The brutal winter of 2011

So it's been a while since the last post in August. What a difference a few months make! It's late January, and we're in the throes of the coldest weather in about 10 years. Yesterday's low at my house was -20F. Nearby in the town of Hebron it was -32! Horsekeeping in these temperatures is a challenge, to put it mildly. I'm thankful for heated buckets inside and out, and I'm sure the horses are too. We've also had a lot of snow this year, which makes moving around the paddock tough for Noble and Sailor. They're doing their best, but I know they get bored and frustrated. I'm going through a lot of hay, because they're getting extra to help keep them warm. Today things are supposed to let up a bit - the temperature might get into the 20s! And that's on the plus side. Yesterday's HIGH temperature was 1.

I've had an equine chiropractor out twice for Noble, who injured her left hind/hip on a ride last October. I was originally told by the vet that it was her stifle, but another vet in December said the problem was in her hip. So she's had two adjustments, and is doing better. She's 30, so I was afraid she might not make it through the winter if she didn't get help. Good thing she's a tough old girl!

I'm including some pictures taken this week.

The Long Shadows of August

Today was a perfectly glorious day here in upstate New York, with low humidity, sunny skies and temps in the mid 70s. But there's no mistaking that summer will soon be leaving us. At noontime, I looked out the kitchen window and noticed that the tree shadows spilled across the driveway. I was shocked to see such long shadows when the sun is at its highest point of the day. But such is the cycle of the seasons. I'm just happy to squeeze as much enjoyment as I can out of the nice weather that is left.

Alexandra visits Noble Ridge Farm

My six-year-old grand-niece, Alexandra, arrived on Sunday for an overnight with us. She loves horses, so of course she had a couple of riding lessons on Noble, who was wonderful with her. We visited the new foals on my road, picked wildflowers, walked in the woods, and finished up with a shopping trip to a local western store. Aunt Linda went a bit crazy with having a horsey little girl to buy for, so Alexandra went home with a new cowgirl hat, very bling cowgirl boots and socks with pink horses on them. She went home yesterday wearing her treasures, and according to her mother, only takes them off to go to bed. She's a real delight and a joy to be around. However, I did learn why women over 50 do not have babies! I was exhausted and slept like a rock last night.

New Life!

                                   Eva at one day old

Looking at my previous blog pictures, I realize how long it's been since I posted to this blog. It's now August, the dog days of summer, and we have two new residents in the neighborhood. About three weeks ago a filly was born to my neighbor's TB mare, and last week, another mare at her place gave birth to a little colt. Both foals have the same sire, a Trakehner who stands at 17 hands, so they will both be big. The filly's name is Eva; the colt is Edouardo. They are both gorgeous and full of themselves. Interestingly, Eva is very confident, independent and very curious, while Edouardo is more timid and likely to stay close to his mom. It's fun to watch them learn more every day.

                Edouardo at 2 days old

Buddy's back to normal

Here's JD and Buddy heading off to the woods for a hike. The cone came off Buddy's head on Friday, and he is ready to rock 'n roll. Today's temp was almost balmy compared to the past 2 days. It was about 21 degrees when this picture was taken. It's been highs of single digits recently, so the 20s feel pretty darn good.

Buddy is now completely legal. He has his license, he's been micro-chipped, neutered, and has received just about every possible vaccine available for dogs. We've been working on training, and he is a quick study. He's excellent with the "sit/stay" and "come". I'm working on "down," which has some resistance. He is also coming along with crate training, and will run right in the crate when I say "kennel." We're working on keeping him in for a few minutes while we're in the room with him. Hopefully we will be able to secure him in the crate if necessary. The trainer comes back on Friday, so we'll work on some issues, and discuss when he will be ready for agility. She (the trainer) has already started agility classes nearby, and I'd love to get him into this. It will be a good "job" for this very busy dog.

The Buddy saga continues

Life continues to be an adventure with our new Golden Retriever, Buddy. He was neutered last Tuesday, a procedure that should have been a non-event. However, Buddy took exception to having stitches in his privates, and succeeded on removing some of them, setting his recovery back. So on Friday he was back in the vet's, where he received staples to hold the whole thing together. He's on an antibiotic because he got the incision infected, and has to wear a cone on his head so he won't attack the wound. The cone causes him high stress, and so to calm him down, he has to take Benadryl. We tried valium, but it had no effect.

We were also supposed to put an antibiotic salve on the incision, but Buddy was so terrified of having someone touch him there (he's a little paranoid by now) that he bit JD when we tried to put some on the incision on Saturday night. So JD had to go to the doctor's and get an antibiotic for his wound. Now we have to take Buddy to the vet every day so they can treat it, since we're not interested in any more bite wounds.

The conehead thing stresses Buddy out so much it is hard to get him to relieve himself outside. The whole thing has turned into such an ordeal, I'm wishing we never had him neutered. We're now looking at a minimum of another week before this is healed. I don't know if any of us will last that long. JD is still sleeping on the couch to keep Buddy company at night. We can't let the dog upstairs, because that has become the cats' sanctuary. They refuse to go downstairs if the dog is around.

So here we are, a crazy conehead dog, two frustrated cats and two exhausted humans trying to survive this madhouse in the middle of winter.

More snow pictures

It's a regular winter wonderland around here...

Heavy snow on trees