Farewell 2009!!!

Happy New Year's Eve, Everyone!
Hope you have a bronco-bustin night!
YEEHAW!!!!!!!

Good Brumby!

I am happy to report today that Lilly was excellent under saddle! A charming, very calm and well behaved creature. This is sort of like the bit I have switched to, and I am using one with a curb strap. Out on the trail today Lilly was very responsive to me, even when she spooked at Henry and did a skittery 180 on the road as if to run away, but did not. The ole brumby is back! I could feel she wanted to speedily canter up all the hills but slowed when I asked her to, thank you tom thumb. Bill's theory is that yesterday she just had plain old pent up energy. She has been cooped up in the stall a lot this month, and the pasture has been too icy to run and play in. Christine thought she could be having a mental growth spurt and is testing boundaries. I am open to all theories, closed to none. I was just happy as a king to be able to get on her today and have a perfect go of it.

Lilly was given this spiffy new lead rope for Christmas. How she makes it sparkle!

A little flexing at the poll....

Here is the chicken that Lilly helped save yesterday! I hope she is doing OK; I didn't see her around today. With any luck, she is back with the flock in the henhouse.

Getty opening her Christmas loot.


Happy Sunday Night everyone, and many special thanks to your comments about Lilly yesterday. I loved them all and your support was very calming to my fretful mind.

Bad Brumby

Glass is Half Full:
Today Lilly was in the barn fussing so much at something in the corner that when Bill looked, he found a chicken who had gotten stuck there! She had been stuck for at least two days. When Bill pulled her out and she just flopped helplessly on the ground you should have seen me fretting! Thank goodness, after a few nibbles of grain, the chicken looks like she will recover! So today, it is fair to say that Lilly saved a chicken!

Glass is Half Empty:
Lilly's behavior has never been worse than it was today in the ring. She was so bad it was like I was on a horse I did not recognize. She was tossing her head and crow-hopping so much that I figured some physical thing had to be wrong. So I checked all of her feet. I looked to see if she might be in heat. I took her halter off and put it on again. I even took off her saddle and looked for a big prickly bur. Nothing. Everything was fine. So I got on her again. Fine at the walk, very terrible at the trot...too fast, way too cranky. I was crushed! Where was my brumby? At one point when I asked her to canter, she busted out a full-on gallop! I knew it the very instant she had decided to go for it. Then, I heard a little voice inside me say uuuh-ooh, and before I could collect myself to manage a one-rein stop, we were across the ring, at the fence! In other words, that was one fast gallop. At the stop I was a bit unseated. But not enough to fall off. I was just crushed and unsettled that my brumby had been so dastardly. And for what reason? If she had spooked and then galloped, I'd feel a lot better about it. But I don't think she spooked! I think she just decided to take off. Baaaaad Brumby. Very baaaaad brumby. Meanwhile, I called out to my horrified husband: No problem! She's being very bad, but I can make her right again! No worries!! Even though I was a little blob of jelly!

Tomorrow I will check again for anything physically wrong with her. Maybe she was trying to tell me something(?) If she's OK and I get on, I will not be using the full-cheek snaffle. It's back to the tom thumb. And I will be more prepared for a one-rein-stop. But really, I hope my brumby will be back to her old self.

Meanwhile, I left my camera at Bill's so I have no photos to post!

But Do You Recall, The Most Famous Brumby of All?

Here is Jolly Ole St Brumby on Christmas eve! We had a great ride in the ring today. There is a thick layer of snow and we were able to crunch crunch crunch over it. The dogs were frolicking, the brumby was mostly obeying! Lately, one of my fave things to do with Lilly in the ring is to get her up in a canter and then make her trot at my command a few strides later, before she decides to slow it down herself. There was a wee bit of head tossing today when I asked her to canter, but my new method of cantering half the length of the ring and then trotting worked out very well. This is when a blanket of snow can be the best confidence booster ever. I think: You can throw me off, recalcitrant brumby, but I'll just land in a soft snowpile and be able to get up and make you work off your punishment before you get hay! I also like the canter-then-quickly-trot because sometimes right before she drops back into the trot, her canter will be so slow and melodious that I get a glimpse of what real beautiful cantering is all about. Very QTee-style, very addictive.

Today was one of the warmer days we have had in a while! But you can see it still looks very wintery.

Lilly's barn manners are second to none. You would not believe what she tolerates in the barn: multiple dogs, a crabby pig, other horses, tractors chuggling, me!

This is Christine on Sunday when we met for a ride but the wind was so brutal we didn't even bother getting the saddles out. The cold temps are one thing, but the wind is inescapeable. This picture is good because is showcases the new blanket Christine got for QTee. None of the horses at Bill's wear blankets. They all have very wooly coats of their own. But QTee is 22 now and Christine wanted her to have it. So on Sunday we put it on her. When we put QTee back in the pasture with her new clothing, the other horses behaved like they didn't even know her!

Here are Lilly's jingle bells. They are quite loud. I like to have her wear bells in the woods. These are very loud even if I have them inside my pommel bag!

