SpprrRRRrrrOioioioing

Today, while climbing a bank out of the hayfield, I sprung my shoe.  It had just been put on nice and tight, but I did a number on it.  Pulled the inside nails out, twisted it clockwise, and stepped back on the toe clip.  There were nails sticking out every whichaway.

Luckily we were not far from home and Brita helped me gimp back to the barn.  There she studied the situation, and wished the camera were in the barn and not the car because the sight was so blog-worthy.  She was more worried about getting it off in a hurry though so no picture.

Lucky for me she has a nice little farrier kit in her trunk and she was able to remove it without further damaging my hoof.  The clip appears to have gone right up the white line and once it was out, my foot felt fine.  She put some sticky stinky stuff in the groove though.  I hope nothing more comes of it since that is the same foot that gave me trouble last summer.

Did you know....

... that there are people who will come to your house and spend hours doing nothing other than rub your sore spots? There ARE. If I had known that, I would have ordered one long ago. Mom and Brita got me a session, and it was a really nice surprise, because as we all know, after the recent events around here, Brita is the one who could really use the back rub.



Brita came to ride a little later than usual, and we did a nice slow warm up. I'm doing so well with my new Dee bit. We're even starting to work on "simple changes" which are not simple at all. It took me 5 and 6 trot strides to realise I was supposed to canter again. But, I'm catching on, and I'm sure it will become more organised soon.



After I was put up and dry, a visitor arrived. Her name was Marnee and she came from Aways-a-way, which is where all good horse professionals seem to come from. Finally an Equine Practitioner who does not pull horse juice, jab me with potentially deadly viruses, or rattle my head with corded power tools. I LIKE her!



She got real familiar real fast. I don't like people messing with the top of my neck. Brita told her she thought I have tempermandibblersomethingorother. Marnee just said I was "out" at my poll, which is not the same as being out of my head. I hope.

She poked and prodded a bit, but she had some real nice smelling stuff...

...And before long I was making a happy face.

Then she rubbed my favorite spots. She said my neck was really tight, especially on this side.

When she got to my shoulders and chest I really got into it.

And I stretched waaaaayyyyy back to loosen the right muscles and get the full benefit.

She also spent time on my back and legs.

My back had some sore spots which made Brita feel bad, but Marnee assured her they weren't so bad that Brita shouldn't sit on them.

After all this rubbing and loosening, I went for a little walk, then Marnee got up on a mounting block and cracked my sackereallyack. You could really hear it pop. We all wonder if now my tail will follow straight behind me.

Afterwards, my friend Face-Off got a massage and adjustment too. He's been REALLY cranky under saddle because he says everything hurts, and not just his feet. After his session, he leaped and jumped around. I think we all feel better tonight. Brita says it was reasonable enough that if this makes us feel this good, we can have to done more regular, and in the mean time, she learned a few places that I need a good rubbing.

Ouch! Again!

I've been on Light Duty again because I have an Owie. I like Light Duty, because it mostly involves lawn mowing. See the Owie on my chest?



It's all sore and swollen and twice the size of the other side. You see Knucklehead across the aisle...




...had the Doctor in to see about his boy parts. And while the Doctor was here, he slipped into my stall and jabbed me. What is it about Doctors? Is it possible for them to visit and NOT poke a needle full of some deadly disease into one of my soft spots?

So, I've been lawn mowing with my fly mask on.



I love my fly mask. It keeps the ear bugs away. In fact, I've been thinking about getting a bonnet to keep them out of my ears when I ride. Something that doesn't cover my face. But anyway, the only downside to the fly mask is that it gives me Hat Head. This isn't a very bad episode of hat head.




Sometimes I look like this....



My lawn is growing. It's starting to green right up. It will still be awhile until I can mow it. But I'm practicing.

Making Waffles

I've been cooking this month ~ and waffles are on the menu. Hair Waffles. I've been so warm in my winter coat. Finally it's coming off in big chunks. We left a trail in the yard of hair waffles when I went out to pick grass. The birds were happy, and started carrying some off.

But wouldn't you know it, some of the nights are still cold. The Doctor came on Friday to get some horse juice, and he also gave me a poke in the neck. It made me feel lousy. I was stiff and sore and grumpy. Mom got out my winter blanket and tucked me in for the cold nights. That made me feel better. But now my blanket is a mess. This is what it looked like even after a good brushing. So Mom is off to the laundromat.

