Foals and Other Exciting News

It has been an incredibly exciting few days and I only wish I had more time to write it all out so that I didn’t skip on so many of the details.

We’ll have to actually go in chronological order I guess, or else I’ll get lost in my own thoughts, etc.

Saturday I went in to work at 11, which was nice because I still got hours in but I got to sleep. When I got to the barn Brenda told me to go finish up the play pen (since the stalls were mostly done). As I was walking out to the pen I looked out to paddock one to see a very wobbly horse in a red blanket munching some hay. Slightly in shock I asked Brenda, “Is that GARLAND in paddock one?” Sure enough, it was. That’s great news! Garland is at the point where she can be turned out on her own for a few hours at a time. She grazes and runs in wobbly little circles. She even rolled (on her bad side) and even though it took her two tries she managed to get up all on her own!!!! I was so excited I called Bryce.

“So, guess who’s turned out in paddock one?”
“Smiles and her new baby?”
“No, better than that…”
“Who?”
“Garland…”
“NO!!!!! Really?”

Yay!!!

So I snapped a few pictures of that. Then, at lunch, I went out and took a whole bunch of pictures of Kole (while Bo was lying around content with demolishing yet another tennis ball).

One of Dreamer...

Afterwards I was showing Brenda some of the pictures when Mitchel pulled up in what we’re calling the sneaky car. He has a new Lexus SUV and it’s a hybrid so when he flips it into electric mode it literally goes silent. In fact, you can’t even hear the ignition that way. So it looks like he’s driving on flat ground in neutral with the engine off. One moment he’s there, next he’s gone.

As he pulled up I felt kind of guilty. Here he is, my boss, and there I am not doing any work… again. Yet he didn’t seem the least bit upset. In fact, he made me an incredible offer. He said he’s been meaning to get some of my photos up on the site and he asked me if I like the idea. Duh. I was excited just getting the chance to get my photos up there, and then he said he wouldn’t be taking them for free of course. He’d buy them off of me and then use them on the site. Twenty-five bucks a pop! Wow. Excellent.

That wasn’t the end of the job offers though. He said he’d like me to start working on the news section of the site, pulling up stories about horses we’ve bred from all over the place with the help of another Virtual Stable from USTA. In fact, he said he’d like me to start taking over more and more of the site. How cool is that?

Then he suggested that I could do a PR sort of thing and do follow up calls to the buyers of our horses.

“That’s something I’d like to prepare you for, though,” he warned. “There are owners who will tell you this is the best yearling they’ve ever had, and a complete steal. Others will swear it’s the worst horse they’ve ever had the displeasure of working with and start yelling. I don’t want you to be caught off guard so we’ll go over some responses.”
“So that I don’t tell them, ‘maybe if you were a better trainer…’?”
“No, I’m not worried about what you’ll say. I just don’t want you to get embarrassed if they try to put you on the spot. Some of them might even say, ‘O, representing Bluestone Farms. What, is Mitchel too busy to call me himself?’”

I can definitely use the extra cash in any case.

On Saturday night Bryce and I went to Paul’s party. Paul is a guy Bryce works with. His wife, Laura Eaton, is a wedding photographer. We drove out to… Bordentown?... and found the GIGANTIC house. I was shocked at how big and impressive the place was. I guess it makes sense since Laura makes $60K a year just off shooting weddings. Wow.

We came in and started mingling. Met a lot of interesting people and got to tell some stories I haven’t shared in a while. Met Bryce’s old boss Tim, who apparently was there with his boyfriend, even though I could have sworn both were straight. The boyfriend got me talking and didn’t get a word in edgewise after that. He kept asking all the right questions and even got me off on a Barbaro tangent. *faint* But the best was hearing Tim tell us about how he once passed a dead body while walking through the streets of Philly.

Soon people started whipping out their cameras and taking pictures. You know you’re in a room full of photographers when the cameras there make my XTi look like a disposable camera from Wal-Mart. Of course that started the Nikon v. Canon debate. Haha. We got a business card from this cool guy we met named Gennaro and his stuff is really good.

Meanwhile people started up the Wii and were playing Wii Tennis. I could tell Bryce wanted to play, but he was feeling shy since he’s never done it before and didn’t know how. Once they started boxing, though, I shooed him over and someone handed him a controller. He was grinning from ear to ear.

