Welcome 2022

 Christmas morning has arrived. I am sitting here once again enjoying my coffee and the peacefulness that early morning brings with it. An excellent start to another beautiful day. I can't believe 2021 is coming to an end,and it is time to look back on the year already. 

The year started like every other winter in Montana, sometimes snowy and cold and other times nice and sunny. 😉

We did find out early in 2021, that the place where I boarded my horses was going to be put up for sale in spring. That meant we started 2021 to find a place to board 7 horses. We had time, so I just started the hunt by keeping my eyes and ears open. January rolled into February, and brought some of the coldest temps I have ever seen here in Montana. We were dipping into the -20 and -30s. It lasted for about a week, I guess. I can't remember exactly how many days, just know that it was cold and miserable for that time. For the first time ever since owning my little Mazda, it wouldn't start. The cold finally did the battery in. 

Once we climbed out of the extreme cold, I was back on the hunt for a place to board the ponies. I found a place that could take all 7, so we reserved our spots for spring and felt a huge weight lift off our shoulders. In February, we also decided to buy our own house with land. This was both an exciting and scary decision. 

But wait, February still had more surprises for us in store. The last weekend of the month was the loose horse sale, so of course, we attended as part of the horse rescue. Long story short, at the end of the sale, Sarah K found herself standing in the parking lot with a 4.5-month-old colt that wasn't halter broke. He was given to us because of his crooked leg. So what do you do? Well you call the owners to where you board and ask permission to bring home a baby horse to foster (now named Gage). 

Ok, I think we can move on from February now. Winter rolled into spring, and we found ourselves very busy. We were caring for the new baby foster horse and ours, all while hunting for a house with land. The housing market was pure craziness; you had to put in an offer the minute the house came on the market. April brought the house that we would put an offer in on. A tiny house on a hill that had 14 acres. Two days later, we got the call; our offer had beat out the others, and we would be homeowners. Let's just skip the next two months because they ended up being a giant blur of excitement to finally have my horses at home with me and stress. 

Summer was arriving; by June, it was proving to be a hot and dry year. We were in a drought, and hay shortages were on the horizon. It did not matter to me because my heart was happy the day we moved into our new little house with the dogs, and the horses would be home a few weeks later. Literally, nothing can compare to the feeling of bringing my horses home! 

Here is how we spend summer: Moving, buying and stacking hay, fencing, and building new shelters/ buildings on the property with my parent's help! Literally could not have made this move or completed all these projects without Garry. We were so thankful!  Oh, and we made probably 300 hundred trips to the dump. I literally have never been to the landfill as much in my life as I have been this summer.

Lots of happenings this summer, in the middle of everything else, we had a wildfire within 7 miles of the house, emergency trip to Bozeman in the middle of the night on July 3rd for Gage as he colicked due to his hernia. 

As summer was coming to an end, we agreed to take in another foster horse until she could be adopted. In August, we welcomed Miss Molly, a Belgian mare. Molly was supposed to be here for maybe a month then available for adoption. Garry was here building and working on our property in that time frame, and he fell in love with her. So Miss Molly would stay as my parents decided to adopt her. 

With fall arriving, it meant winter was right around the corner. Yikes, where had summer even gone? Fall was spent getting ready for winter. And well, here we are now in winter. 

2021 almost seemed to blur together. We had so much going on. We both stayed at our same jobs. Sarah loves her job at a small animal veterinarian's office, and I love my career as a medical coding advisor. We have been in our new house for 6 months now; it still seems like a fairy tale some days. I can't believe it, we finally got our own home with land for my horses. I open the door every morning and say good morning to my horses 😀. I love every second of it. 

In 2022, I look forward to being a bigger part of Team 1 Horse and assisting in saving more draft horses. The rescue helped many horses this year. Enjoy pictures of some of their pictures. 

 From my family to yours Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope 2022 brings everyone happiness. 

  

Ending 2020, Looking Towards 2021

It is Christmas and once again I am sitting down enjoying the peacefulness of early morning. Every year I say it and I will say it again next year, time flies by. I feel like it was just yesterday I was sitting down the write the recap of 2019. 2020 has been a different year as a whole for the world. 

January started and we were pretty lucky that the winter season had been nice to us. I was finally going into my last semester for my Bachelors degree. The horses were still in Columbus staying with our friends Kelli and Clint. Our days were filled with the normal things around our house work, school, dogs, oh and dreaming of Spring of course. 

As winter slowly started to fad into spring we were heading into March with some crazy weather swings.  It would be warm then snow storm then back to above freezing. It was a weird weather pattern that seemed to be repeating itself. Unfortunately, weather swings like that are always hard on horses. The first week of March we found ourselves saying goodbye to our sweet foster horse, Asher. He had been with us since November of 2019 and we thought we were on the up side of the battle, but colic was too much for him to handle and he left us and many others with broken hearts in his absence.

