Fonzie's rally

He is still improving by the day, despite his obvious distate for the timothy cubes. Life is hard
He came out to get some exercise tonight. We had to keep him in hand so that he would not eat the grass, and because I think he is feeling so good he might run off and we not be able to catch him.
He trotted and trotted and played--it was very fun to watch.
Even though sometimes, he thought perhaps he did not need to exercise--not because his feet hurt. It is clear they do not, which is a huge relief to me.
Today, I discovered this weird thing on his neck--it looks like a hot spot, and there is a lot of swelling below it on his neck. He sure does not want anyone to touch it. I cannot imagine how it is wet, as no one is near him to lick it and he sure cannot reach it. Plus, it grew from lunchtime to dinner time. I don't get it.

I took some videos of him playing with Madison. They are not as funny as I hoped they would be, mostly because I cannot work my camera very well. I am so ignorant of technology. Like on/off buttons. One is of him trotting around in the yard--check out how his mane bounces and his ears disappear. The other is of him turning around to show how he is not at all favoring his feet--I think we may have dodged a bullet on this one after all



This should hopefully conclude our coverage of Fonzie week. Maybe tomorrow, we can have a new topic--like how my camera came home, and how I took up running today. Now there is a story.

Well crap, there are two of everything and I cannot get them off. Oh well

Fonzie's new world

On the belief that the Fonzinator is likely insulin resistant, some new things were put into effect tonight. I am so lucky to have Linda and Head to advise me on these weird health things--this time I got lucky and hit one they are expert in. Linda sent over her special-take-care-of-IR-horses kit, which includes Triple Crown Lite. Since we live in BFE--and she lives in BFE-er--I cannot imagine where she has to go to get this. I suspect another state. It is not Nutrena, or Purina, it ain't around here!

The package says it is IDEAL for Ponies and Miniature Horses. Since I do not know what Fonzie is, or he might be a cross of those two, I am sure he is comforted by that marketing angle. It is a very low sugar content which is what the little dude needs if he truly is IR. He also is going to be eating these balanced timothy hay cubes. They are smaller than the alfalfa cubes I used to feed Grandpa, but still pretty hard, so we soaked up a batch and handed them over to him. Maybe he could smell the ranitidine he is taking to keep the Bute from hurting his tum tum, or the Vitamin E that Linda says he needs on this diet, but he was not at all sure that he needed to get involved in this new plan.


Quite the look on his face there isnt it? Like "WTF is this mess, Lady? " He is feeling really good though, you would never know we had hit a bump at all. Now to find the right combo of things to keep him in that shape. I am going to check in with the vets in the morning to determine our next step. I have a plan for tomorrow evening that should crack us all up if we can pull it off. Stay tuned for that!


God willing, this will be the last grainy shot I subject you to. I hear that my real camera has been repaired by Canon and is scheduled to arrive here tomorrow. Hallelujah, sweet Jesus! Even the crappy quality of the photo did not ruin the beautiful sunset tonight.

In unrelated, but extremely interesting news--I take back everything I have ever said about yongurt being a disgusting misuse of dairy products. After I discovered that my favorite lemon berry parfait was actually just yogurt with lemon juice in it, I started making it on my own. It is not as good as the restaurant makes of course, but I learned that I can deal with the texture after all. I bought a whole pile of CarbMasters yogurts from Kroger on Sunday, and holy balls- is this shit good! I had cherry this afternoon, and just had strawberry pomegrante. I do believe I have a new addiction--which is cool since they are only 80 cals, 4 carbs and 12 grams of protein. There has to be a catch, right? This seems to good to be true. What bad horrible thing are they hiding from me? Is this going to cause me a stroke, or brain damage, or cause me to pee on myself, or something else horrid? There has to be something.

Sickie Fonzie?

