Horsey update

I know my posts have been few and far between here lately, but thanks to those of you who keep checking back to see if I've had anything new to babble about.

Let me start by saying that I'm sick and it's all Glenn's fault. Monday he came home feeling feverish and lethargic. Tuesday he came home to tell me he'd been throwing up all day. Tuesday night he spent the night jumping out of bed every so often to vomit. Luckily, he has no hair to hold up so my assistance was not required and I was able to sleep through most of the night. Selfish of me, I know. But I'll get over it. Yesterday morning he was whining and moaning about how bad he felt and how little sleep he'd gotten so he called in sick to work and didn't make it out of bed until 10AM. I worked yesterday, but had that mild sore throat and slightly swollen glands that usually indicate a sinus infection is on the way. So I spent the day telling April there was no way I was going to get that sick because I rarely get that sick. I don't catch colds or get the flu. Ever. If it's not allergies, a sinus infection, or mild food poisoning, I don't get it.

I got it.

This morning I woke up to a fever, nausea, crusted over eyelids, and a throat that was begging for some ice cream. But I'm not stuffed up and don't have a sinus headache. ARGH. I can't afford to get sick! Not me! There's too much to do!

I did call in sick today, though. There's simply no way I was going to be on a phone call with a client and have to put them on hold to go dry heave into the toilet. Not to mention that I sound like a frog. So today was going to be a nice relaxing day spent under 10 blankets with chicken soup on my lap and a movie on the TV. About 20 minutes into relaxing I remembered that I'm one of those people that can't sleep when they're sick. I have a hard time even sitting still. I was so miserable that the last thing I wanted to do was sit here and be miserable. So I got dressed and bundled up in warm clothing, then moseyed my way up to the barn with the dogs. The plan was to play with Jewel and get all those burrs out of her hair. Groom up Tabby and maybe lunge her with a saddle on. Groom Indy and Manny and work with Radar.

By the time I made it to the barn I was hacking up a lung, my head was pounding from all the coughing, and I had about enough energy to undo the gate latch on the barn, pull down a bale of hay and sit down on it. And there I sat for about 30 minutes trying to catch my breath and stop coughing, while shedding off my layers because I was feverish and hot and even though I knew better -- I wanted to cool off NOW. Once the coughing stopped and I got chilled, I put the clothes back on, threw out a few bales of hay for all the horses that were standing at the barn gate staring at me this whole time, then remembered I had hung the camera around my neck before leaving the house. I guess if I can't groom or lunge anyone, I could certainly snap a few pictures.

Par for the course, when I turned on the camera the low battery light blinked at me. But I did manage to get a few pictures of some horses that you haven't seen in awhile. Some are still not nearly as fat as I'd like to see them, but that's mostly my fault. When they first came here I had wormed them with Zimectrin, not knowing that the other rescue never rotated off of Zimectrin. That's just what my deworming rotation was at, so that's what I used. When horses started dropping weight, I wormed with Strongid in late August. Most picked up a little weight, then started dropping again after a couple of weeks. In September I wormed with Panacur and the same thing happened. They'd pick up a little weight, then drop it again. Most coats were still coarse and dull and I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out what was going on. They were getting good quality hay and grain twice a day, some three times a day. What was going on? Why weren't they putting on weight?

At the end of September I saw an ad for Strongid C, which is a pelleted wormer that you put in the feed on a daily basis, rather than a paste wormer that you give every few months. I remembered that a barn I used to for work years ago fed Strongid C to all of their horses, and everyone of them was sleek, shiny, and a healthy weight. The next day I ran to Tractor Supply and picked up a 25lb tub. Now I'm on my fifth tub (with 16-19 horses it doesn't even last a week!) and am FINALLY starting to see some results!

Tabby's coat was sun burnt and coarse when she arrived, and her stomach was tucked up like she'd just come off the track instead of out of the broodmare barn. I'd still like another 100lbs or so on her, but I think a lot of that is going to come as muscle when she starts working several times a week.



Emilee and her mom came out last night to spend time with Meghan. Mikayla couldn't make it since she was babysitting, but I brought Tabby into the barn anyway for some grooming. Emilee's mom combed her mane and brushed her down while Tabby stood perfectly still with her bottom lip drooping and eyes closing. When mom went to comb her forelock, Tabby rested her nose on mom's arm and closed her eyes. I think this will end up being a match made in heaven for both of these mares!

This conformationally fugly little guy is Radar. We believe this is the father to Meghan's foal. Please just cross your fingers that the foal takes after Meghan!



At least he's going through a growth spurt. The rest of his body needs to catch up with that hammerhead of his!


Tabby's sister, Megalia. Meg was another one that was tucked up when she got here. In fact, the whole family was like that. And like mother like daughters, they have all proven tough to put weight on. Meg is finally coming along, but I don't think those ribs will disappear with just fat -- I think it's going to take some muscle too. The problem is the mechanical lameness in Meg's right hip. She may never be ridable. I'm giving her the winter off and we'll see how she is in the Spring.




Last but not least, Indy. Indy has taken the longest to recover from the worm load that he had. But his coat is finally starting to shine, his dry skin is getting better, and the belly is filling out. I'd like to see another 150-200 pounds on him by Spring. He still has no topline, but at least his feet are looking a lot better. His heels are under run and his toes are still a little too long, but it's been a long slow process trying to trim them back without making him bleed.




I didn't get any pictures of Dolly, the 30 year old STB and mother to Meg, Tabby, and Classy. She was in the barn eating when the camera battery died. Like the others, Dolly's coat is starting to shine and she's been acting perkier and more affectionate lately. But she still isn't putting on a lot of weight. She's got a bit of a belly to her, but there's still no topline and the rump and chest are still scrawny. I'm feeding her 4 qts of soaked senior feed with rice bran three times a day and she's cleaning up every last ounce. She's also getting as much hay as she can eat. She's not losing weight, but she's certainly not gaining any either. The other day when I was grooming her I found a lump on her neck. I thought at first it might just be a knot of muscle, but the knot is squishy and caused her discomfort when I pushed on it.

Melanoma? Cyst? Cancer??? The thought had crossed my mind earlier in the year because she wasn't putting on weight, but I dismissed the idea when I put everyone on Strongid C and they started to finally pick up weight. I figured she'd do the same. I'd really like to get a vet out here to take a look at her, I just wish I could find one! There's supposed to be a new vet setting up shop about 45 min away, but his building isn't built yet so he's a mobile vet for now. Anne is on the case for me trying to get his number since he's the son of her dentist (you gotta love small towns!).

I think I'm done. Time to go curl back up in bed and whine to the dogs about how miserable I feel.