Introducing Miss Tea

Here's Tea, an older arabian mare who is visiting while her rescue finds a new home.

She isn't in horrible condition, but there's definitely some improvements I can make so she can return looking nicer than she left.

I'm nuts. Or something.

Our local horse rescue's landlords are kicking them out next week. So, guess who's getting a foster horse on Tuesday?

Me, of course. Right now I'm slated to get one of their permanent residents, a sweet little arab who is allergic to flies. Luckily, I don't have a ton of them. I haven't gone through a whole bottle of fly spray in two years. I'm a bit worried about her other problem though... she's scared of other horses. Fortunately, none of my residents are mean or nasty to other horses, so I think everything will be okay. And if anyone is going to win her over, it will be Ollie :)

Pam

Happy Banana

Banana, grazing. We're still increasing time, but she's up to about seven hours now. She's so happy to be out.

Mountain trail ride on Naners

Banana and I finally went on our first in the mountains trail ride. The ride was nice, the getting there not so much. Two people told us to look for the forest service station and to park there as that's where the trail heads are. We drove up the road, didn't see any signs for trail heads or the forest service station. Then we crossed a little bridge and the road deteriorated. We would have been able to turn around, except, of course, there were cars parked in the turn around. We had to back the trailer through an S curve, with a bridge in the middle, downhill, with rocks, trees or a steep bank on both sides of the road. It took us an hour, but even days later I'm still having anxiety about it. My friend and I switched out, when one of us was getting frustrated with backing the other would take over. The truck and trailer were almost unscathed, except I should have backed further to get into a little parking lot, except I didn't and got the plastic thingy on the front of the truck stuck on a big rock. Backed off it okay, but the plastic thingy is not as attached to the bumper as it once was.

Anyway, we rode through trees, through wildflower filled meadows and stopped when we got to a waterfall. Didn't spend much time there as the bugs were bad and back we came. Round trip it was about 8 miles.

Banana was wary of the first meadow as there were horse eating boulders in it. Then she had a mountain biker come around a corner and basically pull up under her nose and she just looked at him like, "What the hell?" She was fairly well behaved in general, but I wouldn't put a dead beginner on her, that's for sure.

We never did find the forest service station. However, there was a cabin that may have been it once upon a time and probably due to budget cuts is no longer. I have decided I will never again take the trailer anywhere that I am not absolutely positive of where I'm going, or have someone with me who knows exactly where we're going. I think I'm scared for life from having to back the trailer down the road.

Fat Banana

This is what a fat Banana looks like:

This is the fattest she's been since I bought her. What this tells me: that she must have been mostly okay with being incarcerated with Ollie hanging out as she didn't walk off every pound of hay she ate. It also tells me something I'd already known when I got the hay analysis back: this hay is higher in calories than the old stuff. Great for Banana, really bad for Ollie. I came home from my trip to find him really, really fat. Not posting a pic of him as I'm far too embarrassed.

Her feet finally got done so now we're working towards getting fit again in earnest. Yesterday we trotted twice for about 20 feet. Today we trotted a bit more. We're up to three miles total, the next thing I get to add in is walking up the big hill.

Some gross pictures of melanomas

Making this post to direct someone else to. I believe I have the days after surgery correct, but I might be off. Post surgical care was hot packing the area twice a day. Fortunately, pony loved having a warm washcloth tucked up under her tail.

Before

Directly after

Three days later

8 days. The "Tan Goo" as I called it is a surface infection.

15 Days

Just short of a month

The glass I made in Corning

Ornament, frame and flower.

Banana proves she is the awesomest horse ever. Seriously. Every other horse is inferior compared to her.

Let me tell you why. (And I think that even though you will all still think your own horses are better, you'll agree I've got a pretty freaking awesome equine in my life.)

Today, while walking down the road, as we do, I could hear a car coming faster than one should be traveling. When it got into view it was not one, but two cars. One was driving down the middle of the road, the other, behind it, was swerving from side to side, wanting to pass. Yes, it wanted to pass a car that was already traveling much faster than our 35 mph gravel road speed limit. Banana and I pulled to the opposite side and stopped in the ditch as there was no driveway available. We waited for the idiots to go by. The car in the lead pulled over to his proper side of the road to pass the horse. The other car, of course, decided this was the moment to pass...

Imagine, a car speeding, a car passing it going even faster and a horse so close to the passing car she could have kicked it.

But she didn't kick it. She didn't flick an ear. She just stood there as I flipped off the driver.

If Banana were not so awesome this would have gone much differently and I would be in a world of hurt. A neighbor saw the whole thing and yelled down to see if I was okay. And I was, because my horse is FABULOUS.

Some weeks ago, before Banana hurt herself, J and I were walking down the road on our horses. Now, sometimes I ride for an hour and don't see a car. This day we saw around 30, all with New Mexico or Arizona plates. All we could figure is that it was shift change at the mine, but that mine has been there for years and we've never run into traffic like that. What I'm thinking now is that perhaps their planned expansion happened and when they hired more people they were from NM and AZ. Our road is the most direct path to the mine for them.

Well, I guess while Banana was laid up this traffic has gotten more and more idiotic, to the point that the neighbor that likes to campaign against things has taken this up as his new cause. He already doesn't like the mine, so going after its employees will be great fun for him. I just want to be able to ride down the road without being run off it. Fortunately, even if someone does something idiotic next to us again I can trust my horse to keep her head. That makes her worth more money than anyone could ever pay me.

Home

And I'm back in my nice, dry Colorado. Except it isn't dry. It's humid. I must have brought it back with me, but as we had a nice, hard rain yesterday evening I cannot complain. The pasture was starting to get pretty brown.

Banana's leg healed up while I was gone, but it's no longer perfect:

Yes, her toes are incredibly long, she should have had them done over a month ago but the wound wouldn't allow it. Bulge on back of leg above fetlock is callus and scar tissue from the slow healing of the wound. The bulge on front, sort of a 1/3 up the cannon) is from the pressure sore she got from the bandage when her leg swelled underneath when the tendon sheath got infected. I got to ride her down the road yesterday after I got back. The vet was all, "Can you just take her out when she's been laid up for 7 weeks?" Why yes, yes I can. She was very forward, and looky, but perfectly well behaved for her 1.5 mi walk. She felt sound, which was a relief, and this morning her leg almost looked better than it had last night. I think I'm imagining that though.

If all continues well, in a week I can do a little trotting and then onwards.