As March continued 2020 started giving us a glimpse of what was to come for the year. Pixie was diagnosed with Heaves. We got notice that we needed to move the horses again and talk of a new virus was starting to ramp up.  

As Spring was finally arriving in Montana, I had been sent home to work remote due to COVID-19. Sarah's work place had decided to shut down for the month of April out of precaution due to Covid. That meant we were home together all the time! That was both good and bad. 😉

April and May we worked on moving all 6 of the horses to their new home in Laurel. Yes, Laurel! Less than 15 miles from my house. For the past 6 years we had been driving 50 miles to see them in Columbus. I was excited to have them near by again! We found the nicest family that has pasture and land to ride on. I can't say it enough that we were beyond blessed to have meet them and have them welcome us and the horses to their home.  

In May, I officially graduated from MSUB with my degree in Business and Accounting. It was a day I had worked long and hard for!  

Spring started to turn to summer and COVID was still the talk of the world. Restrictions had started to lift, Sarah was back to work full time, me...well I was still working from home for the most part. I thought I would be home for a few weeks, but it was looking to be months. We carried on with what would be our new routine for 2020, which included seeing the horses daily with 2 that need meds once a day for PPID.

Summer we found ourselves busy with the horse rescue, we were both on the board. We fostered a Belgian Stallion named Boomer for a month. He was a good boy during his stay and we were happy to be part of his new chapter in life. 

I feel like before we knew it summer was coming to an end. We had stayed busy with horses, dogs, work and of course the horse rescue. We had didn't ride as much as we have in the past years, but that was ok as we were enjoying our time with the horses and dogs. 

In August after 5 months of working from home I went back to work in the office. That was a change, but it was nice to see people again. 😃

Fall was coming and I was planning a trip to Corvallis to spend the weekend with Jasmin at the Rescue for the annual fundraiser. The weekend was a huge success with a fun filled day. I was able to meet some of the drafts I hadn't meet before and I was able to celebrate my birthday with special friends, including my life long friend Hannah. 

As fall continued on we welcomed a new foster horse, Charm, a Belgian cross. We also extended our backyard for the dogs. They enjoyed having a much bigger yard to run in! 

Winter was arriving in our area and COVID started to surge come November. I found myself back at home working for most of November. Mid November I passed my exam to become a Certified Orthopedic Surgery Coder. As Sarah put it I got more letters to go behind my name.😀

Here we are back to December, it has been a different year to say the least in the face of the pandemic. This year we made some new friends, got to see some old ones and for that I am thankful. I can't wait to see what 2021 has in store of us. 

From my family to yours, we wish you the best for 2021!

The Battle Against Canker Starts

Three farrier appointments later, two of those three included a vet so we could sedate Charm, and we had back shoes with plates officially on by Nov 10th. We were set! I had the shoeing stock at my barn, stationed right next to my trailer (delivery of the stock was delayed due to mud). The trailer has lights so for the short days ahead due to winter. 

All we had to do going forward was to unbolt the hospital plate from the shoe and pack with gaze then wrap one time, bolt the plate back on the shoe and away we go. See pictures below:

No problem, right? We have the shoeing stock and oral sedatives. The farrier made the process look fairly simple. The was one problem, ok maybe 2 problems. Charm was barely touched by the oral sedative and my farrier has what I would compare to super human strength. Charm isn't what I consider a huge horse, he is smaller in size for a draft horse cross probably weights about 1500lbs. So compared to my Goliath, not a super big horse. Not huge, but plenty big enough to make it nearly impossible for me to pick up his feet. The plan was that I would be doing this alone since I don't really have anyone to come help me before 5:30pm on the week days. 

It was quickly discovered that I would not be changing his bandages alone. Heck if Sarah and I could get his bandages changed with both of us there it would be a miracle. The first day we attempted it without my farrier it took 2 hours! 2 hours of fighting to get his foot tied up to the stand. We got it up there more than once, only to have him fight and rip it away mid bandage change. We just couldn't get it tied tight enough. We called defeat that day and put him out without the plate on. The next day we gave him the oral sedative and somehow were able to get both feet done and bandages changed. That day gave us all sorts of hope! We had, with minimal fight, gotten him to take the oral drugs and he didn't try to kick or fight too bad while drugged. So we went into Sunday feeling like we got this! Phew just give the drugs and all will be fine. 

Sunday came and it did NOT go like it had the day before. He knew our plan with the oral drugs now. So he was not having it that day! Remember we are short, old, and out of shape when compared to a draft horse. So even in a stock trying to get him to hold still to get the drugs UNDER his tongue is a little bit of a workout. We got it done, but he was already worked up and 45 minutes later he was sleepy, but not sleepy enough to not fight. One foot got done, the next one not so much. Ugh we called defeat a few hours in. He had a few minor cuts on his leg from kicking the wood block and fighting the ropes so much. 

