Schoolhouse Turn Returns to Sorta Normal

Thursday, last, the three mares came home. Nell and Faye for the first time. Faye is in the annex for now, being on the bottom of the hierarchy and having dental problems, this is best. She can see Pepper and Nell all the time.

Wednesday was the equine dentist for Pepper and Faye. Amy Scripps has seen Pepper before, but it was her first time seeing Faye. Faye has some major problems that may have been caused by an injury as a filly. I had been feeling guilty about taking her from her lifetime herd and vast pasture, but discovery that her dental issues made grazing difficult and would have made grazing impossible, probably within a year, puts my mind at ease. Amy says she has years of eating hay left, and we devised a way of using slow feed nets in a way that she can use them.

We are in a holding pattern for now because air quality is so bad. The Camp Fire, now 60% contained, is 200 miles away, but we are getting a lot of smoke. After last year, and then this year, it is apparent that California will be getting nastier fires from now until forever. We have to do even more to reduce the fuel load of surrounding area. So I have two goats.... and possibly kids due in March '19, we will have 2-4 goats for grass and brush control on slope that is too steep to do by human.

In the meantime: Ready for evac in minutes beginning in May (still green then) until the first major rain.

Now for the pictures:

Pepper

Nell

Nell, Pepper rolling

Nell

Pepper and Nell

Faye

 Faye

Temp Housing

All three ponies are at a boarding stable in Gilroy, the Garlic Capital of the world. After having ponies at home, I don't like boarding.

South Bay Horse Ranch is a good stable, summer home of the South Bay Polo team. The team is gone south for the winter, southern California has a better climate in the winter.
That means.... I can drive on the polo field!!!

The polo Field is fun to drive on. Pepper likes it. Wednesday, when Faye and Nell arrived, she was antsy. Brandy, the trainer who is fixing the trailering trouble and teaching me to keep it from reappearing, said Pepper had a lot of energy. I drove her after her session and I can attest to that! She would not stand still for harnessing and I had trouble getting the cart put to. As soon as I got the shafts through the loops, she was still. Then I got in and said:
"Pepper, walk."

She sashayed around the field in a perfect and forward walk, and gave me a great drive. Pepper is all about the drive. Not so much for schmoozing, just driving.

Yesterday I put Pepper in the round pen with her future partner Nell. Another boarder was concerned about putting two ponies together, but Nell just came out of a herd of thirty ponies. Pepper came from the same herd 4 years ago. The mostly just screamed at each other from a distance of 15 meters. I kept them moving around until It was obvious that they would just scream. After 1/2 or screaming, I put them away because someone else wanted to use the roundpen.

I didn't take pictures. Oops.

Faye let me catch her. I didn't get her out. She was pretty stressed. I just scratched her. She has diarrhea. She got diatomaceous earth and electrolytes and lunch hay. She is drinking well.

Arrival pics:

Faye is the black dun,
Nell is buckskin.

 

I Have Returned Triumphant

I have returned triumphant from my pony shopping expedition. I had three ponies to consider: Natalie, Petra and Penny. The new pony I fell in love with was Petra....

Collecting registration and Coggins/Health Certificate documents revealed that Petra was actually Penelope AKA Penny, and that the mix-up began years ago. I have actually chosen Penelope, who shell be known as Nell.

She ships out on Monday, one 12 had mare in a semi full of Thoroughbred yearlings from the Keenland sale.

Working Equitatiopn, Goats and Shopping

I got a new phone. What a hassle. If its not one thing, its another.
Here are some pics from a Working Equitation schooling show I volunteered to help with.

As you know. my pony Yndi died. She left another pony, Pepper, and two goats: Grendel and Peanut. Peanut went away for the breeding season to his own little herd of does to help make kids and milk in the spring. Then Grendel died suddenly, leaving Pepper totally by herself.

So I fetched Peanut back. Pepper became unmanageable unless she was hooked to her cart, in which case she was a totally obedient work-a-holic. So she is at a boarding stable in training. There are other horses, she is happy.

I have made travel plans to shop for another pony. I don't feel ready. Pepper is ready. I need to take care of Pepper.

In the meantime, Peanut, having out grown the name Peanut buy become a total goober anyway, was alone. So now there is Star. She rode from Hollister in the back of my Subaru Outback. A big hit at Evergreen San Jose Chevron Station.

