Surge Protector

Yesterday morning's rain was wonderful, I refuse to complain about the rain after last year's drought. It's the mud that keeps giving me problems. A river washed through our barn/house, so the whole barn floor is slippery and we have puddles in the barn. Water also came through the wall into my living room while I slept yesterday morning. I kept waking up to the thunder, lightening and pouring rain, that gave me a good excuse to just keep right on sleeping.

As soon as my Husband left for work, there was a painfully loud clap of thunder that was followed by a pop that shook the house. The electricity went out, then came back on, so I rolled over and slept some more.

When it quit raining, I got up and found my wet floors and of course no phone service. This sounded a little different to me when I held the phone to my ear, it was just dead. Usually when someone steals our phone lines or service is just out, I can hear dead air but this was just dead with no sound at all. I had the feeling that it had something to do with that lightening strike.

When my DH came home for lunch with the cell phone, I called neighbors on both sides of us and they both had service. So I whined around until I got my DH to wade through the mud to break into the phone box on the outside of the barn/house and hook a phone up out there to see if the problem was inside the house. Sure enough we had service out there, so I came into the house and started the process of elimination.

I found out that my high priced phone line surge protector had done it's job and gave it's life to save my phones and computer. So I rerouted a few lines around the surge protector and was back in business. However, my computer and phones are now at risk if we should get another storm. I will purchase another one because this proves that they actually work.

Ramble

I don't have anything in particular that I am going to blog about this morning, so I will just ramble. This morning was just beautiful, I was away from home most of the day yesterday, which is unusual for me but it always makes me enjoy home more after being away. Today is warm after a very cold night last night, I had to cover my rosebush to protect it from the frost of last night. Here it is, the end of April and I have to cover a rosebush, that is Indiana weather for you.

Speaking of Indiana weather, on Monday evening while we were feeding, it started to sleet. Then the sleet changed to snow mixed with rain, but the sun was shining and I took this picture of the rainbow that presented itself.

Now while cold temps, sleet, snow, rain, sunshine and a rainbow all at the same time at the end of April is not all that unusual for Indiana, that Unidentified Flying Object in the picture is. The important question here is, what exactly is that in the right hand corner? This is definitely a UFO, if I ever saw one. I don't know what it is, I even digitally enhanced it for your viewing pleasure.

Not to fear though as warm weather has returned to Indiana and my Son can now go camping and enjoy his short vacation. I told him that he was the one to blame for last summer's drought because he didn't do any camping. All he has to do is mention the word camp and the sky will darken and rain will start pouring. This Spring was just a little different for him, he took off work and the temperature immediately dropped to almost freezing for two nights.

Now back to this morning, as I said, it was just lovely. The birds were singing and the temperatures have returned to a more Springlike feel. When I went out to take care of my menagerie, I just needed a sweatshirt and the rooster was standing on one of the gates crowing, a perfect picture that took me back to my childhood.

Did I ever mention on here how weird it is to have a dozen or so chickens following your ever step? Their feet make this strange clicking sound as they trot to keep up with you. I try to feed them as quickly as possible to avoid their wrath.

While I was typing this I heard the Chickens start yelling and throwing a fit. I ran outside and there was another fox in the stud pen. He just looked at me and I had to stomp my foot and holler at him to make him run. He ran into the mare and foal lot where one of the mares chased him into the woods. He stopped on the other side of the fence and looked at me, so I ran in the house and got my rifle but he was gone when I got back. Unfortunately he will be back, I will have to start regular patrols again.

More Rain

I said it before and I'll say it again, the good news is that the drought it over! It rained here all night again and we are having the worst flooding that this area has seen in years. I feel for the people whose houses and businesses are under water or are watching the river and creeks rise and will soon be under water. Though we do have flooding on our property it doesn't come close to our buildings. I can deal with some rain water in the barn and a little on my living room floor because of poor drainage.

This is quite a contrast to the dry weather that we had last year, I think something somewhere must have gotten stopped up last Summer and Fall and is just now breaking loose.

