Update on the state of affairs

Sometimes, life really gets in the way of doing the things we love, like blogging. I've been holding down Wyvern Oaks solo for the last 6 weeks, because my husband has been off in Mexico doing this:

Here's the link to the Washington Post article, and the one from NPR, and the BBC. If you thought my husband was cool because he jousts, his day job is even more amazing. 

As usual, all the shit happens when he's gone. The dogs have started fighting, we had a tree fall down on the fence, and the painters accidentally knocked the hose loose from the washing machine so I flooded the laundry room.

Oh FFS.

Brego started to show signs of another abscess just days before hubby left, and we waited for it to blow but it didn't.

Suspicious looking.

When it didn't blow after two weeks, I had the vet out. When it still hadn't blown 10 days later, she came back, this time with the hospital farrier, and they took xrays to see where everything was located.

See those two dark lines going down from the hoof wall? Those are TWO rather large pockets of infection.

Roughly an hour of (unsedated) digging later, and we were left with this:

Holy hoofs, Brego.

They think that he had a white line infection somewhere deep in his foot (although the bottom of his foot is currently fine, so we had no way of knowing), and that the abscess last year didn't clear out the whole thing. The hole on the bottom right of the picture goes through to his sole (you can stick a shoe nail through, gag), and if you look in the big hole across the top you'll see a bunch of smaller holes. Those are all infection tracks. I'm flushing everything daily with betadine and copper sulfate, and actually can stick a needle in each of those small holes and flush them. Y'all, holes in horse feet are SO WRONG. 

And I know it's crazy, but Brego has been sound this entire time and is currently out galloping around like a nutcase, despite the swiss-cheese-like appearance of his foot. Vet and farrier will be visiting every two weeks together until we get this all cleared up and grown out. Fun times.

As for Paddy, he's doing fine. He's mostly being neglected, because I spend all my time riding Taran. I did have a great ride at my trainer's barn where he wanted to go zooming at the trot but I made him do nothing but laterals... eventually he decided that was too hard and started behaving himself. It's funny how riding another horse lets you figure out how to ride your own horse that much better.

When not being ridden, he helps me eat weed the garden.

Taran continues to be a rockstar. Seriously, I don't know where this amazing little horse came from - he just keeps getting better and better, a little bit every day.

Let's ignore the fact that I'm being left behind and focus on the amazing trot, ok?

We went to our last show of the spring season this last weekend, a 2-day recognized show here in town where we did 1-2 and 1-3 both days. We spent all weekend getting 2nd place behind a lady on her very nice confirmed 3rd level horse. Interestingly, the judge on the first day didn't seem to like Taran much - we put in two solid tests and we got decent enough scores (64% and 62%) but it wasn't as good as I expected. The second day, we had a new judge at C, but the same judge at E. The judge at C scored us 2% ahead on 1-2, and only .2% behind on 1-3, but the judge at E scored us 5.5% and 3.5% lower. The judges scored within 1% of each other for all the rest of the folks in my class, so it really was just me. Her comments were perfectly reasonable and spot on, but it just seems like the scoring was harder for us. Oh well, I have that judge's name and we won't ride for her again if we can avoid it. We still managed to get a qualifying score on 1-3 for the SWDC and GAIC championship rides (65.5%), so we're now basically maxed out on everything we can do at first level (Taran needs 1 more score for a Performance Award, but we'll get that this fall). Time to think about moving up to Second!

All the ribbons.

Also, have some adorable pet pictures, because I have them:

What happens when you fall asleep mid-stretch.

TOES!

Not sure when I'll get back to regular blogging, but hopefully sometime soon. Hope y'all are well!

Neat vs. Messy

So tidy - not even a crumb out of place.

Needs a bib and a vacuum.

Do you have a neat pet and one that's, er, less than tidy?

Good thing our dog doesn't beg

We have a strict policy at our house - no feeding dogs from the table, or really, no feeding dogs people food. Then, Elias had a tumor removed that we were told would come back in 4-6 months, and that we should spoil him, feed him whatever he wanted, and love him lots in the time we had left.

