Whatever It Takes

The commitment to owning animals cannot be minimized. Anyone who considers getting a pet needs to be willing to go the long haul. Yesterday was a crazy day, mostly brought on by the ailments of my beloved Pepper and Siete. It started early with a visit from the farrier to help me with Siete’s feet.

He didn’t find any new abscesses in her back hooves and said that the old ones appear to be healing. She does have bruises on both her soles, which would make her sore. More important, she has a small abscess on her front left foot that he drained. That could have made her put her weight on her back legs enough to make the problem appear to be in the back, not the front. So, I’m booting and soaking, and thank heavens, a new shipment of Animalintex arrived yesterday because I had run out. I have to schedule an appointment to have the radiographs done next week. My farrier still leans towards the notion that it’s being caused by Lyme Disease, since it’s systemic and never completely leaves your body. The new vet is adamant that this is not the problem. I’d like to think it’s Lyme rather than anything else, but mostly I’m hoping that these expensive x-rays will give us an answer.

The other animal drama in our house is with Pepper’s left eye. Suddenly, the lower lid has drooped and her eye looks like it’s rolling back in the socket. She doesn’t seem to be in pain or bothered by it. Still, when there’s anything wrong with an animal’s eye, we go to the vet. Of course, getting the poor old dear in the car and into the vet’s office is a big ordeal. It’s amazing that Pepper is still alive, and I’ve gotten used to the intensive amount of time and effort that goes into caring for an old dog. Every time she wants to move, someone has to help her, and that’s usually me. She’s off and on incontinent, which requires lots of clean up.

Last night, I thought about my friends who don’t have animals and tried to imagine my life without my pets. I could just pick up and go when I wanted to without worrying, and there would be considerably more money in our bank account. Yet, our life would feel empty, and a lot of the joy would be missing. After I washed the dog bed for the second time in one day, I sat on it with Pepper, and she happily rested her head on my knee. I love both her and Siete so much that even though caring for them takes up a significant part of my day, I can’t imagine not doing it. If you love someone, two or four-legged, you don’t just dump them when times get tough and they require a lot of attention. For better or worse, you’re in it for the long haul.

By the way, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Dreary Day

We’re hunkered down here as it rains, with wind gusts up to 40 mph, and maybe even some snow flurries tonight. My daughter stayed home from school with a sore throat. The horses hid in the barn all day. The sound of the wind in the trees sound weirdly like waves crashing in the ocean.

Siete’s feet are sore again. It started on Sunday, with her back right foot and her front left foot. She’s wearing the boots and the poultices again. The farrier is coming on Thursday morning so we’ll see how things are then. The vet and I decided to do radiographs to look in her hooves to see what’s going on. Yesterday, she was mysteriously better. Today, she’s in her stall so it’s hard to tell how she’s doing since it’s too yucky outside to go for a walk. Luckily, she doesn’t seem to be in pain or mind being indoors. Who would on a day like today?

This depressing weather is a stark contrast to Monday’s sunshine. I had a fun lunch yesterday with some of my favorite bloggers. LJB from the Horsey Therapist was heading this way, and Arlene from Grey Horse Matters, along with her daughter, Jacquie, joined us. It always feels like I’m getting together with old friends whom I’ve known for years when I meet any of my blogging buddies face-to-face. I wish that all the rest of you could have been there. Maybe we need to have a global get-together via web cameras or something some day.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but today seems like the kind of day when I need a good quote to raise up my spirits. I can always count on Jack Kornfield to give me something to think about:

“Though it seems simple, letting go is an advanced practice. It is demanded in the greatest trials of our lives and in our final moments. It is here that the heart learns the secret: that to let go is also to embrace what is true.”

Thanks, Jack. I needed that.

Apples and More Apples

Today, I stayed home and played with apples. I brought back so many varieties of apples from my day of videotaping Thursday at the U Mass Cold Spring Orchard. It was really interesting to learn about the research and the techniques that they are using to try to grow better apples with less use of chemicals. One thing that really surprised me is how even organic apple growers usually use some chemicals because there are so many bugs and fungi that love apples as much as we do. I keep reminding my daughter to never eat an apple without washing it first.

So, I baked some pies and made an apple/carrot salad for the horses for a treat. I’ve been using this nutritional supplement called Platinum Performance. I sprinkle it over a little mix of low-carb grain, Triple Crown Lite, and a scoop of Fiberpsyll by Select. Add a dash of cinnamon because Siete doesn’t like the taste of the Platinum Performance and mix in a few apple chunks and carrot bits. It makes up for the fact that it’s so rainy and windy today.

