This 'n That

[SandyG]

I came into the house about 2:30pm from cleaning barn and sat down to try to catch up on some desk work. And dry off. And consume large amounts of water. And try not to fall asleep. I hear something in the house falling.....what was that? Wait - I just heard it again....what were those mailbox kittens into now!!!

So out to the kitchen I go and there, standing at the door with an enormous smile on his face, is my friend from Euquador, Miguel! This young man and I met when we first opened our store on Main Street in Menomonie . . a very sensitive and driven young man who needs - not just wants, but needs - to try to help the underprivileged. For instance, he told me of his recent trip to Guatemala and the work he did in support of bringing 900 families a source of clean water. He told me about frighening and horridly overcrowded bus rides, thieves, gorilla troops, heavily cinnamoned breakfasts that made your guts swim, and heavily curried suppers that made you ill before heading back to the home base to rest. About the competition with all of the churches for the time and funds of the poverty ladened families. It sounded horrible and yet he is planning to return again in January to insure the water project is not dropped. Walking four hours per day with a container of water on your head is the duty of each Mother every single day. And what she brings home is water to use for cleaning and clothes - not fit for drinking. Yikes....

Miguel will be joining me on Tuesdays for a while to help with brushing horses, treating their bug bites, scraping bots off of their legs (ALREADY!!!) and working on Memory Bed gardens. I enjoy his company and he enjoys the quiet and the horses. And yes, the City Boy loves to get dirty!!!

Last fall, Miguel came to THE FARM with his partner and some of his friends. A little 2 year old boy helped us plant some of the flowers on Lanna's Memory Bed and we talked of that visit as we stood at Lanna's blooming garden this afternoon. Miguel remembered spending the afternoon brushing The Ole' Man with hand towels because the horse was so thin and fragile and so very dirty. His memory: "That felt so good to that horse and was so therapeutic for me. I loved that time. It was very healing. For both of us - me and The Ole' Man."

Some days it is the unexpected that makes the day. And today, Miguel took the time to find this place and check up on us and reconnect with us. I am so happy and grateful for his efforts. And Miguel will have many more therapeutic memories of these horses, I'm sure!!! Next Tuesday afternoon feel free to join us! You will certainly enjoy this young man and his drive to help those in deep poverty. Gotta love his heart!

[SandyG]

Not a leaf moving and so our fans are truly life saving today!!! I had to only retrieve PONY! and Hollie this morning - everyone else was already in the barn at 6:30am! The bugs are intense and without a breeze, they need to keep moving with their heads bobbing to keep the bugs off. The deer in the deep woods must be in the water all day!

I have certain times during the day where I rest and cool down - usually after a hose "dip" - and work to store up the feelings of this heat. That's so in January I can recall it and work to warm up the frozen body parts! I'll be sure to let you know if it works !!!

This is one of those summers with horses down and beyond recovery - maggots inches thick - and grass growing high just outside of their reach. It was in this kind of weather that I met Budd the very first time - we called him the Highway 128 Horse. So many to remember.

Remember to drink water - not pop! Remember to dress very lightly and take your time!!! Be careful out there!

[SandyG]

A good day after all!!!

I was going to set us up for Clyde Mare's afternoon bath up under the awning of the Hospital Building. So I got the nozzle on the hose, turned the water on and released all of the air (the horses HATE the hissing sound the air makes - and the hose? Bet it looks like a huge snake to them!), and then I went to turn off the water and looked into the tub I have in that barn with water bottles in it so I drink water often.

There, trying to float as best as possible, was a little robin baby just kind of using the bottles in the water to put a wing on and trying like heck to figure out how to get out of this spot. I lifted the little one out and it was very cold - so I took my t-shirt and dried it a bit then took a towel I had in that barn and wrapped it up and went to stand in the sunshine but out of the breeze. It shivered and shivered and shivered. Mama was on the corral panels hollering at it like mad - and me, too, I'm sure - but I felt it was too weak and too cold to set it down.

So I took another towel and bunched it up in the sunshine on the side that Mama was hollering from and put it down. Cold little thing. Very cold and weak. So I hugged it to me some more, dried it a bit more, and then put it down. Mama now had managed to get a bug or something and she looked ready to feed. So I told the little one to work a bit harder for a bit longer and be a miracle bird to survive! Down I put it on the towel and propped the towel up to keep it from falling over. Weak as heck and I'm sure so totally exhausted. Birds cannot swim, you know, so that little guy was smart to use the bottles as floats!

