When your burdens are many, and your soul is heavy, come, walk with me. We can talk, or say nothing at all. Set your spirit free, if only for a little while, just come, walk with me:

YouTube - Vangelis - Prelude

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6fonKWKrkw

I'm having trouble with the link coming up, if neither works, please let me know.

Greetings and happy Sunday to all.

I'm out the door in just a few minutes for hay but wanted to leave a quick Zigman update:

I've had him on the new supplements for 2(?) weeks now and watching his weight....only to find he actually gained some, not lost it....darn it. He's at a criticle time too with the Fall grass so that is still quite limited. In exasperation, I couldn't figure out why he's gainig weight.....until I weighed a pad of hay. In my many, many years of horsedom, all horses everywhere were fed 2 pads of hay per day. Mine had it divided 1 in the morning, 1 at night. With all the supplement research, everywhere I went I read that horses should get 1.5% of their body weight in hay per day so I put Zig on the low side and actually bought a scale to weigh it. Last night, I thought to weigh 1 pad of hay and there was my problem.....they had doubled his hay by feeding even 1% of his weight. Because of his age and activity level, I put him back to my own feeding schedule and that should bring me results within a week. One pad weighs 2 pounds, they had me feeding him 7.5 pounds instead of 4. Guidelines, don't always work, they should be adjusted for easy keepers, I gotta get about 30 pounds off of him..........

Otherwise, today is a pretty day for a hay run. Sun is out most of the time and the temp is in the mid 60's. Once I'm done with that, I have the afternoon to write, goof off, watch movies, do Jason's stack of laundry and just chill out for the rest of the day. And start thinking about Christmas shopping? Ugh, already? Just mentioning the words made my piggie bank run and hide under the bed.......

Anyway, gotta get out the door, have a grrreat day everybody.

XXOO

Ooooh, someone please tell me what I was thinkin.

I scooted out of here on time to meet the hay guy at the barn....but he was nooooowhere to be found. I called his cell...left a message. Called my friend (the property owner...left a message). As I sat there, I thought about loading my own hay and leaving him a check somewhere..but decided not to. Finally, almost a half hour late...he calls me. He's at a field north of there getting hay up out of the field before it rains tomorrow. He could come meet me to load the hay, then go back, or, I could load it myself and leave him a check. Duh, like a dummy, I told him I could do it myself, no need for his to stop what he was doing. He said he wanted to call me but he didn't have my number with him until I left him the message. Well, I loaded it ok.

Standing in the middle of the barn looking up, the hay must have been stacked 20 feet high. He had different kinds in different areas so, I rooted thru and found what I wanted and started tossing them down. That part was easy...but loading the truck....yikes, I'm a bigger wimp than I thought. By the time I was finished, I was wet with sweat and pooped.

Got home to an empty house.....watched a movie and now, I'm out the door to unload it..... Dang. Help!?

I have some Biofreeze Patty! You want it?!

Patty, slow down girl. Loading and unloading hay is extremely hard work! I would last maybe five minutes. LOL And by the way, do horses eat anything besides hay, oats, and carrots? I don't think I would enjoy that kind of a menu, even though I am mostly a vegetarian.

Thanks Lori. Truth be known though, once I got all hot and sweaty, as I cooled off, I got a chill that stayed with me until well after dinner. When I finally dragged help out the door to unload it, I was informed that some of those GD bales weighed 75 lbs. Gack, no wonder I struggled. Tossing them down was easy but there was a loaded trailer in the isleway so all I could do was toss them straight down, then lug each one to the truck. I admit it, I was whooped. Yet I can name one lady locally that can pick up and toss a bale with one hand and have it land right on it's target....I don't know how she does it..........

Before I get busy for the day, I wanted to share an update on Ruler The Little Wonder Horse: I called his owner this morning and she said that he seems to be improving quite a bit. She has actually been able to decrease some of his pain meds and that he's starting to use the leg with the joint infection more. There for a while, he didn't even want to stand up to eat, just kinda laid there upright eating that way. That he's up and actually starting to use that leg is great news. The opposite one is a bit sore now from taking on the excess weight during this time but she said there's no sign of laminitis (what actually took Barbaro out). Have my fingers crossed that he continues to be up and moving, the best thing for him right now.