Inside the house, I’ve got the fire blazing and the oven going. I used an apple pie recipe that was my father’s favorite. It was given to me by an old family friend, Ginny Carey, who used to live in Belchertown, Massachusetts. By amazing co-incidence, that’s where I went to shoot at Cold Spring Orchard. All the way home, I’ve been dreaming about making Ginny’s pie recipe. I’ve mixed in Rome, Granny Smith, a Golden Delicious and a couple of Honey Crisps.

I took a snooze in front of the fire while the pies baked. I’ve got some French Vanilla ice cream and some caramel sauce that I made, which I’ll warm up and drizzle on top. Can you hear Lyle Lovett singing in the background? Feels like Heaven to me!

The Whirling Wind

Today, Siete was an angel. I especially appreciated it because the wind was wild. Neither horse seemed to even notice the ten foot tall swirling cyclones of leaves in the middle of the pasture. When a huge branch broke off a tree and fell about twenty feet from us as I led Siete into the barn, she didn’t even blink. She was totally calm and on perfect behavior. I’m hoping she got my message yesterday.

The wind really rattled me. I’ve been forgetting things and feeling really disorganized. I’m just jumpy. It reminded me of the Santa Ana’s from the California desert and the Mistral from North Africa when I was in the Greek Islands. Only this wind of ours caused the temperatures to drop big time.

I’m off again tomorrow to shoot more video at an apple orchard in Massachusetts. I pulled out my fuzzies and my warm hat and gloves. It’s going to be a long day. So, why don’t you join me right now by the fire.....

Nice and Naughty

This is a tale of my two horses --the nice one and the naughty one. Can you guess which is which? Some days, I wish that Siete wasn’t quite so smart. You might even say that I long for a dull, boring horse. I’ll get into that in a minute.

First, I want to tell you about this lovely little ritual that Silk has created with me. When I was in the barn, cleaning the stalls a few weeks ago, she came over to stand in the ditch in the pasture and stare at me. She clearly was asking me a question. I realized that she wanted to drink out of the big bucket that was on the other side of the fence inside the corral. Seeing that she couldn’t reach it, I brought her a small bucket with the hose in it that kept filling so she could really slurp up a lot of water. Both my horses enjoy drinking water out of a bucket while I hold it for them, and I know that if I approach them with it, they act like they’re getting a treat. So, there was something really warm and satisfying for both me and Silk as we stood on either side of the fence. I held and filled the bucket and she drank and drank and drank. Then, she nuzzled my hand that was holding the bucket with her wet nose to thank me. And I got some horsey kisses.

Every day since then, Silk does the same thing when she sees me in the barn. She waits until I clean Siete’s stall and then wanders over to her spot along the fence. It’s my cue to stop what I’m doing and bring the small bucket and the hose to her. There’s a full bucket of water about ten feet away from her in the pasture, but it’s just not the same. Some people will undoubtedly tease me about how I spoil her. I don’t see it that way at all. Silk knows that I take care of her, and she obviously appreciates it, When I’m riding her, she takes care of me. It makes us both really happy when I hold the bucket for her, like we’re having a secret meeting.

Now, her daughter is definitely feeling better. Going out to the pasture this morning, Siete pranced around impatiently and let out some little, excited squeals while I unlocked the gate. We had to wait and back up, which she did without exploding. As soon as I stepped out of the way and closed the gate, she began bucking and running in circles. Her mama ignored the whole performance when I led her out. Coming back into the barn yesterday with my husband, Siete tried to race into her stall and pitched a hissy fit because she was dying to get to her lunch. He wouldn’t let her, and she was not a happy camper. I had a feeling that I was in for more of that nonsense when I brought her in today.

Sure enough, Siete began carrying on as soon as I opened the pasture gate. Silk stood perfectly still, ground tied. The little horse danced and I stopped her and backed her until she was calm, over and over. Finally, we made it all the way into the stall, facing the back window, before she decided she couldn’t stand it one more moment and had to buck. I knew it was coming, so I was ready for it. What’s difficult is to let her know that it’s not okay, settle her down and then turn her around in this small enclosed space. She’s smart enough to have figured that out, so she times her misbehaving for the exact moment when claustrophobic me is up against the wall. I think we’ll have maybe one more attempt at this on Siete’s part before it sinks in that she’s not going to win. Call it the change of season, with the cold weather, or the willful challenge of a healthy young mare, I don’t look forward to these punky horse games. I keep reminding myself that when I first got Siete’s mother, Silk used to pull these stunts and look how good she is now. It only took us eleven years to work it all out.

