Mira's Eye Update: 1

So far, so good. :-) Overall things have been going pretty smoothly. At first I was a little worried because she didn't seem to have much of an appettite on Friday morning. But then I realized that she actually knows quite well that she has "attachments" hooked up to her right now, and it must feel funny to bend her neck down with an IV port in her jugular. So immediately we put her water bucket up on a large, overturned tub, and I am feeding her her meals in a plastic lawn chair. It looks kind of funny, but it worked - she started finishing all her meals!

She seems more comfortable today, because pretty quickly after I feed her, she keeps sliding the bucket off onto the ground and eating there. I wish she would drink more, but she seems to be staying hydrated so far. Plus, I am making her "Senior Soup" as liquid as possible.

I did have trouble overnight with the eye tube. The stopper kept coming out, and so I taped it on. Then it started leaking when I syringed the medicine in, which meant not enough was getting to her eye. It was very frustrating, but after quite a bit of fiddling I got it working right again.

She is in the small pen for now, partly to make it easy to catch her at midnight, and partly so there are no obstacles to negotiate. The really encouraging thing was that yesterday evening, when it got all dim outside, she had her eye partially open and you could tell she was (sort of) looking through it. And today she is moving her head and ears normally, i.e., when I go over she perks her ears and looks straight at me, rather than just with her left eye.

Just now I brushed both the horses, and it was nice to have a chance to play with Andolu for a few minutes. The poor guy has been a good boy through all this, but I don't want to neglect him. Oh, and tomorrow I have a fun little anecdote about him that I'll try to post...

Anyway, so far Mira is looking good, and as for me, I am SO glad it's the weekend right now! I really, really need the extra sleep :-D


L

Mira's Operation

Phew, I am totally exhausted. What a day! We trailered Mira over to the vet's at about 2:00 this afternoon, where he has a nice flat grassy arena, and he shaved a piece of her neck, injected lidocaine, and inserted a catheter in her jugular vein. This will stay in there until she no longer needs intravenous medications.

Then, he gave her a tranquilizer, and Mira started getting really woozy. She kept leaning her neck against me, so I put my arm under her jaw to help stabilize her head. He put a big head "bumper" on to protect her head when she was down, and after a couple more minutes, he gave her the IV anesthetic. This anesthetic is interesting, because the animal can still sense noise and touching, and will wake up if there is too much noise or stimulation. Otherwise, it is very effective.

It was about 60 seconds before she went down, and she just kind of sat down and rolled over. Once she was out, we put ropes around her legs and rolled her over the other way, which was amazingly easy - I've never had to do that before, but it was not hard at all. The vet didn't need me then, and I was feeling pretty upset at the moment and didn't particularly want to watch, so I went and sat at the edge of the corral and looked at a book I brought along, and prayed. I felt like crying from sheer nerves, but after reading some of the book (I don't remember much of it, now, though) and praying I felt a lot calmer. The entire operation was maybe 15 minutes at the very most.

He debrided the dead flap of the cornea, and installed a second tube going through (yuck) the upper eyelid. The tube ends at her withers, and I'll use it to flush her eye 6 times a day. Tonight I am making a chart to use for all the different meds...

After another 10 or 15 minutes Mira started to wake up, and she got her front legs under her. Then she stretched her neck out and tried to prop it on the ground to keep her head up, but her lower lip kept sliding and she kept having to adjust her position. I told her she was a goofball.

Once she was up, it was only a matter of standing/walking around with her for the next hour and a half, until she was really steady on her legs, and the vet had finished getting all her supplies together. One good sign was that as soon as we took the head bumper off, she started gobbling the grass.

Then we came home, and she and Anatolian were REALLY glad to see each other again! I guess he ran around whinnying for a long time after we left... They are still in separate corrals, though, because I can't chance him chasing her or bugging her at all.

Now I'm looking at about 2 weeks minimum of flushing and meds every 4 hours. I am not really looking forward to the midnights, but oh well. The vet said he was really pleased with how smoothly everything went, and now it depends on the nursing care - and if we can keep her from rubbing that eye! So, I am going to be praying a LOT that I can keep her from rubbing it at all. I am thankful for my vet, who used to be a farrier and horse trainer before he went to vet school, and is extremely knowledgeable. I am also thankful that he prayed for Mira too. I am especially thankful that my bill for the operation and all the various syringes and meds and things was under $600.00. I know he must have really given me a discount, just looking at all the paraphernalia, so I'll have to give him some banana bread or something as an extra thank-you when this is over. Any other suggestions for gifts for vets?

