Project Done!

I can't believe it was September when I first talked about doing this project, HERE.

 I ended up choosing an oil painting version that I worked on after that post.

 It measures 3 feet by 4 feet.  I had it printed at Staples as a color engineering print.  The paper isn't all that great but if you are looking more for an impact it does the job.

I then got a 1 inch foam insulation board, cut it to size then used spray adhesive to stick it on.  I think it looks kind of cool.  And yes, I got the idea from Pinterest so I am calling it another success.

Jessica's Lameness

Jessica has been lame for some time now.  I'm embarrassed to say how long.  At first I thought it was going to be an abscess because everything here is an abscess but an abscess never happened.  Plus, Jessica is the toughest horse we have and has never really had an abscess.   Then of course, rest heals everything, so she has been resting.  Granted, resting here is out on the side of a mountain running on 20 acres.  But instead of getting better she kept getting worse.  What at first seemed to be just a front leg lameness also became a rear end stiffness and general just not feeling good and suddenly looking very old.  Then it dawned on me, maybe she has Lyme disease.  She is acting like the Lyme positive dogs we see at the clinic every week.  I ran the dog test on her and she was positive, which means she has had exposure but doesn't necessarily mean that it is causing her symptoms.  

So I had my equine vet friend come look at her too.  She agrees the left front was her worst leg but there was definitely stuff going on elsewhere too.   She did a nerve block on the left front which blocked most of the lameness there but she was still in rough shape.  So I decided to go ahead and start treating her for Lyme disease to see what happens.  If she is no better then we will do more nerve blocks and radiographs.  I started her on doxycycline twice a day on Friday and by Tuesday she was running away from me again.  She hasn't done that in weeks.   She is still lame but moving much better overall and has more of her old attitude back.  I'm not 100% convinced yet that this is the problem but I'm hopeful.  We still have 25 days left of treatment to go.

Small Town Parade

Jordan from the Clinic where I work suggested we have a float in the Christmas Parade this year.  The boss thought it was a great idea so Jordan took off and ran with the idea.  I decided to support the effort by waving when they went by.  (there was plenty of help I think)

 When J and I got to town we found out the Rock House Museum was having and open house.  Since I had never been in it we took the tour.  It was set up as Christmas in the 50's.

 Next was an open house at our financial adviser which is on main street.  Here we waited for the start of the parade in warmth with refreshments.

 Here comes the parade!  There was a big turnout.  Lots of kids.  It is sort of like trick or treating in reverse.  The parade people hand out and throw candy to all of the kids on the route.

 The town council had a good idea with the light show.

 I thought this igloo was cute.

 Rudolf was there.

 This one reminded me of a toy my sister had that I loved playing with.

You don't see the Confederacy represented at just any parade.

 Just in case you haven't seen a grader.

 This semi was really tricked out.

 There were a couple of local bands,

 and some old cars

 and even a few horses.  

 Then our clinic float!  I think they did a great job.  "Pets Light Up Your Life"

Merry Christmas Santa.
It was a pretty long parade for such a small community.  No Rose Parade but it did last about an hour.  Little Caesars was out of pizza by the time we got there so it was popcorn and frozen pizza for supper.  But I was pretty full after all of those open houses.  

Good Fences Solo

I haven't linked to Good Fences for a few weeks.  But this week I thought I had some good fence pictures so I was saving them for Good Fences.  Low and behold, when I went there to link up she had quit.  There was another blogger willing to take it up but her internet connection wasn't allowing her to do the link.  So anyway, here are my Good Fence pictures by myself.  

 The new little horse had passed her 2 week quarantine with flying colors so I was allowing her fence line contact with the other horses.

 You can see how excited everyone is to meet her.

 If they can't get to the front end they are checking out the back.

 It's a little overwhelming for such a little horse.

 Here is the family picture with Brother, Otoelene and "Sis"

Pep patiently waited her turn to meet the new little horse while the others were off getting a drink. And Hank is such a loner that he was never even close enough to get into a picture.

Roof Repairs

Yet another piece of tin blew up on the roof of the old barn.  

 J took the opportunity before they were calling for rain to do some repairs.   (yes, we got some rain, finally after 2 months! )

 This involved scavenging a different piece of tin, cutting the bent piece off and fitting the new into place then nailing it down.  All of this was accompanied by the appropriate language too.

 But since this was going on  on the other side of the barn J had to keep reminding me to pay attention to him and not the horses.

After the new piece was in place J went around the rest of the roof tacking down more spots.  The whole thing needs a new roof but getting anyone here to work on anything is next to impossible.  Everyone seems to want to build new stuff but no one wants to repair the old.

Sunday Ride

I've had time to ride Otoelene but J hasn't been on Brother in about 3 weeks.  Sunday was so nice it would have been a shame to let it pass without a ride.

  J was a little worried about how Brother would act so he started out free lunging him in the barn.

 And surprisingly, Brother listened very well.

 After some warming up under saddle in the barn we headed out for a loop around the gravel road.

 Brother was acting great but did a silly jump at a round bale of hay so as punishment J rode him on down into the field where he had piled up a bunch of wood.

 Brother usually hates seeing cut wood and normally spooks at it but with this pile he acted more like he wanted to climb on top.

 I loped on ahead and got this beautiful view when I tuned back around.

One final training trip up a steep hill and Brother and J completed a nice Sunday afternoon ride.

Getting Better

Our new little still no name horse is getting better about being caught.  She usually comes up to me now and if trying to avoid me just walks away instead of throwing her tail over her back and taking off. 

 In the barn lot there is nothing it eat other than the grain we feed twice a day and the square bale grass hay we put out for her.  She loves her grain now but isn't too thrilled about the hay.

 So I have started turning her out some in the riding ring to graze.  There isn't much there either (or anywhere for that matter)  but it is still more than the barn lot.

She has been such a sweet heart, not really jumpy or spooky.  

She was pretty unperturbed about all of the attention she got on Thanksgiving when everyone walked to the barn to see her.  
As for a name, the breeder usually has a theme for each foal crop.  This year 2 were born on tax day so they were named Otoe's Revenue and Otoe's Income.   I'm thinking for her registered name to stick with the theme and maybe go for Otoe's Asset.  As for a barn name E is voting for Gretchen or Gretel.  I like Glitter but J said if he ended up wanting to ride her he didn't really want to be calling her Glitter.  So you can see we are still working on it.