The Month I'm ready to forget

There are just some days or weeks that you can't wait until they are over. I'm ready for this month to be over. It stared out okay, lots of babies coming and that is always a good thing on a ranch.
Then one of our first time momma's lost her calf. It was still born and that momma just could not understand that even though she licked her calf dry, nosed it to get up and spent hours trying it just was not going to get up. The hubby finally went down there and got the calf and momma. When he got there you could just see that momma looking at him and her baby asking him why won't mine get up like the others. We hate seeing the ones that just try for all they are worth to get a baby to make it loose the little ones. One thing we do know is that when she does have her next calf she will be a good momma.
Then as if that was not bad enough, the hubby went down to feed one afternoon and our youngest miniature pony had died. We are not sure what happened as he was not even a year old, but sometime during the day he had passed away. One of the hardest things I have ever had to do was to tell her that Gizmo was dead. Made it even harder when the hubby said he would have rather it been his favorite horse Tom, than to have to see our youngest loose her pony.
Then today a calf that we had been trying to save lost her fight. We found her on Saturday morning when we went to put out feed. The momma had left her and she was nothing but skin and bones and covered with fleas. We got her home, bathed in dog flea shampoo, dried off, brushed and some milk in her. She was doing okay, we were able to find the momma on Sunday so we put them in a pen together to see if the momma would feed the little one. Went okay for Sunday afternoon, but the cow would not eat any hay and so she stopped making milk. Then she started running over the little one. Got the momma out of there, but it was too late by then. Our poor little Chance, as we named her, just didn't have enough strength left to fight. We were trying to get her to eat this morning when she passed on. Was hard for the little one, first time she had been there when one of the animals had died. The girls picked a nice spot under a tree, wrapped Chance in a sheet and buried her.

I am ready for this month to be over. I know these are things that happen on a ranch, but it does not make them any easier to live with or through. We try so hard, take care of our "girls" as we call the herd, so it hurts to see the little ones not make it. Two in one year is a very rare thing for us so that makes it even harder. Some years we don't loose a one and those are the best years. Then situations happen that you have no control over and you loose one, it was still born, bad weather or the like. There are somethings you can't control. I just hate the ones that you think you can control what happens but no matter how hard you try or how much you pray, the outcome is not the one you want.

So I am glad that this month is almost over. We are praying that April brings not only a better month, but rain too since we are already having to haul water.