like the cold. The real cold. And now that i have moved, i dont know what to expect here. i am at the top of a hill, where the winds are trecherous. But my horses for the most part of pretty hardy. Horses have been outside for hundreds of years and do well as long as they have fresh water and good hay. And they do, always.
Antar has had a few hard days with his eye. Brooke came over to take the gauze out, ok, did she tell me that it was going to be 6 ft long? My gosh. i would freak out too with someone taking out a piece of gauze that would never end! he bonked me pretty good in the head and it still is sensitive. Good thing, i dont have alot of brain cells left! Antar did well when he came home from his surgery last week. On Sunday night (why is always on a Sunday night?) he was shaking his head, and laying down when i got out. Now, he hasnt really wanted me to touch his face much but when he let me touch his head i knew something was wrong. He didnt want his grain, ok, go back, he didnt want to come out for his grain. i finally figured out that it was the bending over to eat grain or hay that was bothering him. Well i called the on-call vet and she was very informative (including saying, we were brave to take that gauze out ourselves!! ok! he was in pain and in distress. Gave him some banamine and watched him. In an hour he was back up and eating his hay. Next night, Monday night, he came out to get his grain, but laid down immediately. I put his pail of grain next to him and he began eating right away- That is how i realized that he was hungry and wanted to eat, but the pain was there in his eye and head when he bent over. Gave him his banamine- i gave it to Antar orally and he is a good boy with all meds. giving 9 cc's IM is sometimes a challenge. But Antar? Not, him, he is a good boy all around. The mornings, you cant ever tell he is having a problem. Last night, he came out ate his grain standing up and then went back in. I did give him some banamine again, but at a lower dose. I am hoping now this is the downhill part of his illness and that i can breath a bit easier.
Hey! Can you guys guess what? I get to go out tonight! My neighbor, Jerry came over to ask me if I would like to play euchre with him tonight and next Wednesday! Oh yeah, baby! Getting out and playing one of my favorite games? you know what is a bit funny/odd? In my young- to mid 20's i was on a euchre league. We paid 5 bucks to play (on Wednesday nights). Well tonight is Wednesday and its still 5 bucks! HA! Ok, so i tend to play a bit on the gutsy side, thanks to my Aunt Patty. She is a tiger playing cards. An itty bitty little thing she is, but she is dang tough! All of the sisters are! Mary, Patty and my mom Katy. tough girls, indeed. Love them all. Anyhow, hope your week is going well. I was out sick for alot of last week and am now just finally feeling better. Hope to write some more later this week, but you know, my life is quite boring at times and nothing good to report. But maybe some rich, good looking, sweet AND single man will be there and sweep me off of my feet! yep, that is what i am going for! HA! Ok, so i am a dreamer.

Yes, we are here!

Wow, been over a month since i blogged? yikers! Oh well, no worries, I am here and still have my babies. Been busy working and taking care of the mob. But lately, just to tell you of a few different things happening. Yesterday, for a start, I had to finally get some decent amount of hay. I had been getting hay from a neighbor and either doing 7-8 bales in the Jeep (2 loads) every few days or he would come up with about 30 bales in his truck. Well, getting totally sick of doing that! But had to wait for enough money saved up to get some big amounts. Especially to last through the winter. I had volunteers come, (Michele, Rebecca, Ross, Corrine, Gordy and Shelli) come out and along with myself and Bob- the hay guy, we pulled together 317 from Bob and 100 from Vern. Vern is a guy who lives in Black Earth and dabbles in cutting hay from time to time. He had 100 bales sitting in his wagon in his shop for a month now. He called and gave me a great price on it and then brought up the hay wagon. We unloaded it to the corn silo. Still can get way more bales in there for sure! Then went to Bob's and he used his big trailer. We ended up on our biggest load getting 109 bales on it. Did 3 loads! We were all pretty tired of that. So we will finish in a few weeks and get more. i cannot believe what my barn looks like! Can i even fit another 300 bales in there? Do i want to get hay in the dead of winter? I will probably go through about 180 bales every month. Maybe so. I just hope i will still have help in the winter, but i think they will come to my rescue! We had a good time even with the bad backs, (Shelli has allergies and was her first time in volunteering!) sore hands and legs, we made it through. Great work everyone!! Was a nice day as well. Anyhow, the floor to the barn held up- at least for now! Will get pics soon. Another thing that happened today was Antar going in for surgery. His eye from uveitis has gotten so bad. He hurts, his eye weeped very bad. he didnt want to get on the trailer either today. He likes his herd and the last time he left, he went to a place, while nice, has just too many horses. He is more of a one on one kind of guy. At my place, he is sassy and wonderful especially at feed time. He along with Max and Kobb get senior food along with grain. Antar comes out every morning and every night for his senior. If other horses are in front of the gate preventing him to go out, he has a hissy fit, runs around the shelter and back kicks at the higher above horses! I have to start feeding the hay and then the other horses move away from the gate and then Antar is up at the gate looking at me, to hurry up and let him out! Anyhow, Brooke told me he did well with his surgery, which makes us both feel better. I know he had to have the surgery done. Brooke is a great mom. She loves him like crazy. Good thing she is also a vet student! So also they will work him up for his bowed tendon (that may be what he has), do his teeth, and his sheath. Take advantage of the doped up stage. Sorry for the sideways pic, i havent figured out how to rotate the dang picture! He should probably be staying for a few days. We are supposed to get a big storm and high winds. Probably not good for him to be out in the open! anyhow, thank god that antar is ok. He is such a good boy!

