The Grass/Land - Finally, The Monsoon!

Finally, The Monsoon!

The rains did finally come this summer.  It was too late for our hay crop, but it was so nice to see the clouds building every afternoon.  The cooling winds and rain have been such a nice relief.  I don't know if the drought is officially over, but it feels broken to me.  Our fields have greened again at a time of year when  they are often brown. 

The Grass/Land - Putting Up Hay

Putting Up Hay in a BIG Way

The drought was such that there was no hay to cut in our hayfield last year.   We turned the horses out on to  it after the first frost so that they could eat what there was and we could stave off feeding the hay that we had bought.  But feed it we did.  We ran out sometime in April and had to start buying hay by the pick-up load every weekend at retail prices which climbed as high as $18.00 a bale for small bales.  Finally this year's grass came up and we got some relief. 

But it soon became clear, as the grass once again began to head up when it was barely six or seven inches high, that there would be no hay for us to cut again this year. 

The local folks, who liked selling us hay by the pick-up load, assured us that there was no way we could get a semi truck in and out of our tight driveway.  But with a little perseverance and a lot of luck I found a local rancher, with irrigated  hay fields in Colorado and Nebraska, who barn-stored his hay and would bring it in by the semi-load, and stack it in our barn for us. 

His driver was a wizard!  He came in fully loaded through our front pasture, sideways on  the hill and through a narrow gate, and backed up to the barn door.

The whole family was there to help, along with the members of the local high school church youth group.  They arrived at six in the morning.  Some of them were still in their pajamas!  It took them about an hour and a half to unload the semi and then they went off to their day jobs.

This is the biggest single expense to raising horses, even when we cut our own hay, but especially when we have to buy it from someone else. 

We have enough hay to last over a year now, and that is a very nice feeling.  We did eventually get rain.  Not soon enough for this years grass, buy hopefully next year we can cut our own hay again.

The Riding/Training - PJ Tears Her Ear Open

PJ Tears Her Ear Open

 

 

 

PJ has discovered that if she squeezes her  head in between the gatepost and the fence, the hot wire is insulated and won't shock her.  She thought this was a very clever way of getting more grass from the other side of the fence.  She didn't seem to notice that none of the older, more experienced horses used this method.  They apparently hadn't explained to her that there are sometimes nails sticking out in places like that: places where horses heads should not be in the first place.  Well... she found out this weekend... right on cue to be injured for Championships again this year. 

 

But we called the vet, and he drove all the way down from Golden on a Sunday when he had already had three colics, and stitched her up.  She is on antibiotics and should be fine by September 19th. 

 

 

 Has she learned her lesson?  Will she stop sticking her head in places where it doesn't fit?  I doubt it!

The Grass/Land - Weeds or Wildflowers?

 Weeds or Wildflowers?

The recent rains have caused an explosion of weeds in the garden, but also an explosion of wildflowers around the house and barn and along the road to the farm.  Interestingly, they are much the same plants in both locations.  I just think of them as "weeds" in the vegetable garden and as "a wildflower garden" when they pop up in places where a little variation in color and texture is a welcomed punctuation to the now riotous and luxuriant green of our pastures. 

A brushstroke of yellow or purple ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What would you call them?   "wildflower gardens" ... or "weed patches" next to the barn and in front of the house?   Whatever you call them, I love them and they won't be pulled or poisoned as long as I have a say!



The Riding/Training - Why There Have Been No Posts Since April

Why There Have Been No Posts Since April

I usually reserve this section for reports on the training, health and progress of the horses.  But "Riding" is in the title too, so in the interests of telling the bad with the good I am going to give you a timeline of what has gone on with my back this year.

2013 Back Pain Timeline

 

2/10                 Woke up with a back spasm.  Started 150 mg.  per day of   Indomethracin: one 75 mg.
                         capsule morning and night.

2/19                 Acupuncture treatment.

2/21                 Saw Dr. Moritz.  She prescribed Tramadol (50 mg.) and Cyclobenzaprin (10 mg. )  Started taking 100 mg. of  Tramadol per day: with my Indomethcine morning and night.    

