Sunday, March 3, 2013
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Trucking
If you live in the middle of nowhere and you don't own a truck and trailer, moving animals at any time is a challenge let alone in an emergency. Fortunately, I have several friends and neighbors who have been generous enough to help me get Ramsey to and from Cornell. They all have busy lives of their own though and coordinating a trip that works for everybody can be tricky.
Luckily, a few months ago, I picked up a card off a bulletin board at Tractor Supply advertising horse trailering and it has been in my coat pocket ever since. I have had some very terrible experiences with "truckers" so I was a bit reluctant to call the guy, but last week I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did.
Robert Casse is a retired military and corrections officer who is also a life long horse owner. He is offering horse transportation as a way to supplement his retirement and offset the cost of having these trailers for his own use.
His price was fair, his equipment immaculate and in perfect condition, he was an excellent driver and was very good with Ramsey.
He also couldn't resist getting his own cell phone photo of Ramsey at Cornell. So, if you are in the Northeast and you ever think you'll need an equine moved, you might want to keep his phone number handy. If I can't get this thing with Gabe figured out, I may just be calling him again myself.
Luckily, a few months ago, I picked up a card off a bulletin board at Tractor Supply advertising horse trailering and it has been in my coat pocket ever since. I have had some very terrible experiences with "truckers" so I was a bit reluctant to call the guy, but last week I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did.
Robert Casse is a retired military and corrections officer who is also a life long horse owner. He is offering horse transportation as a way to supplement his retirement and offset the cost of having these trailers for his own use.
His price was fair, his equipment immaculate and in perfect condition, he was an excellent driver and was very good with Ramsey.
He also couldn't resist getting his own cell phone photo of Ramsey at Cornell. So, if you are in the Northeast and you ever think you'll need an equine moved, you might want to keep his phone number handy. If I can't get this thing with Gabe figured out, I may just be calling him again myself.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Brought to you by Ramsey
hI PEOPLES, IT'S ME rAMSEY! mA SAYS SHE HAS A COLD AND CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING TO SAY SO i GET TO WRITE THE BLOGGY THING. iSN'T THAT FUN?
i DON'T KNOW WHY MA JUST DOESN'T WEAR A BLANKET LIKE ME IF SHE'S COLD, BUT SHE DOESN'T ALWAYS MAKE SENSE. pEOPLES DON'T YOU KNOW.
aNYWAY, MA IS ALSO MAKING NOISE ABOUT THE BIG, MEAN HORSE HAVING TROUBLE EATING AGAIN AND SINCE HIS TEETH GOT FIXED, NO ONE KNOWS WHY. sHE KEEPS MUTTERING ABOUT MAYBE HAVING TO TAKE him TO THE BIG HOSPITAL NOW AND FINDING DIFFERENT HAY AND SOMETHING ABOUT gOD STILL LAUGHING. LIKE i SAID, PEOPLES DON'T ALWAYS MAKE SENSE, NOT EVEN mA.
i DON'T KNOW WHY SHE WOULD WORRY ABOUT THE BIG, MEAN HORSE ANYWAY. hE'S BIG AND MEAN AFTER ALL. HE OUGHT TO BE ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF HIMSELF. sERVE HIM RIGHT IF HE DOES HAVE TO GO TO THE BIG HOSPITAL PLACE THOUGH. i BET THEY WON'T LET HIM CHASE ANY LITTLE DONKEYS! tHEY HAVE needles TOO. teehehhehe.
AND GUESS WHAT...MA HAS LEFT THE GATE OPEN ON THE BARN SO MOMMY AND i CAN GO IN AND OUT AND IN AND OUT AND IN AND OUT AND.....IT'S FUN! ACTUALLY, IT'S TIME TO GO OUT AGAIN. BYE NOW.
i DON'T KNOW WHY MA JUST DOESN'T WEAR A BLANKET LIKE ME IF SHE'S COLD, BUT SHE DOESN'T ALWAYS MAKE SENSE. pEOPLES DON'T YOU KNOW.
