Bad day

While yesterday wasn't the worst day ever, it did rank pretty high on the list of days where hardly anything went right.

First, Ken's paycheck didn't come for the second week in a row, so I had to borrow money from a neighbor so I could run to Greenwood to pay my electric bill. After that I went to Marshfield, and on the way the muffler fell off the truck. *sigh* I went to Menards to pick up boards for fence, as lumber was on sale, and couldn't find any good 10 foot lengths so I decided to skip it for now.

I'm on my way to a pretty lovely headache by this point, but I had one more stop to make before I went home. The mall parking lot was crowded for a change, and when I went in I found out why. There was a home improvement 'show' going on, as well as a furniture disbursal sale. I went to Radio Shack to pick up an accessory for my new cell phone and had to wait 20 minutes for their computers to work again. The only good part of the trip to the mall was the 'petting zoo', a small gathering of cages and tubs that contained bunnies, kitties, and brightly colored chicks and ducklings.

Yep, someone decided that green, pink, blue and orange infant poultry was cool. I think they used food coloring, so it didn't hurt them, but it was sort of disturbing, kinda like Peeps come to life.

I finally get home at 4pm, and by now my head is really starting to ache. I turn Never out in the pen, make something to eat, take an Aleve, and try to get some work done. That's about when Ken shows up with his entourage in tow. Now, I like his girlfriend Mia (I think she deserves better, but it's her choice), but her 2 yr old son Cooper is a little hellion that she has trouble reining in. I take Ken to trim some hooves, and all the while Cooper is having fun shrieking at the horses and running around like a maniac with Mia yelling at him to behave.

Ken finishes up and goes to play with Cooper on the swings while Mia and I chat for a bit. They leave after a while, and I decide to take Never for a walk. He's been good, following at a touch and trusting that I won't take him someplace bad.

We walked toward the back of the property, then up to the apple tree. We did a couple of wide circles, then walked down to the pond. All was going well until we startled a pair of ducks, and then all hell broke loose. Never blew up and tried to head for home. I had a tenuous grip on the lead, as the ducks had startled me too, but I held on until I tripped and my glasses flew off my face. Never bolted for the barn, and I was on my hands and knees in a hayfield looking for my glasses. I gave up after a couple of minutes and hiked back to see where my scared gelding ended up. When I got into the yard I yelled for my sister, then saw Never hanging out by the mare pasture gate, quivering and snorting at his lead rope and trying to crawl through the gate. I caught him and quieted him down, then took him to his stall and gave him hay and treats laced with Rescue Remedy. That was when I took stock of my own injuries. No bruises or bumps, but I did lose a full layer of skin off of two fingertips due to rope burn.

My sister doctored my wounds, then we went to look for my glasses. The phrase 'needle in a haystack' come to mind, but trust me, 'glasses in a hayfield' is a much more difficult task, especially when you need them to see any sort of detail. Surprisingly, though, after about a half an hour of crawling around on my hands and knees I found them!

So today is another day, and everything seems a little better. My fingertips are sore, which makes it hard to type, but Never is leading well and doesn't seem to have any injuries from his run. I put him in the pen again, and went to make my own breakfast. While I'm filling a pot with water, I look out the window and see him trot around then stand at attention, looking at something. Then he takes off around the pen, full of snort and blow, then stands alert again. It took me a few minutes before I realized what he was looking at. I had pulled the Halloween yard 'balloons' and other stuff out of the shed so I could organize, and the breeze was moving the brim of a witches hat, which I guess is the scariest thing ever for a 4 yr old Arabian gelding. I put them away, and he calmed down a little.

So now I'm going to go change the dressing on my wounds, and then work on a couple of ideas that I've had. Later this afternoon I'm going to take Never for another walk, but I think I'll go scare the ducks off the pond first!

Never's spa day

Never had re-injured himself about a week and a half ago, but after being on stall rest and bute he seems to be recovering. I have to be careful that he doesn't injure himself again, though. I turned him out in the round pen yesterday, and realized that he had way too much energy and high spirits to be turned out by himself. All of the bucking and kicking and sunfishing that he did would have put a prize bronco to shame! Needless to say I regretted turning him out, even though he didn't seem to have hurt himself again. So today I hand walked him for 15 minutes and let him graze a bit, then we had a nice grooming session.

