Signs signs everywhere signs--of recovery

One of my pastures got all jumbled up when we were gone one weekend, so I ended up with three mama/baby pairs in with the very old/skinny mares that were on their tryout to stay on the top side of Earth. Since it was no big deal, really, as they were all eating the same thing in the same amount, and because we were so busy, they have stayed there. I have been so busy, I have not been there at picture taking time--since Barry is out of town, I now have no choice and that led to some great discoveries.Diablo is fat as a tick--which is her normal state, but usually by weaning time, she is showing a touch of rib. Not this year--look at that insanity! She is about 3.5 months in foal to Highlight Cat.
Gyro is just one big sister. BIG sister. She is not in foal, I am saving her back as part of the cutting down on breeding plan and because I love riding her so much, I want her back. The condition she is in, I will have to put two girth straps together to get around her.


This is the exciting part for me though. I agonize over my old mares every year, but never so much as I have this year. This is the first year that good pasture did not fatten them up and keep them there. Three weeks or so ago, maybe a month, I was ready to make the decision to put down Lucky, Nita and potentially Playmate--and that last one was just killing me, as she is still a hell of a ride. Her weight issues scared me and I thought maybe she was just done at 27. After all, you cannot slap a saddle on one with their spine sticking out. I decided to try one last thing and if they rallied, I would know they were in and wanted to keep living.

I am so superstitious, I am a believer in signs, and karma, and waiting for God to tell me what to do. It is normally so easy to know the right thing. This decision was not easy, and not because I did not want to put them down. I did not WANT to of course, but I CAN do it if I know it is the right thing. And when I do it, it is okay, as I know I have given them relief. It is rare for me to just not know which way to turn. And I really did not know what to do with these three--every time I would think I knew, something would change my mind---literally from day to day.

In the photo above, that is Diablo on the left, Playmate in the middle and Lucky on the right. Lucky is still too thin, but she looks good for her, and Play is borderline FAT!

Look at that belly sticking out on either side. You can see a little bit of bone at her pelvis, but not anywhere else. Now granted, standing near Gyro the Gynormous does not make her look so filled out, but she really is.
Is that amazing or what? Just look at her. She could go work a cow in a heartbeat if we would let her (and maybe I will).

Even Nita has come back amazingly well. For those who are not used to seeing her, she is one swaybacked sister-yes, I know that--having a kajillion babies will do that to you. She had two for me, her youngest is 6 years old, Gypsy. She produced cutter after cutter and now even her granddaughters are doing the same thing. Nita is 27 now.

A month ago, I swear to you, I could see every bone in her body, but she still had a belly. I wanted to cry when I looked at her. It seemed to happen over night, but of course it did not--I just refused to see it, I think. These old ladies mean so much to me, it is hard to explain how I see them as they were, and not necessarily as they are right this minute.
I hesitated to post the side shot, as it shows her back in all its glory, but hey- this is who she is. And it shows how much weight she has put on
This photo sucks, but it shows how even her chest has come back--and it was almost non- existent a month ago.

Maybe that stupid coyote was there so I would track him with the camera, and have to walk back--giving me time to actually see what they are looking like instead of zooming bye on the Gator dumping grain as I do, in too big of a hurry to appreciate it. Maybe all the rain we got this year that made such a difference lately to our grass production was to sent to help me see what happens when you do not make rash decisions.

What a batch of nice signs I got tonight

The old lady still has some spunk in there somewhere

I knew the way she watched me that she had something planned--I could not tell if I was supposed to watch or not, but since I had the camera---of course I did!



Lucky is really enjoying her days with no blanket--it has been so nice, she has been nekkid for most of the week. Who knew she liked it so much?

She kicked and bucked her way across the entire front pasture--just like a kid again.

It was fun to watch- I wished it happened more often

Lucky not looking so good

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Lucky's big reveal this morning was a little disappointing. I have noticed that she is taking her sweet time eating her dinner, and has not been real excited about her hay lately. She does get her dinner eaten, just not very quickly--which is better for her of course, and may be a function of being in her stall where she does not have to share it with anyone.

She does not look so rough here on the left, really. I keep saying she is 25, but really she is only 24. Her but looks okay, but she is sucked up in the flank.

This other picture though, from the other side, tells another story, and is a more accurate representation of her real condition. It makes me sad.




These pictures also demonstrate why I do not reach really solid conclusions when I see photos of a certain horse---even several photos. Angle, lighting, background, any number of things can completely change the photo you see. Even here, with photos taken 30 seconds apart, and the only difference is that Lucky swung around the branch (okay it is a weed, but it has been there so long it has turned into a tree) to the other side of it, she looks like two different horses. That swing around put her in front of the open door to the barn with the feed wagon behind, rather than the side of the barn. Where she looks poor in the photos facing left, she does not look too bad in the photo looking to the right.

I always have to remind myself that she is a barrel horse, not a cowhorse and should not look like my other chunks. She never has, but it skews my impression of her condition every time.

All I can do now is pray the grass pops up lush and rich and packs the weight back on her like it usually does. She has no teeth issues, is wormed regularly (did it again this morning) and is fed enough for three normal horses, so I guess we are doing all we can do.

Oldsters

Since it was so nice yesterday, all the blanketed horses got stripped down to their nekkid selves. That did show me that Grandpa and Lucky are dropping a little condition--now is it because they are not being fed the same amount I feed them or is it because they moved to a new pasture with a round bale, and thus, no one has been feeding them the extra special alfalfa they are used to? The round bale is nice stuff though--really nice--I just do not know that they eat it like they did the square bales that they snarf up like candy.

See me justifying posting photos of Gramps and Lucky when I just did it a few days ago? I am so absurd, it is my blog and if I want to post repetitive pics, who is going to stop me?