I went to retrieve Clyde Mare and when I went around the corner to turn on the water again, the towel was there and the baby was looking a bit better - drying off and seemed a bit less shaky. So I focused on Clyde Mare and asked for strength for the little squirt. By the time I was done bathing Clyde Mare, the bird was gone. I took the time to head up to the garages and the barn cats were snoring in the garage. So my bet is that Mama told it to get out of plain view . . . Smart little birdie. Very smart. And oh they are so tiny when they are wet and their feathers aren't fluffing them up!!!!

Isn't something sometimes how timing makes all the difference in the world?

PS - the water tub is now out of that barn and the bottles of water are on the lumber pile. There is another nest of Robin babies yet to go this summer!!!

[SandyG]

We are due for a break from summer and so the next two days will give us that break. I'll have time to get some gravel into the barn and fill in the holes created from the almost constant barn cleaning. The kids will have time to graze and have the choice of going out or staying in - and some may actually be able to rest during the day and lie down to do so - that's not possible in that small paddock area!

Then we'll get ready and continue to days of summer! Meanwhile, I'm working with some of the elderly ones and we are storing up the feeling of sweating, over heating, panting, and fighting for air! Sounds odd but in January, me and PONY!, for instance, will stand together and go to our "happy place" to warm up a bit!!!

[SandyG]

Our farrier, Isaac, is here today to trim the herd for the summer. We'll have the fans going and the water bottles filled at all times. It will take us a bit longer but we will get 'er done! The fans will be on both us and the horses so we all will be calm and cool in the warmth of this day.

Oh, for the day the Hospital Building is ready! With the modern shoeing bed and the insulated ceiling . . . . soon, I pray!

Take care. Drink water. Wear a hat to shield your head. And enjoy the days of summer!!!

[SandyG]

What a grand evening it was! The bugs were minimal and you could work without the sweat running into your eyes! Worked on the workshop/garage garden beds and am pleased with the progress. What I wouldn't give for another 2 hours of daylight!!!

The breeze is heavenly outside. Just checked on the kids and I can hear them snorting, munching, and searching for the grasses that taste the best. They will not sleep tonight! They will eat! And late in the night they will get a cold shower, from the sounds of it!

Tomorrow is a day of telephone calls, emails, and paperwork! And a walk in the pastures with the kids - in the rain!!!

[SandyG]

With absolutely no breeze, the bright sunshine, and the dew on the grass the flies were extra busy and present this morning! All horses were in the barn by 7:30am and so relaxed and happy to be there. It was cooler (than it should be!) and so the barn needed no fans to help them stay comfortable. So I went about the business of feeding, medicating, checking wounds, checking Miss April's boot, Gracie's little body, and Josephina's leg scratch. Clyde Mare and I will spend some one-on-one time later this morning but I gave her a quick check over and told her again how proud of her I am! She is progressing and I'm eager to see what a winter of cleanings will bring us.

By 9am, all was done and as I looked the barn over something came to my attention: every single creature in the barn, including the two barn cats, was dozing. All were relaxed, safe, and tired from a night of hunting for grasses and playing as they do. All were ready to take a nap and so they did. Not a horse was worried about who was standing where and who was eating what. They all were just droopy eye'd and droopy bottom lip'd as they stood and snoozed. One hind leg cocked and the heads low as if we were in a western show competition. It was a picture and my brain took it and filed it safely in my memory.

With my dose of medicine for the day now tucked deeply into my heart, I left the barn to finish the daily morning routine. Content to know they were content. Mission accomplished. Our little herd of "good for nothing horses" are happy and safe. Life is good at Refuge Farms this morning.

[SandyG]

I am reaching out for positive thoughts and prayers for our Miss April and Josephina this morning. Both mares are facing life threatening hoof issues with our Specialized Farrier arriving at 11am for assessments and plans after his examinations.

After a full day of work, one of the kindest men I have ever met arrived last evening with his cutting and welding equipment and remodeled our shoeing bed so Josephina can now use it - meaning she can walk in, be treated, and walk out! Prior to the remodel, she would have had to back out and that is just too dangerous for her with her bad hips.

So we are in a good position to treat both mares if the exams show us we can improve their conditions. Hence, my request for your messages to "the universe" for healing, if that is to be.

