Hope I'm Back!

~A woman's gotta know how to handle herself in any situation.~

~Gail Bailey 1910~

It's been two and a half weeks of this, that, and everything in between! I'm not sure where the week of Thanksgiving went to, but I do know that My Man and I had a wonderful, candlelit ham dinner at home...just the two of us (we're opting to go to Portland for Christmas).

Every year hundreds of these fat lil' Quail show up in Harney County. They dig all these holes in the snow getting to the seeds and grass under neith.

Well, I do know that we had a bunch of snow that week, I had a doctor appointment in Bend (which always takes the whole day with the driving), the horses had their shoes pulled, and the dogs got wormed. I was also working frantically on my Horsefly publication...which got to the publisher just in the nick of time the day of printing...we're not doin' that again!!! (which leads to the next paragraph)

So, Black Friday should actually be called Red Friday since I spent so much money...new computer, printer, software and going wireless as much as possible. I chose an HP all-in-one 200xt. So far I love it's color on the monitor, there's virtually no noise, but I'm not convinced that I like the 21 inch screen. I'm having a problem getting the font size to adjust; it's either way too big or so tiny that it's hard to read. Computers are always a work in progress...I'd appreciate any suggestions anyone might have.

Ah yes...the software. I gave up the ghost on my Microsoft Publisher and going for PagePlus X5, splurged and got Elements and Premier 9, and Microsoft Office 2010...I really should take these changes in small steps, but it just wasn't going to happen. I had to get a software that could do my Horsefly and convert it into PDF format (that's what was causing all the problems with the Horsefly). So, I've got 15 days to figure it out and have all my pages ready for the January issue...wish me luck!!

After all that, then came the trips to the vet...and of course the vet bills!!! On Dec 2 I loaded up all four dogs and Tat the cat into the truck...yep...in the cab; thank goodness it's got an extended cab. Abby, Cowboy and Bella Jo rode in the back seat. Cindy Sue likes to ride on the console and Tat started out in his box...but they exchanged positions about 10 minutes into the ride...

But I like the box mom!!!

Tat rode on the console most of the way into town (45 minutes)...I'm sure we were quite the sight!  Cindy Sue liked the box so much, I cut off the flaps and cut out a curve in one of the long sides, put all her night blankies in it and she's as snug as a bug in a rug!

So, the pups all got their shots. Abby had her ears looked at...she has an infection in both ears, and had developed an hemotoma in one of them just the day before...so we left her overnight so she could have surgery the next morning. I had the vet look into Cindy Sue's eyes because she'd been having a hard time seeing at night. She was bumping into things. The vet thought she might have glaucoma and referred us to an eye specialist in Bend.

So, off we go to Bend again two days later...on a snowy mornin'. It was slow goin'...and we were late, but we made it. The good news is that she doesn't have glaucoma, which is a very painful, debilitating disease. But, the bad news is that she does have PRA; Progressive Retinal Atrophy. It starts with loss of night vision and progressively the dog looses all sight...probably years before she's totally blind. So, we'll just deal with it one day at a time. We've started her on a supplement called Ocu-GLO, which is developed for dogs with the same ingredients that are used in human eye supplements.

Cindy Sue's havin' a run at the 'off leash' park in Bend. It's a nice break for her and Bella Jo on these long trips.

Bella Jo went with us of course for moral support!!! The two of them slept in the back seat of the car the whole way...they're good travelin' pups.

So, all the dogs and horses seem to be situated health-wise for now...but, today was my turn...when you turn 50 you know they want to you to do one of those dreaded colonoscopy procedures...I'm just glad it done and over with...for another 10 years!!!

Awwwwww...poor momma...

Let's just move on to Christmas!!! In fact, this Sunday is the annual Round Barn Open House...that'll take all the blues away!!

Open Wide for the Doctor!

~Keep neat and clean, avoid bad habits, be faithful,

and never take shit from anyone.~

~Rose White 1873~

LOL...that Rose White and I must have been twin sisters in a past life!!!

Last Wednesday, our new mobile veterinarian came out to do some dental work on the horses. Dr. Jessica Rue specializes in equine and nutrition. She did a great job, and the horses really liked her too...even though they got poked and prodded!!

Open wide Toby!!

The speculum is used to safely keep the horse's mouth open for the procedure. Of course the horse is sedated.

Dr. Jessica takes off the sharp points with an electric drill with special attachments.

Times sure have changed from the ol' hand float!

The most interesting thing was that Gus (my 2 year old gelding) had more sores on his cheeks and tongue than the older horses (from the sharp points). Dr. Jessica said that that is usually the case. Young horses need dental work more often than older horses because of their growth (changes in the mouth) and getting in their permanent teeth.

I knew that Gus was having issues with the snaffle, so I switched him over to the hackamore, but he still was gapping his mouth when I put too much pressure on the hackamore...what was happening is that the hackamore bars were pressing his cheek into the sharp points on his teeth...poor guy!!! Well, he's good to go for another 6 months. We'll have him checked again then.

Toby, Colt, Gus and Whiskey all got worked on. Colt and Toby both had a good equine dentist work on them in the past and it showed in their mouths; they didn't need too much work done. Whiskey had probably only had a hand float job done in his past and he had some pretty bad waves that will take a couple of visits to get straightened out. And Gus just needs to be checked more often because of his age.

What happened to me????

It's good to know that the insides of their mouths are comfortable for them to chew and carry the bit (she put bit seats in). We're very glad to have a qualified equine veterinarian in our area too...we've been lacking that for years!

Welcome to Harney County Dr. Jessica!!