Tuesday, can you say HUMID?

If I shut my eyes, I could have sworn I was in Florida. Humidity......you curly haired folks know what I am talking about, don't you? My hair turns into RoseAnne Roseanna Danna hair...there is no controlling it...no amount of hair gel, hair spray or conditioner is going to make a difference.....it is why I cannot live in Florida...well, just one of the reasons.

It is almost Wednesday already......so far so good. The new barn is fabulous......horses have not broken anything yet, although they started a benign escape attempt and they were pretty seriously eyeing the garden. Hot wire will fix them come this weekend. Max of course is displaying his worst barn manners.....banging on the door at feed time so hard that you think the barn might come down...he gets his window shut for such behavior.

We have ordered hay...five ton. We now have better storage......yay!

I brought Winston home this last weekend.......he is in the Noble shelter, which is a bit too small for his large frame. He came home quietly..loaded right up, hauled quietly, I suspected he was sick or something. It didn't take long for him to come alive. He was back to his old self, bucking, kicking and rushing his gate by this afternoon. He is an equine psychopath when it is dinner time. No volunteers in his paddock....safety first.

The weather is supposed to be nice on Thursday and Friday. We will take what we can get......lots of chores to do now. Gravel.....gravel.......gravel........my mantra.
Also we will clean and do some maintenance at the new barn.....clean the hay loft and wash the woodwork on the stall fronts, scrub the bird dudups off the cement, fix some overhead light fixtures, cut some brambles back and fix the electric fence to keep a better perimeter on the prisoners. We will get a dump run in there sometime this weekend too...from both farms. We also plan to haul the lawn tractor down with the dump trailer for manure and hogsfuel. Such a big weekend planned!

Susie and Sarah, thank you for the grass seed and the feed tubs, apples and brushes......what a nice surprise! We will put the grass seed right to work on the resting paddocks at the farm.

I am listening to my Bull Terrier (Georgia) tear her crate up...she is chasing a toy that she stole from the Jack Russells and it sounds like an ape is on the loose. I hope she stops soon and this won't be an all night party.

Blue is getting a lot of attention and coming out of his shell. He seems so much happier.....even my volunteers remarked.
He needs a lot of positive interaction and treats....

Jones is eating well and starting to put some weight on now that his teeth are better and he has been dewormed. He has excellent stall manners.

Okay...Bull Terrier is barking........the crate is probably destroyed....gotta go.

Pony UP fortune for tomorrow:

Just out of reach but well worth the stretch.

Soooooooooooo Sunday

Long weekend, long day.......we got so much done and now I am tired.

Great things happened this weekend.
We finished the washrack roof, we got horses moved to dryer land at the stable down the road, we met some wonderful new friends, we got paddocks cleaned and I brought Winston home. We still have more work to do and some maintenance things at both barns, but it is quite do-able and we will have most of it done next weekend.

It was interesting to move Ollie after a couple of years....he hates the trailer, but he got right in and then began weaving......and sweating and screaming.....so we jumped in the truck and took off. He unloaded and was thrilled to walk into a nice big barn. We also took Blue and Max.......so far so good.

We need hay at both barns...waiting for the hay man to call and say he is ready to deliver it. We have great hay storage at the new barn, so we can order about five ton and not worry about it for a while. We put containers at the new barn for grain, beet pulp, rice bran and alfalfa pellets. I feel sort of settled. The horses are great......very happy for big stalls, nice turnouts.......treats and attention. We are blessed to have this opportunity....I hope we can be of benefit to these gracious folks too. Brenda........thank you for facilitating this!

It is getting darker earlier.......I hate this part...and of course today, Sunday, it rained all day........but yesterday, Saturday, it was beautiful.....lovely weather for us to work on projects. Thank you Alex, Susie, Briann, Ryan, Jan.....and Caryn.....what a group!

