some random notes to begin the week

I feel like I hit this week with far too many loose ends, things to do, and things to play catch up on, so my day and my thoughts have been scattered.


The pony is somewhat horrified by his new grazing muzzle. He is an opinionated pony and yet he is not really expressing his opinion wrt this thing we've strapped onto his head. I expected him to tear it off, rub it, fuss and complain. Instead he stands and looks pitiful. Dare I confess that we could not even leave it on all night so far? I actually brought all the geldings in to the paddock at midnight last night b/c I couldn't bear to leave the pony standing in the field w/o the ability to graze. So far we are managing to keep him off the field altogether during the day, limiting his grazing at night, and giving him a few hours of the grazing muzzle in the hope that he will figure it out.


Another random pony note: when we left him the night before last he was a dark brown mud color all over due to rolling in the paddock. When we went out yesterday morning he was perfectly clean (and he is a painted pony, white and brown, so it's somewhat amazing that the white was... white again). I maintain that there are pony fairies who travel from farm to farm, taking care of their smaller pony friends.


Rafer Johnson is doing well. I know he would like to be out running around but he's handling his confinement pretty well so far. He loves his time out to graze in the evenings and he also loves his licking ball.


Why is it that when Mom becomes overwhelmed and types out detailed chore lists, all the kids in the household disappear?


I awoke from a horse dream this morning - a natural horsemanship trainer had come to do a trial session with our herd. I looked out the window and he was out there with the entire group of 4 horses and donkey in the arena at one time, directing all of them simultaneously through a series of walk/trot/canter and airs above the ground moves. He had Keil Bay doing some sort of dance that involved Keil going down onto his knees and then coming back up again. He had built a wall of big rocks and the horses were climbing it for him, like giant mountain goats.

I went out and proceeded to interview him, as if I were only moderately impressed with these feats. He wanted to know the entire history of each horse and donkey, and I was impressed with that, and proceeded to tell him, while the horses continued to show off all the new tricks he'd already managed to teach them.

If dreams are wishful thinking, I suppose that's what I longed for just before waking - a day where everything went as directed, gracefully, breathtakingly in sync with my commands.

Let me assure you - that is NOT happening.

It's one of those days when I can identify that the chaos is inside ME, almost at the cellular level, and the world around me only SEEMS out of control. Tomorrow the chemistry will have shifted and I'll be back to the regular perspective.


There is an ongoing discussion on several different horse forums right now about feeding practices. A man from Scotland typed in what I feel is the most elegant, simple, natural feed routine I think I've ever read. The fact that it happens in Scotland certainly must be adding to my romantic idea of how perfect it is. And he has herds of cattle to graze fields before putting horses onto them, to break the parasite cycle and to bring the grass down for the horses so they can graze round the clock without getting too much.

Still, his use of barley and green leafy things such as shard, some vegetable oil, salt, molasses for those who need it, seems wonderful.

He tapes each horse every week, puts the data into Excel, and creates a spreadsheet so he can track weight gain/loss accurately over time, rather than eyeballing it and guessing. Guess what went onto my to do list this morning?


We have hoof trimming tomorrow, I have a 3-day spread of client sessions, a meeting I'd like to attend on Friday morning, and all the regular stuff on the agenda. Maybe the extra activity will counteract the chaos!

riders on the storm - not

I had a post all planned, called riders on the storm, and I was going to take photos of our bravery as we faced thrashing winds and torrential rains. However, thankfully, we got about 5 inches of rain but had no flooding, no branches or trees down, and by mid-day today the sun was shining.

The grass in both fields is growing faster than the horses can graze it, so the big event of the day was buying a grazing muzzle for the pony. August and September are hard months for him weight-wise, and with all this wonderful rain it's either lock him up or muzzle him. He was not very impressed with the muzzle, aptly titled the My Best Friend.

I think if you put a sketch of a fat pony snorting steam out his nostrils you'd be closer to the truth.

He went in the trees and tried to get it off once - although there might also have been a horse fly after him so we weren't sure of his intentions.

But after his ride tonight, and his dinner, back on it went and we'll see how this approach works.

Rafer Johnson is doing well. This morning he was flinging his feed tub around the stall, which is one of his favorite things to do when he finishes his breakfast. He had a little time outside his stall tonight to graze and enjoy the evening air. It's time to add in another item of intrigue, I think, so tomorrow I'll be surprising him with a new toy.

I hope Hanna was as kind to everyone as she was to us.

good omens and a good day

This is what I woke up to this morning. It's a whole new take on the glass half-empty, half-full idea. Ours is full and brimming over with Muffine Eloise energy, which I took as a fine portent of the day to come.

After horse and donkey breakfasts, I turned the geldings and Salina into the back field, with the intention of normalizing things well before the vet's truck pulled in. It worked. There was some neighing and braying but it settled down and by the time the vet arrived, everything was calm.

