April 4, 2025
I am late, I am late. My only excuse is a crazy week, crazy weather, and preparations for our Health Clinic tomorrow. I do have a routine, but every year the personnel changes. The to-do list is always a necessity when you are having visitors to the barn. Simple things like reminders to Trailblazers to get here early, it is nice to have the herd in and fed. And then groomed, this has been a wonderful mud spring, so it would be nice to have the herd tidy for hands on measuring, injection sites for vaccinations. Of course I am not totally happy unless people leave the barn covered in horse hair and smelling like horse. Thank heavens Lois tackled all the cobwebs last week.
Some days I am a little barn proud. It has been discouraging that I have not been able to tackle some of the chores myself. There are a few chores that haven’t been done on a regular basis, I see it. It has been that way for so long barn folk thinks it is normal. Thursday I sent out a call for help. The new door knob, all of two months, on the front entry door was not working, the door would not stay closed and the wind was blowing up a storm. I had to shovel snow from the door way to close the door. Then I wedged a couple of chisels in the door casing to hold the door tight for the night. Scott and Kourtney came this morning; Scott did a great job of cobbling. Although it is a steel door the centre is wood, and this old wood is tired and crumbly. A new door is on order. They don’t make doors like they used to, do they?? This door is only 30 years old. In the defence of the door, there has been a lot of wonderful traffic through that portal. Dogs, cats, horses as well as the wonderful people!!
The fly season is on my mind; I have been planning for that wonderful time. Morning has the worst sensitivity to flies. Her skin becomes a mass of welts. For the last 16 years I have had her on a steady diet of Garlic and Apple Cider tablets. Years ago I grew a lot of garlic and everyone got a clove a day. Then I discovered an easy way. I buy garlic capsules, and the whole herd, starting in March gets garlic on a daily basis, it seems to work for my crew. For Morning I used to make apple cider, apples were not a problem, I only have a couple hundred trees on the south pasture. Then I got feeble and my apple press became toast.
For the last twenty years I buy the Apple Cider tablets. I do not do anything special with the tablets, we just throw them into their bucket with the rest of their supplements. Another thing I do is hang fly stickers in each stall, they get changed on a monthly basis. That is a sticky job, but they work well in my barn. I use Apple Cider Vinegar for a spray repellant when the horses go down the trail. It won’t be long and the crew will be able to pick the Plantain leaves for the tea. A handful of leaves steeped in boiling water, then cooled, is a wonderful wash for fly and bug itches. We sponge the horses on the chest and belly and under the tail. They love it. And for ourselves, all you have to do is crush a leaf and apply it to the bite or sting. It is an immediate relief and it reduces any swelling that occurs.
Mosquitoes are another thing. I try and keep the water in the tubs moving to discourage larvae. Soon I am opening the Loft Door on the West end of the barn. I have barn swallows that come every year to nest in the loft, they do leave a bit of guano, but they love to eat mosquitoes, I welcome them. Nature is grand!!.
I put out a call for summer help, good candidates have applied. Now if they would let me know if the Sanctuary will get the grants. We would be good to go the 1st of May.
There is so much to do to get ready for the summer crowd. UPEI and Holland College are finished exams by that time. I wish the students well as they study and cram for the end of semester exams. I am sure nothing has changed, there sure was a lot of cramming done in my time at Uni. So different then, there were no semesters. You started all subjects the day after labour day and we were finished the last week of June. If you failed a subject, you failed the whole year. I hope students count their lucky stars with the semester system.
Soon we will be walking the ditches and cleaning the trash, I try to be kind, but not too kindly to the Island litterbugs. Take care. You can visit us on Facebook and we have a lovely website produced for us by Heather Ogg and TechnoMedia.
Handibear Hills Horse Sanctuary will get you there. Love and hugs from Yogi and the herd.