Thanks for reading this book (:-D) that this turned into, and I hope you are all having a good day. I'm gonna go get supper and go to bed ASAP...


L

Not good at all

Argh. This is so not funny. I got home from work today and casually noticed Mira was walking around like she was really sleepy. A bit later I went out to feed, and discovered her right eye was all swollen and purulent! At first I thought, "What? Pinkeye, at this time of year?" And then I realized that no, the other eye really didn't seem messed up, and she was holding her right ear back stiffly like she was in pain. She kept her right eye half closed most of the time, and there was a LOT of pus coming out.

I called the vet, and as soon as he heard her eye was partly open, he said "That's an emergency," and arrived about 45 minutes later. I was hoping maybe she "just" scratched her cornea or something, but no, she managed to get a nice, 10 mm long tear in the cornea! She has to have surgery tomorrow. He said she'll need to be under general anesthesia, and they'll either snip the flap off, or stitch it. Then they'll attach a cannula near the eye so I can flush it with medicine for several days, but after that she should be fine. I asked about chances of complications, and if it would be safer to remove the eye, and he said no, horses have thick corneas that usually heal very well after surgeries like this. Not including the fee for today, the operation will cost somewhere around $300-$600, which is not horrible, but not what I enjoy handing out, either. I'm just glad it's not a couple thousand, or else I would have to seriously wrestle with the horrible decision that I hate ever thinking about. Fortunately, the outlook is good.

Right now I have the horses in separate pens, and Mira seems pretty cheerful with all the pain medicine in her. Now that I'm calmer I have to go make some calls. Prayers and good wishes are much appreciated.


L

I'm very tired...

I started my new job last week, and so life has been totally hectic. I graduated right before Christmas and found an afternoon job doing medical transcription, which has been a goal of mine for what seems like a LONG time, and so I have been working my first job, (before dawn to around noon) and then coming back and doing my typing in the afternoon. The account has a lot of different specs, so it is a LOT to remember, which makes me very glad that I can only do a certain number each day until the first part of training is done. Phew! Eventually I'll be doing this full time.

I have had quite a bit of stress starting this new job, because I want to learn really quickly, and not give my trainer more work than necessary. I also kept wondering, "What if it turns out I HATE transcription? What would I do then?!?" Thus, it was a nice surprise to find that, even though they started me on a doctor who is a very hard guy to hear, and gave me all sorts of warnings about how awful he is, I actually am enjoying the process! He has not been really horrible yet, and I'm very happy because if he is the worst than I know I'll really like listening to the others! :-)

One thing that I am very grateful for about this job, is that they have a stellar reputation for how they train and treat the workers. In the MT world, it is pretty hard to find companies that are good to their employees, so I am glad to have gotten this job.

However, my brain is dead...

Oh well. The horses are doing fine, but I haven't had too much time to play with them lately. Tomorrow I hope to have enough time to take them both for a walk and groom them more thoroughly. I want to get more pictures of them!

I hope everyone else's week is going smoothly!


L

Anatolian's Pedigree!

Anatolian's leg seems to be healing quickly, still with no swelling or anything. So far so good!

On another topic, before Christmas I pulled his Jockey Club 5 generation pedigree and race report - they were doing a special where you could get those free, and I jumped on it! The previous owners had told me they thought he was bred in CA, at Harris Farms - not! He was bred in Kentucky, and has MUCH better breeding than I expected

Here is his sire: http://www.threechimneys.com/Rahy/conformation.php

His dam is a mare named Rosebrook. He is heavily line-bred Nasrullah, with quite a bit of Native Dancer & Mr. Prospector blood as well. Rahy's stud fee is $60,000 (which is still less than Dynaformer, the sire of Barbaro, who stands at the same place) so I'm guessing Andolu was at least a $100,000 yearling or so. Tee hee. That's the racing industry - buy high, sell low! Quickest way to make a small fortune in the horse industry... at least, if you start with a large one!

I love having access to his records, and finding out that when he was sold as a yearling, he went to England. He was started in racing there, and didn't do much, so he came back to the US, and didn't do much, so eventually was sold on until I got him. He never came in first (bunch of 2nd and third places) and only won about $12,000 total, which is about what I was guessing as far as his performance on the track. I WAS surprised he'd been to England, though!

