Please Don't Litter

We had a pretty nasty incident at a neighbor's house this morning. Tess lives down the street from the farm, and she keeps rescue dogs. Mostly these are abused or stray dogs that others won't take in. This morning, two stray dogs (one a rottweiler) wandered up to her house to eat her chickens. Before she knew what was happening three of her dogs were out the door to protect their territory.

It wasn't the strays fault or Tess's dogs fault. They were all just acting on instinct, but the outcome was predictable and terrible. Tess's dogs were pretty badly injured and needed to be rushed to the vet. The stray was also torn up, and because of this as well as the displayed aggression, it was shot.

Strays are truly a problem all over the country, but especially here. It is one thing if you do not wanted to spay or neuter your pet, but then it is your responsibility to keep track it and not allow unwanted pregnancies. This is a responsibility many pet owners neglect. It is not your right to allow your unfixed dog or cat run wild, procreating as it feels fit.

So while I do not blame the dogs involved in this fight, I do blame all those who do not spay or neuter and then allow their animals to roam.

all images on this post from http://www.squidoo.com/free_animal_clipart

Baby's First Blanket

Today was an exciting day out at Redbud Farm! Baby's First Blankets! Many thanks to Reagan Bugg and Sara Pettey Sandifer for the extra hands!

I know to many people this is a boring, known entity, but to the babies at Redbud, this was one heck of a day! To all the other professional horse owners out there, you know what I'm talking about...our horses get the back burner on education. They're the last to be ridden, last to be worked with, and first to be put off to another day. Client's horses...different story.

Just last week, it was 70 degrees...suddenly the low is 25...all I'm saying is "What the heck!!??" Okay, so time to learn to blanket...

Thankfully, I had good help (props to Reagan and SP) and good babies! Harrison (seen at right) and Collins were both quite well behaved.

Working with the young horses is always exciting- I think of my hopes for them-my dreams for them. I want them to be good, useful horses. I want them to be loved. I am thankful to have nice horses and good people in my life and look forward to the future!

The Party Never Ends!

I've been thinking of ways to sum up our season, and I think this photo pretty much tells the story!

This season we've run 16 events in five months. We've had our first student compete in a CIC* and our first student campaigning for a national title. Kudos go out to Stephanie Aanstoos for finishing 5th in the Poplar Place CIC* aboard West Point, and also to Megill Imes for her many wins this season with her horses Claggan Imp and Coker Springs.

We're also so proud of our hunter transplant, Reagan Bugg, and her former short stirrup pony, Bulletproof, for joining the Redbud Farm Event Team. They finished 7th at Poplar Place Farm Horse Trials and are sure to continue on this Spring!

So, to the man with the trailer, you're right: The road goes on forever and the party never ends! I can't wait to see where the spring season takes us! Bon voyage!

Soccer of the Heart

Betsy said this morning that 'doing horses' professionally is like playing soccer with your heart. It is so true. It gets ripped out of your chest and then kicked around for a while. The highs are very high, but the lows are particularly low.

This year Redbud Farm has been unlucky. We have had fat legs, ulcers, bad feet, swollen eyes, tendon injuries, punctured joint capsules, unexplained neurological conditions, and finally colic.

Yesterday afternoon Elliot had a very painful, rapid onset colic which brought us into the Mississippi State University vet school. It became clear fairly quickly that we were not going to be able to treat it medically, and so he was sent to surgery. He was under anesthesia for nearly three and a half hours during which time the team of vets and students had to untangle a huge knot involving his colon, small intestine, and cecum. He recovered well from the anesthesia and is resting for the next few days in the school. His prognosis is good ('knock-on-wood'). The gut did not have to be re-sectioned, and it looked healthy and had good motility throughout the surgery. This morning, he was alert and happy to go for a walk outside to munch some grass.

