Yesterday a group of us worked hard, got a lot done.....a very good day. Ollie and Max got to graze in the big GRASS pasture.......Blue got to graze a little...he is watching his Rubenesque figure. We watched them while we worked and they played and ate.
Thank you to Caryn, Briann, Alex, Ryan, Susie, Sarah and Jan. I couldn't do it without you.
We got hay yesterday at the new barn and we got hay last Thursday at the old barn....but we still need to get more to get us through winter. The machines never stop....eating and pooping.......a full time job.
This morning I cleaned the old Pony Up barn and paddocks by myself..it was quiet and peaceful...lots of birds coming and going..I fed the crows some stale donuts and watched them fight over them. Winston and Church played along the fence line like wild mustangs and churned the earth up as they galloped and bucked. Exercise is good for them. The weather is a little brisk this morning.....perfect weather for a hard gallop.
The chicken triage center is coming along.....the badly beat up hen is doing pretty well considering she is missing half her feathers...but her wounds look pretty good. I guess the SMZ's did not kill her and the furacin seems to have been okay on the wounds. The other chicken drank and I force fed her again, she is alert...but unable to stand on her own.
Today I have to run some chores again......grain, pellets.....dog food.....to get ready for the week. We need a couple of new stall forks as we have broken a few and actually they have lasted much longer than usual...but winter is hard on the forks when they are used in mud and it will happen....I get out there and just have to lift around 30 lbs of mud/manure and CrACK...the fork breaks.
A lot got done on our chore list yesterday.......a new light fixture in each of the barns......more light in one and less energy consumption in the other. Keep the power bill low but keep adequate light for tasks.
We still need gravel for paddocks and for the driveway.....we need sand too for the arena.....the arena is draining well when it rains, but sand will help us make it rideable.....we will put another light on the old Pony Up barn to face the outside paddocks and some path lights in the back. It will be dark soon and remember we have bears.....I want to be able to see them before they see me!
There will be a Pony Up meeting next Saturday afternoon....we will discuss fundraising, advertising, and form some committees ......if you want to help, please RSVP.....coffee and snacks will be provided. If there is something you are good at..let us know....we probably need it!
This week has been on overload for folks wanting us to take their horses. I wish I could take every one...but money limits us, then space, then time.....it always makes me sad to say no....but I do make a waiting list in case we have an opening.
This is just the beginning, I know it will get worse...probably much worse.
Better get going on the chores before the day gets away from me.
Pony UP fortune for tomorrow:
Nothing ventured.....nothing gained......go for it.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Friday
It is my sleep in day....but nope..I don't sleep in, the dogs just don't get the concept. I get up, let them out, make coffee, eat toast, read email....think about laying down again.....yawn, stretch..lay down and I am unconcious for 45 minutes. I sleep like I could sleep for another eight hours and then bolt from the bed when I realize that I need to get down to the barn. Shower, dry my hair......and grab more coffee and off I go.
I am running a chicken triage center. One of my hens was attacked by my mom's dog and the other one attacked by something in the pasture. Oh boy. I know nothing about doctoring chickens or cleaning their wounds. It seem logical to give them watered down SMZ's and spray wounds with Furacin. What have I got to lose? One chicken cannot stand up very well and I must carry her to the water.....she drinks and then I force feed her. Okay...I know I should probably...you know...but I can't..I won't. I will give her a chance for the rest of the weekend. The other eats on her own and drinks. We will see. I read on the internet you can give them aspirin for pain and so we will see how it works. Poor chickens.
I clean for three hours at the original Pony Up barn....scrape paddocks, scrub water tubs, clean up hay....the usual Friday chores........then head down to the new barn and start in there. Stalls and paddocks are already clean so I tend to other stuff, and I let the big boys out on the pasture......yee haw......they were thrilled. I wish I had all the horses out on such a glorious pasture. They were so happy. I left them out while I did chores....Brenda came down and gave me a hand....then I went to the garbage dump, stopped and got a Starbucks drink....went back and did some more....then went home, cleaned up...tried to take a nap......but the brain wouldn't stop......more to do....went back and fed at both barns, burned some feed sacks....practiced my nursing skills on the chickens again...locked the cat up........headed home.....long day...I am tired,achy...ready for a hot bath I think.
More work tomorrow, with my volunteers...the chore list doesn't seem to stop does it?
Move the rest of the manure pile.....
move hay
clean paddocks,
scrub walls
clean loft
move remmants of burn pile
cobwebs....
sweep
groom horses
bleach buckets
take blankets to cleaners
use blower on barn paddocks.
paint
fencing repairs
gravel on driveway to new barn
oh boy.
We are fortunate to have a nice barn to use....I am still so happy.
Pony Up fortune for tomorrow:
Wish you may, wish you might.......catch a falling star tonight.
I am running a chicken triage center. One of my hens was attacked by my mom's dog and the other one attacked by something in the pasture. Oh boy. I know nothing about doctoring chickens or cleaning their wounds. It seem logical to give them watered down SMZ's and spray wounds with Furacin. What have I got to lose? One chicken cannot stand up very well and I must carry her to the water.....she drinks and then I force feed her. Okay...I know I should probably...you know...but I can't..I won't. I will give her a chance for the rest of the weekend. The other eats on her own and drinks. We will see. I read on the internet you can give them aspirin for pain and so we will see how it works. Poor chickens.
I clean for three hours at the original Pony Up barn....scrape paddocks, scrub water tubs, clean up hay....the usual Friday chores........then head down to the new barn and start in there. Stalls and paddocks are already clean so I tend to other stuff, and I let the big boys out on the pasture......yee haw......they were thrilled. I wish I had all the horses out on such a glorious pasture. They were so happy. I left them out while I did chores....Brenda came down and gave me a hand....then I went to the garbage dump, stopped and got a Starbucks drink....went back and did some more....then went home, cleaned up...tried to take a nap......but the brain wouldn't stop......more to do....went back and fed at both barns, burned some feed sacks....practiced my nursing skills on the chickens again...locked the cat up........headed home.....long day...I am tired,achy...ready for a hot bath I think.
More work tomorrow, with my volunteers...the chore list doesn't seem to stop does it?
Move the rest of the manure pile.....
move hay
clean paddocks,
scrub walls
clean loft
move remmants of burn pile
cobwebs....
sweep
groom horses
bleach buckets
take blankets to cleaners
use blower on barn paddocks.
paint
fencing repairs
gravel on driveway to new barn
oh boy.
We are fortunate to have a nice barn to use....I am still so happy.
Pony Up fortune for tomorrow:
Wish you may, wish you might.......catch a falling star tonight.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
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.
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.
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