About Time

It has been a while.......  I decided it was time to give an update on the boys that used to be known as "rescue" horses!  Lucky and Jon Boy will have been here 9 months as of August 12. Charlie has been here a year on that same day.  I doubt if you saw Lucky in the pasture you would think that he was the same horse.  For comparison, you might want to scroll down to the November posts just to remind you what a sad case he was.

I took pictures of both sides of Lucky, because if some of you saw him without the white marking, you might say, "No, way!"  But it is way, and you can see what a beautiful horse  he 
is.  Look at his beautiful smooth coat.  Amazing what proper nutrition will do.  When it cools off a little (a lot) and it quits raining, it will be time to work him in the round pen.  He has learned not to kick, thank goodness.

The picture above is of sweet, sweet Charlie.  He is sweet, until he thinks he can sneak Lucky's food and I won't catch him.  He is lovely and very eager to please.  He has gotten over some of his shyness and jumpiness.  I expect that he will become my riding horse, that is if I ever decide I want to do that again.  

And, finally Jon Boy.  Jon has settled down nicely, after his trip to UT Vet hospital.  He is now a gelding just like all the rest.  The amazing horse lady has worked with him a lot and thinks he has a lot of potential.  He no longer looks like a pregnant mare and although he wants to be Boss Hoss, he is still second to the old man, Dillon.

Hope you enjoyed he update.  I have been watching for twin fawns to photograph, but so far, Mom has kept them out of site.  Maybe next time.

Happy Trails to You

You know, I never really wanted a white horse.  They get too dirty, and they are just kinda bland. But, the way I get most of my animals, this one just came into my life one day.  He was an older guy.  We never had agreement from the vet or the other horse specialists as to whether he was only 14, or if he was "twentyish". 

But, white horses, or any other, grow on you.  I originally called him Speck because he is not white.  The vet tech told me he was flea bitten gray and Speck sounded a lot better to me than "flea bitten".  I started calling him Mr. Speck because I thought he deserved a little more respect.  No properly raised Southerner refers to their elders without a Mr. or Miz in front of their names.

He was such a sweet gentleman.  He did push a little for his food, but I figured that if I had been starved, I would have been a little pushy too.  I am a sucker for big ole beautiful horse eyes, and he had them along with a most beautiful face.  He loved to be rubbed and appreciated any attention that he received.  I had brushed him out on the day this picture was taken, and he thought he was a Champion!


I have said before that I learn something from all my animals.  I thought I would have a longer time for Mr. Speck to teach me my lesson, but it came to an end all too quickly.  What I learned is that I can wish for something and I can work toward that something, but ultimately, I am not in charge of another life.  I agonize whenever I have to make a life or death decision, and Mr Speck made that decision for me.

The sun will still rise and it will still set.  Happy Trails to you Mr. Speck.  Your friends here at Poplar Springs Farm will miss you.

How Time Flies

I have been working on this blog in my head for a while, but the trouble was making the time to sit down and get it processed.  Time has moved on for my horsey friends and for most, the better.  We have had visits from the farrier and also from my favorite vet. 

Mom, isn't there just one more bite in here.  Who ate it???  Notice how this little guy has gained weight.  In case you have forgotten, this is Lucky Pete.  Don't know if you can tell, but his feet look close to normal now, not like a Flat Bill Platypus' bill, if there is such a thing.  My most wonderful farrier worked wonders with him.  This little guy can run now, and you should see him prance.  He really has some great feet(two, not one) action.  And, speaking of feet action, I was working to get two temporary stalls set up for Lucky and Mr. Speck during this snow storm.  Lucky started running around and I was enjoying it until all of a sudden he turns and backs up to me.  Fortunately, I know that sign and can still move fast and I only got a slight kick on the left rear.  He did recognize what a stick was, even if it was covered in snow and took off.  We will be working on manners very, very soon!

My Mr. Speck has had somewhat of a setback, and was one of the reasons that my favorite vet came out.  Speck has had a pretty horrible cough for about a month.  The diagnoses was something like allergic asthma, basically a hay allergy.  He was given an antibiotic and also a steroid shot with follow up steroids to be given in his food.  He also has quit gaining weight, which is a big concern.  He has gained roughly one hundred pounds, but he has another 100 that he needs to put on.  Hopefully this is a temporary setback, and we can soon get it behind us and start working on the weight.  Amazingly, I personally have never had this problem.   

The second reason for my favorite vet's visit was Jon Boy.  Jon Boy is a stallion and I really do not need a stallion around so our hope was that after the vet's visit, we would only have geldings at the farm.  During the preliminary check before JB came to the farm in November, the other vets indicated that there might be a problem so my favorite vet was to check him out and see what he could do.  Well, seems like we have a cryptic orchid here.  No, I have not looked that term up, but what it means is that this little guy has not had all his male parts fall into place.  So, we are looking at a trip to Knoxville to visit the UT Vet School Hospital to get this little guy fixed up.  My vet looked at me kinda apologetically and said, you know these rescue horses always seem to wind up costing a little money.  We have a great relationship, but I think he worries about me taking on these critters.  Dogs, too!