Although it may sound weird, we feel very, very lucky today. We are lucky that we live so close to the vet school. We are lucky we were at the farm when the colic started so we caught it very quickly. We are lucky that Dr. Cate Mochal and her team were so efficient and persistent during the surgery. And most of all we are lucky to have such wonderful friends, family, and clients in our life. Everyone has been very supportive and kind to us. We want to thank you all for the good wished and kind words.

And though we enjoy a good soccer match, we are very eager for the off season!

Eventing PhD

We are very proud of Megill Imes for being ranked on the USEA junior Novice leader board. This is no easy feat. It is one of the largest competition groups in the USEA and there is a lot of tough competition.

Betsy and Megill (and her family) have been working very hard to reach the top spot. It means a very long, hard couple months of competing all over Area 3. As of last week, Megill was only 4 points behind the leader. Unfortunately, it was a rough weekend at River Glen Horse Trials in New Market, TN.

Neither of the horses were very relaxed in the dressage, and then Megill grabbed a rail on Ollie in the show jumping while Kipling pulled a shoe in the mud. That wasn't even the worst of it. On Sunday, Ollie left the box with a mission, which was great news since he can sometimes be a tricky ride across the country. However, on the back side of the course he peeked at something and hopped sideways, a move Megill wasn't expecting. As a result, she popped off, and though no harm done, got the Big E. Kipling, who is usually the XC machine, was very wound and had an uncharacteristic stop in the middle of the course. Whether it was the crisp air or just being tired from the hard competition schedule is unclear, but the result was the same: no points this weekend. Just a few more weeks boys then you can have a very well deserved and long awaited vacation!

Everyone was a little disappointed on the long ride home, but that is the way of the game. As Betsy said, 'Some weekends are for winning, and some weekends are for learning. This weekend we all got our PhDs in eventing'. And she's right. Now we got home and in the next week we practice balance. Lunge lessons without stirrups or reins. For all of us!

We are very lucky that Megill is such a good sport. We know she will learn from this and come away a better rider and horse person.

always my Plus One

Most of you have heard by now, that we had to euthanize Addie, our four year old off the track, because she was presenting some very alarming neurological behavior.

Thinking back on her time with us, we can discern subtle neurological symptoms, but we chalked it up to being young, weak, very recently off the track, sore, or some combination thereof. On Thursday October 20, Addie was undeniably not right, and we scheduled an appointment with the MSU Vet School for a neuro exam. Unfortunately, over the weekend Addie's condition rapidly deteriorated. By Sunday she was having trouble holding her balance without the help of the stall walls. The decision was clear, though made with heavy hearts. It was the only fair and right thing to do for this young, sweet horse, and I take comfort knowing she lay down all on her own and went to sleep surrounded by love and being patted.

First, let me say that all her test results came back negative. She did not have West Nile, EPM, or Neurological Herpes. It would have been nice for some definitive cause of her symptoms, but it is certainly a relief that it was not something contagious.

In the absence of closure, we shall just have to remember the wonderful Addie. She tried very hard to do as you asked and she was never naughty, though now we realize how much she struggled physically. She was very kind. Kinder than I ever imagined, and we were very lucky to have had her in our lives even if for just a short time. I wish I had a good pictures of her, but I do not, and then a picture would not really do her justice anyway. She was lovely. The kind of lovely that went beyond just being a beautiful horse.

She is buried in the back of our field next to the gate out to her paddock below a sea of daffodils. A week ago I tried to write this, and it became very long and mostly cathartic. Now my head is a little clearer (so it is shorter and little less cathartic). I know Addie is in a better place without pain or confusion, and now it is just time for the hurt in our hearts to heal.

Fall Schooling Show

Thank you to everyone who came to our schooling show! It was a great success, especially considering is was a weeknight and the weather was a little suspect!

We had around 16 entries, which was just about perfect for a Wednesday evening because we fit all 12 classes in just before it got dark. Then we got the fire roaring and brought out everyone's favorite part, the hot dogs and s'mores!