MidWestHorse Blog

Stall Rest It Is......................

2009-12-15T13:13:00.000-08:00

Of course neither one is too happy about it, but after continually going backward as soon as it gets cold again, I decided that she will just have to cope with stall rest. A quick trip to get some straw and to TSC for something to throw her hay in and a 16 gallon heated water bucket, this where we will now stand.

Walkin' On Broken Glass

2009-12-15T05:43:00.000-08:00

Last night our temperatures dropped again to the teens with wind chills. This morning finds Misty tender on that leg. Still moving forward, however slowly. Swelling really no different. I added more poultice last night before bedtime. She normally shivers a bit when it's cold and once she starts in on her hay , she warms up, so when I went out to feed, I noticed that leg shaking a bit and when she went towards the hay, it was as if she was walking on broken glass..........I'll let her finish eating and decide at that point whether to give her some Banamine. I can't now that she's eating anyway because she'll spit it out. I have to wait until that mouth is completely empty. Then I may very well have to make an attempt at stalling her. She doesn't do anything she does not feel up to though. She will stand if that 's what it takes. Well, I'll just watch for today. It is supposed to start warming up again tomorrow. LIke I said a few steps forward and then a couple steps back. Gads! This is frustrating, propbably more for her!

Update On Misty's Progress

2009-12-14T06:15:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems that we take 5 steps forward and 4 steps back sometimes. You can clearly see that the left front is still a little swollen with yesterday morning's poultice still hanging on. I took this picture this morning. Thursday brought more trouble and I set her back some. Misty had a frozen solid turd ball in her right front toe area, of course our high temp for that day was 4*F and she was literally standing on her right toe, putting more pressure on injured leg. I had to make the decision to try and wet it enough to chisel the turd flatter for her and when she realized that I needed to catch her, she gave chase, which I did not want her to do and when I did catch her it required her to stand with all weight on bad left leg to chisel out turd for about 10 minutes! I gave her a full dose of Banamine for that. All seemed well until I arrived home from work Saturday morning and found that entire leg much more swollen than this picture and her favoring it slightly, not nearly as bad as initial injury , but enough to really worry me, so before I went to sleep, I put a good layer of poultice on and another dose of Banamine and fed her where she stood. By Sunday when I got home from work, she was still swollen but it was considerably less, so more poultice and another dose of Banamine, Sunday evening and this morning finds her moving forward nicely, even though we are still a bit swollen. I'll watch her for now and give her skin a break from the poultice if I can. I think this is going to take months of healing, and as nice as it would be to pop her into the stall, she would not be a happy girl and I'm afraid we might end up with more injury.

Winter Wonderland..............

2009-12-09T10:18:00.000-08:00

And here is Stephen's and My creation...........I'm quite pleased with it's eyes as I used carefully selected horse turds! I knew they would come in handy!

Here we are posing with our new friend!

Stephen posing with his master idea! Of course by the time we were finished we were completely exhausted! It's a heavy wet snow!

Misty is definitely on the mend. Almost all the swelling of her knee is gone now and she continues to move forward. Maybe one more half dose of Banamine tonight and then we'll call it good.

The snow is just hanging on the trees.

At least there's some soft padding for them to stand on now and they are all bundled up in their winter gear.

Our frozen home, although it is toasty indoors!

The dogs thoroughly enjoyed romping around in it this morning and did help us make the snowman, mostly by stealing my carefully rolled head and using it as a ball!

This Dipstick...............

