After two years and lots of patience one of our little foster mares, Spice, has been adopted along with another one of her acquaintances from Spirit Horse Equine Rescue, Copper. She arrived frightened of everything (including people), a scrawny youngster and left as a beautiful, outgoing, confident mare. I was so proud of her when she got right into the horse trailer to leave. We will really miss her but she has a great opportunity to help others as she is being adopted by someone who does Life Coaching and Equine Assisted Coaching. Her “sister” Sugar is still here and actually is doing just fine without her. Hopefully she’ll come out of her shell more as time goes on but she has always been more cautious/wary than Spice so she may end up being a “permanent foster” here.

Never a dull moment out here. Friday evening I was planning to have a quiet, relaxing evening as Kent was gone with the band that night. Before I sat down I wanted to burn off the weeds that had grown in our fire pit so I could dig the ashes out of there. I had a large cardboard box that I set on top of the weeds and lit it on fire. Everything was burning nicely when I heard screams coming from the fire pit and saw a baby bunny’s head coming up through some of the charred area. I had to get him/her out of there so reached in and pulled him to safety but still heard crying. I ended up pulling 3 more baby rabbits out of the ash and fire. I felt terrible that I had destroyed their nest but had no idea they were in there. Fortunately their mother had dug fairly deeply or they certainly would have died. They had a couple of singed patches of fur but seemed okay otherwise but what to do with them. Beauty and Gadget the barn cats were already alerted by the crying and stalking around the area where I had laid the bunnies down. I knew they were too little to just let loose outside and I knew not to handle them too much.

I gathered them up and took them in the house, put them in a box with a heating pad and hit the internet to look for help. I knew they needed someone with experience to take care of them. Fortunately I found a link to an emergency vet clinic that said they helped with wildlife rehab. They in turn gave me the number of the Four Lakes Wildlife Rehab Center which was open until 9 p.m. I rushed the baby bunnies in to town and got them to the center before it closed. They applied ointment to their burns but felt the bunnies would be okay. Their eyes were open and they were jumping around when touched. Hopefully the little guys will do fine and end up released back into the wild. Next time I burn anything I’m going to do a thorough check for nests under the weeds or brush!

Our paint mare, Cookie, was due to foal in late April/early May. We had originally planned the breeding 2 years ago and last year she was bred to a handsome Quarter Horse stallion, Obviously Wincredible. We were so excited when the first and then later a second ultrasound showed she was indeed expecting and thoughts of our pending new arrival are what helped us get through the long winter and Kent’s recovery from his heart attack.

As the first possible due date arrived we started checking on Cookie late at night, in the middle of the night, early in the a.m., had friends stopping by, etc. We could feel and then see the foal moving. He would get hiccoughs which shook Cookie’s whole body and made me laugh. We were so eager to finally meet him. Foal watch continued for two weeks. Early the morning of May 3rd we went down to the barn, opened the door to Cookie’s stall and there he was, a big perfect stud colt, no movement, no breathing, still damp and warm. I tried to get him breathing but no luck. Cookie was nudging him and would even touch him with her foot gently as if to wake him up. We were stunned to say the least. This just wasn’t happening after all our waiting. We called the vet who came out and said the foal may have been in the birth canal too long (because he was so big) and the cord compressed too long depriving him of oxygen. At least Cookie was basically fine except for a few small tears from the delivery. We and Cookie were heartbroken. The vet kindly suggested we move the foal outside where Cookie would be spending the day so she could grieve for him. Cookie would not leave his side and occasionally would nudge him. We were in tears.

I called a couple of people who had been helping us watch over Cookie during the day while we were at work. Shortly after that one of them got a call from a neighbor whose mare was rejecting (and trying to harm) her 4 day old foal. She had to be caught and tied up in order to let him nurse even for a short time but now she wouldn’t let them catch her. That friend suggested they call us. When I got a call asking if we would consider letting our mare foster a rejected foal I was still numb from our loss but how could I say no? So they brought the foal over.

Somehow I managed to think through how to introduce this foal to Cookie so she would accept it. I had my husband and one of the other foal’s owners carry Cookie’s dead foal out the barnyard gate and out of her sight. Once he was out there they rubbed towels on him then rubbed them on the live foal. After that they brought the live foal back through that same gate. I was holding on to Cookie. She must have heard or smelled the foal coming as she picked up her head and started whinnying as they came around the corner. I wish I could know her exact thoughts at the moment. I wonder if she thought they had revived her foal yet I think when she smelled him she knew he wasn’t hers but made the choice to accept him. He was the same color and sex as her deceased foal but even at 4 days of age he was smaller. I held onto her while he tried to nurse. He was a bit afraid of her since his own mom had bit him and picked him up by his back and flung him against a wall but once he tasted her milk he became more confident. I rubbed his back then rubbed his scent on Cookie’s nose. After that as far as she was concerned he was her foal. When she accepted him and let him nurse we all had tears streaming down our faces. This was going to be a healing thing for us and Cookie.

