Free-A Bruno Story

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Exechorseluver

Today, day 119 since Bruno had hoof surgery, we headed back to Texas A&M Large Animal Vet Hospital for his six-week check-up. Surgery had been done in December to cure an infection in his coffin bone and surrounding hoof area.

It has been a long and difficult time for all of us, especially Lauren who was in charge of cleaning and bandaging the hoof. Bruno has staged numerous revolts to get out of his prison stall-no matter how nice we have tried to make it for him.

We had observed that Bruno’s hoof was growing quickly and well. I said in the beginning-I can grow hoof. I use a supplement that really produces hoof growth and nice coats. Here is a picture of Bruno’s hoof immediately after surgery-it has gauze in the ‘defect’. It is probably two inches or so high.

Today’s hoof with all the new growth (it has adhesive stuck on the hoof from months of bandaging).

We have grown a new, disease free hoof! The vet tech asked if we were hand walking Bruno. The reality of it is that I am hurt and Bruno is a little frightening to Lauren. No, we have not been hand-walking him. He has not been loose at all except by accident.

Dr. Marsh, who once said it would be November at least before we got back on this horse, decided that Lauren should be able to get back on board the big guy in six weeks!! We may have him in the show ring by fall. Oh, my goodness, I am just so grateful.

In the interest of Lauren living through her first rides on the giant horse (although we plan to bubble-wrap her for sure) Dr. Marsh decided it was time for Bruno to go out of his stall. I cried. He will be so much easier to handle if he has some time to be a horse running, playing and getting strong again. We will start out in the paddock in front of his stall so he doesn’t have too much room to run. Then work up to the grassy paddock behind the barn.

Immediately after his trailer ride home, while he was hand grazing with Lauren on spring grass, Lauren quietly unsnapped his leadrope. We had put the other horses in their stalls so Bruno wouldn’t want to join anyone in the pasture for a romp. And for the first time on purpose (he escaped from us a couple of times) Bruno was free to roll in the cool sand, kick up his feet and race around the small enclosure.

It was quickly obvious that the roof is too low for Big Bruno but he will adjust. He was bucking and his tail was hitting the roof. I know, I know- it would be safer to have him out without the roof overhead but we have to start in this small space. I think today will be the worst of his craziness, each time he gets to go out, he will be calmer and easier.

He would roll in the sand, jump up, dash around with some healthy bucks and stop pleased with himself. I was ever so pleased with him, too. I didn’t catch the first 49 times he rolled but got this little romp on video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq4TXdYdvjE&feature=youtu.be

And yes, I hope he stays safe running and bucking like a manic as well but I am happy he is free once more and thrilled we cut seven months offs the projections for getting him back whole.

Stay tuned, I am hopeful this story is not ending but just beginning a new, wonderful chapter.

Farm work

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Exechorseluver

My mother grew up with numerous brothers and sisters on a poor, dusty farm outside Tecumseh, Oklahoma. I have heard stories of her sharing a bed with her sisters, at least two, maybe three of them. I think we can rule out that it was the queen or king size bed that many of us, including myself, sleep in now. I always have trouble sleeping. What if I shared a bed with multiple people? Jordyn, the dog and I stretch my sleeping abilities but things were different then.

My mom worked hard on the farm-they all did. Once again, I cannot imagine ever preparing enough food for 11 brothers and sisters plus her folks without running to the store for something I forgot or needed but they got by mostly with what they could grow, can, raise, hunt or harvest. She told me, especially in the depression years, there was never enough food.

On my little place, we do not grow or raise our food. We go to Wal-Mart. We have, in essence, a hobby farm, with a few horse we train and sell for a little money. I have another full-time job (thank God!) and Lauren goes to college. But there is never, never, a shortage of work to be done. I am ten days post-op from shoulder surgery. I am sleeping very little. The days should be quiet but there is always so much to do.

The very green of the newly baled alfalfa hay next to our regular coastal hay.