After we put him back in his pasture, I was in tears. It was hard on us and hard on him. There was lots of cussing and wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. Did we need to call complete defeat and say it wasn't possible, we couldn't treat his feet? I sent a message to the founder of the rescue and the advisor saying I wasn't sure we had the ability to treat him. He may need to go back to the rescue headquarters. 

But here is the thing, neither Sarah or I like to give up easily. Or well give up at all on an animal that we know could have hope. The next day the brainstorming started. There are no guarantees, but we are taking a different approach now. 

Meeting Charm...

 I think the conversation started something like this between Sarah and I:

      Me:" Hey this horse has canker in all 4 feet, do you want to foster him?" Her: "What?! How is he standing, and what did you just sign us up for?" Me: "I don't know?"

Flash forward 1 month later, I found myself staying at the public auction yard with a sort of skinny draft mix horse that needed electrolytes as he had just arrived from MN. Easy peasy! Well we both wore a little of it and he got most of it, but that was as good as it was getting. I said good night and walked away wearing his green alfalfa slobber in my hair and all over my shirt. Overall, he was a pretty chill dude that most definitely had canker in all 4 feet. I knew as I walked back to the car from his paddock that our adventure was just getting starting. 

My farrier had already laid out a plan for us because I knew next to nothing about canker. What I did know was that it is hard to treat and most people are only trying to treat it in 1 foot at a time. Why not try to tackle all 4 feet, right? Just treat each hoof daily, sounded easy enough. 

The next week Charm arrived at my barn. I gave him a few days to settle in and then went to see how he was with this feet. Started with the front, safer that way. I didn't know if he was a kicker. Personally, I don't like to get kicked, it hurts. So off to work we went, I leaned over and said "foot" he stomped and then swoosh he tried to kick me with his back foot. Yes, he kicked forward with his giant back leg. Ok, well that was a first for me. Clearly this wasn't going to go quite as well as I had planned. Let's try the other front foot. Lots of stomping with it is what we got. No trying to kick my head off though on that side, so there was that. Well we left it at that for the day, no way I was winning that battle. Put a call in to my amazing farrier told him that we might have a slight problem because it appears Charm doesn't like his feet handled. He said ok we will figure it out.  

With that our adventure with Charm and trying to treat his canker in all 4 feet officially started...

Riley,Thyroid issues, and switching vets.

People close to me know our quest to find a small animal vet for our dogs has been a bit of a challenge recently. Years ago we left our long time vet because she told us the rash our cat had was probably fleas. Uhm, no I knew it wasn't, and in the end it was not. Then there was Devan's EPI battle. When I had to defend my feeding of raw when that vet wanted me to feed a diet primarily made up of potatoes we never went back.

Ranting (fair warning): Riley (My Pitbull) had his thyroid levels checked yesterday. He has lost more weight recently so my guess was he was a little over treated and his thyroid numbers were high. Well we arrive and weighed him...he has lost weight. Something I knew already, but then the tech was sure he had lost over 10lbs cause apparently they have his last weight at 58lbs. He weighed in at 48 yesterday. I told them their weight last June had to be off cause when he was in his prime he was about 60lbs, so last June he probably weighed closer to 54 lbs like the weight last May said. Not to mention he didn't gain 4lbs last May to June so their scale was clearly off. The Vet tech and I proceed to "talk" about it in the lobby. She didn't believe me and I was irritated, so I politely ended the conversation.

Flash forward to my conversation with the Vet on the phone: Riley's blood work comes back perfect, except his thyroid levels are a little high (oh really- shocking) She decides to lower his med dose by 1mg.

Then the vet proceeds to ask me what kind of food I feed him cause he has lost a lot of weight. I didn't even bring up the fact that their scale was wrong...whatever, lol. I told her how much and what he eats. He eats just about 2 1/2+ cups dry and a cup give or take of the homemade food a day. Her response: Well add in another 1/2 cup a day.

Fine I will do, but here are my thoughts on this...

1. My dog hasn't lived to almost 13 with a perfect blood panel because I starve him.

2. If his thyroid is overactive he could still lose weight even if I up his food. As has been the case recently. (For a dog his size and activity level this amount of good quality food should be more than enough) In his prime he weighed around 60-65lbs and only ate 2 to 2 1/2 cups dry food.

3. She should have asked me more questions about the protein and fat levels of his food. I told her the protein level, but she didn't remark to it.

I am going to add in some digestive plant enzymes with pre and probiotics (not because the vet suggested it, which she should have in my opinion). I am hoping with the lower does of thyroid pills and the added enzymes he should put the weight back on. Maybe not though as he is old and trying to get old dogs to gain weight can be a challenge.

