Oh, Lilly....(The Backlog!)

It's gotten cold.

Cold weather means more work around the barn. The fields are still open, but with the chance of the water lines freezing we've switched to using the portable water heater. We have to wheel it into the tack room each night and wheel it out to use in the morning. 

It takes a little longer for us to gear up to tolerate the cold ourselves, too!

Wednesday morning was bad news. Lilly managed to slip her muzzle at some point. We had no idea ho long she'd been grazing to her stomach's content, but she has a very large stomach and doesn't know when to stop (hence the need for a muzzle). Carrie ran to pull her in and kept her in a stall after breakfast to observe.

By midday, Carrie could tell Lilly's feet were heating up. That's a sign of founder. 

The vet came out and confirmed Carrie's fears. The good news is that Carrie caught it immediately. Lilly was put on stall rest.

Lilly pooped up a storm in her stall for a couple of days before Carrie let her switch the double stall in the baby lot. 

Lilly has not been a happy camper. She doesn't understand why her feet hurt and why she can't go back out to pasture to eat all her worries away. She throws her head and makes her displeasure at being locked up clear every time we check on her!

With Lilly on medical leave, Carrie doesn't have a horse to fox hunt with for a while. The only horses on the property that are currently rideable are Indy and Maddy. Indy is tiny and Jessica's ride when she's not off planning her wedding in Colombia or Chicago or traveling for work. Maddy is Barbara's ride and too injury prone to foxhunt with.

What about Eowyn? Well, she's been sold. We'd hoped to get $5k, but after a month of paying training board at Sarah G's there were no offers. Sarah knew a friend who had a horse died unexpectedly, but they couldn't afford to pay up front. Sarah waived her commission and Carrie sold Eowyn to Sarah's friend for $3600 to be paid off $300/mo (which hopefully come in consistently!).

So Carrie's going to be taking a short break from riding. She'd need to take a break anyway with one of her surprises on the horizon....., but that's another post!