I did get some sleep last night, I got up a couple of times to check my girls then had a hard time getting back to sleep because I was worrying about all of the water that was pouring in but there was nothing that I could do about it but worry, so, I finally went back to sleep.

Good News!

The good news is that warm days are ahead, I have seen the weather forecast and it is looking very good. Sure we will have rain but rain brings grass and grass is very important to us who lived through last year's drought with livestock.

Our horses have already started leaving the hay feeders, which means that they will start losing weight and pushing on the fences but that always happens in the Spring.

When we unwrapped Morning's leg last night, it was greatly improved over the pictures that I posted yesterday that were taken two days ago. It didn't bleed when we took the dressing off, that was a first, because it has always bled before. She didn't act any better as far as manners go but we didn't expect her too. We haven't seen her knuckle over on it for a couple of days either, so that extensor tendon is healing.

Mud

My husband and I sorta made a commitment not to ever complain about mud again after the terrible drought that we had last Summer and Fall. It is like a New Year's Resolution or a diet, it is one thing to say it but quite another to abide by it.

I really got stuck in the mud tonight with one foot and I didn't know what I was going to do, my back is so bad that I just could not pull myself free and my husband was in the house. I finally wiggled it back and forth until it lost it's suction and I pulled it free.

My dear husband got stuck in the mud as well but he managed to fall also. When he came back to the house, he handed me that handy, not so dandy anymore, Black and Decker rechargeable spotlight that was totally covered in mud to clean up.

I have to give him credit, even though it is taking him so much longer to feed on this treacherous ground, he isn't complaining. There is more rain on the way for the next several days. Our prayers have been answered and the drought is over. Thank you, Lord!

Rhode Island Reds

I did get my Rhodies taken to the goat/chicken shed. I carried them one at a time through the driving rain and waded through the knee deep mud. I am not complaining after the drought that we had this summer, I am still not tired of mud. I am elated that our drought is finally over.

Getting the Rhodies into the large cage that I have in the shed was a trick, I had six goats and a dog trying to help me. I came back covered in mud and manure. I will try to get my Rocks taken out there tomorrow.

The three Rhodies seem to be aggressive and loud, that is why I went ahead and took them to the shed, they were fighting and making a lot of noise.

My Barred Rocks are very quiet and don't seem to be fighting at all, you hardly know that they are here. I hope that they are all good layers and I will have some eggs to sell.

Horse Slaughter

Horses surrendered by ranch owners

After reading the article above and talking to a friend on a message board, I got to thinking about this situation that we find ourselves in. My friend told me that it is getting hard to sell big dog breeds because of the cost of dog food, it is getting ridiculously high. Yet, the value of horses in this country continues to drop, due to the closing of slaughter houses, drought and rising grain and hay prices. Anyone can afford a horse now but few can afford to feed and care for that horse.

We have been offered some of the free horses out there, the ones that no one wants, these usually include the old, the impaired, or the young untrained horse. We have to face the facts that there are some horses that are unwanted, just like there are unwanted dogs or cats. However, you never see an unwanted cow or pig, I wonder why?

In the article that I posted above, the comment was made that they were taking these horses out of one rescue with no resources and putting them back into another rescue with no resources. Horse rescues are overwhelmed with a glut of horses and have no money to feed these animals. They are becoming like the animal shelters, who routinely euthanize or send their animals away to be euthanized. Our local shelter became a kill-free shelter for awhile, they quickly became overrun and full of disease.

I know this is an emotional issue but the cycle of life is just the cycle of life. Why do humans think that they are so smart that they can change the normal pattern of nature. All animals have a survival instinct, I believe God put it there so that they wouldn't quickly become extinct. But how do we know that animals really fear death? They may be like me and fear injury but death should just be another part of life. All animals go to heaven anyway, right? How do we know that they don't welcome death when it comes?

I don't think that anyone should have a voice in this debate that doesn't own horses, period. People tend to live in a dreamworld where all horses are majestic, beautiful animals that are the picture of health, running through open pastures and that just isn't reality.

