daktari, or, we change/we stay the same

Something this morning sent my memory skipping back to childhood when one of my favorite TV shows, Daktari, prompted several years of major play. I and several neighborhood friends played "daktari" for hours on end. My back yard was Africa, and we had assorted neighborhood dogs and cats, as well as a collection of stuffed animals, who were treated for various ailments, protected from poachers, and generally adored.

There were numerous cardboard boxes that contained all the Daktari "stuff." I remember things like pecans in the shell being used as big "pills" and there were empty syringes and various makeshift surgical instruments, along with many things I can't remember. But I remember each time we played, the boxes were pulled out of the outside closet in our carport, and we would proceed to set up the main play area. We took pretend jeeps all over the neighborhood, on safari in search of animals needing help.

For most of the years of my childhood I wanted to be a veterinarian. I applied to and was accepted into a pre-vet degree program in my junior year of high school. I had volunteered at our personal veterinarian's office during two summers, loved animals, and felt I knew exactly where I was headed career-wise. With much consultation with my father, I designed a home/office scenario where my living room and office waiting room were on either side of a huge built-in saltwater aquarium wall. In my mind I wanted the place where I worked to be right where I lived, because even back then, with no models to influence me, I realized I would never want to leave animals in cages in an office while I went home for the nights and weekends.

In my freshman year though, I became discouraged with the coursework, which was mostly conducted in huge classes and had no direct relation to animal care. I realized I loved my English classes and stood out in those, while in the science classes I was one of several hundred and the material was dry and generic. So I changed majors.

Sometimes I wonder if our educational system had been different, and veterinary school was more of a "trade" school, would I have gone on to become a "daktari?"

It occurred to me today that in many ways where and how I live now, as an adult, is the fulfillment of that childhood dream and play. Yesterday was spent mostly outdoors, with horses and donkeys, monitoring Salina's progress, interacting with the equines, and then dealing with a yucky cat ear and later two territorial male felines drawing boundaries. It wasn't Clarence the cross-eyed lion or Judy the chimp, but Keats-meow and Dickens, Salina and the donkeys, Kyra the Corgi and all the rest of the gang.

Throughout the days I'm handling various syringes, medicinal herbal mixtures, checking for wounds and injuries, and administering a feed routine that rivals a chemistry lab. While there are no surgical instruments, there are muck rakes, pitchforks, harrows, and grooming tools galore. The hoof pick is reminiscent of some of those early toys we used in our pretend play.

It's funny how much we grow and change from child- to adulthood, and yet if you look beneath the surface just a bit, some things are very much the same.

For a very long time, my career goal was to be the official veterinarian for the U.S. Olympic Equestrian team. The very idea that I would be doing that now, treating injuries resulting from using horses in sport, for medals, makes me laugh. It never occurred to me as a young girl that a job like that would entail monitoring horses for abuse. But it probably explains my fascination today with equine advocacy, and with issues like equine deaths on eventing courses and rollkur in warm-up arenas.

the first of a few warm days!

Although it was really cold this morning, the day warmed up to about 46 degrees, which felt downright tropical after the last few weeks. My morning relief was complete after breakfast tubs when Salina walked out to the gate that leads to the front field. She has not asked to go out with the entire herd in awhile, and although she will always willingly walk out if you lead her, it was nice to see her at the gate.

Of course as soon as I rushed to open it, Keil Bay came up and wanted to visit, so we spent a minute clarifying that no, he wasn't going into the barnyard. He headed back to his hay pile and Salina and the donkeys walked through.

For about an hour after breakfast the entire herd stood out front soaking up sunshine.

After some time spent enjoying the horses and donkeys, I discovered that Keats, our one solid black cat, had a very yucky ear thing going on. Daughter and I swabbed it out and dislodged some of the gunk, and when I checked on her later in the day it was cleaner than it had been. Tonight husband took a turn. She is not rubbing or scratching it, is eating normally and seems comfortable and not in pain - and while it is fairly gross, I already have a vet consult on Friday morning, so unless something worsens tomorrow I'll put that on my list to address then.

When I went out to the barn again I found Salina and the donkeys in the back field. She hasn't been back there in over a month, and she was checking things out. The donkeys were quite happy to escort her. The geldings had traveled to the far corner of the front field where they were nosing a patch of red clay.

This time of year I often leave everything open so they can range around and eat hay and munch on whatever they can find growing. Unfortunately there isn't much growing - so they chew tree bark and dig for minerals - it's usually late January/early February when they seem to start craving grass. Last year I gave them a month of Barlean's Greens in their feed tubs, which I think helped alleviate the intense desire for spring.

