Frost Photos
After days of drizzling rain that left everything soaking wet, the overnight temperatures dropped solidly below freezing, creating a variety of frosty and frozen surfaces. I used my phone camera to capture a few on our morning walk to feed the horses.
Abscess Confirmed
The guessing about what has hobbled Mix is over. Tom from This Old Horse came by last night to unwrap the poultice and assess her hoof. We confirmed the suspicion of an abscess, as the infection has erupted from the hard outer layer of her hoof in two places.
That relieves the extreme pain from the pressure that builds up as the infection festers. Mix is showing some of that relief with a return of her usual spunkiness, but she is not completely pain-free yet. We are still giving her something for pain, but now we have added an antibiotic as well.
She is not fond of the taste, even though Cyndie tries to mask it with applesauce. When Mix was practically unable to move from the pain, it was easy to restrain her and push the medication concoction into her mouth with a syringe.
This morning, Cyndie needed to follow Mix around the paddock to even get a halter on her because the mare knew what was coming and wasn’t in the mood. She still limps, but it is good to see her able to walk away faster than Cyndie could contain her.
We’ve got the gates arranged so that Mix is isolated from Light and Swings, but Light was concerned about Cyndie making Mix walk around and interrupted her eating to come stick her head over the fence nearby to supervise.
That is a sign of Light presenting leadership behaviors, which pleases us. I’m really looking forward to Mix healing enough to have the three of the mares return to a comfortable routine. We have yet to have a chance to enjoy them as a herd of three in the time since Mia was adopted by our friend, Michelle.
Soon, we hope to pay a visit to see Mia and her gelding herd-mates in their new home location.
Meanwhile, our silent mantra is “Abscess be gone!”
Yesterday’s Walk
All the rain we have slowly received over multiple days has thoroughly saturated the ground. One thing that results from that deep moisture is that standing dead trees start falling over.
That new widow maker is a long-dead ash that has a significant crown of branches that are now tangled with, and bending over, a large number of tall young trees with skinny trunks. It’ll be there for a while. Luckily, it is not leaning over any of our trails.
Farther along our walk yesterday morning, we came to another toppled dead tree that had made it all the way to the ground. It barely stuck out into the pathway. When I reached down to see if I could move it at all, it snapped off easily, allowing me to toss it out of the way of foot traffic.
That walk with Asher to discover those fallen trees took a while to get underway because he did not want to leave the wood shed.
He knows there is a critter living in those stacks and was doing his jolly best to unstack the wood to get after it. I had no problem giving him the freedom to mess things up under there, since much of that will soon get hauled to a rack on the deck for easy reach during the winter months.
He was never going to reach his prey since there were two more stacks beyond what he was picking through, so I eventually needed to convince him we could probably find easier pickings elsewhere.
There isn’t much change to report on Mix’s condition. She doesn’t seem any worse, and in fact gave us the impression she may even be feeling a little better. That may be a result of the fact that we isolated her from Light and Swings again because Swings wasn’t giving Mix the proper respect we felt she deserved.
Free of any harassment, Mix could relax a little more and take full advantage of all the conveniences Cyndie has provided, making sure there is plenty of food and water easily reachable without needing to take any extra steps.
Sloppy Wet
With the possibility of our first solid frost showing up within the 10-day forecast, we decided we shouldn’t put off final winterizing steps any longer. Cyndie and I kept a stiff upper lip while tackling the multiple remaining tasks on a dreary, wet afternoon yesterday.
I blew out the underground waterline that runs from the house down to the labyrinth garden. Cyndie did a final cleanup of her produce garden. She wrapped the two decorative evergreens in the labyrinth with burlap. I pulled the pump and filter from our landscape pond. We covered the pond with netting to catch falling leaves. Cyndie drained the rain barrel. I rolled up our last garden hose.
All these steps have been put off until now because the weather has been remarkably warm. It perfectly suited my tendency for procrastination.
