Bright and Frosty

We woke up today to a hard frost, but the day was clear and still. Amazing how much warmer it feels when there's no wind and no moisture in the air, despite the lower temperature.

It was also the first day of rifle hunting season, which meant the dogs had to wear their orange.

The sun lulled the horses into a laid-back mood, and when I went into the field, Bridget was in a mood for socializing. I scratched her, she licked my ears, we played footsie, and she practiced pulling my zipper up and down.

George ambled over and dozed nearby.

He pricked up his ears when he heard a distant rifle shot, but remained otherwise motionless.

This behavior is part of the New George - he stays close by, relaxed, and doesn't come over to claim attention for himself. He came over today once, briefly, and then wandered off to find a pile of hay.

Amigo is visiting again. It's nice to have a lap dog.

A New Challenge from George

I was just remarking the other day that George had - for the time being - stopped challenging me. He has been extremely accommodating and placid recently, leaving me alone when asked and keeping a much lower profile.

Today, however, he came back with something a little different. I went into the field with a pocketful of treats, gave George a couple, and then went over to let the mares have some. When George followed, I asked him to give me more space and allow the mares their share.

He did give me more space, but each time I headed over toward the mares, George happened to be in the way. At first, I hardly noticed what was going on, but after a couple of times, I suddenly realized what he was doing. Then, instead of walking around him, I told him I knew what he was up to and walked straight through him. As soon as I directly addressed his new tactic, he backed off considerably.

I pursued the mares with George lurking nearby. They edged away, looking nervously at George, and going "No, no, really, it's fine, I don't need a treat." Meanwhile, I'm shoving my hand under their noses, going, "You're going to have this treat, young lady, and you're going to enjoy it!"

If George was in the mood to interfere, he always used to be right up in my face; or if that failed, he'd try to intimidate the other horse into leaving, using mean looks and veiled threats. This is a creative new maneuver he has come up with - blocking my access to the mares, but subtly - not getting into my space, but positioning himself in my path. What goes on in your wee head, Georgie?

Homeopathic Pills

I'm waiting for Rose's equine eye homeopathic remedy to arrive, but in the meantime I'm giving her some homeopathic pills which are supposed to help with oedema (localized or general).

As they're sugar based she's quite willing to eat them. However, because of their tiny size, she usually ends up knocking most of them off my hand.

So I've been taking a large piece of apple or carrot, cutting out a plug, enlarging the bottom of the cavity, filling it with the pills, and then replacing the plug. The plug usually stays in pretty well, even in my pocket. I can then give the whole thing to Rose without spilling any pills.

All this treatment is not really helping so far. She's better than she was at her worst, but doesn't continue to improve. I'm also looking into an equine herbal uveitis treatment, which I'll try if the new homeopathic remedy fails to help. However, she's not light sensitive, which I believe argues against uveitis.

Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon

A recent article appeared in the New York Times online called "Findings: When the Mind Wanders, Happiness Also Strays" (John Tierney, 11/16/10).

Apparently we are much happier at times when are mind is not wandering. It's not that an unhappy mind wanders; it's that a wandering mind brings on unhappiness.

I went out this afternoon - an unseasonably warm, sunny afternoon - and spent time playing footsie with Bridget, scratching Chloe and talking to George. Just enjoying the day in an aimless, tra-la-la kind of way. But after I'd left, I realized that the whole time I was there, I was really there - my mind had not been working on solving any great problems or observing any important phenomena, but it had been present, with the horses - not scurrying off into the back room to pore over dusty thoughts in the dark, leaving the real world behind.

Dozing.
I think Bridget may have reached 14:2 hh

Chloe is shaggy.

 I think these are probably the cutest ears in the world.

Intrepid

That's what my daughter was - to take George out for a ride in the chill wind of the late afternoon when she got home from school.

I came upon them grazing on the front lawn.

My daughter explained that after tacking up, she'd let George graze for a while. Then he had been rather disgruntled when the subject of mounting came up. Presumably he resented having his grazing interrupted, and she reasoned that if she let him go right back to grazing after she got up, he would have a less dim view of the matter in future. Makes sense to me.

This is his you-are-a-mean-girl-to-make-me-stop-eating face. However, he cheered up quickly and they set off down the drive.

There were no further arguments, and she let him stop for a quick nibble half way down to the road.

Then off they went for their ride. My daughter told me afterwards that he had been a little jumpy and kept wanting to canter, which I reckon is about normal for a young horse on a brisk windy day. They looked relaxed when they returned.

What a Night

We went to bed last night to the sound of the deluge continuing for the second day in a row.

Around midnight I awoke to a crashing, flashing storm. After running downstairs to unplug the computer and tv, I went back to bed, where sleep was slow to return, besieged as I was with thoughts of the horses out there amid the mayhem. My daughter appeared at the door, just like in the Sound of Music, and I was grateful for her company as we snuggled down under the duvet.

Finally, as the booms of thunder grew more intermittent and distant, I drifted off to sleep. Only to be woken by a mighty wind howling and lashing the house, its fury persisting unabated until morning. Not much sleep to be had with the gale whirling around outside my head and thoughts of the horses agitating the inside.

The wind is still blowing this morning - it's not a cold wind, though, as I discovered when I stepped outside. The horses were grazing, and as so often after a storm, the light and the clouds were particularly pretty.

Looking East

Looking West

Although the horses were jumpy in the wind, Rose was calm when I administered her eye treatment. This morning, the pendulum said no to the banamine, so it was pretty easy. Her eye looks the same as yesterday.

Well, the pendulum didn't actually say no. I take a counter-clockwise rotation to mean no, and a clockwise rotation to mean yes. But sometimes the pendulum swings side to side or back and forth; I don't know what this means. For the banamine, the pendulum swung side to side, which may mean something like - it's not actually counter-indicated, but there is no need at present. I am a rank amateur at this and am kind of making it up as I go along. I've heard that you can "program" the pendulum to swing whichever way you choose. If you prefer counter-clockwise to mean no, then that's what it means.

I believe the pendulum's ability to diagnose is simply a mechanism of nature that science has yet to understand. But lawks a mercy, it sounds like voodoo.

More Rain

Twenty-four hours of rain, and the bigger horses are still dry underneath. Although I don't know what another twelve hours will do.

Bridget

George

Rose

The rain had found its way all around Chloe's torso but had not managed to penetrate to her skin.

Those lighter areas are actually dry. Meanwhile my "waterproof" jacket was completely soaked, with the rain making inroads into the next layer underneath, and every time I bent over, water ran down inside my jeans.

I'm leaving the horses where they are for now as it's not that cold. I put their hay under the meagre canopy of some small leafless trees, on lower ground, so they could eat in relative shelter.

I wasn't looking forward to doctoring Rose in the fading light and the rain, but she let me catch her after only one or two tries. She took her banamine like a champ and visibly composed herself so I could administer the antibiotic ointment into her eye. She is a very dear creature.