2/28                 Therapeutic massage.

3/9                   Took a sauna.

3/11                 Saw Dr. Green.  He prescribed an MRI.

3/14                 Got Tramadol refilled

3/15                 MRI was denied by Cigna when I showed up for it.

3/17                 Tried taking the Cyclobenzaprin.  I took one at 4 pm.  It took about 30 hours for me to feel like my brain was working normally again.  Won’t take any more of that drug.

3/20                 Started taking a third Tramadol at bedtime.

3/22                 Added treatment with the TENS machine and ice packs during the day.

3/25                 MRI

3/26                 Acupuncture

3/27                 Therapeutic massage

3/28                 I could not get out ahead of the pain with ice, TENS, and medication, so I started taking the maximum Tramadol prescribed: 2  pills every 6 hours.

3/29                 Noticed that I would run out of Tramadol on Sunday, so I called the pharmacy and Dr. Moritz’s office.  They said they would get it done.  I called the pharmacy in the evening and it was not done. 

3/30                 I called the pharmacy and it was not done last night. 

 

3/30                 Called Elizabeth family health – they did refill the prescription.  Picked it up.

 

4/1 – 4/3          Made it through partial work week on maximum Tramadol + ice + tens all day. 

 

4/4                   Injections!  Local wore off on the way home and pain returned.  Stayed off feet and back on full amounts of Indocin, Tramadol and continued ice packs.  Felt better.

 

4/5                   Pain back in the morning.  Continued medications and started hot packs and Tens.  Stayed off feet except for modified morning chores and a little cooking.  The tens became unnecessary and pain was managed well all day.  Dropped to 1 Tramadol every 6 hours at 4pm.

 

4/6                   Pain back in the morning.  Took 1 Tramadol at 4 am.  I slept a little more but pain got me up at 7:30.  It was less than yesterday morning but started hot packs and stretching and tens to get through breakfast and to the 10 am Indocin dose.  I never got the pain under control.  Went back to double Tramadol with Indocin, tens and hot packs.  Went to bed with a heating pad and slept pretty well.

 

4/7                   Alarm woke me for 4 am dose of Tramadol and I went back to sleep.  Awoke around 7:30 with severe pain.  Tens didn’t help, stretching didn’t help, walking didn’t help.  Nausea from pain.  Ice seemed to help a little.  10 am dose of  Indocin and Tramadol could not come soon enough.  Started to alternate ice and heat.  Really, I wished someone would just shoot me this morning because of the pain.  I began alternating ice and heat and eventually the pain levels began to subside.  I had turned a corner.  I dropped Tramadol to one every 6 hours and started taking 75 mgs. Indocin every 8 hours while I was awake. 

 

 

 

4/8                   Alarm woke me for 4 am doses.  Continued Indocin every 8 hours and 1 Tramadol every 6 hours.  Continued ice and heat and attached TENS to my leg before leaving for work, but never turned it on.  Worked until 2.  Home, light chores and rest.  Snow day tomorrow.   Took last dose at 8:30

 

4/9                   No alarm .  Slept until 8:30.  Woke up pretty comfortable.  Took Indocin and 1 Tramadol.  Continued ice and heat. 

 

4/10 – 4/25 Only needed Indocin – 75 mg every 12 hours and Tramadol with the evening dose.

                        I started to do light exercise, stretches and could stand to cook, wash eggs, etc.

                        4/24 had a wonderful massage – worked an 11 hour day though.

 

4/26                 Something has shifted.  I’m not sure what I have done, but pain is increasing again.  Barely made it through the last of the testing at school

 

4/27 – 28                     Stayed pretty much in bed all weekend.  Soaked, iced, heated, massaged, slept.  But I had to up my meds again (reluctantly) to 50 mgs Indocin and 50 mg. Tramadol every 8 hours.

 

45/1/2013                    Saw Dr. Charney.  He did labs.  Said I was managing things well and recommended that I see Dr. Wong.  I have an appt. for 5/9/2013.

 

5/5/2013                      Still on 150 mgs. Indocin, but pain is decreasing and I am able to be more active.   Dropped to 50 mgs. of tramadol at night only. 