A couple of updates

Hello Everyone!
Yes, i know, total slacker in blogging. Always too busy. But today, making that effort. In the last few weeks- Have a new part time job at Kwik Trip. Will work Fri/Sat 3rd shift. 10 minutes from my house, and get paid more! That way i can have both days (at least some of the day) to do work around the farm. Not too bad. I go home to sleep right away and then i have some hours before going back in or at least on Sundays sleep a few hours and then have most of the day. Well i trying to plan that anyhow. Was working at Walmart, Kwik Trip and for the UW but that lasted only a week, thank goodness. Worked over 70 hours that week! So now am just at the 2 jobs.
I am also working with Cate (Almost a lawyer!), Ashleigh (Almost a Vet!) and others. We are working on getting a program together that will help families with their horses. We want to start up a free/low cost gelding program, a free/low cost euthanasia program and hopefully a hay program for families/people who need some help in these areas. We will start localized and then venture out to all of Wisconsin depending on well we do at fund raising. But i am very excited about this project. I will give more details about this later.
Also- Antar came back home! His new mom, Brooke had him out at a stable that wasnt all that for Antar. Antar likes the smaller setting and this other place is very big and has tons of horses there. He lost a bit of weight (nothing too terrible). Brooke was also going out to feed him grain/senior. You have to be careful housing your horse at a bigger stable. Sometimes they dont get one on one care from the stable. And this one does not do that. Brooke is a student who also is doing some internships and she asked if Antar can come back home to live with me so that I can get him back up to his weight (well now, his winter weight), make sure he gets his senior and meds each day. Absolutely! I love Antar. He is such a great boy. I missed him alot. Now I am sure Brooke misses him also. We chat via email while she is out of town and she gets to hear how he is doing. One thing i really wanted to happen with Antar when he came back was for him to remember his bond with his girl Raven. They were very close before he left. After Antar left, Raven took awhile to get back into a bond with another horse in my herd. She actually ate with a few of the other horses. Duke, Breeze and Honey. But she loved to eat with Duke. She loves the 'older' guys! So when Antar came back, i wondered if they remember. Some horses do and some do not. When Antar knew he was back, he knew Raven right away. Raven I am not sure remember Antar. But then after a few days, something clicked with her. Antar actually was in a separate pen while he was getting used to the routine again and before putting him back in with the mob. I would put a pile of hay on the other side of the fence where Antar would eat and Raven ate on the other side watching Antar. The first time in putting him in with the mob, he saw Raven and softly nickered at her. It was a beautiful sight. Antar is super intelligent. I really think he remembered her very well. Not sure all horses do and horse people all have their different opinions on it. I also have a re-occurring dream that involves me bringing Missy over to where Destinee is. (Missy is Destinee's mom). I put them in together and its an Oprah moment! But they have been split long enough now, that probably wouldnt happen. But i like the dream anyhow! But back to Antar- He is now used to the mob and them used to him (after a few scrapes with the big fat girl Mya). He comes out for his grain every morning and every evening and then goes back in. the other horses dont like that since they dont get grain until the winter. They are all easy keepers and dont need grain all year round like my old guys.
Lets see- Getting hay from different folks in the area. Either have gotten super good hay or not. the horses definitely let me know what is crap in their minds. right now, I have good stuff. they dont follow me and the wheel barrow around if its good. I am also (for 5 weeks) feeding them 2 large round bales until i can clear out the barn and move small bales in there. First time for round bales. The real reason that most of us dont like them is that you really have to have a feeder for those. they waste alot of hay, by walking and going to the bathroom on it. The neighbor Jerry, let me use his old round bale feeder, but its in too bad of condition and the horses will get cut on it. Also, my horses dont all eat together. Usually i put out more piles of hay then horse. But i will feed other hay along with the round bales and that will keep them busy. Also not liking that they can eat 24/7, but its coming up to the winter and if they gain a bit more weight i am cool with that.
Yesterday, I had 7 little girls come and visit me and the horses. I have been emailing Maya a few times and they wanted to come out to see me and the horses! they brought with them donations as well! thank you very much! The one they really got to love on was Duke! he can be such a pooper with me and adults and he is just so gentle with the kids! They even also got a small back massage from Prize. They loved that. So i hope they had a great time as I sure did! our young kids/people are our future to make sure we take care of our animals and have compassion. I think all of these girls do. I love it when kids come. their faces are so wonderful to look at when they get close to animals. And they are honest and listen to what we have to say to them. Hopefully they take that into their adult hood.
Anyhow, that is it for the last few weeks. I hope you all are doing well!

My last baby!

