Random Friday

1.  There were a few comments after my post about Mufasa's meltdown that suggested maybe Mufasa has an equine equivalent of PTSD.  This resonates with both Brett and me.  Mufasa is kind, willing and calm almost all of the time.  However, once in a blue moon (let's say, once a month) he has an episode.  We've had horses before who played "catch me if you can" and it was very clearly a game.  Their eyes glinted with mischief as they galloped past you; letting you think you had them cornered and then scooting out at the last minute, their manes shaking with laughter.  That isn't Mufasa.  It isn't a game and he isn't having fun.  Every fiber of his body is asking for help, for rescue, and for security.  Thanks to skills learned at the Mark Rashid clinic, Brett is better able to respond and diffuse Mufasa's panic attacks.  For the time being, Brett is working with Mufasa at home and not trailering out for trail rides.  The last thing we need is for Mufasa to experience an attack while in the wilderness, pull back from the trailer and break free, and then go racing off into the hills.  I'm not sure that we will ever "fix" Mufasa, but we can teach him to come to Brett for safety and help.

2.  I'm crossing my fingers that I can ride Lucy this weekend.  She was a tad uneven in her gait walking around the pasture yesterday evening.  Brett said she was racing around like a mad woman in the morning so maybe the hard ground had something to do with that.

3.  You heard that right.  The soft, mushy ground of the front pasture is now rock hard.  It seems to have happened overnight.  We won't be getting any more rain until November; the days are warming up; and the flies are out.  This weekend, we will have temperatures in the mid 80s.  Next week we should dip back down to the 70s but I'm sure the reprieve will be short lived.

4.  The first of June will mark the one year anniversary of Lucy arriving at our ranch.  That first summer, she required a fly sheet and mask at all times.  She had no tolerance of flies but also hated fly spray.  Since then, she has learned how to keep a coating of dust on herself as protection.  She welcomes fly spray (we use an herbal spray with no pesticide - it smells wonderful) and no longer needs a fly sheet.  We attack flies in a number of ways: we remove manure from all the pastures twice a day; we feed a stinky garlic supplement so they won't taste good to flies; we use a monthly spot-on repellent and we use fly spray.  The horses do wear fly masks and Lucy loves hers.  The other evening, I removed the masks from Lucy, Jackson and Pistol after mucking their pasture.  Lucy followed me to the gate and stuck her head under my arm and into a fly mask.  I laughed and put hers back on.

5.  Brett paid a visit to the doctor a few weeks ago.  It's been eons since he's had a thorough check-up so they took a bunch of blood, ran tests, took x-rays and he was poked and prodded.  The good news -- his heart and his cholesterol are in fantastic shape.  His blood work results were great.  But, the x-rays show lots of wear and tear on his joints.  He was a bit discouraged about that.  I can't say I was surprised given how hard that guy works and plays.  He has some issues in his back; falls from Mufasa and Flash probably contributed there.  They are sending him to a hand specialist due to calcification in his wrists and fingers.  If he were a couch potato, his joints would be in better shape.  But, his heart and cholesterol would be horrible.  Maybe he'll go easier with the weed-whacker now (but I'm not holding my breath).