Just a few pony pictures

 

I don’t think I’ve ever been clinically depressed in my life, but the past few months have seen a new side of me, a side I don’t think I like.  It’s been terribly difficult for me to find the energy to do anything except feed the horses.  When Amigo was born I had to force myself to get the camera and take some pictures of him.   I felt like I was far underwater, just trying to swim to the surface for air.  All I could concentrate on was flapping my arms in hopes of reaching the surface before I drowned.  I didn’t want to ride, take pictures, blog, start any seeds for the garden… none of the things that usually get me going this time of year held any interest for me.

This morning when I rolled my weary body out of bed I decided that enough was enough and took the camera with me when I fed.

Sky and Quill were very thin when we got home in February.  Their hips and backbones were sticking up under their thick winter coats and they were lethargic.

 

Being so young, they recovered quickly.  Quill still has a little weight to put on, but he’s starting another growth spurt right now and not only growing out, but also growing up again.

 

Had Tabby been fed properly this winter, she’d already be back to normal.  But when we got home, she didn’t look that much better than when we took her back from her adopters.  I’d still like to see another 150lbs on her.

 

I only wish they could all be like Dallas (except for the covered in mud part)!

 

Traveler is another one that didn’t lose much weight over the winter.  He was still plump and round when we got home.  Greedy little pony still thinks he needs all the grain in the world and runs me over at every feeding.  Good thing he’s cute and cuddly.

 

Ditto for Jewel.  That mare could stay fat just by looking at food. 

 

Molly was fat when she came back from her foster home, but quickly lost weight and became ribby when Gilbert refused to feed her because he said he didn’t like her.  She picked up weight quickly and is ready to start carting me down the trails whenever this weather warms up again. 

 

Now if this four day migraine would go away and spring would come back to town, I could be happy again. 

Ms. Sassy

When Sassy came here she had never been handled since the day she was born.  Just catching her and getting her on the trailer took hours and was pretty traumatic for her (and me!).  She’s taken a long time to get over the fact that I had to manhandle her, and there for awhile, I didn’t think she’d ever trust me.   We had a mutual distrust for each other.  She thought I was going to beat her and I kept a watchful eye on her back feet and teeth at all times.

But now, things are starting to change just a bit.  I no longer feel like she’s going to strike or bite me, and she’s starting to become a curious little mare who thinks I should have cookies on me at ALL TIMES.

 

She follows me everywhere when I’m out in the pasture and calls to me with her special little bray whenever I’m walking up to the barn.  The problem is… she follows me EVERYWHERE.  Did I mention that?

 

 

I was trying to get pictures of some of the horses today for flyers that Anne is doing for the event this Saturday (OMG, is it really only a few days away???).  Miss Sassy made this very  difficult.

 

 

Say there human… whatcha got in your hands?  Is that a big black cookie?

 

Here, let me help you with that…

 

I had to clean Sassy snot off my lens when she was done, but it was worth it for her to be this curious about the camera and not be worried that I was going to beat her with it.  Once she figured out the camera wasn’t edible, she proceeded to try and eat my hand while I played with her muzzle.  Baby steps!

Helping Out

People from afar keep asking me how they can help.  They read the blog and see the horses that I’m helping and understand that it costs a lot of money to keep these guys healthy and happy.  They just want to help, but until recently I was being pretty stubborn about it. 

 

When Glenn and I started this rescue we didn’t want to become completely reliant on donations and adoption fees to keep things going.  My theory was that if we couldn’t afford the expenses out of pocket, then we shouldn’t be doing it. 

 

Since starting this rescue in June of 2008 we’ve received $1,800 in donations.   I think that’s pretty good, considering we’re not 501c.3 yet and never even asked for donations.  The generosity and trust of people we don’t even know has really been astounding.  Because let’s face it, even 501c.3 rescues aren’t always on the up and up and take donations to line their own pockets, or sell horses to slaughter for money. 

