Lumps, bumps and down in the dumps

Okay, first I've got something burdensome to get off my chest here (no, not those silly ;o) Life is full of disappointments; some big, some small. But every once in awhile you experience something that strikes without warning and transcends tragedy. Therefore, I feel a deep seated need to publish the following letter from my [thoroughly] broken heart:

Dear John;

  I am writing to you to express the terrible sense of betrayal I am feeling; you have been with me for only a few short years and I cannot understand how you could just disappear from my life like this. I searched for you for so long and was elated when at long last I finally found you. You were there for me during that brief and shining time before my cancer and while I missed you terribly through the chemo, I can still remember our joyous and bubbly reunion a few months after the end of my last treatment. 

  How can you do this to me so suddenly? Could you not have told me that things were not going well for you? You didn't even bother to come up with a suitable candidate for replacement, you cad! You have doomed me to another desperate search. How long that will take I shudder to think. Who else can help me keep it all together like you can? Without you I know I will disintegrate into chaos and utter disarray. 

  And I can't believe you yanked every last bottle of your stupid Curl Around Shampoo off every shelf in the country. What did I ever do to you??? Well big fat raspberries to that, you putz!

Frizzily yours,  Jen

Thank goodness Ebay was there with a [rapidly dwindling] stash of John Frieda to save the day. Not to mention my 'do - such as it is. (I'm still mad at him though ;o) And did I really just buy 12 bottles of shampoo and conditioner at one time?? EEK I'm a hoarder. *hangs head in shame* Yep, sure did. At least the shipping was free.

Don't you just hate it when something you know and love goes *POOF*? Ah well, C'est la vie, right? Meh. Okay, now let's get to the Expo, shall we?

You know, sometimes I'm terribly thankful to be A Nobody. I've never aspired to fame - just the fortune part - *grin* and I'm definitely missing a large portion of the competitive gene. I have neither won nor done anything overly notable (and don't care either - so Ha). But you know what? There are no huge expectations hanging over my head either (well, other than mine that is ;o) and the only person putting pressure on me is me. I'm thinking it is more than enough mortification to get "that look" from one of the horses that says I just had a ginormous brain blip.
When you're famous, however, any and all of those mental moments and ill-fated foibles become public fodder that travels faster than the speed of light (just ask Pat Parelli who took a hard public slap to his superiority complex courtesy of someone's stallion at a clinic ;o) Even Mark Rashid [my horse hero] talked about his own equine attitude adjustment in one of his books. He said straight out that he had started to believe his own press and suffered the consequences. Humbleness is probably the single most important thing to remember when working with horses (and they are more than happy to remind you, should that important factor ever slip your mind for a moment *grin*).

For egotistical *cough* whatever reasons, instead of bringing his regular [and advertised] mount for Saturday's performance, the entertainer, who was the reserve champ from last year's Mustang Makeover, decided to bring along a green broke mustang instead. While it wasn't a total train wreck, I couldn't help but marvel over the self-inflicted stupidity of someone who I presumed was lots smarter than me about horses (otherwise I would have been the one out there, right?).  Even veteran equine performers can have those I'm so not up for this today days, so I'm going to say that this horse did extremely well under the circumstances: Huge gloomy arena, strange smells, people (not me) firing off flash photos, pouring rain, funky yellow lighting, and a very loud [fairly garbled] sound system. I'm betting there will be considerable post performance damage control to be done.

Sandy and I spent a lot of time wincing; particularly after he lay the horse down and stood on the saddle (that's not very nice there, slick). Not everything that can be done, should be done; didja not know that dude? I don't think I'd care too much to have a little kid standing around on top of me, even if I was wearing a nice big belt. Oy.
Anyway, I shot a few short clips for you guys and slapped 'em together to share. He ran out of bullets after two runs of shooting at and missing all but one of the balloons. He apologized and explained that this was his very first time shooting from the back of that particular horse. This would be the main reason for the BooBoo Award. I'm not the brightest bulb on the porch, but I'm thinking that's probably not the time or place to introduce your green horse to something new and scary. The shooting is up first in the clip, followed by a pretty neat looking leap into a moving trailer. Kudos to the obnoxious woman in black who was nice enough to ask me if I could see. Too bad she didn't bother to listen [and move] when I politely said "No ma'am". There were a couple of close calls where it became obvious the horse had had enough; and control got pretty dicey. I stopped filming the last clip about two seconds too soon (darn it), as the horse body slammed the gate for the second time in a desperate attempt to get the heck outta dodge...

