Friday, August 12, 2016

Random Friday

1.  Brett took Flash to the vet Wednesday.  He's been moving slower and slower and we wondered what else could be done to make him more comfortable.  Brett gave him a bath before loading him into the trailer and off they went to our vet's clinic, a bit more than an hour away.  Flash was happy, alert and ready to go.  When the vet asked him to trot, Brett figured he'd take two or three steps and stop.  Nope, he went around and around and around.  In the end, she said that, yes he has a decent amount of arthritis and his days of trucking up and down hills are over.  But, at 20 years old, he is a horse who still has the desire, and the need, to be used.  Her prescription: put shoes and pads on the front and then ride him.  Motion is Lotion, she said.  Don't ride him hard and keep it on level ground.  But use him.  Brett called me from the truck on his way home and was almost incoherent with happiness. Words cannot adequately describe how much he loves that horse.

2.  It's been a quiet week with Tex.  The weather has been warm, but not hot, and fly masks were not needed.  Tex and I have just been hanging out together at the pasture fence, not doing anything in particular.  He seems to have turned a corner of some sort; his energy is relaxed and happy.  He wants to be in our company.  I told Brett that when he rides Flash, I'd like to ride Tex.  I plan to ride him at the walk and not do anything more than that until we are in sync, relaxed and happy.

3.  We still have our one chick.  It is growing taller and sprouting wing feathers.

Often, it is flanked by the two roosters and it is never far from Mama Hen.  The other day, it clambered up onto the back of Mama Hen and went for a piggy-back ride.  The chickens are all very vigilant and, so far, they have kept the chick from harm.  Calvin, the barred rock rooster, is a bit too vigilant.  He took some menacing steps towards me in the hen house (baby and mama were outside so unnecessary) and I countered with menacing steps and a kick towards him.  Usually, he backs right down but not this time.  He fluffed up and kept coming.  I screamed at him in my most menacing voice and kept up the counter-attack.  Lord Byron, the head honcho Blue Andalusian rooster, arrived and jumped on Calvin.  While they duked it out, I slipped out the gate.  Calvin took longer to acknowledge Lord Byron as boss, but he did.  I'm hoping he will take on any rats with the same amount of focus and bluster that he used with me.



13 comments:

  1. you now a video of the battle between you and the rooster would have been fun to watch. ;)

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  2. That's wonderful about Flash and a reminder to me to ride Cowboy more. Motion is lotion! It sounds like a good plan to ride Tex at the walk. A relaxed riding experience could deepen your relationship. I think horses love light rides. They're curious beings.

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    1. I think relaxed riding would be a good next step with Tex, too. He looks at me like "what's next?"

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  3. That last comment was from me, Linda at Beautiful Mustang. When I use this tablet, it automatically signs my hubby in. Lol.

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  4. Oh man, battling with roosters is no joke. I'm glad they didn't keep coming after you!

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    1. Seriously. I have to admit I was a tad nervous about the whole thing and it wasn't hard to scream like a banshee. :)

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  5. Good news about Flash. I sure he'd love some light work and bringing Tex along sounds like a good idea.

    A video would have been nice. Some birds can get nasty, glad you survived with help from a bad ass rooster. Now if they will team up send get the rats!

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  6. Hi Annette!

    I've been following your blog for a few months now - thank you so much for posting about life on a ranch!

    I too have had a life-long love of horses, although I'm not riding much these days (hope to change that soon!). I wanted to ask: I am revising a novel in which the main character lives on a ranch with horses. I'm looking for books to read to ensure I have the details about the horses and chores/care related to the horses in my story correct. Are there any books you'd suggest I read?

    Thanks very much and please keep blogging! :D

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    1. Hi Carrie, there are a number of books by Cherry Hill that have good basics (Horse Keeping on Small Acreage is one we used when we were starting out) but mostly we've learned from neighbors and trial and error. You can probably get a good flavor for the chores and rhythm of ranch living from reading blogs of people who have small ranches. Good luck with your book and welcome to the blog!

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    2. Oh that's great - I'll start there. Thank you!

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  7. An American in TokyoAugust 14, 2016 at 7:04 PM

    Glad to hear the chick has lots of bodyguards! hee hee!
    Too bad you have to duck them, too.

    Flash's news is so wonderful! I'm sure moving around will help him lots!

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Thanks so much for commenting!