Sentimental Saturday on Monday. I'm growing up to be one of those people who is often late. I just wasn't feeling very sentimental over the weekend.

Today I was reorganizing some stuff and I came across Tonka's tag that he wore in the BLM corrals. It came off just before he loaded into the trailer to come home to me.
Someday I will make some sort of shadowbox frame to display his stuff in, but for now it stays in a file.

That made me nostalgic, and I had to go back and read my post about Tonka's adoption. Reading it brought tears to my eyes again. I love my horse. If you read it you'll see I write about Tracey and her darling daughter, and about Anchor, but with much less knowledge of them than I have now. They didn't have names then. Well, I'm sure Tracey and Darling did, but I didn't know them yet. :)

Also while transferring my files from a tiny file box to the bigger file cabinet I got today, I found this:

My baby boy's wrist was so tiny! The weird thing is, this comes after an afternoon of watching old videos of my adorable kids, and my sister telling me today that I have to have another kid since she can't. I know that's crazy talk, but they're so wonderful when they're little. I wish they didn't have to grow up. Not that I don't think they're wonderful now, and I'm sure they'll be wonderful as adults but in different ways. But they're so snuggly and sweet and hilarious when they're little. It would be a bad idea to have another, but apparently I need a toddler fix. Della? May I borrow yours? I know, he says, "My is a CHILD," but I think he's jumping the gun a bit.

Lea suggested that we all post something we're thankful for, every day between now and Thanksgiving. Today I am thankful that I have such sweet children.

I hope you all had a wonderful Monday!

Yesterday was a good horse day. Well, it started out that way.

Scout got to stand tied while I groomed him and played with his feet, then I left him alone for quite a while. I thought he'd fidget a lot but he didn't. He just stood kind of sideways with his butt dangerously close to the electric fence.

I brushed his mane and forelock. I think it's the first time I've ever done that, other than just some spot work on tangles. His mane is very long and thick, and it's lost that puffy punky pony look but it's still not as sleek as his mama's.

He has his mama's mustache though! It's not as long and impressive as hers, but then he's still just a baby.

Huckleberry, my good little sidekick. He's getting so big. He starts Kinderpuppy classes next week. I figure with a dog this smart I better do this right.

Then I got Tonka out, and it was one of those days.

He says, "I feel much better now!"

Look at this sweet face. He's so cute and innocent.
Or not.

I tried something yesterday, and I thought I was being careful and smart. Last time Soxy got beat up she was in with both geldings, and I thought maybe they were both trying to claim her. I had her in with Tonka and Scout for a few days recently and it was fine. It would make more sense for Soxy and Cisco to be together because they're both fat. So I tried it. I put them together yesterday morning and watched them all day. Not a problem in sight.

Last night when I stepped out to feed though, it was a different story. There were thundering hooves. In the moonlight I could see him latched onto her neck, she was running as well as she could with him hanging on to her, trying to kick him. One of them was squealing but I'm not sure which. All this time I'm running. She got away from him but he kept at her and was kicking her. It was awful. I had to get in there and smack him with a whip until he moved off, then I had to continue to hold him off because he kept trying to come back. I finally got her out of there and we did some walking to cool her down. When she dropped her head to graze there was a squeaky sound. So I think there is probably a broken molar. She had a slightly bloody nose but her front teeth are okay.

So now I'm trying to get a hold of the equine dentist, but she's not answering, and the other vet isn't sure he can do much besides look at her and see how bad it is. Sounds like if it's a real bad break we'll have to get it extracted at WSU.

Sometimes I wish I didn't have to muddle through life learning from my stupid mistakes. But really I thought they were okay with each other after such a peaceful day. From here on out I'm not going to put Cisco with any mares, period. He and Bella really went at it too.

Scout is a baaaad baby! Here I've been thinking how sweet he is, and it turns out that's just because I haven't been asking him to do anything. He had his hooves trimmed today and he was a HUGE pain in the butt. I've got my work cut out for me... I'm going to start tying him for long periods and he's got to learn to behave better with his feet and quit being so pushy in general on the ground. Probably not a lot of work involved, but handling him every day would be a good starting point. Although right now I'm frozen, I smell like a horse turd, and the idea of working with a horse isn't very appealing.

Tonka wasn't extremely well-behaved either. How embarassing. He tends to test me a lot, I just expect it, get it over with, and go on. So I guess it makes sense that he'd test a new person trimming him. He learned not to do that. Hopefully he remembers and we don't have to go over it again later.

