Exiled to Siberia
I can honestly say that in the 15 years that we have lived here I have never had so foul a day in MARCH :-0 ! that I have felt it necessary to keep the horses in during the day. They are in the barn, staying out of the minus 4 temperatures, accompanied by a wind with a wind chill factor taking it down to minus 10 or 15. It is positively arctic out there, so if you think I'm going out to ride Tia or Tetley just so I can have something to write about then you have another think coming :-) !!
But I do have something funny to report. You have to picture this! I put them back in the barn and Tetley had a drink. Then he started poking out his tongue and putting it back in his mouth again. Then she started doing the same thing. So I had the two of them standing there, both poking out six inches of wet pink tongue, over and over again. What WAS that all about??? I've never seen one horse do that in my life before, never mind two at the same time.
As I left he was nuzzling her neck (all together now, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh) so he likes her OK. He is a jealous boy though, he insisted on a personal cuddle while she was watching, so she'd know that he was my best boy! Tia meanwhile now gives a deep throaty nicker as I walk down the yard. Now I DO love a horse that does that :-)
C.
p.s.
I thought some of you might be asking yourselves if I am really feeling as buoyant as my writing appears to suggest. The answer is yes, I'm not hiding anything. The biggest feeling at the moment when I go out in the morning is a sense of relief that all I am going to have to deal with is two totally normal, safe and lovely horses. No fretting about what to do, no careful handling as I wonder when I am going to get squashed next. No sense of failure at being unable to make a dangerous horse safe. It was devastating having to have Smartie put down. It was a horrible thing to have to do. But we hadn't yet had much of a life together and I'm finding it reasonably easy to move on now that everything is settled. I could still cry about Finnegan 20 years on, and about Basil 8 years on, but I'm not really crying for Smartie like I did for them. I haven't dwelt on the actual deed here, and I'm not going to, but if anyone is facing having to do it themselves and wants to know what really happens, good and bad, then do email me and I'll tell you.
posted by cptrayes @ 11:57 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Well its the same here ...lots of snow,windy ....baltic!
I think your feelings are understandable.Its probably a sense of relief thats its all over with...a weight off and all that.
I had to have a very old terrier put to sleep couple of years ago,funnily enough she was the one that went blind and couldnt cope..anyway I fretted and fretted about it for ages but what a huge sense of relief when it was over!
They sound very content together!:)
Wehn you know you have done the right thing, it is far easier to bear. Smartie was so frightened and unhappy that the danger to you was just escalating.
So, the two are lovey dovey now? Why am I not surprised?
It is raining here, but still fairly warm. My boys are just kind of hanging out in the run in and around the barn. Thank goodness I don't have to wade through snowdrifts to get to them to stuff more hay in their faces. My old knees just can't take that stress too often.
That said, there is a remote possiblity of some snow here at the end of the week.
Keep warm. Glad to know the "kids" are safe and snug inside.
I can understand your sense of relief, having dealt with a very irrational Max, getting Jamie who is a little star was a revelation. I hadn't realised just how wound up Max had made me until I found myself being cautious around him for no reason what's so ever. An 'easy' horse may not be quite so much of a challenge but there is a lot to be said for something you can just have a bit of fun with.
If Tia has raced she has used to going out and about and a nice inviting intro course will be easy enough for her. You should get more of an idea about whether she has raced by her reaction to the farm course, particularly if there are other horses around.
She sounds great and just what you need at the minute.
Good news on Tetleys soundness, can you remind us again on your recipe for Devil's Claw?
Shiela where are you?
Trish - 28c? I hate you :-). Minus 15 with wind chill this morning. There was a thaw and then an immediate freeze last night, so my yard is now a sheet of ice and I cannot risk even letting them step outside the barn.
////Good news on Tetley's soundness, can you remind us again on your recipe for Devil's Claw? ///
I bought 100 grammes of devil's claw root from eBay for £18.50. The recipe they gave was "add 3 litres of boiling water and steep for 12 hours, then use at 30ml a day". Instead, I put it in 5 litres of cider vinegar for 2 weeks and use it at 50ml a day. I have now found 1 kilo of devil's claw root on Hilton Herbs website at the same price as the 100g, so I can make ten times as much for the same price. I think I'll carry on using cider vinegar because I read that the acid leaches out the active chemical, and the commercial No-bute is definitely cider vinegar if you smell it. Plus, it's an arthritis treatment in its own right, and on top of that, Tetley goes wild for the stuff!
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