 

So how do you know that I’m honest and will use the donations for the horses?  Well, you don’t.  I could show you all the feed, farrier, wormer, vaccines, and vet receipts.  I’m sure my hay guy would be happy to write a receipt for the 250 round bales I bought from him just in 2009.   You could come out and visit the farm for yourself, but beware the attack mule.  She’s cranky.

 

As I’m sure you’ve probably noticed, I do not charge a lot for adoption fees.  I base the fee on the usefulness of the horse (age, soundness, training, etc.) and try to keep it within a range that the current local market can bear.  I am smart enough to realize that you do NOT make money doing rescue, so I don’t even try.  What I do try to accomplish is placing horses in homes where both the adopter and the horse will be happy.  So while the purpose of this blog post is not to beg for money, I am going to provide ways to help for those that feel so inclined. 

 

For you Paypal people, I’ve setup a Paypal account for horsehavenholler@frontiernet.net. 

You could also call our vet and help out on our account:

Mountain Valley Vet

Dr. Shaun Meckley

RR 2 Box 305B
New Martinsville, WV 26155-9621
(304) 337-8080

 

 

As for volunteers -- anyone willing to sleep in the barn with Shortcake until she finally pops out that foal would have my undying gratitude.  Because I’m as tired as she looks!

So Much for Spring Fever

 

It’s group snooze day around here.

 

And I would just love to be curled up snoozing in the sun with Summer right now.  Except it’s cold, windy, and muddy.   So, nevermind.

 

 

I should be starting up with training next week, and will try to keep up with the Training the Unwanted blog.   Sassy and Miles are still my two holdouts, but both are starting to come around and see that I’m not totally evil.  Sassy follows me down to the house after every feeding, braying at me as if to say she’s still hungry and why did I not give her 10 times more food?  Miles allows me to lock him into a standing stall to eat and I’m allowed to touch his head while he’s eating.  Otherwise, he keeps one eye on me at all times, just to make sure I’m not going to turn into a lion and devour him whole.  Next week I’ll try luring him into the round pen at feeding time and see if I can convince him that halters aren’t all that bad.  What fun!

Spring Fever

Spring fever is starting to hit the herd and there’s been a lot of running around and play fighting.  Even the long-eared beast is getting into the fun.

 

 

 

Mick and Milo did a little play fighting yesterday, pretending that they were big bad wild mustangs fighting for their herd of mares.

 

 

 

When in reality, they’re just a couple of dirty little geldings that get bossed around by the mares on a daily basis. 

 

Just keep dreaming, boys!

Updates

Marilyn the pig was killed in her pen last Tuesday.  She had long clean gashes in her sides and her haunches had been chewed on.  There were no wounds around her head or neck.  I’m thinking our friendly neighborhood big cat that attacked Sadie last year is back.  Something had to have jumped the 6’ dog kennel panels that had surrounded the pigs.  Bacon Butt escaped by breaking one of the boards on their shelter.  I found him loose with the main herd on Wednesday morning.  Until yesterday, he’d been hanging out in the yard with Timmy.  Then I came home from town yesterday to find the neighbor’s starving inbred pack of dogs surrounding Bacon Butt, who was lying on the ground grunting, twitching, and bleeding out.  The dogs took off when I got out of the truck and I used one of Glenn’s rifles to put poor piggie out of his misery. 

 

I have still not been able to get any answers from Marion County about those horses in Fairmont.  Has anyone else called the sheriff’s department and had any better luck?  I’ve asked PETA to get involved by putting pressure on the sheriff’s department and hopefully that will make a difference.

 

 

Crazy breeder down the road is keeping blankets on her horses in this beautifully warm and sunny weather, just to hide the fact that they’re starving.  Maybe I should throw a blanket on Jolie to hide the fact that she’s filthy.   Damned grays.  They always have to roll in the mud.

