Heat

The tremendous storm on Monday night that swept away some of the wet-blanket heat had me trapped in one of the barns at the stable.

Driving to the stable, I saw the blackness of the storm cloaking the horizon in front of me. Non-stop lightning flashed like a purple strobe light from within.

"It'll probably hit a few minutes after I get there," I thought.

But I was wrong! When I pulled into the long driveway of the stable, the blackness was upon me. By the time I parked, lightning was crashing overhead. I ran from my car to the upper barn. Two other boarders were there and the three of us watched the storm. The lightning was nonstop. The wind blew in, so hard and fierce that we had to seek refuge in the tack room. When the wind stopped, I went out into the barn aisle again and watched the storm.

Lightning struck close by, hitting the pasture, trees in the neighborhood bordering the property, and even the lower barn. Ozone filled the air and the hair on my body stood up. I was blinded--I saw purple streaks of lightning everywhere, even when I shut my eyes.

The sky turned green-black.

When I was finally able to leave the upper barn and see Limerick over an hour later, I noticed she hadn't pooped. Normally she would poop twice in the time between coming in from turnout and my evening visit.

The next day she had hives along her right barrel and hip/butt. Her attitude was great though; maybe even overbearing. My husband held Lim as I hosed her hives with cold water. She whinnied at the two horses in the pasture nearby. She screamed at the silhouette of a large person walking down the aisle before us.

She's definitely in heat, and it's a bad one! I'm guessing that could have something to do with the hives. Perhaps her sensitive, hormone-infused skin just couldn't take the irritation of the flies and heat.

I'm not worried about it though. Yesterday the heat was better and so were the hives. I rode her (saddle and all) in the outdoor arena. Plenty of long-strided walking, some trotting, and a few whinnies at the pasture-boarded horses hanging around near the outdoor arena. Overall, not a bad ride!