Hi All-

Been busy to blog and then i forgot my password. Oh well. But obviously i did remember it. Thank goodness i use the same passwords on alot of things. Anyhow, wanted to share with you pictures of my last foal. Destinee, born April 22, 2008. She was adopted by Cate and Dave in Madison. Cate just sent them to me this morning. The lesson that had is with Jodi Pursley of Pursley's Stable in Cross Plains. Pretty soon Jodi will have nothing but my rescue horses boarded there. They are a great stable, close to Madison. Right now, lets see, Cheyenne, Lady, Angie, Destinee are there. Jed is also there and he was actually a surrendered horse but never entered into my program. Lily was also there for a few years too until she was adopted by Jean in Deforest.
Destinee- She is out of my best mare Missy. She was an oops baby. Her sire is Gabe a PMU foal that i got from a girl who purchased him at an auction. Gabe is up in Sparta with Denise and her family. Destinee looks alot like Gabe. Missy is a bay and Gabe is sorrel. Gabe is an appendix quarter and Missy is a QH. So Destinee is 1/4 TB and the rest is QH. She looks like she got the best out of both horses. She is taller like a TB and has the build of a QH! She is a very special girl to me. Ok, so all of my horses are special to me! But we all love the babies dont we?
Destinee is getting trained right now and had her first saddle on her. Next year she should be ready to have a rider on her! She is spoiled girl and both me and Cate are the ones who spoil her! Every time I get to Jodi's, i go to give Destinee her scratches and lovin. She absolutely loves that. She wants to be boss of her group and at one time was. That was until Rosie and Dream came back to Jodi's- (They were there when Destinee came and then went to another stable and now back at Jodi's again!). Destinee was way too young to be a boss mare and she enjoyed every minute of it. But she is back in her place which is where she should be! She is getting taller and taller every day. i am hoping she will get to be 15.2-15.3 hands! Missy is 15 hands and Gabe is 16 hands. So it may happen. I think Cate would like to jump and do some dressage with Destinee. Destinee jumped alot of stuff when she was with me as a baby. Made me nervous, but it didnt make Destinee nervous. She was also a bigger foal for Missy and was the typical 'over the knee's' when she was young. We had a vet over as well and he thought she had a problem with her hip, but she was so young, that it never developed. So be sure to be careful on what your vet says when they are so young. Things can develop, some things may not. She is a wonderful girl. I also have her 1/2 sister, Prize. Now Prize is more like her mom Missy then her dad. Her sire was 16 hands but i am unsure how his shape was. He was black (brown) and so is Prize. But both mares are very sweet, you can touch them anywhere and are very agreeable in their training. Very laid back. While i miss Destinee very much, she is in very great hands with Cate and Dave. And Jodi is taking very good care of her at her farm as well. So here are pictures of Destinee and Prize. I must say that Prize was very upset with her mom when Missy cut her off when she knew she was pregnant. Yes, Prize did nurse on Missy until she was 3 years old! Kind of cool to see that Missy knew she couldnt nurse Prize anymore when she knew she was pregnant. But now that Destinee is gone, Prize has weasled her way back into Missy's life. Not nursing, but they eat, groom and stand together alot again.

some photos

I thought i would give more photo's. so here they are-
1. Rocket, He was adopted by Cher, in Illinois along with Ms. Mattie (aka Misty)
2. Shayla was my first rescue horse. She was a 26 year old Belgian mare. I had her for 3 years.
3. Titan- I had him as a yearling. He is now owned by Lisa S. a girl friend of mine from HS.

Its Monday!

Well its Monday and its now August. Still pretty hot out too. I hate to use my air conditioning so much. But with no breeze and super humid, what can a girl do??!! I sweat enough outside with the horses. Boy, those horses..... I put on their fly masks, they take off their fly masks etc.... I have had people come over and they see the fly masks in a box outside of the pen. They say, hey, why dont you put these on? I say, cuz in 20 minutes they will have them off! So the old girl that i am, really gets tired of putting them on and then finding them all over the pasture to pick them up! After about 4-5 times, i say, ok, so have flies on you! Little poopers! So hopefully not too much longer for the hot/humid weather, but i heard its going to be like this for awhile. Farmers almanac said the summer was supposed to be cooler, but I think they surely got that wrong! At least the horses have some BIG trees to be under. They like that! I have heard from both Daevin's and Antar new mom's that they are doing well and they love them to bits. Boy, does that make me feel good! I am very happy about that. Also is nice that they are close! Will be going to see both in the next couple of week.
Oh yes- Hay! Even with pasture, the pigs (oops sorry, horses) have eaten their pasture down. Now there is just the nibble stuff. So i have been feeding them hay. I thought i was smart and got some small squares and then got some big ones from my usual hay guy. Well remember last week or so when we got dumped with 7 inches of rain? Well, Miss Jenny didnt put enough weight on the tarps to make sure rain didnt get on the hay. I come out and the tarps are all flapping OFF of the hay and my poor (expensive) hay is getting drenched. And then the hot weather. Well i have probably lost about $250.00 worth of hay. Bummer.. But i sure learned - ok the hard way, but i learned! Will be building a lean-to later in the year to store in the winter, but will be more careful about the tarps in the summer! So have to get more hay. I have a couple of days left. Am seeing a family just down the road from me and i usually will get a few bales of hay first to see if its good. I hate to get a ton of hay and then find out its got weeds in it or thistles or just icky brown. My horses just look at me and say (as if to say!) What the heck mom?? We have to eat this?? But going back to the PIG reference, they do eat just about anything put in front of them. Also- my bad hay? Will have to find somewhere to put that, cuz it now looks like a sty with the crappy hay piled up. Oh well. Expensive little lesson. With my old place, i never had to worry about hay. I had a barn with no leaks! Could shut the doors to make sure the wind didnt blow it away! Oh well. So more to do this year, but its ok, i can deal with it. I really actually like my new place. There are a few things that I need to get my landlord to fix, but all in all? I like it! Remember me talking about the highway? Well my dogs havent (knock on wood- yes, superstitious)gone to the road and Zeus will stick by me and Hunter is on the prowl to get a pidgeon and he will at some point. He is relentless! He always gets his man! (or should i say, either the male or female bird) he is like the energizer bunny. Zeus is now 9 and is slowing down. But he still loves to go out with mom! Anyhow, so the update is about hay and here is hoping that I will find a few different folks with decent hay! I hope your week goes well!

