Awe inspiring

 

I drove through some beautiful country yesterday and wanted to share a few photos of northern California and Nevada.  If you ever get the chance to drive I-80 across the western part of the country, do it!  There are so many things that I want to stop and see, but can’t because we’re in the truck.  One of these days we may rent an RV and do some travelling on our own time, but by the time we can afford that, we’ll be so sick of the road that we won’t want to leave the farm for years!

I usually drive during the day, so I got to climb the dreaded Donner’s pass in California.  It wasn’t nearly as bad as I had imagined, but it would have been a lot worse if the roads weren’t clear.  The views were definitely worth the white-knuckled ride, though!

 

 

 

The mountain vistas of Nevada were too spectacular for words.  Once again, I found myself imagining life as it might have been two hundred years ago on the harsh prairies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As inspired as I was by the beauty and vast emptiness around us, my co-pilot was unaffected.

 

Are we there yet?

I hate to do this

 

It’s come to the point where I have to ask for help.  I have never begged for donations before and have taken pride in the fact that we’ve been able to keep these horses fed and vetted on our own, but it’s time to swallow my pride before anything else goes wrong.  Before I come straight out and beg, I think it’s important that I tell you why this has come to pass. 

As you know from a previous post, I recently got my CDL and came out on the road with Glenn to team drive and make the money necessary to get the horses through the winter.  We had hired, and spent five weeks training, Lee to live on the farm and take care of the horses and dogs for us until my return in April.

Without getting into too much detail, Lee wrecked our 4wd truck, which is the only way we have to get hay rolls into the pasture since we don’t have access to a tractor.  He told us he’d get his own insurance because adding him to ours was cost prohibitive, due to his driving record.  He did not get insurance.  We’re looking at almost $1,000 in parts to fix the truck and we will be taking it to the local adult education school for the mechanics class to fix in order to avoid labor costs.  About 10 days after he wrecked the truck he became seriously ill and has been in the hospital for almost two weeks now and has had several operations already.  He would not be physically able to return to work even if we would take him back after what he’s done.

On December 4th, Glenn and I drove all night under a load to make it home Saturday morning to try and straighten things out.  Friends had been feeding for us until we could get home, so no one was starving.  Or so we thought.  When we got home Saturday morning I walked into the house, fell to my knees, and wept.  Lee had not been letting the dogs out so the house was full of “accidents” and the doors and windows were torn up from them trying to escape confinement (this all happened before Lee went into the hospital).  Jelly the cat is still missing and presumed dead.  The other cats, Lucky, Noodle, and Lucifer, were home, but hungry.  Cody and Lucifer were both emaciated.  Our bed was covered in urine.  Our friends had warned me that the house was a wreck, but I had no idea things were that bad!

When I went outside to take stock of the horses I did not like what I saw.  The easy keepers all looked fine, but the horses requiring a lot of grain looked terrible!  Seven horses in all had lost weight since my departure just a month before.  The horses had no hay and the neighbor said he’d only seen a few bales out in the field at a time, even though there were plenty of square bales in the barn.  As it turns out, Lee had been feeding the “emergency” square bales before he wrecked the truck, for reasons I can’t fathom.

It doesn’t end there, ya’ll.

That same Saturday, we hired someone else.  I was hesitant because he lived 45 minutes away, but he assured me that he didn’t mind making the trip and would be there every morning.  He also didn’t mind using his 4wd truck to haul round bales and water until we could get our truck fixed.  It was just supposed to be him feeding and his wife would work if he had a big project, like putting up new fence.

It should take a maximum of two hours to feed everyone in the morning.  The first morning he worked, he charged us for 10 hours because he insisted that his wife helped him and they each worked for five hours.  When asked what they did, the list of things he produced could have been done by me in four hours, by myself.  He continued to double and triple charge us all week and let us know a few days ago that he could only continue to feed for a couple more weeks because it was too far to drive.  Now he’s just hauling hay twice a week and water as needed until our truck is fixed. We’ve found someone else to feed for us who will hopefully be more honest and not try to take advantage of the situation.  He can’t live there, but yesterday morning was his first day and he drove a four-wheeler almost 20 miles over the icy roads in 18 degree temperatures just to get there!  Jamie, the ACO for our county, has been our savior this whole time and she met him out there to show him the ropes.  She’s also cleaning our house for us since we couldn’t stay home long enough to clean it up ourselves.  Jamie… what would we do without you???   And another big thanks to Brannon, our farrier, for doing an emergency feeding the day we learned that Lee was in the hospital.  You guys are the best!!