While I was talking to Jackie, I let her know that he is mentioned here and on our Prayer Train and that there have been several wanting to follow his progress. What we're going to do is I will email her for a weekly update and post his progress. As I sit here typing though, how about in addition to the weekly update, I will post a link to her website here so you can maybe send Ruler a personal get well wish, I'm sure she would be thrilled to see so many interested in his well being. How better to restore hers (and his) faith in the human race as a whole? Remembering back to everything I went thru with Banner, I can't tell you how much it helped me to come in and find all your emails and posts wanting to know how she was doing.

Anyway, here's the link, enjoy visiting, I know she would love to see the international interest in this little miniature horsey named Ruler: http://www.wonderhorsefarm.com/

XXOO and thanks mucho for visiting.

Good afternoon....and Happy Election Day.

I had two brief updates to post, one for Ruler and one for Barbaro:

In trying to write a fireball Letter To The Editor of our two local papers, I found that I just wasn't ready, too much emotional upheaval still. Instead, I called one of the papers and discussed the possibility of running the story about his progress and the owners dedication to get him well again. They ran a half page article in May of 99 about Banner's life and death thyroid surgery, certainly Ruler's story would be equally interesting. The editor loved the idea and is going to call her about doing the story once things calm down after the elections. What I'll do then is wait for the story, then bring past and present together in my letter. All of that will be followed with coverage of the court date, which may well not be until late winter or early spring. Kinda like a continuous story.

In my email today, I received an article about Barbaro that I thought was well worth posting, heartwarming even, especially the very last paragraph:

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=13020&nID=43&src=RA

Patty, what a wonderful way to memorialize Barbaro. That is beautiful.

It's also a very admirable thing that you are doing for the owners of, & for Ruler. How fortunate anyone who knows you, to have you pulling for them, whether they have animals, or are just good friends. That's awesome!

Awe Linda....thank you. I'm just now getting here as I was not feeling well for a few days....one of those sinus headaches that really slams you down when the last customer finally leaves.

I have good news to share today: Ziggy lost about 15 pounds this week. It's slow progress but it's progress. It's not easy getting weight off of a possible IR horse because you're not supposed to skip any meals, just make them smaller, so you don't send his insulin levels into an irradic state of ups and downs. I'm anxious for more and faster progress but, it's better for him to go slow and steady. I'll take any progress at this point, when he feels better, I'll feel better right along with him...it's a mom thing I guess.

Miss Henny is doing well with her new pen for outside time. When she's ready to come in for the night, the perches on her little house roof. Her inside friend though has me puzzled---> She stays in a cage for the night then goes out loose...but what she does next makes me crazy....no matter where you put her, she doubles back, doodles on the steps, then disappears for the rest of the day. What the heck is that about? Any chicken shrinks on the board...lol?

I guess I better get moving on the emails but I think first, I'll go take a nice walk on the beach. This has been a week that I really don't care to repeat. It's so hard to be happy/perky when you know your only kid is upset. He's a good worker I hear, just having trouble getting into the comp. science field where he really belongs..........

Have a great rest of the day and thanks for visiting......and a one and a two...let's walk.

Zooming thru on my way to run errands, then leave for a seminar later this afternoon.

I received this update from Ruler's owner just a little while ago and thought you would all like to see it :
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Just had a great report from the vet yesterday when she examined Ruler's legs. She is very happy w/ his healing and has removed all his leg bandages and wants the air to finish healing his wounds. She is very confident that he will be sound again as well. Thanks for all your prayers and I am so excited to see him doing well. He will always be special to us and hopefully a great show horse also.

Thanks again for all your prayers and thinking of him.
jackie

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Given the extent of his injuries, I am bowled over that he is doign so well, a true testament to his aftercare. Jackie must really be doing a heck of a job to pull him thru this, I can't wait for our local paper to run the story. Perhaps next week I can talk to the editor again to see if we are far enough from the elections to run it.

XXOO Zooooom.......................