Another week

Hello Everyone!

I know I am bad about posting. For some reason, I am just really busy at work and at home to post. It goes in spurts being super busy to not so much. My brother Rich and I are slowly moving in and also getting ready for a garage sale. Hopefully before it snows out! One thing that I have to figure out is shelter for my hay. I have plastic and tarps but it blew off of both stacks of hay last week with our huge storm. And of course if it were just a regular rain, it wouldnt have mattered. But I lost alot of hay. Well for one thing, I have to put more weight on top of the plastic and tarps. So live and learn I guess. I will building a lean-to or at least have some sort of canopy over the hay. Expensive lesson to learn. I even got some small squares of hay to suppliment. The pigs--sorry horses have eaten down most of the pasture and i am now feeding them hay again. Happens, but i was hoping not so soon. Boy they love to eat! I am now down to 11 horses. I am hoping to adopt out at least 2 more horses by the winter. I just want to make sure i can afford the horses i have before adding on more horses. If I cant add more, i hope to still help out folks with finding homes for the horses they cant keep. I can offer advertising through Petfinder.com and that is one of the BEST advertising sites ever. I get probably 90% of my adopters through that site. They see a particular horse on Petfinder and then find their way to my website or just contact me through Petfinder.com The site is great, easy to add/remove horses and their contacts and help is awesome. I really have had NO problems with them. they are quick to answer any and all questions. So please be assured that even though I am not taking in horses right now, it doesnt mean i cant help with rehoming. I also have a list of folks looking for particular kind of horses and can email them with horses that need homes. I hope to continue this rescue but may not in the capacity i have been at before. But my doors will not be shut. I also will always have room for any of my horses that have been adopted to come back. I stay in contact with most of them. Some of them more often than not. But they all know where I am. And i have faith that they are all safe and loved. the most awesome people do find the rescues and are very committed to their animals. That is what helps me do what i do!

Our new home!

So, as you all know, I have moved. 7 miles away. Now I am in Barneveld. My sister took some nice photo's of the place. I have to say that the horses and I are very happy to be here. I had looked at a few places to rent and NONE of them were as nice as this place. AND i only moved 7 miles. Could have been worse. Now we are dealing with our utilities- such as our phone! I am trying Magic Jack. Its a phone service through our computer/internet. $19.95 a year and that is unlimited calling in the US. Boy, my phone bills before were about $80.00-120.00 a month. And that was land line and also internet. Being out in the country you don't normally have a choice on telephone. And I don't have a cell phone and refuse to get one! Too expensive! So the Magic Jack has been working and not working. MJ received good reviews, but we haven't quite figured it out yet! Not having a phone for almost 3 weeks has been a bit of pain, but ok so far. No emergencies.
So here is a look at the new house. The barn is NOT being used as you can see. I have some of my tack in areas where it doesn't rain into. Too bad the owner didn't keep up the barn. It is a great barn! You can see some of the horses in the pasture. It has wonderful, BIG, mature trees for shade! Yesterday was in the car dealership getting my car fixed. Something always seems to come up for sure! But dealing with it, because there is no choice!

My sweet Harley

Well, I have to tell you all about Harley. He was a 20 year old TB gelding (past racer) who was surrendered to me by a woman who couldnt afford him. Actually the story is that she had him about 10 years ago and then let him go to a family with an autistic boy who rode him. They had him for years. Then the husband died and the wife didnt know how to care for Harley and his companion. He ended up getting pretty skinny. The woman who had him before got wind about Harley and took him back and actually got some good weight on him even though he needed more. He had a back leg injury which took some care from her and our vet (we both have the same vet). She then lost her job and then contacted me to see if I could take him. Funny thing is- I was pretty full up but this woman and I both do rescue work and she needed to find him a home. 1 month later, I got Baby Breeze back from his owners and I might have said no to Harley if I knew I was getting Breeze back. Sometimes I do believe in fate. So in the winter of 2008 I got Harley. He had a wonderful calm about him. He was also very tall. 16.2 hands. He was a bay and just wanted to do his own thing. He wasnt all that close to the horses but he liked to be around them. The next year after the winter, Harley got to have the lawn to himself to eat at his leisure. But the boy just couldnt get over 1075 pounds. He really needed at least another 100 pounds if not 150 pounds put on! But i just couldnt get it on him. He ate, he ate like a pig! But anything like weight builders and other stuff - he wouldnt eat it. He just liked his sweet feed and senior feed along with grass and hay. I spent hundreds of dollars and had people donate tons of stuff to try to add or just feed separately to him. He never ate it. I guess I could have just left it there for when he got really hungry to eat it, but I couldnt do that to him. He couldnt go without even one feeding in my book! And he was happy, not in pain although he had some pretty mild to advanced arthritis in his back hips. But he loved his life i think! Jean, my vet came out and did blood work on him, all normal. Fecal was done, teeth good, all normal. He loved carrots, didnt like apples much. But i just couldnt get him over that 1075 mark! I got called in to the Iowa County Humane officer about him this year. She came out and i explained about him, she called my vet and she knew everything that could be done with Harley was being done. First time anyone has ever called me in. Any time someone comes over, I make sure to explain about Harley so they know that he isnt being neglected. But someone called me in. I guess I shouldnt have been so upset, but i was. But i guess i would rather people call in about horses that they are worried about than not. I have called authorities myself. But only after I have spoken to the owners. Most times its just a matter of education, sometimes not. Anyways, that part was taken care of.
Since i had to move, i was worried about my Harley. He was just too unstable to take a trip, even 7 miles up the road! I also knew that Harley wasnt going to be able to take another winter so I wanted him to have a great summer doing what he wanted. He was so spoiled, he would knock into people to make them pet him! He would go wherever, whenever he wanted. I feel bad that I couldnt take him, but he also wouldnt have been able to get his normal feeding in with the other horses. I couldnt chance him to get knocked over by running horses. So I made the decision to put him down the week after the other horses left. He was with me at my old house for a week by himself. I was also worried that he would have a big fit that he didnt have the other horses, but he went on like normal. We had a great week together, he got probably way more grain, way more carrots than any horse should. And still he had not gained any more weight. But he loved the time we had together. Jean came out to help me with Harley on June 23, 2010. I had the tough time, Harley did not. It was very peaceful. Jean even commented on how it went. I dont want to say it went smooth or well, because those arent the right terms or words. I think Harley was ready. I wasnt ready, but I am never ready to put a horse down. Harley just knew. And he was a great boy. Totally different than any horse i have had. He was a beautiful boy. I loved him so.

