Yep, it's always something! With spring trying to SPRING, all the creatures become happy and mischieveous and mine are NO exception! First of all, I went home for lunch one day to find Nibbles ON his KNEES with his WHOLE head stuck under the panel TRYING to nip some TINY blades of grass he FIGURED might be within reach. This is probably how he injured his eye. So THAT evening was spent mowing, killing and COVERING up every last sprig around both runs. Then the neighbors came over to visit after seeing us outside and as we were standing there, Mojack lumbers out of his stall and proceeds to SIT on the fence and scratch his butt! My hubby's first response was to try and PUSH against that HUGE butt...WRONG THING TO DO...remember, horses lean INTO pressure! After I caught my breath from LAUGHING, I shooed hubby away and then shooed Mo-Mo off the fence but NOW hubby is convinced he needs to reinforce the panels! HEE HEE!!!! And then we have Mr. Nibbles chewing the insulation off of his water pipes. Throw that one in there and we've had a BANG-UP week! Had to rescue two cute ladybugs last night that were in grave danger of being sucked into the oblivion that is the boys big snoots! It's SOMETHING ALL THE TIME!! But we are having a BALL! We really are! They make us LAUGH every day...when we're not mad at them of course! HEE!!!!!!!!! Here's a pic in honor of the Easter holiday. Little Nibbles Foo-Foo..... Happy Easter everyone!

You know, I TRY to be a NICE, concerned horse Mom. I TRY to think of everything for THEIR comfort and safety. You would THINK I would get SOME kind of gratitude, wouldn't you?? Well, you would be WRONG!!! I bundled Mojack up in his PRETTY blue coat on Saturday morning since the winds were howling, there were snow flurries and he has almost shed his OWN winter coat. He wore it all day but when I went to peek at them before bed on Saturday night, Mr. Smarty Pants was standing there naked, looking back at me with a MOST satisfied expression. CRAP!!! I pulled my coveralls on over my pajamas and went to investigate. I found the aforementioned pretty blue coat in absolute TATTERS and STOMPED into the mud. It looked like the Incredible Hulk had burst out of it and I guess he HAD! After I saw the damage, I'm thinking that must have been SOME violent altercation so I went to get the flashlight to check him ALL over to make sure he hadn't hurt himself in the fight. Nope...not a mark on him except a smirky expression. I grabbed his nose to make him look me right in the eye and said "I hope you freeze your big fat ASS off!!" and with that, I turned on my heel and left...don't even THINK about asking for a cookie! I DON'T THINK SO!! Of course Nibbles was standing there probably thinking "I didn't do NOTHING and I don't get NO cookie NEITHER?" NO!!! MAMA IS PISSED!!!! I would have liked to hear the "conversation" when I left. They were both staring at each other all big-eyed...KIDS!!!!!!!!!!!

My dear Mojack...if Nibbles is the timid little brother then Mo-Mo is my rebellious teenager. Months will go by and he's MORE than happy for Mom (that would be me) to be the boss. But then it's like he thinks "Well, Mama has been nice for SO long, maybe I can be the boss now" Oh my...how wrong he is...and how sorry he is that he continues to try. Yesterday I could tell he was in "high-anxiety" mode. OK...that's fine...we'll just run it out in the round pen, which he did. When I went to open the gate and reach down for the lead rope to clip to his halter, he JERKED out of my hands and went trotting off onto the land loose and free with SUCH a satisfied SMIRK on his face. OK people...I want you to imagine the voice of Satan...the worst Exorcist voice you can imagine...now imagine that voice saying "YOU'D BETTER WHOA!!!!!" That would be what came out of my mouth. Mojack froze...all four legs STIFF...and SLOWLY looked over his shoulder. Yep...that's Satan all right...red hair and all. I stomped up to him...he never moved (maybe quaked a little)...and SNAPPED that rope onto his halter. I then proceeded to back him up at FULL speed all the way to the back fence with my WORST predator face and body language I could muster. Once we got stopped, his head came down in submission. NOPE!! Not good enough! I then started to lead him back to the round pen for MORE work and he decided to TROT...did I ASK him to trot?? WRONG ANSWER!! And BACK we go again! I made him run until he was ready to say uncle and THEN we casually STROLLED all the way around the perimeter of the land...stopping every 20 feet or so. Why? BECAUSE MAMA SAID SO!!! Glory be...surprise surprise...he was the perfect angel! He was put in his place and I NEVER struck him, hurt him or wounded him in ANY way...EXCEPT for MENTALLY!!! In horse language, what I did was the ultimate in degradation. It commands respect with NO fear involved...well except maybe for the Satan voice...but I was REALLY REALLY pissed! Nibbles stood as STILL as a statue watching all of this with RAPT attention. Now you KNOW he must have been thinking "Holy CRAP...he is in TROOOOOOOOOOUBLLLLLLE!!!!!" Hmph! I hope he was taking notes!!!