With our work gloves wet from working in the constant drizzle, we headed down to the barn to feed the horses. Cyndie again held feed buckets for Mix since the mare still avoids walking as much as possible.
Mix had been standing in the sloppy muck long enough that we decided to force her to move to dry ground under the overhang. Getting her moving required Cyndie urging her from behind while I pulled from in front.
When Mix took her stuttering, limping steps, she stomped a foot in the muck each time, squirting the slop all over my pants.
We tried brushing the mud off, but there was still enough stuck to the fabric that I didn’t want to run it through our washing machine. Too bad we just coiled up the last hose.
I decided to leave them out in the rain for a pre-rinse before we put them in our machine.
The coloring on that boulder outside our front door made for a funky image with the tan pants.
Speaking of color, HOW ‘BOUT THAT BLUE TSUNAMI?!!
Two years, we’ve been waiting to do that. No one I know has admitted to me that they support the racist energy stinking up the Republican agenda under this current administration, but of the people who do support it that I’ve seen and heard about, I find it hard to believe they may have suddenly changed their allegiance. That suggests to me the swing of votes to this significant degree probably means people who didn’t vote in the past must have finally shown up.
Regardless of how it happened, the pendulum is swinging back in a more loving direction. There is a LOT of work in front of the newly elected Democrats. All of us who love the possibilities need to be patient and hope for the best, and demand the best from our representatives.
It took a while to sink as low as this country has, so it will take a while to repair all the damage that has been done. Among many other things, I’m looking forward to a time when our neighbor to the north, the people of Canada, will have found a way to forgive the US for every negative thing that has happened between our two countries since the current administration came to power after the 2024 election.
Here’s hoping the work ahead of us won’t be as sloppy as the messy surface Cyndie and I are coping with in our paddocks.
Hoof Poultice
Soaking rain showers have turned the paddock sloppy and the footing slippery, which is a little hair-raising for a limpy horse and her caregivers. Cyndie let me linger in bed while she did morning chores because she’d be gone all day and late into the evening, fulfilling her role as an election official.
She left me to keep a close eye on Mix.
Turned out that Mix was keeping a close eye on me.
I was happy to receive a message from our TOH (This Old Horse) handler, Maddy, that she would be stopping by to see what she could do for Mix. The first thing we noticed was that Mix was sweating beneath her rain cover. With temperatures in the 60s (F), Mix preferred standing in the rain to cool off.
Maddy was able to coerce Mix to move to a dry spot under the overhang where she was able to clean the hoof on the problem leg, pack it with a poultice, wrap it tightly, and then cover it with a boot.
Mix stood patiently for the entire procedure –she’s not inclined to move much in her current condition– and never reacted as if anything was causing acute pain. That’s all well and good, but it continues to leave us guessing about what the root cause is of her favoring that leg so much.
We are expecting a couple more days of wet weather before the ground will get a chance to start drying out. We are hoping the boot will survive the mud and muck through it all. It needs to come off in a couple of days to keep the hoof from getting too soft, so that foot will hopefully be ready for inspection by the farrier, who is scheduled to arrive in five days.
Our fingers are crossed with hopes for a full recovery to get our newly reduced-size herd on the way to settling into a new normal for a while. With so many funky accommodations being made for Mix and her highly noticeable lack of mobility, Swings and Light are coping but must be a little confused about what’s been going on.
It has crossed my mind that this might all be a convenient distraction that softens any potential shock over the sudden departure of one of their herdmates. In case there would have been any.
Feeling Frustration
Color me frustrated. I have patience with a lot of tasks, but for some reason, I’m finding no patience for learning how to take advantage of WordPress features to customize a theme to suit me. I’ve watched videos, I’ve read “How-To”s, and I’ve asked questions of their chatbot. So far, I have selected two possible new block themes and made an attempt to modify each to my liking.
