Maggie on Saturday and Sunday

I visited Maggie Saturday for a short time. Visiting hours were over at noon, none on Sunday.

Saturday morning update from the vet: Maggie has pooped! She is brighter today. She will come off antibiotics and reduce Banamine to once per day. She will get increased graze and drinks of water. If she continues as well through the day, she will come off IV fluids.

When I went to see her, she was truly there. It was Maggie. I got to walk her and graze her for two minutes. She walked fast and ate voraciously. I groomed her and she begged for treats and was herself.

Sunday morning report is that Maggie is still doing well. She is off lidocain and Banamine. She will be off IV fluids when the current bags are empty. She nickered to the vet, but was not as interested in the hay offered as they expected. Dr. McDonald says that pony behavior is not always what you would expect. I reminded him that she has eaten grass most of her life. He clarified that I meant pasture, not just grass hay. Yup, pasture in KY where they have green grass without irrigating. Remember, around here, we only get green for a few months in late winter, then dry brown most of spring and all summer, fall and winter until late January.

Thursday and Friday with Mag

Maggie had a good day Thursday.

I sponged her with water throughout the warmer part of the afternoon and that helped her stay comfortable. The Sicipride motility agent that was ordered yesterday finally came at 4pm. She was producing gut sounds within half an hour. Gastric reflux decreased throughout the day, but she still had the stomach tube when I left. They were talking about taking it out, and that the sponging to keep her cool had been important. Most significantly, by the end of the day, when I looked in her eye, there was somebody there.

I went home feeling very positive.

Friday
The vet's morning phone report was not so good. She didn't look as good as she had the day before. She had taken her tube out herself sometime in the early morning. I guess she felt good enough to be irritated with it.

When I arrived there, I could see that she didn't look as good. She still had gut sounds and had been grazing for 2 minutes every two hours with a small drink of water, She was urinating, so the fluid that was being produced in the small intestines was moving and being absorbed instead of backing up into the stomach and causing discomfort.

There was nobody home behind her eyes.

I resumed the sponging and took her grazing when it was time. By about 2pm, the look in her eye that someone was there had returned. By 5pm she had passed gas, shown interest in me and Lydia, displayed grumpiness, drank Lydia's water twice, and begun to beg for treats. She was doing well without the stomach tube. Still on the Sicipride, she was the best every since Saturday.

Still not out of the woods, but more hope.

Thanks Everyone

Thanks everyone for wishing Maggie well.

Yesterday's visit was scary. She was uncomfortable because she has fluid building up in her stomach and they had to put the tube back in. The vet told me on the phone that 2-4pm was the hardest time and he hoped I made it before then. I got there at about 1pm.

I watched them drain two buckets of fluid out of her stomach. She felt better after that, but still needed an extra dose of pain med.

She tried to eat some stray hay that was accidentally in reach, but she could not get it through the holes in the muzzle that was holding the stomach tube in place. Showing some apatite is good.

I haven't had this morning's update from the vet yet.

I am going back today. I feel so bad.

Maggie is Still Up

Maggie is doing a little better. She passed a small amount of manure last night and her stomach does not keep filling up with fluid. Still on IV fluids, lidocain and banamine. They will offer her graze today, hoping to encourage full motility. I am still worried about the intestinal inflamation that caused the colic in the first place. She could still go either way. I am going to see her today.

More Maggie

Update this morning from the vet by phone. Maggie is looking better, but they are needing to syphon fluid from her stomach periodically because there is still no motility. The vet feels positive, but because she has enteritis that caused the torsion, it is more complicated. It could still go either way.

More Maggie

Thanks, everyone, for wishing Maggie well.

Maggie continued to get worse through the day on SUnday. I ended up trailering her to Pioneer Equine Hosptital, 85 miles away. She had colic surgery that revealed a torsion with a lot of gas that was probably due to an infection. The cut her intestine to let out the gas. She came out of surgery fine but is not out of the woods yet.

I feel very, very old.

Fate

I was supposed to go up to Clay Station to ride with Maureen when she drove Spunks at the play day. Traffic turned me back home at Stockotn. Good thing. I got back to maggie with a case of colic. Banamine did not resolve it. The vet came and tubed her and gave her pain meds. This morning she has passed a small amount of the mineral oil and seems subdued but not in great distress. Not out of the woods yet.

There and Back

We have been there and back. There is Derry, NH. I didn't say anything because you are not supposed to make internet announcements about not being home. We had a housesitter anyway.

I went for a walk. Dave said:
"Take lots of pictures." So I did.

Power and phone lines are all above ground.

Japanese invasion.
DIY
Woods everywhere. If you don't pull up saplings all the time, you get woods.

Rocks grow here too. You have to keep piling them up. The fire hydrants are red. Until I saw these, I didn't even realize that ours are not.






The Library
The Post Office and the Derry Store minimart.

In Progress

My saddle doesn't fit Maggie too well. She is very flat from wither to croup, Janow had a little curve in his back.
My plan is to use the Kingston cart until the Sprint cart arrives, then sell the Kingston and use that money to get a saddle that fits better.
In the meantime, I am making this half-pad to add a little to the pommel and cantle and improve fit. Right now I just have some shims in my old Matte pad.