John made Coda's appointment for tomorrow. We decided to take him to WSU to have him euthanized. I realized the only reason I was thinking about burying him here was for the kids, and I don't think it will really matter all that much in the grand scheme of their lives. The longer Coda has to stay in this cold the more miserable he is, and getting a backhoe or excavator just wasn't happening right away. I am so glad John is taking him in for me. I can't hardly stand the idea of it. If it was at home I think I would have been able to handle it, but not at WSU.

Boy, now that the appointment is made it's really getting to me. This is real, and it sucks.

I think I'll go take a hot bath, get warmed up and wash off the horse stink.

I'm not sure where my camera is so I'll give you pictures from the other day. I never was able to edit the video. Just picture me on all fours cutting his toes and baby talking, with him watching suspiciously, checking with me every now and then by sniffing at my face.

Where'd my toes go?

Before:

After:

You can see he still needs his heels brought down as soon as we can manage it, and there may have been a little founder going on in that foot, but I think he'll be just fine.

John and I had a wonderful anniversary weekend. What's with all the anniversaries? Linda, Lea, and I all chose a great time of year to get married. Unless you were getting married this year. It's too darn cold this year. Although I suppose you could get married inside.

John bought me an awesome new saddle pad. I hope it's as great as I think it's going to be. It's a Classic Equine ESP contoured pad. I used to scoff at memory foam pads, because I know they compress when heated, but this one has so much felt bottom and woven wool top, I think it will be a good pad. The pattern isn't as pretty as the non-contoured pad they make, but it was so stiff and square I was afraid it would press down on his withers. On this one there's lots of soft padding through the bars and relief through the spine, without bulk at the bottom. Tonka and I tried it out last night but it was COLD and my legs were going to fall off so we didn't ride long.

We rode right in front of Anchor's pen, and boy howdy did he think that was strange! He staaaared at us, and if we got too close he'd do a little spin and then stare some more. Funny. I wonder if his owners ever ride around his pen at home. I made sure to dismount while he was watching, then I petted Tonka a bunch and put away the tack. After that I took Tonka up to where I keep Anchor's treats and fed him a bunch right in front of Anchor. He got interested enough to come up and sniff real deeply, but he wouldn't take a treat from my hand. I've also been making sure to pick up all of Tonka's feet whenever I'm sure Anchor is watching. I don't know if it makes a difference, but I'd like him to see that it doesn't hurt.

Today Anchor made progress toward halter breaking. He's giving to pressure pretty well and was even following me around in one direction. In the other direction he'd cheat. He'd step sideways kinda sorta toward me, but the foot that was stepping would always sneak behind the other foot, so he was kinda sorta stepping back at the same time. He would also occasionally get overwhelmed and spin/bolt/rear away from me. Which would get the rope wrapped around his neck so I'd have to flick it forward over his head, which he didn't like but oh well, he made the decision to put himelf in that situation. After a few times of that he realized it was easier to give to pressure and get his release than it was to bolt. But we're really going to have to work on getting to the point where he realizes bolting isn't going to do him any good. Otherwise once he goes out he'll get loose.

All in all, things are good.

Yesterday was a good horse day. I let Anchor have the day off and I hauled Tonka over to my sister's. It was cold and windy so we never did end up riding, although I did ride for a few minutes when I got home. But I did work with him in the round pen a bit. He had more energy than I've seen in him for a long time. Probably mostly the cold and wind getting to him, but I haven't ridden him in a month or so either. He was offering to lope! He hates to lope. So I took him up on his offer and he threw in a rude buck or two but he did lope nicely around quite a bit. Perhaps we'll be able to get to work on that under saddle soon.

On another excellent note, I got to watch someone else toil away trimming his hooves. It was wonderful! His sole gets so hard and it's a job I really wish I didn't have to do. Now I may not have to, because I think I may have finally found someone who does a good job. I'm excited. A friend of Amy's is working toward certification as a Natural Balance trimmer. She's new enough to it that she still cares about doing a good job, and her trim looks great. I love it. I have a few reservations about Natural Balance, mainly how they do their rocker and dress the hoof wall, but I'm willing to give it a try.