Dr. Lewis just left after his last follow-up with Nibbles. He said his eye looked phenomenal! He said he did not expect it to look this good so quickly after the seriousness of the injury. He doesn't know ME very well, do he??? I have done everything he said to do and THEN some! HEE! He commented that he wished ALL of his clients were as "diligent" as I was....diligent...he he he...that's a NICE word for over-protective, obsessive-compulsive, hovering, smothering horsey Mom! After that comment, he recounted a recent story of someone who was NOT "diligent" and her horse is now blind in one eye and disfigured. Yes, it took a LOT of time...yes, it was very tedious...yes, we ALL were tired of it...but it was WORTH it to keep Itty-Bitty healthy and sighted! I would do it all again MANY times over! As it stands, I am to continue the antibiotic twice a day and the Atropene once a day through Sunday. If it still looks good, we get to stop! YAY!! He will have to continue to wear his pirate mask for several more days until the pupil is no longer dilated. Whew! Twice a day is going to seem like a breeze as opposed to FOUR times a day! That last late-night treatment was a BEAR! As far as Mojack goes...he is COMPLETELY back to normal. He ran and BUCKED in the round pen yesterday so HELLO....I think he's WELL! The doc said next year he will dilute the vaccines before he gives them to him and that should help with the reaction. So maybe we are almost out of the woods and seeing daylight for a while!!! SHEESH!!!

We are FINALLY there! This blasted, dreaded, dark winter is breathing it's last! We get that blessed extra hour BACK this weekend! I have resented it being taken since November! The JOY of being able to make OUR dinner while the boys have theirs, and then LEISURELY go out to play until dark! Heavenly bliss! I no longer have to DRAG them away from their hay to work out...I no longer have to HURRY as fast as I can RACING that stupid setting sun..NO MORE I TELL YOU...NO MORE!!! My hubby and I have been "trying it out" in our minds all week. We look at the sun, look at the clock and say "This time NEXT week this will be 7:45!!!!!" All of my horsey buddies are chomping at the bit as well..no pun intended OF COURSE! Everyone is SO ready to get out there with our babies! I am brushing HANDFULS of hair off of Mojack...he's ready too! Nibbles has NO idea what's coming! He's still holding onto every precious hair. He's gonna be SORRY! His little eye is almost completely healed! The vet is coming in the morning to take one last look to make sure I can stop the meds. Nibbles has gotten SO used to the routine that this morning, when I put his halter on, he just walked into his stall on his own accord, ready to have his mask taken off and his eye poked! HEE!! He's a FUNNY FUNNY little being! Over the weekend I made a run to the fabric store and got some much nicer black mesh and sewed two new masks for him. I'm gonna miss his Johnny Depp look...but I'll just be SO glad for him to be well again! Mojack has struggled too. The vaccinations made him pretty puny. He was sore and stiff all over...and just felt ROTTEN. Yesterday was the first day since Friday that's he has started acting more like himself and eating right again. I've had to give HIM Bute...which is the equivalent of horsey Advil..and he does NOT like it AT all! It's in paste form and must taste HORRIBLE judging by the faces he makes! So basically I've been an equine nursemaid for the past week. 'Tis OK...it makes me feel good to know I am helping my "kids" when they need me the most.

