December 18, 2024
I write this knowing that the Postal Workers are back to work. Of course a strike disrupts the flow of our lives. Especially with the distribution of the Courier. It is a shame, management could have prevented all of this, 2 years without addressing the problems is unacceptable. I listened to a radio conversation, telling us that the Postal Service was not needed in our digital world. This strike proved that theory wrong, so many small business’s struggling, which should have been a most profitable time. Small Businesses need that small profit to keep going. Sorry I live in rural Canada and depend up their service. I put this on management’s shoulders. Their CEO did not suffer financially; we can be sure of that.
Well now that I got that off my mind. I can get back to herd business. For a couple of months, the herd has been back at the barn paddock. That means they come in every day for their feed of supplements and assessments. There seems to always be a little something to tend to. Morning has filling in her right front leg. It appears to be a ligament. Morning shows no sign of lameness, but speaking from experience strained ligaments are no fun and in my case very painful. I am still lame. We have been rubbing her leg with liniment, and putting the odd sweat to it for the last 4 months. The cold weather seems to help and it is a bit tighter (smaller swelling). She also has a lump under the belly, we are watching and rubbing it with witch-hazel to reduce it. Chairo has broken the hoof wall on her left hind foot. I think she damaged the foot by kicking the wall, taking offence that Cameo was in the next stall. It was a ladies thing I think. It is a lucky thing we have an empty stall to separate Chairo from the rest of the ladies. It is only time that will grow out a new wall. Meanwhile we are treating the exposed laminae, to prevent bacterial or fungal infection. I am always at odds to remember the ages of our herd members. They do not age much from the day they arrive. It was quite a shock when I checked Prince’s information that is posted by his stall. He is 19 years old, on January 1st he will be 20. Prince came to the Sanctuary when he was 5. He had a bad reputation when he arrived, he was pretty well toast to sell. To us, with a little bit of work and training, he became one of our precious members and a go to pony for many Trailblazers. So where did all that time go? Perhaps I grew old too, the memory is slipping.
Winter management needs a special touch. We try to keep feed supplies on hand. Thinking ahead of holiday time for supplier closures and the weather forecasts, we prepare and increase our inventory. Management, Trailblazers and volunteers keep an eye on the feed room and the freezer supply cupboards. The theory is to write the needs required on the white board by the feed room or post on our Barn Essentials Chat line. It works most the time. We are not perfect, luckily we are all too human. One of our biggest challenge, is to keep the beet pulp ready and handy to feed. Only a few of the herd get oats. The others get a dipper of wet beet pulp to mix with their supplements of Flax, Seaweed and Mineral. Some days in the kerfuffle of barn activities, beet pulp is forgotten and not prepared for the next days feeding. That is always a groan moment. Even with hot water it takes more than a few minutes to fluff up. I believe that processed food should always be wet. I hate for it to swell in their stomachs, and cause pain or an impaction in the intestine. Constipation is not comfortable for man or beast.
By tradition January 1st is the celebration of a new year and the birth year of all horses. I kind of include myself in that tradition too. Here’s hoping that publishing gets back on track with the strike over. Handibear Hills Sanctuary and the herd, thank you all for your support and encouragement with our endeavors to have a safe place for the horses, dogs and cats, as well as folks in need. All the very best in the New Year, it just takes a little kindness.
Love and hugs from Yogi and the herd.