 

 

 

 

5/10/2013                    Saw Dr. Wong.  He took Xrays and showed them to me and showed me the Xrays of people who do not have the conditions that I have.   My discs are black instead of white because of my Reiter’s.  I have 3 herniated discs:  the one at S-1/L-5, and the two above that one.  L-4/L-5 and L-3/L-4.  He wants me to swim, lose 20 lbs., do physical therapy, and get the other two discs injected before turning to surgery.  He says when I need surgery it will be micro-surgery.

 

5/31/2013                    Had PT evaluation and got 3 exercises: double knee to chest, pelvic tilts, neutral pelvis with transverse abdominus.  I am to stop all other exercises.

 

6/1/2013                      Lots of pain today.  Stayed off my feet and started taking tramadol with my indocin and valerian root. 

 

6/2/2013                      Worse today: :(  pain kept me awake at night

 

6/3/2013                     Not going backwards down this road again!!  Even though it hurt, I swam 14 laps – Gave Faleena a lunge lesson and rode Gus for about 15 minutes.  W-T-C.  Resumed my old exercises and I feel much better!!  No tramadol at night and slept like a rock.

 

6/4/2013                     PT today.  First day of real therapy.   Bike, exercises, presses, ice.  No tramadol and did ok.  Shopped without the motorized cart.

 

So, since June 4th, I have finished my PT and done 2 of a proposed 6 acupuncture treatments.  I am

off all drugs and pain free.  We got an above ground pool and I am exercising in the water almost 

every day.  I am riding almost every day and able to do all my normal activities.  I am doing the

exercises I got from physical therapy and their

stretches every day.  I feel it if I don't.  When I have symptoms, they are numbness and tingling, not

pain any more.  I have decided not to do the two injections recommended by the surgeon as I am pain

free.   I still have to lose the 20 lbs.  I know there are no guarantees and this will probably happen

 again.  What was different about this time as opposed to previous events of this kind is:

The pain was the worst ever

I have no idea what I did to bring it on

It lasted a LONG time

 

Perhaps having the flu and being down for so many weeks in January and February made me weak?   

Perhaps I am getting old?  I really don't know.  But there were many days when I did not think I was

ever going to get back to normal... or anything approximating normal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Horse Breeding - Flicka's Baby Arrives June 26th

Timeline

Bella's birth

6/20

1:30.   Put Flicka  in

5:30.   Picked 5 poops out of the stall.  I have see her pee 4 times since 1:30 as well. 

She is very restless: tail switching, butt rubbing, circling.

Fed 1/2 grain and 5th flake of hay at 6:30.  

She is an eating machine!

8:00 making yawny faces.

10:20: down and might be starting to push...

10:30:  pretty sure stage 2

But false alarm - probably foal repositioning

 

6/26

6:00 Camera knocked out of alignment...Flicka is hungry... Fed her hay

6:30. All delivered except one hind leg...

6:50. All out of the sack

7:35 standing

8:00 Flicka stands delivers placenta

8:15 nurses

8:25 poops

@ 8:00 pm Kirsten comes for a blood draw ... All good!

6/27

We see her pee.

 

 

She is four hours old in the picture above.  There will be lots more photos to follow.  We will name her Bella Speranza, Beautiful Hope.  She will be grey like her mom! 

The Horse Breeding - Prima To Have Her Pre-Breeding Check-up

Prima To Have Her Pre-Breeding Check-Up

This post also never got finished because of my back.  So I will update and finish it now.
Prima did not get pregnant last summer because she was too fat.  We did a blood test in the fall, when she was very fat,  and she was insulin intolerant.  So we got her a grazing muzzle.

 

She seemed resigned to it from the beginning.  I think perhaps she had worn one before. I took her for long marching walks up hill and down all winter.  I made her sweat.

 

When my back got bad, and I couldn't ride, I lunged her.

 



She lost a lot of weight.

So when we took her for her pre-breeding check-up, her blood work was good.  When we bred her, she took the first time, and she is now pregnant with a Benidetto foal: a little half sibling to Bella.

