So So Sunday

Cold this morning, almost freezing....I am anxious to get to the barn.....check on Grace.....check on Louie....Louie was fretful without Jones yesterday and he cried and paced for a long while before hanging over the fence with his new friend Grace. Grace was really unimpressed with him but tolerated the nuzzling....Grace is generally unimpressed with us and not sure she belongs back here. I try several different blankets on her and find that most of what we have is HUGE........so I have to make something fit.

Lots to do today.....it really never stops. Scoop manure from stalls and paddocks, straighten blankets, sweep barn, wash feed tubs...put Bonnie in her underwear.....check water, call hayman, go to Lowes...buy insulation (Is it really going to snow?).....decide to run a new waterline to the back of the barn because I am really tired of wrestling the hose........Ryan works on the fifth wheel ALL day....pretty soon it's dark and time to feed, turn heat tape on, turn warming light bulbs on......and close the barns up.

Time to reflect on the past year and all we have accomplished. We tend to forget I guess. .......we have put new arena fencing up, new gates on two ends of the arena, built a wash rack, built a chicken coop, put down about a million mats, fixed the pony barn, put up several stretches of non climb fencing, poured cement, put new light fixtures in the barn and outside the barn, got a new hotwater heater, put a sink in the barn, put up an automatic gate on the driveway, fixed the electrical panel, built another loafing shed, shoveled gravel, moved manure piles, took some trees down, adopted out Breeze, Promise, Vinnie and Wally. We also lost Jake, Sully and Mercy. We have gained volunteers, lost volunteers, met new veterinarians, met supporters, held fundraisers, and had some fun, as well as shared our sorrow. It was a good year. We know we need a bigger farm, a larger budget, we need to do more grantwriting and fundraising. It is expensive to care for horses.....you all know that. We are thankful to the people who donated time, money, food, tack, veterinary services (Dr. Julie Page, Dr. Mike Alberts, Dr. Maci Paden), also the Jones Farm (Cam and Carrie). Lower Puget Sound Dressage Club, The Mowries, .....and to our shoer Jim Ward. I can never express enough thanks to my constant volunteers......Ryan, Caryn, Brenda, Susy, Rebecca, Carmen, Shelli......you all work hard and I could not do it without you.

Some of our goals this year are:
Improve drainage in the lower fields
sand in the arena
adoption outreach newsletter on a quarterly basis
Veterinary clinics on a quarterly basis (seminars and hands on)
Improve grant writing
Selection of two periodicals for advertising
attend schooling shows with adoptable horses
Host a schooling show in August to benefit the rescue


Off to another week of work and more work.

Again, thanks to all of you who help us.

Pony Up fortune for tomorrow:

The path of least resistance is for the lazy.

Saturday Grace

Lots to do today.....not enough time....so we spread people out. Rebecca came early and cleaned/fed......then I came and scrubbed water tanks, spread some shavings in Beaver's stall, moved Winston's mats back to a normal position, fed chickens......then hooked the trailer up and we went and got Grace. Brenda stayed to meet the shoer and Ryan made phone calls for me....we took Susy along for the ride. Susy is recovering from surgery so she is on very light duty.

It turns out that our dear Grace has become somewhat of a spoiled little brat...doesn't want to be lead or held.....I was met with a swift head butt when I tried to lead her to the trailer. We had a discussion and she came to her senses. She loaded nicely and trailered nicely.......She is blanketed and in the barn tonight.....sort of back to her dear self. The boys were glad to see her and she was sort of glad to see them.

Ryan ran some errands for us and I scrubbed stall mats for the afternoon. Sarah came and got Jones to take to Cutter Creek. He will have a spa day tomorrow and get an evaluation under saddle by three event riders. We are keeping our fingers crossed that someone will like him. He is a beautiful boy.......loads and hauls nicely too.

The forecast calls for snow this week. Yikes! I am not ready for snow....not ready for more freezing temperatures. I need to order more hay. I feel a little nervous not having the barn FULL of hay.

We have some stall work to complete tomorrow.......a halfway in the pony stall, for a wind break......and some work on the old RV. The chore list never stops...really.

Pony UP fortune for tomorrow:

Your deceitful behavior is not necessary.........tell the truth and everyone wins.

Let's talk about Michael Vick...warning GRAPHIC discussion and photos

So let's talk about Michael Vick. My blog....my opionion...my forum.

I am sick of the notion that we all just forget his hideous behavior.....

but is he just a "dog fighter"?

Hardly.