Meanwhile I introduced myself to Laura and we somehow got on the subject of teachers who had told us we sucked at photography and should just quit. That heated discussion led to me asking her some questions about her photography and that got both me and Bryce (who had wandered over by then) an open invitation to come shoot back up at weddings, especially the two she accidentally double-booked in July. That means getting PAID to take photos. *faint*

We got to hear all sorts of stories, both good and bad. Laura got started with some guy who shot her wedding and completely messed it up. Back then she was doing $500 weddings and getting treated like shit. She even went to one where the bride and groom started fighting partway through and called the whole thing off. The bride ran outside, screamed, and stomped her bouquet into the ground, with Laura subtly taking pictures in the background.

Needless to say we are psyched. Bryce’s big thing is portrait photography and he’s been dying to get a chance to build up his portfolio. The pay is pretty good too. I’m thrilled for him and I’m excited to get the chance to tag along from time to time. I’m always looking to expand my photography.

After the conversation wound down we roamed over to the Wii and started playing Mario Kart. I suck at it terribly but it was a blast anyway. I managed to get a second place finish… once. We were cracking up.

We played tennis too, which meant designing Mii’s for everybody in the room. It was freaky how much they looked like us. And I have to say, I have a pretty killer serve… in virtual tennis. LMAO.

Unfortunately, around 1am, we decided we should get going. We still had a drive home and I had to be at work the next morning.

So that was a very productive and good day.

On my way to my car the next morning I spotted a squirrel. Whipping out my camera I pulled off the lens cap and took aim. I got a shot of him in a tree only to realize that my memory card wasn't in the camera. As I scrambled for it a car drove by and I begged outloud for the squirrel not to get scared. After all that I got one decent picture before he scampered off.

Sunday was fairly productive too, even though it was an unbearably long day at work. I got in at 8 and didn’t get out til 5… mostly because Claire showed up just as we were about to head next door so Jody had to vent about Brenda and horse slaughter and Garland and god only knows what else.

Still, I had a good day and got quite a bit done.

Among other things I got to ride Tucker… like with a saddle (my saddle) and everything. Jody forgot all her tack at home so we ended up using my saddle (which doesn’t fit him well because he has no withers) and putting my reins on a leather halter for him. Ugh.

So we tacked him up and I hopped on. Unfortunately my stirrups were pretty messed up and I had to dismount and fix them (since Jody was somehow having a hard time).

And then the funniest thing happened, and I really have no explanation for it. I put my foot in the stirrup, swung up, and suddenly ended up on Tucker’s other side hanging on Jody upside down. I have no idea what the hell I did but it was EMBARASSING! He didn’t move so that wasn’t it. The stirrups were fine. Maybe I over compensated for the loose girth? I dunno but it was funny and I’m glad I managed NOT to fall on my face.

I got back on Tuck (successfully this time) and we had a great ride. Jody kept him on a lead the whole time *groan* but we did great. He walks on leg pressure, stops with “whoa” and a light tug, and turns well. Jody says Joe told her his wife had Tucker under saddle a few times, but Jody doesn’t believe him. That seems so dumb to me. It’s pretty clear the horse has a good idea of what’s going on.

*sigh*

At least he was good. And Bridget decided to take him so he’ll go to a good home.

Sunday afternoon Smiles was acting uncomfortable and was producing straight milk. We knew for almost 100% that she’d have her foal that night.

Still, Bryce and I drove back home so I could get my new printer (which produces prints of orgasmic quality fyi) and so that Bryce could play Magic with Dev and Walter. *sigh* I had a great time seeing Jack (the mini-doberman) again, but I actually got so bored that I played a few games with Joe. I suck so much that I lost with Dev’s unbeatable deck… twice in a row.

Almost as soon as we got to Walter’s my phone rang and Brenda announced that Smiles had had a filly… a small filly.

So on Monday after all our classes, Bryce and I drove out to Bluestone to have a look at her. When Brenda said she was small I didn’t picture anything as tiny as this. She doesn’t even come up to Bryce’s waist!!! She had an itty bitty fleece blanket on and she was sooooo friendly.

We spent a good amount of time just sitting in her stall loving on her. Meanwhile, Brenda got the chance to take a shower.

Eventually Brenda came into the barn (as we were making hot chocolate) and checked on the filly and Ella who was growing progressively more uncomfortable.