 

Bella will  be a grey, but we are almost certainly assured of a red-head from Prima.

We are very pleased!

The Riding/training - Elvis Hurts Himself - AGAIN

Elvis Hurts Himself - AGAIN... and then again ...

This post was first started in April.  Then my back got too painful to sit at the computer and type, so it was never finished.  The story of these injuries is finally coming to a close, but Elvis has been on stall rest or restricted movement/rest until now. 

At first the injury was identified as bog spavin, and it looked like bog spavin.  I think it was bog spavin.  We injected with steroids and rested him.  When we started to lunge him again he was still lame.  So we did PRP injections in the hock and rested him some more.  When we started lunging him again, he was still lame, but the hock looked and moved well.  The vet came last Friday to see him go. The bog spavin had masked another injury.  We ultra-sounded the hock.  It is a high suspensory injury.  I am waiting to hear back if it is worthwhile to do stem cell injections.  Whatever we do, he's going to be off for a long time.
Elvis is a young horse.  He's only five. 

Update 8/6/2013

Elvis just had the first of three shock wave treatments.  Stem cell is too expensive for us.  He will rest in a stall or a run for two weeks between treatments.  Fingers crossed.

Update 8/21/2013

Elvis ... Elvis ... Elvis ... What Are we going to do with you?

Elvis had his second shock wave treatment yesterday.  But before that happened he went on a little adventure.

We have been keeping him in an L-shaped pen that wraps around the manure pile because it is narrow and he cannot get up enough speed to really buck or hurt himself.  At least, that was what we thought.   Over the weekend, while we were home, but not exactly while we were watching him directly, he pulled on the gate to the manure pile and managed to pull it open quite a ways.  It had been secured with baling wire, but honestly, we didn't think there was much motivation for him to break in there.  The manure pile has grown to mountainous proportions this summer with babies being born and Elvis being in.  He climbed to the very top of it and then proceeded to slide down the other side, taking out a few fence boards on the way down.  He landed in the large corral in a cloud of dust and I looked out just as he was beginning to squeal and buck and fart like there was no tomorrow.  He was so proud of himself for figuring this out and then executing it flawlessly that he had to run all around the middle pasture bucking and whinnying to his friends to come and see how clever he was.  The girls in the front pasture mirrored his bucks with bucks of their own in admiration, but they couldn't get to him to run with him.  The ones in the west pasture were too far away to hear or care.  Eventually we cornered him in the foal pen and made him stop.

He's supposed to be on limited movement.  He's supposed to be resting.  He looked really sound while he was running around.  I'm hoping it wasn't just the Adrenalin.



The Grass/Land - Ice On Everything and Then a Blizzard

Ice On Everything and Then a Blizzard

When we woke up at 4:30 this morning there was a sheet of ice on everything at the farm.  The gravel driveway was as slippery as the wooden porch.  By 6:30, when I was supposed to leave for work, there were 17 major car wrecks across the metro area and four of our highways were closed due to accidents.  I decided to spend my day at home, instead of sitting in traffic jams.  The snow started about 10:00 am, but the winds are calm, so the blizzard hasn't gotten here as of this writing at 3:00 pm.  Our spoiled horses have been in the barn all day.  They were out last night and even they were covered in ice this morning.  They were happy to come inside. 

Maybe this will be enough for a hay crop this year!


Blizzard WarningCOZ041-046-172200-
/O.UPG.KBOU.BZ.A.0003.130417T2000Z-130418T1200Z/
/O.NEW.KBOU.BZ.W.0006.130417T2000Z-130418T1200Z/
ELBERT/CENTRAL AND EAST DOUGLAS COUNTIES ABOVE 6000 FEET-
NORTH AND NORTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTH LINCOLN
COUNTY-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CASTLE ROCK...ELBERT...FONDIS...KIOWA...
LARKSPUR...AGATE...HUGO...LIMON...MATHESON
752 AM MDT WED APR 17 2013

...BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 AM
MDT THURSDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 AM MDT
THURSDAY. THE BLIZZARD WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

* TIMING...SNOW AND STRONG WINDS WILL SPREAD ACROSS EASTERN
COLORADO THIS AFTERNOON. THEY WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH FROM
NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST OVERNIGHT.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...3 TO 8 INCHES.

