HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOODLEBUG!!

To my little Doodlebug-HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY!! You are my sunshine and I can not believe how fast you are growing up! Too many more! I love you so very much!

"ANGEL" UPDATE

Yesterday was the first draining that we have done at home. When I started gathering up the things I was going to need, Savannah asked what are we doing? When I told her she said okay, let me get the camera! (she is so in to taking pics!) After I got done she asked you are going to post these pics I took aren't you?!?!?! (we have a future blogger in the making!!) I got out about as much stuff as the vet did and it still appears to be deep. I used a 14 gauge 1 1/2 inch needle and it was all the way in. The swelling on the bottom of her neck is lessening, so that is good. Feeding this morning the abscess is swelling again, so I may try and drain again this evening. (the vet wanted us to do it Friday and Monday) I am so blessed that she is so good with treatments! I wish Savannah had gotten a picture of her face, she is asleep! Thanks for all your sweet thoughts and concerns about her, that means so much to me. I will keep you posted! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

**BTW-the scar above the abscess on her neck is a old wound, didn't want you to think that was part of it. She has another one on the other side of her neck. When she was a foal a gelding picked her up by her neck.**

WHATEVER WORKS!

Meet "Roo". He loves to scratch on whatever will do the job! I just happened to have my camera and catch him rubbing on the pen! It is normally a tree on the way to his pen. He has allergies and sometimes severe allergies! So when we took Angel to the vet the other day I loaded him and took him. Last year we had a hard time keeping him controlled. Well this year we are already starting and hoping to catch it before he gets real bad. He gave him a Vetalog injection and I will be giving one a week for 3 weeks, then decrease down to 1 every 2 weeks and when those are gone, see how he is doing. Hopefully we can go to once a month. I also bathe once a week with a anti itch shampoo, fly spray at least once daily, he wears a fly mask and I use MTG on his mane and tail. I hope this allergy season we can keep him comfortable! Hubby is hoping for a long mane as well!

ANGEL'S TRIP TO THE VET

"Shelby" patiently waiting at the vet's!

We went to the vet today for "Angel's" recheck. He said that it definitely was a vaccine reaction that turned into a abscess. It was a huge abscess and she had swelling down her throat and back to her neck. He didn't want to lance it, because it was deep. We decided it would cause more problems, so he drained it using a 14 gauge 1 1/2 inch needles. And probably got out about 1/2 cup of stuff. We have to drain it Friday and Monday to see if we can get the rest out. I will finish out her antibiotics and give Bute as needed. He did say that hopefully if we get it all drained out she should be back to normal in a couple of weeks. So she will continue to have this break from her normal riding. (I am sure she is enjoying it!) I did ask about what would we do next year? He said the Rabies shot lasts 2-3 years (so we can skip that) but he did suggest continue giving the others, the risk is to high if you don't. He did say what he would do would be to give 2 at a time-one in the chest and one in the rump. And then give the next ones 1-2 weeks after. That way if she has a reaction we will know which one it was. Several people I have talked to about this have said they have had horses that have had reactions to the Flu-Rhino and then the West Nile. I do know I am going to be doing a lot of research on vaccines and the need for this area before next year. You know it is scary that this happened, but if I do not give her the vaccines she could be a risk to get the diseases. It is a hard decision and one we will be researching and praying about.