This man committed heinous acts of torture against living creatures. The kind of stuff that serial killers start with....think Ted Bundy...think Jeffery Dahmer. The kind of stuff that makes you want to vomit when you think of the horrible suffering that occurred. I don't think the really bad stuff was publicized or perhaps people just quit reading when they read "dog fighting"....I don't know.
Dog fighting is hideous in it's own right......but the torture that occurred.....Mr. Vick participated in it, directed it, filmed it and by all accounts laughed as it went on in front of him.

Can you say SOCIOPATH?

The psychopath/sociopath is a social predator. He is ruthless, manipulative and often charming. Once referred to as “moral imbeciles,” psychopaths exhibit a marked lack of conscience. They are callous, remorseless and spectacularly self-centered, willing to use and abuse others to achieve their ends, and they are inclined to blame others.

I had a late night Facebook discussion with some folks about Mr. Vick. There was the same old response......"hasn't he paid his dues?"..."can't we just go on and let him live his life?".(can't we just watch him play football?).....well, I guess he has paid his dues as sentenced.....but that doesn't mean he developed a conscience while he was in prison.....you cannot grow a conscience if you never had one to start with.......it just means he knows what he needs to say publicly in order to play football and make a lot of money off of all the football fans. It frankly makes me sick.
He can parade around the county doing his little talks and speeches....but what I want him to do is to take pictures of the dogs he tortured, electrocuted, fought, hung and show them to the kids he is talking to.....I want him to answer how it ever occurred to him that torture was pleasurable......I want him to answer how he decided to clamp jumper cables to ears and throw dogs into swimming pools?

I even had a couple of folks reply who said..."you aren't one of those who equate the lives of dogs with humans?"

What?

Umm.....you aren't one of those folks who think that animals can't/don't suffer? or do you think it just doesn't matter?
Who made you God?
My dogs are part of my family......they are not vegetation......they are not stuffed toys.....who are you to tell me how to value their lives?

When you have someone who lacks humanity.....one who has less conscience than a bottom feeding fish....do they deserve some Godlike status? Do they stand on a pedestal above the rest of the world?? NO, they do not.
The word "torture" isn't only used when involving humans. Dogs feel pain...dogs suffer....dogs scream. This person tortured for his pleasure.
Read the account here.........
http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-11-03/living/17117102_1_vick-dogs-vick-s-bad-newz-kennels-pit

There is no more punishment available to him for these crimes through the justice system....the best punishment is to turn him back into the shadows to "nobody status".....take his hero status away.....NO more football. This guy has no redeeming value except athletic ability.....he is no role model. What happened to the days when football players really were genuine guys....not morally bankrupt gangbangers wannabes? And what happened to the discerning public? Will we tolerate anything now?
Without football he can really be the loser that he is. Football players come and go ......make him go.

Happy New Years Day

Welcome to the first day of 2011! Sounds like something out of a George Orwell novel, doesn't it?

We started off the morning like any other Saturday.....because there are still hungry horses, still horse manure piles to pick up, hay to sweep, things to fix......It is really cold this morning as it has been for the past several mornings.

There were fireworks last night much to my chagrin......I hate fireworks.....the dogs hate them and so do some of the horses. Seems like we cannot avoid them. Anyway, I was not totally surprised to find that Ollie had a deep gash in his face this morning, blood everywhere......he hates fireworks and I really should have tranquilized him...but he is in the new barn and it is not close to neighbors and is surrounded by woods.......so anyway, I was wrong!!!!!!! He needed stitches.....right over his eye. Poor guy....swollen eye and sweaty body.......he is very tired today.

Then back to the barn and chores to be done. Rebecca cleaned the barn and washed Beaver's tail. Beaver has chronic diarrhea.....and we have chronic tail washing....it will clear up in the spring...until then we wash away. We built a fire and burned up some of the extra scrap lumber from behind the barn....cleaned the chicken coop and collected eggs. Got a few things moved around in the barn for ease of working conditions....more hot chocolate in the cupboard. We made plans for our new building and developed a lumber list. I love to build things.....I can hardly wait.

We bought more gate openers......a better keypad and some tubing for water....defrosted hoses......hung up Chippy's feeder so the cat can't get him....we need to work on better water access at the far end of the barn so that we don't have to drag hoses all the time.

All horses had hot mashes this morning and psyllium......there is so much dirt in the new hay......I almost feel like sending it back. Hay is always fickle......good, bad, indifferent......stemmy, brown or green.....lush or lackluster......always something. I am sure prices will continue to go up and am considering buying some local stuff to allow daytime forage/fillage. These big horses eat a lot.

Because it is so dry out, I have allowed access to the large fields during the day. Tarbaby and Churchie played and bucked and kicked for several hours yesterday...it keeps their stalls cleaner too.

Enjoy your New Years day!

Pony UP fortune for tomorrow:

The same old routine becomes something new.