How we Faired with Jonas

It's been year's since I've dealt with a Noreaster.  The snow is different out here, it's icy and there isn't much you can do to remove the stuff.  Powder from Colorado is easier to deal with.  I was curious to see how this storm would be.  

  The day before the storm was warm and sunny.  The horses didn't know what was coming but they were soaking up the warmth none the less

I was hoping we wouldn't be without power since we don't have a generator yet.  I filled a barrel with water and kept that in the garage as a precaution in case we were out of power and needed water.  The horse troughs were filled to the brim and the water heater working well.  If we lost power and water iced over my plan was to boil water on the grill outside and then break the ice and add the hot water to the troughs, not perfect but would work in a pinch.

At least I only had to use the grill for making filet mignons.  A little snow won't prevent a girl from Colorado from grilling.

 It will be nice to get a generator at some point to not have to worry about what to do out here in the country.

The ponies had their blankets, Chance's was a little too small (didn't cover his bum) and didn't have any insulation so I used the 100 weight liner of Dani's with his top sheet.  We'll have to get him a new blanket with some insulation but at least this worked well enough for this storm. 

 I was mostly worried about keeping them dry since we were to receive some freezing rain before the snow.

When the snow did come the horses seemed to have a good time in it and loved racing around the pasture.  The frozen mud that is located in the wormhole area was gated off.  I didn't like that there were deep pock-holes in the mud and that they were a potential leg breaking hazard.  I hope to get a temporary solution going this week to make that area more safe.  More to come on that.

The humans also had a bit of fun in the snow a couple days later!

Year End Review....2013

January

In January I took a lesson with Laurie when I was still getting used to riding Dani.  I felt much more confident after the lesson learning how to yield Dani's hindquarters under saddle.  The rest of the month I rode some but did the beginnings of Clinton Anderson type groundwork.  Dani showed a lot of attitude but eventually learned it didn't do her any good and she's become a pro now!

 February

My long time Ariat paddock boots died finally died so I was in the market to find a new pair.  I started looking at the boots and found that the Pinnacle tall boot was nearly the same price as regular paddock boots so I tried to determine my size.  Dani was working on realizing that the mounting block wasn't scary and I trained her to stand nicely at the block for mounting.

Dani met a couple of my friends, including their young son who absolutely loved her.  No pony rides though since I don't have a small child's helmet in my equipment storage.  Steve came to visit Dani a lot and enjoyed playing with her in the indoor arena....he still hasn't really ridden her yet though!

March

In march I finally go the right size Dublin Pinnacle boot and have enjoyed them so much!  Very comfortable boot with a casual look.

My friend Jessica came down to meet Dani and we borrowed a friends horse so we could walk around the arena together.  It was fun riding like when we were kids growing up.  Loved playing with Breyer horses as kids but it's fun to play with the full size model as adults! 

I took some fun St. Patrick's Day and some bunny ears pictures for a Julie Goodnight contest and one a DVD of my choice.  Dani was so tolerant and such a good girl!

April

I joined the Kit Carson Riding Club to meet some horsie people.  The group is awesome so I was excited about the future activities to get involved with.  I started looking for new places to board at and found one to move to at the end of the month.  I was mixed about leaving Whispering Winds since it was such a nice facility but I had reasons for moving...mainly the distance and secondly it was a little too busy of a barn for with lots of kids running around in the arena doing their jumps and making it hard for this still apprehensive riding trying to walk circles.  I started looking for hay as well....totally another major aspect of owning horses!

Our favorite appaloosa friend Rock died from several bouts of colic.  He was only 9 and had a lease rider that was so in love with him.  We were heart broken, Steve loved Rock and even though we weren't going to get a second horse anytime soon the connect Rock had with Steve was so cute!

May

I purchased 30 bales of nice Timothy and Steve and I got to use our truck for hauling purposes...weee!!  We moved to a ranch just down the road from KCRC.  Uschi and I didn't have luck with Dani getting in her trailer but a gal, K, from KCRC rescued us with her trailer and worked Dani hard outside the trailer.  At a later date I had a training session with K on loading Dani into the trailer so I have an idea what to work on once I finally have a trailer. 

After less than a week at the new facility I moved Dani to KCRC.  I'd been warned about many things regarding the owners of the ranch and decided it would be safest for all to move to the barn at KCRC.  At the time GG was still there with her horse who was for sale, so was K and David of course had his mare Ducky and an older mare there are well.  We settled in well and got all the supplies we needed for taking care of my girl.  She began eating like a mad horse so it was obvious she wasn't comfortable at the other place either!

Around the time of the move I found a great Circle Y saddle on craigslist and tried it out on Dani.  It fit well and was comfy for both Steve and I do ride.  I did take it to a tack store to get the stirrups adjusted and to add some more D rings and such that were missing on it.  It was a great deal so I was pleased.

