It’s been an interesting week here in Cassidyland. Cass has been exhibiting stallion-like behaviors towards Becca. That translates to running her off aggressively by biting her back legs and actually mounting her. Cass has always kept Becca in her place but this is all strange behavior. At one point she got herself so worked up chasing her, she got dangerously overheated. So, I had a few conversations with the vet and scheduled her to come out to examine her. In the meantime, she told me to separate the two girls.

Becca’s new temporary home is the round pen with our tried and true canopy tent for shelter. She’s not real happy but we can’t let her get hurt, either by her mother or running away from her mother. The past few weeks Cass has even been a bit “pissy” with me. But now that she has the pasture all to herself, she’s back to being my calm and wonderful girl.

The vet who was on duty for my emergency call the other night is who came out to examine her. First time meeting Dr. Fowinkle, though I’ve heard good things about her from friends. She was kind and completely impressed with how well-behaved Cass was. The exam showed a couple things for concern. Cass has residual edema in her mammary glands from having multiple foals and scarring to the mammary ducts. I thought she’d just never dried up her milk completely. She performed an ultrasound to get a look at her female parts and we found a possible reason for her behavior change. She has an abnormal ovary with multiple follicles, including some follicles that appear to have fibrin deposits. One of her concerns had been that maybe Cass was pregnant and we ruled that out! (There was a sexy stallion in the vicinity when she was with her trainer.) We sure didn’t need another baby. Whew!

The vet pulled some blood to send off to test her hormone levels. That will help confirm the type tumor it may be. The best case scenario is she could be put on birth control or some natural form of hormones to even them out. The worst case scenario is she would need the ovary removed surgically. That would mean a trip to Gainesville. For right now, she’s fine and I do let her and Becca out to graze together when I’m there to supervise. Cass has chased and mounted her a couple more times, but that’s settling down. Becca may be going to stay at the Barnhill’s down the road for a while, we’re playing that by ear. For right now, she hangs with the cows a bit and gets to flip a feed bucket around again. We’ll take things one step at at time.

Fireworks, family barbecues, parades, flags, eagles…these are all images conjured by the thought of our Independence Day. But when we think of America there is another image that should be coming to your mind, our American Mustang running freely over the plains. Our country was built on the backs of horses and we are about to totally destroy a true American Icon, our beloved Mustang. We’ve been slowly extinguishing them for many years, but most don’t know about it.

You see the cattle ranchers caused a fuss because they didn’t like sharing the public lands (our land!) with the bands of wild Mustangs. Keep in mind, this is millions of acres. So, the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) started rounding the wild horses up and adopting them out. It must be so rewarding to win the trust of one of these animals but obviously, not a lot of folks are qualified to take one of these on. The numbers being held versus being adopting started getting bigger and bigger. Now, all these years later, the BLM is complaining about the cost to care for all these horses they’ve continued to capture. They want to kill them all or send them to slaughter, which is a worse death. It’s become a horrible mess. The mustangs are paying the ultimate price for greed.

Last night I read a story and met a horse who will forever stay embedded deeply in my heart. He was born a noble, wise, strong and fair stallion with a family all his own. He was doing just fine until the BLM stepped in. Maybe he will touch you, too.

El Mariachi’s story

When I was preparing to buy Cass, there was a group of artists that had already adopted her as one of their special mares. The International Blessed Broodmare Project is dedicated to the rescue and well-being of horses all over the world and to assist them in avoiding the horrors of slaughter. It was founded by Deb Buckler and a powerful group of model horse enthusiasts who believed they could collectively make a difference in the lives of horses in desperate situations. Their first successful rescue was a group of 20 draft cross colts stranded at a feed lot in Canada, destined for slaughter. The next rescue involved a large group of ex-Premarin mares from several farms in Canada . The mares were being threatened with being sent to the “kill auction” where they most likely would have been bought for slaughter and then onto the dinner plates in other countries. You can read both heartwarming stories on the website.