This ol boy is not feeling good. Fonzie has been moving slower than usual this week, but I did not chalk it up to anything significant because it seemed pretty hit and miss. Honestly, I figured he was the only one smart enough to be on to me--he quit running to greet me when I pulled in the driveway. Those two other fools had not yet figured out that I was not graining them, so there was no need to hurry. I figured Fonzie had figured it out.

Until tonight, when I really did give them a hit of Strategy and still Fonzie did not come running. He does not get his own, as he hardly needs it, but Twister usually shares with him. I watched him from the house driveway for a few minutes--long enough to see he was not moving right. I turned around and went to the other driveway, unplugged the fence and crawled through to see if he would let me get close enough to see what the problem was.

Fonzie does not get caught. He just does not do it. After you catch him, he is perfect, but the catching is the hangup. It is usually a two man job--you have to lure him in the barn, then slam the door on him, then corner him in a stall. Then he will give in and let you have him.

Not tonight. Tonight, he almost let me touch him before he turned and slowly moseyed off. I tracked him as he made his way to Twist, where he may have taken a bite of feed or not, but he let me run him off from there and he went in the barn. Regular Fonzie would never do that--the only way I can get him in there is if I hide--he will not go in there if he knows I am around, as he does not want to be caught. Tonight he went in there and stood still long enough for me to find a halter and truss him up.

By that time, I was really worried. He was standing square on all fours, and there is no heat in his hooves, and no pulse in his leg at all. I tied him and picked his feet--that was fine with him. He looks good, other than he had what appeared to be dried sweat on his top line--that may be from the morning's rain though, as I later noticed that Twist had it too.

This behavior was so odd, that I went to the farm to get him some banamine. I did not know what was happening, but a little pain killer could not hurt. When I got back he was standing exactly as I left him--although he ties well, he also gets bored easily and on a normal day, he would have found something to do in there. I gave him some electrolytes (which he tried very hard to avoid, the only thing normal about him tonight), although he was not dehydrated, and 3 cc of banamine and turned him back out. He moseyed off, past Sly who was all up in our business. I watched him walk, and he seems stiff. He made one turn where he rocked back on his hinds a bit to do it and may have parked out a hair when he settled--but surely if he was foundering (and why would he, nothing has changed and if anything he has lost weight--I am really careful about his weight), I would have seen some sign when I worked him over and I just did not.

About an hour and a half later, I went back out. It was raining pretty good, but he was standing out in the rain on the hill. He turned to come to me---I do not know why, but Sly and Twist did, so maybe he just wanted to be part of the family. When he got near, I approached and he moved off more quickly than he had before. Ultimately, Sly tried to play their game, biting him on the withers, which usually causes Fonz to wack him in the chest. Eventually he did that, but it was not with his usual aplomb. Sly aggravated him enough that he ran from him, but it was not his usual speed racer darting about--he ran to a nearby pine tree that is too tall for Sly to get under, and stood there. By then, I was soaked so I came in.

I cannot imagine what is wrong with him. He was grazing when I last looked, so he has interest in food. He is just travelling very slowly, and did not care enough to run from me--something that has never happened in all the years I have had him---five of his 12, assuming he was really 7 when I bought him like I was told.

Any thoughts? He is not snotty at all, and there are no other signs of illness--just this weird behavior and slow gait. I have not yet taken his temp, but I will if I can catch him in the am before I call the vet.

I like the little bugger and I am worried about him. Who would think that I would long for that ass on fire little dude I normally have?

Scenes from the New Year

As far as Sly is concerned, nothing has changed, he does not care what day it is. I told him Happy Birthday, since all AQHA horses turn a year older as of Jan 1, so now he is 9 years old. That absolutely floors me.
Fonzie is now 12 years old, I guess, although that is just based on him being 7 years old when I bought him--and who knows if that was true or not. He is just a handsome boy.
This mystery package was on my porch when I got home from work yesterday--delivered by the post office, and remarkably without the pig having attempted to open it, which is odd. It was addressed to me with the return address of Santa's Lil Helper, but my street address. Inside was FOUR bags of Reduced fat Ruffles! And a South Park card that says "Well Spank my Ass and Call me Charlie" which is just funnier than hell. On the back it said something like happy holidays from Santa's Lil Helper.

