End of an era

It has been a pretty tough week for me. As most of you know, Tess was diagnosed with a bone tumor at the beginning of April, and I chose to medicate her for palliative care as long as possible. 

It was obvious that she was going downhill rapidly at the beginning of the week, so I took her to the vet for x-rays. The tumor had weakened the bone and it broke completely; the x-ray also showed tumors spread throughout her gut.

So... yes it was time to make the call.

I had prepared her grave ahead of time, and lined it with a blanket and magnolia blossoms, and I spent an hour with her, heart to heart. She never took her eyes off me and pretty much told me she was ready. 

Those sweet sweet eyes told the story. No longer bright and full of the spark of love and life.

This is the end of an era for us, with both Merle and Tess gone in the span of less than 3 months,  no more dogs for us. They were our heart dogs - even more so than Reba, Tess was special to me. 

Perfection can't be replaced.

I reckon Jesus the Good Shepherd needed a little help rounding up all the strays who have left the flock these last few years.

Dandelions, Tess and Jayne updates.

Sure is feeling like spring now! Today we had big thunderheads build and got a bit of hail. Then the sun came out and  warmed everything up.

I found our first dandelions 😊

My garden beds are all prepared and ready, except for one that needs more dirt in it. I have taken our galvanized stock water tanks and turned them into raised beds as they are now full of pin holes and won't hold water. Can't wait to start planting! Actually, I can start peas now and a couple of others that like to have a cold start.

Took a trip to the big town and had a visit with J, who owns Kali,a daughter of Tess. It was nice to see the dogs together for what may be the last time.

See how Tess is leaning to the right? She is taking the weight off her left leg as she is very lame. The vet says she has either a bone infection or a bone tumour on her humerus bone, between her elbow and the point of her shoulder.. She has a hard swelling there that is very tender to touch. We have her on meds that seem to be helping. We are taking it day by day and praying for healing.

So far she is still a happy dog, and that makes me happy.

I have been keeping a close eye on Jayne, as I don't know her foaling history. Her 320 days, which is the length of gestation where a foal is deemed viable, is April 22; 2 weeks from now. She started getting a bag last week.

She normally has a rather large udder when it's dry but it has started filling. She also has thickened milk veins all along her belly. In a week or so I will start separating her from Beamer at night, into the foaling pen so that she will get used to having her own safe space for foaling.

Today I finally got a video of the baby bumping! 

I'm getting pretty excited to see this one! I am at a loss for a barn name for it/her though. I'll have to wait until after foaling I think.

Stay tuned for the foaling contests! Yes, plural, because Belle will be included.

The new camera

It finally arrived.... and it's going to be a bit of a learning curve for me so bear with me. 

The first couple of photos I took were of Tess.

I used the automatic settings for this. It didn't require much for post processing, just upped the clarity a little.

Outside, I used the same setting and found I had to do a lot of post processing to get rid of the glare, with only moderate success.

Tess is doing quite well, she can still jump in the truck, and is mostly steady on her feet. She has recovered from an abscess on her elbow but still limps on the left front. I started her on Protandim today. 

Today is the fourth anniversary of  her mama's death. Reba was 15 and a half, Tess is about 14 and a half. She is much more mobile than Reba was at that age.

Next- on to the barnyard. These 2 photos were taken using the setting that allows the camera to choose the scene. The light was really strong and the horses looked washed out in the photos so I had to do a lot of post processing. 

That's her "Quit playing with the camera and bring me my grain! " look.

This one was really washed out. To be fair, the sun was really strong on the background and he is so dark and most of him in the shade, as you can see by the over exposed background the camera was probably confused!

It will take me a while to figure out the metering and the settings. 

Next photo was taken in the house, with a bit more success but I wasn't really happy with the focus. I was expecting it to be sharper.

So today I will have some fun playing with the settings and see what happens.

Tess update

Thanks everyone for your support and helpful tips for my beloved Tess. 

She is getting around much better now, - I am so thankful it turned out to be vestibular and not stroke. 

Now when she goes outside, she doesn't bounce off the wall as she goes out, she is much steadier on her feet. She doesn't go splat  (much) any more, just the odd time when she tries to shake her fur and loses her balance. 

Her appetite seems to have returned. I have been making her food, usually pasta, eggs, meat and whatever veggie I can find that she will eat, and lately started adding in canned dog meat, which she finally is eating again. (Her new favourite is turkey & venison) She also gets a big spoonful of canned pumpkin in the morning- that seemed to be the thing that helped her appetite. I opted to go for the simplest route first instead of buying stuff from the drug store to help the nausea, as that's just the way I roll. 