Do you all remember me?

Hello Everyone!!

Well I am finally ALL moved!! Yes, it was more of a nightmare than moving the horses! the horses were at the new place for 2 weeks before I got to move in! I closed on my house on June 25, had to store all of my stuff (junk) in my old garage until i could move in to the new place on July 1st! Stayed with my sister, had off from work and went to see the horses everyday. The time went so fast. Didnt even seem like a vacation! Sometimes alot of sleep, sometimes not! But I am thankful. I am moved. the house still has boxes but for the most part, we are moved in things are in their places!! I am going to also have a garage sale sometime in August. I just have so much stuff in my garage and instead of throwing it away (although, i threw away alot!), i will just try to sell it and get a few bucks! So lots have been going on. A wonderful girl, Brooke has fell in love with Antar and so she will be adopting him this month! She is a vet student as well! She came out a few times to ride him and was deciding on either Antar or another horse from another rescue. Antar is such a good boy. Rebecca took him out on trail by himself and he did wonderful! She also took him out with Missy with Rebecca riding Missy and Brooke riding Antar. Both did so well!! I think it will be a good match! I will miss that boy, but know that Brooke will take good care of him. He will be near as well so i can come and visit him! So then I will be down to 11 horses!! Mya is coming along beautifully in her training! She was ridden for the first time last night since being here at the new place! Rebecca has just been getting her used to the new pen and ground working with her! I know she will be a great trail horse! Also been working with Raven, the Missourri Fox Trotter filly (age 3) and I think i will be putting her up for adoption now. She has only had some ground work done and is picking up her feet, letting us touch her all over and getting brushed. She is a little bit nervous but really wants to please! From looking at her teeth, she cant be over 3 years of age. She is the one I got from a guy who just wanted her gone. We couldnt even put a halter on her! I am her 4th home! She wont be all that big, but she is a little more than 14.2 hands right now. And is she pretty or what?? I am actually going to downsize my herd and not take in anymore horses until probably next year when I can safely do so depending on my finances and my sanity!! But anyhow, I want to thank everyone who came to help me out. Without all of you good friends and family, i would never had made this happen!! I am so blessed! Thank you all!

Tired and stressed!

Hello Everyone!
Is is morning??? What day is today? My gosh, my brain is totally fried. I still packing the house, going through the garage, working 2 jobs and moving horses and horse tack. Thursday night.... Wow, what a whirlwind. I had my friends, Barb and Joe with a trailer and my neighbor Steve with his trailer. I was going to have my vet come out to sedate horses (2) to transport to the new place. I also had helping, Jodi, Brianna, Helen, Austin, Morgan, (barb's daughter- sorry i cant remember her name right now!), Rebecca and Ross. We needed to haul 7-8 horses and panels. took us a few loads, but it was done. My poor Vet Jean, got hurt Thursday morning. She literally had a Jackass that actually fell on her while she was working on him/her. I hear she is fine, but very sore and badly bruised. Well the horses that needed sedation but they got on without sedation. Used coaxing, butt lines and then finally panels finally did the trick with those two (Mya and Breeze). Poor Brianna was the only one to get hurt during this processed. Baby Breeze kicked her square in her upper thigh. She is doing better, thank goodness. It actually went quite well with Honey and Kobb. I got her in the barn with some grain, shut the doors and then we moved them up with panels to the end of the barn, backed the trailer up the doors and then let them go to the trailer. Honey seemed so trusting. If you dont know who Honey is, she is my paint mare who is blind and feral. Even after almost 3 years, she will still not allow me to touch her. But she and Kobb did well. Kobb is taking good care of her at the new place and sticking to her like glue until she gets the feel of the place and knows where her boundries are. Yesterday, we got together all of the rest of the horse tack and took it up. Michelle and Rebecca helped with that! Unfortunately Harley will not be making the trip. He is just too unbalanced to go on a trailer ride. Me and Harley are hanging out at my place until its time for Jean to come out and let him go to Horse Heaven. Dont worry, Harley is doing fine without the other horses as well. I am giving him plenty of love, grain and treats. He is going about his business like there isnt any difference or no other horses there. I was worried about him, but he is a good boy and loves his routine. It helps me as well not having the horses here with me. I go up at least once a day (if not twice) to check on the horses. There is a couple who lives at the place that I will be moving into and she is watching and has my numbers in case there is a problem. I have electric up there but it doesnt seem to be working at this time! So a call to John will be made today! I have this sick feeling in my stomach. Called stressed. I will be so glad when this is all over. I close on my house on Friday, and then move into the house a week from Wednesday. Trying to get all packed. But man, do i have wonderful friends. Even Helen's family has been up to see the horses and make sure they are ok! Thank you for that! I do appreciate the help. Like i have said before, I would have never been able to do this on my own. Never. I will be off of work from JUne 23 noon and not go back to my day job until July 6, Tuesday. I go back to Walmart on July 2. I just have this one more hurdle in moving stuff into the garage on June 24 and then moving the stuff out on June 30. And then i will be in my new home. I hope the new owners of my home will love it like i have - for 17 years. It will be hard, but i will make it through. thank you so much all of you for your support, help and love. I love you all!
Will hopefully give you an update by the end of the week. And say a prayer for Harley! He is such a good boy.

