Thank God for the Break!

It's been awesome having time off. From school at least, if not the barn!

Shane's hair is beyond shaggy. I'd love to cut it, but he wants to grow a 'man-bun.' There's a cartoon character who's a volleyball player with one and Carrie joked about me getting one, but it stuck with him!

Not that I can throw stones. My own pandemic hair is probably the longest it's ever been. Carrie attacked my hair one morning and then told me not to move for a picture.

I've trimmed the beard since then. I got tired of my mustache curling into my mouth!

No school takes some of the urgency out of barn chores. There's no planning or class lurking if we take too long. Carrie's been feeling better, so we've been going out as a family. That's let us tackle some of the odd jobs that can be overlooked for a while, but elevate the operation when done.

Like poopbusting.

I don't remember the last time we dragged the dry lots. Shane got a kick out of riding around with Mom.

Maddy has been her usual itchy self. Carrie tried switching to a different allergy medicine to see if it helped to no avail. 

Maddy will walk over and ask for scratches when we're around. She's got her favorites and we've learned a number of them.

She's very expressive!

The barn is a source of community and we hope a blessing to everyone who's part of it. Laura had a bit of heartache when she was walking Ernie. He spooked and stepped on her ankle. I found out when Carrie bolted inside to get ice. Laura found out she had a fracture on Sunday.

Barbara showed up while Amy and Carrie tended to Laura.

There was a riding party in the works. Carrie was on Eowyn.

Barbara was on Maddie.

And Gay was on a mule for the first time in her life!

"The ears are a hoot!"

Pockets hadn't been worked in a while and was reluctant to earn his keep, but Gay got him moving!

It was Carrie's chance to introduce Gay to Eowyn, too. The point of buying Eowyn was to ride, so I'm glad that Carrie's been active! 

Barbara tried out Maddy's new saddle and declared it a success. Maddy's been feeling good lately. A couple rides back, Barbara asked for a canter on the trail and Maddy offered to gallop....and gallop she did! We hadn't realized she was a speed demon and Eowyn couldn't keep up!

I took a few pictures to chronicle the fun before going inside to be with Shane.

The windows were up to get fresh air and I heard my name on the wind later. Abby was beside herself. All of her girl buddies were saddled up and she was all alone! The anxiety made her make a fool of herself.

Carrie asked me to stall here and close the curtain door.

I brought in Eddy to give her a buddy. He happily went to eating the remains of Pockets' hay while she marginally chilled out.

I went back to playing Legos with Shane. I was thrilled he showed an interest, so we made a concourse for his airport, a bridge, some mansions, and a bank, etc.

I went outside again when I heard horses squabbling through the window. 

The ladies stabled Pockets on the boy's side since Eddy was in his stall. They hadn't closed the curtain door and Magic and Pockets were acquainting themselves with each other!

Horses were a big part of the break, but we finally had board game time! Carrie and I finished Pandemic Legacy Season 0! It was worth the preorder. We played 5 Minute Marvel as a family several times, and Shane and I played a round of Horrified.

Shane spent a couple of hours looking at some of my Battletech stuff and asking questions, so we ended up playing a mission. One of my sourcebooks was for the animated series (that's canon as an animated series in the universe!). Shane was curious, so we looked it up on Youtube and watched some episodes. It's no masterpiece, but it was a shared moment.

The days blurred together, but Sunday rolled around. We saw highs of 70s early in the week and ticks became active again. The prediction for Sunday morning was mid to upper 30s, but it dropped into the 20s instead.

Laura was shambling around, so we did the majority of the barn chores. Carrie gave her 'das boot' to help and walked Ernie for her. Shane helped by playing announcer with Amy.

The sun warmed the air and it turned into a pleasant day with a high just over 60° F. Scott, Mark, and Hazel came over to grill and hang out!

We opened up a bunch of windows and the adults played 5-Minute Dungeon and The Crew while the kids curled up with tablets on the couch. 

And I didn't take any pictures. Can you believe that?

The one picture I have is from when we played The Crew. Carrie had a crazy hand and wanted to show us after the round.

I realized I didn't have any good kid pics as we were saying goodbye, but it was too late!

Landie came over an hour later. Shane 'babysat' her. They played hide-and-seek, Legos, and Shane read part of a Dogman book to her. There was a My Little Pony break in the middle, but Landie isn't the type to stay zoned out forever.

Carrie got jumped on by both kids multiple times! 

Shane got in a little trouble after his shoulder nailed her in the chest! "You're not that small anymore!"

It would've been nice if we could've had another playdate somewhere in the break, but double visits on Sunday was a strong finale. 

Have I mentioned I've enjoyed the break? Cause I did. I was productive, too. I wrote 22 blog posts over the span of 5 days! I didn't do any grading, but my students didn't do much over the break either. I'm as ready as I'll ever by for Virtual School on Monday and I hope they're in the same boat. There are three weeks to go until winter break. We've got to cover polygons, quadrilaterals, and basic circles before taking a couple of weeks off to forget it all!

Ernie's Crazy Days

Ernie's surgery on Tuesday went well, but there were two surprises at pickup. 

First, they put him under general anesthesia. The ladies had been told he wouldn't be. Age is associated with increased risks for equines. Including gastrointestinal ones.

Second, Ernie was supposed to be on 4 weeks of stall rest instead of 2.