2009-12-08T14:51:00.000-08:00

Managed to injure herself................Knowing that soon, a winter storm would be headed our way, Sunday morning when I returned home from work, I put on the girls' blankets and halters on them. Stephen had already fed them, and although there was little snow left on the ground, it was chilly and the ground had frozen, I still decided to let them out in the pasture area. They did not go crazy, just a little trot down to the end as I stood there watching poised to scream "Whoa!" if they got goofy and then went off to sleep. When I woke and went out to feed at 4pm and the setting sun, I found Miss Misty standing in the shed and thought nothing of it has I dropped the pellets into their bowls until she did not move. I tried to move her and there it was.........A three legged horse, SHIT! I called for Stephen and quickly separated them. It was her front left leg. She was unable to bare any weight on it and to move was doing the hind leg backward hop. I felt up and down that leg from shoulder to hoof, picked out that hoof and could not feel anything abnormal. I flexed it forward and her leg from knee down would swing........very concerning! I called the Vet and told her my findings. We decided that since she was attempting to eat still, that I would give her some Banamine and watch until morning. When I went back out after coming in to retrieve the Banamine and Poultice, she was clearly in pain, breathing heavily. I gave her the dose and after a call to Jeremiah for more advice, applied poultice from her shoulder down to her hoof. She was able to move herself from the shed to the end of the paddock, I'm sure doing the backwards hop. Vet & I decided that if she was not 80% better by morning that they would come out and take X-rays. Stephen did a late night check for me and did notice her with both front legs straight on the ground. At least I was able to sleep. By the morning, thankfully, she was at least 80% better, now baring weight and moving forward without a limp. Obviously tender, but so much better. Now able to more closely see, I notice that it is concentrated to her knee. It's swollen............So since Sunday we have been treating with Poultice in the morning and Banamine over night. The swelling has come down, but it still is swollen. The good news is she continues to move forward and bare weight. I imagine that this is just a matter of time healing. I must admit that this was very scary, thought at first it was a break. Unfortunately, I've had to put the big girl in with her now as the temps are dropping and the storm is well on it's way today and I have only one heated water source for them. And they do not like to be separated.........The plan is to keep them in the paddock with the shed for the time being and give her a night time half dose of Banamine for at least a couple of days. If it's not a blizzard by morning, I'll try and brush off the rest of the Poultice and give her skin a rest. Hopefully they'll stay quiet and Miss Kola won't spook her tonight. Part of the problem I have is we had mud that has now frozen into pot holes and they need to step carefully. They've been in together all day and have been relatively quiet, hoping it stays that way.

It's Here..................

2009-12-03T11:35:00.000-08:00

Well, the snow has officially arrived..................Of course as Stephen and I traveled a mere short 7 miles to the grocery, although it was snowing the entire trip, it seems to be only sticking to the ground around our place as usual................

We Have Some Winners !

2009-11-30T14:36:00.000-08:00

Arlene, from Grey Horse Matters guessed first.............

Then Tammy from Horse Trail Riders...............

Mikey from Post Card From Arizona .............

And a private admission from MrsMom at Oh Horses Feathers................

Mikey and Mrs.Mom will get the consulation prizes..............Don't worry it's not his butt, LOL! Arlene and Tammy will get first & second place..........

And Mikey his name is Jeremiah Johnson.......... He was a Pro Rodeo Bull Rider and Bareback rider when this pic was taken and NO I didn't take the pic, although, It sure would have been funny!

So ladies, here's my email address......... callie.pearson@gmail.com
Email me your addresses and expect a package soon..........

A Snowy Holiday & A Clue To The Contest.........

2009-11-30T10:43:00.000-08:00

We woke Thanksgiving morning to find this marvelous snow.............Hope everyone had a great holiday...........Now within these photos, I have put up a clue as to the "nekkid" mystery man is in the previous post, also I'll let you know that I am his client..........I have two horse related prizes to give away to the persons who guess correctly, remember that.............

The dogs were having a great time in this season's first snow.........

Of course today as I didn't bring my camera out with me to let the girls out for a romp, they did romp for nearly 20 minutes solid, bucking and rearing and racing up and down the pasture. If I bring out my camera tomorrow, you know they won't do such silly antics. Kicking at the dogs by the fence and egging each other on, Hilarious!!!!!!!!!!

Competition ....... Callie Style!

2009-11-25T06:46:00.001-08:00

First prize to anyone out who can guess who this Cowboy is? Woot Woot!

Th winner will receive a little horsey package with a few surprises in it! And A copy of this Cowboy's bottom...........Only kidding on the pic!

It's Been Darn Right Gloomy Outside.........

2009-11-23T11:32:00.000-08:00

The girls are enjoying what's left of the pasture before the snow starts falling..........Gives them something to do.

Although Kola looks ginormously fat, she is not. Her fat bulbs on her butt have disappeared, but she has the fullest winter fuzzies, not to mention how dirty they both are...........Like Mrs.Mom says, " A dirty horse is a happy horse!".

Sunset the other day............

Winter Is Coming..............

2009-11-17T14:40:00.000-08:00

This afternoon's chores including cleaning all the troughs and refilling them...........

The girls were not amused with the time I took to feed them as I haven't let them out in the pasture the past couple of days. The farmers are starting on the corn fields and it has been very windy and cold, so the horses have impatient waiting for dinner as evidenced by the looks on their faces. Cracks me up!