STARTING TO MOVE!

Ok, so my life is shambles right now. I close on my home on June 25, I cant move into the new house until June 30 late or July 1st. Yesterday we started to move horses to the new place. It is only 7 miles away so i can go and check on them before work and then after work. Not that i want to not be there, i do, but circumstances are different. I also wanted the horses to go out on pasture. They have been busting wood fences all over to get to the grass. I had to take down my electric rope fencing to put up at the new place (Thanks to John, it looks great!).
So i decide to get a couple of trailers with the help of my good, good friends. We had a few problems at the first, but we ended up loading and taking 5 horses. Papa Jack, Duke, Missy, Prize and Cheyenne. I was worried about Prize, but she didnt take too long to load. My home now is the only home she has known. She isnt afraid of much and she just didnt want to load. Didnt give us too much of a hassle, just loaded after much coaxing. We tried Mya, but she wasnt having any of that! You know those trailers, you get in, some monster will torture, scare and then eat you alive!! Now i have 8 more to go! Pouring rain! One couple with a trailer said they had major storms in their area so didnt come. Thank you to Tammy with her truck and trailer! Rebecca, Jodi and Brianna helped with loading! Then me and Rebecca had to come back with a water tank so the babies can have water! these above pics are taken last night with Rebecca's phone camera! Boy, do i wish for a fast forward to July 2!! Horses doing well this morning in the grass and trees! They love that!
Thank you so much my dear, dear friends! More news on the moving coming!

blogger down

I have had to try to blog for a few days now and have had no success. It was simply down. Man, the times I can blog, I forget to do so or its down and the time I cant blog, I want to. Go figure. Anyhow, plans for moving is underway. Lots to do and boy am I extremely nervous about it. If it were just me, I wouldnt worry much, but its me, my brother, my 2 dogs, our 6 cats and of course - 13 horses. Was 14 horses but Daevin got his forever home Memorial Day weekend. Which, by the way, he is doing absolutely fabulous. I figured they would beat the crap out of him for a few days. Daevin is NOT an alpha horse at all. But the two he joined just ran with him for awhile and then they went on to graze. The Arab mare is in love with him and i think the gelding is trying to figure out if Daevin is all bluff or all bite. Well he will figure it out. When i went to see him the day after he left, he was right in the middle of the two horses not caring at all. Normally he would be all jittery watching for the two and not getting in the middle. Anyhow, he is fitting in nicely and Shania is his new mom and she is very happy with him. I am very happy he has a great home!
ok- so back to moving. I will be moving the horses next Tuesday afternoon, and then I will not be moving until either June 30 or July 1. I will of course go up there every day to make sure they are ok. The lady who lives there also said she would keep an eye open as well. But leaving them will be hard. But they will have a few acres of grass and they desperately want and need that! They have been trashing my wood fences because they arent getting grass yet. It seems every time that i go out to feed that they are saying when is it grass time mom?? How come we dont get grass this year? And man! with all of the rain lately? Getting very tired of that! it seems that we got our april showers in June now. Pretty muddy. Boy, am i looking forward to no dry lot or what?? I will not know what to do with myself in not feeding them 2 times a day! Well at least for awhile! I have great friends who will be helping me with hauling! Tammy and Barb! Poor Jodi has an axle problem and cant help. Good thing the new place is only 7 miles away. I have a guy, John who is helping me with fencing in more grass area for the horses as well. So I am just hoping everything comes together and works out. Cant wait for July 2! Will be in the house (hoping I didnt jinx myself) and getting settled.
Also- training update. We will now be working with 'little miss sassy pants' Raven. She is not a horse who likes humans to get close, but she is curious and is most times a good girl who has tantrums. Her buddy is Antar and he lets her get away with alot. She is actually mean to him and he either likes it or just doesnt care. I have to get a picture of her biting him and him getting annoyed but not getting after her. She likes to stomp her foot as well and I am not liking that. When she wants something, she will let everyone know! So more pictures coming soon!
Hope you all are having a great summer with your babies!