June

My brother and his family came out for a week to visit with family in Colorado.  I got to show Scott my baby....Dani and his son Bryson was able to meet his first horse!  It was a fun visit to include a nice picnic with extended family in the Black Forest Regional Park.

On the 21st, the Black Forest Fire started and horses were moved to KCRC among other locations.  Because of my work with Emergency Management I decided to voluntarily evacuate my horse since I wouldn't have the time to do so with my work and because she was a difficult loader and because I didn't have a trailer available to me when ever I would need it.  I had to make a quick decision that would help me do my job and not worry about Dani in the process.  Laurie was able to accept Dani during that time, she also had Rio and Orchid, Uschi's horses.  Uschi's house was fine but the fire burnt a huge patch of forest just behind her house.  It's amazing to drive through the forest and see the damage.  It's unreal that last year I was responding to the Waldo Canyon Fire around this same time period.   

 July

My best friend Marie came to visit for a week in July.  We were in a parade as pooper scoopers for the 4th of July!  Weeeee!!!  We chilled at the pool and just did other fun things.  I even got her up on Dani for a little pony ride.

I continued to work on improvements to horse care like adding a water filter to the trough.  I was also battling algae so found a natural preventative that helped keep the algae amounts down.  It's still a battle!  I was contacted by a gal that owned Dani's full sister, Maddie.  I learned a bit more about the horses pasts and was glad to here how well her sister was doing.  They look so much alike!

August

In August came the rains.  Everyday it rained and there was a river running through KCRC.  Part of the arena was washed out and I probably lost a lot of sand from Dani's run.  I had to respond for work several times for flooding around the county.  Up north of Denver it was really bad.  This has just been a year for natural disasters in Colorado! 

When I could I worked Dani on a few obstacles like the cowboy curtain.  I tied back the noodles and walked her through.  Slowly I let down more and more noodles until she didn't have any issues walking through.  Now I can ride her through them...just at the walk since even I don't want to get slapped in the face with the metal washers that hold the noodles onto the rope.  Dani learns fast so it's been fun teaching her to accept the noodles and negotiate other obstacles.

September

September continued with more rain and many busy days at work.  Steve and did manage to get 100 bales for the winter though.  We bought them from a hay charity and have been pretty happy with the hay purchase though I'll be looking for a consistent supplier this year and perhaps certified weed free hay.

My silly Aussie mix Loki, got trampled by Sugar when he ran into her pen and I didn't notice at first.  Luckily he wasn't injured but for a minute or so I was afraid some nerve or spinal damage had been done.  Poor baby!

October

I worked on more trotting and getting over the fear of speed.  We succeeded and have done many rides with lots of trotting about! Because of the rain and lack of putting on hoof oil as regularly as I should Dani had a hoof chip that freaked me out.  It actually wasn't a big deal but has made me more aware and now I round the hooves regular to prevent chipping in between trims.

My slow feeder has failed, the plastic lattice kept breaking so I've ended up buying a nibblenet.  It doesn't fit as much hay in it as I need so still have been working on making the trough into a slow feeder using a nibblenet sheet.  It's still a work in progress but at least it does slow her down and reduce the wasted hay.

I started to see Stubs around a bit more, running here and there.  I continued to feed her dry food but never got too close to her.  She seemed curious so I always talked sweetly to her when I saw her.

November

KCRC had a vaccine and floating clinic so it made it very easy to get Dani's fall work done.  The club also had a clean up day with a cow run.  Other club activities included being a pooper scooper for the Veterans day parade but this time I got tot drive an ATV.  That was pretty cool!  Someday I'll ride in a parade but not just yet....

November meant a time change so the days got darker sooner.  I got a night light set up with one of those indoor work lights.  It did the job so I could do groundwork with Dani during the week.  Then we hit some cold spells and I didn't want to do groundwork.  Wuss I know!  Stubs started showing up and hanging out with me and my girl.  I got some wet food to start feeding her when I saw her and it became a consistent thing.  I started planning on how to trap her and get her spayed.  Local Trap Neuter Release groups never got back with me so I was sort of on my own.

December

In early December I borrowed a trap from a friend and brought Stubs home.  Steve and I already accepted the fact that she probably would be staying in our house if Armani my other cat was okay with it.  He was.  We got her fixed and all her shots.  She's been settling in very well and though we can't pick her up and hold her yet we can love on her, hug her and scratch her itchy spots.  She's made a great transition from feral cat to spoiled house cat in such a short time.

We've had some really frigid cold spells but Dani didn't mind.  The past two weeks I've been off from work which is nice to just chill and do nothing.  We've had a great Christmas too.