That was almost two years ago. Unfortunately, we've taken the vet's advice to heart, and now we have a horribly spoiled dog who most definitely does beg. Even though he KNOWS he's not supposed to.

No begging here. Just looking pathetic and starved and unloved. And if you're not going to finish that...

Pssst! Hey! Hey mom! You don't really want that last bite, do you?

And la piece de resistance... full-on Mutant Dog begging (best watched with sound):

I can't decide if my favorite part is where he keeps staring at the plate, or when he lays down and is like "NOW GIVE ME A PIECE BECAUSE I'M A GOOD DOG!" Gotta keep your eyes on the prize, right?

Meet Augustus, our new small pony

It's possible that we adopted a Pyrenees pony puppy this weekend.

Meet Augustus!

The vet says he's 2, but given that he still does that puppy prance thing and has NO idea where all his legs are, we're thinking he's probably closer to a year old.

That's actually a horse-sized muck bucket (used as a water tub), in case you're wondering.

Here's a 60-lb Malamute for comparison.

He and Elias are getting along great - Elias is the boss, and Augustus follows him everywhere and does everything just the same.

Large Malamute on right, Small Pony on left.

Why another dog? Because we're having some issues with coyotes being aggressive, and as Elias gets older (he's 10), he's less and less interested in patrolling and more and more interested in laying in the sunbeams in the barn aisle. Not that there's anything wrong with laying in sunbeams, mind you. Augustus seemed like a good match, so we're giving it a try. He's a bit too interested in the cats and chickens if they're moving, but he also listens very well, especially for a Pyr. There's a lot of training to be done, but he's a good boy and so sweet!

And how can you not love this face?!?!

Many thanks to Texas Pyr Rescue for helping to match us with Augustus!

Legless right-angle dog

Weird dog is weird.

But also very cute!

Best. Dog Toy. EVAR.

What is YOUR dog's favorite toy? 

Elias and Freya update (good news and bad)

As part of a fabulous start to 2013 (NOT), Freya and Elias were both diagnosed with cancer. Freya has cancer of the mouth and was not given long to live, and Elias has...

... nothing. The vet's original diagnosis of a nerve sheath tumor was dis-proven when they biopsied the lump they removed, which turned out to be nothing more than a lipoma (fatty tissue deposit). It was completely benign! All he has to show for his ordeal is a lovely scar - he's completely back to his usual bouncy, talkative self, "helping" with the barn chores and "guarding" the house.

 

Elias is ashamed of his new scar. OK, not really, but this is what he did when I went to take a picture of it!

We are so, so relieved. Elias is such a personable dog, and such a huge part of our lives. It's good to know that we'll have him with us for a little longer.

Freya's cancer, unfortunately, is very real. It's in her jawbone, and you can see her cheek poofing out a little more each day. She doesn't like to have that side of her face touched, and she has trouble eating. However, she still comes and gets me to let me know that her bowl is empty, and she's still eating, even though she has lost a lot of weight.

 

Her Highness Freya the Furbisaur, poofy cheek and all. 

She's never been a hugely affectionate cat - she likes to cuddle on her terms, thank you very much. But since Christmas she makes sure to cram herself between hubby and I at every possible opportunity (sitting on the couch, snoogling in bed, etc), and she stares at one of us until we pet her. For now, she seems to be doing OK, but one of these days she'll take a turn for the worse.

Until then, we're making every minute count.

The big "C", times two. :(

This year has not gotten off to the best start, pet-wise. Last week, we took Freya into the vet because she seemed to be bleeding from the mouth. I thought that she had perhaps lost a tooth (she is a bit older, after all), but it turned out that she has cancer of the mouth. This type of cancer is very bad for kitties – it’s in the bone, and the only thing they can do is remove part of the jaw (um, no thanks) and even then the median survival time is only 7-8 months. We opted to treat her with antibiotics and steroids, but those are just stop-gaps to keep her comfortable for the time she has left – likely days or weeks.

