Assorted things

Party for Charlie was fun- I think he was surprised. I got pics of course, but now my camera is acting up.

I fed the first Strategy tonight--very exciting for me. I am such a dork.

I also weaned two babies. First was Vixen, Foxy's baby. Barry was not kidding, Foxy is a mess---she went to hell over the last week. She was down last week, but she looks today like she has been locked in a closet since then. I started her on the Panacur Power pak, but I did not have the heart to cut her off grain and put her on plain grass hay like I normally do a mare that just weaned her baby. So I stalled her, poured her a healthy dose of Strategy and put a crappy bale of grass hay and about 20 pounds of alfalfa in there. She will have an ouchy udder I guess, but she has to have a heavy influx of calories. I could not even make myself take a pic she looks so horrid. I cannot imagine what is wrong with her---guess I will get a full blood workup, a teeth float, etc and get her on the right track. Sigh.

To give Vixen a friend, I also weaned Riot--not only is Lucky struggling like she always does with her weight while nursing, Riot is friggin huge. I had no idea HOW huge she was until I put her into the stall with Vixen, who I thought was normal size. If she is, Riot is Big Foot. This makes no sense to me. The obvious difference is that Riot has been eating what her mom eats--ninety eleven pounds of senior and beet pulp and oil, and Vixen has been on sweet feed with her mom. Oddly, I noticed how good Lucky is looking now. Aint that about right?

This is a huge wake up call to me. Thank you to all of those who have refrained from pointing it out before now. It is not that I did not know, but it has never been so clear to me like it was tonight. Things are changing around here and in a hurry, and the strategy is a first step, the new hay is a second, and I am on the lookout for what else needs to be done.

I checked back in around 9:30--3 hours after I left, and the sad side effect I expected is occurring. Grandpa is standing at the fence looking like he lost his best friend--intently staring at the barn. Lucky is still hollering but not at the rate she was-- I could not move her from her regular place as I could not keep feeding her the old people protocol if I did. This keeps her within talking difference to the barn where Riot is right now, unfortunately. She too will have to deal with ouchy udder...for a bit at least.

Now the question is whether I get Riot fully weaned, move Lucky elsewhere and give her back to Grandpa? Or what do I do? the change in him when he has a baby is downright freaky, and I hate to deprive him of that.

I cannot answer all of these questions tonight, partly because Slater is growling at the pig who is underfoot trying to catch food he drops, Thor is barking for no reason and I cannot find Simba in this house (who probably ran away because there is not enough dog food for the night). I have not even had dinner yet and dont know if it is worth getting up for at this point. I like my nights to myself when Barry is gone, but sometimes, I wish I could go to bed and say to hell with it without having to deal with the aftermath in the morning.