One big thing that bothers me is the heavy selling by WordPress that block editing makes things easier and gives me the ability to make my blog look just the way I want it to. Sure, I don’t need to write code to get what I’m after, but I do need to figure out what all their icons mean and learn where the tangled thread of rabbit holes takes me, what certain edits change, and also what they don’t.
In one attempt, I tried editing an existing header on a theme to something I’d want for my blog.
It offered only two font choices for the title. That’s not much for allowing me to make it look just the way I want. If it is possible to get more, I am missing something.
Another thing that is bothering me is that the only way to save the experimental edits I am making is to “Activate” the theme. I can immediately switch back to the “classic” theme I’ve been using for 17 years, but I’d prefer not to have my unfinished mock-up show up even temporarily until it’s ready for prime time.
While I’m on the subject of being baffled (by software), let me just say that we have yet to positively identify what the problem is with Mix’s right front leg/hoof. She continues to be hobbled by it to such a degree that she didn’t want to make the effort to get out of the rain yesterday.
Cyndie has been doing everything she can to make Mix’s life a little easier, including bringing food and water directly to her so Mix doesn’t have to take more steps than necessary.
We expect someone from This Old Horse to visit today to check on Mix and bring us more supplies to help manage her care. As frustrating as this leg issue has been, we are greatly relieved for now to have ended the threat of colic. By making sure she is drinking enough water, Mix’s digestion has completely normalized.
We are hoping for similar success soon with soothing whatever is going on in her leg.
Natural Colors
Now for something serene to help distract us all from the inundation of political propaganda coming from all parties that has been attacking our sensibilities at an accelerated pace via snail mail, phone calls, texts, and emails. I bet my email inbox has been receiving, on average, 10-15 every couple of hours.
That blue-green fungus stood out as looking rather unnatural when I came upon it. That was a first for me.
The flower was about the size of a dime. Remember dimes? Back when we handled coins in most purchases? That cute little blossom stood out all by itself amongst ground cover growing in the small paddock at the end of October. Almost as if we were still in the middle of our growing season.
Maybe we are. It’s getting hard to tell anymore. Our neighbor was out mowing grass yesterday afternoon. Despite my hoping otherwise, our grass has grown enough to deserve cutting again, but I am trying to hold off.
The last photo represents my desire to look up. I let the focus grab the bark, which makes the leaves look farther away, even higher in the sky than they really are.
Enjoy these photos as a break from the propaganda on the last day before the election, then be sure to get to your polling place tomorrow and VOTE!
Slow Improvement
Progress is slow, but at least it’s progress in a direction of improvement. Saturday morning, as I was about to serve feed to the three horses, Cyndie showed up to help after flying to Minneapolis from Chicago at around midnight, sleeping about 4 hours at her friend’s home, and driving for an hour to Wintervale.
Mix has been receiving pain medication and was served a salty soup of mostly water and a little of her senior feed. I was feeling upbeat about her progress; however, a short time later, we found her lying down in the small paddock.
Normally, the horses lie down to nap in a deep sleep for 5-10 minutes at a time, but they will get up if someone comes close. Mix showed no interest in getting up, similar to the way I found her out in the hay field Friday morning. Even though Cyndie and I showed up to encourage Mix, and Light came over to persuade her, Mix stayed on the ground for at least 45 minutes.
We feared the worst again. Patience is helpful in times like this, as I am learning once more. When Mix was finally ready to stand up, she gave the appearance that the rest had done her good. The front leg that seems to be the primary source of her pain does not present a visible problem in the hoof, but her knee looks pretty swollen.
The time on the ground had reduced the swelling, and she was showing good interest in eating.
We were happy to find Mix upright this morning, but she didn’t want to do much walking. It’s funny that she makes the huge effort to limp her way toward the feed station, but then stops one step short and strains her neck to reach.
Cyndie gladly rearranges things to make things as easy as possible.
I suggested she try some energy healing on Mix’s knee, and Mix seemed more than happy to let her. Cyndie has also been focusing on the hoof, but there is no evidence of an abscess yet, beyond a little warmth felt externally.