If you don't look carefully, you might think this is Jon Boy, but no, this is my baby, Spirit.

Spirit was the first horse that I had to nurse back to health.  He got his foot caught in a panel at the horse trainer and got a horrible foot injury.  It went on to get infected and a horse vet, not my favorite vet, told me that I needed to put him down.  Well, there is something about big ole horse eyes looking at you, and there was no way that was going to happen.  So, here we are, about 2 and a half years later and he is a beautiful spoiled baby.  For the most part, he stays very healthy, but occasionally he will have an abscess occur in his right front foot and he hobbles until it gets well.  He is taller and slimmer than Jon Boy.  He is the newer style Quarter Horse where Jon Boy is the older stockier style. 

Midnight is my Rocky Mountain horse; my retirement present to myself.  He is a beautiful boy and loves attention.  He is probably the most curious of all my horses and loves to be the center of attention.  He would love to be the boss hoss, but Dillon, who is not pictured, will not let him.  You can tell that he has been in the hay rack.  I just realized that I need to get a purple and orange saddle blanket for this boy as his real official name is Midnight Express!

Happy Trails............ Till we meet again.

It's Way Too Early

Our weather has been quite pleasant for January.  We have had what seemed like Spring rains, thunderstorms, and Spring temperatures.  Of course, there is a little Spring fever to go along with all these things as well.  When I am out and about taking care of the animals, I am always looking for the first sign of what's to come, even though it is way early.  Today, I was not disappointed.

Oh, little Crocus, it is waaaaay to early for you to appear.  Two weeks or possibly a month early here in the mountains

The Flowering Quince is a little early as well.  I am not sure if it is always before the Forsythia, but this year, it is.  This is not a most beautiful bush, but I appreciate the boldness of the flowers.

The daffodils want to get in  on the action.  This location is usually where we get the first blooms, but Steve planted some in another garden and I think they will be the first this year.

The girls had an opportunity to go out on a stroll and scratch here and there looking for their version of Spring.  There was no sign of Coyotes, Chicken Hawks, or red dogs!

I could not leave the post without mentioning a couple of my boys.  Lucky and Mr. Speck are now pasture mates.  Lucky is semi-permanently in the pasture now.  Semi means that unless the weather gets really cold and I feel really guilty to where I can't stand the thought that he just might be cold, he will stay in the pasture.  If guilt wins out, he goes back in the pen under cover.    Speck is the least dominate of all the horses, so he makes a good pasture buddy for Lucky.  So far, they have gotten along extremely well.

Today, I spent about an hour grooming Lucky.  His coat is just so tremendously bad that it will probably be at least summer before I see much improvement.  Even with his improved diet I think it will take new summer growth to get rid of the crud.  I did not have him tied up and he stood for that long while I brushed and tugged at his coat, mane and tail.  When I was brushing his shoulders, he turned and laid his head on my shoulder.  He is just a beautiful little guy.

Almost a Month

It has been almost a month since my last post, and almost two months since Lucky and Jon Boy came to the farm.  Overall, it has been a good month with forward progress for Lucky.  So far, no backward steps for him since early December.  He did well while we were in Texas over the holidays and no heart attacks for the caretaker.

He is still underweight, but I have to keep letting the bridle out.  He no longer has any of the sores that he had from being on the ground, except the last inkling on the left hip.  Hair is growing nicely over all the others.  When he sees us, he calls to us, of course thinking that he will get a little extra grain.  He has begun to run a little, especially if he sees me coming with his food.  I can't wait to see him in another month when he will be filled out more because he is going to be a little beauty.  His mane and tail are very thick so, once mud and snow season goes away, he will clean up well.  I have to watch myself as our weather has been so great, it is easy to think that Spring is here.  A reminder of Winter is forecast for this Friday as we are supposed to get snow.  I do not like snow when I have horses to feed!    Our farm is spread among too many mountains and I am not a fan of truck sledding!

Jon Boy is still a little on the rotund side.  Our job with him is to get him slimmed down and back in good shape.  Before the rescuers got a close look, they thought he was a pregnant mare.  Glad he wasn't, but he only get's half rations on the grain.  He was the first one that the trainer worked with and he responded to her very well.  She likes him a lot, and I hope one day that he just might be hers!  By Spring, I hope he is a gelding and ready to go to a new home.

Here is a quick update on Charlie.  Yes, he looks a lot like Jon Boy, but he is smaller and his blaze is not as broad as Jon's.  He is getting a lesson in manners from the lady that found me through the blogs and is a horse woman extraordinaire!  She is all business with these guys and hopes to teach me a lot since I have a lot to learn.  Charlie has moved up the pecking order so that he is just behind Dillon and Midnight.  That means he is the assistant to the assistant head horse!  He shows no signs of being an underfed horse, is on the smaller side and of course, I like him a lot.   


