Some days it is hard to know what to say. I should be uplifting.....I should be positive......I should be.........should be.....but the blog , no matter what, is real, heartfelt......probably opinionated....... I make no excuses.....I am passionate about what I do.
Somedays it is very emotional around the barn..........you have a "hovering" horse......hovering between life and death.........push comes to shove.........you do what you can and you hope for the best. You hate to lose them........you hate for them to suffer. You wonder if you are doing the right thing, the wrong thing...........you wonder a million times and then again. There is a saying somewhere........."If wishes were horses, beggars would ride"......I could add lines to it I swear.
Thank you all for pulling for Jake. He is well loved by lots of folks. I do not know if he will make it. It is touch and go...the critical time for him. I want him to make it, but I am not sure if he has the will. He is tired and his body is weak. His hind limbs drag and he has trouble lifting them easily........and it is very hard to get up once he lays down....such a struggle. Such a shame....he deserves better. Humans really failed him and yet he still looks to us for a kind hand.
He did get up this morning and then he ate.......then he napped in his stall. We changed his blanket and gave him more hay.......gave him some warm beet pulp.............then some bran. He is still pooping good. His stomach constantly gurgles.........he probably has belly pain. Horses, when starving eat all sorts of junk...........wood, rocks.........anything to soothe the hunger. ...and unfortnately, rocks, wood.........all wreak havoc on the delicate digestive system.
So as of tonight our dear Jake is still hanging in there. Say a prayer for him that he may rest easy.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Update on Sunday morning
Jake is not doing well this morning. He has been laying down intermittently and is unwilling to get up. He does not seem colicky, perhaps just tired....but still concerning. I spent the morning with him, he layed very still and closed his eyes and I thought he would go quietly. I rubbed his ears and asked him if he was going to leave us so soon and told him it was okay. He opened his eyes and groaned, then shut them again. I knelt with him a while and then went back to the barn to call the vet for the seemingly inevitable. Tears and anger.
I came back with the phone and Jake got up. He came back into the barn and nosed his hay and then started picking through it. I put the phone back and hung out a while longer while he commenced eating.
He could be tired........his guts could hurt.......he could have liver damage or a host of other complaints.
I came home to shower and then will go back.
I will make a very hard decision for us if he is laying flat out in the mud again.
Some days you have to look hard for the good and to find a reason why it is all worth it.
I came back with the phone and Jake got up. He came back into the barn and nosed his hay and then started picking through it. I put the phone back and hung out a while longer while he commenced eating.
He could be tired........his guts could hurt.......he could have liver damage or a host of other complaints.
I came home to shower and then will go back.
I will make a very hard decision for us if he is laying flat out in the mud again.
Some days you have to look hard for the good and to find a reason why it is all worth it.
Sunday morning
My sleep in morning...Sunday. The house is quiet, coffee is brewing, the dogs have been out. I will take a few minutes to blog and then off to the races.
Yesterday we got all paddocks cleaned, stalls cleaned and hay picked up.
We met a new friend......nice to meet you Erin! Erin gave us some pointers on paddock maintenance, rain run off and the conservation district. Thank you for that!
Kim and I went down to see Sully and he is doing great with Lauren and Sandy. He rides in the big arena like a little trooper, behaves himself and well, he is still a little lazy but better lazy than too hyper. Thank you Lauren, Sandy and Mindy .......what a help you are! We hope Sully will find a home soon....Sandy.
On the way back home we stopped at Home Depot and got a gate opener/closer, as well as the fittings for the water heater and a new hose. Tonight we should have hot water and a security gate.
My own horse, Winston goes to training this week with my friend Beth. I am sure Winston has no idea. I was trying to explain his stall behavior around feeding time and I think I made him out to be a monster. Well,the behavior is not nice....that is for sure....but maybe he is not a monster. He is always hungry and adamant that you feed him....like RIGHT NOW. He needs better coaching and some work. Yep, here comes the work Winston....Beth is calling your name!