Why is it so hard to find a Vet that doesn't treat us like we don't know what we are doing. (Disclaimer: I am already using a different vet for my other dogs, but it was easiest to keep Ri here for his thyroid pills. I stopped using this vet when they turned Peanut away when her spay incision split open.) I understand not every dog owner is super knowledgeable, but a vet should get to know their clients.

Well add this vet to the list of vets I won't use because they assume I am an idiot. I am sorry, but I want the best care for my animals and that means you don't assume we are idiots.

I am too the point now that I am thinking most of my dogs routine care will be taken care of by my horse vets. Stillwater clinic in Absarokee also does small animals and doesn't charge the large town fees like the clinics in Billings. And I love Dr. Olson. She has been great to us and all of our horses! If driving 45 minutes to the vet for routine care is what it takes then so be it. I trust her! Dr. Stacy (my other horse vet) already does my dogs vaccinations and has been great to us in answering questions when we have them. In Emergencies I will use Best Friends here in town, they did a good job for Peanut and pulled her through Parvo.

Ok, rant over :)

Welcome Duchess TWH

 Sometimes things happen when we least expect them too. Not long after we said goodbye to Jess we were approached by a friend in the horse world, who asked us if we would want to consider her horse Duchess as our next horse. We hadn't decided if we were going to get another horse at this point, but she made it very clear Duchess wasn't going anywhere anytime soon so we had all the time we needed to make our decision. We have known Duchess and her owner since 2010 when we first got Pixie. So we made the choice to work with her and get to know her more to see if she would fit in with our family. We started working with her and quickly started to fall in love. I have said for a long long time that I really wanted my next horse to be big and I would love to own another TWH, as Willow has shown me just how much I love the breed. Not only is Duchess a big Tennessee Walking horse, but she had a great mind also!

Last weekend, we had the vet pre-purchase exam done. She got the all clear that she would be good as a trail horse, however due to some conformation flaws she needed to be worked and conditioned to hit the trails. Truly that is with any horse, it doesn't matter if they have perfect conformation they need to be conditioned before hitting the trails for a long ride. So we made the decision, she was going to join the family as a trail horse for us. She will be perfect for me when riding with others that have horses that can move out. Her walk is huge and you can really cover some ground :) I am so excited to hit the trails with my other half and Willow this year (if Spring ever comes). Willow and Duchess will make the perfect trail riding match, they are both big walkers and we can really cover some ground.

When we were looking at buying Willow and I was "test" riding her, I said then "This mare and I are going to have some fun"... the last few weeks with Duchess, I had been thinking the exact same thing about her. Yesterday, Duchess and I rode inside all alone and she was amazing. We kept it short and worked on relaxation. And in the end when I jumped down (somehow forgetting just how far away the ground is, lol) I looked at her and said "We are going to make a great team and we will have fun".

Welcome to the family Duchess. You quickly won our hearts over and we look forward to many years with you!

She really wanted treats, lol.

After our ride. We are riding in just the halter :)

Pixie in background, Willow, Navi, and Duchess

 

Saying Goodbye- Jess

It has been just over 2 weeks since we had to say goodbye to Jess. I thought maybe as time went on I would be able to come up with a post that would justice in remembering him. However, the truth is I still can't. Maybe the day will come when I can, but for now I still can't quite find the words that do him justice. So I will just write this short blog in memory of him...

 He meant the world to us and taught my partner everything she knows about finding a partnership with a horse. I have always been a "mare" person, but at the same time I have always said some times you just can't beat a good gelding. For me that gelding was Jess. He wasn't just good, he was great. He tried his heart out every time we set out to do a job with him. Even though he was bought for my other half, I always enjoyed getting to work with him. My favorite memory of him is when we did the games at the ranch. We went into the arena had fun, and we won a lot of the games. He always took care of us when we rode. Well with the exception of if he was in a muddy bogging place, he hated that and he would buck then. Well and then there was the electric fence incident...he crow hopped good with that also. And then well that one time him and Willow left us to walk home. Oh and when he decided to rush down the mountain with my partner when we took our first trail ride. He wanted to go home. I replay those memories, because I love them just as much as the times he was perfect! Those memories make me smile and laugh because he wasn't always perfect, but he knew his job and did it well.
Simply put there will never be another "Jess" for us. He was a once in a lifetime horse. He is in a better place now. Young and happy. Most likely working cows and eating all the green grass he can get. Our hearts are broken, and time will heal some of the pain. But we will always cherish the sweet memories we have of our boy. A piece of our hearts went with him that day we said goodbye, but he forever lives on in our memories. I will forever cherish the time we had with him.

We sent off tail hair to have bracelets made and will be getting tattoo's also to remember him by.

Rest in peace Jess. We miss you!

My other half, Sarah, riding Jess.