So I think I'm a saddle junkie. My sister bought a Wintec western saddle, and aside from the fact that I'd be embarassed to be seen riding in a synthetic saddle, I really like it! It's way more comfortable than my heavy, expensive, custom saddle. Tonka seemed to like it too. And she's wanting to possibly get rid of it. But three saddles for one horse - ridiculous! Ooh, but hey, Scout will need a saddle next year... I wonder if it would fit him. And then I'd have to get a job to feed my saddle habit.

Oh, and Tonka kicked my puppy yesterday! The dumb puppy insisted on playing behind him, and I was distracted by my sister, so I didn't catch it in time, and next thing I know - yipe yipe yipe yipe yipe! He was fine, although my sister said he did get launched a little ways. Hopefully he learned a lesson. I got after Tonka too, but I'm not sure he really got it.

12 degrees when I got up this morning. Frozen pipes. Dang it, I forgot to close the pumphouse door. Luckily the pipes don't burst when they freeze. We've got a heater on out there now.

"School is a safe and inviting place to learn and take risks." This is something my son's teacher said, and I'd never thought of school that way. I've never really thought of taking risks as good, but duh, kids do that all the time in order to learn what works in the world and what doesn't. I myself could do with taking a few more risks instead of constantly worrying about what might happen.

I thought of the teacher's statement this morning as Anchor bobbed his head up and down, back and forth, unsure, obviously wanting to try something but not sure whether it would be okay. I love that he's thinking about trying things, seeing what works. I love that he's starting to see me as a safe place to try. I especially loved the two times he touched me today, even though he startled and thought something terrible was going to happen after he did it. He sniffed me lots of times today, and he wasn't willing to do that before, other than the one time a while back.

I will get back to Anchor in a minute.

Tonka went back to the vet for a re-check on his eye today. The vet was stumped, because it's not bothering him. So the little bit of cloudiness that's left could be scarring, but it was never a big enough wound that it should scar. She introduced me to a new term. She told me to "benign neglect" it, which apparently means look closely at it twice a week, make sure no blood is pooling inside the eyeball, and leave it alone unless something is wrong.

I also got quotes on euthanasia for Coda today. WSU charges $265 including disposal. I couldn't possibly be the one to take him, they make you sit in the waiting room crying and filling out paperwork and then a foreign vet you barely understand comes and asks you questions. I've done this before, can you tell? John could take him though. As an alternative (and this was the original plan) this vet charges $150ish for a farm call and euthanasia and we'd bury him here, so would have to rent an excavator. I'm still not sure what we're going to do, but it needs to be done soon. I know we were so lucky to have him for so many years, he really surprised us all, but I wish we had more time. He's very unsteady on his feet and easily confused now. And the temperatures are really dropping. :(

Back to the good stuff. Why would you possibly need a hacksaw and a chisel in your horse work? Hoof trimming! I got Anchors toes knocked off on his front feet today. He wasn't ready to pick up his feet, and my nippers couldn't handle this amount of overgrowth anyway, so I bought a new blade for the saw and dug out a couple chisels and a hammer. He did SO FREAKING AWESOME! I would post a video but my computer is stupid and won't let me edit it, so I can't. I might ask John to figure it out for me, because it's so darn cool I just have to share it. It's the worst trim job I've ever done but it was a wonderful accomplishment. I think he feels better now. I also think he foundered on one front hoof at some point.

Overall, it was a wonderful horse day.

My darn horse ran me over! Well, almost anyway... I was soaking his jaw, squatted down next to him while he munched away on his hay, thinking sweet thoughts about what a nice picture he made out there in the dim moonlight. My mind wandered to John's riding lesson and I don't remember exactly what I was thinking about when suddenly - wham! Tonka's leg slammed into mine, and I would have stayed on my feet except his lead rope (which I didn't even need on him, but had left on after giving him his antibiotics) was kind of part way around my leg on the ground, so down I went, Epsom salt water flying. Boy did I cuss. I'm probably lucky I wasn't hurt, and with nobody here to save me... Good thing Tonka was bolting away from me, not over the top of me.


We had a good but short ride up at Melissa's today. I found one of my tires almost flat when I was going to leave, then she had a few things to work on with one mare and a tack issue with the other, so we didn't actually ride for very long. Which was fine. Tonka took a long time to relax, so it's probably good we didn't just get on and go. He was tense and twitchy and not listening. Too much inactive time while he was in quarantine.

The sheep wandering through the trees seemed to be something he wasn't too sure about, even though he's seen them before. They sure look sinister, drifting from shadow to shadow...

Definitely need to keep an eye on those creepy sheepies.