It is the time of year to promote the "For Jake's Sake" fund. Jake, as some of you know was a severely starved horse that we took in last year and ultimately we were unable to save. This fund helps us to offer immediate care to a horse in need, and give him or her the medical care and nutrients he or she needs. Rehab is expensive and sometimes we have big hearts but small pockets for such endeavors. The "For Jake's Sake Fund" helps us to be prepared. See our website Ponyuprescue.com for our paypal donation button. If you cannot make a donation at this time, please spread the word to others. Donations are critical to our success....we can't do it without you.

Friday Jones will have a lady come and look at him for adoption....keep your fingers crossed that this nice boy can get a forever home...with good food and a safe place to live. He has been passed around from not so nice home to a so so home and back again.......it is time he won the lotto.

Blue is quite happy and for the first time, he interacts with us.......he sticks his head through the stall window and nickers softly......he allows pets and he takes treats. Heart melting....really. This is a boy who would not even make eye contact with us, he winced when we touched him, shrank back from reaching hands......and now he is actively seeking out human attention. Nina,...keep up the good work...he likes you.

I came home and cleaned the dog kennel.....scrubbed and washed....washed bowls...fed dogs......then relaxed a while. I have laundry to do, dishes and I must go and lock my dear chickens in the coop.....then off to bed and I should sleep like a log (I hope)

enjoy your week.


Pony UP fortune for tomorrow:

Generate laughter and lighten a heart.

Saturday

Today we have lots to do......we move some horses to their new "home" away from our barn. I finally picked three to go......but may change my mind as the morning progresses.
We cleaned on the barn yesterday, checked fences and wow..........are these three horses going to be happy! We are so grateful. Thank you Nina, thank you Brenda for all the work you did yesterday. You are both lifesavers. I will send pictures later.

We will also finish the washrack today......finally.......and then order hay again.

I will also go to Fox Island and take Grace a blanket. It will be a beautiful day at Fox Island.

The farm truck is ailing and I am sure I am looking at a 1500 dollar fix. Four wheel drive, electrical problem...but we have to have a truck....so no escaping the fix.

We will also do some tractor work today and move manure piles again. The manure piles are filling in the bulldozed spot nicely........but we still need some bulky fill......but hey, it was a great way to get rid of the manure pile. The machines never stop, as I always say.

Beaver is back on his pony diet. He has to eat timothy pellets when the weather starts to change or he gets very sick. No alfalfa and no orchard grass. The orchard grass gives him diarrhea.......alfalfa heats his feet up.......some hay makes him cough. Fortunately he loves timothy pellets, mixed with some sunflower seeds and some beet pulp to make it interesting....he eats like a pig and he already feels better. Last year he got very sick until we realized it was the orchard grass. Probably too much nitrogen fertilizer. He sweated, he had diarrhea, a cough, a huge belly and was lethargic. Right now he is his Dennis the Menace self.....he was able to grab the chicken food sack and drag it into his stall. He now has a stall being as Grace left and he thinks he is ALL that.

off to the barn, enjoy your sunny day.

Pony UP fortune for today.

It is not all that it seems.....you have to dig deeper.

To remind you of how Grace looked "before"

It is easy to forget how bad they looked when they arrived..........so we take pictures. These pictures are hard to look at now......Grace was hard to look at when she arrived....
but here you have the before and after of Grace.

She came to us in May of this year.

Grace goes home

Excited and sad.......Grace went to her new home tonight.

Caryn and I take her to Fox Island.....to Silk......to her new home with twenty acres of field, several loafing sheds, fresh grass and lots of love. She loads right up..travels like a pro........cries for Tarbaby and he cries for her......and off we go.

We arrive at Fox Island and Silk is waiting for us. He is sweaty and very tired.
He has had a bad 24 hours. He held vigil over Lorie Ann's body last night and waited next to her this morning until he was led away while Lorie Ann was buried. When the burial was complete, Silk was let out and he went to the grave, pawed and then layed down. He has called on and off all day......he is exhausted.

Very sad for all of us...but we feel glad to bring Grace to him. We unload Grace and she has her eyes full.a beautiful pasture....a waterfront view....she probably thinks she is in heaven......Silk calls her and begins to gallop the fenceline.......Grace calls back......we lead her into the pasture and let her go. She hauls off and kicks Silk........and then they run the pasture. I am not concerned about the kick.......it is the way of horses....Silk shows her the pasture, takes her under the trees and back to the loafing shed. Silk gets out of Grace's sight for a moment and she calls him immediately......they will be great together.