Darlene and I gave Jake a bath on his backside and down his legs. He had some diarrhea and so we scrubbed him clean. We also combed his mane and gently massaged his hair loose around his hips and belly....he is looking better....we all agreed on that. He ate good yesterday and wanted his grain plus more. He is afraid of Winston and I can't blame him for that.......Winston is right next to him and so Jake has a first class view of the tantrums prior to meal time. He probably has never seen anything like that in his life.
The filly is losing her baby teeth. She looks like a first grader........one big gap in the front and then she has one buck tooth that is going to come out. We found the lost tooth in the water tank. We discussed putting it under her hay pile for the Equine Tooth fairy.......but in the end we kept it as a keep sake....I hope I can find the other one when it comes out. She is getting very tall and lovely......this spring she will make a nice project for someone......but the girl has a temper... The fence was off yesterday and so she was leaning on it, twanging it with her mouth and generally thinking about walking through it........so we found the problem and then turned it back on........voila.........shock..........she was MAD. She got shocked, turned and kicked, shook her head, turned and kicked some more.........ran off, came back and kicked at Beaver and the fence. I guess the kick at Beaver was in case he had anything to do with the nasty shock.
Well, chores are calling my name......so I am off to the barn.
Pony Up fortune for today..........
Your quiet will be shattered by a loud interruption.
Yesterday we got all paddocks cleaned, stalls cleaned and hay picked up.
We met a new friend......nice to meet you Erin! Erin gave us some pointers on paddock maintenance, rain run off and the conservation district. Thank you for that!
Kim and I went down to see Sully and he is doing great with Lauren and Sandy. He rides in the big arena like a little trooper, behaves himself and well, he is still a little lazy but better lazy than too hyper. Thank you Lauren, Sandy and Mindy .......what a help you are! We hope Sully will find a home soon....Sandy.
On the way back home we stopped at Home Depot and got a gate opener/closer, as well as the fittings for the water heater and a new hose. Tonight we should have hot water and a security gate.
My own horse, Winston goes to training this week with my friend Beth. I am sure Winston has no idea. I was trying to explain his stall behavior around feeding time and I think I made him out to be a monster. Well,the behavior is not nice....that is for sure....but maybe he is not a monster. He is always hungry and adamant that you feed him....like RIGHT NOW. He needs better coaching and some work. Yep, here comes the work Winston....Beth is calling your name!
Darlene and I gave Jake a bath on his backside and down his legs. He had some diarrhea and so we scrubbed him clean. We also combed his mane and gently massaged his hair loose around his hips and belly....he is looking better....we all agreed on that. He ate good yesterday and wanted his grain plus more. He is afraid of Winston and I can't blame him for that.......Winston is right next to him and so Jake has a first class view of the tantrums prior to meal time. He probably has never seen anything like that in his life.
The filly is losing her baby teeth. She looks like a first grader........one big gap in the front and then she has one buck tooth that is going to come out. We found the lost tooth in the water tank. We discussed putting it under her hay pile for the Equine Tooth fairy.......but in the end we kept it as a keep sake....I hope I can find the other one when it comes out. She is getting very tall and lovely......this spring she will make a nice project for someone......but the girl has a temper... The fence was off yesterday and so she was leaning on it, twanging it with her mouth and generally thinking about walking through it........so we found the problem and then turned it back on........voila.........shock..........she was MAD. She got shocked, turned and kicked, shook her head, turned and kicked some more.........ran off, came back and kicked at Beaver and the fence. I guess the kick at Beaver was in case he had anything to do with the nasty shock.
Well, chores are calling my name......so I am off to the barn.
Pony Up fortune for today..........
Your quiet will be shattered by a loud interruption.
Friday, January 1, 2010
New Years Day
I slept in.....for a while anyway. I got up at 6 and let the dogs out......then went back to sleep with a hot pack on my shoulder. It was pouring rain and by the time I really got up and going there was wind too.
I didn't listen to the radio this morning. I ate toast as I drove. I don't eat much bread and toast is a treat for me......I had it with home made peach jelly.......someone made it for us for Christmas.
I put a hat on and get to work. I survey the farm and think it will take me forever to get chores done. Mud........manure.......discarded hay....a rainy, soggy mess. So I just get to it. I throw hay and then clean Jake's stall. He smells bad still. I mean he smells worse than any horse I have ever smelled. I even lift his blanket up to see if I can understand why he smells so bad. I see nothing.