Hopefully the New Year will continue to have great blessings for us and our little critter filled home.  I really want to get Dani a pony friend but that mainly depends on my hubby and his work schedule.  None the less we are doing well and enjoying KCRC.

This next year I want to get a trailer, trailer train Dani so she is a perfect little loader and then I want to hit the trails with my horsie friends!  I just need to give confidence to Dani and have confidence in myself that we can overcome our fears....her's are of the trailer experience and mine the fast speeds.  I think we have gotten to a good level of trust in one another and will continue to develop that bond.  I love my girl!

Wishing everyone a great New Year!  Remember it's the Year of the Horse!!!  Make it a good one!!

Too Little Water....Too Much Water

We started the year in a severe drought with water restrictions.  Our reservoirs were low and creek beds dry.  Forests were a tinderbox and 2013 set new records for fires, records that had been set the previous year!

Black Forest Fire was close to home, Dani's home and I moved her out east so I could concentrate on my Emergency Preparedness job for public health.  It was a long and busy summer.

Then we hit monsoon season and began getting more rain in the afternoons.  This was a blessing at first since we needed the rain.  My yard greened up and the prairie was alive again.  The two burn scars had issues with flooding, Manitou springs was hit hard a couple times and the EOC was activated.  Public health helped set up a disaster assistance center and provided free tetanus shots to those that would be working in the debris.

This last bit of storms coming from the hurricanes east and west of us has brought nearly a week of constant rain.  There have been roads washed out, houses destroyed and even colleagues sheltering in place as the creek near their house prevented them from coming to work.  Dani's home has been saturated and I've worked to dig little trenches to drain some of the water.  Daily hoof picking and then prevention of thrush is about all I can do until it started to dry out.  Then I can sift the sand for all the bits of manure that I couldn't get in the sopping wetness.

Dani likes to hang her head just outside the cover of the shed and from halfway up her neck to her face she is always damp.  What a weird horse.

El Paso County has not had it as bad as north of Denver...Boulder, Fort Follins, Lyons, Longmont, Greeley, and Fort Lupton....to name just a few communities affected.  The devastation is wide spread, our partners up the road are busy, busy coordinating the relief efforts.  As we were on standby I couldn't do anything to help.

I wanted to help those horses I saw on the news but I don't have a trailer nor the ability to take off work.  I donated to the Colorado Horsecare Foodbank since they are setting up at Fort Lupton to distribute hay to horse and livestock owners.  If you can afford it please donate.  This helps them pay for gas, buy hay and distribute it to those in need.  

It's just unreal what our state has gone through in the past couple years.  I'm sure Obama is getting tired of declaring Colorado a national disaster!  I hope everyone reading this is safe and well, take care everyone!

My Voluntary Evacuation of Dani

As to my horse voluntary evacuation....The mandatory evacuation zone is 3 miles away, the pre-evacuation is only 2 miles away and the information I had was the winds could shift south (which they did last night a little). I made the decision to move my horse even though she was just outside the evacuation area for many reasons...

1) She's a difficult loader and I wanted the time needed to get her moved without road closures and without crazy traffic

2) My job is emergency preparedness and I am activated for this fire...being distracted with every new update and being worried how it would affect my love was getting in the way of me DOING my job;

3) Smoke is pretty bad where she was at, it is everywhere but I feel better now that she is out east towards Calhan and well out of harms way! Thank you Laurie for taking her in for my peace of mind. Now I can get down and dirty with the response. I appreciate every one's concern but there are many (included many friends) in really dire circumstances and my heart breaks for them....

My job is Emergency Preparedness and Response for Public Health. As I was activated for the Black Forest Fire my life has suddenly full of activities, meetings and Emergency Operations. It sounds exciting but it’s not, I deal with the coordination portion of a response….aka the paperwork.

I couldn’t easily leave my job to take time to move Dani if she were suddenly in a pre-evac or evacuation area. I don’t have a trailer and I didn’t even have my truck that week! Steve had left the Sunday before the fire leaving from DIA to fly to what ever job he was going to. We decided he should take the truck since I rack up more miles piddling around town.

Critters of all sizes called KCRC their temporary home

The fire started on Tuesday June 11. On June 12th I received information about the winds changing and felt that uneasiness in my stomach and the beginnings of panic. How could I expect GG and her husband to transport my horse if we need to evacuate KCRC? I needed to get this done and get it done fast. My boss was understanding as I had a near panic attack trying to figure out a plan with my limited resources and with my guilt that having Dani near the fire would prevent my mind from being able to focus on my job.

