Typical Morning Eldercare Chores

I don't know that there is such a thing as "normal" or "average" at an equine Sanctuary, but this outlines many of the common summer morning chores.

First, of course, is breakfast.  Between 6:00 and 6:15, feed is measured into individual feed tubs according to each Elder's individual needs.  Warm water is added to the feed which is allowed to soak to make a thick "mush."  Breakfast is served at 7:00, with each horse eating in a separate stall, paddock or shed.  Once breakfast is finished and the horses turned out, we:

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Wash dishes

Since the horses eat "mush" feed tubs get nasty fast and, in warm weather, start to smell bad if not rinsed after meals.

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Rinse Beau's place mat (a car floor mat he eats on to prevent him from eating dirt when he drops food, then picks it up -- if not rinsed after each meal, the mat is a huge fly party.)

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Remove manure and wet sawdust from stalls and sheds.

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Rebed stalls and sheds with clean sawdust

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Fly Spray

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Dampen shed floors to knock down dust

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Shower Clara (because, otherwise, she won't go away)

(which of course rinses off aforementioned fly spray and as a bonus attracts a horse fly.)


Clara's shower then leads to this -

and 

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Okay - back to work.
Next...
Pick up manure in small paddocks and dry lots (the rest of the fields will be cleaned up this evening when the temperature starts to come down.)

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Dump collected manure and dirty bedding in manure spreader

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Finally, clean and refill water tanks and buckets

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Meanwhile, the residents are all doing this:

 Mona

 Lizzie

 Beau

As it should be.
They served us, now we serve them.

Senior Spa Day!

Thank you to all the members of the University of Mary Washington Pre-Vet Club who spent the day grooming geezers. Other than a slight wind, the weather was perfect.  Most of the horses loved the attention, though a couple  of grumps would have been perfectly happy keeping their hard earned dirt.

Perhaps most importantly, our new resident, Sherman, was partially bathed to remove evidence of a light digestive upset from his hind legs.  The New Guy seemed completely relaxed during this procedure, a far cry from a few other residents who declare they've never seen anything resembling a water hose or sponge in all their 30+ years.

Here's Sonny, age 38, following his spa session:

And Rienzi, who is in his mid 30's:

Lizzie's (24) new coif:

Fitz, 26, absolutely ate up the extra attention, looking like he might take a nap during his grooming session:

Miss Mona, 30+, from neglect to diva in just 3 months:

Jubal, 29, also made some new friends:

And our last photo for this post............NATE!  (who was one of the grumps, but did a little of his signature "scampering" afterward, so the experience must not have been as tortorous as he let on in the beginning.)

Thank you, all!  Please come back any time.  We'd love to see you again.

Welcome, Sherman!

Here he is!  Our  new resident, Sherman (29,) is quite thin, but happily not as underweight as either Mona or Liz upon arrival.  It also appears, judging by the thick curly coat, that TREES may be adding another member to the Cushings Club.

Sherman, shortly after a small (too small in his  estimation) meal of Triple Crown Senior.

For now, Sherman seems a little disturbed by the camera, but we were able to catch him peeping over the door at us.

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Thank you, Janie for helping bring this together, Amanda for filling in some details, Karol for the extra careful ride, Lori for offering Reiki when Sherman arrived, George, Heather, Catie and Jeanelle for helping to prepare Sherman's apartment, and everyone else following Sherm's arrival. 

Our new man was a little tired after his short trailer ride, so we're trying to give him some privacy for the evening.  We'll try to get more photos and post more information in the next several days.

You've Come a Long Way, Baby!

No commentary needed.

Lizzie, May 7, 2009 - Age 24

Lizzie, October 3, 2009

Thank You’s and other Tidbits

We have a lot of short updates and want to thank a lot of people today, so we’ll try to do it all in one post and hope we don’t leave anyone out.

We’d like to remind local Reiki practitioners that the first Shelter Animal Reiki Association orientation for the TREES program will be this weekend, Saturday, June 20, 10AM – noon. To participate, or for more information, please contact Janet Dobbs

The next Reiki workshop will be Reiki I, for both humans and animals, July 11-12. Saturday will be in McLean, VA, Sunday at Traveller’s Rest in Spotsylvania. For more information.

Our first resident update concerns Jubal. He’s back out with his “herd” (Fitz, Emma and Josh) and seems to be doing just fine. The wound on his fetlock is almost completely healed and almost all of the puffiness gone. Whew!