I have NO idea who sent them! NONE. Anyone want to fess up? I am guarding them like a rabid pit bull, but I have no idea who to thank.

Whoever it was, thanks so much, it cracked me up.

For New Year's Eve, we went out for a nice dinner with Head and Linda, and then went to meet Jenna at Jim's house for a party. She did not stay long after we arrived, so we were home before midnight and got busy opening our Christmas gifts to each other so that we actually missed the stroke of midnight. That kind of sums up our year--always a little behind.

The party was kind of a trip--the first person I talked to was my grade school principal, who is a horse guy. I love him, it is always nice to see him. A little strange to have a cocktail with him, and others from that part of my life--but nice. We talked horses and other bidness and had a good time.

Tequila is not having a good start of a year--she has had some freak reaction and pulled out all of the hair out of her butt. I thought she had a psychotic break but not really--so she is on steroids, antibiotics, a new dewormer, and has to get her teeth done next week. She has lost 10 pounds and her hips are shot to hell--all things she needed addressed anyway. So the nekkid butt was a good prodding to me to get her to the vet---this is what she looked like at the vets.
Pathetic huh?
Today we had a movie marathon--we saw Marley & Me, which made me cry like a fool and then The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which was odd, but still good.
Happy New year everyone!

Mish mash Friday-and a count

Since Monday, I have had 6 workouts. Not bad since water aerobics did not start until Thursday. I never skipped a day EVER! My goal is to do 10 workouts a week for a while--at least when I have full weeks (which I will not next week since I am leaving Thursday nite to go to the Futurity). That can be done with one water aerobics and one gym per day on every weekday, and if I skip one, I will have to add one in on the weekends.

Is that nuts? Am I setting myself up for failure with that high of a goal? Should it be 7, you think? Barry thinks one a day is enough, but if I can do it, to do both. I think I can, since one is morning and one is after work. Mom thinks I can do it. I do not want to disappoint myself, and I really need to see some results. I have to admit I feel awesome

While at the dollar store buying Sly's get up for the Xmas cards, I asked Rita if maybe I was going to be one of those exercise-orexic people? Of course, she fell out laughing, but even worse, the guy in front of her did too and I do not even know ol boy. What the hell does he know, I could totally be that. God knows I get addicted to everything else. What are those people called? Exer-rexics? Probably not, but I think that is what I will call it---maybe people will think I am claiming to be an exorcist. Whatever. They would probably take that without laughing, which is a whole other issue.

I also have not had a beer since last Friday. That is pretty dang good. That was not by design, it just happened and had Jenna had some free time on Thursday, I would have then, but she did not. However it happened, that is removing a BUNCH of calories from my diet since I drink beer like I drink water and iced tea--lots of it, until it is gone. I bet I drink beer tomorrow since there are big doings on the agenda, and some varied and sundry people are coming to town for a TB and equipment auction and that will inevitably end up with dinner and drinks, it usually does. I am looking forward to it though, as is Barry, which makes it more fun.

I also did not eat any fast food this week. I have been working on that. I ate out twice and Subway once, which is way less than usual but probably chalked up to Rita being gone most of the week. I do not anticipate being able to keep that up, but it is one week better than usual. I also have been eating those stupid smoothies with Activia yogurt in them, and as much as I wish it was not true, that stuff WORKS. And with enough strawberries or raspberries, they taste really good and make up for the yogurti-ness of them, which is required for me. Yogurt makes me sick, all slimy and gross--ick. Oddly, they have kept me from eating Totino's pizza every nite--in fact, I don't think I have had one all week. That is a MAJOR accomplishment for an OCD binge eater, believe me.

OK on to something besides talking about how swell I am this week.