Shortly after that Bryce and I drove down the street to HI Rib to have a delayed anniversary dinner (my treat). Our anniversary was on Sunday and he blew me out of the water by surprising me with a mug full of gold coins (in case he never makes it rich), a beautiful red rose, and a cake with Happy Anniversary scrawled across the top and a big #1 candle on the top. Aw. We were lucky and Monday was All You Can Eat Babyback Rib night. So guess what we ordered! Along with potato skins, salad, and seasoned fries. Delicious… although I’m not sure it was $80 of delicious. LOL.

Afterwards we went back to the farm and hung out in the house with Brenda a bit. Kole was delighted and flopped on the couch with us. In the short time we were there I managed to get bitten by Pita, but he’s a cat so it figures. *sigh*

Bryce had a lot to do so we headed back to school. Along the way we stopped at the Super Stop ‘n’ Shop. Despite the fact that we bought $40 worth of groceries, we didn’t get any real food. We did get peanut butter though so it’s ok.

Almost as soon as we got back to the room my phone rang. It was Brenda. Ella had just had a filly, were we coming down? Of course!

So back to the barn we went. What a beautiful filly she is! And when we got there she was still wet. I was told not to use too much flash so the photos aren’t great, but the preserve the moment. They’re red because the “French fry light” was on (infared heat lamp). The filly is big enough for nursing to be awkward at first. She could find the teat but couldn’t grab a good hold. Brenda was helping her repeatedly. Eventually she got so tired that she fell over (Bambi-style of course) and Brenda bottle fed her to remind her how good milk is. It wasn’t long after that that the filly figured out how to nurse and we said goodnight to the horses and went home and to bed.

Of course all the good has to be tainted with some bad and the day yesterday seemed to be filled with hurt horses. Ellagant had to come home because she appears to have an abscess brewing. Lucy came home with her for company, but seems to have a puffy knee of her own. Meanwhile Louder is lame in all four feet, although we think that may be an abscess too.

After Eli left (he was infusing the mares and giving shots etc. to Ella’s new filly) Jody came in with more bad news. Ciano’s hock was sliced wide open. So Eli had to come back in and give her stitches.

Never a dull moment.

Last night we finally got snow. It’s heavy and wet and feels like sand. On top of that it’s cold and bitter and windy out.

All the same I planned on going to work. That is, until I got to my car and realized my driver’s side windshield wiper was in shreds. So I got the day off.

Afterwards it turned out that the school was closed so Bryce had the day off too.

We ended up spending a good few hours in the dining hall where Bryce and Eric had the longest male to male conversation I’ve ever witnessed. Haha.

Eventually we went back to the room and Eleana called to invite us over for a cartoon filled afternoon. Mike brought over his amazing collection of DVD’s and we watched two and a half hours of Gummi Bears followed by Dark Wing duck (although I was fast asleep by that point).

I am very very happy right now. In fact, I felt inspired enough to clean the whole room.

I’m also exhausted. LOL.

Here’s to more healthy foals!!!

Bryce and Taco

Horses, Furries, and Ashton Kutcher Lookalikes

Goddamn I am terrible at keeping myself (and you guys) updated! As always there’s a bunch going on, and I’m starting to think that I should be just as picky about what I blog as I am about what photos I post in my gallery… or in my portfolio.

What updates are there? First of all the animals. They have gotten quite used to their routine back here at school. In fact, we’ve been loving them so much that we’ve been packing up our computers at night so we can leave them loose in the room. It’s nice to have little pitter pattering chinchilla paws in the bed.

The chinchilla has been getting braver and braver. He comes when you kiss to him (mostly because he knows that means treats). That and he’s been more interactive when he plays. For example, I was dangling a string in front of him the other day and he was playing with it like a cat. This means more tricks he can learn. The cutest one (by far) is the one Bryce taught him. He leans over and makes a kissing nose and Taco leans forward and gives him a kiss. He even took a treat out of Bryce’s teeth the other night (something he won’t do for me)! As for me, I’ve been teaching him how to use a spoon. Sort of. We have a white plastic spoon. I fill it with treats and he follows me around the room. He even holds the end of the spoon with one paw and grabs treats with the other. What a gentleman! The best part about the spoon is that it reaches under the bed. Taco was under there this morning and I stuck the spoon under with a raisin on it. It came back empty. Then I held the spoon in front of the bed and all you saw was this cute squished looking head and a paw reaching out from under the bed. Ha ha ha!

As for the bunny… he’s as cute as ever, but is reaching sexual maturity and that means a nasty problem for us. He has picked a corner of the room and made it his pee, poo, and masturbate corner. Gross!

