Bust

The forecast promised a beautiful day, so I got up and got moving to finish my indoor chores as quickly as possible. I finished about 10:30 and carried grooming gear and tack outside. My plan was to ride Jaz down the road. Then, playing on Poco's distress at being left behind and ignored, I'd ride him. He is usually better behaved when I ride Jaz first and he stews about it. It was very windy, but I knew Jaz and I would be okay. If Poco was too worked up, I could always ride him in the round pen.

Jaz was lying down by the round bale when I walked back to halter him. He stood as I approached. I gave him a cookie, which he took, but rather than chewing it and looking for more, he just sort of rolled it around his mouth, slobbering. Uh-oh. I had noticed earlier this week that he seemed to be losing more of his grain than is normal for him, and I made a mental note to keep an eye on him. Well, here's your sign ... Of course, it's like 12:15pm, and the vet closed 15 minutes ago. Although I'm sure he's uncomfortable, this is not life threatening. An emergency farm call is not warranted.

Jaz's teeth are pretty gnarly on his best day. He still has his canines, both of which are chipped. I was unable to feel or see anything glaringly wrong — nothing broken at the gum line, no areas of swelling. Lots of slobbering, and several points that need to be filed, and that could be all it is. At any rate, he wasn't at all keen on me holding his head while sticking my hands in his mouth.

I called Heather and she suggested I get some senior feed until we can get him checked out. Mr. Fry came home, exhausted from his 12-hr. night shift. He agreed to take him to the vet on Monday, because we're short 4 people at work, and I can't in good conscience take time off right now.

Anyway, there went my ride on Jaz. Meanwhile, it had gotten even windier. I grabbed Poco and brushed a layer of scurf off him. He was only calm on the surface. It was so windy, my helmet, which was weighted down with my little horn bag (cookies, camera, phone, etc.), flipped and was blowing around. I clipped his bridle path and was promptly covered in hair. Pieces of the cedar trees were flying around, and Poco kept spooking, mostly in place. Nope, don't think I'm getting on you either. Since I was already covered in hair, I decided to mess around with the clippers, putting Paint Girl's body clipping tips to the test. She's right: short strokes work best and clip close to the skin. I love Poco's coloring when he's clipped.

I tried to sit on an empty CW container, but it was too windy for me to be that complacent — I had to stand. I got about half of his right front leg (which is where I decided to start for some incomprehensible reason) clipped when I noticed I was working really hard but not much was happening. Hmm, how long have I been using these clippers with that same blade? At least two years and probably more of roaching, bridle paths, and one botched body clip — probably time for a new blade. No prob, since I have to go get senior feed anyway. But it means Poco's walking around all wild and woolly ... except for half of his right front leg. Who is his mom?

I don't know what you're talking about,
I didn't touch that.

I found out how windy it was when I drove across the lake and the wind tried to turn my SUV into an amphibious vehicle. When I got to the feed store, the wind grabbed the door and literally threw me into the store. I crashed into a fellow shopper, which cracked us both up.

When I got back, Jaz was out back nibbling some grass. I filled a bucket about half full with senior feed mixed with a little bran and added lots of water. There's nothing wrong with his appetite.

Please say a prayer that the Million Dollar Pony just needs a float.