Worried for nothing

As usual, all that worry was a waste of time and energy. The neurologist said it's just post concussive syndrome. From what my doctor had said and how the symptoms matched, I was thinking it might be chiari malformation, which would be more serious. Consulting Doctor Google is often not a good idea. :)

Anyway. I'm in the middle of another days-long headache, so I don't really have much more to say.

Oh, Happy New Year! Here's hoping for a better year this time.

Brain

So maybe it isn't my neck after all. My MRI results came back and my doctor saw a couple things that weren't right. One, my brain position is wrong low in the back of my skull.  "Like a herniation, but it's not a herniation." The other thing he didn't say. I have to wait to see a neurologist to make sense of it.

I love my doctor, and I think he was trying not to worry me or give me a false diagnosis, but I'm worried. What is it? What will it mean for my future? Will I be able to ride? Will I be able to continue to do my job or will I have to look for something more sedentary? I should just go with the flow and know that it will all turn out OK. Staying up all night worrying and thinking about selling horses, maybe selling the farm, etc... isn't going to help, anyway.

My parents have a friend who is a really good neurologist and he's going to take a peek. Maybe it's nothing. Or maybe it's treatable. Cross your fingers for me.

Also, there is a lot of snow. It just keeps coming. We've gotten another foot or so since these pics were taken.

Nothing New

The snow just won't go away. We had a pretty cold spell and now it's hanging right around freezing, thawing some, but just enough to tease me.

Juniper has been signed over to the person who rescued her, who would be more than happy to sign her over to me if only I could go pick her up. I try not to think too much about it or it would drive me nuts.

I've got 2 weeks off from one job, just working a couple days a week at the other job. I've had so many doctor's appointments lately it hasn't felt like a vacation. And my neck is getting worse, not better (my own fault, I got impatient and tried to do some extra exercise). I'm hoping my insurance will approve some more imaging before the end of the year.

Oh! I do have one picture to share. I just happened to notice that it looks like the spirit of Gumby was hanging out with us on Kamiak Butte one day. Check out this shadow:

That's about all I've got. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Super Solstice! Joy in whatever you do!

(The days age getting longer now!)

Snow, snow, snow

Stalled too long.

We've had some snow, and have up to 13 inches more coming over the next several days. So I may not be able to pick Juniper up for quite a long time. The steepest part of my driveway is shaded, so it takes a looooong time for snow and ice to melt.

On the brighter side, the owner has supposedly mailed a bill of sale to the lady who rescued her. So I could go get her soon, if only the weather had stayed clear.

Donkeys are so smart

As I suspected, she didn't sign over the donkeys. Apparently she has no interest in keeping mine though, so we should be good to go eventually. She is very confused, thinking grass hay is alfalfa, claiming she had hooves trimmed that were done after they were moved. She wasn't able to tell them apart and even thought that some of the other donkeys there belonged to her. She complained that the donkeys are being overfed and are too fat. They are not:

As you can probably gather from the above picture, Juniper wasn't super happy about halter training at first.

She caught on really quickly though. She even yielded her fore and hindquarters a couple times. Unlike her spoiled herd mates who were mobbing us and almost impossible to move.

I found a fun new app called Photo Lab:

I took the halter off and rubbed her a lot, and I can't remember exactly what she did, but she let me know she wanted me to put it back on and play some more. So we did. She just loved the attention. When I took it off and walked around she stayed with me and mildly tried to boss me around a bit, telling me to stay put and rub her. I didn't let her tell me where to go but she did get lots more love.

 I got a closer look at her teeth and she is a two year old. I'm no expert on donkey growth but I doubt she'll grow much more. That's OK. I already love her. I'll train her to pack and pull a cart if we can't ride.

Also, in regards to teeth, her premolars are a mess! I know she's at the age for the caps to be shedding and her permanent teeth to be coming in, so it's normal, but I wonder if it's making eating difficult.

She loves ginger snaps. (Scout and Duncan think they're poison though).

She likes to sniff noses and considers being naughty and nibbling my nose.

She has such a lovely snoot.

I may have ownership by Wednesday. I hope so. And I hope the roads are free of snow & ice so I can go get her.

Real quick

I may be able to pick up Juniper this weekend! I've stopped visiting her in case this whole thing falls apart. I didn't want to become too attached. Supposedly the neglectful owner is going to sign over ownership tomorrow, but she's showing up in person and I'm afraid she'll change her mind.

A quick pic of another Kamiak hike:

And I've signed on for a second job temporarily. The vet clinic I used to work at has soooo much turnover. For a reason. But I'm just covering 2 days a week for a month to 6 weeks while someone has a baby. Not sure exactly when that will start.

Impatiently Waiting.

I went to see the donkeys the other day and spent some time haltering them to see which ones would lead. I love them all.

These two are wonderful. The spotted girl on the left likes to back into you for a but rub & has terrible feet. The white girl likes to be constantly physically attached to you and has OK feet but a hump in her back.

