Have to fess up

Hey Everyone,

Today i am writing a very difficult blog. I have written out an email to the horse contacts and still i havent sent it on yet. I thought i would write here first. A few people do know this, but not everyone. You see- I am going to have to move this summer. I just cant afford the mortgage anymore. I got divorced almost 2 years ago. Wow, almost 2 years, doesnt seem that long, but then again it does. I try to not be bitter, but i guess i still am. My ex and i bought this land together. We built this house, then the garage and then the small barn and then the big barn. We decided to have horses. We decided we would save some horses. then my ex left me. Having horses is expensive enough for 2 incomes let alone one! I have sold everything i can think, gotten roommates, had two jobs and in the end, i just cant afford my home. Well I can afford it and the horses, but if an extra bill comes up, then i cant afford to pay it. Or do payments and then another bill gets put off. Just getting tired of borrowing money, trying to pay it back etc. So i have decided to put my home up for sale and find a cheaper place to go with the animals. Will it be impossible? I dont think so! Will it be difficult? oh yes, it will! Taking 10+ horses with me? Oh yes, but it for the better good. I dont have to worry about money (hopefully). Oh, the horses always came first. i have come second. And i dont mind that. That will always be true to some degree. Animals cant take care of themselves, we can. So i am very upset to leave my home that I have lived in for 17 years, but my motto is that where ever i live will be home as long as i have my animals with me. So anyhow, i am looking now for a home that i can move to in the summer. A home with 3+ acres that has shelters and fencing or one that i can put up fences and shelters! I look at this as a new beginning. i have to. I do still get emotional about it and will for some time, but am also looking forward to moving and starting new! Maybe I can get over my bitterness towards my ex-husband. I dont like to feel this way towards anyone. I can go anywhere, but my horses cant and i am responsible for them regardless who is in my life. So i am looking forward to a new home, a new beginning, the Midwest Horse Fair, my talks there and talking to the Girl Scouts on May 1st. I may have to postpone the fundraiser, but that is ok. I want to make sure its the best fundraiser that i can plan! I do plan on continuing my rescue program. I want to start gelding programs and euthanisia programs for people who cannot afford these things. I want to get so big that i have corporate sponsors!~ I want the legislature to ban all slaughter to horses. That means no horses can even go over the border to Canada and Mexico to get slaughtered there. I want big buildings with beautiful stalls, indoor and outdoor arena's, trainers, groomers and many, many horses to live their lives out with me for the rest of their lives! I want alot of things. oh yes, can you also add a cute 40 something year old man who loves horses (and me of course) as much as I do! And I want to have dear friends who love and support me always.
So- there---- I spilled. It makes me feel better. Thank you all!

updates

Hello! I am hoping i dont hit that mysterious button and its takes out all of my typing this time! So I will be careful!
Anyhow- Having volunteers and trainers coming out on Saturday! 1pm on March 27! Rebecca and Brianna are going to get Antar and Daevin out! Yes! First we have to put up the round pen but we plan on doing that right away on Saturday. Have had a picked up interest in some of the horses (mostly Daevin). It must be spring, people start to look for that additional horse!! Also had some girls interested in Cheyenne! Not too often that i get calls/emails on the horses who are not to be ridden. But that is good! Frankie is a 4 coming 5 year old Arab who needs a home. Been advertising him on Petfinder.com and there has been little to no interest. She needs to find him a good home soon. He is definitely a beautiful boy with some great potential!
Harley- Been getting around, i see by the looks of his mane and tail! yes, the leftover burrs from last year. Not many of them around, but Harley found them. I had to take about 10 minutes to get them out! But i want him to have a great summer. Trying to figure out how i can give him 50 pounds of mine! We would both look better! HA! Would i be a billionaire if i could figure that out! But really, still waiting for the lottery- would have a better chance at that!
Starting Walmart again for a few months to have some extra money. I like to be able to pay the bills when they come in vs. trying to do payments. But i am ok with that as long as my creditors are ok with that!
Midwest coming in 3 weeks! Should be working on my presentation! Yep, have no time for that nowadays! But i will get it going. I have most of it, just have to tweak it. make it more general and not an ad for the Second Chance Horse Rescue Ranch! Been loving the weather! next week it will be close to 70! Love that! wondering what i should do with Honey (wild and blind mare). But i will figure that out as well. Sometimes the brain just doesnt work!
We may have to put the big fund raiser on hold. Have been trying to get the contract from the stable, which never seems to come and if i want to have a fund raiser, it should be done right. Might be a tad bit too soon after MHF and the talks that i am giving. So that is unclear right now, but i will let everyone know.
i hope you all are having a good time with the shedding brushes and some mud. Although the mud is FAR better this year than the last couple of years! Last night i sat out on my deck watching the horses, the sand hill cranes, deer and geese. Life is good. Love this time of year. the horses feeling frisky and sassy. Work is pretty busy but love going home and spending time with the horses. Will get all updated pics of ALL horses this weekend after we groom for about 2 hours (but should be 2 days!). I hope you all are doing well!
Take care!
Jenny