And when we got back Fiona and Wilbur were there to greet us.
John and Cisco's lesson went really well yesterday. The trainer likes Cisco and thinks he's a good match for John. Said he probably wouldn't be winning any races, but that's just fine by us!

Before I got that happy call from my vet I went out and spent time with Bella and Scout. They've been kind of neglected lately. Bella was doing that "if I don't look at you, you don't exist" thing again. Scout was getting kinda big for his britches, trying to come in with his ears pinned at feeding time. They were both angels today. Bella did a little groundwork and then got groomed and had her hooves trimmed. Scout just got taken out for a good grooming session. They both worried about each other while the other was gone. They were also both very muddy. I renamed them Clumpy Mud Mama and Clumpy Jr. Oh, and I measured Bella. She's 14.2 hands. Which is a bit short, especially since she's not real stout. Hopefully she'll grow some more, she still has time. Maybe.
Below is Tonka's abscess. Not that gross, really. The raw part is the size of a quarter, and the swollen part is about the size of a ping pong ball. I asked the vet if I had to do the antibiotics, because they make me nervous, and he kind of got irritated with me. Not that he showed it, really, but there was a long pause there... He basically said I had to if I didn't want my horse to have to have surgery eventually. Good news is we're keeping him on the mild antibiotics for the first two weeks, and hopefully we won't have to use the "big guns."
See Tonka's bad haircut on his forelock there? He got a cockle-burr in his forelock that got stuck in his ear and he must have rubbed it and felted it in there. Nothing I could do but cut it out.
This here picture is just plain weird. Looks like a two headed horse with one head attached backward, with the ears at the shoulder. Actually it's Tonka making a face and Scout looking at him. Tonka was so glad to be free. He ran and bucked for about 10 minutes, but of course he waited until after I had gone inside.

So I guess Tonka's problem isn't a fungus, but it acts like one or something like that. It's a bacteria called actinomyces. The vet wasn't at all worried about it being contagious. I don't know if it's from the same thing as it was a couple years ago, or if this was a new piece of cheat grass or splinter.

John asked me to hitch up the trailer for him today so he could practice loading Cisco before they go to their lesson on Wednesday. He's showing a serious interest in working with his horse! I love this! Cisco was a good boy. He is worried about the trailer, but he loaded well many times. The only time there was a problem was when I hooked his lead through the Blocker tie ring. He just backed right on out of the trailer when I turned to leave him there. So then I hard tied a rope and John loaded him and snapped it on his halter and shut him in the divider. He did some serious leaning trying to back up, but it helped when we stood and petted him, me at his head outside and John rubbing his back inside. I think he's afraid of being alone in there.

I have a head cold and I'm alternating between feeling pretty good and staying busy, then feeling awful and wanting to crawl in bed. I think I better get Tonka's compresses and medication done early so I'm not exhausted and feeling sorry for myself later. Have a good night!

Tonka can be a horse again! I am soooo glad. He's been crying from his quarantine, weird noises that don't even sound like a horse.

The good news is that it's not strangles, the bad news is there is a type of fungi in there that is hard to get rid of. They're having me put him on antibiotics for a month. A MONTH! With my sister's recent kidney failure diagnosis in her horse, due to antibiotics, this scares me. Granted, these are not the heavy duty antibiotics, but he hasn't told me yet what kind we're going to use for the majority of the time, just to use what I have until we get results back on what will work best for this contaminant.

I'm elated and bummed at the same time. But it will be so great to see him back in with his buddies! I'm going to head out there right now to move him.

I just thought I'd check in and let everyone know that nothing has changed here. It's all become so boring and regular, and I haven't got much to write about.

The weather has been awful and the ground is so saturated that the horse areas are muddy even in places where the ground usually stays fairly solid. I'm glad that they at least have their dry stalls to go into. I cleaned the stalls today and had fun hanging out with the horses. Cisco and Bella don't like each other, they make seriously nasty faces at each other over the panels. He's nice to Scout though. Scout got a hold of my broom at one point and was flailing it around and Cisco really wanted to play too, it was cute. Later I left it where Cisco could get to it and he pulled the top off of the handle trying to pull it through to his side. I think I may have some great entertainment someday when all the boys are pastured together. I might have to get them some toys.