We have hired another person to move in and take care of things, but he can’t start until the 26th.  He and his wife were planning on moving here from Arizona in the Spring, but when Eve’s adopter told him of our plight he immediately started packing.  He’s coming up on the 26th and his wife will move up with their horses in the spring.  After talking with him on the phone I’m comfortable with his knowledge and work ethic, but I’ve obviously been wrong before!  Glenn and I are going to be home for a few days on the 26th to get him moved in and teach him whatever we can in such a short time.  Jamie will be there to help him with any other problems once we’re back out on the road.

So there it is.  The past month’s story, somewhat condensed.  Thanks to good friends feeding for us since Lee left, the seven horses are regaining their weight and everyone has hay in front of them 24/7.  The dogs now have a doggie door and can come and go as they please. 

People keep asking me why I don’t just go back home.  Trust me, I’d love to!!!  But thanks to the unseasonably cold weather:  1) the horses are eating 18 hay rolls a week, 2) we need more trough heaters, extension cords, and pipe insulation to keep the pipe to the spring-fed tank from freezing, 3) we now need to pay two people to do the job of one because the truck isn’t fixed, 4) and we need to fix the truck.  I can’t afford to go home, no matter how much I’d like to.  Did I look for a local job before I left?  Of course!  Trying to find a job in our area that fits my experience was fruitless.  When companies like Tractor Supply, Lowes, and Krogers look at a resume like mine, “over qualified” is usually the response.  After several months of job searching, this is where I have ended up for the winter, for better or for worse. 

So here’s where I beg.  The horses are being fed, no worries there.  But if we can get our truck fixed it would mean paying one less person to feed, and hay and water could be gotten as soon as it’s needed.  I know it’s almost Christmas and money is tight for everyone.  Horse Haven Hollow has 185 fans on Facebook and if everyone donates just $5 that should be enough to buy the parts for the truck and get it fixed. 

Sorry for the long post, but I didn’t want to beg without telling you the circumstances that brought me to this point.  If you can find it in your heart to help us out with a few bucks, you can use paypal and send it to horsehavenholler@frontiernet.net.  If you’d feel better sending something material, trough heaters safe for plastic troughs would be appreciated!

Thanks to everyone who has supported us thus far and thanks in advance to those who can help now!

Daydreaming

 

I love driving through the mid-west, especially when we stumble upon something like this in the middle of nowhere.  It sparks my imagination and provides hours of escapism.

 

Everything is so desolate, so sparse.   Some ranches are so huge that the road stretches between it’s boundaries for dozens of miles, with nothing to see except a windmill and some cattle here and there.  I just want a good horse and a few weeks to ride those ranges, forgetting all the troubles and stress of the life I’ve chosen.

 

As I’m driving through this rugged terrain my mind wanders  I sometimes picture myself as Calamity Jane or Annie Oakley, riding a good horse on the plains, trading with the natives, or hiding out from the law.  Whatever gets me through the 11 hours of driving is ok with me.

Then I see these… running across the plains just because they can.  I didn’t think I could get any more homesick than I already was.

 

 

I was so wrong.

Bella Makes a New Friend

 

Meet Trucker.  He’s an incredibly obese Min Pin that Bella met today and the two of them hit it off famously right from the start.

I take that back.  Bella played hard to get at first and she’d hide behind me with her hackles up.

 

She got over that fairly quickly and Trucker became the one playing coy.  Then it only took a few minutes for them both to realize they’d better get over themselves and take the opportunity to play together.   I couldn’t believe fat boy was able to get that belly off the ground!

 

 

The “kids” were able to play for a long time while we chatted with Trucker’s owner… a 72 year old gentleman who is still as healthy as an ox and driving a truck “to escape the wife now and then”.

 

He said Trucker is so fat because he won’t eat regular dog food, so he gets to eat whatever his human eats.  From the looks of it, he eats more than that!

 

We were worried that he might find Bella to be a tasty morsel.  I think Bella was having that same thought!

Where cheese comes from

 

I bet you thought cheese came from cows and goats.  I did too, until we had to pick up a load, including 13,000 lbs of cheese, in the Kraft caves in Springfield, Missouri.

Really cool caves, I might add.

 

Ya think?

 

This reminded me of that really old movie about a rat named Ben.  Am I wrong to love that movie?

 

These caves are immense and the temperature in the cave remains stable around 60 degrees Fahrenheit without heat or A/C.

 

They’ve built several office buildings into the cave walls and I’m betting there’s no fighting over a window office.

 

That’s a regular 53’ trailer with a yard dog tractor, just to give you a sense of how large this place is.

 

There’s also one very large hole in the ceiling to allow exhaust fumes to escape.