That left Carrie on edge. She'd recommended the surgery and there were two curve balls while Laura's father was going through a health crisis.

Carrie really wanted Ernie's recovery to be a bright spot for Laura and the initial momentum bounced when it hit those road bumps.

And then things took a turn for the worse. Ernie started to show signs of discomfort. His poops were smaller and harder. They bounced when they hit the ground instead of splatting. He shifted, spun, and pawed and not in the usual "give me my food" way. He laid down which is a sign of abdominal pain when combined with his antics.

Carrie sprang into action. She called the vet, Laura, got Ernie to his feet, dosed him with meds, and got him walking. Ernie wasn't supposed to move, but colic was the immediate danger. Carrie wanted his gut moving along with his feet and to prevent him from lying down.

She got more worried when she noticed Ernie sweating on his neck and shoulders.

Carrie kept Ernie walking at a clip for the nearly an hour before help arrived. I offered to help, but she only let me do a few laps while she backed up the truck and trailer in case of an emergency load. Carrie's the type that needs to have a task to do when she's worried and she's emotionally invested in Ernie.

Laura, Amy, and the vet, Carly, all arrived at the same time.

Carrie gave Carly the rundown. I'd taken some video, but Carly had all the information she needed. She gloved up, lifted Ernie's tail, and shoved her arm shoulder deep.

I thought it'd be polite not to take pictures.

Carly didn't feel any large obstructions, but the poop in process was hardened. She prescribed a laxative and said an IV would probably help, so Laura made the call.

15 L of fluids is a heavy IV. I helped with the lifting. It would have been 20 L, but Carly suggested the smaller amount to keep it more economical. 

Ernie was due an epic piss in the future.

The laxative was administered through nasogastric intubation (aka - Carly shoved a tube up his nose and down his throat).

While Ernie was still swaying under "the good stuff," Carly offered to help change his bandages. It was supposed to happen every three days and already on the schedule. From what I understood, Carly wanted to take a look at the handiwork of her alma mater.

And the incision looked great. Ernie's life was at risk from constipation, but his feet were healing well!

Laura got to play intern since Carly didn't bring any. Both Laura and Amy usually work on human patients.

Laura's sister happened to be with them. She was among the first wave of family to arrive due to the father's health crisis and she'd gotten swept up into an equine one, too.

Carrie and I pulled Ernie out of his stall at 5:27 PM. I took a picture of cars arrived at 6:25 PM. Carly plied her trade for about an hour before she headed out and the ladies settled in to wait for poop. If Ernie pooped, it would be a sign that the laxatives were working and the immediate danger had passed.

Ernie started to come down from his medically induced haze before long and Laura and Carrie threw a blanket on him to keep him warm. I helped keep his head up to force him to swallow meds.

But Laura was his favorite shoulder to drool on (after all, she is his "mom!").

Ernie broke his seal shortly thereafter.

Poop was a long time in coming, though. The temperature dropped as night settled in deeper and darker.

 

Laura and Amy eventually kicked Carrie out of the barn and told her to rest. It was clear she'd been running on adrenaline too long. Carrie crashed on the couch into a fitful rest not long after. Somehow she seemed to sense whenever I was going to go check on everyone in the barn and mutter "No....don't....give them...some spac....zzzzz."

By 11:30 PM, the boarders were still here and Carrie was deep enough asleep I snuck out. Ernie was pooped, but he hadn't pooped. Laura didn't want to leave until he was sure he was going to be okay.

I started to ask some questions about "When did Carly say he should poop by anyway?" No one knew, so I encouraged Laura to text Carly to clarify. Laura accidentally dialed. She was embarrassed and hung up right away before she texted. 

Only it was meant to be. The next day, Carly said she only woke up and saw the text, because of Laura's botched dial. She reassured everyone and they were about to leave when the magic happend.

I took this picture at 12:19 AM 10/10. 

It wasn't much, but it was enough. I told Laura there was no better time go home and sleep and she agreed.

The next morning, we spent even more time than usual staring at horse butt.

Thankfully, a more productive one.

Ernie was pooping, but his poop was still hard, small, and infrequent. It was less than Carly wanted and she kept checking in. Ernie was put on a colic watch. Carrie went down to the barn every hour on the hour as best she could. Overnight, it was switched to every three hours.

In typically Carrie fashion, she tried to do it all. In typical Mike fashion, I continued to offer to help until she started to wear out and I picked up more and more shifts. It'd have been easier if Carrie had agreed to a rotation earlier, but everyone had hoped it wouldn't take days for a steaming, wet pile.

I took this picture when I went to check on Ernie's water, hay, and production at 4 AM Monday morning.

Everything started to flow more regularly and Ernie was deemed cured. Everyone was tired Tuesday, but worn spirits were a little brighter as the ladies figured out how to change Ernie's bandages without a vet to help.

Laura had the same idea as me to track Ernie's progress.

The incisions were still clean and healing nicely. Carly was due to come back in a week to pull out the stitches.

I've learned a lot owning a barn. Maybe it'll help if I write a book one day.

Have I mentioned lately that this was the perfect time for Shane to visit Nana and Pop? I missed him, but bringing him home during a series of crises would've made things worse. He got to party in happy-fun-cousin-grandparent land and sleep soundly!