There has been some progress on my pasture. The farmer came back with a different piece of equipment, squeezed through my gate, and fluffed my dirt. I've been very sad that I can't go to the pasture to play. Mom let me out there at first, but I ate great big wads of dirt. It was so easy. I guess she was afraid I would get filled up on wiggly earth worms. But when the Doctor came he took away some poop, and he looked for worms. He said he couldn't find any, earth worms or other kinds either. So I don't have to eat any nasty paste this spring. I think it is much wiser to spend money on poop tests instead of icky paste.

So the back pasture looks like a farm. The farmer guy has been very busy around here, kicking up dust in all the fields. And there were lots of rocks out there in those fields, some nearly as big as my head. A big herd of Mexeecans swarmed through and picked all the rocks. I wonder if they store them in the barn? Rocks don't seem like a very good crop. Even I wouldn't eat a rock.

One Eyed Willy

I owied my left eye. I must have scratched it on my hay bag. It hurts a little, and I can't see very well out of it. Brita squirted some stuff in it and looked real close and said she saw a scratch in there. Mom gave me some medicine. That made me mad. I came all the way into the barn like a good boy because they said they had something for me and then she squirts funny tasting applesauce in my mouth. Bleh.

Brita came back later with some sticky stuff in a tube. She says Dr. Best sent it. My eye does feel a little better. Except for the sticky stuff of course. It isn't all watery and I don't have to squint as much but still, it's no fun. It makes things look funny and then I get nervous. Good thing the sun isn't shining. Then it would be really bad. Owwww..... I feel bad for myself.

Open up and say AHHHHHHHGGGGHHHHH !

So there I was, enjoying my lunch hay bag and a freshly cleaned stall, when this strange pickup truck backed up to the barn door. Hmm, says I, it isn't time for the farrier yet. And that truck doesn't have hay or sawdust in it. I wonder who... OH NO! It's ....drum roll please.... the Tooth Lady!

The Tooth Lady is a very nice lady. She has a much better bedside manner than some of the other people who come in and poke me with stuff. But, she has a LOT of strange, scary equipment. True to form, she began hauling in buckets and bags and things with cords. The things with cords worry me the most.

It appeared for awhile, that the subject of this invasion might not be me after all. But finally she peered into my stall and I knew the gig was up. I was trapped like a rat. Dr. Best is what Mom and Brita refer to as "the Good Vet" which means she listens when they talk, and makes good suggestions for modern health care. However, to me, the suggestions usually boil down to "shall we stick him with one needle or two" and "how much horse juice do we need for our evil experiments?"

Dr. Best (I think they call her that because she's the Best Horse Vet) has a nice website and can do some really fancy and surprising things with her tools. One of those things is tickle my teeth. She also comes from a land far far away, so we don't get to see her all that often, and her visits are a momentous occasion.

She came and said "hello" to me, which is the polite thing to do, and I gave her the hairy eyeball and did some snorting. She put a tape around me and declared I am bigger than last time. She felt my ribs and poked me a little. She and Brita discussed my menu and things like vitamins. Then she juiced me. I hate that part. She took juice out, and put juice in. Then I started to feel all woozy, and the world started to recede a little. Before I knew it, I was all strapped up and my chin was propped up on a chin-stand.

Then the power tools came out. Now at seven years of age, I've seen a lot of tools with power cords. There is the one that makes the bucket of water smoke and hiss like a volcano, there's the one that buzzes and tries to bite my ears, the one that sucks cold air through my coat. And then there's the scariest one of all, the one that makes my head vibrate. Guess which one Dr. Tooth Lady has.

This thing is awful. It tickles my teeth and makes a thunderous noise in there. And here I am, completely incapacitated and unable to defend myself with my butt wedged, unceremoniously in a corner. I was a good patient though. When she turned the tooth shaker off the first time I let out a looong loooooow Snooooorrrrrttttt. And that's all I have to say about that.

Pretty soon it was over, including the nasty little file which I also hate, and the gear came off and Brita tied me to the wall. Actually she's been doing that quite a lot lately. I can't believe she expects me to stand around and do nothing. I used to just back up and leave, and if stuff needed to get broken, then I'd do that too. But she bought some magic ring that just keeps letting rope out until I get tired of backing up, and somehow, I'm still tied. (Editors Note: It's a blocker tie ring, very handy little gadget). Foolishly, she left it hanging on the arena wall and it mysteriously disappeared. Brita says only Ace and I are the possible suspects, but we're not telling what happened to it. Little did we know, she had more than one.

