Monday, December 18, 2017

Bo Update and other Misc Stuff

I sound like a broken record these days. There's just so much to do and so little time to get it all done. I seem to be struggling as of late and not sure how to get everything accomplished. The paying job has me hopping and by the end of the day my brain is done in. I guess we'll see if I can pull through with a fully functioning brain after this. Two and a half months of high pressure coming my way. But enough of that.


The last few days have been so chaotic that I havent' been able to do a really good assessment of Bo. So last night, I did a quick assessment and I am happy.


His leg is healing nicely. I need to do some cleanup and trim the hair around the cut but it's healing so that you wouldn't even know there was a huge gash in his leg. The swelling in that leg has also gone down. There's still swelling in his back legs from his heart failure but that's a different thing. The swelling in the front leg is much improved and he doesn't seem to be bothered by it at all. His back end is bothering him, which does give me some concern but he's been having issues with his hips for the last couple of months.


The air pocket that started in his shoulder and that started moving up his neck and wrapped all the way around his chest is starting to go away. The air is out of his neck and there's only a small pocket in his shoulder. It's all in his chest. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not but his body is taking care of him. It's odd to tap on his shoulder to get him to move and feel that air pocket so I'm really happy it's going away. Even in heart failure, his body is still working hard to keep him protected.


He's back in the big herd but I'm not sure if that's helping or not. It's keeping the swelling down because he's constantly moving but I'm not sure about the depression. Being away from horses caused him depression but being in the big herd causes him stresses as well.


We did switch his grain around and he's been improving on that so no ulcers have reared its ugly head. It's Ramona feed and consists of oats, cracked corn, and I think soy meal. He's not gaining weight but he's also not losing weight either. I started adding in some senior feed. Originally it was to get him to eat his uniprim but after he finished with that, I continued on using it to see if that would help with the weight issue.


I think his heart was pounding so bad when we went to the vet that I was sure he was going to die within days. But now that he's home and relaxed with a standard routine, he's a lot calmer. We could have him for a few more months at this rate.. and that makes me happy. I won't prolong his life just to keep me happy but I want to make sure I've done everything. He hasn't told me he's ready to go.


There for awhile, he was off his feed and that scared me but I think now that he's back into his normal routine with the herd, he's much happier and he's been polishing off all of his grain.


We are headed into a cold snap so I'll be blanketing a few of the hard keepers. I struggle with what to do with Jim. He's our 30 year old Tennessee Walker and he's in better shape than Bo, the 16 year old. I wouldn't say that Jim has had an easy life but a lot less stress than Bo's for sure. Both the farrier and the vet have been impressed by how he's aging.  Oh if only all of our seniors would age as gracefully as Jim.


Junior is doing ok. He's enjoying his nightly grain mix. I'm still trying to figure out if the balance of grains I gave him last year will work this year. He seems to be doing ok but I'm keeping a watchful eye on him.


Lace is picking up some weight as well now that I'm graining her. She seemed a tad thinner than I liked...not thin or anything but I like them going into winter fat. She's adamant about her grain these days and will demand she get fed. She's second in command so she'll wait for Junior to go into his stall before I feed her but she wont let Mayhem grab a bite. Smart girl.


The last few days have been crazy busy with non Sanctuary activities. I am hoping for a short period of quiet but with Christmas right around the corner, I don't see that happening. I forgot what it was like to be so excited for Christmas until this year. Five year olds make you excited for Christmas and are so enthusiastic for all the activities. So while we plug along at the paying job and the every day chores, we're throwing in a lot of Christmas activities. So if we aren't around, it's only because I'm buried up to my eyebrows with work and I want to give my attention to my kids during the holidays...not that I don't give them my attention but there's extra activities at this time of year.


I'm sure to write more later but if you don't see me until the end of the week, it's that we are buried and I'm getting prepared for an upcoming storm on Thursday. Winter will definitely be here. Ironic that on the official start of winter, we'll get a snowstorm.

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