In any event, even though he need not drop another pound, I am still very pleased with Grandpa's condition. He is 28 now, and the oldest 28 year old horse that likely ever walked the earth, but with the exception of some artritis, he is really doing well. It is almost like he has gotten younger over the past few years, rather than older.

I can see the loss in Lucky more than I can him, particularly in her butt. Oddly, these photos were taken only 4 days later than the one I just posted of her and I see the difference. Hopefully we can get this reversed in a hurry.


On a good note, Rock is holding her weight beautifully. Cannot see the broad side of a barn out of her left eye, but is round as she needs to be. Doesn't she look good for a 1982 model?

Yesterday was the first day that she came out of her stall without any goofy foot maneuvers at all---just followed Madison right out like it was a normal day. She led beautifully all around the yard, and even trotted when asked--she would not do that at first. She is still fighting over her eye meds, but they must be working as she at least has some vision in her right eye. She is acting like her regular self, not scared at all and to me that is the greatest sign to me--Rock scared is not something I have ever seen or ever prepared myself to deal with.

Isn't it about right that we get her to a good healthy weight, happily toting Madison around, and she does something to her eyeball? I am no longer sure it was a stroke, but perhaps an eye injury only--it just seems strange that all those other symptoms accompanied the vision problem.

Ringing in her 25th year

At almost the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, Barry and I were at the farm changing blankets on Grandpa and Lucky----it was getting too cold for the ones they were wearing. We sure know how to live it up! Isnt it wierd how dusky they get under those blankets, especially in their flanks?

Since I had her stripped off, I took a picture of her. She is not looking too bad for an old broad of 25, is she? I am content with her body condition right now, and that makes me feel good. Sure, she could have a little more weight on her, but she could (and has had on occasion) have a little less, as well.

This is pretty good for this time of year. Good green grass really pretties her up, but that is not to be had in January. If we can keep her in this shape through the winter, she should really bloom when the grass pops up again

Transfer to the hay field

Well lookie here at this insanity. I took some photos of the horses I turned out on the hay field, so I can track their weight etc. This photo above is Lucky--and she looks better in this pic than in real life, but I was still pretty excited. Not bad for a 24 year old broad who has never been an easy keeper. I like how shiny she looks as well, her coat is great.

On the left is Foxy--still gaining! I am most anxious about turning her out there, but I thought I would try the grass diet and see what happens. I am going to keep a very close eye on her though, in case she ends up missing the alfalfa she has been on, it is certainly working. This other photo also Foxy, with Playmates butt to the left, and Grandpa's to the right.
Notice how far away these photos were taken from--they hauled ass when we opened it up and showed them they could have that field. Grandpa did not seem to believe it, but the girls sure did! It did not take him long to figure it out.

This is another shot of Lucky and Playmate. Between the two of them, they are 50 years old--add in Grandpa, and the group of 3 is 77. As much as I struggle with them, and keeping them in good shape, it does my heart good to see them looking healthy and happy.

Last one today, I swear

I thought I maybe should track Lucky on the switch to Strategy from Senior as well. She is 24 years old, and as of tonight, has some nice shiny chompers with no ouchy points--she is still buzzing in this pic, in fact. She is showing a little bit of rib, and her top line is not optimal, but hell, she is 24!

I am pretty content with her condition right this very minute--I could take another 25 pounds or so on her, but this is not half bad. She has been on strategy about 5 days or so.....

Lucky is an enigma. She is not pretty. But she has great babies. Both Fuzzy and Radar are hers, as well as Riot--she has crossed on Sly beautifully, but all of her babies have been nice. Her first colt for us came with her when we bought her at about 17, I think--that was Lucifer, about whom I could tell stories FOREVER. He was a handsome fella as well, but I like the Slybabies from her even more.

I was going to quit her after this one, but she has done so much better this time, I might give her the option next year and see what happens. Or maybe not.

Wierd bumps/hives

Lucky rushed me at the fence today, and I knew right away it was not to ask me where her newly weaned baby was. She was covered in bumps or hives like a bug bit reaction but oddly, they were only on one side. We cold hosed her a while, and then put a fly sheet on her, but I am a little stumped as to what this is about. I guess she could have had a roll in a newest of something, and that would only impact her one side---but seems sort of unlikely. You would think at 24 she would be smarter than that--hey look, she fits in my geriatric theme as well! A dual purpose post!

Some of the bumps seems like a bacterial infection as well--but she may have just scratched them raw enough to make them look crazy.

Any thoughts on this?

On a good note, she has maintained her weight better than usual --nursing kicks her butt, but she makes such gorgeous babies and loves doing it, that I let her do it every other year or so. There is some rib showing here, but I always have to remind myself that she is bred a little differently than most of my girls--lots of speed in her- and she is not supposed to look like they do. Considering that, the heat, the drought and the size of that beast of a baby Riot she had, I am content with her condition today. More work will be done, of course, but I am not in apanic about her like I was when she was nursing Radar.

Now to get these bumps gone. I hate to have to put her on steroids, but if need be and they hang around long, I guess I will.

Sigh. It is always something

Why do some mares give so much

of themselves to their foals that they have nothing left for themselves? Lucky does that, so its a struggle to keep weight on her when she nurses. One I am losing, although not at the rate I normally do. I considered pulling Riot off of her with the first wave of weaning this weekend, but Barry convinced me to wait a couple of weeks.

Riot is in such good shape, so fit from just playing with Grandpa--she does not have other foals to play with and never has. That is part of the reason that I want to wean her, so she can be with other foals and learn that social structure. I guess it can wait a few more weeks though, so she can soak up more of whatever Lucky has to offer her.

I sure do like this baby girl.