Lexi, Rico, Cash and 46 Years

Poor sweet Lexi. Her condition is is not good. Her stifle area is in constant pain. She does not have a good quality of life. Monday she will get her wings. As always, it is a heart wrenching decision. Jim, Dr. Darling and I spend a lot of time going over the pros and cons of the quality of life before we come to a decision. We consider each animal and its needs. We try to determine how life will be for the animal, and if we feel that suffering is a major part of their life, then our duty is to end the suffering humanely. Euthanasia means "the good death." It is truly the last gift we can give our beloved friends.
Lexi came with Gracie. They were well loved . Their owner wanted them to have a great retirement and I know they have had it. Thank you , Cathy, for sharing your beautiful girl with us.

Rico is one of the horses in the lower barn. Tonight when I went down to feed, he was standing stretched out trying to urinate. He'd look around as if to say, "Hey. Something's not working." Then he'd eat a bit and try again. A horse with colic stretches out but usually doesn't eat so heartily. After watching him try several times we called Dr Darling. Of course, it was after hours and of course it was almost dark, but the the good doctor was here soon.

He sedated and listened and poked and palpated and then Rico got two more shots- one for pain and one to relax his innards. Dr D feels that Rico had some spasms that pushed against his bladder making him think he had to go. We'll watch him tonight, but we're fairly sure everything is good. No fever. No blockages.

Cash gave us a scare tonight, too. He was down in his stall at dinnertime. He let me walk all around him without getting up. Not good. I let Breeze Bay in with him . They have adjoining stalls, but he can get pushy so they have their own eating space. As soon as Breeze went in he got up and started eating with her. While Dr D was examining Rico , Cash pooped. As all you horse owners know, that's a great sign. So he's OK. Whew!

It snowed today!!! It didn't last long, thank goodness. It was cold and windy, but the horses got double feedings. It makes chores take longer, especially since the big tractor decided to go on vacation. With the big tractor I can take 4 bales at a time, but only 2 with the small one. We are using about 12 bales a day.

It sure rained hard last night. We are due for a few nice days. Maybe the mud will dry out some.

Put in our fly predator order today. We use Spalding Laboratories and if you order from them and use our name Home At Last they will send us a donation. Thank you to all who have done it in the past. Every penny counts. www.reorderd.spalding-labs.com Phone 1-888-562-4552

Sunday is our 46th anniversary. Where did the time go? We were students at Cal Poly Pomona just yesterday and now it's decades later. We were best friends and still are.