After a few days (and a few suggestions from my Facebook friends) the foal was named “Foster”. He is growing and thriving. His owners come over daily to visit and we are starting to halter him and teach him to lead by walking him behind Cookie. That is a 3 person job right now but getting better! He already has 4 teeth with 3 more (including a molar) coming in so he is already nibbling small amounts of grass, hay and grain.
I still have periods of tears when I spend time with him and Cookie but I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason and have to accept that this was meant to be. I am glad I have a foal to watch grow and to be around even if it is for just a few months. Something good has come out of a very sad event.

I know I haven’t updated about our little foster horses in quite some time. The last couple of months progress had seemed to be slower with the two foster mares but now, in looking back, having to put them in a stall most nights since December has further helped socialize them. They have gotten used to a routine and gotten to watch the other horses and mini donkeys being handled by us. They have gotten used to all sorts of different noises and activities while inside and we’ve been able to go in the stall with them and touch/brush them more.

Two weekends ago it was a bit warmer out and my husband and I each took one of the fosters to work with. He took Sugar, the least confident of the two, into the stall and just hung out with her. He had a halter and lead rope with him and played with having her touch it and giving her treats when she did.

I took Spice, the bolder of the two, who I have been able to halter now, into another stall. I worked on teaching Spice to be tied and it went really well. She basically showed no resistance to being tied, even stepped on the rope and did not freak out. I was able to brush her and touch her all over her body and legs and even pick up her front feet and for the first time actually clean out those hooves. Then I led her out of the barn and walked around with her. Because she was doing so well I asked Kent to try walking her as he hasn’t handled her much and to my surprise she did great.

The next weekend I played with her a bit more and decided to start doing more of the Parelli 7 games with her. A good description of what these games are can be found here. Well little Spice has made huge strides in the past 2 weeks. She now moves sideways with slight pressure, has learned the “yo yo game” where you ask the horse to back away from you then come back to you and the “circle game”. She even trotted on the circling a bit and tonight we tried “the squeeze game” for the very first time — success! Tonight in the pasture she walked up to me and let me put the halter on her then lead her around the pasture even with the other horses present.

The “polite and passive persistence practiced in the proper position” (a Pat Parelli quote) has really paid off with this little horse. Yes, we could have lasso’d her, tied her to a post and forced her to accept our attention but doing it a more natural way has built her confidence and eased her fears. She is doing well enough that an adopter could take her and move on from here with her nicely. Sugar will take a bit more time but she does seek attention, allows some touching/brushing and nicely takes treats so eventually she will come around.

Wishing all my readers a very Merry Christmas! My daughter and I are enjoying a warm Christmas with family in Florida while my poor husband holds down the fort in WI coping with snow, freezing rain, ice and now rain on the farm since we left. We really appreciate the opportunity to be with my family and are fortunate he is doing well enough to take care of things on the home front so we could come here.

Our part of Wisconsin got totally shut down by a huge blizzard that started 12/8 and went through yesterday. All schools and the university were closed, all government offices were closed, the clinic I work at was closed. We were totally stranded due to huge drifts in our driveway until someone could come last night to plow us out.

My a.m. started when I tried to turn the dogs out about 7 a.m. and could not open either of our doors to the outside due to huge drifts (which you will see in the photos). We finally had to take out a pane of glass on the storm door so I could climb through it to the other side, shovel out around the door and let the dogs out. The snow is extremely heavy and wet so I could only get it shoveled out enough to open the door wide enough for us to squeeze through. My husband, Kent, can do NO shoveling as unfortunately Kent had a heart attack last Friday so we aren’t going to be shovelled out for quite some time I’m afraid.

To get to the barn I had to walk on the edge of the fence due to hip deep drifts and since no gates would open had to climb over the fence. Walking through the hip deep drifts was too strenuous for Kent right now so he managed to get into the hay mow (which is level by our driveway) then I lowered the stairs so he could climb down into the barn. We had to kick snow out of the way to slide open one side of the barn door.

Here are some photos from the farm showing the amount of snow we are dealing with.

Now the sky is a magnificent shade of blue today and the winds have started dying down but it is only zero out with wind chills in the minus 20s so winter has hit us hard in a very short period of time.

