Rats in the Barn!

I haven't had very much personal time with my rats lately. Between work, the barn, and running, there is very little time for me to do anything else on the weekdays. My cats can come to me anytime I'm home, and my fish don't need much more than food and weekly water changes.

But in order to bring the rats out, I need to lock the cats away somehow, which is easier said than done when you have four young cats!

A co-worker who used to have rats suggested bringing them to the barn with me. She said the smells and sounds would stimulate them, and they'd get some time outside their cage.

Hmmmm.....

So last weekend, I bought a new wire carrying cage for them. I wanted to bring them to the barn as soon as possible but thanks to the wet-blanket weather earlier in the week, I decided to wait a bit. My rats are accustomed to the air-conditioned coolness of my apartment and it would be kind of cruel to subject them to such heat.

So last night was the first time.

You'd think a horse that has a mouse family living in her stall, as well as in the stalls of barns past, wouldn't mind rodents. Wrong! Maybe it was more the squeaking and chittering of the rats (which I cannot hear but have been told, by my husband, that they do all the time) than the sight of them, but when I lifted that little carrying cage up to Limerick her nostrils began to flare and her eyes doubled in size.

Oh dear.

As the rats sniffed the air and moved around and (squeaked?), Lim's eyes grew and grew. Okay, okay! I put the carrying cage down along the edge of the aisle, next to my tack box, and proceeded to take Lim's fly boots off. But her eyes never left the rats. She craned her head around to the right and watched them, nostrils ever-flaring. Finally I had enough. Afraid she was going to get the idea of a spook into her Thoroughbred brain and knock me flat as I unwrapped her fly boots, I put the rats in her stall and slid the stall door shut so the barn cats couldn't sneak in behind my back.

Lim immediately calmed down.

The mare in the stall next to Lim's, however, did not. Dixie's nostrils blew and she peered over the edge of the stall, trying to find the rats. By then I was convinced they were chittering and squeaking away; how else would Dixie know they were there?

I went back into the stall and put some alfalfa hay into the carrying cage, hoping the rats would get to work and be quiet. But instead, Dixie became more adamant about finding the source of the noise. Okay, so that didn't work. I guess alfalfa hay makes rats even more talkative.

My hearing aid is pretty good at picking up most pitches but I have never heard my rats utter a single squeak. It was an interesting experience for me. I am usually so good at knowing what animals want, but for the first time that I could remember, I didn't know exactly what an animal--my rats--wanted. I know they were excited about being at the barn, but what exact aspect of the situation was setting them off, I don't know.

Perhaps it's because they don't have very many facial expressions outside of "awake" and "sleepy". Their body language can speak volumes but watching them in that stall, they seemed curious and very interested, hence my guess that they were talking because they were excited.

Overall, the rats' visit to the barn went well. Dixie settled down and ignored them after a while, outside of a curious glance thrown their way now and then. Four of my fellow boarders saw the rats. Two thought they were adorable, one was initially horrified then curious, and one said, "Well, I guess they're kind of cute."

At the end of the day, as Lim was eating her dinner, I decided to pick up the carrying case and show it to her again.

She looked at the rats but this time her expression was one of boredom.

Yeah okay, I saw them before. So what?

From utter horror to boredom...ha!

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!

The saddle is no longer dusty

Ohh boy, I had a whole blog planned out but now I'm ticked. Long story short, someone is implying that I'm a pesty horse owner because I need my poor un-horsey husband to call my vet's secretary for me. And why? Because I can't use the damn phones!

Believe me, if I could have it any other way (as in, say, being able to email the secretary--which is not an option for some ridiculous reason--, or say, being able to hear well enough to use phones), I would seize it in a heartbeat. But that's not the way it is.

There have been hundreds of times when I wish I could hear normally, and there will be thousands more as my life continues. This is one of those times. The fact I had to use an awkward closed-captioning contraption at The Dark Knight last night--this reflector thing on a bendy arm that kept drooping down throughout the movie--is another time. The fact that my husband and I had been trying to smooth out a rough patch before our trip to Kentucky, then I couldn't hear him as he chatted with a tan, platinum-blonde guide behind me on our trail ride at the Horse Park, is certainly another time.

On most days, I completely forget that I'm "handicapped". But sometimes, just sometimes, I get a harsh reminder of how much harder things can be for me. So--you know who you are--thank you so much; I've already had a couple sweet reminders over the past week but a third hit was enough to drive the nail through!

Anyway, just a recap of Thursday morning's vet visit and a couple radiographs for you (speaking of pictures--no, I didn't forget the pictures of Kentucky. However, I spent 4 hours downloading them to Walgreens for printing yesterday so frankly, as much as I love them, I don't want to look at them right now!)