We have loved Grace and now we let her go to be loved by someone else. Bittersweet...isn't that what they say?
I get tears in my eyes when I see the horses together.......when I see how relieved Silk is....when I see how happy Grace is. I cry to think of Lorie Ann and Silk and how small brains cannot rationalize the loss....they only feel the hurt.

Silk was adopted from me by this family about six years ago......he was starved and abandoned, sort of the same story as Grace........but look at them now.

enjoy your evening.........

Pony Up fortune for tomorrow:

Do not carry a heavy heart by yourself.

Move over Monday

What a day...

I spent a great deal of time agonizing over foster homes for horses...worrying about mud and how we will spend the winter with a crowd of horses.
Someone looks after me that is for sure, because today we have good news.

We start off with........Grace is adopted! If you recall, Grace fell in love with the visiting Silk this summer and they were inseparable....then Silk went home and Grace was very sad. Today Silk's family sent for Grace, as Silk's longtime companion Lorie Ann passed away. We are sad for their loss ....and glad that Grace can go and help Silk get over his own loss. Rest in peace Lorie Ann. Thank you Hannah and Sandy for inviting Grace to live with you guys.......you will fall in love with her.

Our really good news is that a family down the steet has offered us their barn to use for two horses.....it is close to my house and has nice stalls and a large paddock. YAY!!!!!!!! Just what we wanted. My sanity is saved for the immediate future.

I am blessed to have good friends and kind supporters of our rescue. Thank you.

My computer crashed......I am borrowing one......I may be out of sync for a while...bear with me.

Pony Up fortune for tomorrow:


Push it to the limit.

So Saturday

It rained buckets last night....and finally stopped early this morning. Thoughts of mud plague me. Ugh.
I have a million things to do today. Hay, run to Maple Valley and collect Mr. Jones to bring him home, company coming in the afternoon, I need to go to the feed store and I want to see Caryn ride at Championships. How to get it all done in one day? Hmm...I am still thinking about it.

We are in desperate need of a foster home for one horse...or we will have very muddy paddocks and I might go crazy.(crazier). Available foster horses....Mr. Jones, Blue, Wally the pony, Church or Grace) Please pass the word.....we want them to have a dry stall and a paddock. Church does not get along well with others...Grace is fragile....so no shared paddocks.

Mr. Jones will come home today. He has been at the Jones farm for evaluation and a dental. The vet said he has the worst teeth he has ever seen and his mouth was a mess. He will be more comfortable in the bit and will be able to eat better now. Mr. Jones is rideable, has nice ground manners and will make a nice horse for someone. Handsome too! About 17H, dark bay. Not for a beginner rider but not a nutcase either. He is in his mid teens. Email me if you are interested.

Well, I am off to the races. Enjoy your day.
Briann you are coming with me today......you lucky girl!

Pony Up fortune for tomorrow:

Jump in.....the water is fine.

Wednesday already

I am behind in my blogging duties......family from out of town visiting, work and did I tell you it was RAINING? Raining hard? There will be mud tomorrow and mud means work. Ugh.
I really was hoping we would get at least a couple of weeks of okay weather before WINTER started...but it really has been one of THOSE years with the weather. I hope it doesn't mean a lot of ice and snow a little later.

Jones is still at the Jones Farm.....getting a little work and a dental. I will pick him up on Saturday to come home to Pony Up. He is a nice boy...no hint on the tattoo as of yet.

Grace is much better and hobbling around just like a 25 year old bat should.....and eating like a house on fire. We love her. I really need a video of her vacuuming her grain tub. Maybe a great commercial for Purina? Perhaps Grace can be a TV commercial actress?

Thank you Jaime...we got the coupon and Grace's horse cookies in the mail today. She will love them in the morning with her mush. The cookies are so good......I even ate one.

I have a million projects to complete this weekend. I need a couple more of me and a couple more volunteers. I must have drug my feet on this weather thing....I am behind schedule.