Lizzie is still gaining weight and doing well. She has settled in to the group including Sonny, Rienzi, Val, Marye and Wade. We’ve discovered she prefers to be called just Liz (not to be confused with “Just Jack” for Will and Grace fans.) Call “LIZ!” and she comes at a trot, but call “LIZZIE,” and she barely acknowledges your presence.

Josh is moving up in the pecking order in his field. Yesterday we noted that Fitz, who towers over Josh and outweighs him by several hundred pounds, was waiting in line behind Josh for a turn at the water tank. (The two boys and Emma all go for a drink immediately after eating a meal.)

Marye is still doing well and has not needed another Aeromask treatment yet this spring. Fingers crossed!

Now, the thank you’s!

First, thank you to Rennie, Gene, Carol, Michaele and Jim for coming to the sanctuary last weekend to help dry the place out after our freakish rainfall. It’s rained a few more times since, but nothing like the approximately 9 inches we got in about 24 hours that week.)

Thank you, too, to Gene and Carol for dropping off a new Wet Vac in case the weird wet weather continues.

Thank you to our neighbor, Patty, for arriving with a smorgasbord of seeds and grains about ten minutes after learning of Elmer’s arrival.

Thank you to COTH’s “Oldenburg Mom” for the gift of ~ 900 pounds of luscious smelling hay and to Samantha for coming along to help unload. Thank you, COTH’s “Nootka” for posting TREES’ contact information, making this donation possible.

Thank you, “Janet’s Dad” for a roll of quilt batting to use as leg wraps.

Thank you to Janet Dobbs’ students all, both Reiki and Animal Communication, who participate in workshops at TREES. It’s always fun to watch people’s faces as they come to understand that all things in nature are connected.

Thank you to everyone who sent prayers and support when Forrest arrived then departed in too short a time. Special thanks to Dr. Amanda Blanton who spent a good portion of her holiday weekend here. Thank you, again, to Gene and Carol for taking over the farm chores so we could focus on Forrest. Thank you Sam for transporting this determined old gentleman. Thank you, Janet, for being with Forrest as he crossed, and to Nelson, for bringing your backhoe out on Memorial Day, then returning a few days later with a donation. It seems Forrest touched a lot of hearts in the few days he was here.

We are continually (and gratefully) overwhelmed by the people who want to help offer retirement/hospice care to special needs elder equine. The horses, though, always feel there should be more visitors (more admirers.) If you’d like to visit and meet our special residents, please email us at info@equineelders.org or call 540-972-0936 (but remember that we’re somewhat telephonically challenged until Verizon comes June 24.)

Some Good News!

No commentary needed.........

Lizzie, May 7, 2009

Lizzie, June 1, 2009

Lizzie + two weeks

May 7, 2009

May 14, 2009

May 20, 2009

'Nother update - Chamberlain (aka "Josh")

Lizzie stole the spotlight for the last week and a half, but we didn't want to neglect updates on our other recent arrival, Josh.

Here is Josh on April 11, still wearing very impressive winter woolies.

And here is Josh now!

Josh fit right in with Emma, Jubal and Fitz, even though the Three Bay Amigos had initial misgivings about his addition to the band. After all, its been a long time since a not-bay horse has lived in this field.Josh, however, is one of those guys that is just plain nice......no one can ignore him for long. (Josh is on the left, Jubal on the right.)

Just one week........

What a difference a week makes.

A little update on lizzie, who arrived a week ago yesterday.

Lizzie - May 7, 2009

Lizzie - May 14, 2009

TREES' philosophy on feeding undernourished horses is the KISS philosophy......."Keep It Simple, Sweetheart." We don't like to introduce too many new things to a gut that has been inactive for some time so, unless something special is recommended by our veterinarian, thin horses are offered only soaked senior feed and hay. Lizzie is currently eating four meals a day, each 1-1/2 pounds of Triple Crown Senior, soaked to make a "mash." As she continues her recovery, amounts may be increased, based on rate of weight gain.

New Arrival - Meet Lizzie!

Lizzie arrived the evening of May 6, 2009. We don't know much about her yet, but we can say there is not a thing wrong with her appetite! We'll start out feeding Lizzie small, frequent meals and limiting her turnout to avoid "refeeding syndrome"

Even a small donation will help TREES provide Lizzie and other horses like her the senior diet, and the dental, farrier, and veterinary care necessary to restore good health and offer happy, healthy Golden Years. If you would like to meet Lizzie and her herdmates at TREES, please give us a call at 540-972-0936, or email info@equineelders.org