I am torn between finding a vet to come out tomorrow....or waiting and seeing how she is this evening. Wonder if there is away to schedule today for tomorrow...but then cancel tonight if improved. I won't be doing xrays or anything of that sort, but worry about possible infection that needs AB treatment....
Still has a good appetite, eating, pooping, etc.
We moved them into a new field as their hay was basically gone and this field had a newish round bale in there. That is the short version of what happened.
The other two boarders are moving their horses out the end of the month and I am actually going to visit another boarding facility tomorrow to see how they are. I have been very frustrated with the care given to Foxy here. The water tubs are continually frozen (not a slight crust but multiple inches thick at the top) when I get there, to where the horses drink for ten minutes when you break it...the round bale of hay is a great idea but not if you do not replace it when it gets down to the nasty hay that was at the bottom and has been stood in, laid on, peed on, and pooped in...for days. I was not a happy camper yesterday. And the whole point of boarding Foxy is so I DONT have to babysit her...but at this point, unless I go out there daily, I am not convinced she is being cared for. Maybe during the other months it would not be a problem as the water won't freeze and there is lots of grass. But right now, it is a pain. And during bad weather, I can't get there. And so this week was a good example of what happens....disgusting hay to pick at, frozen water bucket and major leg swelling is what greeted me the first day I could make it there. The leg swelling is Foxy being totally accident prone as usual....and yes, frozen water tubs happen in winter...but they should be broke a few times a day so the horses can drink, right? I get the feeling these were broke maybe once a day if even that.
Why is boarding so shitty out here? This is ridiculous! This is why I wanted her at my house! She always had food and water there! I always noticed sicknesses and injuries right away! I didn't have to drive 30 minutes each way to see her....on back roads that ice up and are unpassable. In bad weather, I CANNOT get there. As it was I had to drive down a road that was iced over with two little tire tracks of no ice to drive in and patches of total ice in spots. I passed vehicles in ditches that had skidded off the road and been abandoned. I had to drive up and down a hill covered in ice!
See? That is a view up this steep friggin hill, covered in ice! I was sitting in a patch at the bottom that I ended up in after starting to stop halfway down the hill. This stupid hill ends at the MAIN ROAD that people drive like 50mph on. Meaning, if you skid off the hill at all, you end up skidding into the main highway. Ha ha ha. I totally called my bro-in-law freaking out about all the ice on the roads. I actually had him on the phone from when I called him freaking out about the other icy road...I was all "the road is iced over! I will call you when I get there but if you don't hear from me in like 20 minutes, I'm on such and such road" and continued talking to him up until I got there...and then when I saw this hill which is pretty much within the last 1/2 mile of the trip i was like ICE. OMG ICE ON HILL. And do you know what he said? He said..."Put it in 4 wheel drive".
Let me backtrack. An hour earlier he told me that he thought the roads would be ice free as it had warmed up the day before and melted quite a bit. So, you know, no biggie you should be just fine taking the Firebird (which handles horribly in bad weather) instead of the 4wd big truck.
So when he said "put it in 4 wheel drive", i was pretty much all "WHAT. WHAT. I don't HAVE 4 wheel drive. I'm in the Firebird! You told me to take the firebird!!!!!"
It was entertaining. And I made it up the hill! Because I have Winter Skillz, baby (see previous post on ice driving, ha ha ha).
Last night I had to take a completely different route home on this tiny random back country road, in the dark, as a couple of cars wiped each other out and shut down the entire road (I assume they hit head on, caught on fire, etc etc, judging by the fire and emergency vehicles) .
How is this my life? Ha ha ha ha AGH.
4 comments:
Wow that's really rough. Bad weather AND frustration with your boarding situation?! First let me extend my sympathies.
Second, the fact that the water tubs are always frozen over like that is just ridiculous. I live in the northern part of the country so I can understand how it gets to be like that in the first place, but there is this awesome little invention called a water heater...It like...thaws the ice...
Agreed with BMgallopp, we have tank heaters and just leave them in year round pretty much. We just disconnect them in summer. You do have to run electricity to the water though and that is probably their issue. Not sure if they make a solar powered one or not.
Oh i feel for your plight. I really do. Boarding does suck. This place looked so good too, and as you say, maybe in summer it is better, but what about right now? What does the bo say about the frozen water tubs? That is just unacceptable!
I am thinking of you and foxy and hoping for the mystery swelling to go down!
fomesI hate to flog a dead horse but yup stock tank heaters ARE A MUST. The swelling sounds a little funky with the edema,If you can swing it I would have the vet out just to be sure, esp if there has been no improvement
We've been there, too, with our 5 horses and that's why we moved them closer to home. Now they are only 30 minutes away. Previously, they were...SIT DOWN... 2 1/2 hours away. We visited them on weekends. Yup. Frozen water troughs. They weren't being fed breakfast sometimes until 10:30 or 11:00 a.m.!!!! And poop EVERYWHERE! Ugh! I put up with it for about 8 months and then moved them closer to us. We board them now with a wonderful lady who actually has...(gasp) hay feeders! They don't have to eat hay, either, that is full of poop and pee and that blew away! And, I drive up weekends and mid-week to give them feed, probios, and beet pulp. I know you worry about your horse. It is hard, too, for you to drive those roads. I'm sure you'll make the right decision!
Post a Comment