Alfalfa is a specialty hay. It is higher protein (26% in this particular batch) than regular hay and more expensive. It is great for building muscle and providing roughage. Most alfalfa sold here is brought from northern states and through the winter we have paid as much as $20 a bale. There is some Texas insect that causes problems with alfalfa grown here.

There is a retired military vet, Texas A & M alumnus, that bought a farm here in Wharton and set out to grow alfalfa- without the insect problem. His place is a beautiful green valley. You feel the peace and quiet of his little piece of paradise as you round the corner to his farm. He is probably mid-60’s but a disciplined, hard worker. He has been trying since Wednesday to cut and bale this load of hay. It has rained, we have had high winds and humidity that is not kind to preserving hay. I can’t imagine how hard he has worked this week to get the alfalfa from field to bale. All I know is how much I have worried about going to get it.

Obviously, I wasn’t loading hay. And all our usual people who might be coerced into helping us were out-of-town, injured or unavailable. I cannot get good alfalfa from the feed store and here it was available in the field for just $10 a bale. If only Lauren and I could load it, haul and stack it at our barn. I lost count of the number of phone calls that I got from the hayman. First it would be Friday, then Saturday afternoon, then he called and asked if we could come Saturday night at 8:00 pm. Lauren and I go to bed then. But that fell apart as well as the hay was not dry enough to bale. Finally, we agreed on this morning early. My friend Gaylyn had offered to go with us, at least to get it loaded but she has had her own family, farm and life issues and was getting the amazing opportunity to sleep-in this morning so I thought we would not call on her.

We got to the hayfields, the emerald meadows of alfalfa to find just the hayman and his numerous Rat terriers. He was doing all the work on his own. Way too much work for any one person to do. Farming is a young man’s occupation. He saw me in my sling, deemed me to be the driver, set Lauren in the bed of the truck to receive and stack the heavy bales as he loaded them from the field.

In the dew and fog of the early morning, we trucked up and down the rows of hay. I thanked him over and over. He convinced us to take almost double the amount of hay we had intended to buy. I argued, ‘but you will have to load it!’. ‘Anything for a buck’, he countered.

We got loaded and headed for home. We dropped a bale of the perfect hay over Gaylyn’s fence and sent a text that it was a gift from the alfalfa fairy. We slowly, with me handling one side and Lauren the other, moved the bales (probably 75 pounds each) from the truck to barn.

There were other chores to do, flowers to plant (thanks, Dee for that idea), fans to install, and the usual stalls, buckets and troughs to clean. We broke off at noon to have lunch with Ally, Jordyn and Kendyll.

Farm work is never done, ever evolving and always ahead of you. I bet the hayman will rest for days once his bales are sold or stacked in his barn. My dogs are tired from a day in the sun, playing hard. The horses, Bruno and Mickey especially, are thrilled with the beautiful alfalfa finding its way to their tummies tonight.

A girl, a horse and a dog

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Exechorseluver

Lauren, Feather. Kona and the big Texas sky.

There were few things, actually not any, that I wished for and enjoyed more as a girl than my horse and my dog. It is nice to see some things survive generations and technological changes.

It was a beautiful day today (a why-you-live-in-Texas day) and Lauren got Feather out to work before going for a lesson tomorrow at Dev’s. I was hanging out with Kona, throwing his tennis ball with my good arm and snapping some pictures. Lula joined us and there were a couple of times she spotted the ball before Kona. She would hustle it back to me while Kona was running through the arena still searching for the ball. She may be old but she still has game.

But Kona got tired of my pathetic throws and decided that Lauren would be the answer to better ball playing. Off he charged to take Lauren his ball. He really didn’t understand why she could not grab it from him as he dropped it (a little difficult as she was up in the saddle!). I have to say for young Feather, she was completely undaunted by the ape-like dog running up and down the arena with her. We shot some video and Kona even cantered along for several strides before loosing interest in the horse.

Waiting for the throw!

Kona got several good romps retrieving Lauren’s long throws as she sat up high on her horse. In the end though, he just couldn’t understand why if he dropped it as he was supposed to do, Lauren couldn’t just throw it again.

The sand covered tennis ball dropped expertly at Feather’s feet.