Miss Mina Moo was out with me as were the other dogs, she looked so cute, miss fatty dog!

A few years ago, Stephen, Zoe and I chose and painted our own bird houses and I screwed them up on the outside wall of the garage. I am pleased to announce that my bird house actually has birds in it. You can see the grass pieces if you look closely besides of which as I walked by it, a bird flew out of it at me........Ha! Stephen's and Zoe's remain empty. Hee Hee!

Our newest resident is this handsome, yet ferrel Tuxedo Kitty, who has moved into our downstairs. He sits in the sill all day and sneaks upstairs to eat the cat food and drink the water on the counter in the kitchen after we've all come up the third floor for the night. He actually looks pretty healthy with the exception of a kinky tail.

Seven Years Ago Today.................

2009-11-16T07:36:00.000-08:00

An awesome Vegas Wedding at Treasure Island with our children standing along side us! A show at The Mirage, one of the last times Sigfried & Roy performed and seven years now of wedded bliss and marvelous grown children ! And as Stephen posted yesterday, I'm a very happy lucky girl! I love you, Mr.Pearson! Loads & loads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love Is Making A Trifle

2009-11-15T15:40:00.000-08:00

Well this weekend is our wedding anniversary and what better way to celebrate than to go out for a nice meal and go to the movies.

Well I thought of a way

There are a few Very British Foods Callie would not touch with a bargepole

Marmite or Black Pudding for example

But the way to my wifes heart is a homemade English style trifle which worked much to well because I made it Thursday and it's all gone and our actual anniversary is not till tomorrow.

Love you loads my darling American Girl

Your British eccentric Hubby

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Although, My Horses............

2009-11-15T09:20:00.000-08:00

did NOT seem to appreciate the "horse" jolly ball, as evidenced by the "OMG! It's a horse eating monster!!!!!" reaction from my girls..........

As I kicked it around a bit in the pasture............

They certainly were not pleased.................

Not pleased at all................

But, BUT! The dogs certainly were having fun with it!

Especially, Spot , the border collie

Who cannot resist a ball of any sort............ever

The jolly ball did end up in the house, however, I placed it center of the pool table where Spot cannot get to it.

On A Funny Note.............

2009-11-12T07:01:00.000-08:00

The girls were actually quiet and not high alert mode Monday night, however................

As I was upstairs already in my pajamas, Stephen walks by our large living room window that faces the back yard.......Stated there's an animal out there.............I said "What?, Is it a opossum?" Steve says that it looks like Liliput, our blind kitty who does not go outside. I say No Way, she wouldn't have gotten out. Stephen picked up the binoculars, mind you it is dark outside. I came flying down the stairs and look out the window, and shout, "It's opossums, and there's three of them!" We grab the nearest jackets and I arm myself with my killer .22 pellet gun, Ha! Which way do we go , we discuss as we're downing the stairs. This way says Stephen, so that we can sneak up behind them.......... I've got the gun pointed, Look at the size of that one, Stephen shout "Stop!" "That's your gazing ball!" I was ready to shoot the gazing ball that had fallen to the ground, Steve was ready to shoot a corn husk, which is what he originally thought was an animal and we were both ready to shoot a cinder block I have next to a tree......... We did have a short giggle at ourselves afterward.........The next morning, I was house cleaning and I picked up the binoculars and one lens still had the cover on!

We laughed so hard yesterday in hind sight, what a couple of nuts, blind ourselves, LOL!

Veteran's Day

2009-11-11T01:00:00.000-08:00

Let this be a reminder.......... Take this day to Thank our soldiers for keeping us safe, so that we can have our freedom. Thank-you American Soldiers for fighting for me, my family, my children.

Fort Hood, I Know I'm A Bit Late In Getting To This....

2009-11-09T09:49:00.000-08:00

Above, is my neighbor, Heidi. Really just an acquaintance who runs a training and boarding facility just a mile down the road from us. She recently announced on Facebook that her son is stationed at Fort Hood, but is alright, Thank God for some of them. It must have a scary several hours from breaking news to hearing his voice. We lost a few here in Wisconsin as I'm sure others elsewhere as well, not to mention the injured fighting for their lives. Once again on our own soil.

I know the politicians are voicing "Not to jump to any conclusions" And perhaps they are right, however, the way I feel is : If it quacks like a duck & looks like a duck, it is a duck! Anyone else out there holding an opinion as to what went wrong, please feel free to voice it agreeable or not, it's welcome here. I just think that someone dropped the ball here somewhere along the line and this could have been prevented. This is an outrage and a crying shame. My prayers are for our soldiers over seas and those who have loved ones here at home at Fort Hood.