I lunged Lim for the vet as always and she noted how much better Limerick looks. By now, I have realized that Limerick is intentionally lazy on the lunge line. She trusts me and knows that despite the show I put on with the lunge whip, I will never touch her with it. I found this out over the past few weeks when a) she spooked at something by the door in the indoor arena once and b) when I lunged her in the outdoor arena (a rarity) and she was full of pep and bounce.

I'm thinking that for the next vet visit, I may need to ride Lim for the vet. I'll tell you why later...

Next, we took radiographs of her front feet. To my delight, her soles look almost twice as thick as they did on June 25th, the date of the last radiographs taken. The rotation is holding steady and the inflammation along the tip of her left fore coffin bone looks better.

The vet said it's basically up to my farrier now. He is doing a good job with her feet--the vet had a couple suggestions, like rounding out the toe on the left fore just enough to remove the crumbled area on the tip--and she wants to let him take the reins for a bit. He mentioned some time ago that he has some pads he can try in place of the Sole Guard stuff.

Speaking of that stuff, it has been four weeks now and it's still on! It's supposed to last 2-3 weeks. Well, just watch, now that I've said this, Lim will be missing a Sole Guard pad when I go out to the barn later.

It's been a long race but hopefully we're in the homestretch now, with just the pedal osteitis to deal with.

During the vet visit, I kept wanting to ask her if Lim will ever be 100% rideable again. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. My vet is very cautious, almost pessimistic. I was expecting the worst out of her.

"Well, Heidi, given Limerick's history and current problems, I wouldn't count on ever riding her normally again. Maybe some light walking like you're doing now, but nothing else."

Ack...the very possibility of these words coming out her mouth made my stomach twist into knots every time I worked up the courage to ask. But finally, without even planning it, the question jumped out of my mouth.

"Is there any chance I can ride her normally by the end of the year?"

"Oh sure, if she keeps getting well then yes, I would say so."

Yesssss!!!! I was debating scrapping my plan to look for an endurance or McClellan saddle for trail rides but it jumped into my head again, refreshed.

Here are the radiographs of Limerick's left fore. The top one is from February of this year. The middle one is from June 25th, and the last one is from Thursday.







Last night, for the first time since May, I pulled the cover off my saddle and carried it over to the barn. It was 8pm by the time I led Lim over to the outdoor arena. A beautiful pink sunset lit up the horizon to the west, silhouetting the trees and pasture fences. In the arena, Lim stopped and looked into the sunset, head high, eyes and nostrils wide. Only a Thoroughbred, I thought to myself. But I admired her, just the same.

I got on her as if I had never stopped gathering the reins, placing a foot in the stirrup, and swinging one leg over. That is one thing that never leaves you--the ease and grace of getting into the saddle. No matter how long I've been unable to ride--weeks, a year--it's always as easy as ever to swing aboard. After nearly 22 years, the body doesn't forget.

But once on, I felt weird. The saddle was so slippery, so high off Lim's back. I couldn't intimately feel her moving beneath me. Was it possible I had grown to feel more secure on that bareback pad? I had a momentary sense of panic. Today is the day I fall. But it soon passed. Lim strode along in a tremendous walk, her shoulders and hips swinging wide. She walked so fast and so big that we were going at the same pace of the lone other horse in the arena--a trotting Quarter Horse.

Dust met pink in the sky as I asked her to trot. First time since May.

Lots of firsts.

Uncertain with my request, she took a step then went back into a walk. I know she was reflecting me--was it really okay to trot her? The vet had said we could move on to longer walks and brief trotting on soft surfaces. But it had been so long. With just a thought, we used to kick into a canter, then a hand-gallop, the wind stinging my eyes. A trot was taken for granted, even considered boring at times.

Boring? I should know better.

Then suddenly, Lim was rolling along. Yes, rolling. Maybe it was her own exhilaration, but she was taking powerful, rolling strides at the trot. The trot I remembered felt flat in comparison. Her legs lifted up high and forward, bounding. Her neck arched but not because I was collecting her--because I was holding her steady to keep her from jumping forward into her Standardbred-like trot.

Easy now, we don't want to hurt your feet, I thought to her. "Easy girl, that's a good girl."

Now alone in twilight, we trotted around the arena. Once, twice. An exhilarated mare, all Thoroughbred, all spirit, and her quietly blown-away passenger.

No, she was not spooky. She looked around now and then as always, but neither caution nor fear entered her body.

Then back to the walk. The sun was completely gone. It was dark and cool as I slid off Lim's back and put the stirrups up.

"What a ride," I said to her.

Kentucky Highlights

Rolling hills welcoming us into Kentucky.