She’s stopped eating her regular kitty food but is still happily devouring treats. She has never been one to eat wet food, tuna, shrimp, cheese, chicken... or any other delicious people food, so it's a bit of a challenge to tempt her appetite. Hubby and I have agreed that when she stops eating, or when her breathing becomes labored (the cancer is apparently affecting her left nostril) we will call it. We don’t want her to be uncomfortable or scared. For now, she’s happy getting lots of love and snuggles, and we’re playing the waiting game.

To make matters worse, this week we found a lump on Elias’ right ankle.  I’d noticed it before but it seemed to have gone away – I figured he’d knocked himself while playing. However, by Sunday it was noticeably worse. We took him in to have it biopsied, and while we are waiting for the results to confirm, the vet is almost positive that it’s a nerve sheath tumor. Unfortunately, these have a high rate of local recurrence. If it recurs, a second surgery (or limb amputation) is the recommended option; radiation is recommended if it recurs a third time. Elias did not do well coming out of surgery, and we definitely won’t do radiation.  Median survival time for this type of cancer seems to be 6 months-2 years.  We’re definitely hoping it’s more toward 2 years, as Elias is a huge part of our family.  

And of course there's the Cone of Shame to deal with too. Poor pitiful doggie.

I sure hope y'all's years are starting off better in the critter department than ours is. 

A day in the life of me, Elias, THE DOG

You might think that a dog like me has a really easy life, but I assure you that I'm actually a hard-working farm dog.

The alarm goes off at 6 a.m., 7 days a week. I have to get Mum out of bed every morning. Sometimes she has a hard time getting up.

We're to the barn by 6:10 or so, to feed the horses. This time of year, there's only a hint of sunrise.

I have to inspect the feedroom for extra snacks while the horses eat breakfast.

 I know I'm not supposed to run in the barn. See? I'm being Very Good.

While the horses are eating, we muck.

Mom's pretty quick, but I'm always at least a little ahead of her.

When we're done, we go in for breakfast. I require mine with a touch of chicken stock, but sometimes there are pieces that don't get any of the good stuff on them. I have to pick those out so Mom knows they aren't any good. 

Most days, Mom goes to "werk" for most of the day. While she's gone, I have to get my beauty sleep. Sometimes she runs a little late and I have to give her a hint to head out the door. This is me going to bed early so she'll leave. 

Of course I also guard the house while she's gone. There are lots of people that walk by every day, and I have to be vigilant!

When Mom gets home from "werk", we have to go check the mail and close the front gate.

Next we have to feed the horses again, and of course muck.

Tonight we also had to go to the feed store in the truck. I LOVE riding in the truck! Mom makes me sit in the back seat, but I have to look over the front seat and keep an eye out for crazy drivers.

It's an exhausting job!

After the horses are taken care of, Mom makes dinner. My job is to watch the floor in case anything jumps off the counter and needs to be eaten. We can't have a dirty floor, after all!

Sometimes Auntie M comes over and tortures me a little bit. I put up with it 'cause she gives good butt scratches.

After dinner, Mom has been watching this show called "Glee". She only watches it when Dad is gone, 'cause Dad doesn't like it. I think the plot line is dumb, but the singing is OK. Also, Mom was eating carrots while watching TV, and I mooched a couple (that's my nose in the picture).

I wonder if what we'd watch if Dad were home and Mom were gone. Maybe something more manly? I've heard that White Fang is good.

 After a long day, I have to wait up until Mom comes to bed. Sometimes she doesn't go to bed on time, but I hang out until she's safely tucked in.

Then I guard the house all night. It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it!

Mid-week critter: I need titanium blinds

The cute little doggy? The one that doesn't stay in his bed?

 Yes, this doggy. Don't let the innocent look fool you.

 

He did this to the blinds in our bedroom.

At first I thought about replacing these with titanium mini blinds, but they don't seem make them. Yes, I checked.  (Maybe a new product opportunity for some enterprising person?)

I'm thinking about these instead - chain mail curtains. I'll just have to figure out how to attach the curtain rod to the wall to it NEVER comes off.

Hmph.