Now for horse updates:

First of all, we should be getting foals any night now. I’ve learned a lot at work lately (like how to milk a horse…) and Smiles is showing all the signs of a mare about to foal. In fact, her test had four squares the other day when I worked. Bryce and I have been keeping my phone on hoping Brenda would call.

In fact, on our way back from Hamilton last night (24 hour CVS, which is impossible to find) we stopped at Bluestone, cuz we had a feeling. When we got there we were excited for a second because the barn lights were on (at 2am). Turns out Smiles had set off the birthing alarm by sleeping on her side so Brenda was out there. We scared the daylights out of her when we pulled in, but she seemed surprisingly chipper despite the biting cold and the fact that she was missing sleep for a false alarm.

So as far as I know still no baby… but she’s losing her tail condition, her belly has dropped to a point, she’s waxing, and her vulva’s pretty loose (the things you can say in this business!)

Bryce and I are so excited. It would make my life to see a foal born at last…

The other mares are getting close too. Lady Pine is so big that she looks like a Thelwell pony when you look at her from the front.

In non-pregnant horse news, Jody and I have started to break Tucker. Slowly. Very slowly. In fact, much slower than I’d like. For all the time she’s spent working at a standardbred breeding farm, Jody doesn’t seem to understand the mentality of racehorses at all.

We bellied him last weekend and she made me wear a helmet, which is understandable. I have broken how many racehorses to saddle? I’ve never had to belly them. They’re used to people being all around and they’re used to having weight put on their backs. So we bellied him for about 15 minutes and that was it for the day. What? We probably just confused the poor patient horse.

The day Bridget came in to look at him I practically had to beg Jody to let me actually sit on him. After all, he hadn’t reacted AT ALL to being bellied. I bellied him for a second just to make her happy but then I just hopped on him bareback. She had the lead so I wasn’t the least bit worried. Still I heard comments about how brave I was.

“I’ll never hop on a horse bareback without reins! Especially one this green. I may be crazy but I’m not stupid.”

I’m sorry… I can ride almost as well bareback as I can in a saddle. The only thing I’ve done in a saddle that I HAVEN’T done bareback is jump over any actual obstacles (well, and that accidental capriole Troy did that one time), but I’ve ridden rears and bucks and… well… Troy sums it up pretty well. After all, how long was that psycho my bareback horse?

So I sat there with my hands on my thighs and we walked around. Even when I dismounted Tucker didn’t react.

So maybe we’ll put a saddle on him on Sunday.

I understand what goes into breaking a completely unbroken horse to saddle. I really do. But a horse that has been racing for four years is QUITE different. He already knows how to steer with a bit. He already knows to move forward when you cluck. He’s used to commotion and the feel of things on his back/sides/hindquarters. And even if he does freak out, so what? Unless he catches me off guard or does something REALLY insane I’m not coming off. It sounds cocky, but it frustrates me that she’s like this…. I really do know what I’m doing even if I am only 20. Ugh.

But yes… I rode Tucker and Jody didn’t have the guts to get on him. Pfft.

So after that mini-rant… I have a rather funny story.

I have been telling Bryce that he looks like Ashton Kutcher for quite some time. No, he doesn’t look exactly like him, and no it’s not all the time. Still, I’m not the only person to see it. That and a lot of times they have the same mannerisms.

So the other night we went to dinner at Quick Chek (classy huh?) We were sitting there eating our sandwiches when Bryce noticed this older fella staring at him.

Suddenly the guy asks, “Are you that actor’s twin?”

“What actor?”

By then I was grinning from ear to ear.

“That one… from That 70’s Show…”

“Ashton Kutcher?”

“Yeah, that’s the one… you look just like him…”

OMG… that made my week.

Speaking of my week… it’s been a six and a half day weekend, cuz I’m bad and skip classes. I skipped on Friday and Monday (Monday I was sick though). Class was cancelled on Tuesday. I don’t have class Wednesdays and I skipped my first two today. I’m sure it’ll come to bite me in the butt later, but for now it’s refreshing.

But it’s 2:20am and I should probably head off to bed…

Formal

Thanks in part to the fact that I had a very long and tedious day at work yesterday, in the freezing cold, I’m sick now. In fact, I didn’t go to any of my classes today. Probably not a good idea, but at least I got to rest up a bit.

I should probably be going to bed but I want to type out all about formal before I forget things. That and I want to get these pictures up since they’re the only ones left (Bryce’s hard drive took a nose dive last night ).