aNYWAY, MA IS ALSO MAKING NOISE ABOUT THE BIG, MEAN HORSE HAVING TROUBLE EATING AGAIN AND SINCE HIS TEETH GOT FIXED, NO ONE KNOWS WHY. sHE KEEPS MUTTERING ABOUT MAYBE HAVING TO TAKE him TO THE BIG HOSPITAL NOW AND FINDING DIFFERENT HAY AND SOMETHING ABOUT gOD STILL LAUGHING. LIKE i SAID, PEOPLES DON'T ALWAYS MAKE SENSE, NOT EVEN mA.
i DON'T KNOW WHY SHE WOULD WORRY ABOUT THE BIG, MEAN HORSE ANYWAY. hE'S BIG AND MEAN AFTER ALL. HE OUGHT TO BE ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF HIMSELF. sERVE HIM RIGHT IF HE DOES HAVE TO GO TO THE BIG HOSPITAL PLACE THOUGH. i BET THEY WON'T LET HIM CHASE ANY LITTLE DONKEYS! tHEY HAVE needles TOO. teehehhehe.
AND GUESS WHAT...MA HAS LEFT THE GATE OPEN ON THE BARN SO MOMMY AND i CAN GO IN AND OUT AND IN AND OUT AND IN AND OUT AND.....IT'S FUN! ACTUALLY, IT'S TIME TO GO OUT AGAIN. BYE NOW.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
When God Laughs
Those of you who have been following along for a while may remember that I originally bought Emma to be a companion for Tessa. Specifically, I thought a donkey would be a cheap, easy, hardy and safe friend for my injured mare.
What I ended up with was a young jenny who proved to have been bred several months shy of her first birthday. A lovely, but extremely underage little donkey who showed all the classic signs of imminent foaling for at least three months along with full blown false labor a month before she actually delivered. Not exactly stress free or easy.
We all survived that very long and protracted ordeal mostly intact. You may recall that Ramsey lost the very tip of his tail and the tip of one ear to Emma's overzealous mothering once he finally arrived, but hey, what's the tips of a couple of appendages in the grand scheme right?
Four months of relative peace were then followed by a frantic, life or death trip to Cornell, the momentary (thankfully transitory) threat of brain abscesses, surgery and vet bills of such staggering proportions that I haven't yet had the courage to add them all up. All this followed up by another 4 months of extremely intensive, difficult, expensive care. So much for cheap, easy and hardy.
I'm not complaining mind you. I love my donkeys and I am very grateful to have them. I love what they have brought into my life, particularly all of you out there reading this who have also come to love these donkeys. I am glad to have learned so much about these incredible creatures who I used to dismiss so casually and I remind myself often lately that education is never cheap. It's just that I have been thinking back to my silly notion of a cheap, easy, hardy companion animal and know that God must be laughing his a** off.
Do you ever wonder what it sounds like when God laughs? I think I know. I think it sounds a lot like this....
What I ended up with was a young jenny who proved to have been bred several months shy of her first birthday. A lovely, but extremely underage little donkey who showed all the classic signs of imminent foaling for at least three months along with full blown false labor a month before she actually delivered. Not exactly stress free or easy.
We all survived that very long and protracted ordeal mostly intact. You may recall that Ramsey lost the very tip of his tail and the tip of one ear to Emma's overzealous mothering once he finally arrived, but hey, what's the tips of a couple of appendages in the grand scheme right?
Four months of relative peace were then followed by a frantic, life or death trip to Cornell, the momentary (thankfully transitory) threat of brain abscesses, surgery and vet bills of such staggering proportions that I haven't yet had the courage to add them all up. All this followed up by another 4 months of extremely intensive, difficult, expensive care. So much for cheap, easy and hardy.
I'm not complaining mind you. I love my donkeys and I am very grateful to have them. I love what they have brought into my life, particularly all of you out there reading this who have also come to love these donkeys. I am glad to have learned so much about these incredible creatures who I used to dismiss so casually and I remind myself often lately that education is never cheap. It's just that I have been thinking back to my silly notion of a cheap, easy, hardy companion animal and know that God must be laughing his a** off.
Do you ever wonder what it sounds like when God laughs? I think I know. I think it sounds a lot like this....
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
New & Improved
I got more and better photos of Ramsey's foot this afternoon. As you can see, the foot is still a bit distorted, but so much closer to being a normal foot. Most importantly, it is MUCH more functional.