My Cass was one of those 90 mares. The artists of TIBBP raise money by sculpting, painting and selling resin horses. I never knew about this hobby until my adventure began with getting Cass from Canada to Florida.  TIBBP was desperately sending money to bring down the prices on the mares so they would be more easily adopted by those of us with bleeding hearts here in the U.S. As a matter of fact, the son of one of the artists, Stephen who is in grade school, painted resin frogs and sold enough to bring Cass’s price down. She was his favorite. Even though I can’t paint or sculpt, I’m now a member of this formidable group of horse lovers. We have our own news group where lots of good information is passed, stories of progress are told and prayers of encouragement are sent. They are wonderful friends to have.

So it is fitting that my girl, now has a one-of-a-kind resin horse painted in her likeness. Thanks to Gina Hall she is Cass. I absolutely love her and I’m afraid a new obsession may be in the works! Introducing … Mini Cass!

Sorry to have taken so long to update, but it’s been a busy week. Ramirez is doing well and came through his procedure with no ill effects. He handled the anesthesia like a champ. Unfortunately, he wanted to eat at 2am but that’s ok. The x-rays showed no abnormalities in his “bully” – the part of the brain that controls the vestibular system. So, that’s actually good but it still leaves us with no clear answer as to his condition. He’s definitely shown improvement and today walked several times unassisted. We’re still just waiting, waiting for him to get back to his old self or waiting for him to tell us he’s done fighting. It’s up to him.

Throughout his entire life, anytime Ramirez had to be put under, it was done with me holding him. It’s nice to get special privileges.

Dr. Rick’s is a full service vet clinic. Our boy was hooked up to all sorts of machines to monitor his heart and breathing. The incubation tube was being secured here so the machine would administer the proper agents.

Eye ointment is administered to keep their eyes from getting dry since they don’t blink while under.

The x-ray was shot through his open mouth. This is precisely why he had to be knocked out. No way this would have been accomplished with him awake! We all took advantage of him being asleep and lavished kisses on his face. This is the only time Dr. Rick can do that.

The circles show his “bullys” which look perfect. If you look closely you can see his gorgeous ears stretching to the sky.

At 11am today, we’re going to be doing an x-ray on Ramirez’s brain. Dr. Rick (who is wonderful) will be putting him slightly under anesthesia because the x-ray has to be shot through his open mouth to show the part of the brain he needs to see. We’re calling it his “bully” but I think it’s ebulus or something. It’s the part that controls the vestibular system. Since we’re one month into this now, it’s time for more answers. He has improved, as you can see here:

If this x-ray today shows abnormality on the right side of his “bully” (which is the side he circles) then Dr. Rick will somehow be able to relieve the pressure. If it doesn’t show abnormality then we will know we’re dealing with more than vestibular disease. I trust Dr. Rick completely, especially when it comes to knocking this guy out. He’s been caring for him since he was a pup. The agent he uses has a reversal so he’ll come back up fairly quickly. We understand the risk and are praying we get some answers. We’re also doing another procedure at the same time that will be revealed later – can’t say anything, yet.

Please keep our boy in your prayers today.

What do you get when you cross an over zeolous cattledog with a bratty fjord? You get mom falling flat on her face as the cattledog clotheslines her trying to chase after the fjord! Ouch! The side of my knee is gonna be all kinds of cool colors later today…

But before I stumbled, I was witness to my most magnificent Cassidy April showing complete grace while tearing it up running all around the 5 acres. She was absolutely breathtaking. It’d been a while since I was able to turn them loose and since it was a tinge cooler this AM, my girls were feeling fruity. It is truly a thing of beauty to watch a horse run for the sheer love of running. She even had Buford the bull scrambling out of her way. She would stop at one of the fences, arch that neck and let out a couple snorts then take off again. Becca was trying to keep up, but momma ruled this race. It was too cool.

This week Cass allowed our farrier (http://soundhorsesystems.com/) to trim her hooves by just standing calmly on a loose lead. She didn’t have to have a wheelbarrow full of hay in front of her for a distraction! We were also standing in the barn, not out in the open of the pasture so she was dealing with two biggies. This was huge. She’s had a problem with her feet from the beginning. Her experiences in the past with hoofcare were not the most pleasant. From what we can tell, she had them trimmed while being attached to a livestock tip table. Picture panels being pushed against both sides of her to squeeze her tight enough so that when they lifted the table sideways, she was off the ground. It had to be horrifying.  She and I have worked diligently on her trusting to have her feet lifted. We are very proud of our smart girl!