GDPR (Did I get the letters right?)

So I sign in and there's this:
"European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used and data collected on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent.

As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies, and other data collected by Google.

You are responsible for confirming this notice actually works for your blog, and that it displays. If you employ other cookies, for example by adding third party features, this notice may not work for you. If you include functionality from other providers there may be extra information collected from your users. "

I myself do not collect any data nor do I employ any cookies.

My memory is rotten.

...and I like ponies, specifically mares, so I'm deranged.

FYI
I copied-pasted the above and my text that followed was all messed up so I looked at HTML. I took remedial html so I know a little. The google guy who wrote that used a WYSIWYG editor and it has so much garbage code in it....
garbage code in it....
garbage code in it....
garbage code in it....
Holly Crap he should be fired.
Is knowing html another indication that I am deranged?

likes-pony-mares + has-rotten-memory + writes-hyper-text-markup-language = deranged

Beloved Old Mare

She didn't make it. The fight became too much and she was humanly euthanized yesterday.

Envelopes and Herbs

Yndi's herbs came. The administration instructions were confusing so I emailed back for clarification. Details details. I guessed last night before I heard back. I gave to to her in the syringe with her meds, since it was a powder.

I had put her pellets with the gut buffering supplement in a the bucker and hung it in reach.

The meds make her drool and she doesn't eat until the taste goes away. If the goats are out, I have to give her pellets before the meds or she won't eat them. she usually doesn't finish and I have to take it away to keep it for later.

The goats were locked in for the night, so put her pellets with the gut buffering supplement in a the bucker and hung it in reach. Then gave her the meds with the herbs. She didn't drool. She actually went to her bucket and ate ALL her pellets. Its interesting, but happening once is not significant. It has to happen every time.

More mundane: environmentally friendly packaging is a concern in the shipments that I receive, so it should be a concern on the shipments I send out. I ordered these biodegradable mailers for shipping saddle pads. I think a little of the "unboxing" experience is lost, but between the earth friendliness and the lowered shipping costs, it should be OK. I'm planning on testing these by mailing an old saddle pad to my cousin on the east coast and having her mail it back. I must be sure that my customers will receive the saddle pads in excellent condition.

Hmmm. I wonder if I could silk screen my logo on this plastic? I'll have to wait and see.

Clinic and Feet

Pepper and I are back from the clinic. It was mind blowing.

New radiographs show improvement and growth in Yndi's feet. Her right is bothering her more than her left. The farrier and vet are coming tomorrow to trim/xray/trim. I am hoping it helps her. I am terrified that we will find that she is having life threatening problems with her right foot. I watch her closely for signs that she is ready to go. So far, she is not.

She spent the first 16 years of her life as a broodmare, a capital investment. Now she is someone's beloved old mare and she wants to stay around for more of that.

She was shedding normally, profusely, until she received Pergolide. Then she stopped abruptly. Just as abruptly, she had begun shedding again. Profusely.
I am consulted with a vet who is a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner. Hence, the tongue pictures. She has a Qi deficiency, especially in her liver. I am expecting the herbs she needs to replenish her liver Qi.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Not really. Leaving in a Chevy, hauling a 16 foot stock trailer. For some of us, that's even more exciting than a jet plane. I know when I'll be back again, unless something goes wrong and then I have US Rider.

Yndi is about the same. The vet comes week after next to take more xrays.



Pepper and I are going to a Bryan Neubert clinic in Tracy, CA Bryan grew up a stone's throw from Bill and Tom Dorrance and learned a lot from them. He has driving experience from driving his dad's farm horses.

I talked to Tracy, the clinic host, more than a month ago. When I signed up, I thought the Horsemanship part of the clinic was unmounted. Its really hard for driving horses to do mounted group clinics where responsiveness to weight and leg aids is important and lateral work is expected. Tracy assured me that I would be included and Bryan would work with me. Sh
e encouraged me to call Bryan personally, so I did.

Bryan was really nice and really wanted to talk in depth about Pepper's problems. She has a little bit of trouble loading in the trailer, She has discovered the exact second when she can easily evade me and go eat grass. In the absence of food, she's fine. Absence of food is a rare occurrence for the pony who eats anything.

Trying to get down to nitty gritty problems is hard. Pepper is a pretty good pony, just a little mysterious to me. The wheels are turning, I just cant see which direction.

