Happy July 4th weekend, everyone! The days are flying by! I always thought that was a quaint saying ~ until now. Now I’d swear it’s true!  There is so much happening every day that it would be impossible to share it all! I’ll just hit the highpoints. 

Steve

Steve has had the most difficult of transitions ~ Dave, his litter-mate and best friend, disappeared almost a month ago. In the first few days after Dave’s disappearance, Steve would still come when I called him, but he never came running. He would slink out of the grasses, and his belly would be almost touching the ground. His tail, too, would be touching the ground, and while his eyes were on me, it seemed as if his head was swaying ever so slightly side-to-side. He would only go into the little barn to eat if I was with him, and after a few mouthfuls, he would dash away. The saddest part, though, was that he never wanted belly rubs anymore.

As the days passed, he began living easier in his skin.  He wasn’t slinking out of the grasses anymore; he would walk to me, tail crooked at the end and waiving slightly. He spoke again, those little “mirps” that always seemed that he was swallowing the rest of the “meow.”  But he still didn’t stay in the Little Barn, and he didn’t want belly rubs.  

About a week ago, I glanced into the Little Barn as I walked past the door, and there was Steve ~ stretched out on the cool cement on a hot day, eyes slit and watching me. The next day, when I called good morning, he called back ~ from inside the Little Barn. That night, he flopped over my toes, belly up. I pet him for as long as he’d let me. Today, I saw him drag a dead mouse into the Little Barn, and when I walked in a bit later, he was sitting at his water dish, licking his paws and purring ever so quietly. 

I don’t think all is totally well yet, but he is truly much better. 

Vega and the Sheep

Vega and Cricket have decided they want to be friends. I figured this out because every time Vega and I would walk past the sheep pasture, Cricket would come running to the fence to say hello to Vega. For a few days, I’d put Vega in a sit-stay and let them sniff and say their silent hellos from a distance.  Then, Vega and I began moving closer and closer until the two could touch noses through the fence. Today, after they said their hello’s, Cricket moved about four feet down the fence line, lay down facing Vega and stretched his neck to reach a blade of grass. For her part, as soon as Cricket laid down, she, too, laid down along the fence line facing him. (And just because it’s Vega, she, too, had to reach for a blade of grass to chew.)

I am loving watching these two become friends! There is no stress on Cricket’s part and no herding behaviors on Vega’s part. Mary and Bella show no stress signs, either. They will come with Cricket at first and sniff from about 2 feet away, but then they move off, quietly and calmly, and leave Cricket and Vega to their conversation. I have a plan for helping move this friendship forward, but I’m going to take it very slowly! I’ll keep you all posted.

Horses

It’s been three weeks since the National Honor Society students spent the day shoveling out the basement of the big barn as the first step toward Sundance providing sanctuary for full size horses. This past week, we met two wonderful men ~ Levi and Tyler ~  who are experts at repairing barns that are as old and as large as ours. As is usually the case, there was good news and ~ well let’s call it challenging news. The good news is that our barn is actually in great shape ~ despite what we had thought! It’s fine to store hay (which is good because that’s where we’re storing our hay), and if we can repair the three areas that need attention, it will last another 100 years. Probably.  That, as you can imagine, is the challenging news. The estimated cost for these repairs is $90,000, and that doesn’t include the amount needed to build horse stalls.  We’re talking through options on a “Three-Year-Plan” sort of scheme. 

On the brightest of sides, however, and in the way of the Universe bringing together people at just the right moment, Levi has a horse that’s struggling. Her name is Bell, and she’s 25 years old. Unfortunately, she no longer has any molars, which means she’s not able to grind up hay. She’s losing weight, as you can imagine, and not doing well.  He wanted to find another home for her because the cost of senior horse food is tremendously expensive.  What I’ve discovered, though, is that there is a special machine that will grind up high-quality hay, which can then be mixed with water for Bell to just slurp up ~ no chewing necessary! She will get the same protein, fiber, and other nutrients she needs. We’re in the process of figuring out the logistics, but Sundance is definitely on this one! Watch our Facebook page for a picture of Bell coming soon! 

In Other News…

In other news, there’s everything else! The gardens, the chickens…summer is just loaded with wonders and work! I’d love to write about it all, but the herb garden calls. I hope that your world is filled with beauty and joy on this mid-summer weekend. Thanks for reading! 

Sundance Rescue and Recovery is a 501(c)3 charitable organization . All donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.