VACCINE REACTION IN HORSES

Man the last couple of days have been crazy around here! The worst part is my mare "Angel" is very sick. Let me start at the beginning - Last Tuesday I took them in to the vet for there annual shots and Coggins. Wednesday morning I went out to feed and my mare was the last one to the barn. Not normal at all! Then I notice as she is getting closer she appears to be very stiff. Not normal either! Well I was getting ready to tie her up and noticed her face is swollen and started checking her over. And her left side of her neck is swollen big time! As I am trying to remain calm I continue checking her over-vitals, gut sounds, the whole nine yards! Of course the vet is not in, since it is 6 am! So I go back inside and get Savannah ready for school and drop her off. Then I call the vet and he said bring her in. Not a problem, I was going to bring her in! So I go hook up and walk her very slowly to the trailer, normally she loads not a problem. I had to coax her in. So we get there and he says yep she is having a severe vaccine reaction. So he gives her Banamine and penicillin and off we go. I continue to medicate her for 3 more days with Banamine and Penicillin and hydro twice daily. The swelling is going down slowly. Well, this morning went out to feed and she is in the barn just standing there. When she tried to walk she was very stiff again in her front end! Then I start looking at her all over and her neck is swollen worse and has moved down her neck even more! Of course there is heat in it too. And she can not even turn her neck that way. And you can tell she just feels like crap! Of course this is at 5:30 this morning and the vet is not there! So what did I do? I had a good cry and screamed a few choice words (sorry I hate it when they are sick!) and then regained my composure! Called the vet after I dropped off Savannah at school and he said it sounded like she is trying to get a abscess there. So I went in and picked up a different antibiotic and started that and her on Bute. I have to take her in Wednesday morning for him to lance it and go from there. He didn't want to see her today, he wanted to get the antibiotics in her and manage her pain some. This afternoon she is not as stiff (which I am sure has something to do with the high dose of Bute I gave her!). So that is a relief to see a change for the better in her. He did tell me to elevate her food, water and hay. So she is being treated like a princess in a lot all to herself. He did say normally it takes 4-6 weeks for them to heal. So I am hoping and praying that after we see the vet that she will be on the road to recovery!! I will let you all know how it goes at the vet. I tried to take pictures of her neck and face, but the pictures did not turn out. We have never had anything like this happen before, have you had a horse with a vaccine reaction?

APRIL PLAYDAY

To top off our busy weekend we had our April play day this past Sunday after church. Hubby had a ranch rodeo that afternoon, so we rode to church together and then he and his horse got a ride to the rodeo. Savannah wanted to stay and ride in the play day. She really enjoys them and they are great for her confidence. The events this month were: poles, potato race, Obstacle course and the shovel race. Savannah did all of the events. She did a great job and even loped a few times! I did all the events as well. I did the shovel race with a friend and we got a time of 16 seconds! Which is doing the shovel race wide open! And I have the bruises to prove it! But man was it fun! Not any pictures of me expect for the shovel race. A friend grabbed my camera and said she needed to document this! They were also asking what they should tell hubby if something happens! LOL! After the play day we went and picked up hubby from his rodeo. We got there in time to see the last event. His team placed 4th! Way to go guys! And this year no one was hurt! Last year we spent the evening in the ER with 4 broken ribs and several fractured ribs! And it was my birthday to boot! Woo Hoo!

OUR WEEKEND

Me and Cindy at the zoo Family pic!

Savannah and Michael posing at the cat exhibits! They were just huge!

Cindy and her family came down this last weekend for her daughter's bible drill state finals in Tyler. First off Cindy and I grew up next door to each other and are more like sisters than friends. On Friday afternoon we meet at the zoo and then out to eat. Saturday morning we went to see Laura at her bible drill state finals in Tyler. WOW, these kids were awesome! Laura did great and won her seal for top honors. We were so proud of her! After that we went back to there hotel and the kids swam and had a great time! Then they wanted to go and see the Tyler Rose Garden. We ended the day with horseback riding! It was a great visit and we all enjoyed our time of fun and fellowship. Here are a few pictures from this weekend!

At the rose garden. (leave it to my child to find something to climb!) Another family pic! (Thanks Cory for taking our family pics! It is nice to actually have all 3 of us a picture together!)

WHY, WE DO NOT KNOW!

What is that you ask? Well, that would be my dog "Shelby!" Why is she hanging from the tree? Well, we do not know why! She has been doing this for a couple of months now! We have looked in the tree for something that she is trying to get and nothing! Hubby likes to have her do it when people are here. They are just amazed, how did you train her to do that they ask? Ugh, she does it on her own! I should say well I am just that good! LOL! She is a great companion to me while little cowgirl is gone to school. She pretty much goes everywhere with me. We rescued her from a neglectful/abusive home. She is a great dog and very smart. She has just been a blessing to have. As hubby says everything has to be alittle off to live here!

The last couple of days we have been doing our spring cleaning around the house and barn. My shadow has been with me the whole time. Can't you tell she is a great helper! Looks to me like she is laying down on the job!

WESTERN WEDNESDAY

This was last year at a pasture roping for our preacher's son. His mom asked me to take pics. In a pasture roping there is a starting line right next to the trailer. They turn out the steer and when the steer gets 60 ft away then you go rope it. Well I would run out with the ropers and follow and take pics. Which with Dickie and Lynn here in this picture no problem. They got the steer roped and done in a few minutes. Well, others would run it all over the place! It is hard to be running wide open and take pics! LOL! We had a great time and it was a beautiful sunny day!

