Up early.......drive to barn, let chickens out, let barn cat out....feed horses, take over my shift for taking care of my mom. Hot morning already, wash laundry, empty trash, lots of watering to do in my mom's yard and the Pony Up garden...horse troughs to clean, pastures to water, manure to pick up. As I always say, the chore list never quits. We have a lot to do today, amongst keeping an eye on my mom. I take a few minutes and watch my mom sleep...in sleeping she seems to be more comfortable and with her comfort, I feel better.
Iris is having trouble with her feet......chronic foot problems since we got her...not just blind, but lousy feet too. We were able to solve part of her problem with putting shoes and pads on the fronts....and now it seems we will have to do the same with the hinds. Winters is approaching and I am very apprehensive as to how we will keep Iris dry......her feet demand it. The weather is very dry right now and her feet are terrible. Washington is wet for six months out of the year. We need to start making some plans for how we will keep her comfortable....sand paddock and LOTS of stall pellets, pads on her feet. ...I am having some anxiety.. we love Iris and so do a hundred other folks.
When it rains.....it pours. While we are cleaning and working today, we discover that Joey has cut his face near his eye and it is swollen/ugly......we put some hot packs on it, get the scabs off.......and then place his fly mask on him. He is a good boy to work on, very patient with us..such a good boy. He is still nursing a swollen knee too, so we have not been on him yet.....but what a dream to haul, handle and work on. He came from the kill pen........he deserved better so we brought him home....just a little quarter horse gelding, nothing fancy, but he is well built and solid and we give him an A plus on his personality. Need a trail horse? Come see Joey!
Baybee is growing into a handsome boy.......he is huge! He kicked the stall wall last week (at his TB buddies Ollie and Jones) and he was lame for a few days...but doing better now. We have been working diligently on him picking his feet up without kneeling or laying down....today he allowed his feet to be cleaned without any drama. He really is a beautiful colt........someone will get a great horse......Need a project? Come see him...for adoption.
We are having our upcoming auction/dinner fundraiser in late October. We are so excited! Thank you to Jen B and Tara for heading this up. My time is not own lately...and it is a blessing to have them take charge of this for us. It is going to be a gala event and we want you all to come!
We built a new manure bin today for the far paddocks......thank you Ryan for taking charge of it.......and thank you to Susy for your undying loyalty and work....you are such a help..both of you. We also moved the ever migrating stall mats back......we have stall mats out in front of each stall so that when it starts raining....(as it ALWAYS does up here.)...horses will not have any mud in front of the stalls or loafing sheds.......we have LOTS of mats. People remark about it..and we laugh about it.....but they are totally necessary.
Speaking of our chore list.......it goes on and continues.....hogsfuel, gravel, sand....shavings bin...finish manure bins...buy more hay...buy more stall mats..(yes, we could use more!)...hay is always needed as our residents have big appetites! We need to raise funds for training, for dental work and medical care. Those sorts of things take a big bite out of our budget. Horses in training have priority in dental work.
We are thankful for our supporters.......and we give a big shout out to Cenex, Strohs, The Jones Farm, Cam and Carrie Reeves, Maci Padden DVM, Mike Alberts DVM, Julie Page DVM, Ray DeCent DVM, Lietz Hay, Beth Anderson Ness, Meghan Markham. Chalice Farms, .......we have so many people who help us.....we are very grateful.
I also thank my volunteers who have allowed me to take a break in my schedule, so I can spend more time with mom. I cherish every minute.....and I could not do this without you.
Pony Up fortune for tomorrow:
Say it out loud.....sometimes you just have to "say it out loud".
Enjoy your week!
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