 

Doc is coming out next Tuesday to castrate Maverick and Sky, even if the weather sucks.   Mav is getting a little too horny with the warm weather coming on.

 

Traveler and Timmy finally have some updates over on Rescue Recoveries, so please go check them out.  Those will probably be the last updates until they shed out in another month or so. 

 

Morning Snooze

Cold weather has arrived and we got our first heavy frost Sunday night.  Except for the greens, my garden is finished.  Each night has been dipping down in the 30’s and we spent part of Sunday going through the horse blankets and assigning each one to a horse and debating on how many more we’ll need to buy before winter.  These are sure signs that winter is coming.

But even if I didn’t know about seasons and thermometers, the herd is a pretty darned good barometer.  Not only are they starting to grow thick winter coats, but every morning following a chilly night, I can find the herd dozing in the sun on the eastern side of the hill of death – the first place in the pasture to get sun each morning.

 

By the way, Patrick is in LOVE with Miss Molly.   He flirts with her constantly and she tolerates him as long as he’s not too annoying.

 

Poor Jewel.  She never rests and is always on the lookout for danger.  Or food.  Whichever comes first.

 

Miles the mustang, standing apart from the herd because his best buddies are already in the yard chowing down on breakfast.  He’s fit himself neatly into Junior’s clique, and doesn’t like to be apart from Semi, Classy, or Junior. 

 

As I was snapping these pictures early this morning I heard a whinny coming from the back pasture, and turned to see Lilo running down to the fence, eager for breakfast.

 

Apparently, I was supposed to feed her before doing ANYTHING else.  I guess I need to get my priorities straight!

As a side note, we may have a new farrier!  He’s supposed to be coming on Thursday, so keep your fingers crossed that he actually shows up!  Donkey sure does need a trim!

Herd Protection – Check!

A few weeks ago I got a call from a very nice man, Bill, asking if I could take his horses since he had lost his job and had to move away from the farm where he kept them in order to get another job.  They weren’t even really his horses.  He had bought the farm two years ago and the previous owner said he’d be back to get them, but he never came back.  So Bill, being the kind and compassionate man that he is, kept the horses fed and gave them attention for two years.  And as almost always happens, Bill also fell in love with the furry critters and hated having to give them up.

I thought long and hard about whether or not to say Yes.  Then Bill told me that one was a mule and one was a donkey.   Didn’t I just mention a while ago about going to Sugarcreek to get a mule or two for herd protection?  Sure!  I’ll come and get them!

Molly is a flea bitten grey, about 10 years old.  She’s very sweet, but also incredibly protective of her little family.

 

Sassy is a four year old mule, out of Molly.  Sassy isn’t halter broke and it took a couple of hours for Bill to get a halter on her yesterday, and another hour for he and I to get her in the trailer.

 

This is Donkey, the miniature donkey.  I wish I could have gotten a better picture of him, but Molly and Sassy weren’t really interested in letting us near him.  But he’s a very sweet little man who loves attention.

 

Anne went with me on the first trip yesterday and on our way home with Molly and Donkey, I almost ran over this little guy.  He was standing in the middle of the road, all by his lonesome.  How could I resist?

 

Lucky, as Glenn named him, is pretty sick with a nasty sneeze, runny nose, and goopy eyes.   We’ll run him to the vet tomorrow, but right now he’s curled up on my shoulder under my shirt snoozing.  We’re keeping him separated from the other cats and making sure to wash our hands after we’ve handled him, but I really think he’s just got a bad cold.  Not to mention the big wormy belly. 

When he first met Thor, he just threw his little body up against Thor’s head for a rub… no fear of dogs here!  We’ve got him in the side room with the baby chicks (by the way, final count on those from the broody hen: 11!) and he likes to curl up on top of the wire, right above the heat lamp.   The chicks aren’t too happy about it, but I don’t think the little guy is feeling well enough to stir up trouble just yet.  Besides, most of the chicks are bigger than him!