Friday, June 22, 2012

Patients and Patience


Mr Potamus had a foxtail in his foot. Also known as cheat grass. Nasty stuff that grows barbed heads and works its way thru the skin of their feet, ears, eyes and mat up in their coats. Because they are barbed and pointed, they only travel one direction, so when it penetrates and gets inside a dogs body, it spells trouble. Sometimes it will travel into a joint, or even into more delicate places. Other times it might just abcess and be flushed out. Two years in a row Cletapotamus has had his ear drums ruptured by an errant foxtail. I was trying so hard to keep him out of those pastures this year, but its pretty much all over. This year it was in his foot. It swelled up real bad and was very painful. He wouldn’t let me touch it, or soak it, or do anything at all to help him. 




Lucky for us, the vet was at the ranch doing trich tests on the bulls, so he was able to help Mr Potamus. We had no muzzle, but he did have sedative.
He gave Mr Potamus the lightest dose and it worked very nicely.
He was able to open up the entry hole further and after an hour of sticking and probing, got most, if not all of the offensive seedhead out of Cletus' foot. It was working its way into his wrist joint, so we were lucky to get it when we did.
Mr Potamus was totally apathetic. A few people came to watch. My friend from ‘next door’ decided to have a seat and do a little needed grooming and cut the mats out of Cletus’ “pants”. Since I can't get down and back up again too well anymore, his grooming has been pretty much non existent.  He doesn’t much like being brushed anyway, so this was a great opportunity.
He finally woke up, a little sore. After 5 days of tricking him into taking his medicine, he is feeling a lot better, although he is still a bit dramatic.


The meatie chickens got big enough to move out of the milk shed, so they have been residing in the back yard and sleeping in the goatshed at night, as the goats are all out in the pasture with Bruno and the sheep. They have voracious appetites and are growing quickly. There are frequent meatie invasions everytime we head out to feed the calves. They are enjoying their stay here, at least.




My son Cody, is bringing Abby up for a short visit. He is also hauling a horse trailer with my old Paint Horse in it. I haven't seen the horse for 6 years, so it will be good to have him home. It's a long, long drive and I have been anxious about them, so naturally, they left at 5 a.m. to get an early start, then wound up with 2 flat tires on the horsetrailer which put them hours behind schedule on what is already a 13-15 hour drive depending on how things go. Abby is 4 so it is going to be a hard day for her, being confined to a vehicle, hard on her Daddy, who is driving, and hard on old Mister who hasn't been on a really long haul in his life. I'm petitioning heaven for things to go smoothly the rest of the day.

Meantime, while I wait anxiously,  I grind some Hard White Wheat we found at Costco. I was SO excited! Randy loves white bread and the Hard White is much milder than the Hard Red so I was really glad to be able to try it. I have it soaking overnight in some yogurt to make bread with, and tonite I will soak more for waffles in the morning, unless  Cody wants eggs benedict instead.
I have lamb marinating for shishkebabs tomorrow and have broccolli and chicken cooked up for tonite's casserole, which is one Cody used to request when he lived at home. I hope Abby likes it too. I have a feeling however, they are going to arrive much too late for dinner. 

They got here after 16 hours of driving. It was after 9:00 pm and Abby was as sweet as sugar, in spite of the long trip and the late hour. She reminds me so much of her daddy. I was surprised to see how big Abby had gotten and how small Mister was! I remembered he was not a big horse, but somehow in my mind, he had grown. He looks young, however, is in very good shape, has low mileage  and I think he has years of service yet to give me. I do grieve the 6 years he was gone, but I know he had a purpose in the life of the young girl I had given him to.

It was great to be  back on a horse I had trained myself, as he is the last one. He had forgotten a great deal in 6 years, but after a bit of riding, it was beginning to come back to him. I am looking forward to this summer. He made me feel as though I had found myself again.

Hopefully, Abby can take her second ride on him tomorrow, because the rest of the week is all about enjoying her and her dad. Sometimes I can't believe how blessed I am.



12 comments:

  1. So glad Mr Potamus is OK. Those foxtails are nasty.
    And there she is... "D", doing what she does... Jumping in and helping. It's the nurse in her and just who she is. Thanks for throwing in a photo of her. I miss her so.
    Mr, Potamus looks like he's lovin' life in that third photo. What a good dog.
    So nice that your son came to visit. Enjoy the horse. You always sound like riding was a great love of yours.
    Take care.

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    1. I don't put many pictures of other folk up, because I am afraid they might not like it. The critters have never complained to me tho so I'm not tenative about posting their mugs all over the internet. RIding has always been a big part of my life. I broke and trained horses for 30 years for the show ring and since the onset of my illness, I have had to give up so much of it, its been hard. Having the old Paint horse back is gonna be great! :)

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  2. Your joy is palpable through your words. I'm so happy for you! Your son, your granddaughter and your old horse, what a perfect package! Praying for you that time would slow just a bit so you can savor every precious second of this week.
    God bless you and your family.
    Kristi

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    1. Thanks! It was a very short whirlwind visit, but I will take what I can get. It was so awesome to see them. Forever wouldn't be long enough

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  3. So happy your beautiful pup is ok. Those foxtails are nasty, and I'll bet even worse with their long fur. Sounds like you will be enjoying your time with son and granddaughter. What a sweetie she sounds like! Thanks for the peek into your days.
    Lori

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    1. She's as cute as they come. She reminds me a LOT of her daddy! Thanks for stopping in!

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  4. So glad that Cletus will be O.K. those foxtails sound NASTY. (He is something of a ham for the camera, I see. )
    Tears of joy fell as I read your post, too. What a wonderful week you are going to have. :)Your Son, your Grand daughter and your paint pony. I agree with Kristi. we NEED to be able to slow time. It would be wonderful if good things could last longer. *sigh*
    Big Hugs all around.. CAROL DEE

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  5. I wish I could slow time. They were here, they are already gone again. But my appetite for them is insatiable. If they never left, I would be happy. Someday, it will be like that!

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  6. I am thinking! Cletus has the same look I get when I go to the Doctor. If your going to do anything to me, please, please put me to sleep. We have a grass called horse-tail or fox-tail and animals breath up the whole seed pod. It's a mess too. I used to stick it in my ears. Yes, I've acted strangely since. Amy says its because my head is full of horse-tails. Dan-el's head must be full of green beans and eggs cos thats where he put them, too. I could tell you enjoyed the short family visit. Amy always looks longingly at the door hoping they forgot something so she can see them a little bit longer. I decided when I go away and come to visit I'm always going to forget something. I miss my brother's too...now it's just the lump in throat feeling, not the hiding behind the barn bawling. old skinny eyes.

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    1. Thanks for the tip! I am sure I could easily slip something out of their stuff to lose in the house and prolong the ecstasy! I am dying to know just HOW Dan-el got an egg in his ear! No wonder he doesn't like them! As far as your head being full of horsetails, I guess that is positive proof of the grey matter between your ears, since they didn't exit the other side.
      Don't tell anyone, but I was behind the barn bawling. I haven't gotten to the lump in the throat stage yet.
      Thanks for coming by, old skinny eyes! It's always a pleasure!

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  7. I'm glad the vet was able to help Cletus and that ya'll were able to take advantage of the opportunity and doing a little grooming!
    How nice that you have your horse back and that you got to enjoy your visit with your son and granddaughter, just wish it could have been longer for you! :)

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  8. Thanks, Candy, me too! But it was great to see them, even if only for a little bit!

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