On my way down to dump the wheelbarrow, I discovered that the wild muscadines in the back field are ripe, and made a detour to sample some. Down in the labyrinth path a deer bounded forward and then stopped to watch me through the trees on the other side. I stopped for a moment just to breathe and enjoy the wildflowers, pink and lemon yellow, mustard and white.

Back up the path there was a lovely gnarled tree root beside a smooth rounded stone. I was tempted to bring it in, but decided it made a nice tableau right where it was.

Up at the barn, I checked in on Rafer Johnson, filled all the water tubs in preparation for Hanna, and fixed the tarp on the shavings pile. By that time I was soaked in sweat, so I went in, husband and daughter went out, and they got started with the vet while I took a shower.

He was just finishing up when I got out there. The cast looks beautiful, and can actually stay on for 6 weeks so long as there are no pressure sores. Rafer did beautifully, and after he woke up and got his legs back solid to the earth, walked into his stall.

He is a bit subdued, but I expect this to pass as he adjusts to the new feel of his leg.




I've been to the grocery store, there is Rescue Remedy in horse water buckets, and everyone is settled with some hay. We're ready to ride out the storm.

it's a wonderful day in the donkey-hood

And we badly needed one!

Rafer Johnson has been in great spirits all day long. He brayed for his morning hay at 8, he brayed for his feed and supplements at 10, he brayed when he heard the wheelbarrow coming up from the labyrinth path, he brayed for Salina's lunch at 3.

Around 5, I took out a late afternoon treat of melon and carrot chunks to tide everyone over until the big horseflies go away. Rafer ate a few melon chunks but decided he preferred the crunch of the carrots, so he got most of those.

Salina and Keil Bay ate a number of melon chunks before deciding that perhaps they were a bit weird.

Apache Moon and Cody said, hey, we'll eat anything! And they finished off the melon.

Rafer and Salina shared some hay at his front door. You can see Salina's blind side here, although to be honest, she is pretty savvy about knowing what's there even without the eye. Rafer Johnson loves nothing more than sharing a pile of hay with her, so I'm glad we figured it out so they can still do that while he's stalled.



He is in fine Rafer form - making faces at the camera. You can see his peg leg at the rear of the photo, wrapped with pipe-insulation foam to keep it from rubbing. The stall is very shadowy this time of day, but the wall to the right is where his licking ball, water tub, and salt lick are.

He got a get well card in the mail today and I'm going to put it on the back wall for him along with a few surprises. I figure we'll add one thing at a time to keep him guessing.

Sheaffer, Dougie Donk, Ginger, and Fred have all given me wonderful ideas for more donkey toys and items of interest to keep things hopping out there.

Tomorrow he gets his cast - so I hope once that's done we can settle in and let the healing continue.

weathering storms

We got the surgical consult recommendations today - the surgeon at the local vet school recommended surgery to fuse the bone, insert a plate, and cast the leg. Rafer would be at the vet school for 2-3 weeks, and would then be on stall confinement for 3 months. The cost would be upwards of 7k by the end of the hospital stay.

The alternative recommendation was to have our vet cast Rafer's leg here at our farm, under general anesthesia so he could be lying flat out for the casting. He would be re-cast every 4 weeks for 12 weeks or so, and would be on stall confinement for 6 months total to give the bone plenty of time to fuse completely. His turn-out would be limited for one full year, and we would not be asking him to bear any weight or learn driving, etc. until he is 5-6 years old.

We've decided to do the casting here and deal as best we can with the long confinement. The idea of sending Rafer to the hospital for up to 3 weeks, and opening up the leg/joint to possible infection when the end results will be basically the same is too much.

So... our vet told us to leave the leg wrapped as it is until Friday when he will be getting his casting done.

Rafer had a tough day today - he was subdued and seemed sad to me. I sat with him for a couple of hours and cleaned bridles, and he moped around the stall. Salina gave him a nuzzle at one point - he perked up for that. But it was when I came in from the barn that I got the vet's call and it was hard to hear the two options. Neither seems ideal. But we'll manage.

Tonight he was much brighter. Maybe on some level he knows there is a plan, and that he won't be going anywhere. As boring as the stall is hour after hour, it is close by his herd and we all pop in many times during the day and evening.

I also want to say that Rafer's breeders have been amazing throughout this process. Not only have they offered ideas and shared their many years of experience with donkey care, they have graciously agreed to let Redford stay with them (and his large donkey herd!) until things are settled here and Rafer is ready to welcome his new donkey pal. It has meant a lot to us not to have to worry about Redford - he is in good hands and he will come when the time is right.

On Friday we'll be getting Rafer's leg ready for the next 4 weeks of healing. Saturday we'll be weathering whatever Hurricane Hannah brings our way.


I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.

-Louisa May Alcott