 

The concept of having a business like that underground to conserve energy is intriguing and kudos to Kraft for doing it! 

But I was still pretty happy to see daylight again.

I’m here, in an absent kind of way.

 

I’m here, lost somewhere in the world wide web, but I’m not home on the farm where I feel I should be.  I’m homesick and lost without the critters.  So why did I leave?  Why have I been wandering the road like a gypsy and not blogging for the past two weeks?

Cause I’m a truck driver, baby.

Back in January I lost my job after four years.  This was ok and I was never so happy to lose a job!  This gave me most the year to work on the farm and with the horses.  Except that I spent most the summer in my truck, chasing water, feed, and hay, and not so much time with the horses.  Then came Lee.  Lee is a misplaced cowboy from Texas who ended up in West Virginia by way of Alaska.  Lee had told me when I delivered Molly that if Glenn and I ever wanted to hire someone to work on the farm, he was our man.  He loved horses and his dream job was to work on a farm like ours with all those horses.  That got me thinking… hmmm… and I discussed with Glenn… and tossed it around in my brain a bit more… then we hired Lee and moved him out to the farm.  Let me explain the thought process on this:

1)  Taking care of 40+ horses over the winter was going to mean me getting another job.  For those of you who don’t know where we live, we are 12 miles from the closest small towns where minimum wage is about the best you can do.  Tack on another 20-30 minutes for a bigger “city”.  This would mean a big hunk of my measly pay check would be taken up by the commute and I wouldn’t have much time for the horses.  It would also mean working spring, summer, and fall – the busiest time for the rescue, and when I need to get all the training done.

 

2)  Taking care of 40+ horses over the winter would test my physical limits and it would be likely that someone would find my body frozen in the muck and mire with Sassy using me as a scratching post.  I would rather someone stronger and more macho push around those 800lb hay rolls and have the chance to freeze in the mud, thank you very much.

After five weeks to train Lee and get him up to speed on where he needed to go for feed, hay, and water, meet the vet and farrier, how to feed so many horses, which personalities he had to watch out for and which ones needed extra coddling (Lucille!), I felt I was ready to hit the road.   A week spent at terminal training and getting my CDL learner’s permit and here I am… stuck in Iowa waiting for Freightliner to fix the seven month old truck.  Again.

 

In my first week I’ve driven through Missouri, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, southern California (YUCK), New Mexico, Arizona, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Nevada, Iowa, and Wyoming.  I’ve seen the lights of Las Vegas, the smog of Los Angeles, the rugged desert of Arizona, and the snow covered plains (and roads!) of Wyoming. 

Can I go home now?

Here’s the plus side to living like a gypsy:  I’m going home in April and will stay home until next November.  I’m only going to team drive with Glenn during the winter when the extra money is needed to take care of the horses.  I have to go out every 59 days for at least a week to maintain my seat rating, but other than that my summer is free.  Lee will still be working for us in the summer, which means more projects get done and more horses get trained.

 

No matter how much I miss the dogs, horses, and especially my Lucky kitten, I feel like I’ve made the right decision.  I have the utmost confidence in Lee to take care of everyone and have friends that will be stopping by to check on things in my absence.  I’m still in charge of the rescue and take part as much as I can from abroad.  The wonderful world of technology will keep me connected and I’ll still be blogging about the horses and farm as long as Lee sends me pictures.  I’ll also be sharing pictures from the road and of our truck dog, Bella.  I think I’ve done what I had to in order to keep the horses happy and healthy through the winter.  I know some will criticize me for leaving, but you all know how I feel about begging for money and relying on the kindness of others to support these horses.  Finding a job that paid well and allowed me to take the summer off was the ideal solution, at least for this year. 

So stick with me this winter, it’s shaping up to be one heck of a ride.

Equine Stupidisms

Since moving up here to West Virginia, I’ve heard a plethora of incredibly ignorant horse-related “facts”.  I’ve mentioned a few of these tidbits of wisdom in posts before, but I thought I’d list them together to share in the humor.   Folks, some of these are so stupid you just have to laugh.  Crying and pulling out your hair over the idiocy coming from these self-proclaimed “horse experts” does no good.  Trust me, I’ve tried it.

 

Myth:  You only need to deworm your horse once a year in the summer.

Fact:  Doc and I disagree on this one slightly.  His thought is that if you only have a handful of horses that never go anywhere and you never bring in any new horses, then twice a year is plenty.  I feel that four times a year is the minimum, or else you’re just throwing away good money on feed.  Since I have so many horses, with horses coming and going constantly, I deworm at least six times a year.  Sometimes I’ll throw in an extra ivermectin wormer between rotations if I notice some of them aren’t looking their best.