And she came down!

ok, so another post to do! Mya was also worked with last night with Rebecca! BUT! Mya had a bit of meltdown! Mya absolutely hates the bigger flies, horse flies all of them bugs! She gets frantic, upset and starts her bucking, crow hopping whatever. She got tense on Rebecca when she got on her. Rebecca did feel that. We didnt know the bugs were there for poor Mya. I went into the house for something and i come out and Rebecca told me she got dumped!! the bugs are all we could think of because she got all weirded out and saw more flies and bugs. We spray her but man! Those bugs be-line to Mya! (pun intended!) So the first time in a long time for Rebecca to get dumped off of a horse. We all know it happens, we just try to fall gracefully, with dignity and hopefully the least amount of soreness and bruising as possible! Rebecca ended up with a scrape on her hand and on her thigh. And she says good thing for helmets cuz she hit her head. her head protected because of the helmet!! So wear your helmets kids. I know its awkward sometimes and for us girls who never even had helmets to wear when we were kids riding horses, we should be! So lesson there! Its everyone's decision though (over the age of 18) but a good habit to get in to! So here is to Rebecca and being a great trainer that she is and gets back on Mya. So while the bugs are out, we will be riding Mya when its hotter and the bugs are out of the heat! Mya doesnt break much of a sweat anyhow! But I hope you are doing ok Rebecca!! (she emailed me today and said she was!) That is one of my fears that i fall off of a horse and break something! Yikes! Anyhow, Daevin will be leaving my ranch this weekend to his new mom Shania. I will miss you dear Daevin. He is such a good boy! He will only be about 25 minutes away from me and will be buds with a large paint gelding and an Arab mare. NICE place! I love you Daevin!

MY BABY PRIZE!

Well i must say, that I am a proud mom!! Prize is my baby. she was born on my ranch. her mom is Missy. I first got Papa Jack and then we bought a companion for Jack, Missy for my (ex) husband. We knew that Missy was pregnant and also a good riding horse. She is indeed. So Prize was born 5 years ago to Missy. Now Prize was a VERY spoiled girl. Both by me and her herd. She gets away with alot. She gets to eat with just about any horse and they (for the most part) dont have a problem with it! she is about 15 hands, a very easy keeper like both of moms! she is a registered quarter horse. She is black in color with a little bit of white on her back legs. She is cute, she is lovable. She loves to lick and also give back massages to humans and horses alike. Well when she was 3, she was just so immature and not ready for training to ride. But we did work with her on the ground and while she did well, she wasnt into it. So we waited to train her. Last year, other horses had to be trained first to get them adopted out. This year was her turn after Mya. Rebecca has been working with her and boy she is a little poop at times! But a gorgeous poop she is! She has never had to be afraid of anything. Her herd takes care of her. She is lazy most times. So training has been going well. She has had a saddle and pad on her but not tightened, but last night we just did it. She had no problem with any of it. Then Rebecca put some of her weight in the stirrup. Stood up. Prize just stood there. Then Rebecca went ahead and sat in the saddle. That was going to be our first lesson. I got so excited and went in to grab Rebecca's cell phone to take a picture. She stands there all nice! I take the phone and then back up to take her picture. Of course Prize, being Prize, comes towards me thinking i have a treat for her! Not even caring that Rebecca is still on her! So i take the photo's and then i start to walk around the round pen. She follows her mom, like a good horse! She does love her mom! Especially if there are either treats or rubs to be had! She did so well! So we pushed the envelope with her and she did well. A couple of times around and she was so good! Rebecca and i are both welling up with pride, joy and smiles! I sure love my Prize! here are her pictures! Isnt she just so beautiful??
I hope she is with me forever! Thank you Rebecca!

more on Mya!

Mya, what a beautiful and trusting girl. Sorry, i should have posted this 2 days after my last post. Rebecca has been on Mya with a western saddle and we have led her around a few times. Mya was a bit confused when i let go of the lead rope but would walk with me. She almost said, what do i do now, that no one is telling me to go?? But she went around a few times. One moment got a bit heated. Papa Jack was let out on the lawn to get some grass and heard one of his horses (same herd as Mya) call out to him. Oh my gosh! Jack hasnt run like that in years! Of course he has to tear butt right next to the round pen while Rebecca is on him and i am standing kind of in front her leading her. She just stepped to the side and watched Papa as he went running by screaming the whole time (Jack not Mya!). I could see my whole life pass before my eyes! But Mya knows about being good around humans, she really does! Besides taking care of her own herd she takes care of her humans. And not sure Rebecca will be able to let her go! I told her how hard it is to have a horse and then find him/her another home. But the good things are that the new families take such good care of the horses they get! They adore them! Here are pictures of Mya with her western saddle and with Rebecca on her!

Anyhow, training on Mya is going beautifully!!

More on moving and selling my home next week. i dont want to jinx it for myself or for the horses. But i have found a place to move to (only 7 miles away) and i have an offer on my home! Cross your fingers, say a prayer, do what you have to make sure me and the horses are safe and sound!

MYA!! What a beautiful girl!

Well Mya is being worked with by Rebecca. Rebecca calls her 'My girl'. They are developing this wonderful bond, those two. At first, Mya was always looking for her herd, not paying attention, being naughty, the usual first training of a horse. And she is an alpha mare. But she likes to take direction from a human. Rebecca has been working on the ground with her and last night she got a saddle on her! And Mya not objecting too much. Mya doesnt like different sounds. She doesnt might looking at stuff and smelling new stuff. I think Mya is going to be a great trail horse. She loves her herd and is worried about everyone of them. She also will be very gracious with the handicapped horses. Last year when I had Mia, who was blind, she befriended her her and made sure she was taken care of. Now Cheyenne (with a back club foot) is being taken care of by Mya. Mya is 3rd in getting her food (after Papa Jack and Duke) but she will move to the next pile to let Cheyenne in there. Cheyenne is 2nd to the last (only ahead of Max) in the herd. I just love Mya. Rebecca loves Mya. And Mya will stay in our hearts. It will be hard on Rebecca when Mya finds a home. It is really her first horse (with me) that she has trained from nearly the beginning. And she is doing great with her. Here is a picture of Mya last night! Isnt she just beautiful? And YES, she is a very easy keeper, tee hee! She is like her human mom, she can just look at food and gain weight!

