lots to catch up on.

This foal has so much love in his heart, he wears it on his forehead!

I am reading back through the old posts and oh my goodness, there is so much I've forgotten to post about.

I forgot to post about Stacy and I's trip to SC to bring Terri more foals. WOW that was interesting. I was supposed to go by myself at 11 am, but the truck wouldn't start, so I had to wait for Stacy. We left in the big Ford at about 4 pm. We delivered the foals to Terri's house around 1230 or 1 am, found the shadiest hotel in Charlotte to crash for the night. Talk about SCARY... there were four Charlotte cops on duty at the Motel 6!!! Oh well... we were only there for a few hours. We were supposed to meet someone for foals in Paris, KY around 1 pm, so we got up at 5 am. Thinking it would be a good idea to check the oil in the truck, we quicly discovered there was NO oil. NONE. 8 quarts in, still didn't register on the dipstick! The truck has a serious oil leak. We bought a case of oil and kept pourin' it in, all the way home. We were supposed to stay on 79 all the way to 68 in Kentucky... I fell asleep for a while, and when I woke up, we were at a gas station. We leave to get back on the highway, and Stacy says, "North, right?" 81N or 81S? WHAAAAT?! I said, "Where the heck is 79??" Yeah, we missed a turn. An hour back. So we were super late. We didn't get to Paris until about 4 pm. GAH!

I also forgot to tell you what happened to Ruffie. When we took Ruffie to Pete's, he said that his suspensories were too deteriorated for him to be very useable in the future. His best option would be euthanasia. It is so incredibly difficult to find homes for "pasture only" horses, and they have no guarantee for a future. If someone does have room for a companion horse, but they begin to run out of money, the first horse to go will be the one that's unrideable. For this reason, we typically euthanize horses that will not be rideable. Well, I got a little suckered into this situation... of course it was entirely my own fault. Seeing as I was the one who picked Ruffie up, talked to his trainer, rode him for the first time... I was more attached than was wise. And I took him home. Yup, Ruffie's living the high life in Columbus. He will be boarded with a friend of mine when I move, and we're going to see if some rehab can't get him reasonably sound. It is a very stupid financial commitment on my part, but I can't help it. I got too involved. Not smart!!! But I love the guy.

Equine Affaire went very well!! More than the money and the adoptions, it is spreading the word that it the most beneficial to us at Equine Affaire. Since the event, people have been contacting us left and right about adopting. Yeah! That's what we need. Today, two foals went to Vermont, four went to Massachussetts, and one went to Conneticut. We're spreading our little tendrils wherever we can, looking for adoptions! Oreo got adopted at Equine Affaire, to someone with a 2 year old nurse mare foal. Chop and Jack both also went to Equine Affaire, but they haven't been adopted yet, although there's been a lot of interest.

Zen and Norell are currently hanging out at the in-town farm. Still no interest in Norell - I'm surprised. She's such a lovely Thoroughbred. Zach was adopted by Leah, who just purchased her first house and is getting her fencing ready. Scout was returned from his adoptive home, and Tracy, our barn manager and his original owner, is now able to keep him. (Yeah!) We have a little two year old pintaloosa nurse mare foal here that Rachel is taking. It's apparently the month for LCC staff to adopt LCC horses! Ha, ha.

Mikey was euthanized last week. It seems that he had a broken and/or dislocated tailbone, something that no one had noticed. He had some manure in his tail, but we all thought he had diahhrea. He was living at the in-town farm with Chop, so we didn't realize he was unable to lift his tail. He had no feeling within three inches of the tail head, and his tail was basically only still there because of the skin. Victoria has dealt with this problem before, and typically without amputation, the tail becomes necrotic. With amputation, he becomes a very special needs horse... the entire tail would have had to come off, which is basically spinal surgery! It is expensive and risky, and he would have needed extreme bug protection as a result. So, the decision was made to euthanize him. These decisions suck, but we have to do what is best for the horse in the long run.

The Morgan stallion, the older one, is a handful. I mean, a real handful. He needs an extremely confident and experienced owner. He is so hormonal! Typically about 15 days after castration the testosterone starts to run out, so he still has a little while. The younger stallion is a big sweetheart. He is scared, but not at all aggressive, unless the Morgan comes at him.

For those of you following the little black Percheron filly, she "noodled out" on Sunday after Equine Affaire. Victoria thinks she was at least 4 weeks premature. She just was not designed for life outside the womb. We gave her IV fluids 24 hours a day, tubed her several times a day... she just didn't make it. We also lost 79, the little black and white colt, yesterday. A vicious virus ripped through the barn in the last two days, and honestly, we thought most of them were going to bite the dust. Severe diahhrea followed by colicing. The black and white colt was one of the first to get sick, so we sent him and the bay filly to the vet. All of the foals here pulled through... after a TON of time and work was put into them. Two nights ago, we gave babies IV fluids for about 5 hours. It was exhausting. BUT they all pulled through. The last of it is just clearing up today... keep your fingers crossed that the new load doesn't get the same thing.

The new load of babies will arrive around one this afternoon. Keep an eye if you're thinking of adopting! There are still several beautiful foals left around here, and they are looking for homes.

If my leg ever gets better, I *might* get to ride sometime before I leave for NH... GRR! I'm sick of being crippled. Now I understand why Victoria gets so frustrated when her foot is bothering her... it's obnoxious!

Happy Easter everyone...