Our sincere sympathy to Kimberly on the loss of her little gelding. He had such great home with you and wonderful care.....we are so sorry for your loss. The little guy was well loved that is for sure.

Thank you to Annie V for the horse blankets and the saddle pad. It is time to get all blankets washed and waterproofed. We have to see who fits into what.

We are going to re-do the cat room for the winter....it seems the barn cat is sharing her room with .....ummm.......rats. Yes....I said rats....right under her sleeping box. Very embarrassing...for the cat especially.

We are full at Pony Up and not accepting any more horses at this time. I am boarding my own horse and would like to bring him home...but we need another stall...we need another paddock.......we need a bigger farm. We need to win the lotto.

Termites in my mom's house.....we need to call the exterminator. They suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I hate bugs....so does she....and I really hate hearing about them LOL>

I can hear the rain from here....pelting the roof of our house with sudden force and then just as quickly stopping to an eerie silence. The sounds of fall. I should be carving a pumpkin and drinking cider I guess.

A really big thank you to Caryn for all the help this week. You are such a help......we love you. Good luck at Championships...you show them how it is done!

Beth.....did you have that baby yet? We are all waiting to hear from you.


Pony Up fortune for tomorrow:

Consider the options and then plan for it.

Saturday

Up early and ready to go to the barn.

We are taking Jones to the Jones farm for an under saddle evaluation and to see if we can get additional help on his tattoo.

It promises to be a beautiful day.

9 11 ...The TV set blares everything about the events from 9 11....over and over....pictures and live footage....vivid memories. Heartbreaking ....and still an unbelievable sight burned into our brains.
You probably remember exactly what you were doing and where you were.....I do. I was awakened by a phone call from back east........"the twin towers are burning!"...half asleep I answered "what? the basketball players?"....."no.....the twin towers in New York....turn the TV on"........and so it began. We had company in town and their flights were cancelled....they stayed another week and a half....no one wanted on a plane.
A sad reflective day......I hope we can make the most of it. If you lost a loved one....I send you my condolences and sorrow for your loss.

Well......off I go,, have to put my boots on, grab some coffee and head off to the barn.

Enjoy your day.......

Pony Up Rescue for today.

Leave nothing to chance.....say it out loud.

Friday

A day all to myself....but it starts at the barn of course. No rain this morning but it is cool and I wear a jacket for a while. I throw the hay, then clean paddocks...then I give out the grain...except of course for Grace...she gets curb service first thing or else we have NOISE...lots of noise, and as I always point out, I am a fast learner....so Grace eats first.
Mud..my evil foe is back....I will be getting some more gravel tomorrow. When I am dead and gone, and the property is in someone else's hands, they are going to think "this is the rockiest soil I have ever seen." LOL...a virtual gravel pit. We will see how the pea gravel holds up this winter. Tomorrow the tractor man cometh and he will scrape paddocks down to the gravel base again. We have a lot of sediment from the stalls and dirt from horse hooves that has settled on the tops of the paddocks which are right off the stalls.
I wonder what life would be like if I had never liked horses? I could shop in Nordies each week and watch soap operas........call long lost friends on the phone and never have dirt under my nails. So much work this life...these horses.

We say goodbye to Shelli who has volunteered with us for most of the last year....she has been on a leave of absence from her job. She has been a tremendous help and we will miss her. Thank you Shelli for all of your help.....good luck with those donkies of yours!..they are adorable.

Jones has settled in and is now one of the gang. Kerri came out today to help ID his tattoo....we took more pictures and she got to meet the rest of the Pony Up crew. Thanks for the help Kerri.

I went to the feed store and got stall pellets (Grace!) and grains/supplements. The Purina coupons were a big help...I have several left and they must be used by the end of October...that doesn't seem to be a problem because the grain eating is not going to stop anytime soon. The prisoners would like a bigger grain portion if possible.

Pictures from today....

Pony Up fortune for tomorrow:

You must work hard for it.

