Stuart and Skittles...

From Jim: Stuart and Skittles are best friends. That's really nice, because they both had been loners for quite awhile, before pairing up. Stuart is a Kiger Mustang. Red Dun, primitive markings, absolutely beautiful. When we got him, he had been road foundered and his sheath was so filthy he was having issues urinating. He was also a couple of hundred pounds underweight. The poor guy was really hurting. It took about a year to sort him out, but he's just fine now. Recently had his teeth floated. At 12 or so, that's not unusual. Kigers (we've had 4 of em) are some of the sweetest critters you would ever find. They're like the best of the best Quarterhorse minds. Really peaceful, really gentle, really friendly. We like this breed a lot. We're down to 2. Our first Kiger, Sweet, passed away quite a few years ago. We just lost Tiger Lily a couple of weeks back. That leaves Stuart and Rosie. Kigers seem to live to be in their early 20's and then they're done. Rosie is getting on in years now. Great mare. Skittles is a little Quarterhorse. She was a barrel racer and, true to her breed, a real sweety. She was surrendered to retirement to make sure she had a good safe home. Tawnee put her with us. She knows our policy of lifetime sanctuary and the standard of care we provide. It's sure been nice to work with Jason and Tawnee. Well, anyway, Skittles was doing OK, but she was mostly just off by herself. Stuart, the same. Then, one day, they were by themselves, but in the same corner. The rest is history. They stall together, eat together, nap together, and hang out together. They are inseparable. When we had their teeth done, Skittles was first. As she came out of sedation, and we returned her to the turnout, Stuart was "at the dentist". Skittles let us know that this was not OK and didn't settle down until her Stuart was back at her side. These two are in the upper herd, so she wasn't actually alone, but she wasn't with her BFF. They likely would text that, but hooves don't mix with keyboards. Naw! But a horse with a cell phone is a funny thought, maybe they'd use a bluetooth. In California, they'd probably make it illegal to text or talk while being an equine. Enough silliness. Stuart and Skittles are examples of what Home At Last is all about. We want the animals that live here to be happy, not just survive. To be sure, most wouldn't have made it, if we weren't here, but keeping body and soul together is not enough to truly give sanctuary. Sanctuary is a state of being. It is peace and love and security. It sure is nice the critters like Stuart and Skittles will share that with us. Makes our life so much richer. Equines are social in nature. They need to be with their own kind and have the emotional fulfillment of bonding with another. We like that.

Gifts and Memories...

From Jim: The sanctuary has received several wonderful donations from folks lately. They came from people who wanted to note a friend's birthday or mark the passing of a loved one or friend that had loved horses. Their gift was about what someone they had known would have done or had requested in lieu of a present. The herd will benefit from that kindness and we hope our benefactors do too. The good feeling of doing something so kind should be celebrated. We are humbled to be able to be a part of that. So many of our critters were mistreated and abused and neglected by our kind and, now, are cared for and supported by great folks. That's a balancing of the equation that's worth noting. Probably sounds a little silly, but I think our resident animals have a sense that they are in a special place and loved by a lot of special people. They know peace and security and gentleness. They are well fed and with their friends. Because we are remembered, the herd will continue to have all of that. That means more than my poor ability to write can say. THANK YOU!

Frankie and Brandy...

From Jim: Frankie is a big ole Warmblood-Oldenberg-17-2, white and a real character. When his loving owner retired him here at a pretty young age he had ruptured a stifle and the repair surgery had saved his life, but ended his working days. More than that, he had a tumor on his neck which was growing aggressively and putting pressure on the carotid artery and jugular vein, right side. He was beginning to show the signs of diminished blood flow to his brain. Dr. Darling opted for surgery to remove the mass. Well, it turned out there were two tumors. One was the size of my fist, the other a little smaller but involving some lymph nodes. They were melanomas. They don't internalize very often in equines, but they had with Frankie. After several hours of extremely complex surgery, the tumors were out. I've never seen finer surgical work in my life. Frankie has no recurrence and is healthy as can be. Brandy is a Quarab-one of those Arabian/Quarterhorse crosses. The Quarterhorse side had a lot of Thoroughbred. She's tall-16-1 or so. She's a beautiful liver bay. She had been trained up as a reining horse and was on the way to some championships when her hock became arthritic. Her competitive career was over, but she became a wonderful saddle horse. Brian loves her a bunch. She has always been a loner. Due in part, I'm sure, to being stalled alone during her reining days. Well, on the sanctuary, there are no barn queens. We had her in with the lower herd, but they're a pretty spirited group and Brandy was somewhat overwhelmed. She lost some weight as her teeth had gotten sharp and needed a float. After her dental work, we stalled her for awhile to get her some extra sack feed and hay. She put her weight back on and when we turned her out, it was with the Backyard Bunch. She and Frankie have become really close friends. First time we've ever seen Brandy show so much affection for another critter. We like that. They're about the same age and make a very pretty couple-tall and stately. The way of these animals is always an interesting study. They are such unique, special individuals with personalities that give them very definite identities. So, Frankie and Brandy have found one another. Very Nice!

Mud Puppies & Mud Ponies...