OK...fairly major crisis this week with my Itty-Bitty. Most of you have been keeping up on Facebook but I will post the story in it's entirety here. I noticed on Tuesday morning that Nibbles was squinting his right eye just the SLIGHTEST bit. I never EVER miss anything that is even SLIGHTLY amiss with my boys. I assumed he might have just got some sand in it. When I got home, it was swollen shut and looked like a golf ball. And I could tell it REALLY REALLY hurt. So I called the vet and he told me to put warm compresses on it all evening and see if the swelling had gone down by morning. It was worse Wednesday morning and the vet was there by 9am. I had no idea this was SUCH an emergency, but eye problems in horses can go south so quickly that surgery to REMOVE the EYE has to be performed. The vet gave him two shots and left two different ointments to apply 4 times a day...easy, right?? Not when a 900 pound bundle of energy does NOT want you messing with his VERY painful eye! I bought a nose twitch but vowed to ONLY use that as a last resort and I'm proud to say that it has stayed on the shelf! COOKIES, PEOPLE!! Cookies solve all problems!! I had my hubby funnel him 2-3 cookies while I QUICKLY swiped the meds in his eye. I am SO not above sheer BRIBERY! Now guess what?? He WEALLY WEALLY wikes to have he eye doctored! The vet also stressed to me that light was going to extremely painful as long as we kept that eye dilated. Nibbles will NOT stay in the barn so I put on my thinking cap and sewed a patch of black mesh on a fly mask. It has worked really well! It gave the vet QUITE a chuckle this morning when he came back to evaluate. He said everything was looking SURPRISINGLY good. After I told him how I was washing the area first and donning rubber gloves, he said "You're kind of obsessive-compulsive, aren't you?" Oh boy...he has NO idea! But he quickly added that in THIS CASE, it was a VERY good thing! He was impressed with the progress! YAY!!!! So now I have to call him on Monday to report on how the weekend goes...but he stressed to me that he would be around all weekend if I needed him. This is the coolest vet ever..I REALLY like him a lot and get the vibe from him that he truly cares about the animal...a rarity with most large animal vets. So that's where we are...here's Itty-Bitty in his pirate mask. I'm gonna have to re-stitch it tonight...horses are SO hard on things!

OK..so I'm usually a cheerful, POSITIVE person but this weather has been trying that joyful outlook...so I decided to list some things I LIKE about this winter weather in hopes of pushing on through until Spring finally arrives for good. And it's easy to be positive today with the sun beaming and warmer weather predicted for the foreseeable future! YAHOO!

1. I love the smell of fresh pine shavings! That smell combined with big, warm horse is delicious to me!
2. I like the fact that I can clean my boots off in the fresh snow and tramp a big, MUDDY path in the whiteness! Making a mess is FUN! I can also clean them in the puddles of fresh rainwater. It's the little things....
3. I LOVE that no matter HOW cold or blustery it is, I stay warm and snug in my thick, cozy cover-alls! It's like stepping into a big down comforter! I love my cover-alls!
4. I love how cozy it is cleaning in the stalls with the wind howling outside and having my big, warm equine heater in there with me calmly munching their sweet-smelling hay!
5. And my personal favorite, I love the Nibbles kisses I get when I fill his water bucket! He comes to the bars and sticks his little nose through them for MANY, MANY kisses while I wait for the bucket to fill. It's his routine! He hears the water and HERE HE COMES!! My sweet little Hafie! And this is the same horse that wanted NOTHING to do with any such nonsense when he arrived here from the Great White North! And it was HIS idea! He just surprised me with it one day and has done it EVER since! Oh the joy in life's little gifts!

So there ARE some good things about this hard winter...but I am looking forward to Spring and Summer...even though they will bring their own share of outdoor challenges! The yearly battle against the dreaded flies and mosquitoes will ensue...ohhhhh, I HATE those little buggers!!! As Roseann Rosannadana said "It's always SOMETHING!!"

