Yesterday I raked the entire dirt road and overnight, the 1 foot deep ruts were back. I know who it is, with the huge truck!
It doesn't look like it will ever rain again but it will, in 2 days. Then it will be a quagmire again. It's pointless to try to iron it out, it's still muddy, but it's a good workout and I'm manic this week.
I love this place! There are tools everywhere and nobody for miles, and most of it is public land.
Denise wants to grade the hillside so the water runs out of the arena instead of forming a swimming pool. There are these old eucalyptus logs in the way, that couldn't be cut with the sharp axe because they are petrified, but they could be shattered into pieces. I found the pickaxe and got rid of a few.
It was great to take out the leftover stress from work yesterday.
I can't wait to get to work today! It's the second biggest day of the year.
One of the boarder's horses got cast. This means he went to lay down for a nap in the sun (horses do this alot) and his entire head and front legs were sticking out from under one part of the pipe-stall and the back legs were under another.
I think his name is Buddy. He's a chestnut dun. I don't have a picture of him.
Last month he had a twisted intestine and went to the hospital, where they drugged him and rolled him around and got it back into place, without surgery.
He still has the shaved patch on his neck.
Image of freeze-dried horse intestine, from the Equine Affaire.
He cribs, which means he will grab onto a side of the stall and hang on, and swallow air. This, along with laying down alot would suggest ulcers or sand in the gut, but that's up to the owners to deal with...
They put him in a cribbing collar, which is a tight collar around his neck which doesn't let him gulp air, but it's kind of sad. He has to wear it 24 hours. I think that's why I don't have picture of him.
Horses used to get stuck under their pipe stalls alot at the big public stable where I used to ride. Denise has wood attached to the sides of all her stalls, as well as half of the arena, so this can't happen.
Buddy has been stuck before, so he lay very still and didn't thrash, which would have been a disaster. I was scared to get close, but he seemed to know what was up. We dismantled the corral around him, then looped some rope around his legs and put a halter on him. We called some local people and the two ladies helped us pull. We tried to roll him over. He barely budged! I don't know how Denise dragged him the last time.
It didn't seem like he moved, but moved enough so that his legs were free of the bars. He was going into shock, and just lay there, so we had to splash water on him, and then he got up.
The owner came from work and she gave him a bran mash with oil and electrolytes. The horses like to eat the mash, which is like raisin bran, minus the raisins. It is mixed with alot of water, which hydrates them. The electrolytes is basically powdered Gatorade, which also tastes good. The oil keeps them regular, because their digestion has to keep moving constantly.
He was only down for 10 minutes but that is a serious deal, they can get dehydrated very easily. Luckily it happened while people were there. It was interesting to see what everyone did.
I'm sure he will be ok for now, except for a tiny scratch on one foot, but with his problems, it will be difficult in the long run..
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