TGIF!

Ok so I am completely upset! I was almost done with today's blog, i hit something on my keyboard and wham! My blog is gone!! man! Does not make me happy at all! Ok, so let me start over!
Loving this weeks weather! No coat, been able to brush some horses out. Shedding season, mud season- all comes hand in hand for sure.
Harley, hasnt gained a single pound over the winter. If i gave anyone of my horses that food I give to him, they would explode being so overweight! Soon he will be having the lawn for his paddock area and then we get the round panels up and then horses will be trained again. Mya, Prize, Breeze and Raven are my priorities this year.
March 27 is the next volunteer day- Saturday at 1pm. Will be mucking and grooming! And whatever else needs to be done!
this weekend is my weekend to clean the house. Supposed to be bad weather, so i guess its a good excuse to stay in.
Midwest Horse is coming quickly. I am still working on my lecture regarding Rescue and will have a powerpoint presentation. Speaking in the Nutrena Hall Friday at 4pm and then Saturday at 5pm. I will be nervous, probably bable, but if i can reach one person, i will be happy. Very happy they are allowing this since really rescue groups are not really invited to the Midwest Horse Fair. There are still rescues who get denied to coming to MWHF. So I am lucky and I do appreciate that they allow me to come. this is my 5th year! So much fun and this is my highlight on all events i do over the year.
anyhow, have a great weekend everyone! Think of me while i am mopping my floors just to have the dogs come in with more mud to clean up! Yikes!

Its all about the money

Today I wanted to blog a bit about money in the horse world. You see it everywhere especially in the slaughter world. People take their horses to auctions. they either know or dont know that the buyer who got their horse is a horse broker aka a horse slaughter person. Now, the HB (horse brokers) will sometimes take that horse to a different auction to see if they can make some money on it. Sometimes they dont. Or they will then take it to Canada or Mexico right away. Sometimes they will sell the horse to a rescue or person while waiting in a kill pen for more horses to make his trip worth while. They then, for example, buy a horse for $100.00 and then either make more money at the auction or make money per pound from the slaughter places. Or they will charge a person or rescue probably 3 to 4 times the amount that it cost them. In any event, they make money. They never bid more than what they will get per pound. they wont sell at auction below per pound. they make money. I read a blog from a guy in California who frequently gets his TB's from the KB/HB. Alot of those guys are mexican's who are here in the US illegally. He says that a trailer load of horses will bring them 2-3K for their horses. If they do this 1-2 times a week, boy that is alot of money. Now there are going to be farms to house horses going to slaughter. Canada passed a law that the horses have to be drug free for 6 months. So they will stay at farms and they will transport them. Nice huh??? What a bunch of pieces of crap! why are people like this? I dont get it. Is money really worth it? I just hope they get their just-do in the afterlife. another thing, i sent out a plea for two mares from a guy who wants to have his mare's fertilized embryo transfered to another mare to carry so his mare doesnt have to. Obviously cares about that mare. you would think he would care for the other mares. he does not. Gets the free or cheap mares and then decides a week or two later if he wants them to carry this embryo. He decided these two mares were not the ones to carry, (I think he purchased 4 or 5 mares) he calls my friend Jodi and asks her to get these mares. She finds a person and now the dude will maybe let them go. IF he gets some money. Boy, do i hate extortion or what?? We are all made to pay money to POS people who dont care for their animals. Even the ones he does keep, will probably be 'sold' off later or sold to the KBs. I dont know what to do in this situation. do we keep paying these people off? do we let them send them to slaughter? I dont know. Either way they will continue. I just dont get it. these are the challenges we live with in the rescue world. Pieces of crap people that i would never want to know in real life or have as friends.

