Monday, April 28, 2008

Are They Here Yet?









Every morning I head out to see if one of the rescue mares have had their baby yet. No, not today. Boy do those words seem to repeat themselves more everyday here. We just took in a new mare a few weeks ago, and yes she is pregnant, underweight and ready to pop. In the last 3 days I have watched Pepper's belly drop and her bags getting bigger.

Now, I have never been a person who drank coffee until I ended up with four pregnant mares . None which I have bred. See, that is something I do not allow here nor will they ever be allowed to be bred. We have 2 of the four babies on the ground having a wonderful life here. These last two are killing me. See, Pepper was fed Fescue hay during most of her pregnancy and we all know what that can spell out. Now, I hear it from people that a mare with fescue poison will not bag. Well, I am here to tell you that that is not true. I have seen two mares lose their babies to fescue poison and bagged up just fine. I have seen mares not wax up, so darn if they do and darn if they don't.

These babies are in my prayers every day. Please Lord let them be born healthy and be blessed with love and a true horse life. They are here for a reason and that question has yet to be answered. We will soon find out. I do believe that God does things for a reason and it is up to us to see his message. So far I have done pretty good. He never gives more than I can handle.

The day Pepper came here was filled with the worse weather. Major storms and tornado warnings. Black clouds, heavy rain, and tornado sirens going off around us.

Meg and I had set out to look at the 3 horses this lady needed to sell because she needed the money. As a rescue I told her that we do not buy horses. Well, if you know me you know that when my calling is heard I go, and so we did. The weather was doing real good at this time. We checked out the 2 young fillies I was going to buy were too skinny and were in a paddock with two other horses. Total of 4 horses in a paddock small enough for only one. I wasn't too worried about their weight cause if was fixable. The smell was very unpleasant to deal with so I stepped aside and looked at Pepper. My jaw hit the ground when I saw how skinny she was and being pregnant to boot. I was able to talk her into letting me buy her as well. I spent a total of $512.00 getting these horses, and this wasn't counting my fuel. I didn't need to spend that kind of money with the high prices of everything. I have never regretted getting Pepper.

I was still worried about the weather so we headed home to get the trailer and by the time we got home and in the house it started to pour, thunder and lighten.


A friend of ours wanted to go with us, so we waited. After he checked out the weather and saw how bad it was getting he backed out. Not me, Meg and I headed out . The crazy thing about the trip was the rain slowed down and the sky cleared except in a distance on each side. You could see how thick and dark the clouds were. My cell phone wouldn't stop ringing! I guess I really needed to hear how crazy I was, going to get Pepper. It wasn't raining bad and I was not about to leave that mare without any shelter and pregnant. She was only two weeks away from being due. I didn't waste any time getting her in the trailer, so we could get home in a hurry. The clouds were looking mighty rough and I didn't want to get caught up in it.

Our trip back home was just as clear as going to get Pepper. Those clouds were still all around us. We made it home safe; got pepper in the barn, and all hell broke loose. It rained so hard.

One thing I know is that God didn't want me to leave her behind, so I had to go get her. Things happen for a reason, he shows us the way and it is up to us to pay attention.

Pepper has made friends and is now getting ready to have her baby. Everyone,

Tonight, when you go to bed; I ask you to please add Pepper and her baby to your prayers. Sometimes I can't walk the path alone. The unknown is the hardest kind of worry and I have it.

I only have enough coffee for tonight, about one and a half pots. I hope it holds up till in the morning.

Thank you guys for taking the time to read this blog. It means so much to us and our horses.

I will not be adding Pepper's picture to this story. See, I do not want her to be remembered being seen skinny, with long hoofs with shoes still attached. I know pictures are worth a thousand words, but I respect the true beauty of each of our horses; Healthy and happy. This is why I call our rescue Harmony Meadows and it speaks for its self.

2 comments:

Marcea said...

I hope the horses & babies will be allright. I cant wait to see them after you nurse them back to health. You have my greatest respect for doing these rescues.

kneadstoknow said...

I so enjoyed looking through your blog. I added yours to my rescue blog roll.

Keep up the wonderful work that you folks are doing. It is so heart warming to find folks that care for horses so much, and who give generously to their welfare and safety.

Jo