a shocking turn of events (with a really wonderful outcome)

It became quite apparent this morning that Salina has gone into a full-blown cycle of heat. :0

She went out to the field with the geldings after breakfast and by 2 p.m. had not come back up to the barn. She stuck to Keil Bay like glue and then decided (poor Keil Bay!) that maybe the younger man was the one to pursue. She followed Cody all over the back field all day long. He was quite flabbergasted that the black monster mare suddenly wanted to be with HIM, the lowly bottom of the herd order gelding.

At one point she was sniffing his hindquarters and he turned slowly around at the neck with the funniest expression on his face. What's going ON back there?

It would be hilarious if not for one lonely little donkey stuck inside the barn.

Rafer Johnson and I spent the morning and much of the afternoon listening to NPR while I did chores. He was clearly missing Salina and didn't understand why she wasn't coming when he called. I opened up his lick ball, gave him lots of neck scratches, and we got caught up in "Car Talk."

Rafer's little fetlock, having been unused for 6 weeks, was a bit puffy yesterday. The vet came by to check up on him, and said he felt it would resolve pretty quickly on its own. But Rafer is stall-bound until it improves. I have given him a homeopathic remedy and it is less puffy today, but given the whimsy of the mare, I decided it might be time to make a change.

So I emailed our donkey experts and we have all agreed that it's time for Redford to come cheer up the troops!

Ken and Marty have generously offered to bring Redford tomorrow morning so that Rafer Johnson doesn't have to spend another day wondering what in the world his best friend Salina is up to. He will have Redford right next door to keep him company!

And when he can resume his twice daily turn-outs, he can do so with Redford, at least until Salina passes through this phase. My worries about the suddenly agile and unpredictable mare bumping into a casted donkey are over.

We are so excited - I have been thinking of Redford for the past few days, and now he will be here tomorrow! I think it's just what the doctor ordered for phase two of Rafer's convalescence.

Thank you, Ken and Marty. You are the very best.

old cast new cast

My wonderful husband got up early this morning and managed the entire re-casting process before he went to work, so that when I went out to feed breakfast, there was little Rafer, slightly subdued still from his anesthesia, but newly casted and standing once again with all FOUR hooves on the ground.

Salina is in fine spirits this morning, insisting on being in the paddock where she can interact with the geldings in the back field AND Rafer in his stall. She seems to know that this healing process is approaching the halfway point - and thus she can hang out halfway between the members of her herd. There is no pacing or sense of urgency - she simply seems like she's ready to move back toward the herd life. We are all eager for this to happen, with Rafer Johnson, and with Redford!

Rafer will be completely stall-bound for several days, until he gets used to using his fetlock and hoof again, and builds those muscles back.

His pressure sore is not bad at all, but it's tender, and a good thing it is now completely untouched by the cast so it can heal.

What a little trooper! Today I'm so much closer to seeing things back to normal here on November Hill. And looking SO forward to seeing two donkeys running together with Salina not too far behind!

harvest moon afternoon

We had a warm day today and decided to give equine baths. Salina went first, and then Keil Bay snuck into the small barnyard in front of the pony, so we did both of them together. Cody will get his tomorrow or Thursday, and Rafer Johnson did his own bath rolling in the grass paddock. No water for donkeys!

After baths, Keil Bay and Apache went into the front field and had themselves a 20-minute play session. They galloped up the hill, they reared and bucked, they did collected trot in 5-meter circles, they did passage. They were both floating. It was so nice to see, particularly with the pony, who I believe was feeling quite good to be doing all that work from the hindquarters.

I did some cleaning in the tack room, and when I came out, this is what I saw.



A very distinguished Dickens E. Wickens surveying his property. And two of his cohorts enjoying the round bale.




Our very most favorite hay is once again available, but only in round bales until next spring. We've been feeding from the bale with a pitchfork and hay barrow but since the bale is in the barnyard it makes a nice buffet for the equine crew.

We're getting ready to re-fence the grass paddock and move Salina and Rafer back to the near side of the barn so the geldings can have their stalls, but until then there is a fair amount of free access to the buffet. As you can see, it's quite the hot spot.

I meant to get a photo of the harvest moon as it rose up over the trees tonight. I was doing a client call outside, and watched the moon rise. Just at the pinnacle of the call, when the good insights happened, Keil Bay walked over and bowed to me. After that I forgot all about the moon.

But it does feel like a full harvest day.

update on the little man

The pony's acupuncture treatments are now down to every other week. During the last one, she went further into the "trouble" spots, and he fussed a little, but mostly he seems to understand that once she gets things set up, good stuff happens.

The vet and I were sitting at the picnic table, and I was holding the lead line loosely. Apache Moon was about 3 feet away, eyes closed, quite literally sleeping with an expression of bliss on his face. Suddenly he opened his eyes, took a few steps toward me, and put his eyes right up to mine. He kept inching closer and closer. After gazing at me for a few moments, he dropped his head gently into my lap and began to lick my hands. Then he went back to sleep, with his head in my lap.

It was the most wonderful "thank you" I think I've ever seen from a horse.

Meanwhile my daughter continues to wrap his hocks in soothing, moist/warm towels. The vet has asked us to tack the pony up, completely, wrap his hocks with the moist heat, and then randomly ride or simply untack. She wants to break the cycle where he tenses up when expecting the ride, so he can realize that things are getting better, and can experience some time under saddle with warm hocks.

He is still being ridden very lightly, but thoroughly warmed up before doing any trotting.

My daughter has developed a way of tying the towels around his hocks and he stands there like he's getting a very special treatment. His entire demeanor is different when he has the towels on.

Otherwise, he is slimming down (he has come to accept the grazing muzzle and doesn't seem to detest it) and his lush winter coat is coming in.

We will be giving him Bute the night before and morning of hoof trimming, as well as the towel treatment before and after, so he knows, again, that we are attending to the sore spot.

He completed his herbs and will be getting his re-check later this week.

I'm very pleased with how things are going. He's getting a softer eye, and I think that means we're on the right track.

collage

In my workshop this weekend we ended with some hands-on using clay and collage materials. It's been a long time since I have done a collage, but for years of my life it was a very soothing, freeing exercise.

I think it's the cutting and pasting, and clearly the visual aspect of it appeals to me as well.

It was the perfect way to end a journey in the sandplay of men in midlife, rendered with the backdrop of the story of Gilgamesh.