It feels to me as if Winter started in November, and hasn’t quite packed his bags yet.  It has rained and rained this spring, and its been cold, and raw, yesterday, it actually snowed here in Maine, a little north of me.  SNOWED.  Ugg.  That being said, its been nothing by one crisis after another here on my farm, I have two lame horses, my guess is pulled tendons, or sore joints, from slogging thru the mud, from the non stop rain, its hard to get the paddocks and run in area’s cleaned up because its nothing but slop.. Then, my ducks have started to die, they are exceptionally thin, and weak all of a sudden, my guess is some sort of respiratory aliment, my one remaining baby is now under a heat lamp, and on antibiotics,  and last night, when I went out to feed, Satin, my older appaloosa mare, didn’t come when I called, when I went to find her she was down, on her side, and not moving,  I approached her, calling her name, fearing the worst., as I got closer she flicked and ear.. she was cold, and I think just down, maybe she got down in the mud, and couldn’t get up, she is very good, if and when she is tangled up, or caught, about just waiting for me to come save her, and I think this may be what she did, she couldn’t get up, so she just laid there and waited.. I led her slowly to the barn, and wrapped her in warm dry blankets and called the veterinarian.  I didn’t have any idea how long she had been down, and I couldn’t hear any gut sounds, only the trembling and shaking she was doing. Once the vet arrived, she did an exam, and gave Sass, a big dose of steroids,  I gave her some pain meds, and by midnight she was doing much better, the shaking was gone, and so was her hay.   I didn’t get much sleep last night, and she is totally fine today… she is 28, so I worry about her.  well. off I go to hay…

Last summer I took in a boarder, since I was desperate for income, I agreed to charge less per day for this boarder, $6.00 per day for care instead of my usual $8.00 per day, Yes, I think the care I provide is worth $8 dollars a day.  Over the course of 1 week, I knew I had made a mistake, the owner and I were just not horse keeping compatible. She was frustrated with my time line daily, and I was just frustrated with her. After agreeing to a reduced board rate, she began to add things which cost me more time… I had to soak beet pulp, I have to apply fly spray, I had to dress her horse daily in his little fly protection leggings, I wasn’t feeding him enough hay, my fences weren’t right(well, that’s not fair,, actually because they weren’t really up to snuff)  and the footing in my ring wasn’t soft enough…  so I got grumpy, and she became progessively more and more unhappy… and the icing on the cake, was after she left, my hay person told me that the new load of hay was more expensive per bale, so all summer I had been feeding her horse hay, for less then I was paying for it….  I made a decision not to take any more boarders, and basically I was ok with that.  Late in the winter, I began to ask around for a teenage girl who might want to trade work for horse time.  Maya showed up, she had lessoned with me for a short time, was riding somewhere else, but was willing to help in the barn for extra riding time…  A short while ago, she was offered a horse from a barn that was switching from being a lesson barn to a sales barn, this horse was Maya’s favorite, and she shared a special bond with her.  So, now I have a working boarder…and I still get to ride more, and Maya has a wonderful horse, and is a super happy dreams come true kiddo.  So, welcome Bella, you beautiful mare… wishing long rides, and happy days ahead.   As for the hay situation, I had to buy round bales to feed from, the weather has been damp and cold, the  grass is coming in , but very slowly,  so we will be on tender hooks, until the sun comes out, and the grass starts to grow… am beginning wonder about feeding my pasture grass, and fixing my fencing… the never ending chore.. but, now I have help… Off to hay.  k