Here you can see the spotted girl's spots better.

This little girl is very sway backed and we thought she was in foal but the owner insists she just has a big bag all the time.

I had to run away to try to get a pic. They like to stay close.

This girl looks so much like Bob. John named her Marion.

I think he really enjoyed meeting them today.

I've been a little undecided about her name, but I'm pretty sure she will be Juniper. She looks different in the rain. And she likes me a lot better when I'm not holding a halter.

This tiny baby girl is so adorable and soft! And look at those whiskers!

Juniper likes John & John likes Juniper.

After reading more about incisor eruption, I think she's a yearling or maybe even older. I hope she still grows some.

I love this picture. John looks like such a happy dork. He said I need to quit taking pictures of him when his eyes are closed.

What a happy ass day. :)

Looking Up

I saw my baby again last night and it sounds like they're getting things straightened out. Thank goodness. But I still don't know how long it's going to take.

The vet saw her yesterday and said she is 6 months old, not a yearling. That means she would be highly unlikely to be bred. The jack was supposedly in with all the ladies 3 months ago and not since. Not that I wouldn't welcome a cute baby, but she's too young.

She's about 12.1 hands according to my rough measurement, so she should be big enough to ride in several years.

The vet gave her a body condition score of barely 3. Her spine sticks up so far! I rubbed her a lot (felt all of her bones) and she really enjoyed it, but her main focus is food.

The donkeys ate a whole mineral salt block overnight and are emptying a 150 gallon water tank 3 times a day. Obviously they haven't been getting what they need. One will foal very soon and quite possibly die in the process. Another is pretty imminent too but in better shape.

I can't remember if I posted this pic of the little boy:

I'm still tempted to take the baby boy as well, but the idea of having to train two of them to pick up their feet makes my back hurt. I tried picking up a foot on one of the adult girls (who looks a lot like Bob) and she threw a little fit. I like her a lot too, but again, ugh, hoof training.

The sweet girl who looks like Bob:

Good news on my ongoing injury symptoms! The dizziness and nausea I've been having are probably due to my neck, not my head! So it can be fixed. I think. There is hope for me yet! I like my new physical therapy doctor.

Excitement! Disappointment? and Last Chance Creek

This is the yearling girl I picked out to bring home.

She's the only one with decent feet, but even before I knew that she was the one who caught my eye.

I was going to pick her up today but now there's a hitch in the rescue effort. I don't know the full story, but I hope these guys don't go back to the owner, who had a stroke but obviously wasn't caring for them before that happened. She had 30-some donkeys and the Jack kept "getting out" so now all these skinny ladies with HORRIBLE hooves are nursing and pregnant.

I would love to take this little guy and his mama too, but I don't have time for that many equines. Look at those hooves.

Look at these hooves. So much bad going on there.

This is my girl again, at an angle that shows her poor condition.

I'm really bummed and I hope it all gets straightened out and we can move forward with this. And I hope these donkeys get the care they need.

I think I'm going to go up today regardless of the news just to love on donkeys and help with vet and farrier work. Unless it's pouring rain.

We went hiking out at Last Chance Creek yesterday. 5 1/2 miles of fairly level at a good pace. My sister and nephew rode while my step-dad, Henry, and I hiked. The horses are generally slower than the humans, which I think is funny.

We were pretty soaked and cold at the end. I wasn't prepared for rain. But we still had a great time!

Down the Road with Duncan

 Our next little hike wasn't really a hike at all. Duncan and I went for a 5 1/2 mile walk.

He has recently learned how to trot next to me thanks to some Warwick Schiller training videos I've been watching.  So we did a little jogging too. One negative effect of the time he spent at the trainer's is that he's more apt to think about refusing. It's kind of momentary scared response, then a "No." Not a very big No, but it wasn't there before.

In other news, there is a group of standard and mammoth donkeys in need of rescue right near me and John has emphatically said No and he means it. I feel like a spoiled toddler and I want to throw a fit. He is right, we don't need another mouth to feed or 4 more hooves to care for. But really, it's not like a donkey costs much to care for. I haven't given up yet.

Kamiak Butte with Winston

Winston and I hiked Kamiak Butte in the middle of the Palouse area the other day.  it was a gorgeous day, and a nice quiet hike.

If you look closely in this first photo you can see where they had a small fire get out of control, started by some idiots. Fires aren't allowed up there. I think it was put out by plane.  Luckily before much damage was done.

Winston wasn't real excited about posing for pictures, but he enjoyed the hike. And he was so well behaved! He didn't pull or get in my way. He was a perfect gentleman. Which is important when my balance is bad and hiking becomes a continuous controlled fall, always catching myself with the next step. The human body is amazing the way it knows how to walk regardless of what the brain is doing. (I only fell once, at a steep slippery spot. Thank goodness there was nobody there to see it!)