It was so cold here today, there were icicles on the fence boards when I got home from work. The sun was still out, as I got out at 3 pm instead of 6 since I worked so much extra this week. Go me!
I was trying to be artsy, but the ice was kind of in the shadows. They are still cool pics, but I bet Holly could have done a lot better. I was in a tshirt and no jacket, so I could not screw around out there all day to take better pictures or I would be frozen solid. As it was, I had to bring water hoses home to thaw them in the shower, and that is not as easy as it looks. As usual, my car was full of stuff, and I had to jam 100 feet of frozen hose in the back---I bet it was funny to watch while I tried to jam it all in there and it fell out and I tried to slam the hatch on it. I was in a good mood though for some reason so I did not care.


I got home to feed the boys, and got treated to the Sly-loves-his-mommy show. They have been hanging out behind the house eating on a round bale but as soon as he knows I am around, he comes running like he has not seen me in years. Maybe it is because I am the dinner lady. I choose to think that he has a deep love for me. It is hard to catch a pic of that though as he was darting through the trees to get to me.
That face always does my heart good. I can feel all the tension go out of me when I am greeted like that.
Now can anyone tell me what in the world happened here? This is a section of new fence that went up this year. On the left side is the front of the hay pasture where the geldings are living for the moment. To the right side is the old farm road that runs between the hay field and the barns and leads to the back pastures. For the love of God, what could have done THAT to the fence?
It is not only pulled off the fence post, but it is unwoven! It looks like the devil was in a box and this was his only way out. I have never seen anything like that. And of course, it is in the middle of a line of about 400 feet of fence, so it is not easily replaceable.
The best pics of the day were of Fonzie--he is just so cute and was playing hard because that rat dog from next door and his hateful mutt friend were chasing him. I think we might really have to do something about that one of these days, I thought I was going to get my head kicked in from the running and bucking they caused. But so far, no harm no foul.
Doesnt he look like something prehistoric? All that hair is appalling, but when Lori called him a yak, it hurt his feelings. He thinks he is handsome and above anything as absurd as being trimmed. She talks crazy.
I think this was mid-run from the mutt, but I liked how the composition came out.

Now that I see this picture, maybe he is a bit yak-like.

So Lori if you think you are a big enough girl, load up those clippers you helped shave the dogs ass with and come on down the road to address this.

Family photo session

This afternoon, we did some family photos for Mandy and Edward, and let Gabi ride Fonzie.
I need help choosing which of the serious pics is the best one, so send your votes in. I am not sure exactly what is going to happen with them, but whatever it is, I want to use the best one.
This really might have been the funniest thing I have done in a long time. Gabi loves animals and she really wanted Fonzie to GO! She would giddyup him, then grab the saddle strings and whack at him the best she could, grab the horn and rock back and forth like she was making him go--she was serious about it.
Several attempts to make her be done riding were failures--she would push Edward away when he tried to take her off. She was not done yet.
Here is an example of that--she wanted Mandy to go away so she could ride him for real. Absolutely hysterical.

She had a great time, she would get so tickled, and make funny faces.

This is one of my favorites.
Look how happy she is
This is a good one too--look at that face.
This time the pig wanted to be her friend, instead of being scared of her like he was last time. She was not as interested in him as usual though.

Her hat is eating her head here--this is her new coat that is pretty stiff and she is not used to it yet, so she does not move so good in it. Her arms stick straight out.

Remnants

of the zebra. As of this morning, he still looked like one
Evidently, Fonzie figured out that he is not in fact a zebra, but regular old Twister. Fonz would not have much to do with him at first, but it seems to have passed and they are back together like Lucy and Ethel. It is raining like hell right now--a stabbing kind of rain that hurts, so I bet Twist will be one ugly mess when I get home.
And this is for nothing, I guess, except I was just thinking that Sly was not taking good care of his tail lately, and that it was getting ratty looking----but clearly I am imagining things, as here it is actually dragging on the ground. I guess I should do something about it. He is sure a fat boy these days, isnt he?

