Animal House

Do you ever feel like the course of your life revolves around and is determined by critters? It was a rhetorical question; of course you do.

On Wednesday, the last day of my mini vacation, Mr. Fry and I headed to Gainesville for breakfast and to get my truck inspected. As we backed out of the garage, we saw Poco standing by the run-in shed, but no Jaz. He's usually not far, so Mike got out to check, and found him laying in the run-in shed.

Red flags should have flown. Bells and sirens should have sounded. Those horses never ever go in the run-in shed unless there's food in there. I don't care how inclement the weather is, they don't hang out in the shed. Jaz got up as soon as Mike approached, and we were on our way. I thought nothing more of it.

Much later in the day, Mike came into my office and said Jaz was laying out by the round pen. What? Although the round pen is level, the land to this side of it slopes sharply downward into the creek bed, which has been like a raging river from 3 weeks of rain. That's not a place where the Boyz rest ever. This time, my spidey senses were tingling. I looked out the dining room window and saw him lying on his stomach (like a dog) in that telltale position with his front legs stretched way out in front of him. I grabbed a halter & lead rope and sprinted that way.

Jaz was visibly shivering, although it was in the high 50s-low 60s. I tied him to the hitching post. Mike got his blanket and I made a bucket of warm Gatorade. With much cajoling, Jaz drank about half of it. When I rubbed his belly, he stretched way out. Yup, been here, done this before. So we walked and walked. Finally, he pooped, but it was super hard. Called the vet, and loaded Jaz up in the hope of avoiding a middle-of-the-night emergency vet visit. As we pulled away, Poco was wearing a trench along the front fence.

I'm so glad I was home and we caught it early. We still had to do the whole treatment, and Jaz was a stinker about it. At one point, he whipped his head around and clunked me in the forehead with the twitch. I left with a tube of Banamine and orders not to let Jaz eat for 24 hours. Right. Remember how well it worked last time I tried to contain him? Called Heather to reserve 2 stalls, stopped at Casa Fry to pick up the still-fretting Poco, and headed that way. Jaz (the poopin'-est, peein'-est horse on the planet) didn't poop again until the next day, but that didn't stop him from protesting the lack of groceries in his stall. He's fine now, but I think I'll leave them there for a week while our place dries out.

Jaz doesn't do well when the temperature dips. His last colic was under similar circumstances, only it was windy, much colder, and sleeting on a Friday night — and my vet was out of town (of course). Mike and I now realize we need to pay closer attention to the weather and to Jaz. But who would have thought 50-60˚ posed a danger? The high that afternoon was 72˚! Just goes to show you: stuff can go wrong at any time and you can't be complacent.

Different issue. I got home from work yesterday and Martha the bratweasel was up by the front gate just as pleased with herself as she could be. I yelled at her to get back in her yard, but you know how much good that did. I managed to get my truck down the driveway without running over her, caught her and put her back in the dog yard. By the time I got back around to the garage, she was at my heels again. Lather, rinse, repeat two more times. I looked around, but wasn't able to find her escape route.

Let the dogs out this morning and by the time I was in here at the computer, Martha was outside my window scratching at the screen. Jeez Louise! At least let me have my coffee. I grabbed gloves, wire cutters, chicken wire, and my coffee. I plugged 2 possible places, but I don't know yet if they were the right ones. Little imp.

In other news, after doing live chat online with Sony, we were unable to fix my camera. I sent it to a regional service center. It's still under warranty. I already miss it, so I hope they don't keep it long.

It's a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning, and I'm looking forward to hanging out with my Boyz and my Barn Buddies.

Have a great weekend, and don't forget to smooch your ponies.