* WIND/VISIBILITY...NORTH WINDS WILL INCREASE INTO THE 20 TO 35
MPH RANGE BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WITH GUSTS AS
HIGH AS 50 MPH. THIS MAY PRODUCE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WITH
VISIBILITIES AS LOW AS 100 YARDS.

* IMPACTS...TRAVEL MAY BECOME IMPOSSIBLE DUE TO POOR VISIBILITIES
AND SEVERE DRIFTING SNOW...ESPECIALLY IN RURAL AREAS. ROADS
CLOSURES EAST OF DENVER WILL BE POSSIBLE.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS
AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT
CONDITIONS...MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF
YOU MUST TRAVEL...HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET
STRANDED...STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.

The Bees - Two New Queens with their Swarms

Two New Queens with  their Swarms

Last weekend we picked up our new bees.  Each box of bees came with a can of nutrient solution, and a little box with the queen in it, suspended in the box.  We have Top Bar hives, so we watched about 5 videos online to refresh us as to how to hive the bees and the process went very smoothly.  The bees were calm and sweet and the queens were each set loose in their respective hives without incident.

In one hive the bees quickly and quietly formed an enormous ball around the queen.  They were very inactive and almost all stayed in the hive.  The few that were stuck in the box found their way into the hive and disappeared. Some came out to drink and a couple drowned in the water pan.  But the first hive was very quiet.

The second swarm was much more acrive.  From the beginning there was a lot more general activity, buzzing around, going in and out.  But everything seemed fine.  It was a warm afternoon with an abrupt weather change on the way.  Towards evening, I photographed the insides of each hive.

Above is the second hive on the first evening.  About 3/4 of the bees are gone.  

 

The two photos above show two bee balls in the first hive. 

It looked to me as if the two queens had both settled in the first hive and that most of the bees in  both boxes had followed them in there.  I don't know why they would do this.  The queen that we put in the first hive was smaller than the one that we put in the second hive, but they both looked active and healthy. 

Update 4/16

I asked a colleague beekeeper about what I had observed and he said he would just leave them alone and let them sort it out.  I was relieved to hear that because the weather had been very cold, wet, and unsettled and openning up the hive and trying to locate the queens and stir things up didn't seem like a great idea to me either.  So we left them to their own devices.

Update 4/17

We have had another big rain/ice/snow event and there are supposed to be blizzard conditions tonight, so my husband checked the hives through the windows without opening them.  It was dark, but he could see no bees in the second hive.  There were still two bee balls in the first hive, but one was on the floor and one was on the ceiling.  Having the queen go to the floor does not seem like a good sign.  I guess time will tell.  We insulated both hives well, but it has been very cold.  And I am not sure where these bees came from.  We got  them from a supplier, but they were shipped in from somewhere; probably someplace warmer than it is here.  

Update 4/25

We had wind chills below zero.  We lost both swarms.



The Food - A Spring Blizzard Brunch with a New Combination

A Spring Blizzard Brunch with a New Combination

This morning we awoke to a cold, wet and blustery storm.  There wasn't so much snow, but the storm had come in last night with a forty degree temperature drop and rain.  So there was some much needed moisture even though we couldn't shovel it.  It is supposed to keep snowing here until five tomorrow morning, so we may have to shovel eventually, anyhow. 

For a mid-morning brunch we made farm sausage, gravy and french toast from home-made Italian wheat bread and duck eggs.  First course was french toast, sausage and gravy; and second course was french toast, berry compote, maple syrup and cinnamon.  The new combination was pairing the french toast with the sausage and gravy.  It was pretty delicious.  I think it was the eggs and the gravy flavors blending that was so pleasing. 

I suspect I have shared the recipes for these things before, but just so you don't have to search, I'll post them again. 