It does my heart good to see her getting out and wandering around, even making her trip down to the barnyard when she thinks I am not looking (she won't go there with me).

Aside from the head tilt 

and that she won't walk on the bare floors in the house, she is almost back to her old self! I indulge her by putting old towels down for the areas she prefers- mostly under the kitchen table, it has become her den. We usually eat in the living room anyway, and don't entertain any more. 

Meanwhile, the winter solstice is coming in as a very soggy, wet, muddy day! I'm hoping to get a few Christmas photos with Moondance over the next 2 days, but meanwhile here is my yard décor 

and my tree.

I rode past that tree several times this summer and finally it was time for it to grace my home to celebrate the birth of Christ. I will try for better photos of it but with it against a window it is really tricky to get a daytime photo with my cell phone, and my big camera only has a zoom lens. We shall see what I can come up with!

Tess

Tess turned 14 on October 26th. I figured she would be like her mama Reba who made it to 15 and a half. Now I'm not so sure. You see, she had a stroke nearly a week ago. At first I was puzzled, as in the middle of the night she was having trouble getting up and kept falling down. It happened overnight. I thought she maybe had a pinched nerve or something as the only symptom seemed to be her hind end was wobbly. She would try walking and go splat. But the next morning, she was worse.... and her head was tilted off to her right. That's when I knew it was a stroke, which explained the sudden onset from perfectly healthy old dog to  not being able to walk properly. 

I did my online research and the type of stroke she had is hemorrhagic. It said low dose aspirin to prevent or remove blood clots so that's what I have her on. 

My biggest problem is getting her to eat. She won't touch the food I had been feeding her, so I found some frozen turkey meat and got her to eat that, then went and got her some raw food dog food. She ate that for 2 meals, then started to refuse to eat again. If I can get her to eat once a day I call it a win, but it's about a quarter of what she used to eat. 

I sure hope she pulls through. 

Update in comments!

Filling holes

It's funny how things happen. One minute all is the same and the next thing you know it isn't.
On Wednesday last week I was messing with the colts in the main pen, and Tay was hanging out watching  as she usually does. Next thing I knew she made a rapid dash into the pen and went for Eli's back legs- she didn't grip but she scared him. She has been doing this business of thinking she is helping even though she knows she is NOT allowed in the horse pens. A bit of a back story, last time Shayla was here, we were looking at the colts and her little dog Goose came into the pen and Eli reflexively kicked out and nailed her- you can be sure this is because of what Tay had been doing behind my back.
So... I had enough and decided then and there that Tay needed to move on to someone who doesn't have livestock. (or cats!)
Ted has a friend in Alberta who lost a border collie to cancer during the summer, and they were heartbroke about it and  looking for a replacement but not a puppy. So he called them and they were very interested and said they would take her, providing she got along with their other border collie who just happens to be Tess's littermate , and Tess and Luke are turning 13 at the end of this month. So a dog like Tay was perfect for them. They spent the weekend here and got along great!

She is going to get all the love her li'l heart desires! And in doing so she will fill the hole in Keith's heart left by the passing of his other dog. 

But wait....

That's not all.....

The day after I decided to rehome Tay I get a knock on my door and it's the guy who owns Tillie's dad. I was happy to see him because I had just been thinking of taking her down to see him that coming weekend after I had her to the vet's for her puppy shots. I wanted to show off my beautiful smart puppy. 

He just stood there and looked at her as I brought her out. We made a little small talk, then he said.... "I want her". Well, my jaw dropped and I must have had a deer in the headlights look! Then he told me the rest of the story: her sire had been hit and killed by a car, and he was heartbroken at his loss. So of course, I told him he could have Tillie, the only pup from the bloodline; we agreed that he would pay for her shots and I'd deliver her the next day. 

I am sure going to miss this little ankle biter! But once again, she was needed to fill the hole in someone's heart, and I know she will have a good life as he needs a dog to help with his sheep and cattle. He said she has a lot of her daddy's mannerisms.

So both Tay and her daughter are part of a bigger plan than what I had for them and I think they are both where they need to be.

As for me, I have my beautiful Tess who has always had all of my heart. No holes there!

Finally a ride!

We'll start this post off with a family photo for National Dog Day.

The pup is getting quite mobile, and as soon as she wakes up I take her outside to pee, which works quite well. Hopefully she will be easy to train to not go in the house. 

I finally got to ride again. I put one of those Equine Streamz bands on my ankle and within 24 hours I had so much relief! Not 100% but good enough to go riding today. 

Come for a little ride with me! Gussie was a little lazy going out, she has had it pretty easy this summer so I decided to challenge her a bit. We rode down to the river at a spot that has an easy crossing.