So, she tied me to the wall, and ruined my entire afternoon of munching. I really wanted some hay so I could check that my teeth still work, but they said I couldn't have any until the horse juice wore off. I guess Doctor's and Dentists are a necessary evil. They say an apple a day keeps the Doctor away. If Brita would feed me those instead of carrots, we might not have to go through these little ordeals.

The Good Luck Horse Shoe

You know why finding a horse shoe will bring you good luck right? Because they are expensive, and hard to find when they come off. At least that's what Brita says.

I accidentally took one of my shoes off today. I think it's the first time I've ever done that to a front shoe. I take the back ones off all the time. I just hook them under the edge of a board and pry them off. I can do that before the farrier even gets out of the driveway!

Anyway, my shoes need to be changed. The farrier is coming on Monday. Brita was examining them today and tapping on clinches but she said they all looked like they would stay on. Wrong. I ooops and overstepped in the field pulling off the right front one. We noticed right away, and stopped to pick it up. It doesn't really bother me because I don't have fancy shoes anyway. Brita cut our ride short and made me walk home, which was boring. Really, I was fine. My feet are tough, and I can even walk on gravel barefoot, but she was worried I would feel all out of whack. When we got back, she did a little trimming and rasping on the sharp edge of my toe so I wouldn't crack or chip my hoof.

So, if there are any horses reading this, if your shoe falls off, please remember where it happened so your people can go get it. That will make them very happy. If you have an extra shoe, nail it over your door for luck. You should nail it with the heels up, so the luck won't run out. Or, you can take the other approach, and hang it toe up so the luck spills down on you. Traditionally, it should be hung with 3, 7, or 9 iron nails. This will depend a lot on how many holes your shoe has. And that means there will be empty nail holes. Which seems unlucky to me, because you know every nail is important....

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Strawberry Fields Forever

I discovered the most wonderful new fruit today! Mom took me with her to get the mail out of the box, and on the way back, she stopped at the berry patch. Well I didn't know that was there! Those are wonderful!




Brita stopped by while we were moseying around the yard, and she suggested we have lunch in the trailer again. I helped open it up and looked in all the doors while Mom got my lunch. I hopped right in because I knew there would be lunch in there. But as I was quietly eating my lunch, Mom went around and closed me in. That made me very nervous. My breathing got shallow, and I tensed up. I bounced off the walls a little, but Brita soothed me and reminded me about lunch, so I didn't try to kick my way out. After a bit, the back opened up again. I thought about rushing out, but Mom and Brita reminded me to "whoa" so I composed myself and stood still. Then Brita told me I could get out. She offered to let me finish my lunch there, but I grabbed the bucket and yanked it away. "I think we ought to finish lunch over here. Away from the dangerous Horse Transporter Device."



Afterwards, we went to the barn for some doctoring. My neck still hurts from my shots. I have a big lump there. Brita says it looks like I swallowed a golf ball. Yesterday it looked like I swallowed a baseball, so today was better. Everyone has been very worried, and have been taking my temperature, and putting ice on my neck. I hate ice. Its...well...cold. Yesterday the Doctor even stopped to see me. He said I should be OK. I really don't think the fair is worth this pain in the neck. They have great food there, fried dough, and cotton candy. But, they don't have strawberries!



P.S. It has been raining an awful lot here. I think I may be molding. I don't know, does this look like mold to you?

Under the Weather

I've been feeling rather under the weather for a few days... and my what weather it has been! We got so much rain yesterday that everything flooded except our stalls. Which was a good thing, because I was home sick in mine. You really don't want a wet bed when you're sick.

A few days ago the vet came and gave me one of the shots I need to go to The Fair. It made me feel yucky, and made my neck so stiff and sore I couldn't even reach down to eat grass. I stood outside and chewed wood because that was all I could reach. So Mom put me to bed. Then she gave me another shot. That really upset me because I was already feeling rotten, and she poked me in the other side of my neck!

I went and stood in the corner and stomped my feet. How could she do such a thing? But she was right, the second pokey made me feel a lot better, and I was able to eat hay from my hay net and watch the rain. They say I have to have some more before I'm all up to date and ready to go.

I was feeling much better today, but I had been in bed sick for so many days and waiting for the water to dry up (even in the indoor arena) that my ankles were starting to get stiff and puffy. I hadn't been for a ride since last Monday, but Brita came and took me out on the road, and pretty soon we had worked everything loose again. We went the same way as the day we saw the wildebeasts. I didn't see any today. Brita said they were there so we stopped short. No sense getting everyone all out of sorts on such a nice quiet day. She went back and took a picture of the actual wildebeasts to you could see just how wild and scary they really were.