Formal?

Yes, formal.

Bryce looked at me a little while ago and declared that he was getting me out of barn clothes and into a dress. We were going to the James Bond themed TCNJ formal. Sure, why not?

So near the end of the week we went tux and dress shopping. Bryce picked up his tux at Market Fair. I wasn’t sure how I felt about a white tux at first, but I have to say it really looked good on him and made him stand out (important later in the story).

Then we went to the Quaker Bridge Mall to do some dress shopping. Thankfully there was no pressure since my little black dress was in Bryce’s car. We went through several stores before we were able to find anything I liked. I think that’s mostly because empire waists are in this year. I hate empire waistlines. They make EVERYBODY look pregnant.

The dress I ended up getting was from Lord & Taylor, and I have to say I’m disappointed to report that I had an unpleasant experience with them this time around. First of all, their selection sucked. I tried on multiple dresses that just didn’t fit right. Some were just ugly.

And then, I went to bring Bryce into the fitting room with me and some woman stopped us. Not because it’s against store policy or whatever but because “there will be people coming in and out of there with bathing suits on”. First of all, there was nobody else there. Second of all, you wear bathing suits to the beach. But men never go to the beach, right?

We had just about given up on getting a dress, but on our way out one caught my eye. A little blue thing. I tried one on and it was perfect.

A nice contrast to the pink floofy thing Bryce tried to make me wear. I looked like a Pretty, Pretty Princess wedding cake. *gag*

In any case, formal was a blast. We were the first ones in and the last ones out. It was at King’s Caterers in Bristol, PA and the drive would have been nice if it wasn’t blizzarding at the time. We don’t get snow all winter and all of a sudden it decides to come down like it’ll never stop.

Still, driving there beat the other option which was taking the buses… the big yellow SCHOOL BUSES. LMAO.

So Bryce and I went in and waited for everybody else to show up. I checked my coat in and missed getting tag 007 by two coats. Dammit!

Eventually Lester and his friend Val arrived and we went out in the lobby to say hi to people we knew and to wait for Lauren and her boyfriend (whose name I cannot remember for the life of me).

Once we settled down Bryce and I pulled out our cameras and everybody’s jaws just sort of dropped. LOL.

We made our way repeatedly to the hor d’ouevres (sp?). Eventually the DJ interrupted the music, a bunch of sorority chicks welcomed us to the affair, and we were told to enjoy our dinners.

Twenty minutes later the tables around us were finishing up their salads and we hadn’t even gotten bread yet. All the waiters disappeared into the kitchen and we came to realize that we’d been forgotten. Us and the table in the corner. We were going to grab the next waiter who came by, but they were really all gone.

Finally, Bryce got up and walked straight into the kitchen, to a round of applause. I would have loved to see the looks on the workers’ faces when this 6’5” guy in a white tux came walking in like he owned the place. I hear they cowered. He politely told them we’d been forgotten and then walked out. By then he practically had a standing ovation. They didn’t forget us for the rest of the night.

Once the food was done the music began and people started to move to the dance floor. Bryce and I got our fill of photographing strangers and eventually started dancing to the party mix the DJ had going. We dragged everyone at our table out with us. We spent just about the rest of the entire night dancing ourselves sore and sweaty. We did a bunch of old old songs that really brought us back including the Macarena, YMCA, electric slide, and jump on it. I had a much better time than I’ve ever had at any sort of dance, senior prom included.

By the time we got home I was exhausted, but I spent the next hour posing out in the hall while Bryce snapped photo after photo. Some of them were really good too. I’m heartbroken that they’re all gone.

We got to bed around 2:30am and the next morning at work I was feeling really mellow, but happy.



Russ and Julie


Lauren


Me and Bryce looking like dolls in this ENORMOUS chair at the caterers'.


A complete stranger.


Les and Val


Me in a dress.


Me and Bryce (self timer!)


/end back entries

Horses

We'll start with the easy update: horses.

First of all, Brimstone...
From what I've heard (and Jody could be wrong), the vets found something very disturbing when they opened him up. His colon had displaced and was basically wrapped around his heart. Still, they managed to put it back where it belongs. *faint*

So today Brenda picked Brimstone up at the clinic and took him to whatever farm Lance is at.

This left me in charge of the barn and basically doing a whole lot of work. On top of that, the water heater burst last night and flooded the lab and part of the aisle in the barn. That's how I came to appreciate how much we really use water (and hot water) at the barn. Still... I got a lot done.