Work in miniature

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture of Fonzie having his rear foot rasped. The shavings are flying, the black background-everything about it. It is so sad that I did not try to take this pic--and you know had I tried, it would not be so awesome.

Fonzie is such a good little pony. Or mini. Or hairy yak. I am not really sure what he is, to tell you the truth. Other than being hard to catch, he is dang near perfect.
To catch him, you have to trap him in the barn and slam the door on him. Then he knows he is had. Ask me how many times he got out before I got him trapped for real tonight. THREE. And he is a fast little bugger. If there were some 18 inch cattle that needed cutting, this would be your man right here--he is an agile little beast.
Obviously, after some cussing and huffing and puffing, and then some more cussing, I caught him. That was that.
Don't his ears look like a teddy bear?
And his whole snoot fits in your hand.
His mane is so thick it almost hides his ears.

He is so funny, it just cracks me up. Gabi is having her photos made with him over Thanksgiving, and I cannot wait. Could anything be cuter?

Midget drama queen

Fonzie has been in a bad mood all week. I do not know what is up with him--maybe he is irritated that Twister is back in his pasture, but that does not make sense since he LOVES Twister. Maybe he feels left out because Twister and Sly are playing together.

Every day when I come home from work-- be it 5:30 or in the dark after doing the farm work--this is where I find Fonzie. Sometimes he is laid flat out, like he does not have the strength to deal with life. Just when I think that there is something legitimately wrong with him, he gets up and goes on with his life--and he is up every morning, acting normally other than that he is not hanging out with the other boys.

Today, I swear to you he groaned at me when he saw me back up in the driveway, get out of my car and get out with the camera in hand. What a drama queen. I swear, the little ones are the worst!

A nice welcome home after a long week

Man was this a long week. I do not know why, it was not jam packed with crap like my life usually is, but I worked hard enough at my actual job that I have had a headache for four days. I told Barry tonight that I think my head hurts because he will not weed eat the yard, but really it is likely because I have been editing and re-writing, and editing some more, and then read about 3000 pages of transcripts and subpoenas where people argued about wiretaps and federal statutes versus state statutes until I swear I wanted to jump off the damn building. I have worked at nite, woke up thinking about things at work and generally stressed way too much for government work.

I was so glad to get home this evening, knowing I was going to get in bed for a Friday evening nap before going to the movies later (which never happened obviously or I would not be here now).
This was a nice scene to see on my way up my driveway. Barry was already home, so the dogs were not out torturing the pig, which they only do when I am coming up the drive-- I think they are showing off for me. They make quite a racket when they are aggravating Boce, so to come home to QUIET in the yard and pasture is a rare treat.


Just seeing those sweet faces, and knowing my animals are happy and content made a huge difference in how I felt.

I had a nice but too short nap and am feeling much better. I better enjoy it as the forced march starts again tomorrow, with a day of tag team farrier work and a trip to Barry's hometown for Festival Days.

Fonzie gets a trim

Big day for a little boy! Fonzie's feet were out of control again-- I swear it happens over nite. He was first on the list for the farrier today, which is always a challenge, as Fonz is anti-getting caught. Today he was not half bad though, he came right in and I trapped him in a stall---which meant I stood in the doorway and told him to put his head in the halter and he pretty much did.

Shocking, I tell you.


Isn't he handsome for a little oompa? Why don't my other horses have hair that is proportionately long? What do I do with a really short pretty boy? I cannot even pimp him out.

I do think I will use him for the model for the portrait /conformation portion of my photog class, if I can figure out what the standard pose is for someone that short.This is not a great pic, but it shows how hard Marvin has to work to get down to his level. Good thing Fonz is a good oompa, as his trim took only 15 minutes or so.
I really wanted a good head shot, but evidently he has to put his ears down in every pic I take. The only one with them up is this one and it shows how much he needs a shave. He got some ivermectin tonight too--he is not a fan of that for sure.

Oh well, maybe this weekend