This is a picture of Savannah sleeping on "Pesky" at a In House Ranch Rodeo in '05. I was trying to find this picture and put on the post I did for his birthday.

YOU NEVER KNOW!

Out in the country you never know what you may run into. Well this morning I was out at the barn getting ready to clean it up some. We have a junk pile in there and I was going to tackle it. But when I went in the barn the hen that is sitting out there was not herself. She is used to us being out there and never does anything. So I started looking around for the cause. Well didn't see anything right off the bat, but decided I would pick up the piece of tin laying right on top of junk pile. You know what I found? A huge snake! So I put it back down and went to the house to get the gun. Came back lifted up tin and killed the snake.

Then I tortured the snake! You see were I blasted him? But you know they do not die right away. They still move and such. So moral of the story always be on the lookout for anything, you never know! And a girl's best friend is her gun!

Here "Preacher" is checking it out to see what I had! **Notice in this picture he is not stretched out? He was still moving! I then put him in a feed bucket (Savannah will want to see it when she gets home from school) and got to cleaning. Every one of the horses came up and checked to see what was in the bucket. Then they began pestering me! Taking stuff out of the bed of the truck, trying to get into the barn with me, etc. They are saying around here snakes are going to be bad this year! Yeh think???

OUR OLD MAN

This is our old man "Pesky." He is 26 years old today. I thought I would share his story with you all today. The first time I met my hubby we were at a roping practice at a mutual friend's arena. I was there with a friend that was having trouble with his heading horse. Well, who did they ask to help him, Dickie of course! So he came up to me and asked me to cool off his horse for him. I said okay not a problem. Before he walked off he whispered something in the horse's ear! I would find out later he had told him to take care of me! How sweet is that! So that started our dating and how "Pesky" entered my life. At ropings I would warm him up and cool him off. Well around the time Savannah was born, he was older and couldn't go like he used too. So he went into semi retirement to become Savannah's first horse. He was such a great babysitter with her. He took such good care of her. I can say one time in fact they I know he and "Angel" saved her life. We were working calves at another ranch and she was sitting on him and this man heeled a calf tied off and then got off his horse! Not good especially since it was a green horse. Well, you all know what happened next the rope rubbed the horses rear end and off he went-calf and all. He did laps around the pen and was going straight towards Savannah. I yelled at her to hang on and hubby and I were running as fast as we could to get to her. But the horse made it first and ran into Pesky, knocking Savannah off the right side of the horse. When that happened Pesky and Angel both looked down and saw her laying there and came together and covered her with there bodies to protect her from the horse and the calf. It was just amazing! They were her guardian angels that day! She has ridden him up until last year and he has now gone into full retirement. He is living the rest of his life out grazing green grass, munching on hay, getting feed, grooming, and lots and lots of TLC! I can say he has truly earned his place here and will stay here until it is time to be called home. I can say I am not looking forward to that day, even though I know it is coming. It will diffently be a sad day at the ranch. Thank you old man for all your years of taking such great care of my family. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND TOO MANY MORE! I love you!

The last couple of days!

Thought I would share the last couple of days with you all. Tuesday evening good friends of ours called and said there 80 year neighbor's cow was calving and the calf was breech. So we grabbed up supplies and headed that way. When we got there it took 3 people to get the calf out, we were not expecting the calf to be alive, since they were not sure how long she had been in labor. Well the heifer calf was alive and we got her going. Mom was another story-after all that she just wanted away from everyone! We finally got momma and calf together, but when we left she was not having anything to do with her. Dickie instructed/helped there foreman on what to do and when. It is not all the mommas fault she was too young to be bred and small. Then we came home and had to catch chickens! A friend of ours was wanting some and another friend was taking a few of my roosters. We put them in dog crates until morning when we were going to deliver them! The next morning one of the kennels was just moving about, the roosters were fighting! UGH! So hubby got them out and we tied there legs. BTW-Hubby says he isn't going into the chicken catching and deliver business! LOL! You definitely know your loved when he will help you catch chickens! Thanks honey! Yesterday we took 2 of the horses to Savannah's school for Texas week. We talked with them about the gear we use and why, how to tie a calf and anything else to do with the horses. Dickie and Savannah gave them a demonstration of how to ride and showed them how to spin and turn, stop, etc. They even got to brush them! They all seemed to have a great time and we really enjoyed doing it. Thanks Honey for helping me with the kids! You did a great job! Hope you all have a great and blessed day!