The only other exciting thing was that Garland tried to kill me when Kole barked at her. But I'm still just a little stronger than she is. All the same, her wobble makes me REALLY nervous.

So here's some pictures I got of the horses today:






Spice's favorite thing to do is make faces. I have to take a video some time...

Oops

I am an idiot.

I just spent an hour in the library scanning in a drawing that I've been working on. It was too big for the scanner so I scanned bits and pieces and then merged them in photoshop. Finished with my product, and quite pleased with it, I saved it to my desktop, logged off, and went back to the house. Hey, Dom... you're supposed to EMAIL yourself the file. *faint* Another hour wasted. LMAO.



On a happier note my new lens allows me to take pictures of the chinchilla without actually capturing and torturing him. LOL.

Collic

Today, unfortunately, turned out to be way more of a stressful day than I had planned for. We stayed at Bryce’s house last night so he dropped me off at work this morning, and then stopped in for lunch and picked me up at the end of the day.

When I went in I had a feeling that something was wrong, but everything appeared to be going on as normal. In fact, even Garland was doing especially well. She and Jody even went for a long walk around the farm and with the help of my zoom lens I was able to sneak in some pictures for those of you who are looking for an update.





But everything was not as fine dandy peachy keen as it seemed. I found out shortly before lunch that Brimstone collicked. And I mean collicked badly. They ended up rushing him over to Mid-Atlantic where they were keeping an eye on him and doing their best to keep him on his feet. At lunch Brenda got a call from Eli and I could tell right away that it was not good news. While they hadn’t made a decision yet, Brimstone was getting worse, not better. By the end of the work day they had decided that surgery was the only option. *dread*

At the end of the day, Brenda, Jody, and I piled into the car and drove up to the clinic. We went in to the barn and asked if anybody knew where the two year old colt from Bluestone was. The standardbred? Yes. In the surgery barn.

So we went across the way and quickly found Brimstone in the first stall on the right. He looked miserable and was halfway through the process of getting his plastic muzzle off, so that it was hanging on just his lower jaw as he rubbed his head up and down the wall in an attempt to get rid of it.

The head surgeon (whose name I think is Rich) came in and helped him out, telling him, “You are an idiot, horse.” We then found out that Brimstone has developed the unnerving habit of taking off his blankets, tearing them up, and eating the pieces. Intelligent. I just hope they didn’t find blanket in his intestines. That would however explain the sign on his stall door which read, “Do not put blankets on or near horse!”

I went into the stall after Jody did and while she loved all over the big colt I went to his head and started rubbing.

“Big boy, when I said I missed you I didn’t mean you had to come back. And this is certainly not what I meant when I said I wanted to visit you. At all…”

Soon I figured he’d had enough and I went to leave the stall. As I backed up he took a step forward and nudged me with his nose, getting as close as he could and nearly knocking me out with the muzzle. He wouldn’t settle til I rubbed his head again. It’s good to be remembered but it broke my heart. I ended up staying in the stall even after Jody made her way out. Eventually a vet assistant came in an clipped a lead to Brimstone to lead him away. Before she came in the stall I pushed aside his forelock, kissed his head, and wished him good luck.

Then they led him away.

As he got out of sight he threw his head up and neighed, and all the gunk that had gathered in the muzzle poured out onto the floor, narrowly missing an innocent bystander who jumped back just in the knick of time.

We went back to the barn and Bryce picked me up. He and I went tux and dress shopping for the formal on Friday (details when I’m more in the mood…) and after we picked up Chinese food from his brother we drove back up to the clinic.

I was nervous when we slipped into the silent and mostly dark barn. My fear increased when I saw an empty but bedded stall, but I told myself he’d be in the surgery barn recuperating. Thankfully I was right.

Poor Brim was standing with a cooler over his back and his head low when we walked in. A series of four IV bags was hooked to his neck with a long catheter and his eyes were dull. Still, he flicked his ears and tried to step forward when we came to the stall door. I was relieved to see he came out of surgery alive, but I know we’re far from being in the clear.

Bryce and I only stayed for a little bit, since the clinic was technically closed, but it was nice just to see him for a bit.

Just when we got done with Garland’s bill (well over $15,000), I’ve got another horse to hope for and keep everybody updated on. *sigh*

Surprisingly Productive

You know, considering the fact that I was only at the barn for three hours, I had a very productive and educational sort of day. I think it was good for me.