Picture me with my camera in one hand and my split reins and a willow switch in the other hand trying to urge Gussie across! We got it done with much urging, she was reluctant to cross that rocky bottom river.

On the other side is a very steep hill, with spectacular views half way up and at the top. The half way up video wasn't worth sharing, too shaky, but here is the view from the top:

I think Gussie enjoyed the view as much as I did.

Or maybe she was just drooling over the equine buffet spread out before her......

At the top of the hill there are a couple of apple trees growing wild, so I grabbed a snack for me and Gussie.

On the way back I figured she would be a little more inclined to cross the river; sure enough!

We wound our way through the cool and welcome shade of the trees on the way back.

I love this horse so much! It's always a joy to ride her and I feel so at home on her. 

Riding day 57

Update on the update

Here is the branding that Kai was working. In the group photo he is the horse on the right:

https://www.highriveronline.com/sun-country-blog/that-s-a-wrap-branding-2018-is-in-the-books

And here is further info on the Beamer kids  this hard working family owns:

"Nitro was right along side Kai. He is a finished head horse and heel horse. Kevin won the senior pro rodeo on him this past weekend. Rio is still learning the ropes when it comes to bring a barrel horse. Rorie breezed him tonight and let him find his own speed. It's coming . Josie is going to high school rodeo this weekend in High River. She is going to learn to be a goat horse. Still learning not to cut in front of Rorie. But is a nice steady girl and keeps Rorie safe they are all doing great!!!"

I am pretty happy that Beamer's babies are earning their keep and proving that they can handle it. Exactly what I wanted out of my breeding program.

As for Rosalee... she is still withholding her hostage!

So that means that those of you who have a guess that is before this day, can guess again! Linda, Emma, and Betsy in Wi, if you would like to put in a new guess just leave a comment on this post.

The spring runoff is building and is sure causing a lot of problems all over the place. We are ok so far in this neighbourhood. The pond level is really high and there is now groundwater in the mare pen and in the hot wire pasture that is between the mare pen and the pond.

Everything this side of the green grass is in the mare pen.

 I took the dogs down for a swim a couple of days ago when we had a fairly hot day and discovered that Tay will actually retrieve a stick! However she doesn't bring it all the way back so I have to send Tess out to fetch it and bring it to the shore.

They were a couple of happy dogs!

Trials and trails

ENTER THE FOALING CONTEST HERE


Kind of been awol here for the last few days.... had a very upsetting week. My dog Tess went off her feed last week; I gave it a few days to rule out tummy troubles but she literally quit eating no matter what I put in front of her. I took her to the vet on Monday and they did an emergency surgery to remove her uterus which had a bad infection. Apparently common on older intact females- so if you have a dog who is intact and not going to breed her again- get her spayed and save yourself a lot of trouble! Lesson learned. However- the next day she was not looking good, still not eating and her temperature dropped so I took her back to the vet where they did blood work and found that the infection had spread. Long story short, they put her on IV fluids and a powerful antibiotic, and a steroid shot to stimulate her appetite and she bounced back and I was able to bring her home today. Still undergoing treatment, but at least I have her home!

Got a really nice ride on Gussie today. Took Tay and went through the pond which is about knee deep on Gussie; Tay had to swim. Then to the river and back. In the video there is one section where Gussie is doing her little running walk, almost feels like she is gaited when she does  that it is so comfy to ride.

When we got back, we gave the neighbour kids a ride. I love to see happy smiles on them!

 One ride wasn't enough so they each got two!

After that I worked with ponying lessons with Mesa. First leading both horses from the ground and then riding Gussie and ponying her.

The goal is to get her going well enough to be able to pony her on a few trail rides. This fall I will be doing a lot of ground work on her to prepare her for her 2 year old year; the more I can do this year to expose her to many different things the better.

Belle is in heat, I have been taking her over to visit Beamer. Not breeding her this cycle but with the crazy weather this year many mares are late cycling, some haven't even started, so I want to get her in the rhythm so to speak.

Beamer thinks that's just fine. I have also been letting Gussie visit him just to socialize, but I won't do that while she is in heat because I am not breeding her .

She just visits and then walks away. It's good for the ole boy to have some time with the other horses.

So in case you missed it, or haven't entered yet, I am running my foaling contest. Click on the link and enter your guess in the comments!  It's a lot of fun seeing what the guesses are. Don't worry about entering if you live far away, I will think of a nice gift that I can send, maybe something that can be ordered on line. They don't call it the world wide web for nothing! So enter up!

Riding day 22

A Rio update and a bad dog

Got another update- this time on Rio......