Oh, a girl, a horse and a dog, life is good.

The Escape Plan-A Bruno Story

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Exechorseluver

Bruno one day you will be free to run again! I pray!

As you will recall, Bruno and Kid are at the area Vet office for a few days while the roof extension is completed at home. I should have felt at ease with this plan but unless you have baby-sat Bruno you are not necessarily up to his tricks. When we got to the vet yesterday, we reiterated “DO NOT LET BRUNO OUT OF HIS STALL FOR ANY REASON! UNLESS THE BUILDING IS ON FIRE, BRUNO STAYS IN HIS STALL!”

We discussed that they could clean his stall but to watch out-he could push down a wheelbarrow and be gone in a flash. Kid was supposed to get his teeth done and we warned them to keep him in view of Bruno so Bruno would not get agitated. So many things we said but in the end you hope that just for a few days, the horse will stand quietly in his stall. He might even enjoy the parade of cows, goats, donkeys and new calves that show up at the vet each day. And if not, Kid was there across the hall, steady and true.

We talked before about Bruno watching t.v. to pass the long stall bound days (I checked and today is day 114 of Bruno’s incarceration) I am pretty sure he must have caught a few episodes of Hogan’s Heroes-a sitcom based upon prisoners of war trying to escape in Nazi German (who thought that would be a comedy?). But it was as each week, the prisoners would come up with one crazy escape plan after another. Well, Bruno must have caught the tunnel out of your cell episode.

I had made it until 5:00 pm. The guys had just left-finishing the barn roof right on time. Lauren had babysat for Ally as she had Lasik surgery today. I was alone. I got out to the barn to admire the work done and get Feather and Mickey in for dinner. I heard the phone ring as I filled water buckets but ignored it. Mistake! I got to the phone to see ‘missed-call-Wharton Vet Hospital’. My heart started pounding. I immediately called back but it was after five and went to the service. Then I stopped to listen to the message. It was the tech and he only told me to call the back line. If you work at a day care, a vet or an assisted living place, and you are leaving a message, start it with-“Your dog, mother, child, etc. is fine but we need to talk about X”, don’t just say call back on the other line.

Really nervous now, I get through to the clinic. I am placed on hold. Of course, I am. Then I am finally connected to the tech (in my brain I figured if it was really bad, the vet himself would have called but still). The tech tells me that Bruno is okay. Okay covers a lot of ground when an animal is at a vet hospital-like okay, now? or okay, in spite of his injuries or just plain, no harm, no foul, okay? Who knew? This is the story I got as my heart pounded and I silently prayed:

“At lunchtime, Bruno started digging. He dug through the stall dirt floor, through several inches of sand and finally into gravel. (At this point I thought I heard that he hit water and continued to paw.) When we came back from lunch he was eye level with the stall door, whereas, when we left he was three feet or so, taller than the door.”

I was panicking about his foot being submerged in water for longer than an hour as he continued to plunge it over and over into his escape hole. His injured hoof cannot get wet-and has not for 114 days! But then the tech assured me there was no water (I guess I just imagined that part)-just a three to four-foot hole that they were sure (right!) Bruno had dug only with his good hoof not with his bad hoof. Wow! But honestly, it could have happened at night and no one would have been there to see him. If Bruno had gone to Dev’s, he would not have been monitored 24/7! So, I took a deep breath and asked how bad he was. “Well, the doctor checked him and our farrier was here and Bruno did not appear lame at all!”. “We thought about giving him something to calm him down but by then he was all worn out and calm as a kid’s horse.” Of course, he was!

I asked what they thought got him going. Well, I was told he had gotten a little excited over the cattle (race horses do not see too many cows up close). But they thought it was the load of Belgiums that came in that really got him going. I was too tired and weak with relief to ask if he meant Belgium horses (are there Belgium horses in Wharton?) or Belgium cattle or goats, which I am not even sure exist. Perhaps, a bus load of Belgium tourists arrived. I had no idea and I did not ask.

