Tuesday, March 3, 2009

A Day in the Life...........Just Another Day.........



To say the days are getting crazy here would be a gross understatement. Between the usual stuff that happens when you have as many horses as I do, the new puppy and parties coming to see horses, life around here seems a bit out of control.

Being sleep deprived has certainly affected all aspects of daily life here. My attention span is shot and trying to guide the new puppy along as I feed horses has turned into a monumental task. I'm pretty sure the horses think I have lost "it." Whatever "it" might be is probably only a question to me, not the horses who are the first to detect abnormalities in their situation.

I swear I dropped more hay on the ground than I got into their stalls. But then maybe that's a good thing. Since I'm not making it to the gym (too tired, of course!) I can use the extra exercise it takes to bend down and retrieve the dropped grass. I may have been slow in feeding but I must have burned extra calories.

Then there is the body clipping horses. It is not my favorite task anyway, but doing it bleary eyed (both the new contacts and no sleep contributed to this condition) with less than optimum blades has turned this itchy job into a slow going nightmare. Today, I got Vee pretty much body clipped........but she broke out in hives and has those dreaded lines thanks to the dull blades. Touch ups when the new blades are definitely in order, but poor Vees hives will NOT appreciate that added aggravation.

Like hives and lines aren't enough, something startled Vee and she pulled back in the cross ties. The puppy started yelping which scared her even more and she reared up and conked her head splitting it across her pole. Blood streamed down her face bleeding like only a head wound can do. In my sleep deprived state this accident was less than appreciated I had sudden flashes of all sorts of outcomes. Thank goodness it is a minor injury and my reaction was purely tricks played by my over worked brain.

While I was body clipping Vee, Richard came picking up a load of horses to work. As if there isn't enough stress in my life already, while taking one of my horses from the arena, Richard slipped in the mud and fell on his you know what...........b*tt, and banged his tailbone a good one. That was the end of Richard's day working horses. How long the effects of this injury will last, I don't know. When I last saw Richard he was heading off to the doctor's for a visit........hoping to get a prescription for pain killers.

I finished off the afternoon taking the two yearlings to the vet to have their teeth floated. I know that many people think it's not necessary to float the teeth of youngsters. I'd be the first to tell you, that's definitely not the case.
My two youngsters today are proof of that. Both had sharp hooks and sores on the inside of their mouths from these edges. One had formed ramps that will require follow up care. The other had points sharp as a razor. By the time these teeth fall out, the changes the horses make in chewing to compensate for the pain could cause issues with the incoming permanent teeth if the issues were not rectified. I always check my yearlings teeth and about half of them require some kind of care.

As soon as I got home from the vet, it was time to change clothes so I could make the Daffodil Arabian Horse Assc. board meeting. The first Tuesday of every month always seems to come around much faster than I expect but I try to make these meetings to stay on top of what's happening in my club and the industry in general. You never know what you might learn at one of these meetings. Tonight was no exceptions.........details will follow when I have more specific information.

For a brief puppy report, she did better last night. Dave took her outside a few times during the night but each time she went back to sleep pretty well. Only when he left to look for a job this morning did the puppy begin to howl. Then I think she howled most of the day if anyone got out of her sight. She's definitely missing her mom and litter mates.

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9 comments:

  1. What is the name of the foal rearing? Lovely picture! Looks just like our little Kalahari whenever she has excess energy and wants to show the world what a powerful little individual she is!

    Warm greetings from Ishtar's Ark!
    Esther

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  2. Sure hope you are able to get some sleep soon. I am not a nice person when I am overly tired. I try, but I just can't function like that anymore. And I'd lend you my brand new clippers if I were a neighbor :-)

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  3. Such a day!
    Why did Vee get hives? I've known Arabs who tend to get them from hay. Some allergy.

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  4. Hives! ACK! Hope she feels better soon!

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  5. To answer Esther's question, the foal, the filly in that picture, is the mare in this story. It's Vee.

    It's Vee rearing in the picture. And it's Vee in the story.

    Now that I have answered that question, I have a question of my own I hope gets answered.

    Now I have heard of yearlings and two year olds getting wolf teeth and needing floating and what not.. and it's definitely good to be able to get that done for the horses in our lives of any age. My question is.. what happens to the yearlings and youngsters in the wild? like the wild mustangs when their teeth get razor sharp like that, does it kill them, do the youngsters in the wild die? from the razor sharp teeth causing damage to the inside of their mouth? I definitely believe that horses in captivity, their lives are longer. We can make their lives longer and better when we take good care of them.

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  6. yikes. you get more done on a daily basis then I do in a week I think. Sorry to hear about those hives.

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  7. Geez, what a bummer day. Hope you are able to get some sleep soon.

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  8. Aw man - hopefully all the gremlins are worked out! I'm not good running on too little sleep, either.

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  9. We need to get Dancer, our Arabian, to the vet to get his teeth checked. Not sure if it is a floppy lip or teeth that is making him drop food. I make his feed moist and he does not drop it.
    Precious had her teeth pulled and Crystal never needs her teeth done. We have the vet check them every year.

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