I took off for KCRC, called GG’s husband to see if he could take me out to Laurie’s. I’d already discussed this with Laurie and she was more than happy to take Dani in, Uschi’s horses were already there. Very quickly the fire moved from where it started to the west of Black Forest regional Park and headed towards Falcon. Uschi’s house was in the pathway so she got her horses out before being told by authorities. A lot of horse owners weren’t so lucky or couldn’t get home….this is the unfortunate thing I had to deal with in the aftermath at the EOC, lots of dead large animals. I’m not going to get into that as I sit here writing and shudder a little inside.

Dani's barn is just about at the bottom of the map below the blue area.  VERY CLOSE!

GG’s husband and even GG the night before were not too concerned about the fire. The smoke near KCRC was intense even if we weren’t in the evacuation area. I may have received many looks from people as I was evacuating my horse FROM KCRC when they were evacuating horses TO KCRC but I just knew I couldn’t have the worry in the back of my mind. Every wind shift or forecast would send my mind to my horse first and not to what I needed to do to get nursing homes evacuated or get medical supplies to the Red Cross. I was in a different position compared with the general public.

I told them they could fill my stall while I was gone and we’d arrange when I would return with Dani so I wouldn't displace an evacuee. My pitch fork and some buckets were put to use as well. At the peak of evacuations KCRC housed about 75 animals, mostly equines but they had many llamas, ducks, chickens and goats. The club had volunteers, many evacuees, that were helping feed horses and going into the evacuation areas to rescue horses. They weren’t the only group that was doing this but they put forth a huge effort to help the animals in the forest. It was great to hear amidst some of the more somber news we often received in the EOC.

Dani at Lauries.  I gave her a good grooming and did some
groundwork in the arena when I visited

Anyhow, we loaded Dani up in the trailer. I did ground work first. Tried to get her on once. She stepped on and then immediately off. I worked her really hard and then tried again. After a couple more tries I had GG’s hubby close the door and then we were set to get on the road. I was happy the experience was only 15 minutes. We still need more training but I didn’t feel it was the time and place for that.

When we got to Lauries GG’s hubby suggested that we have Dani reload once and unload again. That was a bad idea. In the new location Dani was very distracted and I didn’t have much space to get her working. There was a tree and cinder blocks by a water run off that prevented me from being aggressive enough for fear of her taking a wrong step (I should have just said, nah)…therefore Dani didn’t want to get back on trailer. My energy was wearing, I was hungry and dehydrated. I needed to stop at a positive note with a small win for myself. Laurie gave me a few suggestions and then I quit at Dani leaning into the trailer calmly. Darn, I should have just left well enough alone. I need to do more trailer training, especially backing out slowly but with access to GG’s trailer I can work on that and I may even look at buying my own sooner (aka finance it) after my helpless feeling during this fire.

Rio

Dani went into the field with Orchid and Rio, Ushi’s pretty horses. A couple squeals and then they were friends. I felt major relief wash over me as we drove away back to KCRC. That was mixed with the determination to get going with my work as I watched the smoke cloud grow bigger; it was headed to Falcon like a run away train.

Since Dani’s been at Lauries I only got to see her on Sunday. I’ve been working really long days, to 9 or 10 most nights. It’s been fast paced but we’ve all tried to keep up and support the first responders. This week on June 20th, I had K go get Dani and work with her on loading. She had just recently come back from the training academy and was starting her own horse training business. I was happy to pay her and between the busy work in the EOC we got a contract filled out and signed. It was confirmed that Dani was back home at 10:30am!! I’d gone out early this morning to get her stall ready with fresh water and hay. I can’t wait to see her!!!

Orchid

Things are winding down at the EOC and we are beginning to get into the recovery process.  I have my regular job to catch up on and then we have tons of paperwork and After Action conferences to conduct and reports to write.  In total the fire burned 14,280 acres, destroyed 509 homes, 28 damaged, and killed 2 people.  It spread very fast that first day, I am relieved that there weren't more deaths though many animals did perish.  I'm so happy to be able to go to the barn and hug my horse.  Uschi's home is standing but I don't think the fire came very close, there may be a lot of burn around her.  At least she and her family are safe, and her home and memories in tact.  I thought last year we witnessed the most destructive fire in Colorado but this one has surpassed Waldo Canyon.  I would have never imagined....

Stay safe and make plans for your horses, include your neighbors and friends in your plans too!

Too Close for Comfort

Just when I thought my life was calming down and I could get out to the barn to play more with Dani the Black Forest fire erupted.  Right now the southern evacuation road is 3 miles north of where Dani is!!  I know several friends who have already evacuated their horses and family.  I'm hoping they can get this under control and hope that it doesn't head south.  There are already a lot of horses evacuated TO Kit Carson and Dani is very excited with her donkey neighbors.  Oh my goodness.  I am also activated for my job.  I may not be able to post but I will try to keep you posted on our happenings.