From Jim: The dogs have taken it upon themselves to bring the outside inside. They are able to carry several hundred cubic yards of mud on each foot and track it around the house to a depth of several feet. Ok, that's an exaggeration, but not by much. OK, by a lot. Anyway the house has a lot of dog tracks. The dogs have also found some delightful substances to roll in. Doggie cologne like eau de cow poo, eau de dead thing, and, eau de "I don't want to know". They feel rubbing on us, to share the moment, is the least they can do. The dogs are not building up a storehouse of goodwill. The horses, donkeys, and mules are really tired of the rain, wind, and mud. They are cranky. They are posted on the high ground, trying to stay out of the muck. When ever an opportunity presents itself, they lay down for a nap. The greys and whites in the herd are truly something to behold. We have a least another week of this weather coming. The few breaks have not been enough to drain off the excess water, so the mud remains and grows gooeyer (gooier?) and nastier (nastyer?) Spelling notwithstanding, it's a mess. Donna has made a real effort to keep the house cleaned up. I would have given up and adjusted to living in an indoor bog. Knee high rubber slippers would be OK with me. The next few months will degrade into heat and flies. My rational side knows this. My current mindset says, "So what? This is a no way to live". Donna asked me if I was depressed. Me? No way, I'm as happy as a pig in slop. I have to try and remain patient until the afternoon feeding, when I can, again, enjoy the beauty of nature. Uh Huh.

Bucky gets petted...

From Jim: This morning Juan asked to be let back in with the Backyard Bunch. He was missing his friends, which include Bucky. Bucky has very malformed front feet, but gets around just fine. He has had no love of people, considers all of us to be pony-getters. As I waited for Donna to bring the tractor up to the gate from the stable, Juan requested a thorough petting. Bucky was near by, hanging out with his friend. I asked if he wanted petted too. Sure enough, he leaned in for a scratch or two. Soon, he was getting petted all over along with Juan. The trust that Juan showed, along with his loving ways, must have inspired Bucky. Anyway, that's what I'd like to think. Bucky was quite happy to be loved on and, I think, a little surprised that the "pony-getter" could be a friend. It's taken a couple of years for this to happen. These guys really do move at their own pace when it comes to overcoming their fear and mistrust. We think that's OK. It's one of the things I really like about the sanctuary. There's no preconceived timetable, just days and weeks and months and years for us, and no calender for the critters. Bucky got petted today. That's a good thing. We both enjoyed it. Hope you'll go love on your critters too!

Soon, a Good bye to Babe and Moon...

From Jim: There's no more putting off the inevitable for some of our very senior critters. They are no longer able to hold their weight and there's nothing left to do for them. Their teeth, what's left of them, have been floated. They have feed in front of them almost all of the time. They just don't have the metabolic processes left to flourish. We can only offer them the last act of kindness, a peaceful and painless end. The reality of this is so darned hard. We've learned that denial and procrastination are cruel illusions. The animals will hang in there, in a constant state of deterioration, until they're too weak to stand. That's not OK. Starvation is painful. Part of the aging process for equines is the loss of their digestive tract's ability to absorb food. They're not all that efficient anyway. A healthy horse will only absorb about 15% of the nutrition in their forage. That's one reason horse manure is such great fertilizer. By the time they've reached the stage Moon and Babe are in, they probably are down to 4 or 5%. It's just not enough to meet their body's needs. They starve. It's horrible. We can't fix it. We hate that. Babe is Pony of America. She's been a wonderful saddle horse for kids. Not a mean bone or bad habit in her. She's a sweet and loving pet. Moon is an ancient Appie. She's lost one eye to euveitis and the remaining eye is none too great. Like Babe, she is not able to hold her weight. Moon is a lover. Likes to be petted and have her sweet head held against your chest. Like our other critters at the sanctuary, Moon has become a beloved pet. Now, her time is here. Dr. Darling will help us with the final assessment. We've had seniors on a watch list for some time now and these are not surprises There will be those last few quiet moments to say Good Bye.
I think it's important to note their passing. These animals have been the very best they know how to be all of their lives. They ended up here because they were thrown away. They deserve to be remembered for how truly wonderful they've been. Our herd, for us, is about individuals. It's about their willingness to accept our kind. It's about celebrating the days of their lives and the joys they've brought to ours. Soon now, Good Bye Moon. Good Bye Babe. See you at the Rainbow Bridge!

Salt and Batteries

From Jim: It just never fails that when we buy a bunch of 50 lb blocks of salt, it rains, melts some off the blocks and the rest sink in the mud. Besides being heavy, and clumsy to handle, salt blocks never last very long. We generally buy them 20 or 30 blocks at a time. This last time, it rained before I could get the dang things out of the truck. The bed is now stained a nice ugly trace mineral red with melted salt. The metal's gonna love that! It'll be time to get more salt pretty soon. It's always nearly time to get more salt. Same with batteries. I find them to be heavy and clumsy also. They don't last and when it rains, they tend to go flat and I have to jump start the tractor. Our tractor works every day, but not for more than a couple of hours. The alternator is tiny. Looks like a miniature. I suppose if you ran the tractor 12 or 15 hours a day, it might get the battery charged up, but for what we do, it's not enough. So, without a boost from the battery charger every so often, the tractor won't start. It usually chooses not the start after it's loaded with hay and in an awkward spot to reach for a jump. There's generally a quagmire of mud to wade around in. It'll be time to buy another battery pretty soon. Same with the GMC diesel. It has two big ole batteries. They're getting old, so's the truck. If I happen to let it sit for a couple of weeks, starting is no dice. This usually occurs during the rain, when the trailer is hooked up, and there's mud to wade around in. And, of course, when it's raining, I can't run a cord out to the truck and hook up the charger-Perfect. I'm thinking in a civilized world, salt and batteries would be a crime. You know, you're going along, minding your own business, getting on with your chores, and then there's this salt and battery thing facing you. It's just not right. That's pretty much all I have to say about it.