I'm doing my best self-talk of the positive paths for these girls but I'm a bit shakey with these two. I do understand The Master Plan isn't always what we want but I still fight it once in a while! Hence, my request for your thoughts, your prayers . . . whatever it means to you to throw some energy their way and give them the courage and me the wisdom to accept The Plan.

After all these horses and all these exams and the thousands of hooves, I still believe that the best work is done when the community comes together and asks for the magic to happen one more time in this barn.

Thank you for taking the time to think or to pray or to sing. However you do send your support, it will be felt by them and we humans will do our job and medically treat them, just as we promised them we would.

Much Appreciation,
Sandy and The Herd with MIss April and Josephina

[SandyG]

The toll that left front foot was taking on Miss April was increasingly great. Her spirit was failing and her determination to beat this thing causing such pain in her foot was diminishing. This morning, I saw a horse that had not moved all night and was refusing to rise to eat her breakfast. April was telling me she was done and ready to move on where she could run and run and run! It was time for us to stop trying to heal her and let The Master Plan come to conclusion for this dear creature.

Dr. Rande came on this Sunday morning and helped this beautiful soul to her freedom at roughly 10:30AM. Prior to Dr. Rande's arrival, April and I spent some time in the yard eating fresh grass and I filled her tummy with apples! She was content and happy as she crossed.

Never again will there be a spirit as Miss April! And never will young adults in wheelchairs have an advocate as beautiful as Miss April! And never will there be such a compliant but strong willed horse in our barns who wanted nothing more than to walk like a normal horse. My peace comes from knowing she is running - after waiting 19 years to do so - and she is with her handsome Jerry, the Roan Horse.

And we must all thank our Specialized Farrier who gave her the majority of those years! Many vets and farriers had told me to put her down - until we came across this talented man. He loves "Apes" as much as any of us do! And he, too, will cry at her grave. But I certainly hope he rests well knowing he made a quality life possible for this horse for many more years than she would have had without him. Thank you, Kind Sir. Thank you from me but most of all, thank you from your "Apes".

I will see you on the other side of that bridge, April. And we both will run!!!

Amen.

[SandyG]

Today was quite a day!!!

Started at 8AM in the new building with a team of dedicated women who came to THE FARM to collate, fold, tape, and label about 1,100 newsletters in time to get them into the 2:30PM Spring Valley deadline. We did it! A great crew who worked very well together and held some really interesting conversations!!

Thanks to Chris who brought deliciously soft dinner rolls and great sliced turkey. Conveniently forgotten here, thank you very much!!! thanks, Lavonne for the cherry tomatoes - they are delicious!!!

Brendan came to THE FARM and rode the pasture with me to give us a bid on mowing the pastures yet this fall. That way, next spring, we are at least starting out with a flat pasture and also, late this fall, we won't have the abundance of burdocks like we did last year!!! A very nice young man who was just staring at Ella and Joseph playing in the pasture . . . especially after I told him they were blind!!

And then, at the close of that part of the day, I returned home from the post office and JUDE WAS HERE!!! Love that woman and it has been over a year since I saw her last. Someone I do not see often and I met her through THE STORE but someone I was instantly comfortable with. In fact, I took her to Liz-Beth and Lanna's Memory Beds to show her the flowers and how enormously large they had grown in only two years! It was from Jude's back yard in Menomonie that those plants were given to us - fun to show her the jungle they are now creating!!!

For the latter part of the day, I headed to the barn for a deep cleaning on Clyde Mare and then a trach cleaning for Helen. Feedings for Gracie, Helen, Josephina, and Clyde Mare and then top off the barn cat food, the tanks, and close the barn door. Now in the house to clean myself up (ugh! I'm dirty!!!) and then get some rest.

Much done today. Good friends and supporters in my life today. It goes to help you remember how fortunate you are as you sit quietly at the close of this day.

I am a very rich woman. Wealthy beyond my greatest dreams. G'nite!

[SandyG]

Uh-Oh!

Went in to cuddle with Beauty this morning. Beauty is beginning to hair-up.

[SandyG]

Today started out a bit rough . . . went out to Miss April's grave for the first time and it was too soon, I think. That mare was here before Refuge Farms began. She knew Frannie and all of the horses that have come here for rescue. What a mare! And she has left an enormous aching hole in my chest. After 19+ years with her in the barns to greet me and love me back, I must say she left an opening that I don't think any other horse will be able to fill.