Anyway, it was fun finding out some of his background, and his birthdate, (3/24/02) and discovering I have a "blueblood" in my backyard. (I figured he had decent bloodlines, but the "Big Names" were closer and more numerous than I expected.) :-D


L

My *not* favorite thing to see in the morning.

We have had LOTS of rain, which is very good (our pond is completely filled up! In 2 days!!!) and LOTS of wind since Friday. Puddles everywhere, but we need it, and the electricity stayed on, so I just enjoyed getting to stay inside and listen to the rain. :-)

However, this morning I went out to feed and discovered that Andolu managed to injure his left hind leg! Aargh! I am realizing he is quite accident prone - this is the third accident type thing he has done in 2 months. Not sure how he does it! He scraped himself on the inside of the leg, a couple inches above the bulge of the fetlock, and ON the bone, NOT on the tendon area. Phew! It had bled and then dried. It was a very small scrape, and due to the position I don't think he did it on a rock - it must have been interference from his other hoof, 'cause there isn't anything else I can see that he could have scraped it with.

Of course, I pulled him out of the pasture and took him over to the gravel area where I do baths, etc. with them, and washed his legs, all 4 of them, with warm water. He didn't mind my messing around at all, as he had his head in a bucket of hay pellets the whole time. :-)

After cleaning the wound, I examined it VERY carefully for any signs of needing to call the vet. He was not very tender, no heat, no swelling, puts all his weight on it, etc. etc., so for now I am holding off on the vet. If anything changes I'll call. Fortunately, it continued to improve all afternoon, and hasn't developed any heat so far, so I think it is just a simple scratch. He's moving around like he normally does in the pasture, so I'm hoping for the best! I put a thick layer of antibiotic ointment on it, mostly to protect it from all the mud. That was what my day was like. :-D Hope your Sunday was better!


L

One year Anniversary, and Happy New Year!

Wow, it has now been exactly one year since I started this blog! It has averaged almost 10 posts a month, which is much better than I ever expected to be able to do. It has been very enjoyable so far, and I really like getting to talk to fellow bloggers and other horse lovers.

This post is just to celebrate the anniversary, and give each of you my best wishes for this coming year!


L

Update on Paddock Paradise Project

I have had a bunch of hits from searches on Paddock Paradise in the last few days (maybe from people who were given the excellent book by Jaime Jackson for Christmas?) and Sheil recently asked for an update here.

I have to admit, I have not yet completed my track. My many excuses include the process of changing jobs, ill grandparents living next door and needing extra care, finances, and a general lack of time. Excuses, excuses. Sheesh! I will say, however, that I only have to put about 20 posts in and put up the electric tape, and now that the ground is finally wet, that wouldn't take me very long. Unlike in the summer, when every single posthole has to be soaked for days on end to have any chance of penetrating our concrete that passes as dirt! I am hoping to get time for finishing the project soon. No promises though...

In other ways I am doing my best to give the horses a healthy life, including:

Fed 3x a day, with grass hay almost constantly available. Hay is placed in several small piles to encourage movement.
Only fed enough alfalfa to keep protein at the proper level.
Barefoot and trimmed regularly.
As much exercises as I have time for now, and more as things settle down.
Regular work/play with their minds as well as bodies to keep them stimulated.
Outdoors 24/7 with a run-in shelter when it rains.
Varied terrain (more varied than I'd like, in fact!)
Thorvin kelp in addition to their regular salt and mineral blocks.


I am very happy with how healthy they both are, and Mira, who has naturally great feet, is almost self-maintaining her trim, and has been for the last few months. Very little ever needs to be done to them. Andolu has only been here for about 6 weeks, so I am still getting to know his feet, but he seems to have pretty good ones. They are a little flat, which I believe is typical for a TB, but he is quite sound. He only shows a tiny amount of tentativeness on gravel.

Both horses look very satisfied when you watch them in the pasture. Watching them is fun, because even when they are bickering they look contented overall. They are always ready to get fed, of course, but since they are basically munching all day, they are not desperate at any time. I believe this is one reason why The Dude has gained probably 50 pounds since he arrived - he is a "hard-keeper TB," remember, and is on grass hay and alfalfa with almost no concentrates, but he has gained quite a bit of weight. I like the benefits to their digestive systems in being able to let them "graze" all day.

Other than that, it gets kind of hard for me to describe the benefits of a more holistically-oriented way of keeping horses. It just feels right to me, more and more as I keep making little changes. The horses will show you how much they like it.

