Holy jumpin', the last few weeks have been hectic! I have been dealing with year end activities and a major reno at work. And then there the polar vortex over the holiday season. Wow. At one point, my location was colder than the South Pole! Of course, there was very little riding going on. It was either too cold, or too snowy. I did manage to get three rides in over a two week vacation, though. Better than a kick in the pants, as my father would say! :-) LA let it slip that she kept Gem and another large horse in the barn during the coldest days (along with the old horses), because they helped keep the barn warm. Fortunately for me, Gem is pretty sane and being kept in didn't really bother him.
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Lady is celebrating her two-month anniversary at her forever home! Boy, time flies. She has settled into a routine. No fuss, no muss. She and the other seniors sort of hang out, but she's still a bit of a loner. She likes her privacy. The Caregiver has been working at gaining her trust, as she was a bit difficult to catch initially; now not so much. The Caregiver calls her "little muffin". :-) Since the arrival of snow, the horses and Very Bad Llama (VBL for short) have been kept in a small field near the house, for ease of feeding and so that The Caregiver can keep an eye on everyone. There are some old log out buildings that provide shelter. The Caregiver didn't like the look of Lady's left eye and had the vet out to look at it just before Christmas. It appears that she has limited sight and it was confirmed that she had sustained an injury a while back because there was old scar. She stood patiently while the vet poked and prodded and looked and felt. Her eye was causing pain, so she's now on drops and bute. It has made a big difference to her demeanor. She is much happier.
The cold snap was a bit of a challenge for Lady. At 34-years of age, she was starting to have issues keeping warm. The Caregiver had been blanketing her after we hit our first -25C day, but Lady was getting out of the blankets, leaving them to be buried in snow until spring. The Caregiver was now out of blankets. :-) LA kindly donated an old blanket and I bought a beauty at Greenhawk; my contact there gave me a discount because Lady was a rescue! I also picked up a supplement to help Lady keep weight on. Lady managed to wiggle out of and lose the high end blanket that I bought. However, she likes the one that LA donated. Unfortunately, it's not really waterproof. What can you do? She has her own fashion sense. :-)
I initially thought she had teeth, but I was wrong. Her food has to be specially prepared; a nice warm mush, which she gobbles down with gusto. The Caregiver says it's not a pretty sight watching her eat....sort of like a running blender with the top off. :-)
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| Tippy toes! |
It had been a while since Lady had her feet done when she came to me. The Caregiver, who happens to be a police officer, was working a lot of shifts leading up to and through the holiday break, so it was decided that when her schedule allowed, to get the vet in first to look at her eye, then schedule the farrier. Monday the farrier came out do do all the horses in The Caregiver's care. The Caregiver said that Lady was "WONDERFUL!" Yay!
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| Before - Yikes!! |
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| After |
As I have said before, horses are magic. My mother is sponsoring Lady's care. One of my Christmas presents to her was a framed picture of Lady. My mother was delighted! She tells everyone that she has a horse and now she has a picture to show them. :-) Lady brings a smile to my mother face and I am grateful that she has a purpose and feels engaged with something. She looks forward to the Lady updates, which I receive regularly through The Caregiver. I sent pictures of Lady in her
new home to the feed lot rescue team. I wanted them to see that their
hard work does have a good outcome. They were so happy to see her doing
well and even posted the pictures on their FB page....so many found her story uplifting. Through Lady, I have made three new friends - the lady at the feed lot who helped me bail her out, the lady at the rescue group who helped me place her in her forever home and The Caregiver....who, btw, has invited me out for a visit and beverage this coming weekend. :-) Lady has touched so many. Yep, magic. Thank you, Lady.