I got there just as everybody was finishing lunch and I spent a few minutes playing tug of war with Bo (since he NEVER brings toys to me). He cheats! He uses his paw to pull down between my mouth and his hand. LOL. Too cute.

I was then told to go bring Garland in and give her a good grooming so that she’d be relatively clean for the chiropractor (have I mentioned she’s got one of those now?) who was coming in later. So that’s just what I did. She’s shedding a good deal so I did quite a bit of currying, and chatted with her for some of that time.

I started off by telling Garland that Barbaro died. I realize she has no idea who that is, but I’ve been mentioning the name a bit in front of her, and the impact of his story didn’t really strike me until I was looking at our own potential miracle horse. My eyes welled up as I realized that they’re the same age and have the same frisky personality. Until I went to work today my attitude towards the Barbaro news was mostly that I was unsurprised, yet saddened. And the biggest question in my mind was, “Why didn’t they amputate and give him a prosthetic?” I cried while watching video tributes last night, but my heart REALLY ached when I was in Garland’s stall today.

“You know, Garland,” I told her, “You can’t give up now. Now that they don’t have Barbaro to cheer for, a lot of people are rooting for you. You’ll break their hearts if you die too.” I explained to her that I didn’t think she’d ever make it this far, and that I was proud of her. I also told her that I believe in her now and that she has to make it.

While I was rubbing, Brenda came up and told me I could try pulling her mane when I was done. As long as it didn’t irritate her too much or knock her over. So I grabbed a pulling comb and started on the beautiful thick mane. The longest pieces came out easily and I started braiding them together to give to Bryce, since he’s so in love with that sick little filly. Eventually she started wandering, as she often does, and I tied her for a few more minutes of pulling. I let her go before she got a chance to get really mad though. One step at a time…

Later on, I was told to go rub ointment on another sore Garland got over her left knee. My toes were cold so I was sitting on the ground in her stall (bad horsemanship, I know *rolls eyes*). I was just taking my time and adding a little more dermagel at a time. Suddenly I felt the weight of an equine head on my shoulder blade. Garland had reached over me then lowered her head to rest on me with her eyes closed, and she was just sitting there, flicking her ears at me and enjoying the company.

No matter how much I swear that I won’t get attached to this horse, I find it harder and harder to resist her.

My next bonding experience was with Bubba. I went out with Jody to curry some of the mares and she did Bubba then moved on to the new gelding who she has decided to dub Tucker (for no reason I can think of, but who am I to have an opinion on a horse that is temporarily staying with us?) She was trying to convince Tuck that she’s not going to eat him if she’s sitting up on the fence and that he can come over to her that way. I could see right away that this was something I should just ignore and I took the opportunity to just be for a few minutes (if only I could somehow have my camera on me at all times…) So I hopped up on Bubba’s fence and he quickly came over to say hello. I was rubbing his forehead and just sort of playing with his forelock and before I knew it I had a cute little stallion head in my lap. He was already stretching up a little to reach, but what he did next made me “aw” out loud. He stretched his neck allllll the way up to touch his nose to my face and every time I kissed him he’d nudge back. Then he pulled back his lip in a typical Flehmen response. I was cracking up. I swear, Bubba was a puppy in a past life. A big, hoofed lap dog.

And, since things seem to go in threes, I also learned something new at work today. Brenda has of course been keeping an eye on all the pregnant mares’ udders and today she started taking milk (well, pre-milk really) samples. So, intrigued, I asked what she was testing for. She invited me into the lab to come see for myself. Now I know what the predict-a-foal kits do. You take the milk sample and put it in the tiny test tube provided, then you mix it with some chemical they give you. You put in what is basically a strip of litmus paper and wait 10 seconds. There are five green boxes on the strip. They turn red based on hormones. As the mare gets closer to her due date the milk changes color and gets thicker, and more squares turn red. If all five squares turn red the mare will most likely deliver within 24 hours. So far, all our tested mares appear to be sitting comfortably at one square.

Now that’s what they should teach you in chem. class. I’m not guaranteeing everybody would be as interested as I am, but…

Horse Photos

So I got my new 300mm lens and I went to work and wanted a sunny day and clean horses. No such luck of course, but I managed to get a few shots during the day. After work Bryce met me at the farm and when we finished feeding the yearlings we took some shots of Exmoor's field tearing it up. Terrible quality because of the low light/high ISO, but at least I got some practice in.



















Stride for stride much?