Previous to this run he placed 2nd in the 2 D  and then this run was in the Open. I love how calm he is! He is learning to add some speed on that run home.
Nitro is coming along well in the roping too, they placed second at their last jackpot. And Kai is being a good steady mount for his rider, she says he is solid and dependable- and that makes me just as happy as the other boys winning checks!

And then there is Tess..... I have noticed that the cat food in the barn is disappearing overnight, and that when I call Tess in from her last trip out to go pee, she is coming from the direction of the barn. So- 2+2 = bad dog!

A whole bunch of happy

Just another fun video...

They were all feeling pretty good and I gotta say, mama Belle started it! She sure is feeling good!

I have been assessing Beamer's arthritis and for the last couple of weeks, he is walking really well. I assume his arthritic joint has fused now... so..... this happened.

He was sooooo happy to get out! I kept the ride very short, and if all goes well I will keep exercising him. You have no idea how happy this makes me! I've got my boy back! 

Yesterday was a good day in more ways than one. First, my nephew and his wife became first time parents of a healthy baby boy- their first child, which makes me a great aunt again. 

Then, I went Christmas tree hunting again (with help from Tess ) and had a really enjoyable walk through the woods, drinking in the beauty of nature.

The sun glittered like diamonds on the ice in the pond.....

and lit up the weeds along the river bank.

I found places where the buck deer have been rubbing the velvet off their antlers.

Tess enjoyed the walk as much as I did.

And then, there it was. The perfect tree, in all her glory. So much for my idea of having a small tree this year! I haven't had a regular fir tree for years, I usually get spruce or balsam, but this one, although not overly bushy is so even that it had to be the one. There is just something so sublime about getting out and hiking in the woods with your dog, and finding the right tree. It's one of my favourite parts of Christmas preparation. 

Of dogs and cats.

My dog Tess turned 11 yesterday, here is her official 11th birthday portrait.

I have been doing some serious thinking about Thea, and her strong desire to work, which you can see in this video:

I feel that it isn't fair for me to keep suppressing her desire to work, and my horses are starting to take after her; she got kicked by Pistol the other day, and Mesa was striking at her today. So I mentioned to one of my Saskatchewan friends that I would consider letting her go to a working home.... and she got a hold of her friend Wendy Schmaltz, who happens to be the breeder of Thea's sire and owner of her grandsire. Wendy is the breeder of several of the top trials dogs in Canada, and after seeing this video, called and we made a deal on her. Thea will be leaving in November, hopefully for a life of working to her heart's content. Although I will really miss her, I feel that it's in her best interests to move on.

Beamer got in a bit of a wreck the other day, when I went down to feed he was moving funny and I saw that he had a swollen left front leg and a swollen sheath. (He was walking like a kid with a full soggy diaper!)

He also had dirt all over his back. To be on the safe side, he got a shot of fast acting penicillin, and a tetanus shot. I did find some scrapes on his sheath, one is visible in the photo. So after some CSI work, I found a spot where he had rolled and I figure he had gotten himself cast up against a fencepost and probably had a hind leg on each side of it, hence the trauma to his sheath, and I figure he banged his front leg with a hind or even with his other front. Cold hosing the leg really helped, by the next day it was fine. The sheath swelling is going down, it's about half the size now. I did watch to make sure he could pee properly.

I lost my kitty Pearl the other day too. She lived upstairs and never came down to socialize, and if you went upstairs she would hide. I found her laying partly under the bed, so I picked her up. She was clearly dying, too weak to move more than her eyes and very faint meows. I held her for the next hour and she died in my arms. No idea why she died, she was just 7 years old. 

Pretty Pearl, shortly after we got her

Speaking of cats, kitty Boo has been gone for nearly a week, I sure hope he comes back.

Did somebody say "ball"?

Ready.....

Set......

Go!

Wordless Wednesday

A dog day

Today was all about the dogs. It's a beautiful Easter Saturday, sunny and warm. Ted and I took all the dogs and drove up to visit Janice. I wanted to do a photo shoot of Reba and her clan- Reba has made it to 14 1/2 years old now, and every day is precious. Her daughter Sage, (one of Janice's dogs) is 12 now and her health is failing due to an old injury to her back. She also has Tess's daughter Kali, and I wanted Janice to get to visit Thea. This is Janice's busy season with her greenhouse business, so she won't get away for a few months and by then Thea will be past the puppy stage. So without further ado, here is the family portrait- with Thea added in.

Thea, Reba, Sage, Tess, Kali

 I took a few photos of Sage for Janice.

Such a beautiful girl!  The next photo is Tess's daughter Kali, who is rather camera shy.

I love this one of Reba and Sage. We will be lucky if they last through this year, so this might be the last photo shoot I do of them.