My plans for the 4th of July changed so I didn't haul Zeke to the Ramona Parade. Probably a smart choice anyway. I did take Rain out on the 4th for a quick ride down the road. I really needed a good ride even if it was short.
Yesterday Mom and Dad came down to work on the place. We've sort of let the place go because of the wedding and are just now getting back into the swing of things again. Dad and Mike worked on the new stall. There's still a bit that needs to be done but it's getting closer and closer to completion. I'll be happy to have another stall!
I have it figured out that I will be two horses over what I need for stalls if I did my math right. I'll have ten stalls and fourteen horses. Tommy and Skippy stay in one stall so that means two will be stuck in the leanto unless I can figure something else out. I'm sure to come up with something though. It all depends on how and where we place the winter supply of hay.
Storm clouds blowing through after a bad summer storm. We lost singles on the house due to this storm.
I decided last night I will be putting Joe down sooner than I thought. He simply can't stand. His back end is really starting to give him problems. When I bring him in for supper, he wedges his back end into the corner of a stall so he can put pressure on the stall wall instead of trying to steady himself on three legs.
I had hoped that I could keep him until fall but it doesn't seem to be the case. I'm angry. Angry at the previous owner for not disclosing the issue, I'm angry that I have to be the one to make the decision, I'm angry that I didn't get to spend more time with Joe. But perhaps I'm being selfish. It has been an honor to know Joe even if it's only for a short time. I'm simply upset that it didnt' work out as well as I'd hoped. The previous owner new there was an issue and wanted to dump the horse (even though I signed a buy back policy!) And maybe the hip didn't bother him until these last few days. But it does seem to be progressively getting worse.
I'm headed to the vets tonight to pick up some bute. I'll bute him to keep him comfortable until I can schedule the appointment. I've decided that I'll have to do it before we go on our family vacation the first part of August. It's a shame but I dont' know what else to do. He can't lie down and I know he's in pain. I just dont' know if I should be in a hurry to put him down or let him enjoy a few more weeks of a belly full of grain mash and grass hay. In any event, I have to do it where I can get Thor adjusted to the big herd before going. I need to keep an eye on him for at least a week because I'm sure he'll slip into a depression otherwise.
Rain water draining into the road from our driveway. The standing water is in our neighbor's pasture.
In better news, Dad and Mike built my fence where Thor and Joe are staying. It's the same pasture as the mares's winter pasture. I'm excited to have some of my corral panels back. I need to do some more figuring so that I can get more of the corral panels back so that I can use them for when we are on vacation. The fence looks so nice. The only problem is we didn't put it up right away so some of the boards warped really bad. I may have a crooked fence but at least it's functional! :-)
This was a view looking east. (Please escuse the spots. I was taking these pictures through the windshield. Nothing like bug guts to add special effects.) I believe this storm produced an F4 tornado in Iowa. Even though it produced a terrible storm, it did make for a beautiful scene as the sun set and lit up the clouds.
We also had a rainstorm blow threw in the early afternoon so that stopped most of our outside progress. I had a friend visit yesterday and we went for a ride in the late afternoon. It was so nice to actually swing my leg over a horse and go for a ride longer than a half mile. We rode about five miles. Poor Chaos. He had a greenhorn on him and the mosquitoes were really bothering him. He sucked it up and was a real trooper. But by the time we got back to the barn Chaos was completely drenched. He had sweat dripping off of him. Poor guy. But it does him good. He really hasn't been used that much this year, just one or two rides is all.
Not much going on this week. We are getting ready for a first ever camping trip to Newton Hills with the new popup camper. I'm taking Zeke down for a Potluck Trail Ride thi Saturday. It should be interesting. I can't wait. We've never camped in the horse part of Newton Hills before. Should be fun! Any excuse to ride at this point!
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