We have a new pet! A really pretty, really fat, rat named Splinter (flashing on the Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles,...). He belonged to one of the contractor's sons from work, and I guess the young man wasn't a very good rat daddy, so Splinter now resides with us; in his fancy rat condo. If our house were as nice as his cage, it would be a half million dollar affair,....
The Ladies are doing well. They have both put on a coupla hundred pounds, but as they are big girls to begin with, that's not that dramatic. The farrier, Amy Tuten, did their feet 2 weeks ago. Stella was good, Blanche had 3 abscesses (in three feet), but Amy said they weren't bad, pro'lly the result of their long haul from California. Blanche also had white line disease, so I have been putting stuff on it. You wouldn't have know it, it didn't slow her down any,...
They sure love to eat! They go through a hay round a week, and 3 50lb bags of 12% pellets, and a jug of corn oil. They will eat anything! When it is bran day, all I have to do is dump it in the bucket. No top dressing, no molasses to disguise it,.... They hoover it down!
They are now at 5 mo pregnant. I gave them their Pnumabort shots last week. First Stella swelled up, a welt the size of a football on her neck. She wouldn't put her head down to eat! So she tried Blanche's bucket. Musta been the bucket was defective, right? Nope, same problem there. I gave her a bute tablet. She ate it. Didn't have to hide it or nuthin! She finally ate, but it was sheer agony for her.
Well, it took about 3 days before she was comfy again, and by then, Blanche had welted up. Apparently, it's not that uncommon for mares to have a reaction to those shots. Seems they may be allergic to the fluid that carries the virus. Someone recommended a big dose of benydryl next time.
I'm working on buying two bridles and two saddles. See the bridles here, (I love this site!) Check out the Pagony bridle w/ silver piping. Very Spiff, and matches the farm and household colors.
http://www.usfriesianreferral.com/tack.html
Here's the saddles I want, scroll down to the Campdraft Specials. This is the clearance page, so imagine that there's two black 20" saddles there, =-) http://www.downunderweb.com/clearsaddles.htm We will pro'lly only get one at a time, as we want black w/o a horn, and anyway, we can only afford one at a time.
Their teeth need to be floated, that's the next big horse bill. I have been working some side jobs (faux painting, sculpting) so if I can get the money before Jan is over, I'll have the Eq Dentist out. Otherwise, he recommends waiting until they foal, as sometimes he uses tranques and doesn't want it to affect the foals the mares are carrying.
Dogs are covered in burrs,... What happened to that famous Aussie coat that is supposed to shed those things?
Tripod body checked Kisses, and we were afraid he had broken her leg. She was really hurting! I took her to the vet today for x-rays, no break, but some torn ligaments in her shoulder. She has to be walked on a leash for 4 weeks, no playing, cold packs, physical therapy twice a week, aspirin twice a day; poor puppers.
We are going to offer Tripod for sale. It breaks my heart, but we aren't doing him any good letting him run amok like a mutt. He needs to be with a house-full of boys, who will show him at agility or herding, and actively promote his stud services. We are just wasting him here. He has way too much energy, and great breeding.
My dad has flown to Vegas for the week, so we will pro'lly just have a quiet Christmas w/ Jacqueline. Thanksgiving was so awesome anyway, with Eric's parents to visit, and Dad and Linda over and Sean and Grace. We had such a good, but busy, =-) time! I'm hoping for Christmas, we can just lay around and vegetate, =-) Maybe break out the video games. I don't think I get any time off from work, my boss thinks we are behind in Design; even though there's a stack of 30!!! jobs by his desk waiting to be cut, and Fifi and I are looking for work!
Well, that's all I can think of,....
Later, Taters!
Cheri'
