One Week Later

I’ve lost track of time. I’d like to say that I went on a vacation and unplugged from all the un-necessaries in the world. But I didn’t. The paying job has me jumping so much I barely have time to breathe, let alone get anything else done. Add to that I’ve been sicker than a dog and going to doctor’s appointments this week. It doesn’t leave much time to do much but check on the horses and fall asleep for a few short hours to only wake up and do it all over again the next day.

Last night while out doing chores in the late evening, I realized Queen and Thor might not make another year with us. That thought has me completely and utterly devastated. Add to that my pure exhaustion, I simply can’t take much more. It was all I could do to hold back the tears. It’s a struggle to get Queen to eat her beet pulp, which is the one thing that will pack on the pounds. After this coming weekend, I need to reset some fences and put Queen in a different spot for a few weeks to see if that helps any.

Last night, we drove home a different way and I saw Queen down. Queen doesn’t simply lie down (although she started to lie down more when Flower was injured). I was worried Queen was colicing again. I think instead it was the flies. For some reason the flies absolutely love her. They torment her like no other horse. Maybe if she had a long tail it would help but I don’t think so. I ended up digging out a brand new fly sheet, some old fly leg wraps, and a mask. Mike and I got everything situated on her so that it fit but pulled it off since the flies weren’t bad. I had to go out this morning and get her covered up. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that everything stays on and that she can get some relief from the flies. The flies are vicious this year. Even with a steady wind, the flies seem to stick around and bite hard. If I can’t get the weight back on her, we’ll be looking at putting her down in the fall. She’s already thinner than I like.

We haven’t had enough rain lately so the pastures are starting to burn up. Queen needs grass to gain weight. If I can get her interested in beet pulp again, she may have a fighting chance to at least put some weight back on. But I’m worried. I know she’s at least 34 years old and I can’t keep her going forever, but she holds a special place in my heart and right now with all that’s going on, I need her more than ever before.

Thor too is going downhill rapidly. I didn’t realize it until last night. I’m starting him on beet pulp too. He definitely enjoys his grain and beet pulp so hopefully I get him to pack on a few extra pounds. It could be that the hay we have for him isn’t any good any more. We have two more bales from last fall and then we’ll have to go in search of different rounds. (sigh….more money). But maybe with better hay and beet pulp, Thor will pick up the weight again. It just seems like he’s been handed an unfair hand in life. While rummaging around to find the flysheet for Queen, I ran across Bob’s old flysheet. It’s all stretched out and no good but I thought I would throw it on Thor just to see if it would work. It doesn’t but something is better than nothing. It’s not like he can do too much more to it. I’d rather that we use the fly sheet up until there’s absolutely no use before I simply toss it away. Bob stretched it out when he wore it and I expect that Thor will tear it to shreds but I don’t care. If it keeps them comfortable, that’s all that matters.

We are supposed to be in the 90s this week. I need to get out and shave Babe. She still hasn’t lost her spring coat. We tried shaving Babe last year but ended up giving her a bath beforehand in 100% humidity. That was a mistake. She never dried out and what little we were able to shave off made her look silly. So hopefully this week we will be able to get out there and get her more comfortable. I can’t handle the heat right now so I have to wait until the sun practically sets before going out to do chores. So I’m pretty limited on what I can get done in the short hour of daylight I have left before I crash and burn from exhaustion.

I also realized this morning that I missed Mayhem’s birthday. She had her two year old birthday yesterday! I need to get her separated from Rabbit. She’s back to picking up some bad habits from Rabbit and I don’t want that. I’m just trying to figure out where everyone should go.

With all this heat and absolutely no rain, the pastures are drying up faster than I’ve ever seen. I’m thankful that we got out into the pasture this spring to spray and fertilize. But with no rain, there won’t be anything left come mid-July. Except for a few days here and there, I pull the big herd off the pasture every night so they aren’t on 24x7 (much to their dismay). The big herd is so good. They typically come up when I holler or, like last night, were up for a drink and I was able to lock them in the drylot. They weren’t too thrilled but I don’t think they held a grudge. I was too sick over the weekend to even check on them so when I saw them last night, it seemed like they were all happy to see me. Maybe I’m reading too much into; but I do know I miss seeing them.

I’m not sure what this week will bring. We have to get ready for the Irene rodeo this coming weekend. If the temps don’t wipe me out, I’ll try to post more. But as it stands, we aren’t doing too much (even though there’s a ton of stuff that needs to be done). I’m trying to take it easy, which means the horses pretty much get a break from me other than a pat on the back, some flyspray, and a handful of grain.