Yeah, Spring is coming!

I am very excited to have March here!! I love the warmer weather. Actually what I love about it is that we dont have snow and ice underfoot. I am always worried when i work with a horse in the winter, that I could fall down on the snow and then a horse might accidently kick or step on me. I am really the only one who cares for my horses so I dont want to get hurt. Another reason that i dont ride much anymore. Just Missy and jack for now and they are speedy enough for me. We like to walk and trot. Thank you! also, getting older and knowing that I could break something! Yikes! I am in my 40's and getting up there in age. but we are in better shape and mind nowadays!! At least that is what i keep telling myself.
Well updates from the Second chance Horse Rescue Ranch- The last month I had tack sales at both Arena and Arlington. Made about $173.00 from tack sales and cookies at Arena and $150.00 with donations/cookies and tack sale. I also was able to talk to the 4-H kids at Arlingtons tack sale. Boy, speaking sometimes is easy for me and sometimes not. This one slipped me up because there is a like a big arena area and there are kids from one side to another AND i had to speak into a microphone. Yikes! dont like the microphone! So we spoke to them and I love speaking to the kids. they sometimes want to volunteer or see if i have a specific horse for adoption and the best part- If I can get kids to not breed their horses when they get older and get a horse that needs a home, its great! Just hoping that all breeding stops for a few years so that the horses who deserve a better price on re-sale can get that price!! A couple of years ago, I could get 800-1000.00 for a nicely broke horse and now we cant sometimes even get a few hundred dollars for them! not many people buying, or if they are, they are newer folks (who may not know what they are getting into!) and are looking for those 'bomb proof' horses. oh yeah, I get those in all of the time! NOT! but i do find out about some of them from time to time. Anyhow, I had a great time with the kids. I always do. I also got to see Tammy and her young son, Colton!! What a cutie pie he is! Tammy, glad you have him and not me! Horses are easier!! hA! But congrats! You are a great mom. Hope you sold your saddle too! anyhow, had a great time.
I also have some news for when we go to the Midwest Horse Fair! I was invited (ok - so were others) to TALK at the Midwest Horse Fair!! Talking about rescue of course. As long as I dont focus on just my rescue I can talk about it. I am getting a powerpoint presentation regarding my views on rescue, slaughter and also views on starting a horse rescue. So I am extremely excited about that. the more people who realize that more than 100K horses are still getting slaughtered each year the more people will consider gelding, euthanasia and not breeding for awhile until we get this overpopulation with in safe limits. Also again, we will be bringing Antar, Daevin and Lady. I am so impressed with the training Lady is getting. She has a bunch of rides on her and Michele and Rebecca getting rides on her 3 times a week. Yes, she is still technically green broke, but is a very easy horse to direct and train. She will be a great asset to any family! So lets cross our fingers that these 3 will get homes. Both Antar and Daevin are broke not green broke, but since they are both Arabs, they need confident riders as they like to go!
But both boys are very loving and get along great with other horses. they are not alpha's either so you do have to watch that they dont get beat up!! HA! Daevin's buddy is the devil boy Breeze and Antar loves his 3 year old Raven, the MFT filly. he likes to watch over her. Or he is an old man with a young filly as his fantasy!!
So, I should be updating more this week. Have a great Tuesday and see you all soon!

Whew! (?)