To me, health in humans or animals, total health, means not just absence of disease. I believe that the ultimate goal is to have vitality and contentment that radiates from the animal or human. I am seeing more & more of that in the horses, so I know I am heading in the right way. So, if you are considering changing some of your horse-keeping habits to a "Paddock Paradise" or other holistic strategies, I definitely would encourage you to do so. You will not regret it.


However, just as with humans, I strongly believe that the most important aspect, the part that truly affects everything, is the attitude and the love shown towards the horses. I grew up wanting my own horse, and because I never got one as a child, it became a passion. I still can't believe I have 2 horses, and I know the horses can feel how thrilled I am to be around them: You can see it in their expressions. Just like children, it makes them feel secure.

So, the biggest single piece of advice I have for anyone who has horses, or wants to learn how to deal effectively with them, is, be a little kid again! Rediscover the joy of these wonderful creatures!



Well, it looks like this turned into a book, but I won't apologize. :-) I know a lot of you reading this feel the exact same way I do, and for anyone who is still new to horses, I hope this will serve as a reminder to keep your attitude of excitement. Work hard at the skills of horse keeping and horse training, but do it with an attitude of PLAY!

And I will TRY to get that track finished SOON!

L

Andolu's Christmas Ribbon

OK, the computers are behaving a little bit better, so here is the first picture. Perhaps tomorrow I will have enough time to organize the rest and post them... We can hope! ;-D

L

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you, from me and the family, and Anatolian and Mira!

"1In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
The Shepherds and the Angels 8And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 10And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christthe Lord. 12And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"
Luke 1:1-14

I like this story. :-) There are a lot of details about it that I find fascinating, especially as I think more and more what it would have been like to BE in those situations. None of the people really knew what to expect about anything. We can see the whole story now, and sometimes, because it's so familiar, we take things for granted. But the people living in the midst of this - I cannot imagine what kind of turmoil they were in! Even Mary was only given 8 sentences to prepare her for being pregnant while unwed (which could have gotten her killed, and definitely got her ostracized), 8 sentences to tell her she was going to be mothering her Creator... 8-0 I can't imagine how much faith and sheer guts that took to keep going even when she was terrified. And the Shepherds. They crack me up! Did you ever notice how in the Bible, pretty much every time an angel appears to anybody, they first have to say "Fear not!" Angels are only messengers from God, servants who do His bidding, but they must be pretty terrifying! Also, the "Heavenly host" was NOT a choir - a "host" is an army. Yikes! I bet those shepherds were looking for the nearest bush to hide behind!

Of course, I like to think about the animals in the story, too. What did the sheep think about the angels? Did they see them? Were they scared too, or just interested, or did they keep grazing/sleeping? Did other people in the town see the angels, or were they all sleeping? Were there any animals in the stable that night, or nearby? I wonder if they realized something really important was happening that night... Anyway, the more I ponder the accounts, the more I have to think about, and the better it gets.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy asking questions about the Birth also, and imagining yourself in the place of one of the people. I have had several people encourage me to do that about the Bible in general, starting a few years ago, and that, combined with finding out some of the interesting details about the cultures then, really makes the Bible come alive to me.

OK, I'll stop thinking out loud now! :-)


Well, I had a great Christmas today! Lots of presents, fun times with a few relatives who were here, some singing... We all managed to stay pretty cheerful all day, too, which is good - nobody started whining, even late in the afternoon, so that is great! ;-) I gave both horses chopped up candy cane in their breakfasts, and Mira loved it! Anatolian did too, as soon as he tried the first chunk! I also braided red & green ribbons in their forelocks, so they looked cute today. Hopefully tomorrow the computers will behave themselves and I can post the photos. :-D

I hope each of you had a wonderful day, also.


L

Click and Drag?

Tee hee, I was just telling my programmer brothers about one of the things I'm working on with Anatolian. I have been teaching him to face me if he is within 20 feet of the fence, and if he isn't facing me when his feed bucket is ready, I click my tongue and move back a little until he turns around. I will say that he is MUCH more motivated by food than Mira is :-) I also don't put his food down until he has his ears forward, because I noticed he tends to have a grumpy face on at feeding time.

Well, my brothers listened to me, and then one said, "So, it is a click and drag thing! You click your tongue and move him where you want him!" I think that it the perfect way to describe it! :-D


L