 

Myth:  Horses don’t need water every day if they’re not being worked.

Fact:  In cool weather, horses will drink about 10-12 gallons per day. During hot weather they drink 20-25 gallons (or more) per day depending on the heat and humidity.

Myth:  A horses’ hooves stop growing after a certain age. (I actually heard this from someone calling himself a farrier!)

Fact:  Hooves and human fingernails are made of the same stuff.  Do your fingernails ever stop growing?

Myth:  Kerosene works great for killing lice.

Fact:  Um… maybe it does, but do you really want to douse your horse in something extremely flammable when you can just buy a bottle of lice powder from any feed store for around six bucks?

Myth:  Tennessee Walkers have to be broke to ride before they are two because if they get too old you’ll never be able to break them.

Fact:  Tennessee Walkers are just like any other horse.  With the right approach and common sense training you could successfully turn a wild, unbroke 20 yo TNW into a horse suitable for a beginner rider.

 

Myth:  If a mare or stud isn’t broke to ride when you breed them, you won’t be able to train any of their progeny.

Fact:  It is true that some personality traits can be passed on genetically.  However, not being broke is NOT a personality trait.  No matter how rank the sire or dam, if you treat the foal right from day one, you’ll have a happy, personable, well-behaved horse that’s relatively easy to train.  I’m sure someone out there is going to tell me about a bloodline or two that produces untrainable horses.  To that I simply say “then stop breeding them”!

Myth:  You should never castrate a cryptorchid stallion because they will surely die.  If they do survive the castration, they will be proud-cut and always act like a stallion.

Fact:  Yes, some cryptorchid colts do die from the surgery, but it’s very rare because it is typically an easy surgery for a veterinarian!  There are backyard “vets” around here who think that just because they own a knife they can castrate a colt without the use anesthesia or sterile instruments.  A proud-cut gelding is simply a gelding that still has the testosterone-producing glands that may have been missed during castration.  Some people request that the vet leave in the glands so their horse still acts like a stud.  Just because he is proud-cut does NOT mean he can still impregnate mares.  A good vet will remove the glands even on a cryptorchid stallion.

Myth:  You shouldn’t castrate a stallion over five years old or it will kill them.

Fact:  Timmy was 17 years old when he came here and was castrated.  His blood vessels were larger so he did bleed a little more and took more time to recuperate than the youngsters, but was otherwise fine.  There is no age limit on castration!

 

Myth:  Riding a horse one or twice a week for 4-6 hours is the way to get them into shape.

Fact:  That would be the same as telling me I had to run a marathon every weekend after sitting on the couch watching soaps and eating bonbons all week.  Fitness in a horse is a long-term goal, not something to be achieved over night.  Riding them hard only once or twice a week can cause severe damage to their legs and backs.

Myth:  All Thoroughbreds off the track are hard to handle, flighty, and dangerous.

Fact:  Tell that to Quest, Joma, Imperial, Eve, and Sketches.  In my experience, TBs off the track can be difficult to handle because they’ve been locked in stalls most their lives and because of the steroids and drugs that are pumped into them to keep them running, even when in pain.  This is nothing that a few months of down time and 24/7 turn out can’t cure!  The TBs I’ve dealt with have all been wonderful and affectionate horses, great for the vet and farrier, easy to ride, and they all loved being bathed. 

 

Myth:  You can tell how old a horse is by how many fingers you can get between their ribs.

Fact:  If you can get a couple of fingers between each rib FEED YOUR HORSE!  You tell a horse’s age by their teeth.

Myth:  You don’t need to have their feet trimmed if you’re not riding them. 

Fact:  Hooves grow constantly, but more so in the spring and summer than in the fall and winter.  Regardless of what time of year it is and whether or not you are riding them, they still need to be trimmed on a regular basis, preferably every six to eight weeks.

Myth:  A colt won’t breed it’s own mother.

Fact:  If it’s got a penis and testosterone, it will try to breed just about anything with a uterus.  Colts can impregnate mares as early as six months old.  Fillies can get pregnant as early as a year and a half of age.

Myth:  All horses under two years old are called “colts”. 

Fact:  A “colt” is a male horse between one and four years old.  A female horse between one and four years old is a “filly”.  The term “Foal” is used for both genders under one year old.

Myth: A horse isn’t skinny unless it’s “eye sockets” are sunken in. 