Here is what they looked like when I first saw them, where I ran the fastest furlong in Saddlebred history.

See this one lurking in the underbrush? She looks very sinister.

I'm sure glad I didn't have to face them again today!

New Shoes

I got new front shoes today. I got new ones behind last time since I go through those faster than the front ones. I was pretty good about it.

Dentists.... again

You may remember that my first ever blog was about my dental checkup. Well, it happened again today. I must admit, I feel much much better today than I did last time. Whatever happy juice they gave my in January really kicked my butt! But, someone took notes (thanks Mom!)and that didn't happen this time. In fact, I remained quite alert through the whole procedure. Which had it's downside too.

They were really quite nice ladies, not the same ones that came before, and they came with a lot of stuff. They put a tape around me and gave me a poke in the neck. I was a little jumpy and snorty, but kept my feet still. It's hard to be rock solid when a strange lady is moving around you with sharp things. You have to be alert because they might not know what they're doing. Then I was led into the crossties where Brita turned me over to the "Nice Doctor". They put a tie down on my head (which was a new experience but OK by me) then they cranked my mouth open and came out with a machine on a cord. You all know how I hate cords. The machine was long and shiny, and it buzzed and whirred. It looked really sharp and painful and had a rotating disc on the end.

I arched my neck and made big snorty noises. The ladies got a little nervous sounding, and made soothing noises. Brita said "don't worry, I vacuum him and clip him, and he's fine." The "Nice Doctor" asked warily "Does he make that noise when you vacuum him?" Yes, he's snorty. "Can you clip his ears?" Then the vote of confidence from my so called friend "You can do anything you want to as long as you're quiet with him." Well thanks a lot. "Anything" covers a lot of ground. They might want to take me apart piece by piece with that little hacksaw. I don't care how quietly they do it, I'm not sticking around for it!

But they sounded reassuring, and they reminded me what a good boy I was, and how handsome, so I let them put the shiny, sharp, buzzing machine in my mouth. It tickled a little, and sounded funky in my head, but it was nowhere near as traumatic as the rasp and file routine I went through last time. I hardly even got tense. Until they started dulling down my eye teeth with a little file. Those are a little sensitive. Still, they said I was an excellent patient and gave me five stars for my great behavior in spite of the sound effects.

It was over soon enough, and they took off all the straps and let me rinse. Then they put my bridle on and made me say "Aaaahhhh" and felt around. They made some adjustments and put their heads together and talked a lot and felt around some more. After the bridle conference, I went back to my stall and got tied to the wall because I'm not supposed to eat until the medicine wears off. But, really, I feel pretty chipper. It was only a minor inconvenience. I don't mind it if they come back now and then.

Oops there goes the hat!

I was very well behaved for the farrier today. Of course, I had my human tapping me on the shoulder with the "persuader" the whole time to remind me to mind my manners. She even suggested I make a formal apology for my poor behavior last time when I kicked at him.
I did pull his stocking cap off. It was an honest mistake. I've been learning to pick up riding gloves when they are dropped, and I got all excited when she was telling him about my schooling, and I grabbed his hat by mistake. He was very understanding and said you really couldn't scold a young man for being so enthusiastic about his studies. I gave him back the hat.

New Year Hewlfth Chckup

Sorry, I can't talk correctly right now. I'm a little sedaytd...sedated. My human has this awful tendancy to address all preventative health maintenance first thing in the new year. A couple of days ago I got a dose of that icky orange worm medicine, and The Vet was just here to do my teeth. I haven't had them done in almost 4 years, when I was a just a youngster and had some wolf teeth knocked out. Now THAT was awful. This was merely unpleasant and the drugs make me knid of woozy. I practically had to be carried back to my stall.
I blame it all on Hairy. He bit his tongue the other day, and has been whining ever since.... spitting his food out, tossing his head around, banging on the walls...My human said she had been trying to coordinate a proper dentist visit for everyone for months, and since Hairy had demonstrated the risk of putting that off, and the tools were out, I'd better have mine done too.
Now she tells me the farrier is also scheduled. But, that's OK. I like playing with that guy. My human was present for my last reset, and she was aghast at my behavior. She said everyone has been letting me behave badly, and she was ashamed of me. She said I would have to learn to stand politely... I'm a little concerned because she schedule the farrier for Saturday when she can be around the barn.