We are suddenly making faster progress in “taming” the foster mini/pony mares. Yesterday I was again able to groom Spice in the barn then put a halter on her and lead her around the barnyard. I also did some of the Parelli games with her — “friendly game” and “porcupine” went very well.
Today she came back into the barn and Sugar followed her into the stall where we keep some hay. I thought if I could close them in together and groom Spice in front of her then Sugar might be more accepting of some grooming. That was working until suddenly Spice decided Sugar was taking attention or hay away from her and started kicking out at Sugar with me in the stall. Note to self: do not close self in stall with 2 insecure horses in future. Fortunately I did not get hurt and Sugar wasn’t really injured either except for a little loss of hair and one small bump.
After that I just kept Sugar in the stall and brushed Spice out in the aisle. When I was done with her I returned to the stall with Sugar and actually was able to brush her a bit then started working on her tail as she seemed more accepting of that since it kept me far from her head. I got her tail totally cleared of burrs and most of her mane combed out, too. She wouldn’t let me touch her mane up closer to her ears but she would let me spray the detangler on her so hopefully I can work on it again soon. She isn’t ready to try a halter on yet since she is so head shy. See how pretty she is all cleaned up? Now I know why I liked playing with the “My Little Pony” dolls with my little sister — I was preparing for these guys!!!

The girls are sadly starting to grow their winter coats. They also have managed to get into a few burrs which is problematic when they won’t get you brush them. I worked with Spice today on that and was actually able to brush her face, neck and back with a brush and get a few burrs out of her mane. That is huge considering she’s never felt a brush before. She also let me pick up one foot briefly and I was able to lead her a few steps using the savvy string around her neck.

Sugar comes right up for attention but as soon as you reach for her and hold another object near her she retreats. I just give her a treat and pet her face briefly so at least she allows that bit of human contact. I’ll just keep working with her and hoping that soon we’ll have that breakthrough with her, too.

After last winter I didn’t think it could get any worse. In fact I told people when the first snow fall hit here in Nov. that I was suffering from PTD from last year still. 100 plus inches of snow last year is being topped this year as we already have over 50 (season average is 49) and more coming tonight and next week.  Even more challenging is the extreme cold we are having this week.  It was minus 21 degree last night and at 11 a.m. it is still only minus 8 degrees.

Having dogs in this weather is enough of a challenge (don’t worry, they all live in the house and several have coats they wear when they go outside) — they barely want to go outside to pee so are definitely not getting the exercise they are used to.  They walk a bit then hold their feet up pitifully.  The pugs all huddle against the door a minute after they’ve gone out.  Then add in the horses and donkeys and we can’t escape being outside in these sub zero temperatures.

Yesterday the high didn’t get out of the minus digits.  All the area schools were closed yesterday due to wind chill warnings of up to 40 below zero and they are closed again today although winds are pretty calm.   Kent bought he and I face masks at the UW Bookstore yesterday (his office is right above it) which I can see will be helpful as I just used mine for the first time while I did barn chores.

The horses and mini donkeys are used to going out every day, rain or shine.  They have 3 sided shelters for when they are out but with these extreme temperatures and wind chills they could easily suffer frost bite, especially those donkey ears.  I have seen donkeys who have had their ears frostbitten and lost part of them so it won’t be happening to mine.  So they are getting a bit stir crazy as this is day 4 of these temps.  Yesterday I turned the horses out briefly when the temp almost made zero and it was at least sunny out.  They went crazy running, rearing, bucking and actually didn’t want to come in so I left them out for 2 hours.  This a.m. they made it out for about 10 min. while I cleaned their stalls, took a couple of laps and were ready to come back in.  The donkeys are divas and if you turn them out they usually stand by the barn door and bray to come in when it is like this outside so they pretty much have been captive in the barn since Monday and it’s Friday now.

We also have 2 barn cats, Gadget and Beauty, who I have been watching carefully for any signs of being chilled.  All the barn animals have heated buckets/bowls for water and we keep a lot of food out at all times when it is like this as digestion produces body heat.  Gadget and Beauty have blankets to lay on and often are laying in the barn window in the sun.  They have the most gorgeous, plush coats right now so they seem just fine although we have a contingency plan of bringing them into our basement should they seem to be suffering from the cold at all.

Obviously we’ve been busy since I haven’t found time to post! (see our news and brags page for some of what we’ve been up to) The WI weather has not been optimal this spring/summer. We have been inundated by rain and there are still roads closed due to flooding/bridges out, etc. — great reason for owning a GPS as sometimes you come upon barricades and have no idea which way to go to get where you are going!

We had a lot of tree damage here and a bit of water in the basement on the worst day which had 6 storms one right after another and two funnel clouds out by our place. Thanks to some wonderful friends we finally got all the downed branches cleaned up, chopped up and off the lawn and fences. Kent almost has the fences mended as well. As we say, “never a dull moment” out here.

Til next time…….