Refuge Farms (www.refugefarms.org)

Good frozen mornin’ to you all! Big Jim here. Mom is pretty tired this morning, so thought I would take over for her and talk to you about how we’re doing here on the Frozen Tundra that we call Refuge Farms!

This artic blast came rolling over the hill about noon on Friday. And man! Did it hit us hard! The temperature hasn’t been above 10 below zero since late Friday night. And the wind!!! The wind actually hurts our eyes up here on the hill! We have to squint when we get outside! Ouch!

Friday night we began a routine here in the barns like I’ve never seen Mom do before. It seems to me that her greatest concern is taking care of us older ones…She seems worried and watches our every move... She’s like a big hawk on legs out here in the barns!

And she comes to the barns looking like a ball. You humans just aren’t made for this kind of weather, are you? We horses have hide and hair that fluffs with air for insulation and we have hard feet that don’t freeze. We are equipped for this stuff! You humans need coats and hats and gloves and boots and foot warmers – all kinds of gadgets! And you still get cold! Obviously, The Great Creator knew what He was doing when He built us the way He did!

So, every afternoon between 4 and 6 pm this “ball” comes out to the barns so we can get our dinner. My dinner as well as the dinner of Miss Bonita, Cole, Gracie, and PONY! begins with a bucket of hot beet pulp mash that she brings us from her kitchen in the house. The buckets sit in front of the wood stove to warm all day long. She covers the buckets to keep the mash as warm as possible and then scurries out to us to hang our hot meal. It feels pretty good to get something hot in our mouths and down our throats to our tummies. Mom thinks this beet pulp should feel pretty good to us. We’re glad she thinks like that. Really glad.

Then we all get hooked and fed our normal supper. While we are eating, Mom pitches hay from the round bales in to the stalls for Gracie and PONY! since they will be staying inside for the night. And she does her best to pick up the “friendly deposits” from us on the Helen Keller side of the barn since our feet and legs over here don’t do very well with uneven ground. She picks until the wheelbarrows are full and so now she’s just making a pile on the floor. Every once in a while I hear her say something about The ‘Other’ Herd and how we will all need to clean barns like crazy when this artic air moves on…But then she stops long enough to look at us and tell us all, “I will watch over and care for you….all of you. The poop will just have to wait.” We’re glad she thinks like that. Really glad.

By the way! You all call this the Helen Keller side of the barn. I prefer to call this The Royal Court Side. You see, Miss Bonita and I are the King and Queen of the place. We are royalty. And April is our Princess. So, this is the Royal Court Side of THE FARM to us…but we know what you mean when you call it the Helen Keller side. And we don’t take offense.

We are given time to eat and then since the cold of the night is coming over us, she closes the big door to the Helen Keller Side.. ahem!.. The Royal Court Side of the barn so that we are in out of the cold winds. And we do just fine overnight. You see, Mom moved a new round pile of hay in to this side of the barn and we have heated water and I have a big blanket on me.. so we do just fine. PONY! and Gracie are in the end stall with big hearty blankets on. They, too, have heated water and the hay Mom pitched for them…It’s the other side of the barn – I think you all call it the Geldings Side? – that gets to decide if they want in or out. Their door stays open.

And again, by the way, you all call that other side of the barn The Gelding Side. Have you ever happened to notice that there is only one – yup, one! – gelding on that side? That the rest of that herd just happens to be mares? And noisy, fussy, moody mares at that? We here on the Royal Court Side call that side of the barn the Wild Side! That side of the barn is noisy and rowdy and they run and buck and snort and really create quite a ruckus! The Wild Side it is!

Well, anyhow, it’s about this time during the routine that Mom disappears and heads up to The Old Barn. She says the most care is needed up there and that we need to be strong so she can take care of them. Old Man Cole needs a warm blanket and hot beep pulp with every meal. Blaise needs a warm blanket and her feet picked at least three times a day. Sweet Lady Grey needs all the tolerance Mom can find! And The Old Horse needs dry blankets, hot beet pulp, brushings, and tons of hugs at least three times a day.

Old Man Cole and Blaise spend the nights in the box stalls. Mom pitches hay in to their stalls for them and they have heated water, too. Sweet Lady Grey does her best to stay out of the wind. The Old Horse lays out in the hay out of the wind when he needs to. But he gets up for his meals and Mom is happy to see him move and she encourages and she rubs him. And yes, she hugs him…whenever he will let her! Mom thinks hugs are medicine. We’re glad she thinks like that. Really glad.

Yesterday morning while we were all eating, Mom started talking to that Alice horse again. You know, that big orange horse that sits in our barn and barely moves? The one that makes all that noise when it finally does move? Well, she prayed and that old Alice horse started to make all kinds of noise. And pretty soon we had some more of those big round hay piles in our pastures – placed so that we can eat out of the wind. Plenty of hay and water in front of us. Just like what we were all promised. Mom thinks her job is to keep her promises. We’re glad she thinks like that. Really glad.

Then when we’ve had time to eat, Mom turns us loose and we settle in for the night. The barn lights are left on because she checks on us before going to bed about 8pm. And then at midnight, or so, the routine starts again. Yup. Mom feeds us during the coldest part of the night. She tells us that it will help the night pass. I wonder who needs the night to pass the fastest? Us or her?

It’s during this middle of the night feeding that she’s muttering most all the time. Head down and muttering. I catch parts of it…don’t catch all of it…. things like “this frozen end of the country”…. Or like “must be crazy” …. Or like “why we live here…” Or again with “...must be crazy”. You’d think she was Patsy Cline or something!

Then at 8am she’s back at feeding us again. Three times a day for the duration of this artic blast, she says. Mom says we’ll keep doing it this way until it gets above zero. And then, she says, we’ll all be on a diet, too! But she says we’ll worry about that later. And we’ll worry about the piles of frozen poop later. And we’ll worry about all those other things later. Right now, she says, we need to eat and move and stay warm. We’re glad she thinks like that. Really glad.

Each of us, Mom keeps saying, needs to pray for those Humans without a warm house. And for all of the creatures without a barn for shelter or enough food. She says we need to pray for help to come from somewhere … or for fast and deep sleep... She cries sometimes, when she talks of them….

I gotta go! Here she comes! And someone is with her! Good! Every once in a while, Mom has someone with her when she comes to the barns. CityGirl or Aunt Tara or Captain Kathy or Betty the Human or someone with to help her. During these feedings Mom is done sooner and she’s smiling and not so worried looking. They help her a lot. And we’re glad they think to help her like that. Really glad. See ya!

Stay safe and stay warm, everyone!
Big Jim and The Herd of Refuge Farms