I am glad the big guy got through another adventure safely (or safely I hope). I am a little (being honest here) happy that he acted up a bit. Unless you have been down this stall rest road, you have no comprehension what a horse can dream up to keep occupied day after day, month after month. I am sure you all think it is simple to keep a horse in a stall. But it is forever challenging-even for the pros.

Bruno impressed his keepers. I was told I got a free vet and lameness exam-really? Good they did not try to bill me for that. I was also told they had unbelievable pictures but in my relief stupor, I did not ask for those to be emailed to me. We will all just have to visualize the big, black horse, sinking, lower and lower below the stall door.

Oh, and I was also told, after bringing in several loads of dirt, sand and shavings, Kid was now in Bruno’s old stall and Bruno in Kid’s. Just so I would know when I came to pick them up in the morning, because you know, I had told them not to take him out of his stall.

Oh brother!

A Cool Front

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Exechorseluver

Momma after she had her hair done today. She wanted to send a picture to Jim.

The day started fast and furious. It was a balmy, overcast day, warm with a chance of showers as we started the day. The men were coming to do the roof extension which meant Kid and Bruno needed to be out and gone by 8:00 am. To get us moving faster, the first truck arrived at 7:15. We were hustling. I have had the luxury of sleeping in (which is good because I have not slept much at night) the last week or so. But it was up and at it today. Even simple things like getting dressed are harder with an arm in sling-but I was hurrying as fast as I could. It was also my day to get my stitches out.

I gave Bruno a little shot to ease his excitement over being out of his stall for one of the few times in four months. I wasn’t sure how I, ‘the one arm wonder’, was going to handle unloading the horses at the vet. To compound our morning excitement, Lauren’s favorite cat, Orange had been limping around on three legs so we thought we better take him along as well.

I was in charge of getting Kid to the trailer. The plan was for Bruno to follow him but that lasted about two seconds and Bruno and Lauren blasted past us. I tied Kid to the trailer so I was ‘hand free’ to close the slant in the trailer. Bruno went in easily but was pawing away as we loaded Kid. Off we went.

I called ahead to ask for help and quickly Kid and Bruno were in their new stalls looking for alfalfa. We left Orange so they could check out his leg. We went home to change so Lauren could go to school while I would stay with Momma until my doctor’s appointment.

Momma was getting her hair done when I arrived. I knew the days I had not been there were lost days. It was harder for her to recognize either Lauren and I. I gave her an update on Jim-that he was back in Denver and staying with his daughter, Janie. She told me he had been over to visit just the other day and had told her he was very happy (of course, she had not seen him). But honestly, I am glad they still see each-however, she thinks it happens. I told her she looked real nice in her pretty sweater and with her hair just done-but both Lauren and I thought she was looking thinner than usual.

From mom’s, I was off to get my stitches out. I got a talking to about not lifting “anything” with my arm. And not even taking off my sling at night (try sleeping in a sling-not conducive to a good night’s sleep!). I got some exercises to start, my stitches out and view from the MRI showed all healing well. We discussed me getting back to work, making the drive in the sling (he told me Sugar Land police would give me a ticket for driving in the sling) and typing (keep tapping it out with one finger, Cindy).

The vet called, Orange had a 105 degree temperature and was coming home with antibiotics. We picked him up on the trip back home.

Getting the roof supports up.

When we got home, the main roof supports of the new section were up. Then the monsoon hit. The same storm that rocked Bartlesville, Tulsa and Denver, was headed for Houston. We saw the men scramble for their trucks and rushed out to get Mickey and Feather out of the blasting rain. Lauren, in shorts and I, in capris, stopped short as we opened the front door. Freezing-we could see our breath.

The plan had been for Ally to come down and help Lauren re-align the mats in the stalls while the horses were gone. Instead, it was her and I. Me, using all the skills I had, wrangling the heavy mats with my feet. Lauren would pick them up and I would stand on them while she dug out underneath. Finally, a good use for me!

The storm moved on quickly. We got the stalls re-matted. I came in and took my first real shower in over a week. I was cold and it was great!