Twilight Thursday

Blustery day.....I go to the barn from work and there is a riot going on in the paddocks. Even old Tarbaby is rearing, kicking up his heels.....bucking, farting....and running his small paddock. Grace tries her best to hobble in and out of the stall to see what the excitement is. Ollie and Max are doing laps in the arena. We have a very slight wind, cool air and I suspect the weather has got the best of them. They calm down fast enough when I get the hay out....one by one, they calm down and begin munching...Grace holds out for her mush.
We already have mud....and it seems like we just got rid of it. No fair. I should move to Arizona and feel some sand in my shoes...honestly.

The work week is over....it was a short one due to the holiday. Kids back in school....fall sales are everywhere.....horse blankets are sent in for repair and washing. Time to order more hay....I forget I am feeding pigs......LOL.

Errands to run tomorrow, feed store, bank, grocery store...it never ends. Oh and Costco too. I love Costco.....but you cannot go in there without spending 200 dollars.....seriously.

Pony UP fortune for tomorrow:

It is where the wind will take you.

Wednesday we have rain...just like winter.

Raining......cold.....I am tossing around the idea of blankets. Max always gets cold early in the year. He is a 1500 lb wussy. The ground is hard with a small inch of mud...very slippery and I almost fell this morning. Good thing I don't have four legs.
We have not identified Jones yet...still working on it. Thanks for the suggestions.

I have the day off today...company in town and errands to run. I am just getting going after a lazy morning of cleaning paddocks and stalls.
Grace is about the same this morning...kind of teetering around...but good appetite...she would eat mush all day if I let her.

I will buy stall pellets today.....didn't I say it was way too early for that? Grace needs them for sure because she is a stall princess when the weather is wet. That is okay with me...but she does make a mess. She is still in heat and peeing LOADS. Mares...

Puyallup fair pretty soon...I can hardly wait. I go every year..always fun.

The bear has not been seen for a couple of days...good news. I am not really afraid for the horses...but she does have three cubs and I don't want her to feel threatened by any of us or to get aggressive around the bird feeders. I didn't know they loved bird seed? weird.

Well.....I am off.....bank, post office, feed store....to see Winston....get some Starbucks......enjoy your day.

Pony Up fortune for today.

Grin and bear it.

Monday...Monday

Pictures of Jones' tattoo....help us figure it out? What do you see?

I am still with the notion that summer is over...fall is here. Falling leaves..a chill in the air. I will keep my fingers crossed that we have one more fleeting summer day or days. Sept is usually nice, isn't it?

Grace is still having a tough time today. More bute, more bedding...more horse cookies.
Jones has settled in, has a good sleeping position along the fenceline with Church. We will de-worm him tomorrow.....it has been a long time and then we will have the farrier out...his feet have overgrown his shoes and he has some cracks in one foot. He preferred the grass hay over the alfalfa....go figure? Anyone else on the property will kill for alfalfa.

Emergency fence repairs today. Max and Ollie went back into the woods again, through the hot wire....fortunately they came back and did not become bear food. Do bears eat horses? I don't think so....heck the horses did not even seem worried when the bear was in the yard. Anyway, there is now no climb fencing, cemented posts and a large gate in their way. No more escapes.

Later in the week we will also fence those naughty ponies in with non climb....Wally went right through the board part of the fence yesterday.....he is determined to get alfalfa in his diet. Just when you think hotwire is the best....well, it isn't...not for greedy ponies.

We also tricked the chickens ....chicken wire on their favorite roosting spots, so that they HAVE to go into the coop. Makes it much easier to put them to bed. The bear must have come last night and eaten the FULL bowl of chicken food...licked totally clean, no crumbs left either....what else eats chicken food? 100 rats?

If you have any Purina coupons that you won't use, would you consider sending them to us? or will you sign up at the Purina sight and send us the coupons.....unless of course you need them yourself? It is a great deal....look and see what you think or get them for yourself. They are trying to increase their market share. Purina foods are great....we love them.

Blue got his shoes pulled yesterday and a trim. He was a good boy. He is just completely uninterested in interacting with humans. Sad...really sad. He does not look for scratches or treats, he avoids being touched. His stifles and hocks hurt him most days....he must have had a hard life out there.