Late this afternoon daughter hopped on Cody in the back field and walked him around a little bareback and with no bridle/halter. He was pretty good for a few minutes but then seemed to be heading off into the sunset with her - until we realized he was going to the back gate to the arena, where he patiently waited until I went and opened it. I had to laugh - I guess this means he is ready to go back to work!

I barely got inside this evening before I had to break up a cat encounter between Dickens E. Wickens and our neighbor cat. When I finally got the neighbor cat to go home and Dickens to come inside, they had been through two skirmishes, two containers of cold water tossed at them, and a big flashlight beamed into their eyes. And Dickens was holding up one paw. The list for Friday seemed to be growing, but then I realized he was just holding up one paw and then the other, almost in a slow motion kneading gesture. He ate dinner and seems fine.

It's too early for spring to be in the air, but it almost felt that way today! Tomorrow should be even better, with temps in the 50s. If I don't post about a ride on Keil Bay, someone please fuss at me!

rasslin' redheads

Thanks to my diligent (and red-headed) photographer daughter, there is photo-evidence of the wildness that ensued this afternoon on November Hill. It all began when Cody was stalked by the "red devil" - otherwise known as Redford:



Okay, you little squirt!



Facing off for round 1:



Hey!



You can't catch me!



Wanna bet?



First I'll do my Rod Stewart imitation:



Then I'll try out my teeth:



Mirror images:



Now let's go the other way:



Get along, there!



Now, just one minute, you little donkey!



I happen to be BIGGER THAN YOU!



And I can pin you down!



Ummm, wait a minute...



Let me up, Redford...



Really, I mean it, cut that out!



Whew! A break to lick and chew:



But we're not done yet!



I've still got one trick up my sleeve. You'll bow down to me yet, you big red horse!



Na na na NAH na. Can't get me NOW!

on duty: a painted pony

This morning while I was sitting here reading email and blogs over coffee, I noticed out my window that the painted pony was standing at high alert, looking across the front field and on across the lane toward the neighboring property.

Trusting his judgment, I went right out the front door to see what was going on.

One neighbor's dogs were barking at something I couldn't see, so I stood and listened for a few minutes and, not hearing anything, came back in.

The painted pony moved forward about 20 feet in the pasture, still watching. He smartly placed his quite splashy body next to a big oak tree, so that he was at least somewhat hidden from the lane.

I went back to the front porch. Although the barking dogs were directly across from me, the pony was looking far to the right, so I focused my attention there as well. In the distance I could hear a woman's voice, presumably calling the dogs.

My chief security officer stood tall and alert, pointing my lesser human ears to where the action was. I realized he was no longer looking toward the voice, but had shifted to a spot about midway between the direction the voice was coming from and the two barking dogs that I could see.

After a few moments, I spotted two small dogs, exactly where the pony was looking, but mostly obscured by brush.

We watched together for a few minutes. When the dogs ran off down the lane, hopefully back home, I came inside. He has now determined any danger is gone, and has turned back up the hill to a small pile of hay.

I believe he's going for my Employee of the Week award for the second week in a row. And he will likely get it, as there are literally NO other equines anywhere in the front field checking this out.

letting the cold go, welcoming three ravens

According to the weather forecast, this morning's wake-up temp of 14 degrees is the end of our long cold spell. Later this afternoon we're supposed to hit the 40s (one source says 41, another 49!), and tonight will see us in the 20s. Nights in the 20s are still a bit cool for us, but after many nights in the teens, this upward shift is welcome. The ground doesn't get *quite* so rock hard in the 20s, and the ice on troughs not quite so thick.

I'm eager to get horse blankets off and open the barn up so the sunshine can get in and do its job.

It's hard to believe we're already nearing the mid-point of January. We still have the holiday decorations up, but it's starting to feel like it's *almost* time to take them down. I like the Christmas tree and the twinkling lights though - they make it seem warmer and not so bleak.

This morning there were three ravens in our interior back yard, which represents a kind of victory. For those who have read here since the beginning, you'll know of my long-time association with crows and ravens, and how a group of 3 began to appear everywhere I went for several years. When we moved here, the number increased, and I spent many months trying to get photographs of the beautiful black birds. They were shy, though, and for a long time flew away the moment I even lifted my camera through the window of my house. At some point last year they began to allow photographs, even some close shots, and then we called a truce and I stopped trying.

Since then, they have flocked on a near-daily basis to the arena, in the barnyards, outside my bedroom windows, and they often caw at me from trees when I'm outside. A few weeks ago I walked out to find an entire row of them sitting on the arena fence watching the donkeys play. I love these birds.

Today, the three in the closest space to our house means they have come almost all the way in to our circle. That the number was three just makes it that much more special.