Farm Sausage Ingredients

1 lb of ground pork
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp sage
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
pepper to taste

Mix thoroughly with your hands and shape into patties.  Cook, covered, on low for about 15 minutes a  side, uncovering for the last few minutes to brown.

Gravy Ingredients

flour
whole cow or goat milk
salt to taste

Sprinkle enough flour into the sausage drippings to absorb them.  Cook on high until it starts to brown.  Add cold milk all at once, (about a cup for every tablespoon of flour) lower heat and begin to stir.  Stirr continuously until the gravy is thick and even and starting to bubble.  My mother always said to let it bubble for about a minute to get rid of the raw flour taste.  Add salt to taste.

French Toast Ingredients

4 duck eggs (or 6 chicken eggs )
1 tsp. vanilla
3 tbs. top milk or half and half
4-6 slices of bread
2 tbs. butter

Whip the eggs, milk and vanilla in a bowl.  Soak the bread on both sides in the egg mixture and move to a medium/low heat frying pan in which the butter has been melted.  When the bread has all been nestled in the pan, pour the remaining egg mixture over it. Cover and cook slowly until golden brown.  Turn each piece of bread and cook the remaining side until golden. 

On the Side

maple syrup
fruit or berry compote
honey
cinnamon

 

The Food - A Birthday Celebration with Fast Easy Cioppino

A Birthday Celebration with Fast Easy Cioppino 3/25

Ingredients

3 tbs. olive oil
1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 onion chopped
3 large shallots, chopped
2 tsp. salt
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon dried, crushed red pepper flakes (more to tast if desired)
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 (28 oz. can) diced tomatoes in juice
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
5 cups fish stock (chicken if you can't find fish)
1 bay leaf
1 lb clams, scrubbed
1 lb mussels, scrubbed and debearded
1 lb uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 1/2 lbs assorted firm-f;rshed fish such as halibut or salmon, cut into 2 inch cubes.

Directions

Heat the oil in a very large pot over medium heat.  Add the fennel,onions, shallots and salt and saute until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.  Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and saute 2 minutes.  Stir in the tomato paste.  Add tomatoes with their juices, wine, stock and bay leaf.  Cover and bring to a simmer.  Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the flavors blend, about 30 minutes.

Add the clams and mussels to the cooking liquid.  Cover and cook until the clams and  mussels begin to open, about 5 minutes.  Add the shrimp and the fish.  Simmer gently until the shrimp and the fish are just cooked through, and  the clams acompletely open, stirruing gently, about 5 minutes longer.  (Disgard any clams and mussels that do not open.)  Season soup to taste with more salt and red pepper flakes. 

Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

I couldn't get live clams, so I used frozen ones.  They were delicious.  And I had to use chicken stock. 

Add some warm, fresh bread with olive oil and this is a wonderful fancy meal!

The Riding/Training - Gus Does Some Hill Work 3/30

Gus Does Some Hill Work 3/30

 

After some lunging, my husband took his horse for some much overdue hill work around the farm.  They looked wonderful and had a great time.  Jealous!



The Riding/Training - Elvis Has an Abscess

Elvis Has and Abscess

So, Elvis was acting like a turkey a couple of Saturdays ago.  My husband had been complaining about the fact that he would stand perfectly still until he got the halter about halfway on and then he would spin around and run away with his tail in the air.  If he could have said,  "Nanny, nanny, boo, boo!", he would have.  I hadn't done outdoor chores for several days.  It was a warm Saturday morning and I offered to do the feeding.   I went down to the barn and put Prima in the little corral, took her gazing muzzle off and gave her some hay.  There could be no confusion on anyone's part about what I was doing.  I was feeding.  I put Gus in his little eating area.  When it was Elvis's turn, I got his halter about halfway on and he spun around and took off.  I was ready.  I had closed the corral gate before I attempted to catch him.  