Endless miles of neat black plank fencing.

Feeding Sky Classic a peppermint.

Touching the noses of babies out of Storm Cat mares.

Smarty Jones strolling across his pasture.

Dynaformer--standoffish and impressive.

Getting lost on the way to Seattle Slew's grave...leading to that priceless A.P. Indy - Azeri colt.

Seattle Slew's grave.

The Kentucky Horse Park in the morning.

Awad, Popcorn Deelites, Bull in the Heather, Danthebluegrassman, Creator, Sunshine Forever, Williamstown, and more, at Old Friends...

...and my favorite, feeding the lovely son of Damascus, Ogygian, carrots.

The new statue of Secretariat at the Horse Park.

Cigar.

John Henry's grave....washed in sadness as we walked towards it, losing my composure as I looked at it, so big and bare and dedicated, flowers and memorials. Run free, old friend!

The trail ride, atop an insecure bay quarter horse named Alcatraz. Don't be so afraid of everyone, Alcatraz! Stand up for yourself. Lowered his head every time I scratched him on the withers.

The Man o' War Memorial--as majestic and breathtaking as ever, even after nearly a dozen visits.

Dinner at Malone's.

Walking through Thoroughbred Park at night. Reading the nameplates on the halters of the life-size bronze mares--Terlingua and Anne Campbell. Standing before the bronze racehorses, imagining they are bearing down upon me.

Photos with Pulpit, Seeking the Gold, and Eddington.

The cemetery--all those great names!--Secretariat, Swale, Mr. Prospector, Sir Gallahad III, Blenheim II, Gallant Fox, Reviewer, Riva Ridge, and more. Two of Limerick's ancestors lay here.

Touching Giacomo on the shoulder--he is gorgeous. The equally beautiful Ghostzapper, and Congaree.

Churchill Downs OTB. Watching a son of Pulpit narrowly miss.

Churchill Downs Twin Spires. Stepping back into history with the races. We watched Iron Leige, Smarty Jones, Barbaro, Secretariat, Winning Colors.

Photos coming soon!

Western

What does one do if they are stuck riding their Thoroughbred at a walk, and all poles have been gone over, and all cones have been weaved through?

One teaches their Thoroughbred Western cues!

Not that I am a master of Western riding, but the cues are basically the same. The only difference is the Western folks usually empathize a loose rein. I've been teaching Lim to neck rein and stop and back up simply by using my seat. After two sessions, she has caught on pretty quick (no surprise there--she's a brainy little horse). She can also pivot on her forelegs through neck reining.

I've been doing this using my bareback pad and dressage bridle (go ahead and laugh now!)

I am still dying to get on the trails. I'm still anxious to collect Lim, to dance with her. I eyed my dressage saddle, snug and tight beneath it's fleece cover, on Monday but decided against using it. For a 10-minute walk, it's a bit of a pain to lug that saddle onto Lim's back. Besides, I have found that using the bareback pad so much has given me a straighter, more secure seat on Lim. You really can't let your guard down, seat-wise, if you're using a bareback pad to ride a Thoroughbred that is feeling better every day and hasn't been ridden or lunged properly in almost two months!

And yes, she's feeling good. She doesn't doze off at the crossties so much anymore. She is gaining weight steadily; even my husband noticed it yesterday. I'm very pleased with her appearance. She was on the last of the psyllium last night. I think I will repeat the psyllium in a month or so then leave it at that--I still believe she picked up that sand at her old barn. There is really no way she could have gotten it at the current place.

Yesterday I noticed a couple new, enormous cobwebs along the back of Lim's stall. With gritted teeth, I batted them down with a broom. I thought about an enormous spider running down the handle of the broom and the heebie-jeebies prickled my scalp.

But I just had to--I paused, broom in air, and looked back at Lim, who was on the crossties next to the stall. She was looking at me with that white-ringed right eye of hers, black forelock and lashes framing the eye, ears pricked forward. I forgot about the spiders and smiled.

Happy Monday!

Just a few more days until we leave for Kentucky! Every year, my husband and I go on a trip for our anniversary. We met on July 25th and, three years later, got married on July 26th. We met while on a trip so it's only fitting!

This year we are driving to Lexington and Louisville. We're leaving bright and early Friday morning. Later that afternoon, we'll have a private tour at Three Chimneys Farm, where Smarty Jones stands. I'm very excited about this! We're also going to Pin Oak Stud that afternoon.

The Kentucky Horse Park and Old Friends Equine retirement center are planned for Saturday. Ogygian, the last great son of Damascus, lives at Old Friends. He's pretty much Limerick's uncle! I've heard he's a sweet old boy that you can feed mints and carrots to.