He really loves the rubber curry with the longer teeth, especially on the really itchy spots like his shoulder and back. He was okay with the hard brush, and while he didn't mind me combing out his mane, he really didn't like me playing with his tail. I discovered that if I scratch the top of his rump with the comb, he'll calm down and let me comb his tail. He also likes having the base of the tail and the tailbone scratched as well.

He's still not comfortable having his feet picked up, but I was able to pick up his front feet and pick them out without a major fight. He danced a bit, but with some work and some consistency I think he'll get the idea. His back feet are going to be a trial, as he dances away and kicks out if you try to pick them up. I'm going to have to work with him more and do more brushing and touching of his tail and hind legs so he gets used to having someone back there.

I'm going to extend his handwalking session by 5 minutes each day, and follow it with a grooming/desensitizing session. I think the exercise and attention will be good for both of us.

Foals

The vet left a while ago, and after sedating, palpating, and ultra-sounding we have the verdict: Hope and Zora are pregnant. *sigh*

I kinda thought Hope might be, as she's been acting moody and looking slightly round. I though Zora was pregnant a month ago, but then thought she wasn't because I thought I saw her in heat. I wasn't even going to have her checked, but I'm glad I did. Dr Esser thinks that Zora might have two weeks, but Hope may go a little longer. I'm going to keep a close eye on her anyway, as maiden mares can really fool you.

The total cost was about $415 for the trip out, the palpations and the Dormosedan, but it's worth it to know for sure who to watch. It looks like I may be going to Rolex by myself, as Jac doesn't trust Ken farther than she can throw him. *S*

Vet visit

Last May, Never (the 3yr old colt I had gelded in December) smashed his pasture gate and got in with the mares. I didn't think he covered anyone, but recently a couple of the mares are looking a little more round than usual. Considering the possible due date would be while I'm at Rolex, and the fact that one of the mares is 25 while the others are maiden mares, I thought it best to know for sure if they are or if I'm just paranoid.

I'm not totally sure which vet will be coming out, but it should be one of the two that I requested. Dr. Johnson is great, he talks to you and explains everything, and doesn't treat you like an idiot. Dr Esser is the new vet, and she seems nice enough, so I'm willing to give her a chance. She's the one that gelded Never, and she fielded my paranoid follow up phone questions with patience and grace. She also tracked down information on spaying mares for me, so she's got bonus points right there.

I'm not sure what result I'm hoping for at this point. I'm sort of half hoping that Emmy (Diadem Fa-Emerald) is pregnant. The plus side would be that she's purebred Arab, so the baby would be purebred. Emmy and Never's pedigrees are both heavy Crabbet and CMK, so that's a plus. And Emmy is the last of her bloodlines, a Royal Diamond granddaughter on her dam's side mixed with Babson and old Egyptian on her sire's side.

The minus side, of course, would be her age (25), and the fact that this would only be her second foal. Her first was born 4 years ago, and she didn't live long. We think she may have been a 'dummy' foal, but she may have had coat color dilution lethal, or lavender foal syndrome. I'm going to send some DNA samples in for a study, I hope it helps find a test like the one for SCID.

The other possibly pregnant mares that I'm having tested are Hope and Faith. Both are acting a little different, I haven't seen either in heat lately, and while Hope is a high percentage Pinto Arabian, Faith is a graying-out brown grade Quarter horse. Both have excellent conformation and any babies would be registrable as Half-Arabs. Problem is, I don't think I have enough room at the inn, so to speak. I have two possible foaling stalls, though if I got creative I could maybe have three. I'll definitely need to make separate pastures so no one gets bullied or chased, but I was going to do that anyway.

So, I don't know how this is going to go. I guess in the end, I'm just hoping for healthy, happy mares. If they have foals, I'll love them no matter what and I'm prepared to keep them forever if need be.