Then I clean Winston's paddock, then Vinnie's and then Ollie and Max. I am sweaty. They are unappreciative and grope me for treats. The wind is howling and lifting the corners of the metal roofing, making loud noises.
I go back to prepare the "hot" meal of grain. Winston has turned into a monster about grain. He kicks the wall, he bites the wall and lunges against his door and then kicks the wall some more. He scares Jake. I yell at him to stop....but he continues and so YES< I cave in, in order to get some peace and quiet.......I give him his grain first. I am thinking of locking him out of his stall.
I give Jake his grain slop and he begins to eat it with gusto. He did not clean up all of his hay from last night, but then I gave him a lot......maybe he doesn't need to eat as much as I am giving him now....I am not sure. I try to keep hay in front of him 24 hours a day. Usually by the time I get back to the barn, he has eaten most of it....I think I am feeding him four flakes in the morning and three at night....plus whatever volunteers feed him when they check on him....we only carefully control his grain/beetpulp/bran intake.......hay is whatever he can put away. Plus he can have apples, carrots, horse cookies as wanted.
Everyone else gets grain and then I go back to work on paddocks. TarBaby's stall needs stripping.......Beaver's is clean and picked clean of all hay.......the filly has a relatively clean stall.
The rain continues to pour and the water drips off of my hat brim.
I have no big plans today.......clean the house a little......take a nap......some time for myself.
2009 is gone and we have said goodbye to Junah, Simon, Hammie and Bunny. It hurts to think of loving and losing them but we know they are not suffering any longer, nor did they have to make a trip on the slaughter bus. RIP and know you were loved for a little while.
Enjoy your weekend......stay dry.
Pony Up fortune for tomorrow:
Your heart knows the truth.
I didn't listen to the radio this morning. I ate toast as I drove. I don't eat much bread and toast is a treat for me......I had it with home made peach jelly.......someone made it for us for Christmas.
I put a hat on and get to work. I survey the farm and think it will take me forever to get chores done. Mud........manure.......discarded hay....a rainy, soggy mess. So I just get to it. I throw hay and then clean Jake's stall. He smells bad still. I mean he smells worse than any horse I have ever smelled. I even lift his blanket up to see if I can understand why he smells so bad. I see nothing.
Then I clean Winston's paddock, then Vinnie's and then Ollie and Max. I am sweaty. They are unappreciative and grope me for treats. The wind is howling and lifting the corners of the metal roofing, making loud noises.
I go back to prepare the "hot" meal of grain. Winston has turned into a monster about grain. He kicks the wall, he bites the wall and lunges against his door and then kicks the wall some more. He scares Jake. I yell at him to stop....but he continues and so YES< I cave in, in order to get some peace and quiet.......I give him his grain first. I am thinking of locking him out of his stall.
I give Jake his grain slop and he begins to eat it with gusto. He did not clean up all of his hay from last night, but then I gave him a lot......maybe he doesn't need to eat as much as I am giving him now....I am not sure. I try to keep hay in front of him 24 hours a day. Usually by the time I get back to the barn, he has eaten most of it....I think I am feeding him four flakes in the morning and three at night....plus whatever volunteers feed him when they check on him....we only carefully control his grain/beetpulp/bran intake.......hay is whatever he can put away. Plus he can have apples, carrots, horse cookies as wanted.
Everyone else gets grain and then I go back to work on paddocks. TarBaby's stall needs stripping.......Beaver's is clean and picked clean of all hay.......the filly has a relatively clean stall.
The rain continues to pour and the water drips off of my hat brim.
I have no big plans today.......clean the house a little......take a nap......some time for myself.
2009 is gone and we have said goodbye to Junah, Simon, Hammie and Bunny. It hurts to think of loving and losing them but we know they are not suffering any longer, nor did they have to make a trip on the slaughter bus. RIP and know you were loved for a little while.
Enjoy your weekend......stay dry.
Pony Up fortune for tomorrow:
Your heart knows the truth.
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