I used the lead rope, twizzling at my side, to drive him around and around the corral.  The rationale was that if he wouldn't stand still for me, then he would have to run around for me.  It was a dominance / submission issue.  He would have to run around until he was ready to stamnd still.  He was feeling pretty stubborn, so this went on for a few minutes.  PJ, the only other horse in the corral, came into the center with me and watched with big eyes for a while.  Then, thinking it looked like fun, she started biting and kicking and driving poor Elvis around and around with me.  This is what tipped the scale in Elvis's brain in my favor.  He decided that submitting to me was preferable to being beaten up by a little girl.   He stood quietly and I haltered him and led him out to the hitching post where he always got his grain.  I had watched carefully as I ran him around, because it was muddy and I did not want him to get hurt.  He did not fall or even stumble.  He was sound as could be as he went around.  And sound when I led him out for his grain.  I put hay out in the big corral for

everyone but Prima, let them all loose in there and went about feeding the poultry and getting my own breakfast.  

After breakfast I was having a second cup of tea and looking out over the front pasture when I noticed that Elvis wasn't eating.  This was very uncharacteristic for him.  There was something in his attitude that didn't look quite right.  Then I noticed he was standing on three legs and he wasn't moving at all.  I ran down to the corral, put on his halter and tried to lead him.  He wouldn't budge.  When I finally got him to move forward, it was terrible to see.  He hopped painfully without putting any weight whatsoever on the left hind.  I was horrified.  I thought, for sure, I had really broken him.

I hosed the leg and foot.  I could find no sign of an injury.  There was no heat, no swelling.  But he would not put any weight on it.  Something hurt.  I put him in a stall, with Gus across the aisle for company, and called my neighbor/trainer.  I put a call in to the vet.  My neighbor came over, took a look at him, but could find nothing.  I told her my whole guilty story.  She said that she thought it had to be an abscess because it was so acute and came on so suddenly.  I was sure it was something I had done.  We started him on bute and cimetidine for ulcers.  Sensitive Elvis always gets ulcer-y when he has to stay in a stall.  I waited to talk to the vet.  

When the vet called me back he said it was probably an abscess.  I was sure it wasn't.  I was sure I had caused it somehow.  He said he would be down the next morning.    When he arrived poor Elvis was no better.  He was obviously in excruciating pain.  He checked him over carefully and said it was an abscess, probably right under the frog and that I should start soaking in Epsom salts and wrap it up to keep it clean.  Elvis was in so much pain that he actually shook while we were soaking his foot that first day.  I carefully applied a poultice and wrapped the whole foot in vet wrap and duct tape.  

The next morning Elvis was almost totally sound.  He walked and happily pivoted on the foot.   I unwrapped it and sure enough: it had drained profusely into the bandage.  I soaked and re-wrapped it.  This was repeated daily for three more days.  Then there were four more days of stall rest, and out he
went into the snow with his buddies.  When a horse pulls up acutely lame you hope that it is an abscess.  It presents as terrible but it is relatively easy to treat and recovery is usually total.  I had never had a horse with an abscess until last winter.  Between them, Prima and Elvis had four.  My farrier thinks it is because we live on n old farm and in the winter and spring all sorts of old junk percolates to the top of the mud just waiting to puncture or bruise their feet.  I guess it is the price you pay for the charm of an older place. 

Four days later he pulled the shoe off of that foot.  Now we are waiting on the Farrier.

The Animals - The Best Therapy

The Best Therapy

2013 hasn't been the best year so far for me.  I had the flu. Twice.  That took from New Years Eve until early February.  Then I got a back spasm, probably because I had been lying around for a month getting fat and out of shape.  That led to pain medication, and acupuncture, and therapeutic massages, and stretching exercises and TENS  and more pain medication and visiting the spine specialist.  That led to a fight with our new insurance provider and eventually an MRI and steroid injections will be coming up this Thursday.

I mention all this because I haven't been able to post anything about riding, or training, or eventually gardening, or even cooking.   In the end, I can barely walk, sit or stand for more than a few minutes at a time.   I am taking so much medication that all I feel like doing is sleeping.  Which may be what I'm supposed to do until I get the injections.  I don't know!

These times of being an impatient patient are always educational for me in some way or other, though.  So far I have learned that my husband really can do it all himself, except the clean dishes sometimes have a little food on them.  Riding can't fix everything.  The animals we live with are empathic beyond all my expectations.  People have and maintain deep connections beyond what is generally accepted or talked about.  Mind and spirit facilitate healing. 

