Happy New Year!

I am raising a glass of my new favorite wine to all my horse friends and you other bloggers out there!

New Bird Sighting

This bird visited our trees and feeders back on December 22 while I was shoveling a path to the compost bin.

Red-breasted Sapsucker Sphyrapicus ruber

 

 

Sunday Stills Challenge: What Brings You Luck

All pooped out from a long and festive Christmas Day.

In The News: Horses and the Economy

Hay cost, bad economy put squeeze on horses
High hay prices and the dour economy are being blamed for a growing number of horse owners who are giving up and abandoning or neglecting their animals in Idaho and other Western states.

I have lots I want to say on this subject. I will come back and add commentary later.

Merry Christmas!

May yours be merry and bright!

Wordless Wednesday

December 22, 2008

Sunday Stills Challenge: Food

Christmas shaped scones best enjoyed with blueberry jam from our own blueberries.

Scones courtesy of Paddock Boy and the Little Cowboy.

Bed Check

Click on the image to view the QuickTime video.

At the point that I started to open the barn door I had to stop recording as the snow drift had already prevented me from opening it completely. I had a shovel stashed outside so I could dig in/out of the barn! I had difficulty getting out, too, and I was only in the barn about 20 minutes tops! This is not normal Western Washington weather!

Here We Go!

The wind and snow have started! The horses and goats are all bedded into the barn. Drifts are starting to build on the western side of the buildings. The snow from earlier is blowing away and fresh new snow is coming down hard.

Dangerous Winter Storm to Hit Western Washington

Radar Map of Western Washington

Enumclaw area Wunderground Station

Update:

Click on the image to view the QuickTime video.

Heads or Tails?

Center of the Donut?

A few girlfriends and I have been e-mailing about the weather. We are spread out quite a bit and not everyone has the same amount of snow. I guess one of the local news stations equated it to a donut; lots of snow around the area and a center area with relatively nothing. We’re closer to the nothing than the 18+ inches in many parts of the Puget Sound area.

The goats have been thoroughly enjoying their straw bale condo. So much so that they have started to destroy it! Goats will be goats.

Buster loves the snow. What lab doesn’t?

And the horses like the fluffy stuff, too. Much better than mud or being cooped up in the stalls!

The poor shed looks so forlorn!

And the pumpkins on the back steps just make a person get the chills looking at them!

New Ventures

I am happy to be a part of a new venture. A few months ago one of my friends asked me to help her with a logo for the new web site she was getting ready to launch. Not long after that she approved the final design which is based on a photo of her and one of her dear horses. Here is the press release about the web site. Please visit the site and spread the word. Hopefully this will be yet more more way to prevent a good portion of horses from becoming dinner for a foreigner.

Almost every horseperson can tell you about “the one that got away” - a horse they used to own or ride that they have lost track of and still think about. Maybe circumstances have changed and they’d like to buy the horse back if it is available. Maybe they just want to find out if it’s in a good home. Or maybe they have a horse they love - but that horse’s past is a mystery and they’d like to get in touch with former owners and find out their horse’s story.

Too often, registration papers are lost or not transferred, or the horse never had any, and so there is no way to find information or locate the horse. Sadly, many of the horses that go to slaughter every day have someone somewhere who would have rescued them - but that person did not even know they were in danger.

HorseReunions.com was created to connect people and horses. Horse listings are absolutely free - just sign up, create your listings and upload pictures. The comments area allows you to tell your story. If you know about a horse who is in danger, use the search function to see if he has been listed. A broad search - for example just searching for chestnut Thoroughbred mares - is more likely to yield results than a highly specific search. You do not need the horse’s registered name to search. You can search for a bay gelding who cribs or a sorrel tobiano mare with one blue eye.

You do not have to have owned a horse to list him on HorseReunions.com. For example, you can list a racehorse that you would like to offer a retirement or “second career” home to when his racing days are finished. We do ask that you be serious and financially capable of following through with any home offers.

With rescues overflowing and many owners unable to continue caring for their horses due to the poor economy, we need a way for horses in need to find the people who already care about them and want to help. HorseReunions.com seeks to fill that need but it will only work if horsepeople take the time to list the horses they care about. While we will continue to maintain the Responsible Breeder’s List, we encourage breeders to list every horse individually on the main site if possible.

Please bear in mind that HorseReunions.com is merely a listing service. We have not checked out or approved any of our members as adoptive homes for horses, and we strongly recommend you do your own research and check references before placing a horse with anyone - even the horse’s own breeder.

Enjoy the site. You can ask any questions on the site’s forum at http://forums.horsereunions.com/ and also get advice on your search!

Horse Reunions
http://www.horsereunions.com
Welcome Home - A Listing of Responsible Horse Breeders!
http://www.horsereunions.com/welcome/list.html

I also have launched a new site of my own to promote my design and publishing skills. The economy and job market out there is tough right now and our family needs every little bit of income we can get. The banking collapse has affected our family significantly and I need to start bringing more in to help offset that. If you or someone you know needs help with a web site, newsletter, book or blog, or even just a little bit of banner advertising creation, please send them my way! I am taking on new clients.

How Cold Is It?

TOO COLD!

One Wunderground station near us recorded a low temp of 9.5°F last night! That’s just too cold!

The horses, goats and dog now all have heated water buckets in the barn. Already had a stock tank heater outside, but since the run-in shed is no more, the horses get brought in at night and if the wind is blowing. The goats have a new straw bale condo set up. And the barn cats huddle en masse either in the barn or out in the hay shed somewhere. I have seen them venturing out and about in the sun today since there is no wind. Also, I spotted a little mouse in the barn last night when we were installing the heated buckets. Barn kitties must not be doing their jobs very well! Mouse looked cold scurrying around on the rubber mats int he stall.