Next To The Last Straw!
Mike was checking our past electricity usage yesterday, and he said our kilowatt-hours this summer FAR surpassed any we’d ever had before. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised…
Yesterday was the worst yet. I had noticed that Indy was even sweater than he’d been on previous days, and I was getting a little concerned about him since the summers in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan were probably cooler. As I was mucking the stalls in the afternoon, I noticed that Ami was almost as sweaty as Indy - first time THAT had happened. I had been thinking about hosing them down, but I’d been putting it off since Indy hated it so.
As I clean the stalls, I usually offer the guys treats. Maybe an alfalfa cube or two or maybe their FAVORITE - a horse treat by Manna Pro called Apple Wafers. Since it was SO miserably hot, I offered the Apple Wafers. Indy gobbled his as usual, but Ami didn’t. She showed very little interest, and took one in her mouth but didn’t eat it. When I offered her another, she just let it drop. NOT like Ami! I knew she was feeling seriously unwell if she didn’t eat her Apple Wafer.
Praying it was just the awful heat, I decided baths WERE in order, NOW. I took Ami outside and started showering her. I always use the shower setting on the nozzle, and I just went at it. After a few minutes, I noticed she looked much brighter and was in fact chewing on something. It was that last Apple Wafer that she’d been holding in her mouth all this time! She finally felt up to eating it. I kept the spray going for a while. Our water comes from a well, and it’s quite cool, even in the summer. When Ami seemed back to her normal self, I took her into the barn and brought Indy out.
He was a little antsy at first, but I could see light dawning in his face - “Uh, hey. This feels kinda good!” He even ended up playing in the spray with his lips! He did NOT want his face sprayed, but I would never do that anyway. He let me get his mane thoroughly rinsed - no mean feat, believe me - and rinse that side of his neck and crest. He even let me spray his incision area - something he was very touchy about before. All in all, he ended up enjoying his bath as much as Ami. Good deal!! Especially since they may get another one today. It was SUPPOSED to be cooler, but judging by this morning, I don’t think so…
Indy’s foot that he chipped is just fine. Thank God his thick hoof horn protected the sensitive structures just above the white line. Matt said it would have been quite painful otherwise. I’ll probably never know how he did that. Even Matt said he couldn’t picture how such tough horn got broken so badly. He said it must have been a very freaky type thing. I HOPE so!
On the training side, it’s been too miserable to do anything formal, BUT... Indy likes to play games when it comes time to put on his mask in the mornings. He doesn’t REALLY like the mask, but he likes the face flies even less, so he WILL let me put it on - he just likes to make a game out of it. Of course, I COULD put his halter on to do this, but what fun would that be?
Day before yesterday when I came at him with the mask, he walked briskly out of the barn toward the open gate to the pasture, and I briskly trotted after him. When I got to the point of his shoulder, he turned. By staying at the point of his shoulder, I turned him 180 and back inside the barn - always maintaining the same distance between us. Hey! I didn’t realize he was that far along! He does that in both directions too. Cool!
Yesterday at lunch, he was out in the paddock, and I wanted to adjust his mask, He was walking along, and when I got to the point of his shoulder, I wondered what would happen if I just stopped - so I did. He went on for a stride, then stopped and looked back at me. I clucked and gestured for him to come to me. He turned around and came right back! Boy, is this FUN! And remember, we ain’t in no round pen - we’re in a ten-acre “square pen.” LOL! I LOVE it!
Yesterday morning, I was working on Ami’s stall when Indy started messing with the muck bucket cart that Mike had parked just outside her stall. I did NOT want him to do that - we’ve already been through this! - so, I was making a fast exit from her stall by climbing over the rails that separate her exit to her paddock from the main opening to the big paddock and the outer pasture. Indy immediately left the cart and came over to me, hoping for a scratch. So there I was, standing on this rail that put me right over Indy’s back. A perfect height to mount bareback… Temptation was like a Siren Song. I put my leg over his back, and rubbed it all around - all over his back, his croup and as far as I could reach on his other side. He loved it - must have been a good scratch! I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO tempted! But, we were in very close quarters, he didn’t even have on a halter and he hasn’t been backed for at least a year. So, I didn’t do it - this time…
suzym on 08.05.02 @ 09:45 AM CST [link] [No Comments]
