Signs of Foaling? I'm Crazy?

Today I spent quality time in daylight with Juniper for the first time in what seems like forever. So it's hard to say if there has been a sudden change or not, but she looks skinny and kind of poorly in the hind end. Which could be a sign that foaling is coming. When the baby moves into the birth canal the belly gets smaller, looking like mom isn't pregnant all the sudden. Also, to prepare for birth the muscles of the hind end relax, which gives a sunken look around the croup. Before Scout was born I could actually feel him moving up under the muscles on either side of Bella's tail. I felt for that today with Juniper, but it's hard to say... What I felt may well have been her own muscle movement. Her vulva is slightly darker with a bit of discharge. Still able to clamp her tail but it may he slightly weaker. No bag at all. No change in behavior or eating habits.

It could all be in my head but I'm a little excited. On my Only Donkeys group on Facebook a donkey who was rescued 14 months ago just had the cutest baby, and bagged up just the day before. So Juniper is definitely not beyond the possible range of giving birth.

Right now daytime temps are above freezing and it's not terrible at night, so I guess this is an okay time to foal, if she has to do it in winter.

Oh! And she's shedding! Spring will eventually come. :)

Pneu NO nia

I've been sick for so long I finally went to the doctor.  I thought they'd tell me to go home, I have a cold. Not so.  I don't know what I have but it's not pneumonia. They gave me some treatments at the doctor, then I brought home $120 worth of prescriptions (after insurance paid their part) and a list of OTC stuff to take too. My lungs and sinuses and ears are full of shit and I'm not taking in enough oxygen. The doctor didn't give me a word for it and that drives me nuts. Is it bronchitis? I don't know.  Phlegmcrud sleepy-yuck, maybe.

BUT on the good side I will definitely not be contagious for Christmas so I can spend it with my sister, who has already started cancer treatment and can not be exposed to germs.  Happy dance for sister time!

No sign of baby donkey coming. She tells me no secrets, no matter how nicely I ask.

Poor Winston

He got a boo-boo. And of course it happened when our clinic wasn't open and my boss lady had a million appointments of her own to take care of. Luckily I know every vet in a 100 mile radius. Or so it sometimes seems anyway. :)

He was quietly cuddling with me on the couch and suddenly started frantically wiping eye boogers off his face and rubbing his eye. Weird place to have a crisis. He would not leave it alone so we had to cone him, poor guy. I couldn't see a puncture. So the way he wouldn't open his eye made me pretty sure there was something still in there even after I flushed it and put ointment in there, hoping it would float out.

The vet didn't find anything other than a slight abrasion on the cornea, probably from all the frantic rubbing he'd been doing. But I've had them not find anything before and had a grass seed float out days later, so I knew it could still be hiding. 

Yesterday at work Deb wiped an eye booger off his face with something small and hard in it and he was suddenly miraculously holding his eye open again and not trying to rub at his eye. Thank goodness! It can't stand when they're in pain and I can't help them. 

A Fun Time was Had by All

 It's not too terribly cold and the fog is making for some gorgeous frost in the mornings.

Feeding time is everyone's favorite. Bella and Scout have one pasture all to themselves:

Sawyer gets separated twice a day for his good grub. They all know the drill so it goes pretty smoothly. Juniper and Duncan stay out while I shut the doors, and Sawyer paces like a hungry dragon while I mix up his supplements.

Juniper will happily leave her food for some good lovin'.

Huckleberry stands perfectly still for ages when hunting mice. It's crazy how much noise they make when you sit still and listen.

In the afternoon it warmed up enough for Sawyer to take a break from his blanket. This is what happens when I try to take his picture to show you how nice he looks:

Because why would I want anything other than an ass in my face?

This is the best I could get. He has gained a lot of weight. His back is nicely covered.

Here I wanted to take a picture of my pasture parade - Duncan first, then Sayer, then Juniper, but as soon as I stopped of course Juniper got out of line, Duncan didn't ground tie, and Sawyer was just kind of not sure what was going on. Still, not a bad picture of Duncan's glossy curls!

Duncan came out with me and played. A fair amount of work with the flag moving on and above his back while he was moving, and then circling around me as I stood above him on my mounting table in the field. We kept it mostly relaxed but for him it was uncomfortable. I made sure he didn't shut down, he was tense at times but still blinking and he appeared to be thinking.

Juniper wanted to come out and graze, but instead we did a tiny bit of lunging practice and then loaded in the trailer. You wouldn't have known it had been 10 months since she last loaded. She looked around and loaded right up. Then she got to graze.

Scout came out too. He was so happy to be chosen for once, he practically shoved his head in the halter. Then he was kind of a turd, rooting and pushing and generally needing a reminder about manners. He really thought he needed to eat grass. But he remembered his manners pretty quick.

Bella didn't come out to play but she doesn't mind. She's entirely happy being left to her own devices, and she remembers her manners without tuneups. She's been lame this past week but she's feeling better now. I'm pretty sure she kicked/stepped on her heel bulb. Either that or it was an abscess but there was no heat in the hoof. Either way, she's walking well now.

I sure do love these guys. Not sure what I'd do without them!

Holding Hands

Who held your hand when you were little and afraid? Who hid with you under tables, saw the same boogeymen, made forts out of toilet paper, sang Christmas carols and hung tinsel together? Who can reminisce about catching salamanders, sliding down mud slides, sitting on the roof and staring at the stars, all the little moments of growing up? Then having families, horses, still roaming the wilderness, still staring at the stars.

If you have a close sibling you know what I'm talking about. You live the same life out of different eyes. You have different strengths and you stick together. Nobody else will ever know the story the way you two do.

My sister has cancer again. It is a metastasis of the old breast cancer, this time in her bones. Whoa Nelly are we in for a rough ride.