Farm Fresh Blog

Thou Shalt Not Chase Horses.

That's one of the Ten Commandments on a farm. (I think it's somewhere after Thou Shalt Not Turn On A Water Hose To Fill A Trough And Walk Away For A Minute.)  Little boys who violate this commandment often end up here . . . at the Vet's . . .

  . . .  if they're lucky.

If they're not lucky, they could end up here . . .

 . . . in the Pet cemetery outside the kitchen window.

 Did he learn anything?  I don't know.  Did Lily learn not to leap at the boards to bite the horses' faces when she was his age?  Nope.  She slipped her skinny little leg between the boards and broke it in two places.

And to this day, she will still leap up and bite at the horses' faces if she's allowed in the stable. So who knows.

I do know that I spent the better part of yesterday and last night wallowing in guilt because I was a Bad Doggy Mommy and had allowed my Little Buddy to get into a situation whereupon he was hurt.  I had even laid his leash out on the kitchen table to use it to walk him through that paddock and into his bunkhouse, but I got busy. I got rushed. I got distracted.

And that's when accidents happen.

Put on work uniform?  Check!
Put Blue Heeler in his prison?  Check!
Put Livestock Guardian Dog in her prison?  Check!
Put Border Collies in their Bunkhouse?  Nope, still gotta do that!
Get Border Collies. Open gate.  Crap!!  Horses in Yard!  Crap!! Crap!! Crap!!!
Desperately attempt to recall puppy.  Puppy shoots me the paw.  ("Mom! I'm busy!!!)
Helplessly watch nightmare unfold. Pick up puppy and call vet. 

And so it played out.

Here is the x-ray:

Want a closer look?

It's greenstick fracture of the radius.  Not bad.  It should heal just fine. In fact, since it's pretty stable, the vet opted against a cast, as that can create its own headaches  (Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt.  Lily went through 3 casts when she broke her leg!) He just advised crate rest for 6 weeks. (joy, joy, thrill, thrill)

In one of the multitude of phone conversations I've had with Dear Friend regarding this incident, where I replayed the event over and over and over again, wallowing in guilt like a pig in mud, she pointed out that if I wanted to get technical, it wasn't my fault.

"It isn't??"

"No, it's Robby's cow's fault!"

"It is???"

"YES!  Because if that stupid heifer had not been climbing through the chain link fence between Ona and the stallion, it would not have been damaged so badly that you had to move Ona to the front until you could repair it.  And . . . if Ona had not been in the front, she would not have kicked Trace. Soooo . . . the fault lies solely with Robby's cow!

God, I love that woman!

That's why she is my Dear Friend.

Now, on to more news!  (See!  I'm just full of news today!)

Newsflash #1 - I sold Ona.  I know.  I know.  I struggled with it.  But I haven't had the time to drive her regularly and Other Half was asking me to consider selling her. I had refused. But I couldn't ignore the fact that I just didn't have the time to trailer her out to drive, so I was turning it around in my head. Then I found out that an old friend of mine wants to learn how to drive. She is a lifelong horse person who has developed a health problem that may someday prevent her from riding, so she is determined to learn how to drive.  Ona is the perfect teacher. It would be selfish of me to keep Ona when she needs the horse.  Plus, she will have the time to regularly drive her and possibly get her back in competition, and she is an awesome home.  She has promised to sell her back to me if she ever decides that she's outgrown a lesson horse and wants something else. AND. . . she will be about 15 minutes from my house!  It is a win-win for everyone!

So . . . THAT'S why Ona was in the front paddock.  I didn't DARE take the chance that because a cow compromised a fence, my Senior Citizen Stallion would breed a horse that I had just SOLD!

Life is funny, isn't it?  Trace is home now. The sheep are in the back yard.  His crate is set up beside the patio door where he can watch Sheep TV to keep himself entertained.  He's calmly sleeping, happy to be home . . . probably tired of me hugging on him.

Newsflash #2 - We get hitched tomorrow and I get to wear my Hideously Beautiful Boots!  Other Half has begged me to wear another, more conservative, pair, but I refuse! If I'm getting married in blue jeans, I'm getting to wear my Hideously Beautiful Boots!