This is the week school starts and we got a new Running Start student. Welcome to Alex. He knows nothing about horses.....LOL.....but he will shortly.

enjoy your short week. The fair starts pretty soon and I will take the girls.

Pony Up fortune for tomorrow:

Give a big smile to the loneliest person you know.......they need it today.

Meet the new guy

He has not been starved or neglected....but he had no where to go...his owner loves him but cannot provide for him during these tough economic times. She has done the best she could and now we will try to find a home for him.

His name was RockStar. We ......I cannot call him Rockstar....it doesn't seem user friendly.....so Caryn and I are calling him Jones. We can't quite make his tattoo out...so we don't really know who he is or where he came from. He is quite handsome and has pretty good manners. He was happy to get home.....great in the trailer...unloaded like a pro....and went right to eating.

Saturday...it really is fall

Long week.....lots of work....ponies escaping....putting up roadblocks for escaping ponies....my mom was in the hospital again....and company coming. How to get it all done? Those winter chores seem to have an immediate need to be completed.

Wally, the pony has escaped four times in three days. He doesn't care if you have hot wire up.....he wants more food....this diet stuff is not for him. He broke into Beaver's paddock.....a fight ensued....Wally got the upper hoof....unbelievable...but true. I have NEVER seen that happen before.

This morning....I get up early to let dogs out.....then I can't go back to sleep....so I get up, do laundry, make coffee....take shower and go to barn. Turn music on loud..it is the sixties station...some sick tunes...some good ones....I get to work.
I notice that Grace is not moving very well. She seems to have some pain in her hind legs. Hmmm. She is not very steady on her feet. I feed her grain and give her a once over......no wounds, no swelling....seems to be in her hips. No dirt marks.....so she didn't fall down. She has visitors coming to see her this morning, so I am hoping she can get moving better.
My volunteers start arriving.....Ryan, Susie, Sarah.. and then our visitors, Jaime and her mother...a special trip to see Grace. They bring a bunch of food and of course, treats for Grace....Grace is glad to see them and THE TREATS. They spend a lot of time grooming her and feeding her treats...which she loves. We give her some bute for the pain she is having. She is such a good girl. I hate to think of losing her.
We load Noah up and take him to his new opportunity. His new opportunity is to be a pony club eventing horse for some deserving youngster. We will see how his training goes. A trainer has offered to take him and give him some training..and then rehome him to a deserving kid. He is a great little horse...very friendly. We love him...but this is for the best. He gets a new career. Pretty lucky for a horse destined for slaughter...huh? It is always hard to say goodbye...none the less.

I come back and we work on fencing the two devil ponies in. A new gate, a new section of non climb and I think we have the problem licked. I guess we will see what tonight brings. After dark anything can and will happen. I find horses in the brush some early mornings.....it has to stop before I have a heart attack.

The chore list grows even as we whittle it down some. The barn roof needs to be pressure washed...a half wall needs to be put on one loafing shed....we need another wall to block wind and weather on the pony shed..we still need sand for the arena...we will finish the washrack this week......and we are still in the planning stages for the new building shed that we will call our office/tack room. We still have a stretch of fence to put up...some brush to clear and some fill dirt that is needed.

I will post pictures of Grace and her friend Jaime.....a little later. Jaime loves Grace and has been supporting her with supplements to keep her weight up and her coat in show condition. Bless you Jaime for loving an old horse.

More work tomorrow....even on a holiday weekend.......it never stops.

Thank you to my volunteers ........you are lifesavers......honestly.

Edited to note: We have been wondering why the chicken food has been disappearing at record rates...well, as of 6pm...we know. We were visited by a very tall BEAR....who came into the yard, got into my mother's bird feeder and garbage can, then moseyed around the yard...I am sure he has eaten the chicken food...or she.....

Umm...edited again.......the bear is back.....it is a she...it has three cubs.....it is eating the peanuts that my mom has set out for the squirrels......oh dear. My mom may never go outside again.

Pony Up fortune for tomorrow:

Turn around and see what is behind you....smile or frown?