Tonka wasn't as accomodating about having his warm compress done tonight. He was just a little fidgety. It seemed like it might not be draining as nicely either. I might have to really work at the scab with a scrubby rag tomorrow. Ouch. I keep complaining about having to do all this but tonight I realized I should be glad I'm not him. All alone except for two visits a day that include doctoring that is probably at least a little unpleasant. And the abscess probably hurts all the time. Poor guy.

Sorry I don't have anything more interesting to write about. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to get something done with a horse or two so I'll have something to tell you about.

Tonka is doing well. His abscess ruptured the night after I last wrote, and it's now an open sore the size of a quarter with the big hard mass underneath it. He's eating like a horse, normal energy level, not droopy, no snot, slight eye boogers but nothing alarming. My vet isn't too worried at all. But we're going to get the nasties cultured anyway. Unfortunately the lab is kind of messed up because of the holidays so I guess we'll be lucky if we get a preliminary result by Friday.

Until then, we observe quarantine. (Insert creepy music of doom here.) I hate it.

Here's the drill: Go feed other horses. Go back into house, change out of work coat, put all hair under stocking cap, put on nitrile gloves, mix epsom salts and hot water and put several paper towels in it to soak. Fill bucket of water (bleached handle and bottom). Take self and buckets out. Change into frozen rubber boots 100 feet from corral. Pour water in trough. Step in foot bath with bleach solution. Get hay, take in, foot bath, more hay, take in. Do warm compresses for 10 minutes. Go out, throw away paper towels, latch gate, foot bath, throw away gloves. Pick up water bucket. Sanitize handle. Hand sanitizer, change boots, hand sanitizer. Footbath nearer to house, then leave water bucket in foot bath. Get in house, strip in laundry room (John especially likes that part) throw clothes into washer and run it on hot. Vigorously wash hands and wrists. Find something warm to wear.

The vet said not to go overboard with the quarantine procedure since other horses have to come in contact with bodily fluids to catch it, but I could so easily track those around on my shoes or get them on my clothes.

Well, I've been sitting here forever, was interrupted by a phone call, and now I'm tired, so I'm off. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Today I took Soxy for a ride out at Melissa's. Tonka got the day off thanks to an abscess that is brewing under his jaw. I really think it's just caused by cheat grass or something since he doesn't seem the least bit sick, but just in case, I left him home.

It was fun to ride Soxy, she's just a steady old horse. She was kind of eager to move out, which is funny because she's so out of shape and gets winded so easily. But I'm glad she had fun.

Here are some of the sheep. They all cleared out when they saw us coming, so this was the best picture I could get.

Melissa's sweet Angus. Isn't he just the cutest dog?He sings with her donkey, Peaches. And he's an excellent livestock guardian.

My sweet Angus. Isn't he just the cutest dog?

He was giving me puppy dog eyes because he wanted food and he knows he's not allowed to whine at me or I won't feed him. He is an excellent eater of food.

They don't know that I think they're both the cutest. But they are.

Oh, and in other news... Tonka got his jaw clipped. He is very afraid of the clippers. His legs were shaking and he was kind of jumpy, but he stood still for me like a good boy and let me get the job done. That'll make it a lot easier to see what's going on when the abscess ruptures or I lance it. Will keep it cleaner too. Then I moved him in the dark, took him up to the front door to recruit help and put him out in the mustang pen all alone. I hate making him live by himself. Hauled him some water and gave him lots of hay and called it a night with him. Tomorrow I'm going to try to get a sample of the goo so the vet can culture it. I'd hate to have strangles on the place and not know it, go about my business and end up infecting other horses. So I'm going to cover my bases.

Today Cisco redeemed himself after his bad day last week. He had decided that instead of getting into the trailer he was going to spin and bolt. I couldn't stop him and he got away 3 times. Tried more often than that, but I'd found a way to anchor him with a long rope and stop him. He still kept trying though. So today when I got home I decided to try loading him with Soxy already in the trailer. He loaded very well. A little skeptical at first, he had to back out a couple times, but then he stood in there with me very nicely while I fawned over him and told him he was a good boy. Then I put him away.

That's my horsey day!

Melissa got a couple of good pictures of us today. In this one I think I was grinning because Tonka was a dork and jumped the creek, so we were going back in.

Here he's in the water and we're going to stop and stand for a minute.Still in the water.Break time.

Checking fences. That black dot up ahead is Melissa on her horse. Tonka is poky and sometimes we fall back because he has to be "schooled." Usually for trying to eat.