We are making extra effort to keep Mix drinking because we fear the sore leg is keeping her from walking to the waterer, which triggers the problems with digestion from dehydration.
It will be nice to get her past this leg/hoof problem so we can see the 3-horse herd normalize in adjustment to the departure of Mia. Last night, when it was time for another dose of pain medication, we found all three horses out in the far end of the hay field, so there are hints of normalcy emerging.
I just need to remain patient and remember that healing will happen slowly.
Mia’s Day
It was supposed to simply be the day that Mia got adopted, but it turned out to be more complicated than we ever imagined. First off, Asher disappeared on me as we were making our way through the woods. I probably could have tracked him down, but I got distracted by this sight when I emerged from the trees:
That white smudge in the distance is Mix. She had been unusually gimpy the day before, but I was hoping she would be okay until people showed up to load Mia and they could assess the extent of Mix’s problem.
I cut straight across the back pasture, and Mix didn’t get up like they usually do when we approach.
This was bad. I called Cyndie in Chicago, and we both contacted Tom and Maddy of This Old Horse and the veterinarian, Toby. Mia came out to check on Mix, and the sprawled mare mustered a short nicker in response.
Eventually, Mix sat up, but then she laid back down and closed her eyes. I feared it was the end, but you never know with horses. When Toby and his assistant, Rachel, arrived, Mix stood up. Rachel put a halter on Mix, and they walked her back to the small paddock.
Toby pointed out that older mares can be incredibly stoic and avoid showing how much pain they are in, but their heart rate can’t hide it. Mix’s was twice what it normally should be. They sedated her and “tubed” her through a nostril to pump in water. Before Toby got to the arm-length glove to check the back end of the digestive system, I got distracted by barking from a neighboring property.
They assured me they had Mix under control and sent me off to find Asher. As I crested the hill on the driveway, I shouted commands and activated the tone on his e-collar. It worked like a charm. He came running out of the pine trees on the far side of the farm field across the road.
I didn’t notice it until I grabbed his collar as Toby and Rachel were driving away, but he had rubbed (an unidentified) animal shit all over himself, his scarf, and his collar(s).
Now it was on my hands, and soon on my phone. I marched him up to the front yard and tethered him to a tree where I served him his breakfast.
My phone was getting heavy use to communicate with Cyndie in Chicago and all the people involved with the horses. Mix was sedated and under observation for the rest of the day. She was still strongly favoring a front foot that appeared to be really painful, but without an obvious visible issue.
In the middle of all this, it was finally time for Mia’s trailer ride. While all the attention was on Mix, Mia ended up out in the middle of the hay field, grazing peacefully. Maddy commented that she would need to walk all the way out there to get a halter on Mia.
However, when the trailer pulled into our driveway, Mia lit up like an excited little kid and ran toward it, then turned as it passed and sprinted directly into the paddock and up to Maddy for her halter and lead rope. They cut through the small paddock, out the gate, and directly up and into the trailer before any of us could blink. It happened so fast, I couldn’t get a picture.
Mia’s already happily inside when I snapped that shot. It was better than I could have ever hoped, and the best part of the day, by far.
Especially since the next task for me was trying to clean up Asher’s disaster.
Try as I might, I couldn’t get rid of the smell, so he was not allowed back in the house all day. I made a nice spot for him to sleep in the garage last night. We’ll take another crack at bathing him today when Cyndie gets home.
We received a photo of Mia already getting along well with her two new geldings at their new home.
She was never able to eat that closely between two mares at our place.
Swings, Light, and Mix didn’t seem at all distressed by Mia’s absence. Light and Mia called out to each other as the trailer left, but that was it. I don’t think Mix noticed anything going on in her drugged stupor.
I’m anxious to see how she is doing this morning. We are hoping for the best. By last night, she had made a heroic improvement from the condition I found her in yesterday at dawn.