This is Yogi's new halter/bridle all in one. I wonder if he will like it. It certainly looks dapper on him! Gotta love that purple!

Domestic snapshot of me wearing my favorite color with Getty. I chuckle because it looks like I have drunkenly stumbled onto the dog puff. But really, I was quite sober. Today at the farm Getty got too far into Louise's space and Louise bit her! It must have really hurt because Getty wimpered for a while. Next time she will know to proceed with caution. The farm is full of lessons for little canines!

And finally, I am leaving my blog post with a short, pictoral documentary of the development of our Christmas tree:

happy Christmas Eve, everyone, I hope you awaken tonight to the sound of reindeer hooves on your roof and a fat man in your chimney!

White Snow, White Feet

Lilly is all better! Her abscess (all of it) has finally blown out and exited the scene. Thank goodness. When I can't ride Lilly, I start to feel out of sorts. Like a real crank! Today I was able to take her down to the ring for a gentle ride. When I first got to the barn, Bill had just finished putting her new shoes on! They are turbo riders, with studs and rim pads!

Bill buys horseshoes from a local guy and then figures out what sizes he needs on his own. Here is a picture of Lilly's shoe in the forge!

Yep, there is Bill at his own foundry out in the arctic temps working on shoes for the horses that will be wearing them this winter. It is not only cold around here, it has also been very icy. Yegadz. In case you happen to be impressed that Bill does his own forging, yeeeaaaah, that's all in day's work for this guy.

Shaping shoes into the right size is a skill and an art.

Tools of the trade.

This snapshot proves that the forge is not only good for making horseshoes!

This is Lilly and me today. I am wearing the puffy snowpants! It was very cold down there in the ring! We worked on sidepassing, and neck reining, almost all of it at a walk. However, Lilly had so much spring in her step, I had her in a nice trot too. It was as if she wanted to be in the ring with me! (At first anyway...Later she just wanted to go back to her hay.)

There were some beautiful, semi-interested spectators.

Here is what Lilly's abscess looks like now. The photograph makes it look much dreadful and more irritated than it currently is. It was a dramatic abscess, but the exit wound is healing perfectly. As the months go by, we will be able to see an abscess scar growing out in her hoof. In six months maybe it will be halfway down? We'll see!

What a gorgeous and beautiful foot you have, Cinderella! And your whitest of white fur! This is the foot that could launch a thousand ships!!!!!

Oh good gravy, is that really me? I hate that old helmet so much. Bill has to remind me to smile for the camera. Sometimes I forget because I am too busy concentrating.

Luckiest Person in the World.

Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind

The last two days have had me wondering why, if I love Miami so much, I don't just move there. It has been very cold in these parts, and Saturday was so bitterly windy that when I was bringing Lilly from the pasture to the barn I screamed few times because it felt like my face was getting ripped off my head. Thank goodness I was wearing my hideous snowpants to keep my legs toasty, proving once again that appeal is not necessarily based on looks.

In this picture Lilly must be contemplating the snowsquall that was minutes away from coming down on us. Lilly's foot is doing better, but her treatment is not over yet. She's still a bit gimpy which means there might be some lingering infection. Our good friend Ole Blue Boot was dragged out, and we did another Epsom salt soak. Mid-soak Louise came bossily trundling by Lilly's rear end and either annoyed Lilly or freaked her out so much that there was a brief altercation and Blue Boot went flying. Kestrel (who was with me) and I were lucky we did not get smashed in the melee. But rather than calling it quits, I shoved Lilly's foot back in the boot and finished the soak properly.

My brumby sure didn't seem to mind the carrots Kestrel had in her pockets. But doesn't a good horse deserve them?

I wanted to take a photo of the bottom of Lilly's foot because with all the snow her feet look so very immaculate! Also, it shows how her feet are so flat! No wonder the brum has to wear shoes! The camera (damn thing) didn't coorprate however, and the picture is blurry. When I left Lilly today, I did not return her to the pasture but left her in the stall and paddock area for a little more rest and care.

After seeing Lilly, Brandon, Kestrel and I went to get our Christmas tree. The snow was falling furiously and it was quite beautiful.

Happy Sunday, Everyone.

Looking Even Better!

Late afternoon yesterday after a whole day of snowfall, I managed to maneuver the Corolla over to Lilly's. She's back out in the pasture and barely limping at all! The snow is quite deep and keeps her exit wound nice and clean.

And you can see that the terrible swelling has gone down. As for getting her turbo winter shoes on, we'll just have to wait and see about that. She'll be fine for now with no shoes.

ABSCESS, You're fired!!

That brumby has gone and done it! She has gotten rid of her yucky ole abscess! Here is a photo Bill sent me at work yesterday that shows Lilly's infection has worked its way up to the coronary band to drain. Is this a relief? Yes, this is an immense relief. Both to me and to my brumby!! Bill said the swelling was almost completely gone, and that she is almost walking around normally! A new horse! Now I know more about the progression of abscesses and how long they can take to reveal themselves.