As I have become less and less able bodied, my husband has quietly stepped up and done dishes and laundry and vacuuming.  He has done all the chores, inside and out. He has cooked and straightened the house.  It has been seamless.  But he looks tired.  It's time for me to start pulling my weight again.

Usually when my back acts up, riding makes it feel better.  Not this time.

The day I woke up with the back spasm, I was crooked.  I went down to the barn and Elvis came up to me and wrapped his neck around me and gave me a big old horse hug.  He was very careful.  He is not a demonstrative guy.  He doesn't hold with frivolous displays of emotion.  I swear he knew I was hurting and he was trying to comfort me.

A couple of days ago I was having trouble getting started in the morning and I lay down on the couch for a session with the TENS machine.   There are only two in the picture above, but on that morning all four animals that live in the house were right there with me.  Jasmine was under my chin, Jasper was behind my knees, Gwynnie had her chin on my feet and Genji was stretched out on the floor next to the couch. 

A woman I roomed with for one sememster, freshman year, at Bennington College in1967 contacted me last Friday.  She is a long-time practioner of Kototama Life Therapy, and she lives in Santa Fe.  I haven't spoken with her for, probably, forty three years.  We talked on the phone for a bit last night and she did a remote, or telepathic session for me and my back this morning.  I feel better.  I have less pain and I have been able to be up and about for  several hours at a time, instead of only several minutes. 

I have no explanation for most of these things.  Skeptics will say that I anthropomorphize the animals and the remote healing was nothing but the placebo effect.  I have had many experiences, over the years, with the so-called placebo effect.  It is my doctors' best friend: always makes them look good. 

The Buildings - Winter Light

Winter Light

The Food - Greek Chicken and a Spring Blizzard Salad

Greek Chicken and a Spring Blizzard Salad

The problem with starting a food post and not finishing it in one sitting is that if I don't get back to it in a timely manner, I forget how I made the dish.  This is one of those occasions.  To make matters worse, I didn't have a recipe.  I saw one of the hosts make this dish on the TV show The Chew. ( I often watch it while I eat my lunch when I am at home.)  But I didn't go online to get the recipe - I just tried to remember it.  This was a great dinner to have during a spring blizzard.  It is lighter than the fare we crave during a mid-winter blizzard and lacks the rich root vegetables and squash  we have in the fall. 

Greek Chicken

1 chicken, cut up as if for frying

Olive oil

2 jars of artichoke hearts packed it water

1 bunch of fresh parsley

1 carton of sliced mushrooms

1 onion, chopped

1 lemon sliced

3 cups chicken broth
1 jar of pitted green olives

In a dutch oven, brown the chicken well on all sides in about a 1/2 inch of olive oil.  Drain and set aside.  Then, also in the dutch oven, sautée the onions, mushrooms, and sliced lemon.  Deglaze the pan with some of the chicken broth.  Add the browned chicken and the rest of the chicken broth to the Dutch oven.  Simmer, covered,  over low heat for about 45 minutes or until the chicken is done.  For the last five minutes add the bunch of fresh parsley, chopped, and the drained artichoke hearts, and the green olives, drained.  (I could only find pitted green olives that were stuffed with garlic or jalopenos.  I got the ones with peppers and removed them.  There was still enough heat in the olives to spice up the dish a bit.)  Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve over couscous.

Salad

Spinach
Swiss chard, sliced thin

Mango, diced

Craisins

Nuts (I used cashews)

Gramma Mac's salad dressing ( one part vinegar, two parts sugar, three parts oil, plus salt, pepper and paprika blended in a small bowl with a fork).

The Buildings - The Sauna is Ready to Use

The Sauna is Ready to Use

 

Just a few more degrees of heat and a few less points of humidity, and the room will be ready to sauna!  I just finished polishing the pan that holds the rocks, so we won't actually take a sauna today, but the room is ready and the stove gets it hot enough.  As the heat goes up, the humidity seems to go down.  (I suppose it might take a few more firings for the wood to be all dried out.)