At Least Some Of The Electric Is Working.......

2009-11-05T13:19:00.000-08:00

Kola approached me, hoping to maybe get a snack..........I warned her NOT to rest on the fence. But, did she listen? Nope, and Steve & I had a hardy laugh. She's been pressing up against the fence a little more often, because I do not always have it turned on and this time I did. She got closer and closer until the metal ring from her halter was layed across the top electric band. I warned her, " You're gonna get zapped........."

Needless to say after said "ZAP" , it took her no time at all to end up this far away........Oh, we laughed so hard. It's a good reminder.

Afterwards, she was a little more cautious. Not so sure she wanted to visit.

This field caught my eye on our way to the grocery store today............

Think of all the pumpkin pies gone to waste..........................

Well, This Is How I Spent My Afternoon........

2009-11-03T14:38:00.000-08:00

The girls' came in for inspection.............

I think this is going to make it a little easier on their feet, I spread it thick.

In the most traveled areas and way in the back, on the dry spot, I found their lay down areas, so I spread three bales of straw over that too.

They were slightly concerned as to what was going on and I ended up haltering them both as Kola's left eye was a little red. She gets spring and autumn allergies, so halter it was, a couple of neosporin/steroid eye drops and a dose of banamine and we'll see what it looks like in the morning. Funny these girls are as they have specific parking places in the shelter where I feed at night and if one crosses the other's parking place, they get pissy with each other, cracks me up. I have Kola back on her Thyro-L for the time being and will watch her weight closely as she did gain a little bit back a few weeks ago. Full moon again tonight, so I'll get to see if one of them uses their new straw bedding in their lay spots, will do some spying............

L@@K At The State Of My Poor Horses........

2009-11-02T14:56:00.000-08:00

Finally it has stopped raining, however, I have never seen the ground so saturated!

I've been feeding the girls' their hay out in the pasture so that at least they spend the majority of the day out on relatively dry ground, but.....................

we end up with "burr bangs" and obviously muddy, muddy horses.

Bill, my hay guy, promises me a delivery of hay and straw tomorrow.........You can see the deep muck in the paddock and arena. I will spread the ten bales of straw tomorrow as soon as it comes and probably go and get more........... I have to soak up some of this crud........... In the mean time, I will feed them their morning hay out in the pasture.........I have never seen so much standing water and muck! Good Grief! I know our local farmers are cryin' because the corn is still 30% to 40% wet, which makes it expensive and hard to dry and sell..........It's been and awful October.............Hopefully I'll get somewhere with the straw spread. I have a feeling, I'll be getting more than ten bales and needing it! Yikes!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Samhain Or As Most Know It Halloween!

2009-10-31T02:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween Everyone! Hope you get all the treats you want and no one tricks you!

Wordless Wednesday..........

2009-10-28T14:45:00.000-07:00

It is Chilly Today & I Really Need To Get Straw!

2009-10-27T06:05:00.000-07:00

This morning is quite brisk and I really need to get straw to spread out! It has rained for days and the paddock & training pen are knee deep in mud! But , of course my truck is in the shop once more as something keeps draining the brand new battery.

IttyBitty has devised a way to deter the others from eating their grain, he just stands in it. Weird as this usually doesn't work. Maybe the others decided his feet were such a "turn off" that they gave up and went straight for the hay.

You can tell the state of this muddy place by the look of the girls' legs! And that is fog in the picture, weird how that turned out.

The usual , "finally you're coming out to feed us" expressions!

I Have To Laugh.............

2009-10-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

At myself...............My horses would rather be doing this than...............

This...............A self photo shoot with Mom..................heheheheheh!

Oh, now it wasn't that bad...............LOL!

Well, It's Back To WInter Barn Wear...........

2009-10-14T14:11:00.000-07:00

And here I am modeling the latest...............At 6:30am, still dark out!

These girls cracked me up at noon. The energy company has been working at the end of the pasture, so the girls weren't really inclined to stay out there with all the trucks and loud noises, so they got a noon time snack.

Which clearly by the state of their "gob" fulls...............

It was truly appreciated...........This one is especially hilarious! Oh, it's the little things that I find funny!

Stephen and I have been roofing/ decking and this is as far as we got! We need to do six more rolls. That will happen in the spring! I hate roofing tar!