Fencegate

Ah, spring.  The birds are singing, the frogs are emerging to thrum and shrill, the mud is everywhere, just absolutely everywhere.

We've had a stiff breeze helping to dry the ground out, and some sunny days to boot, so I thought it might be a nice time to turn the horses out back for some exercise.  They were feeling good, running and bucking and snorting.  

And then Sam, who at 20 years old should know better, missed a turn, slid under the fence and took off like a banshee toward the house. He came back looking for Roxy and steamrolled one of our dogs before letting me catch him. Never a dull moment!  [And please excuse my blue language at the end... it's never good when you realize your horse has just made a jailbreak!]

Fortunately, both Sam and our poor little vicious pit bull Ginger were both fine.  :)

Wisdom & Gravity

"I'm grateful for our house,

for this cozy bed and covers,

for my friends and for gravity....

ya know mom, with out gravity 

we would be just flying around in the sky...."

                    — G. Cure, age 5

Horses Making Weird Faces

This was Roxy, two days before we left for Michigan.  She slipped in her muddy paddock and tweaked her back just before her cross-country trip, to the point where she was limping on two legs.

Poor Little Miss Cow-Eyes.  The very patient woman standing next to her is a vet based in Boulder who specializes in equine acupuncture and chiropractic.  Roxy absolutely detests needles, so acupuncture was out.  But my normally happy-go-puppydog mare was in so much pain, we had to suffer through some adjustments from the good Doctor.  The picture sums up how it went.

I was very nervous about the horses making the trip.  Would Roxy's sore back make it twice as hard on her?  Would Sam's arthritic hocks flare up?  Would they just plain freak out at the stress, the haulers, the strange trailer filled with strange horses?  Turns out, they were the best-behaved horses out of a group of seven.  We took the drivers out for dinner after Sam and Roxy were unloaded into their new home, a fleeting connection that ended in hugs.

Roxy's registered name is Denver's Ace of Hearts.  She's traveled about 35 miles in her lifetime from her original place of birth.  Sam, well, who knows about him.  My guess is he hasn't gone too far either.  But they are settled in and loving the new digs.  They have more space than they ever have before, with real green growing GRASS!  Well, not at the moment.  But it's coming!  We're all ready for Spring.

They're all settled in and happy [along with their new pasture mate Sparty].  

Now if it would just warm up a bit...