Ghosting It Forward

Eeni-meenie-jelly-beanie- The Spirits are about to speak! I’ve been tagged for a game of “Ghost It Forward” by my voodoo sister, Callie, at MidWest Horse. I’m really touched by her choosing me, since I often wish that she lived down the road so I could drop by and hang out with her. Here are the rules of this fun new blog-tivity:

1) Have a Ghostly Image to pass along.
2) Tag three people on your blog, with links to their blogs. Tell about what great folks they are, or offer to send them a Ghostly Treat.
3) Include a link to Ghosting It Forward in your blog.

But first, here’s my ghostly picture and story:

As you know, my mother is 94 years old, and her eyesight and hearing are failing. Over the past year, she has been seeing animals and people on our property where no one else does. Increasingly, she has gotten more adamant and annoyed at me when I tell her that there’s no one there. One of my friends, who writes horror novels, thinks that because she is closer to the “other side” than all of us, the spirits of the dead reveal themselves to her. Now, ordinarily, this would freak me out. Weirdly, living in this particular place, it doesn’t. It’s actually kind of soothing to think that we are being “watched over”.

Mom keeps telling me that there’s an old man out in the back by the barn and on the hill. This hill has a grove of cedar trees with an altar or maybe a grave on it. While I’m out there doing my chores, my mother will often stand in the window or outside by the back door and sort of spy on me. It used to drive me crazy to have her lurking around all the time. Recently, she’s been insisting that the old man is there with me. I suggested that if she sees him, she should go talk to him. That’s made her think that I can see him too, and she gets even more upset when I tell her that I can’t.

I was talking to my next door neighbor about heirloom apples last week. She said that when she moved here 15 years ago, she was in her kitchen one day when this old man appeared with all these branches and started doing something to her apple trees. She went out and asked him what he was doing. Very matter-of-fact, he said that he was grafting the old trees onto the younger ones. She learned that he was Mr. Goldberg, the man who had owned this land and built her house, ours and the one next to us. For as long as he lived, he would come over and take care of the trees because to him, this was always his land and he was its steward. He died several years ago.

So, I’m thinking that maybe my mom really is seeing Mr. Goldberg. I asked her more details and she told me that one day, she saw a whole group of people standing on the hill looking at our house. Maybe he assembled all the other spirits of this neighborhood to stop by and meet us. Every morning when I go out to the barn, I say, “Good morning, Mr. Goldberg - how are you doing?”

Okay, so now to pass these ghostly vibes forward:

First to Linda at the 7msn, who makes me laugh and jumps in to help out with such talent and enthusiasm, and who must have some good New Mexico ghost tales (and tails) for all of us.

Next, to Billie at Camera Obscura, who lives a life of grace and kindness that I much admire. Billie is always there for me with insight and great advice. I know she’s in sync with this kind of thing and I look forward to seeing where she will take us.

Third, to Ewa in her garden in Poland, my friend who connects me with my mother’s roots. Ewa has already taken us on some great spiritual adventures, so I hope that she has fun with this one.

Callie already tagged Arlene at Grey Horse Matters, but if she hadn’t, I would have because I’m so lucky to have her as my friend nearby.

Okay, you go girls - Ghost It Forward!

Thanks Cactus Jack!

I’m so flattered that Cactus Jack Splash (and his mom, the DOR) gave me an award. Jack, who is one handsome horse, is running for President on a very equine appealing platform. I hope you check him out and see if you might want to change your vote - You are voting, aren’t you? Please register right away if you haven’t already.

So, I am going to pass this award on to some of the blogs that I have recently started to read. There are always great discoveries and new friends to be made out in the blogosphere. I can’t possibly include them all, but I want you all to know that I love your blogs too. It’s a wonderful way to travel around the world while sitting in front of the fire in my living room drinking my cup of coffee each morning.

I am sending this award out to:

Saddle Mountain Rider and all her Pony Cousins.

Juli Thorson for her rescue efforts with Keller, the blind horse, and her magazine, Horse & Rider AND Mikey, the horseshoeing housewife, for leaping in to drive Keller to her new home and on a daily basis, saving all those other horses and dogs .

Spartacus Jones who is romancing a cute filly named Brandy.

Lori Skoog who gets up just as early as I do but has a lot more work to do on her farm, not to mention her efforts at the Senior Center and with her art projects.

Cheryl at Desert Horses for rescuing so many great animals from the feedlots.

Please click on the award to pick it up. And I think you know what to do after that. I hope everyone who isn’t familiar with these blogs will pay them a visit. And Silk and Siete want me to give you a message: Vote for Cactus Jack!

PS. So, maybe you guys don't know what to do - Click on the picture of the award, save it to your computer, drop it in like any photo on your blog. mention me, choose some other blogs that you enjoy and recommend them to all of us to check out. That's how you do the Award Dance. Oh, and then I usually bop out to the barn and tell the horses that we got an award..