That night, we'll have our anniversary dinner in downtown Lexington.

Claiborne Farm and Adena Springs Farm are next on Sunday, then we will drive to Louisville and visit Churchill Downs on Monday morning before heading back home.

When I cleaned Limerick's stall yesterday, I put her in the outdoor arena so I could keep an eye on her. I caught her galloping about a couple times; I was very pleased to see this. She is slowly but surely gaining weight and is now at the "plumpest" she's been in almost a year. The psyllium, extra hay and grain, wearing her cribbing collar every night, and teeth floating seem to be doing the trick.

She looks lovely and is full of life, it truly makes me so happy to see this.

Ah, the weekends!

I almost forgot how gratifying weekends are. During my months of job-searching, I would spend hours a day searching for and applying to jobs from Monster.com, craigslist, Careerbuilder, etc etc and etc. That was my "job".

But still, I was on my own schedule, at home, and could take a break and go to the barn whenever I wanted. I rarely did much job searching on weekends because I wanted to spend more time with my husband then. But other than my husband being home, weekends were really no different for me.

Now, after my return to full-time work, I'm relishing the weekends again!

My first full week at work went by amazingly quick; I take that to be a good sign. Days at my old job would often stretch on f-o-o-o-o-rever. I felt like a lab rat on an eternally-moving wheel, always afraid to stop. I even felt guilty taking restroom breaks! They expected you to work, work, work your butt off, even when there was no work to be done. On such rare days, I would have a momentary sense of panic. And throughout it all, I would keep an eye on my computer clock, watching the seconds tick by towards the end of the day.

I was with that company for three years.

And now, my new boss is telling me to slow down and pace myself. What! Slow down?! Whenever I get some new files in my inbox, I speed through everything as fast as I can without making errors before hurrying the files back over to the lab. Several times this week I found myself without any work to do because I had done it all so quickly. I had to restrain myself from asking my boss for the zillionth time, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"You're done already?" she would say.

At the end of the day yesterday, I got some new files about an hour before closing time. I dove right in, fully intending to finish everything before the end of the day. But before long, the administrative department had to clear out all the chairs, trashcans, and other floor-bound items for the carpet cleaning guys that are supposed to arrive today. While I can work without a desk chair, it would be a little awkward.

"What do I do with the work?" I asked my boss, worried.

She just laughed. "Hey, at least you'll have something to do on Monday morning!" she said. "Don't worry about it. You need to pace yourself; you don't need to rush through everything."

I don't?

The stress of my former job is trying to make a comeback but the laid-back, happy atmosphere of my new job is not allowing it. It's going to take some time to get used to...but it's a good thing to have to get used to!

Limerick is doing okay. My vet visited on Thursday morning (another nice thing about the new job--they allowed me to come in later that morning to accomodate the vet. "No problem!" they said...and they even asked me, with geunine care, how Lim was doing when I arrived to work! Shocker...no supervisors would have cared at the old place!) to float Lim's teeth and do another lameness exam.

My vet now believes Lim just has pedal osteitis, or inflammation of the coffin bone. While not pleasant, I would definitely take it over laminitis. My vet concurs that Lim's hind end looks better, almost normal, and her front end, while still sore, is also better. She is coming back on the morning of the 31st to further evaluate Lim's feet. She wants to give those Sole Guard pads that my farrier put on another couple weeks to work, and from there we will either inject her coffin bones (although how exactly that would work, I'm not sure!) or work with my farrier to put specialized pads on Lim's feet--or both.

Lim had some major hooks on her teeth, including a huge one on the back of her upper molars that is not visible, just felt. My vet believes that when Lim had her teeth power floated in October, the old vet completely missed these hooks because she was not feeling for them.

My vet spent some time with her arm in Lim's mouth, palpating all her teeth. Then she hand-floated Lim's teeth. She got all of the hooks except the large one in the back--she said that one is so big that she could only file off half of it at one time; taking off the whole thing at once may make Lim's jaw sore. She will come back in about 3-4 months to remove the rest of it. She also said that now that Lim is 17-years-old and her teeth are no longer growing, I should only have her teeth hand-floated. She believes power floating takes too much unneccessary tooth off and prefers the finesse that a hand-floating provides.

In the meantime, I'm to stick to the bareback walks I've been doing. I am just dying to get back on the trails again but I know that my patience will pay off.

I'm thinking of getting a McClellan saddle sometime this fall specifically for trail rides. They are open along the spine of the horse's back, lightweight and comfortable for the horse, and pretty cool looking to boot! They were used as war saddles in the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. I have found a few complete ones in decent shape on eBay for about $200-300 so they are affordable.