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!