We do run our horses on open pasture and they are fed very well, even our unwanted and useless horses are given the same treatment as our valued horses. But many people have horses that are stuck in small stalls most of the time and don't know how to properly feed them. All horses aren't healthy, many have arthritis or other crippling diseases. Some are just old and very skinny, we have had good horses here that once they reach a certain age and their teeth get bad, we just cannot keep weight on them even though they are eating twice or three times the amount that the other horses are eating. They are the ones that stay close to the road where people passing by can see them.

Another thing that is funny to me and I am as guilty of this as anyone else, but we think that a horse is not healthy unless it is rolling fat, but to be a healthy person we must be bone thin.

I just read another article about a man shooting his two horses and burning their carcasses, it made national news. They were trying to decide if he could be charged with anything. This was in Illinois where the last U.S horse packing company was closed down. What was he suppose to do? I don't know his situation but there are some people who don't have very many options.

You can't take your unwanted horses to a sale barn because they won't get a bid and you will have to pay a fee and take them back home (some are just leaving them at the auction barns). You can't afford to keep them anymore for the rest of there days, because you still have to feed your family. Rescues are turning them away or you just don't trust the rescues to take proper care of them. You are expected to euthanize your old or impaired horses but then what do you do with them? Rendering companies will no longer pick them up without a large fee, so unless you have a backhoe or are good with a shovel, I think burning is a reasonable alternative.

Feeding wildlife is another idea, it is the circle of life. We lost a wonderful old mare a couple of years ago, she just dropped dead going up a steep, rocky, wooded hillside. There was no way for us to get to her with a tractor and there was no way to dig a hole. So we had no options other than leaving her where she fell. It was amazing how fast she disappeared, even her bones and hooves were utilized. However, if she had been euthanized by injection this would not have been an option, they have to be burnt or buried very deeply. Many people live in states where they are not allowed to bury, burn or leave them lay.

Our Vet recently faced this dilemma, the rendering company that had always picked up the animals that he had euthanized at his office, would no longer pick them up. We haven't seen him for awhile, so I don't know what he has done about this.

I do love horses, I also love other animals, but I eat beef, pork, chicken and fish. The last time I checked these were animals with a survival instinct also. Whether you believe it or not the meat that you eat didn't just come from a grocery store, it was once a living creature.

Dogs, cats, tigers, lions, bears, humans, and other members of the animal kingdom have to eat, so why is this resource being wasted and this burden being placed on horse owners and rescues?

I am totally against horses being transported into Mexico or Canada to be processed. I think that processing plants should be regulated in this country but not just the horse processors, the standard should be the same for all animals.

Sometimes it is all in the terms we use, we don't mind eating beef that has been processed at a packing plant but we would never eat horse meat from a slaughter house. It is alright to euthanize an old horse with a needle but we mustn't kill them with a gun. I have heard and I don't know if it is true, that some Veterinarian's in other countries carry guns to euthanize with because they feel that the injection is cruel.

One more thing that I firmly believe, the Humane Society as a whole, I am not talking about our local shelter, is a money making organization that takes advantage of and uses big hearted people.

More articles:
Death Across the Border Awaits Horses Spared It in the U.S. - New York Times
Drought is a hard time for horses - Los Angeles Times

2007 Slipping Away

2007 wasn't that bad mind you, but I think that I am ready to see it go on down the road. We had a terrible drought this past summer, the worst that I have ever seen in my 50 years. Our pastures turned to dust and no one had any hay to sell, they all put it in their own barns in order to charge outrageous prices to desperate animal owners this winter.

We did end up trading horses for hay, so we are going to make it through. Others weren't so lucky and will be in real trouble before spring. We are feeding a lot of grain this winter, which is something that we usually don't do. The idea is to feed grain, so they won't eat as much hay but it isn't working very well, they are all just getting fat. We are going to have to find a way to limit their time with the hay bales.

After experiencing this dry summer, I did say that I would never complain about rain again, so far I am doing quite well. It has been a very wet late fall and early winter. I have just about had to quit feeding all together because of the mud. My husband is doing all of my chores to prevent me from further injuring my already injured back. I hate not being able to get out but I am not complaining about the rain or the mud, I will just say that I really like cold weather and frozen ground.