Had a great ride today but didn't take Cisco. He was a bad boy. I may write about that later but I'm too tired right now.

I also took our big dog Angus in to the vet today. No big deal, just suspected joint pain. I also asked about some scabby things on Tonka and he thought maybe it was rain scald. I didn't know we had that here. I'm not sure whether to believe it... But he's the vet. So I'm supposed to spot treat it with iodine. Tonka also has a huge abscess under his jaw that's about to pop. I thought it was a swollen gland. It's been there for months but just in the last week doubled in size. He did this two years ago also and I got all worked up worried about strangles. I'm not going to worry about it this time. It's probably cheat grass.

I got some new pictures of Cisco this morning. He's so darn cute.

I clipped his brand and he was a little worried about the clippers but he stood nicely nonetheless. No silliness. I like him.

I went for a short ride with Melissa this afternoon. Here's a kind of goofy perspective of my boy afterwards.
Then on the way home I put $90 worth of diesel in the truck. Ugh. Why isn't the cost of diesel going down with gas! Soon I'll go unhitch the trailer for the first time since Friday. There's been a lot of horsey running around going on. I have a lot of dishes to do thanks to my horseplay too. Fun. I think I'll go love on horses first.

Tonka seems to be 100% better. Must have been that one little bit of dry poop holding up the works.

I was thinking last night that what I said about this special bond with my mustangs might sound like I was implying that you can't get that with a domestic horse. I didn't mean it that way at all. I think the bond comes from spending so very much time with them, learning each other's ways and motivations, reading each other and building an amazing partnership. I know people with domestics who spend quality time with them every day and they have that same bond. I don't think you can get there unless you're in the horse's head, which takes time and love and understanding. It wouldn't come from just saddling up and telling the horse what to do.

Linda mentioned being totally heartbroken over the death of her goats. I've can relate! It's nothing to belittle, even if they are "just goats." I've been there too, with my sweet little ewe Roseanne. She was wonderful. So devoted and happy. She would have lived in the house if she had her way. There were so many times I had to push her foot out the door as she tried to come in with me. She died of bloat and I don't think I'll ever forgive myself. She was another one that was totally irreplaceable, thanks to the loving way that she was raised by my friend Melissa and her natural sweetness. Bottle babies are special, but Roseanne was really special. I don't think there will ever be another Roseanne.

Here's a picture of Baab and Roseanne sharing a treat with Tonka a couple weeks after I adopted him. Roseanne is the colored one. Baab, the white wether, was a bottle baby too, but he was always a rambunctious and pesky little guy.
We're going to look at a mustang today. He's supposed to be a mellow guy, packs and rides, just kind of plods along. John said he would ride with me if he had an uncomplicated horse, so hopefully this is the one. We're going fairly blind, they didn't even have a picture to email. I'll let you know how it goes later.

Late night update: We have another wet poo! Yay! Looks like it was nothing to worry about after all. But I'm still going to worry some.

It's hard having so much of my heart invested in one horse. Just the thought of him really having something wrong brings tears to my eyes. He's my boy, The Horse that I was meant to have. And we have so much invested in each other. So much time, trying, learning, growing together. I didn't realize exactly how special this is, and how in tune we are with each other, until I started working with Mack. My mustangs just have something more, and whatever it is Tonka has it most. I can't put words to it. He's my big fuzzy goofus dork, my special boy, and he's totally irreplaceable. I hope he's with me for the next 30 years, and I hope those years pass slowly.

I know a lady who's been in horses a long time and she says ride 'em, like 'em, but don't marry 'em. Don't give them your heart. Well, maybe later I could, maybe I'd learn to keep that distance someday, but for now I'm in this with all my heart for the long ride. When he rides off into that last sunset without me... (deep breath) I'll look back and remember and know that it was worth it.

Tonka is off his feed this morning and looking miserable. I just offered him warm water and warm water with molasses and he refused both (but Scout was happy to lip and dribble it and then stick his nasty foot in there). I decided to give him a dose of Banamine. He does have gut sounds on both sides and I saw him poop, so that's good. I suspect he didn't drink enough last night. I'll be putting the tank heater in later today, for sure.

I finally got to ride Mack last night, after several days of just walking and grooming. He was a good boy. I'm heading out to ride him at the arena today. Hopefully I'll get some pictures too.

I was really looking forward to riding Tonka today as well, I really miss him after spending all my time with Mack. Hopefully he'll be feeling better tomorrow.