Both he  and Tracy told me to BRING THE CART. Wow, a midget pulling a cart and those cow horses are going to have a cow! Wait 'til I put the feather boa on the bicycle flag.

She will be, beyond a doubt, the smartest horse there.

The half of the clinic I didn't sign up for is cattle work. I get to see it and am very interested in how that is going to go!

Upward Trend

Yndi continues to improve and I am cutting down on meds. The vet comes tomorrow for a recheck. New xrays will tell the farrier how much to trim.

When I decided to have her put down, she was in s much pain and not getting better as expected. It broke my heart to make the decision and I thought it was the best. The day before the vet was scheduled, I was with her. I watched her. She was still interested in what Grendel and Peanut were up to, Goats are usually up to something. She was still giving Pepper the Hairy Eyeball. She greeted me with a stretched out nose and a brief touch. She still enjoyed grooming and tried to maneuver the itchy spots closer to the action. She was still affectionate when I just sat with her.

I concluded that she wasn't done with life yet.

2012 Indian Hill Ranch, Milpitas, CA

2016 Indian Hill Ranch, Milpitas, CA

Change of Heart

I had the vet scheduled for today, the backhoe for tomorrow. I changed my mind. She still tells me she loves me like a foal, hates the other pony who eggs her on with serious intent, takes pleasure n grooming and finds life interesting. I added Banamine to her other medications.

Today.

Today. I have decided. It's today. I have killed my pony through a long series of micro decisions. Making her live through the pain in the hope that she recovers so that I can avoid feeling of guilty is not fair. I hate myself and wish I could die too.
7:16 am

Overhwelming

Things are looking, well, maybe up, or down, or sideways.
Yndi had stem cell therapy 13 days ago. She got some pain relief from that, but the treatment is mainly to promote hoof growth, so that the growth can outrun the damage. Still don't know on that one. She stopped shedding abruptly, which is bothersome.

My computer had problems, then I had problems with my service contract, part of which was subcontracted and nobody wanted to take care of it. That took a weeks a nd six hours of driving. Then I had a computer rest to factory. No apps, no files. I have been restoring everything.

Here are some pictures I took on the way to the mailbox.

Dire

Hard to take a picture of someone who keeps advancing on you.

Yndi's situation is dire. The vet came Monday, the xrays were not so good. I decided to begin stem cell therapy, the stem cells are on order. Probably be here by the end of next week.

It was a case of In for a penny, in for a pound. Yesterday I regretted that decision.

Pain management has been difficult. She received a long term chemical nerve block. Three days later she was in more pain than ever. Finally, after 4 days and another change in medication, there is improvement.

I had called our neighbor who has a backhoe about digging a hole.

My husband has checked the well data and is worried about all the water I'm using to soak hay.

Gratuitous baby goat pics.

Baby Peanut

Baby Peanut

Grendel

Your Specialist in Boring.

This stuff takes a lot of time and is not really the fun part.

Staring into Space

A  Reynaud's person trying to keep warm, taking care of Yndi, hoping she doesn't die, wondering if she should. Staring into space in between, and most of the nights.

Slogging Through Life

One thing after another. Yndi is having a hard and painfull time. I figured out how to get the meds in her. Every 8 hours or so. Its the "or so" that makes my schedule irregular The Isoxsuprine dose has increased, causing rapidly declining supply. I drove an hour to get more, and of course did other things while I was in civilization.

How much time and money is it worth?  I love her. She has dangerous training problems and will be 23 on Beltain. She is bitchy to other horses and must be seperate unless there are acres. My pairs carriage sits unused.

Another usefull pony could be in that place. Hubs would never go for pony #3. Especially with the current vet bill. Do I want her to get better? Do I want her to continue declining to force a decision?

Am I a bad pony mom?

I saw this yesterday.

Better?

Last night when I went to the barn to put goats away and give pellets and electrolytes. Peanut the baby goat and Grendel the mom goat were in with Yndi. They seem to be able to cross fences at will, so this was their choice. Yndi has been too grumpy in the past for Grendel to want to be in her pen.

Last night, Yndi seemed to be moving better. Maybe she is better, maybe the goats buoyed her spirits. Yndi has been both curious and tolerant of Peanut, allowing him to chew her tail and walk between her legs. She has had four foals. She must have been a great mother.

Goat specialize in photobombs.