It has been good to be able to relax a little with the horses as they have all been making great progress.  I am not sure that I am willing to take on any more, at least for a while.  Right now, I am out of room for any more, so I don't have to think about it.  I did have to turn down three more right before I went on vacation.  Hard, but I have to take care of what is here plus think about what I really want to be when I grow up.  Or, more likely, where I want to go!

So, Lucky, It Is!

There have been so many ups and downs this month.  Lucky would take two steps forward then go back one and a half.  Some days I felt it was one and three quarters backward.  But, he would look at me with those big soulful eyes and we would continue on.  


This past Sunday, he got a new bridle.  This one is a brighter red, a happier bridle than the first one.  He had to have a new one because he had actually gained weight and the old one was too tight for him.  Also, the old one has been though the muck and mud of pick me ups, so it was time for it to go.  This weekend, he also got his new real name, Lucky.  That goes along with his decision that he would be moving forward from now on.


Yesterday, he stayed in the pasture for about five hours.  He will do the same today.  While there is not a lot of grass there,  it gives him an opportunity to walk around, explore so he is not bored, and most importantly, build up his muscles!  Even though he has gained weight and gotten stronger, he still looks like a stick horse.  

His coat is still in bad shape and his mane is rag tag, but his eyes are beautiful.  He will be a beautiful horse someday.  I suspect it will be a good six months for his coat to reach a decent place, but now, we can think about that.  He has begun flexing his front feet more, so I think that he may be a walking horse or a racking variety.  


Lucky has been here a month yesterday.  It has been a tough month.  Worse for me than even peak season at FedEx!  There I felt like I knew what to do.  Here it was heart first, brain second work. 


 The payoff, however, has been well worth it.

And There Was Thanksgiving

It has been a tough couple of weeks here at Poplar Springs Farm.  From the last post you learned that Steve had shoulder surgery on the 8th and new starving horses came on Saturday the 12th.  Their pictures were on the last blog.  On Sunday, we had a cow with a problem that required the vet, and I also noticed that Petey, or Lucky Pete, the smaller horse in the worst condition was on the ground.  After we took care of the cow, we moved over to the horse.  To make a long story short, he was way too weak to get up, even with the electrolytes administered and the steroids, etc.  We had no choice but to leave him there, hoping that he would gain strength, but unfortunately, when horses get down like this, it is difficult for them to recover.  Monday came, and all I could do was feed him and set him up so that he could drink water.  Tuesday, he was still on the ground, and I had a doctor appointment in Knoxville.  I called the vet again and discussed options on getting him up.  I remembered that Steve had gotten a cow up with a hoist several years ago and  that just maybe we could do that.  But where oh where could we get one?  A light bulb goes off...I am in Knoxville, and so is the University of Tennessee Vet school.  Lucky, lucky me!  I started with the Deans office and ended up with the equine doc.  He just happened to be a native of Ecuador.  Do my stars line up or what?  And yes, he just happened to have what I needed, but he would have to talk with my vet.  All of them are UT Vet school grads, and of course, I could take  the hoist, but I could only use it for 24 hours.   I called back to the vet, and yes, he and a super vet tech could meet me at the farm after he went on a call further in the mountains to doctor a potbellied pig!  A quick call to a couple of neighbors, one that was good with horses and tractors, and the other just to be an extra for support, and we were in business.

My neighbor was driving the JD since my number one driver is under the weather. We had to take him about a quarter of a mile where I had set up a temporary stall for him. We would have to stop about every hundred yards to that he could rest and so the vet and vet tech could as well.  Me too, but I was just moral support.

He actually had to walk about 10 feet into the stable because the front end loader  on the JD was too high to come into the shed.  My neighbor readjusted and brought the JD in so that the hoist could hold Petey up if he fell.  We kept him in it about 4 hours, but he seemed to do fine, so off it came and the next day, it went back to UT.

He stayed up for for 7 days, and back down he went.  I had gotten supplies to make a temporary hoist, just in case this happened.  Another call to my neighbor and we got the temporary hooked up and he was back on his feet again.  Two days, down again.  Called the neighbor yesterday morning and we got him up again.  Tonight, he was still up.  His attitude is great, well except when I was putting diaper creme on his skinned places like the vet told me and he obviously didn't like it and he tried to kick me.  Twice even.  I laughed and told him that  I was glad that he was feeling that good and he could get away with it until he really got to feeling better.  Then there would be consequences for kicking.  


We are still somewhat in a touch and go situation with this little horse.  He was starved within a couple of days of his life's end.  This one will take a long time to come back.  His appetite is good, and he has gained a little weight but he just has to get some muscle mass back, especially in his hindquarters.  


He will be loved, and touched, and talked to.  He will be laughed at, rubbed and told how beautiful he is.  I hope to convince him that before long, he can be running in the pasture playing horsey games with the other guys.  


But today, we are giving thanks that he and all the other furry babies are doing well.