But then, my email inbox had the confirmation that Freedom, a blind gelding in Indiana, is arriving on September 17th!! HURRAY! Another life rescued! And watch out for this guy! He has overcome cancer, life getting so sour he had to be rescued, and soon he will be in an open pasture with a big Belgian mare to love him, protect him, and mother the heck out of him!! I can hardly wait to see the joining of those two horses!

So the sadness turns to joy in a heartbeat. This life in the world of rescue has big, big highs and deep, deep lows. But it is my choice and I cannot imagine doing anything else. This is truly what I was born to do!

Enjoy the gift of today, People!
Sandy and The Herd

[SandyG]

Recovering, as it is, from the crossing of Miss April has taken some time and, I'm suspecting, will be like some have been - a process that continues indefinately. That mare was here before Refuge Farms was here. She came as a starved and gasping baby with a Mother that loved her deeply but had no nutrition to feed her. At least not for the first 36 hours. Once given hay soaked in water, Ima began producing a weak milk but baby responded and Miss April announced herself!

Going back over ten years, Miss April was left a space just south of Jerry, the Roan Horse. She loved that big monster of a pulling champion. Ripped the boards and the eye bolts right off the walls to stand next to him to eat! Literally! And when he crossed, it seemed that a piece of Miss April collapsed and things just never came back to the days of walking the pasture and grazing with her majestic Big J.

She is resting and will be mounded with black dirt before the winter cold comes. In the spring there will be a tree for her - a clump of birches, I believe. Birches shed and Miss April constantly did her best to shed the badness in her feet. And she did her very best to grow as healthy a hoof as she could grow. But she had been too starved before she was born to ever grow normal front hooves. Too starved.

Over eleven years ago, I took April to a series of vets looking for some sort of plan - an attempt - at giving her a life. The first three simply said, "Put her down." But Doc M out of River Falls told me of a farrier - hard to reach but the only one he knew of that could help this mare. And so our Specialized Farrier began his every eight week visits to care for Miss April. And, a love affair began.

The two of them adored each other. Miss April came walking into the barn when she heard the shoes rocking in the back of his truck as he backed down the driveway. He just loved her - called her "Apes" of which, coming from him, was okay with her. NOT okay when I called her "Apes". Nope. That was reserved for "him" and was a private connection that they shared.

We would have lost Miss April over eleven years ago had this Specialized Farrier not committed his skill and time and compassion to this horse. He gave her a life with quality. I remember the day we watched her trot up the hill to the barn! Both of us were blinking back the tears as we smiled broadly and screamed for joy at the sight of April moving up to us! What a thrill!

The road sign says that "Many Tears Are Falling At The Crossing Of This Mare" and it is correct. Many knew Miss April. Many loved her. And truly, the barn and this place will always keep her close and leave a space at the table for her. After all, she was the Mother to the entire concept - Miss April greeted Frannie! And yes, Miss April new Andy. Andy told me how beautiful she was and how, "She could be his (Frannie's) Sister!"

The only regret with Miss April is that we could not overcome this last breakdown. She had decided and showed me her decision so clearly that I had no choice. And I love her even more for being so clear and direct with me. I didn't like her response, but she spoke and, as I had promised her, I listened and reacted.

There are many pillars in the story of Refuge Farms . . . Andy, Frannie, Jerry, Laddee, and Handsome, to name just a few. And now, in the greatness of that company of miracle workers, there is the beautiful Miss April.

[SandyG]

The Dine-To-Donate was wonderful last night! Lots of hugs and laughs and a great time to celebrate the lives in our lives. Awesome healing salve. Just what the doctor and the heart ordered!

Today, time to get the kids in out of the bugs - dang!!! Get hay in front of them and fans on and then scurry over to WEAU for a spot on the Judy Clark 12noon program. Will be good to connect with Judy again - it has been a while but it is now time!

Tickets for the Corvette are starting to fly! One young man looked at the car with me last night. Kept just reaching out to touch it. Then he left. Ten minutes later he was back to buy his ticket. He's got the bug!!!

One more Dine-To-Donate next Wednesday, the 20th, and then the 27th is the drawing for the big prize by our friend, Tess Morgan! But only after the ride . . . or did I say drive ? ? ? ? I promised Tess!!!!

Have a grand day today - enjoy it! It is truly a gift so use it well!

[SandyG]

Brendon is here and the pastures are being mowed!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!