I know this isn't the comment you're hoping for, but having survived decades of financial ups and downs, I feel moved to make it.
The current plan here....isn't a plan. I'm sure that fandom and writerdom, being what they are, will likely raise enough cash to hold you afloat for another few weeks. What then? You'll be right back where you are, without a significant steady income, a farm mortgage you cannot support, and far too many horses to feed.
What I'm saying is, you're in a sinking boat and Indigogo/patreon/subscription are bailing with a teacup.
You're at the point where your animals are in literal danger of starvation and you are still listing supplements in the budget. Honey, that's not accepting home truths. That's saying LA LA LA LA really really loudly.
Anything that is above and beyond the bare minimum of keeping the animals alive is, right now, an optional expense. Glossy coats, reduced joint pain, these are less important than literal starvation. You're down to counting the days until your animals go without food.
Fandom and writerdom is going to come up with at least a few hundred dollars and a few weeks' grace. You need to USE that grace to find your horses permanent, safe homes.
Yes, your horses are old or untrained, and yes, the market is flooded. But you're not actually listing any of your animals up for sale.
Saying to yourself 'nobody would want to buy them/the market is flooded/they don't have enough ribbons, so therefore I won't even bother listing them' is a kind of protective emotional self-talk, a VERY UNDERSTANDABLE one, but it's one your horses cannot afford.
You need to make a list of your animals, their needs, their strengths, their looks, and you need to publicly advertise that you are looking for new homes for them. You need to be making contact with every single rescue, horse farmer, or acquaintance possible.
It's very clear to me that you're not emotionally ready to sell your friends, and I understand that. Unfortunately, the fiscal reality is that you can't afford to wait until you ARE ready.
All too often, people in this position take the small windfalls of cash and use that cash to keep the boat afloat for another week, then another week, and then suddenly there is no more windfall, there is no friend who can afford to pay for your animals' hay, and you're desperate and must find homes Right This Second, because the hay is literally OUT.
I will be blunt: waiting until the very last second is a recipe for euthanasia. I wish I did not have to say that, but that is the truth. On some level, you know this.
You have exhausted the options for a steady income large enough to pay for their care, and therefore, you are faced with a) finding new homes or b) watching your friends starve or c) having a vet humanely euthanize. THESE ARE YOUR OPTIONS.
The more denial forces you to wait and wait and exhaust every resource on keeping up the denial, the more you are inadvertently choosing c).
Don't do this, I'm begging you. For the sake of your horses, let the dream of your farm go.
Use the windalls you receive to arrange quality, safe homes for your friends. If you get, say, five grand from a Indiegogo, don't use that to 'stay afloat' for another two months. Use that money to pay someone to take two horses as pasture puffs, or to pay trailering fees, or to pay advertising money, or to pay a rescue to take them, or (if you still have an intact male) the vet fee to geld him.
Maybe, at first, you'll only find a home for one horse--that will STILL reduce the overall fiscal burden and help the remaining horses to be fed. Maybe the horses will have to go too far away to visit--and that will suck.
You are already down to the wire here, what with the 'I only have TEN days' worth of feed left', and so for some of the least-desirable horses, you may need to strongly consider euthanasia. You may not be able to find safe homes for ALL of them, and some potential buyers will (realistically) be looking to buy for the Mexico slaughter market. It's going to take time to vet potential homes, which means you HAVE TO start looking now.
Instead of using these signal boosts to put off the inevitable for a handful of days, use them instead to find as many potential homes as you can.
I know that this comment will be painful, but it might be a relief for someone to say, right out loud, "This can't continue. For the welfare of the horses, they need new homes."
I know it may seem cruel, but I feel like it's necessary to say the obvious. A few editing clients aren't going to pay for that many horses' feed, much less vet bills. They're just not. There is no way to write a bestseller, guaranteed, because you would have done that already if you could.
I've been in the unhappy position of rehoming an animal I loved, but could not keep, and it is incredibly painful. But it is LESS painful than euthanizing the animal or having the animal be removed by the humane society.
And maybe, if you are able to sell your current farm, and downsize, you could keep one or two of the horses. I don't know. I hope so. But what I do know is that you're staring down the barrel of ugly options, and I would hate to see inaction/denial force you into the worst of those options.
Thank you so much for your careful thought and your helpful input. I really appreciate it. I am and have been exploring numerous options and believe me I have considered everything you've said. There's much more going on than I've been able or willing to put in a post, and I'm much less feckless than perhaps I look. ;>
I'm very glad to hear you're giving these ideas some thought. I'm sure there are many things going on behind the scenes that I'm not aware of.
Still, I return again and again to the fact that you were financially at the point of less than two weeks' worth of food for your horses. To me, that isn't about fecklessness or not, it's about an approaching catastrophe of starvation. I hope that things look up for your animals and you.