The "hole" in the bottom of his foot turned out to be more of a pocket filled with the remains of the solidified abscess. I have been worried that there was solidified abscess material stuck in the foot and impeding normal growth. However, the sole actually grew back underneath this and the farrier was able to trim it away.
The farrier did about half of this trim and then needed x-rays in order to finish it.
From the outside, you can see where there is a fair amount of hoof wall separation. The farrier trimmed the dead, disconnected wall back to where there is healthy growth. With time and proper trimming, this should grown in.
For comparison, this is the foot last week...
and today...
A full inch and a half shorter and and almost matching his good foot.
What Ramsey really needs now is to be able to move around freely and normally. His gait is slightly off, but I do not think it is lameness. Rather it is because his foot has been so abnormal and unbalanced for so long that normal movement was impossible. Especially with the necessary, but very cumbersome, muck boot he has been wearing. His muscles, tendons, ligaments and mind all have to remember how to function properly.
The "hole" in the bottom of his foot turned out to be more of a pocket filled with the remains of the solidified abscess. I have been worried that there was solidified abscess material stuck in the foot and impeding normal growth. However, the sole actually grew back underneath this and the farrier was able to trim it away.
The farrier did about half of this trim and then needed x-rays in order to finish it.
From the outside, you can see where there is a fair amount of hoof wall separation. The farrier trimmed the dead, disconnected wall back to where there is healthy growth. With time and proper trimming, this should grown in.
For comparison, this is the foot last week...
and today...
A full inch and a half shorter and and almost matching his good foot.
Home again, Home again
After yet another last minute rearrangement in transportation, Ramsey and I have once again made it to Cornell and back. Ramsey was greeted with the, by now almost normal, fanfare, hugs, scratches, treats and kisses. Along with many cell phone photos.
His foot was examined by a whole fleet of vets and students and he had a whole new set of x-rays, which show that his foot is healing very well. I finally saw some of the x-rays and honestly, they were a bit scary looking. I hadn't seen the films before and it was kind of a shock to see just how much of the coffin bone was removed. It looks like something came along and took a great big bite out of it. However, all signs of infection are gone and the bone appears stable. The end result is that the farrier was able to trim off a great deal of the excess hoof. I know these are terrible photos, I will try to get better ones tomorrow, but they do show how much better his foot looks.
The good news is that Ramsey doesn't have to wear a bandage anymore as long as there is no mud. Which means (God help me!), I am actually hoping for more snow. Oh my GOD I can't believe I just wrote that!
The not so good news is that the lateral side of Ramsey's hoof wall, where the bone was debrided, is never going to have good connection between the outer hoof wall and the inner laminae (remember that separation I pointed at in my last foot update?). Because so much of the bone is gone, it is physically impossible. What this means is that the hoof wall has to be kept trimmed very short in this area in order to minimize any leverage action, which would open the foot up to reinfection. What that means is that his foot has to be carefully trimmed every three weeks for the rest of his life. Good thing I've been practicing my farrier skills huh?.
His foot was examined by a whole fleet of vets and students and he had a whole new set of x-rays, which show that his foot is healing very well. I finally saw some of the x-rays and honestly, they were a bit scary looking. I hadn't seen the films before and it was kind of a shock to see just how much of the coffin bone was removed. It looks like something came along and took a great big bite out of it. However, all signs of infection are gone and the bone appears stable. The end result is that the farrier was able to trim off a great deal of the excess hoof. I know these are terrible photos, I will try to get better ones tomorrow, but they do show how much better his foot looks.
The good news is that Ramsey doesn't have to wear a bandage anymore as long as there is no mud. Which means (God help me!), I am actually hoping for more snow. Oh my GOD I can't believe I just wrote that!
The not so good news is that the lateral side of Ramsey's hoof wall, where the bone was debrided, is never going to have good connection between the outer hoof wall and the inner laminae (remember that separation I pointed at in my last foot update?). Because so much of the bone is gone, it is physically impossible. What this means is that the hoof wall has to be kept trimmed very short in this area in order to minimize any leverage action, which would open the foot up to reinfection. What that means is that his foot has to be carefully trimmed every three weeks for the rest of his life. Good thing I've been practicing my farrier skills huh?.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
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