My heart is leaping with joy at the sight of a robust brumby, free to flourish and frolic! I had plans to go see brumby today--I had even arranged for a personal day at work--only to wake up and find that we are having a snowstorm and my Toyota can barely make it down our tiny driveway! It is possible you may be wondering why on earth I would live in a hilly, snowprone countryside and drive a slipsliding Toyota Corolla. The reason is simple: I bought this car years ago, and long before I ever knew I would live in these hills. And although I want a pick-up very badly, I just can't give up the Corolla right now. It's been too reliable and stalwart.

This is a picture from last year, but this is exactly what it looks like today. I also thought this photo would be a good accompaniment for the following brumby Christmas carol:

We three brumbies of New England are

bearing tack we traverse afar

field and fountain, Pine Hill Mountain,

following yonder farm.

Ooo-ooo, farm of wonder, farm of night,

farm with Bill, all his diagnoses right

Bear River leading, still proceeding,

Guide us to your perfect light.

Born a brumby on a southern state plain

Carrots I bring her to crown her again

Brumby forever, ceasing never

to respond to an indirect rein

Ooo-ooo, farm of wonder, farm of night,

farm with Bill, we adore him quite

Bear River leading, still proceeding,

Guide us to your perfect light.

Abscession Obsession

I want to begin my post by thanking all of you who have written to me and provided thoughts on my brumby's abscess situation. The bad news is that today when I went to see my brumby, she was actually laying down in the stall because her foot must have hurt so bad. Of course when she saw me she scrambled to her feet like I was a werewolf coming to gobble her up. The good news is that there is more swelling and it is starting to look more and more like an abscess and not some mystery ailment.

For example, here her fetlock is looking pretty puffy. It felt like a baseball under my hand.

So I got the blue boot out once more. I saw the epsom salt on the shelf, but I did not see Bill and I needed warm water. Warm water is inside Bill's house. I called Bill on his cell phone but got no answer. After fretting a minute or two, I decided to go into Bill's house without him being around and get warm water! Although I have been in Bill's house several times before, I felt very sneaky in there without any of his family there. In any event, I got the water and my brumby had a foot soak for 30 minutes. While her foot was soaking I groomed her and fed her many carrots.

It was still pretty snowy and beautiful today. In fact, it was quite the perfect day for a trail ride, which is what Bill and CC were out doing while I was sneaking around Bill's house. It is very cold here though. Today I wore snow pants to the barn to stay warm, shedding all vanity in the process because they are ridiculously unattractive. And of course, I put toe warmers in my boots!

Here's a question I have for anyone who cares to donate an answer. Do you see where my pen is pointing--to that fur that gets long in the winter and dangles over the pastern? Does anybody clip that off?

Brumby Meets Abscess?

My brumby is not better! She is still very lame and does not want to put any weight on her right front foot. It breaks my heart to see her struggling to walk over to me to get carrots! It is a real challenge, her not speaking english, to ascertain where the issue is actually rooted. It could be in her knee or shoulder for all I know. This not-knowing almost had me wishing for an abscess, because at least with an abscess there is a measure of predictability. (Can you imagine wishing for an abscess? Have I gone crazy?) In any case, I decided I would call the vet. The girl at the vet's office said Dr Schmidt would call me back to set up the appointment.
That was yesterday.


Today, there were a few more clues to observe (along with a load of snow). There is a bit more swelling down by her hoof. Not much, but noticeable if you compare it with the left. And there is a new spot right along the coronet that makes Lilly wince if you press on it. All of this makes it seem more like an abscess is percolating in there. Don't think I came up with this on my own; Bill made all these discoveries. He's the real Nancy Drew here. I think of a big blob of pus and infection in Lilly's dear little toe and it makes me frown. I'm glad she has bute to make her more comfy, although Bill said without the bute, there might be more behaviors to observe (such as laying down in the sawdust rather than putting any weight at all on her foot).
Well, as you can see from the picture above, the big blue boot was employed again, and Lilly had a nice 30 minute epsom salt soak. Was my brumby very patient while her bumbling owner clumsily shoved her lame foot in the boot? Yes, she was.

Here's what it looks like in there!

This is how Lilly likes to stand--with her right front foot either stuck out in front of her, or slightly behind her, so she can avoid using it.

There she is again with her foot sticking out a bit, to avoid putting weight on it.

Is my brumby getting spoiled being up in the stall and paddock with her own pile of hay, a big clean stall to lounge in, and a little bit of grain with her bute each morning?? Hah! if she is, so be it!

I will keep you posted on any new developments. Frankly, I hope the story has a very dull and uneventful ending. Drama and trauma not welcome here!!

Do anyone of you have abscess stories? I would like to hear about them. The more I hear, the more I learn.

Meanwhile, life goes on at the farm with all the other creatures.

Here is Elvis positioning his head in such a way it looks like CC has a horse's head.

Now that one's better!

And here are the chickens out and about, hopefully gobbling up all the ticks that have managed to resist all the cold snaps we have had.

This is a hilarious picture of Gettysburg. Where's her head? She won't sit still for a portrait!

Here's Getty in the snow! As I write this, it is still falling! Winter Wonderland!!