Ally did make the trip down and helped Lauren move over 800 pounds of shavings into the stalls while I watched the girls play. I am completely and totally exhausted from my long day. Hope I sleep better tonight.

Oh, and the welders and workers came back. They are still working.

One year

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Exechorseluver

A year ago I had lunch with my friend, Sandra. While we both live the corporate life, she’s quite an artist, photographer and writer. And I, from my days of journalism school, have enjoyed writing as well. We discussed me wanting to start a blog. Sandra warned me it was a big commitment, she told me that I would need to write at least five blogs a week to have regular followers.
I decided to give it a shot. That was a year ago! We have been down a lot of roads since then.

I never imagined I would have a horse named Bruno or so many people cheering him on. It has been a good year. I thank you for wanting to know what is going on at Six Meadow Farm.

Today, as usual, after months of waiting, the guys showed up, unannounced and unanticipated, to finally put the extension on my barn roof. The extension will help to keep the barn in the shade as the temperatures start their steady climb toward summer. I have known Bruno could not stay in his stall while the work was underway. The metal must be welded to the existing roof and the new roof configured. I had worked with Dev to move Bruno there when the construction started. But I didn’t expect it today. It is a long haul to Dev’s and I have only been in the car once since surgery. It did not sound like an enjoyable trip with my shoulder still so painful.

Lauren was at school. The men were already digging holes. I called my local vet who had large treatment stalls for their hospitalized patients. Just like that, problem solved! Bruno could hang out at Wharton Vet for a few days. Wow-that was easy. Feather and Mick could be in the pasture during work hours and in their stalls at night.

I called the office manager back at the vet. “Could my old, gelding Kid come, too?” That way I wouldn’t have to worry about him in the pasture dealing with Feather and Mickey. Bruno would stay quiet and content. “In the same stall?”, she asked. Lord,no! Just side by side keeping each other company.

Issue Over-Lauren and I will move the two best-friends to the vet. I will finally get my roof done. Kid and Bruno will have a little vacation. We will even be able (or should I say Lauren will be able) to re-set the stall mats and straighten out/clean Bruno’s stall. One hundred days constant use on a stall is tough.

I am struggling with my sore shoulder, tapping out letters one by one. Somehow, this surgery has hit me harder than the last. But a new year of blog adventures is ahead of us. I will continue to report in! Thanks for riding along.

Back to the world

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Exechorseluver

Easter Egg aftermath.

I feel like I have been lost to the world for the last several days. We had a great Easter on Sunday with my mom, Ally, her kids, Lauren and I. Mom seemed more aware and enjoyed the day. Jordyn was playing music and dancing. Mom was tapping her foot and clapping along. It was very cute. And it made me happy that she was so engaged with all of us.

Amber, Lexi and Riley got in early on Monday. The Easter Bunny had hidden lots of eggs in the yard and they all had a ball running, playing and shrieking over the finding of the eggs. We enjoyed the afternoon and it was soon time for Lauren, Kona and I to head off to obedience class. Amber and family spent the night with Ally.

Tuesday we were at the hospital by 5:45. Amber was with me as I was prepped for surgery. The surgeon found the tear in the rotator cuff and several bone spurs that were removed. I went home with a nerve block and pain pump. Tuesday was a lost day for me. I awakened around midnight and the nerve block was gone. Apparently I had pulled the line or loosened the connection. The fluid was leaking out of the line in my neck and down my shirt.

Wednesday, Amber was attempting to put the line back together when the anesthesiologist called. Amber was able to reconnect the line with the help from the hospital. It was great. Much better with the pump running.

Honestly, I don’t have a lot of details of the last few days. Just know my family was close, the kids were playing, and I was being taken care of well.

Lauren got out to ride last night after a couple of days of rain. I didn’t watch but she snapped a great shot of the sun dropping in the evening sky.

I got out for the first time today. I went to see my mom. Took the obligatory trip to Wal-Mart and I am ready to settle in again for a while. Thank you to all of you that sent messages of support and prayers! I have a wonderful group of family and followers. I am grateful.

Exechorseluver

The life and times of modern day horse woman

Monthly Archives: April 2013