Fact:   I can only assume he meant the supraorbital fossa, which is that “dent” above the eye.  The supraorbital fossa contains fat tissue and horses in poor condition might have a deeper dent than a fat horse.  However, age also plays a part in how deep the dent is and older horses will typically have a deeper hole.  Horses with Cushings disease may not have a dent at all, or it may appear swollen.  So while the condition of the supraorbital fossa could lend itself to the overall condition of most horses, it should not be used as the only criteria.

Last, but not least, this is one I’ve heard for many years, not just since moving to WV.

Myth:  My mare has been irritable and cranky so I’m going to breed her to calm her down.

Fact:  I don’t even know where to begin on this one.  There are sooooo many reasons that a horse could become unhappy under saddle.  My guess is that someone, somewhere, had a mare that they were riding with ill-fitting tack and eventually she got so tired of her back hurting that she threw the human off her back.  Said human decided that the issue was her hormones and all she needed was to have a baby.  16 months later the foal was weaned and the mare is now happy and jolly again -- not because she had a foal, but because she got 16 months off to HEAL!  People, stop using this as a reason to breed your mare!  Just give her some time off from riding and have a vet examine her.  Paying for a vet exam is a whole hell of a lot cheaper than taking care of a foal!!

Besides, you really haven’t seen irritable or cranky until you’ve met Sassy. 

More Long Ears

A week or so ago someone called and asked if they could board their Jack mule with me for a bit.  They had just gotten him and he was jumping the fence where he was and taking off for the hills in search of equine companionship.  They say he even jumped a 5' stall wall to escape and they finally found him several ridges west of the barn.  I was pretty sure he was escaping because he was lonely and because he was only using that dangly brain between his legs to think, so I said sure, but he has to be castrated once he gets here.

They couldn't get him up here before dark, so I ended up putting him in the yard pen with Jed.  They told me he'd kill Jed and would easily jump out of the pen and I'd be searching for him in the morning.  I could tell just by walking him down the driveway that the poor little guy was just misunderstood, but I still watched he and Jed for 30 minutes or so after putting them together. 

They sniffed noses and Lucky the mule wanted to sniff Jed's butt.  Jed kicked at him a couple of times and that was the end of that.  Lucky buried his head in the hay and was still in the pen the next morning.  And the morning after that, and the morning after that. 

 

He's still a little shy and you can't move too quickly around him, but he's getting better every day and now talks to us and comes to the gate when he sees us.

 

I removed his halter once I was certain he wouldn't jump the fence and leave.  He's now easy to catch, lifts his feet, and as we found out the other day, LOVES kids!

 

He's only two years old, so this winter we'll just keep working with him and get him castrated.  In the spring, there's a little pony cart and harness with his name (and Casper's, and Chip's... ) on it . Once he's trained to pull a cart and his owners are ready for him on their new farm, he'll be leaving us to go home.  But his owners don't want to pull him away from his buddy, so little Jed will go home with him!  How awesome is that??

Some things never change

 

 

People still think breeding horses is the way to make a bunch of money.

Those same people don’t see much point in feeding, handling, or caring in any way for all of those horses.

West Virginia laws are still woefully inadequate.  Only 8 counts of cruelty when 70 horses are starving?  You’re kidding, right??  Let’s hope that number increases as they are able to catch and evaluate more horses.

It still, and always will, piss me off to see news stories like this. 

I doubt Hampshire county has a way to feed and care for all of these horses, so like many other WV counties, most of these horses will probably be up for auction once they are all caught and evaluated.  Which means anyone, even kill buyers, can buy them.  Peachy. 

The Donkey Difference

My wardrobe consists of t-shirts, sweatshirts, jeans, and shorts.  I wear a watch when the band isn’t broken and I’m too cheap to get a new one.  My ears are pierced, but I haven’t worn earrings in many, many years.  I have no tattoos.  I wear an engagement ring that Glenn gave me, but no other jewelry.  I cut the split ends off my own hair a couple of times a year because whenever I go to a salon they manage to completely screw it up and it looks nothing like the picture I’ve picked out in those hair magazines.  I’m not sure why that matters since my hair is always in a pony tail under a baseball cap.  I am covered in dirt just about every day, don’t see much point in painting my chewed off fingernails, and can curse like a sailor when the need arises.  Woman?  Yes.  Lady?  I think not!

On the other hand, Lucille is quite the lady!  She’s gentle in every way, never gets dirty or uses profanity, and has a very short, trendy hairdo.  She never rushes around like a big clumsy ox and never flirts with the boys.  She’s also a lady that knows how to get what she wants without inconveniencing others.

Ahem.  Even ladies need their behinds scratched once in awhile!

She also knows how to accessorize.

 

That’s one glamorous donkey!