Still No Relief From the Drought In Sight...

[Carol Nelson]

Although the sky is dark and overcast and a stiff north wind is blowing, with reports of icy sleet looming on the horizon, there has been very little actual moisture in the last several weeks. We have probably gotten less than half an inch of rain right here...in an area where most of our annual rainfall comes now at this time of year. When typically we are worrying about flooding, and grass founder, now we scan the sky daily for any evidence of a much needed drop of rain.
I had my second truckload of coastal brought in yesterday from Houston area where blessedly they have gotten more moisture than us, and I have found a supplier with several hundred acres of irrigated land. I paid $7 a bale for it, but feel blessed because that was delivered and stacked in my barn. Although some of the bales are pretty small and light, it is beautiful hay. I know the feed stores here are asking $8 a bale and I've heard reports of $10 a small square bale. Rounds are going for $78 to $100 a round.
Folks ask now where you get your hay but you become reluctant to give the numbers out because you never know when the word will come all of a sudden that "sorry, we're out..." or worse, just the phone calls left unreturned.
Last week I purchased a baby scale...the kind that doctors use in their clinics...and we will weigh every feeding. I don't throw away the hay on the barn floor anymore, we gather it and shake out the dust and feed it. It is kind of a shock to be going through this. Just never in my wildest nightmares did I ever expect it. But we are fortunate, we will make it for awhile yet...all around us you hear cows crying out...they are hungry, and horses stand in pens getting fed maybe once a day. Maybe...
As ever, we need your prayers.

[GeorgeGuns]

This is heartbreaking. I remember several years ago when we had a huge drought here, 97 I think. I went over to Elkins W Va for an Irish week thing, but drove past many cow farms with bare ground and bare cows. It broke my heart because I could tell that in better years these farms would have been lush and the cows sleek.
A few weeks after that I learned that Days End got a whole truck load of Arabians in from near there, the poor owner's land had just dried up, and so did the hay supply. This is one way that otherwise well off folks and responsible horse owners can really get shafted and lose everything. Dry wells and no hay is hard to get past. I thank God that our place has such a high water level - even in '02/03 we had grass.
Carol I sure hope you all get good rain soon, not just for you but all that must be suffering.

[Carol Nelson]

Yes, I wish I could help the others around me...even a little bit. But I don't know how long this is going to go on or what the price of hay will be down the road. I've always vowed not to let the horses I have starve. They come first.

I used to throw the hay on the barn floor to the longhorns behind my land...but feel like I can't even spare that anymore. I do have a pile of hay that was brushed off the truck yesterday that I will load up in the wagon and take out to them later today.

If we can just get a couple or three days of rain, the grass will literally jump out of the ground, it comes back quickly. But we need those two or three days, and then of course, to continue through the spring.

[Brigitte]

Boy Carol I feel bad for you, we also had some years where we had a drought, almost all our dams went dry. Then it rained and flooded the island. :roll: But anywho, cheer up, we pay around $20 for a bale of hay. And it's a fight to get hay before anyone else does

[Polly Aulton]

Carol - I'm really sorry to hear this. I thought you all might get some of the moisture we did yesterday. We currently have 3 inches of snow on the ground. Frozen solid too! LOL. Still not enough moisture to make up for all that we missed but hopefully it means the weather pattern has changed. We're supposed to get more rain this evening or a mix of rain and ice but I don't see it happening. Lots of cloud cover but too thin to be productive.
If we get some I'll try pushing it your way.
Polly

[appyday]

Thinking of you and hoping for rain...keep your chin up....good luck

[reuben T]

an here i have a hard time doing things fer the sloppy mud that won't dry up. it's raining or snowing every few days and temp flucuating from 10 to 60. weather's a mess.

[Carol Nelson]

Well, the last two days have been horrendous here...cold, daytime high in the low forties, and nightime in the teens... with a stiff northeast wind. I know some of you are saying what a wimp, but you have to remember, we're not used to this. Just three days ago it was 86 degrees! My horses don't have half the winter coats yours do.
I've had every last bit of winter gear on I can find. Last night it began to sleet just enough to cover all the locks and gates with ice but your shoes barely left tracks this morning so wasn't enough moisture to matter. I came out at five this morning to throw a little hay as I heard banging and whinnying and I knew they were cold and hungry. A horse can take cold and wind but no rain, or wind and rain but not cold, but throw all three together and it's a recipe for trouble. I had one filly that looked a little colicy before I went to bed at midnight but she apparently was just cold. At least all mine have shelter, there's a woman down the street who lets hers stand out in 12 x 12 pens with nothing...and feeds them once a day...throws their hay right on their manure... :mad:

Rueben, I swear to God I will never complain again about muck and mire, but I'm sure that human nature being what it is, that will change once I'm trudging around in mud boots again.

