Tuesday Thor, Bo, and Sam Update

I want to thank everyone for their moral support. This past month has been a little stressful and knowing that I have such great friends brings me to tears. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thor seems to be adjusting. He still bangs into things but he's getting the hang of his little pen. He's discovered that he can reach over and drink from the automatic water. We are on a close watch to make sure he doesn't slip into a depression. But he is eating his grain mash and alfalfa like there's no tomorrow. We are simply taking each day as it comes. He's such a gentle soul. He's a little standoffish but I'm guessing he's just trying to figure out and learn all the new sounds that are lost when you have sight. He isn't yet as observant as Babe but he's picking up quickly how to handle life without sight. He is carrying his head the same way Blondie used to so I'm wondering if he can see shadows. Bo was all worked up last night. I'm not sure if it was the weather or if he is just feeling great. I fed him his grain mash and then took him for a walk. We've been going on short hand walks up and down the driveway to gain strenght in his legs. At first we wouldn't even make it down the driveway because he seemed tired (tripping over his feet). But now we can make two laps and he doesn't take a wrong step. He did spook last night as we rounded the house (there's something about the house that spooks all the horses). Bo behaved like a dream. He spooked and side stepped away from me but never once pulling on the lead. The prints Bo left in the gravel would make you think that we had a wreck but he is all legs so I'm sure he was just trying to keep all four legs under himself. As we were walking it started to snow. Bo is snug in a blanket to ward off the chill and damp from the snow. We did hand graze for about five minutes by the house. We'll have his teeth checked out but from the way Bo was powering through the grass not leaving a morsal, I believe the state in which he arrived to Borderlands wasn't because of teeth issue (not like Dick who leaves wads of hay behind) but to lack of food. Speaking of Dick. He has settled in for the most part. I moved him to a temporary pen by the red shed. He's next to Rabbit and I swear he and Rabbit are girlfriend/boyfriend. I'm a little hestiant yet to put Dick in with Rabbit just yet. I'm also not sure that Dick is ready for the ponies. I'm keeping a close eye and we'll see how Dick and Rabbit handle each other over the fence. Two nights ago they were standing side by side with the fence in between. Last night Dick reached his head over to touch Rabbit who let out a small crow hop and a squeel. ...silly mares. So maybe putting Dick and Rabbit in together is an option but for now we'll keep them seperated with a fence until the weekend. Sam seems to be improving by leaps and bounds. This time during the last medication he wasn't near as far as he is now. Of course, I'm following vets orders and feeding him twice a day. I feed everyone hay twice a day and grain in the evenings normally. But with Sam's ulcers I've taken to feeding him beet pulp both morning and night. That way the "hay shelf" as the vet calls it, is always there andt the beet pulp coats the ulcers so the grain has time to work its way through Sam's system. Luckily Sam has been powerng through the beet pulp in the morning so when I'm about ready to leave for work, I just let him out of the barn. We are only on day four of Sam's 30 day ulcer treatment but it seems like he's feeling better already. Sam's mustache is coming back in full. I guess Sam has decided to wear a mustache these days. When we first got Sam, he had a mustache but he decided that it wasn't the "right look". But in the last few months he's been letting it grow out. I swear we could make a handlebar mustache out of it. I need to get a pic of it so you can see how funny it looks. Everyone else is doing well. I know my focus has been Bo, Thor, and Sam but everyone else is doing well to. I will be so happy when the grass is here and I can let everyone out on grass instead of feeding hay. The wind has been out of the east for the past 24 hours and I swear I had more hay down my shirt this morning than other mornings. Of course the hay bale was kicking my butt last night. Hopefully the snow that fell will melt quickly today and the sun will soon shine so that we don't have to deal with mud! I am very much looking forward to spring. I do need to take a look at spring shots. For those of you in the Minnehaha County Saddle Club, I just got the Valley Vet catalog so I can get prices on shots. I still need to see what Sioux Nation will charge for shots. I will try to get something emailed out to the group before the monthly meeting. It might be nice to do our spring shots clinic after our first trail ride? And a big Thank You to Stacy A. She did some research on worming a starved horse. I haven't had a chance yet to read the article. I'm always looking to learn more so even if I might have known the information (and I'm not sure that I did), it's good to reconfirm and remember. There's always room for more knowledge. Lord knows these horses are teaching me new stuff every day.