Raven, Prize, Breeze and Mya

Well, Rebecca are now starting to really work on these 3 horses. Raven, the 3 year old black and white MFT. boy, i looked at her pics in October when i got her and she was nasty then. I will be getting photo's hopefully tonight of her and show you how she is doing and filling out quite nicely. Still not sure if she is a MFT. She ended up losing her halter over the winter but i have been working a bit with her to let her allow me to touch her. She is very curious and will come when you call her. But i think its only because she thinks she will get grain/treats. She is just a nut when it comes to food! But she is filling out nicely. Really a pretty girl. her teeth still pretty little. I think she is 3 this year. So Rebecca and I got a collar on her as she is not too keen on her ears- that is for sure. I can grab the collar and make her come forward with me, she is ok with that. But then she will take a step back when i release.
Prize- She is my baby who has got put off to the side to train my rescues. She is a 5 year old Black mare (missy's daughter) - She is a spoiled, sassy girl for sure. Not only because of me spoiling her, but most of her herd has spoiled her. She actually goes into a hissy-fit, tantrum when the other horses actually do get after her. BIG squeel! My gosh, you would think someone is killing her. She wants to be an alpha, but is not, is only a bluffer. She sassed at Rebecca the other day, but the 2nd time in the round pen, she was much better.
Baby Breeze, 2 years old in April. Still working with him in the paddock. Still a sassy boy who would rather play than work. But getting the hang of it-
Mya- She is Rebecca's total project! Doing well on her ground work and has had a pad with a rope around it to be like a girth. She is tolerating it. But she is trusting Rebecca much, much more and has no problems leaving her gang. She does well when we groom her and she munches on the grass, but when its time to work, she doesnt get to eat grass in the round pen. She is doing well. By next week, its the saddle time!!
Will be looking at a place up the road from me for rent. Just in the small time paper last night. Cant believe its only about 5 miles from me! Wish me luck. More pics will be coming next week!

more photos!

More photos from Midwest!

I'm back!

Hello!
The Midwest Horse Fair was really, really great! For the most part. All 3 horses did well overall- A few mishaps, but not on my horses part! We get to the fair and find that the Andalusian group was on the other side of our stalls. And of course 2 stallions across from Antar and Lady. The BIG huge Stallion that looked like an Andalusian/Appy cross was very studly! He would try to climb over the back of the stall and he could actually put his head over the top and touch Antar! Boy Antar was scared to death. I go over to speak to the owners/managers and I am clearly upset about this. Antar scared to death! I tell the dude that hey, you have to control your horse. he says, 'oh he is alright' and I say, well he is scaring the be-jesus out of my horse! The stallion did this many times. They did tie him up which made him mad and then kick the stall very loudly. He did settle down by Friday and by the end of the weekend, Antar and the stallion were buds. Made me feel better. But i had to yell at the stallion to get down (which he did) many, many times. The stallion across from Lady didnt realize she was there until Friday/Sat in which he tried to climb over the back of the stall. Lady wasnt bothered by it, she just went into heat and drove him more crazy. But Lady loved him. The weekend was alot of fun. I did my 'rescue' talks. One on Friday, and one on Saturday. Both went well. About 20-25 people at each talk. I wasnt too nervous! But it went well. Donations not as good as past years. But I got a few prospects for the horses. Daevin was actually looked at by a family before Midwest but they came to see him in action in the outdoor arena. Brianna handled him like the pro she is! Even broke her stirrup leather and rode him with only one stirrup! you go girl! All horses did so well in the outdoor arena! Horses, people, traffic, parking lot, lots going on and all werent too nervous at all! We also had Antar and Lady in a demonstration on Sunday morning with Bob Jeffries and Suzanne Jeffries. At first (i wasnt there yet) there was about 30 seconds of feedback with the sound system and was very loud and all horses got very scared and freaked out. That is all except Lady who was very calm during the whole thing! What a good girl!! Although the weekend gets stressful and very busy, it was so good to see so many people i know and the folks who have emailed me over the year that I didnt meet until fair. Meeting you all is such a highlight to my life! This is the best weekend of the year for my rescue! Anyhow, I would like to thank the following people who came to help me out! And thanks to Jean, my vet who did come out but didnt have to because my horses were not injured!! Rebecca rode both Lady and Antar, Brianna on Daevin and Antar and Michele rode Lady. VERY impressed with all of them! I love you!
Michele Linke
Cherie LaBissoniere
Jodi Pursley
Brianna Pursley
Rebecca Westphal and her mom Mary
Olivia Goth
Ross Butler
Cate Heath and her brother Colton
Helen and Morgan Melton
Olivia Schjonber and Brian Born
Gosh, more and I can think right now, but will update when i remember!
Also some pictures from the Fair!
Thank you all for making the weekend of Midwest Horse Fair one to remember!

pictures from Saturday

I am really trying to do more blogs and blogs with pictures! When i read blogs, i love to see their pictures! So i am adding a few pictures of Daevin and Antar getting ridden for the first time since last year! I have seen Daevin ride many times, but never have seen Antar! Both boys were good. Daevin, a bit on the sassy side, but in a good way and Antar? Oh my gosh! What a beautiful boy he is! And good boy. anyhow, here are the pics! First ones are of Antar, a 19 year old registered Arab.
and the next 3 are Daevin, an 11 year old polish Arab gelding.