Happy New Year!

Here's hoping that 2009 is a great year for everyone. Unfortunately the end of 2008 has been rather difficult. Let's recap what happened in December......

We had ice, rain, ice, snow, more snow, more rain, and more ice. Oh, and don't forget the high winds. The first ice storm knocked down trees and limbs and knocked out power. (See the ice on the gate below - everything was covered like that!) We were fortunate that the power was out less than a day - and I have a generator. Some people had no power for over a week! The temperatures in December varied from a low of -4 to a high of 50!

One morning I went to the barn to bring in the outside horses and give everyone their breakfast. It had rained on top of ice that night, and the paddocks were a solid sheet of very thick ice - you could have skated on it! So Maggie, Ziegy, Jazzy and Scotty could not walk on it. Poor Maggie tried to come in for breakfast and fell down. The 3 boys didn't even try. Fortunately Maggie was OK and able to get up and make her way back to the run-in shed. I put hay out for the 4 of them to keep them busy until I could get them in, fed everyone else, then headed for the tractor. I filled the bucket (on the tractor) with salted sand and drove down to the paddock. Then I started shoveling the sand out to make a path for Ziegy and Maggie. I had about half the hill done when Jim came to help (in answer to my distress call - kind of like a bat signal...). We finished and I haltered Maggie and led her part way, then she figured out that the path was safe and went the rest of the way by herself. Ziegy followed a few minutes later. Then we made a path for Jazz and Scotty. I led Jazz part way, Scotty came in on his own. Thank you Jim!

Well, obviously with ice like that, no one was going out anytime soon. I had 12 horses in 10 stalls (sort of) for 5 days!!!!! I rotated them in the run-in stalls so they each had a chance to get outside, but even those were very icy and I had to rope off most of the outdoor areas. In all, 4 horses fell. Maggie, Autumn, and Starlight fell that first day. The next day I tried putting Scooby out in one paddock because he has winter shoes (with cleats) on his front feet. BADDDD idea! He fell too! Thank goodness none of them were hurt - they were all very lucky. All the horses were bored and grumpy, and I had a few fences broken (thanks Dolly!). Of course, those 5 days were a LOT more work for me, but it was worth it to keep them all safe, and Carla helped out when she could - thank you! Once we had a couple of snow storms the horses were able to go out. I just hope there is not a repeat of that!

Tracy was here one evening helping with chores, and she said that something seemed wrong with Autumn. I went to look and yup - something wasn't quite right. Got everyone else taken care of and then brought Autumn out in the hall. Checked for signs of colic but there were none. Figured out that she was choking - not really bad like Blackberry, but no choke is good. So I walked her, and rubbed her throat, and walked some more. She was able to clear the blockage herself so we didn't need the vet - yea! Tracy helped me get the hay cleaned out of Autumn's stall, and I fixed her a mushy dinner of soaked grain with a gram of bute in case there was any inflammation. Autumn was fine.

On the other hand.... this last Tuesday evening we did need the vet. Scotty coliced - really bad - and the vet (Heather) had to come. Gail was here helping with chores and she and I took turns walking him until Heather arrived. She gave him a couple of shots for pain and to relax his muscles. She did a rectal on him and could not feel an impaction or any twists in the intestine that she could reach (they have about 170 feet of intestine!!!). Then she tubed him. What that involves (for those who don't know) is passing a tube up his nostril and down his throat, then pumping in a mixture of warm water and mineral oil to lubricate his intestinal system and hopefully move any blockage. Gail helped by manning the pump - I'm glad she was here because it's a lot easier to do with 3 people. Heather left me with more pain killer to give if needed and then we prayed. It was not a good night, we came very very close to losing him. I talked with Heather at 8:30, 9:30, and 11:00. Scotty was not improving and was in a tremendous amount of pain. I gave him 3 shots of pain killer, at 8:30, 11:00, and 1:00am. I was also keeping Carla posted. She had come to see how he was after she got out of work, and was also very concerned. Scotty was a little better in the morning, not in as much pain and a little more interested in food, starting to get some stomach sounds on both sides but by no means normal. Carla stopped by before work to see him (I'm talking 6:00am!), and Heather came back to check him at about 11. By then he had improved a lot more. He is still not quite himself, it took a lot out of him but hopefully he'll be back to his mischievous self soon. I won't be sure he's completely out of the woods until then. The pic shows Scotty (on the right) with his buddy Jazz - before Scotty got sick.

So those are just the highlights (or are they low lights?) of December 2008. The good news is that we all made it through the month - barely, but we made it. Let's hope for a much happier/healthier 2009!