A Fun Day With Maggie

Dave come out too the barn with me on Sunday. He took these pictures. He actually got on for a few minutes and walked around. He said he felt "really high up."
My saddle doesn't fit her very well. I adjusted the shims in the matte pad so it's better. We are waiting for the reinforcements to be welded onto the Kingston cart. Sandro, the welder, went on vacation.

After feeling how hot black metal cart get in the sun, I am leaning more toward a sandy yellow for my Sprint cart. I think it will complement Maggie's color better too.

Red or Yellow? Help me decide!

I accidently clicked "Publish" instead of "Save," so this post is double for some. OOPS!

A lot is happening. Tons of stuff.

I need to order my Sprint cart today or tomorrow. I wanted it red.....Todd has several shades of red, which one? But really, Yellow would look good too. Dark colors can get so hot in the sun. What do you think?

I have taken Maggie two times to Roger's to drive. She is fantastic, just put to and go. I have had to borrow a cart from Roger. I have not been able to drive her at home.

In the meantime, I have a new Wintec open face bridle and a very small Equilizer girth so I can ride Maggie. My saddle is not the best fit. I am making a pad that should help. Finding a saddle that fits would be best, but how much time and moeyu should I spend when I don't plan on riding her that much?

Roger sold the KG road cart for me. I ordered a Kingston cart, really inexpensive and not well made. It arrived in a box and needed assembly. Those carts can break due to metal fatigue ion a certain place, so you have to have reinforcements welded on. Sandro at Indian Hill is going to do it for me. When he gets back from vacation.

Dave wants to go to New Hamsphire sometime this summer, so I have to figure out what to do with the animals. I want to find a place Lydia can go, she is young and very active, as well as not confirmed in house training, so she can't stay here alone, especially not with Silver.

I am trying to get Blog to Book, but the site I have been using is really bad. I can order it today, but I want to check out other sites.

I need to finish the tart cover for the carriage house, but I am not sure how fast I need to do it. If I can store the Kingston in Maggie's stall, that would be OK. I measured the door opening, but the cart is in the welding shop.

I have a lot of saddle pads on eBay right now. That is just one more thing to keep track of. But I can use the money that comes form any sales. eBay has never been my best venue. In Person has always been best. When people actually SEE them......

Jim

"Jim, his brain is gone! It's been removed surgically!"

New Toy

Lydia is NOT sharing her sheepsy!

The excitment goes on

There was a problem. With the washer. The front loading washer. It has a door gasket in the front. The gasket keeps the water from coming out as long as you don't get clothing caught between the door and the gasket.


So now I have a shirt without a sleeve and a sleeve without a shirt. The water went into the box underneath where the dirty laundry soaked it up. The wet laundry went onto the floor in the search for any water that missed the box.

There was dirty underwear in the pile. Lydia loves dirty underwear, so the underwear didn't stay in the pile for long. Every body's dirty underwear was distributed around the house.

I ordered new gasket on line and went to the Laundromat(ew) taking Lydia with me instead of leaving The Urinator home alone in a crate. She had separation anxiety every time I went in to check the washers. It was a cool over-cast day and I left the windows open and she jumped out and almost hung herself. That was a big stupid mistake on my part. I decided not to dry the laundry there, but brought it home to dry here. Wet laundry is heavy.

The new gasket came and Dave put it in and we think we found all the underwear hidden all over the house.

It's Crazy

Mary Shelley the cat wants to go from the garage, across the kitchen, dining area and family room, out the sliding door to the backyard. She does not want to go out the garage side door to the side yard.

Lydia the dog is in the kitchen. Mary Shelley does not want to go past Lydia.

I open the sliding door so Mary Shelley can see a clear path to her objective. Not enough.

I pick up Lydia the dog and carry her out of sight. Mary Shelley cannot see Lydia and so cannot not be sure she is still restrained.

I move into visible postion. Mary Shelley is still uncertain. I put Lydia down to pick up Mary Shelley and carry her out the sliding door. Lydia finds this exciting. Mary Shelley finds this stressful, so do I.

In the meantime Paula the chicken has wandered into the family room through the open door. Now I have to get Mary Shelley out AND Paula out without Lydia getting too excited.

Mary Shelley is out and I turn to Paula, who is easy but who has just pooped a gooey chicken poop on the rug. Now I have to get Paula out and get the poop cleaned up before Lydia finds the poop and begins eating it. I fail.

My life is not a reality show. I know this because I would either get a prize or get eliminated for my performance. Intstead, I have to keep playing but I don't get a prize.

Jr Naval ROTC

Joseph got awards for Aptitude and for Conduct and Bearing.

Boy Scout Camping on Mt Hamilton

People of Wal*Mart

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Finally Settling

After two days of frantic pacing, Maggie is finally settling down. She is eating and resting. I tried walking her but she was too stressed and kept walking into me. I tried Janow's harness on her for fit. It's too big. Getting it on was tricky because she was antsy and pawed the whole time.

It was hard for her, coming from a large herd in pasture to being all alone. Horses are herd animals and being alone is hard for them.

I only tried it on because someone in SoCal on carriage driving list had a Smuckers synthetic small pony for sale at a great price. I needed to find out if I should pursue this one. Turns out that not only is the cob too big for Maggie, but the woman with the small pony harness actually needs a cob size. I'm sending her the Zilco, we are trading straight up.

Maggie is here

She's here, in one piece, in quarentine. I don't know for how long. Different vets have different recomendations and they are changing.