I think I’ve mentioned we have other ailing dogs besides Ramirez. Had rechecks with two of them today at the vet. Kaley, who is in kidney failure, is heading right back to end-stage even after being hospitalized last week for IV fluids. She is now feeling her disease, is nauseas and weak. She’s kinda stumbling around like she’s had a bit too much to drink. Joey, who was just diagnosed last week with glaucoma, has only had a slight improvement in the pressure in his eye. The meds that are working for Nellie aren’t doing enough for him. His lens has now luxated completely to the front of his eye and he’s in pain. We’re adding an oral pain medication to try to help. The best answer for him is to remove the eye, but he’s 18 years old. I don’t know that he’d survive surgery.

The cat that’s ill is actually responding to his meds and is enjoying canned food along with his usual kibble. He’s looking better. Ramirez is scheduled to see Dr. Rick tomorrow. It’s difficult to describe things over the phone. He needs to see him again and assess if this is all still vestibular disease or if there is brain damage. Our boy is trying so hard but it’s hard for me to stay positive when I see him like this. We actually kicked him out of our bed at night so we can get some sleep – though Scottie’s been up with him several times the past two nights. Not having his squooshy fortress all around making my feet hang off the bed is an adjustment. I’m sleeping better and not being scratched by him, but it makes me completely sad. We’ve got some tough decisions to make.

This is our boy, Ramirez, napping on our bed a few years ago – when he could still get around on his own.

With Father’s Day right around the corner I thought it sweet to show off the love my husband has for his special #1 “son”. We made the decision when we got married not to have any human children, so these animals really do feel like our kids, they just have fur. The past 3 weeks we’ve been averaging 2 -4 hours of sleep a night so we’re catching naps as we can. At night Scottie’s been trying to sleep on the couch so Ramirez can have his side of the bed. He goes back to bed in the mid-mornings after pet sitting. This is how I found them the other afternoon…

How many pillows does it take? Ramirez has always loved what we call his “squooshes”. They’re his pillows of various texture, softness and overall squooshiness. In dealing with his current debilitation, we’ve come up with a few ways where he can still enjoy his comforts while staying safe. He’s slept in the bed with us since he was a 4 month old puppy. I have a hard time sleeping if he’s not next to me. It’s ironic now how I’m not sleeping because he is next to me!

He has spurts of resting comfortably and then his nose thing starts up and he goes into his panic mode trying to get up to sneeze. This sometimes goes on from 2 – 5am. We’re all catching our sleep when we can. Sort of reminds me of being back in college…ah, those were less complicated days. All I had to worry about then was getting to class and finding out where the party was going to be. Now, I’m holding delicate lives in my hands. Some days I feel competent, others I’m at a loss.

We got a babies play pen for him to be in the times we aren’t able to supervise him on the bed. He had been using a soft crate, but it was difficult getting him in and out of it and we couldn’t just peek in the room to see if he was ok. This solved all that.

We don’t want him to have to be in there for very long, so we’re now eating in the bedroom with him. Our good HD tv is in this room so it’s working out nicely. He’s also a Magic fan so we’ve been getting into these playoff and finals games.

Scottie spends the mid mornings with him while I tend to our other animals. Easy to forget there are several others depending on us for their food and essentials! He does his futures trading stuff while in bed with him. He’s got quite a cool set up. Scottie’s always wanted to just spend his days in bed. Be careful what you wish for…

All these photos makes it seem like Ramirez is laying there like a vegetable. He’s not. He’s trying desperately to stand up and walk like he wants to. He moves himself around the bed using his front legs. That’s why he’s surrounded by the pillows to keep him in. He is completely aggravated about being carried and touched constantly. He always been a pin that did things on his own terms and that meant giving or getting affection. When I go to kiss his nose he’s still trying to bite me and that’s a good thing.

Joey (on the left) and Frank (on the right) sometimes horn in on the squooshiness. The age of that group together is 51 freaking years old! Good grief! Poor Joey is at the vet today because something’s going on with one of his eyes. We had Kaley hospitalized last week for 2 days to get IV fluids because she’s in kidney failure. Simon is hyperthyroid. Nellie has glaucoma. It goes on and on with this group of senior citizens. Give us strength to get through these dark days.