It's called "cash flow." As in, perfect storm of late payments, delayed payments, deferred payments, partial payments, and in this immediate case, severe deadline slippage (not on my end) and sudden and drastic dropoff in multiple income streams that would normally have bridged the gap. This happens to freelancers, and is epidemic in publishing, when one may be owed thousands but can't pay this week's grocery bill.
I appreciate your input, and the fact that you care. Please be assured that I am taking measures to prevent further cash-flow crises. That includes advice from those who have access to the full (as opposed to heavily edited public) picture.
The current plan here....isn't a plan. I'm sure that fandom and writerdom, being what they are, will likely raise enough cash to hold you afloat for another few weeks. What then? You'll be right back where you are, without a significant steady income, a farm mortgage you cannot support, and far too many horses to feed.
What I'm saying is, you're in a sinking boat and Indigogo/patreon/subscription are bailing with a teacup.
You're at the point where your animals are in literal danger of starvation and you are still listing supplements in the budget. Honey, that's not accepting home truths. That's saying LA LA LA LA really really loudly.
Anything that is above and beyond the bare minimum of keeping the animals alive is, right now, an optional expense. Glossy coats, reduced joint pain, these are less important than literal starvation. You're down to counting the days until your animals go without food.
Fandom and writerdom is going to come up with at least a few hundred dollars and a few weeks' grace. You need to USE that grace to find your horses permanent, safe homes.
Yes, your horses are old or untrained, and yes, the market is flooded. But you're not actually listing any of your animals up for sale.
Saying to yourself 'nobody would want to buy them/the market is flooded/they don't have enough ribbons, so therefore I won't even bother listing them' is a kind of protective emotional self-talk, a VERY UNDERSTANDABLE one, but it's one your horses cannot afford.
You need to make a list of your animals, their needs, their strengths, their looks, and you need to publicly advertise that you are looking for new homes for them. You need to be making contact with every single rescue, horse farmer, or acquaintance possible.
It's very clear to me that you're not emotionally ready to sell your friends, and I understand that. Unfortunately, the fiscal reality is that you can't afford to wait until you ARE ready.
All too often, people in this position take the small windfalls of cash and use that cash to keep the boat afloat for another week, then another week, and then suddenly there is no more windfall, there is no friend who can afford to pay for your animals' hay, and you're desperate and must find homes Right This Second, because the hay is literally OUT.
I will be blunt: waiting until the very last second is a recipe for euthanasia. I wish I did not have to say that, but that is the truth. On some level, you know this.
You have exhausted the options for a steady income large enough to pay for their care, and therefore, you are faced with a) finding new homes or b) watching your friends starve or c) having a vet humanely euthanize. THESE ARE YOUR OPTIONS.
The more denial forces you to wait and wait and exhaust every resource on keeping up the denial, the more you are inadvertently choosing c).
Don't do this, I'm begging you. For the sake of your horses, let the dream of your farm go.
Use the windalls you receive to arrange quality, safe homes for your friends. If you get, say, five grand from a Indiegogo, don't use that to 'stay afloat' for another two months. Use that money to pay someone to take two horses as pasture puffs, or to pay trailering fees, or to pay advertising money, or to pay a rescue to take them, or (if you still have an intact male) the vet fee to geld him.
Maybe, at first, you'll only find a home for one horse--that will STILL reduce the overall fiscal burden and help the remaining horses to be fed. Maybe the horses will have to go too far away to visit--and that will suck.
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You are already down to the wire here, what with the 'I only have TEN days' worth of feed left', and so for some of the least-desirable horses, you may need to strongly consider euthanasia. You may not be able to find safe homes for ALL of them, and some potential buyers will (realistically) be looking to buy for the Mexico slaughter market. It's going to take time to vet potential homes, which means you HAVE TO start looking now.
Instead of using these signal boosts to put off the inevitable for a handful of days, use them instead to find as many potential homes as you can.
I know that this comment will be painful, but it might be a relief for someone to say, right out loud, "This can't continue. For the welfare of the horses, they need new homes."
I know it may seem cruel, but I feel like it's necessary to say the obvious. A few editing clients aren't going to pay for that many horses' feed, much less vet bills. They're just not. There is no way to write a bestseller, guaranteed, because you would have done that already if you could.
I've been in the unhappy position of rehoming an animal I loved, but could not keep, and it is incredibly painful. But it is LESS painful than euthanizing the animal or having the animal be removed by the humane society.
And maybe, if you are able to sell your current farm, and downsize, you could keep one or two of the horses. I don't know. I hope so. But what I do know is that you're staring down the barrel of ugly options, and I would hate to see inaction/denial force you into the worst of those options.
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Still, I return again and again to the fact that you were financially at the point of less than two weeks' worth of food for your horses. To me, that isn't about fecklessness or not, it's about an approaching catastrophe of starvation. I hope that things look up for your animals and you.
Reply
I appreciate your input, and the fact that you care. Please be assured that I am taking measures to prevent further cash-flow crises. That includes advice from those who have access to the full (as opposed to heavily edited public) picture.
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