Well, the last couple of days, i have been alittle bit concerned about Kobb, my 32 year old Arab gelding. His girlfriend of choice is Honey, my 10 year old Paint mare who is blind and wild. But Kobb always comes into the barn to get his morning grain. The last 3 days he has not. So what is up? I actually took it outside for him and he ate it,so he wasnt sick. But i also noticed that Honey has been aggitated for the same number of days. Oh man! There is a possibility that Honey is pregnant. last year, we got Breeze back from his adopters- NOT gelded. We got him back December 2008. So we couldnt get him gelded at the time because of the cold. He was only about 8 months old, but certainly CAN breed if he chooses to. So for 4 months until we could get him gelded, he was with a couple of mares. After he got gelded, we gave the abortion shots to 2 mares. The 3rd mare, Honey, will not allow anyone to touch her, so i had to just take my chances on her. Last month i could have sworn that she was bigger on one side and getting quite beefy! Oh man! no! I just kept thinking that well, if she is pregnant, dont give birth in the real cold! So i have been watching her. Now, Kobb is watching her. Well i got my answer this morning to both situations! Honey is in heat! Kobb is just watching to make sure no other gelding in their group gets over to her while she is in heat! she is HIS girlfriend! Here I thought he knew that Honey was pregnant and going to give birth! Nope! If he cant have her, then nobody will! hA! Well I like that answer better than poor Honey giving birth to an Oops baby! What kind of foal would that have been?? Part Paint, Mustang and Welsh pony. yikes!! Could be cute, but what about conformation?? HA!! Anyhow, hopefully she isnt pregnant because she is in heat. But i wont breath easier until April! Get past April and that will be the latest she will go if she is pregnant.
Yesterday- I was asked to go to the UW Vet School to talk about my rescue! Boy was that fun! i do like talking about horses! I have spoke to a few groups and some 4-H kids. But that was more informal. Yesterday, I had made up a powerpoint presentation and actually presented this talk. Much more organized. I think i did ok and the people there had excellent questions. It looks like about 6-7 of this group of 20 (who were there) are going to be equine vets! Hopefully they will stay in Wisconsin! We need more here. Plenty of horses in Wisconsin! Lots of good ideas and hopefully i can help them get some experience with geldings, floatings and other things. They really dont have a good part in the program that deals with horses. Well - that might be why not many of them get into large animal or equine! A few of them are also looking for horses and i hopefully can help them find what they need when they are ready! anyhow, thank you for letting me talk and rant yesterday. Was very nice to be there!
Dont forget the Arena (At the Sandbar) tack sale on Sunday, Feb 21 at 10 am! I will be there with my stuff!
Hug your horses everyone!

Time flies

Well time flies when you are busy huh?? Oh yes, busy with getting taxes together, stuff for tack sales, and last weekend? My water tank fire! yes, that is right. My sinking water tank heater died on me a few weeks ago. I have one of those red floater tank heaters as a back up. I dont like using those because you know what horses like to do with those!! yes, pull them out, fling them around, that kind of thing. they get bored and play with them. Makes me nervous. Well I put it on Harley's side of the tank, he never plays with them. Well, the tank heater actually started my plastic water tank on fire! you can see the black part on the heater and then it must have flamed up. I went out in the morning last Saturday and it was fine, working. Then I come out at 3pm to show Antar to some prospective adopters. One lady says, look at your water tank! It was actually in flames! 3 quarters of it already burned! thank GOD it was outside and didnt burn inside of the barn! I have the tank shared between two paddocks. All of the horses not caring, but not over by it either! Wow! the fence didnt catch on fire either. So i was a lucky girl. So on a Saturday night, at 5:30 i had to go to farm and fleet, get a new tank (yes, a metal one) and a new water heater. $150.00 later, i got home and put it all together. Makes a bit nervous for sure. But this one is working. I think I will be taking pics of the tank and heater to show the manufacterer what these tank heaters can do. I have asked a few people and have found that it has happened to other folks! Yikes! What is up with that???
Anyhow, I am breathing easier. Got a metal water tank and a newer type of heater that is metal and sinks. I dont like the kind that goes into the plug of the metal water tank. I cant get them out, they seem to leak and then I cant find the plug! Horses will play with that too when the water gets low. So I will stick to the sinkable ones. Yes, they pull them out from time to time, but not as much as the floaters.
Anyhow, the Arena Tack sale is on Sunday, Feb 21 from 10 am to 4pm
Arlington Tack Sale is on Saturday, Feb 27 from 9 to 3pm. I am speaking to the 4-H kids at 11am regarding my rescue.
Giving a talk tot he UW Vet Students Tuesday (tomorrow) Feb 16 at noon.
Call from Mimi wanting to donate some Neighlox and some tack to the rescue, thank you Mimi! cindy from Burlington wanting to find a home for her retired Polo Pony HoBo so that information will be emailed to my horsey friends. Supposed to be in great shape and a close to bomb proof horse! His age is 23-25 but he is great shape per the owner and her vet! Has many years of riding if taken care of!
I will try to post at least 2 times a week. Sometimes, its hard when i am so busy at work. I try to do this during my lunch and breaks and sometimes I dont get lunches and breaks! Talk to you all soon!