So I got several REALLY good training sessions in this weekend. It seems like just when we can hit a stride and REALLY start making some progress, the weather steps in YET again! This morning I was feeding in the driving rain and wind. At least the mud situation is remedied but I want to PLAY WITH MY HORSES!!! UGH!!! Stupid weather!!! On the MUCH brighter side...LESS than TWO weeks until the time changes! Yippee KI YI YAY!!!!! Work on the fence can begin and we can actually work in the evenings!! What a concept! Speaking of work, I unloaded my entire truck of hay on Saturday. I was SPENT and every muscle was trembling but I did it! When my hubby got home, he said "You did WHAT!!??" HEE! I did it MYSELF and that's the truth..PHFFFFFTTTTT!!!! So I'm hard-headed...but I wanted to SEE if I could. I was proud! Of course the next morning, my muscles were letting me know in a very unsubtle way that it was a BAD idea! So what! The more I do it, the stronger I will get! No pain, no gain! And I had two furry cheerleaders watching me and supporting me. I'm sure they were thinking "Look at all dat food!"

So yesterday was the first time Mr. Dave the Farrier has come to my barn to do the boys tootsies! I was so glad to be there because there's no one MORE interesting for a horse person to talk to than a local farrier! They are chock FULL of horse stories and local horse scuttlebutt. It's like Days of our Lives only with horses! Yesterday was no exception. Dave had me laughing, gasping and near tears at times because he also knows of local tragedies. I was worried about Nibbles first session since he's not too keen on having his feet messed with and the last time I tried with his back feet, I got kicked! And with all of the weather, I haven't had the chance to work with him anymore. So...he did just fine until Dave got to the right rear hoof...that's the one where I got thumped. Nibbles started to fight and Dave, being the super-experienced farrier that he is, just jacked that leg WAY up high to take the power out of it and HELD ON! Nibbles got this look on his face like "Well CRAP!"...and settled right down for Dave to finish trimming that foot. Dave is my age but has been doing farrier work since he was 15 years old...he's seen every kind of temperment a horse can have...and has actually had to throw some on the GROUND and tie their legs to get their feet done. So Nibbles TINY little argument was NOTHING to him! I was SO relieved! And I was also SO happy because we didn't have to put the shoes back on Mojack! The crack was ALMOST to the ground so Dave just notched it out and let it go! YAY!! Mojack LOVES Dave! Yesterday, he was resting his head on Dave's back while he worked and going to sleep! That's trust! So my boys now have nice, groomed sooties again! I dutifully marked it on my board I keep in the barn with all of the dates, appointments, shots and meds for each "kid". It takes a village to keep two horses up and running! But is it ever a bonified BLAST! I LOVE all of the care and grooming chores. Don't get me wrong, I love to ride...but the moments spent on the ground are where the REAL fun happens! How can I love on them and look into their eyes when I'm on their back?? HEE!

It's amazing what manual labor and working on the land does for the soul! There is just SOMETHING about getting in touch with that "inner pioneer" that makes for the warm fuzzies! I was a HUGE fan of the Little House on the Prairie books...AND the TV show. To this day, if I run out of something to read, I will pull out one of my faithful Little House books and settle in for a trip down memory lane. Needless to say I own the TV series on DVD...THAT was a no-brainer! But what is downright bizarre is I find myself actually gleaning USEFUL knowledge about how to accomplish things in a "farm" setting from having read those books! Maybe because Mrs. Wilder described IN DETAIL all of the technicalities but they stuck with me. How many times has my hubby said "How did you know that?" and I answer "I read Little House, DUH?" LOL!! Some things are STILL done the old-fashioned way. Yes, we have modern conveniences but folks, there's just no new-fangled way to scoop horse apples! It was done with a pitchfork 150 years ago and it's done with a pitchfork now! Cold weather knowledge came in handy as well! Did you know that if it gets cold enough, livestock's breath freezes over their nostrils and they suffocate?? Really?? Pick up a Little House book and see for yourself! But I refuse to take a lantern to the barn...I'll just flick on my lightswitch thankyouverymuch! Do I need a lantern?? Will I buy a lantern?? Yes...spring storms tend to knock out that good old country electricity and I may need to make my way to the barn "pioneer-style". Wonder if Walmart carries kerosene lanterns?? Oh wait...FLASHLIGHT...BATTERIES! Screw that pioneer crap! Feel free to jump off my train of thought at ANY time people, I realize it's sometimes a bumpy ride!