It's supposed to warm up tomorrow and start to rain for five days...yeah, they keep saying that...we'll see.... :roll:

Brigitte, that's a terrible price to pay for hay. But here, some ranchers have over 100 horses or more cattle than that. We are used to HAVING grass...those horses and cattle are starving now. Only one place for them if this keeps up, and that's at slaughter. :(

[Barbwire]

Oh Carol, that sounds just aweful. Do a lot of people in your area feed pellets to make up for the lack of hay?

[Carol Nelson]

Barbara ...I'm afraid that a lot of folks around here just plain don't feed. :(

We live in the poorest county in Texas...it's recorded. Take that and figure out people having to truck in hay for $7, $8 and $10 a bale and what do you think?

[Barbwire]

If people are so poor, how do they afford to have so many animals, even in "good times"?

[Carol Nelson]

If I had the answer to that one, Barb, I'd have solved half the world's problems...

like the woman down the street...she has 12 horses on two acres of land...two or three are studs...all of her horses are in 12 x 12 pens...she has a big barn half built (couldn't afford to pay to have it finished). Several of the horses are in the barn...the others stand outside. She NEVER cleans the pens. She feeds once a day...like I say, maybe. My girlfriend who lives next door throws some of her cast off hay to this woman's horses.

She called me the other day....trying to be buddies. She went on and on about how she LOVES horses. She talked about her studs and how GOOD they are...I told my partner...if she thinks I'm gonna breed her studs over here, forget it! That woman shouldn't have horses. I wanted so bad to say, you leave your horses outside, and they are starving, I don't want anything to do with you...but of course, I didn't.

[Heidi]

Insist on recent (30 day) health certs before animals are brought to your facility.
Barn policy for the health of all horses. Period.
Heidi

[PasoPerson38]

Carol,
your post was so touching and truly sad. I will most definetly put you guys in my prayers. May the Lord Bless you with the most beautiful, splendid, and surpising rain when you least expect it! Ask and though WILL recieve! God Bless.

[Jasfino]

Ditto to what PasoPerson said. I will be praying also.

[Moniece Dickerson]

Oh Carol,you know this just breaks my heart :cry !I am sorry you are having to pay the price you are and I am SUPER sorry for all those poor hungry horses and cows!!!A person just wants to save all of them and make them all feel better and happy but you can't.It really does come down to just taking the best care you can of the ones you yourself have.We went for weeks here without any rain.It got so bad that someone in the government asked the churches to pray for rain.They did and it worked,we DID start getting rain!!!I am SO sorry!!!Your friend,Moniece

[Carol Nelson]

Well...I'm almost afraid to post this for fear I jinx it (isn't it funny how sometimes we humans think we can control the weather by our words... ;-) :lol: ) BUT it drizzled here all night long, the winds have gone down, and it's predicted to warm up and rain off and on until next SUNDAY!!! You can't imagine how we need this rain. The percentage every day is not very high (20%) but it's a start!
Maybe you all praying for me did help! But don't stop...just keep on praying! :smile:

[PasoPerson38]

"Maybe you all praying for me did help! But don't stop...just keep on praying! "

OFCOURSE thats helping you! We don't pray for nothing! lol keep up your faith! And I'll keep the prayer going as long as you need them! :hug :bsmile :rearing

[Carol Nelson]

Keep those prayers coming...! It's been drizzling for two days now...and predicted for the next seven!!! Although it's cold and miserable...man, it feels like paradise! This is so wonderful ...and so needed!

[motorgypsy]

keep doing that "rain dance" Carol!!!

[jodiTowne]

Prayers for rain coming your way!!!!!!!!!!

[Jane Hurl]

So glad to hear you've got rain, Carol. We did the most severe drought in Alberta's history a few years ago. It lasted for four VERY long years. And we're STILL recovering. The *&^% grasshoppers aren't entirely gone, even yet. Anyone with horses was feeding cubes trucked in from the other end of the province! Cattle suffered badly.

And then Mad Cow Disease hit.

Yeah, this farming's fun, eh?

[Carol Nelson]

Don't you wonder sometimes why you do it??? Sigh...must be for love, sure not for money! :roll:

[Jasfino]

Great news Carol! Keep the faith. Its what keeps me going. :D