I'm going to say that the best and biggest surprise of the day was clinician Tommy Garland, who showed up on an - are you ready for this? - Arabian. *shocked gasp* Naw, really? That was definitely a new one. What cracked me up (and I sooo wish I had thought to video it, or at least get a picture) was that his horse actually looked right up at the crowd and scanned over the people with obvious interest while his rider spoke. Too funny; not a single one of the other horses "looked up" all day. We wandered around the stables later on, and found him calmly munching hay in his stall. Out of all the horses we "visited" down there, he was the friendliest (most rolled their eyes and backed away). Not only gorgeous, but reproducible (yoohooo Bellllllaaaa... woo! A studly hubba-hubba for you right here sistafriend) If only. Here's a photo of that gorgeous boy:

Well, I think that's [definitely] enough for now. Thanks so much for reading this far and have a blessed week everyone!

Well I don't see it splashed on a Hollywood tabby...

I bought the cutest horse stamp the other day from Getting Hooked on Etsy. Since it's me saying this, I'm sure all of you know that means she has great prices in addition to wonderful items. She hand carves her stamps, which I think is absolutely awesome. I thought the funky shape would make it slightly awkward to use, but it actually made it easier. Girl knows her stuff. *grin* She has giveaways on her blog, also called Getting Hooked, (for those of you who like to win free stuff - Woot!) For some reason, even though I don't drink coffee, I just love the cute little coffee grinder stamp she made (here). Maybe it's because I'm an antique junkie and have an old coffee grinder as a cookbook bookend in my kitchen. Please be sure to visit her shop to see all of her wonderful stamps and don't forget the blog (you can tell her I sent ya ;o)

I don't think I've actually blogged this, (though I know we have a blurb on our home page) but Lady has something called Sarcoids. These are non-cancerous growths that can cause a variety of annoying problems and are fairly common in gray horses. Lady's Sarcoids are Nodular, and pretty tough to spot amongst the freckles (I only found hers because I run my hands over the horse's bodies on a regular basis). While we have some fairly effective, very expensive medicine (Xxterra  $75/oz) to treat them, it's on standby in the event another one ruptures (it took the better part of a year to get the one on her tummy under control - it ruptured on its own). The reason the vet suggested we monitor is because if we medicate prematurely it will cause a rupture (and instigate a medical version of world war III). She's up to 5 of them, but they are all small and don't seem to bother her in any way. 
You can see in the photo below how hard the one on the left is to see; it's just visible above my thumb. The one on the right is basically unnoticeable; even with my finger right there:

In addition to Sarcoids, gray horses are also subject to something much more troublesome: Melanomas. According to experts (people lots smarter than me) approximately 80% of gray horses - particularly Arabians - will develop Melanomas after the age of 15. Peachy. I've been watching Lady carefully over the past several years (she's 20), and found the first dreaded Melanoma under her tail the other day. [photo inset] It's not very big (maybe 1/4") so I suspect it hasn't been there very long. Unfortunately, I also noticed several more small, but suspicious looking, bumps underneath her tail (oval on the right and small circle on the upper left). 
Although melanoma is not deadly in horses like it is in people, it is still a very big problem as they can multiply quickly and often grow out of control, causing considerable misery for the horse. If you're really curious, you can search images for "equine melanomas", but only if you have a strong stomach (some of the photos are terrible to see). Lady was an awfully good girl, standing still (at liberty) for me to inspect the underside of her tail and take some photos to share.  I was sure to give her lots of praise and a treat after, and had the (belated) presence of mind to hope that my neighbors were not outside. Pretty sure the sight of me holding Lady's tail in the air with one hand and a camera with the other - all up in her *ahem* personal space - while praising her lavishly would have worried them considerably. Oh my.
Upon closer inspection, I found that she actually had quite a few larger lumps along the hairline of her tail too. To be honest, I felt them before I saw them. Oh dear. I took several photos but never could get the right angle for them to show up so you could see. Tough to spot, but I circled some of them for you:

So now we need to decide what to we're going to do about it. There are a number of options available, most (of course) pretty costly except for the "do nothing" one (which I am not going to go with). I suggested a biopsy - even though I know what it is - since I'm not a vet but DH seems to think my diagnosis was good enough to act on (again I say I'm not a vet). We're still debating. It seems, even that initial step [biopsy] comes with a risk. Depending on who you ask, attempting to biopsy and/or remove a melanoma can release the cancer and cause it to spread rapidly. EEK. I know this can happen with people from my own cancer (if memory serves, it's called "epithelial seeding of the cells"). I'll Google it later. Anyway, my hope right now is to find the balance between responsible horse ownership, proper [halfway affordable] treatment, and minimal suffering on Lady's part. I am researching our options to see what the best course of action is for all of us. 
My regular readers (non-horsey but still much loved ;o) may wish to skip this part, as I am going to list our treatment options to help anyone else out there faced with this decision:
1. Oil Therapy - Frankincense oil, applied directly, has been shown to reduce melanomas. Looked like a fairly inexpensive proactive approach while we are trying to figure out our next move. I ordered some this morning for $15.74 (including shipping) from Edens Garden (here). I'll letcha know.
2. Biopsy/Surgical removal - May (or may not) resolve this particular melanoma, but comes at the risk of triggering more and/or causing metastases. Factor in, too, that Lady has all those others popping up along the hairline. To try to remove them all would probably turn her tail into swiss cheese. Meh.
3. Cimetidine - A tumor shrinking medication also used for ulcers. Lots cheaper than other options, but often stops working after a period of time which would bring us right back to the point we are now. Not sure if there are negative results (like colic) from reducing digestive acids unnecessarily. Anybody know?
4. Laser therapy - This is not available around here; we'd have to haul her up to Auburn for treatment. Not just this time, but again and again as tumors pop up and become troublesome (probably not the best plan financially).
5. Radiation - See answer to #4.
6. Gene Therapy - Cool, but not available yet (they're working on it though!) Probably way out of our price range anyway.
7. Nublada's Formula - at Earth Angel's Herbs (here). Found a couple of positive comments off site, but not a whole lot of info out there. It's unclear how much it costs: the site has $129 for a 2 month supply, but doesn't show shipping. The 4 month supply appears to be $199. Thoughts anyone?
8. Robert McDowell's Herbal Treatments - A two fold internal/external approach (which appeals) to treatment using Bach-based flower remedies (which also appeals). Pricey at $112 for the internal treatment (5 weeks worth) and $23.50 for a melanoma ointment (here), but probably less dangerous than surgery (and likely around the same cost involved). It would also potentially address any and all melanomas instead of one at a time. Since it's in Australia, the shipping is outrageous (looks to be between $20 and $30 - ouch). I did find a pretty good amount of positive info on this stuff (off site) some of which sounds too good to be true - that's a worry. Anybody out there familiar with him?
**If you're reading this, Clancy - do you know anything about McDowell and his herbal treatments? I don't know if he's near you or not down under, but maybe you can ask around your barn. Would you mind?**
Seems Sarabear had some technical difficulties with her fly mask yesterday. *giggle* Doesn't she look cute?

I didn't forget about the giveaway, either. I'm going to post it next time. I'm waiting for a very special task to come through - we've signed up for "GoodSearch" (we're just waiting for their approval - Woo! :o) For those of you unfamiliar, it's a search engine that donates to charity each time you search for something; I'm hoping this will generate a little bit of money coming in anyway (it's a numbers thing, so the more the merrier!) Can you guess who popped up to see what Lady dropped in the water trough over there? Yep, Charity. She's finally stopped spending so much time at the bottom of the tank and is back to zipping around full time with Faith II and Hope II. I'll try to get a shot of those two; they have grown quite a bit since you last saw them :o)
I guess that just about wraps it up for now. Wondering about the "down in the dumps" part? Well, that would be me. Seems I have Shingles (again), and they are in my eye (again). *sigh*. This is why I am publishing my weekly post this Sunday morning instead of sitting in church. I had all these plans for working with Max and taking videos too doggone it, and they are out the window for now. Raspberries to that. 
Thankfully, I know just what to do in such a situation. I'm going to take my medicine, slap on some more Calamine and pout. Good thing I'm fully prepared for a nice sulkfest: 

Well whaddaya want? It was right there next to the Pharmacy :o) Have a blessed day everyone!

 

The Sarabear Chronicles: Part I

...but over all, I don't think it's too shabby
This slide show video clip was done well before the video I posted a few weeks back (here's a link to the post in case you missed it: Cold and Colder). What was supposed to be a simple thing, turned into a ginormous (er, that's a technical term) ordeal to get it from the iMac at work to home, then uploaded to Vimeo. Being human, many repentable words were snarled at the computer by yours truly; but I finally got it - WooHoo!) I worked hard on getting the right photos to match with the words in the song, particularly at "big right foot". So let's see how many of you have eagle eyes and can see why that shot might be pretty darn cool, 'cause it's a tricky one. I can't remember who said it (was it you Ratty?) but the photo was one of those "happy accidents" I discovered after the film was developed. Enjoy!

Horses Are A Gift from Jen on Vimeo.  
Oh, and there's no prize for getting it right, but I promise to give you a nice big round of applause if you spot it!

Now I'm off to sit in class for a couple days to earn some CEUs for interpreting; hence the Friday post. I'm taking hubby's laptop with me, though (pretty sure I'd get the DT's if I had to go cold turkey for two days :o) Thanks for reading! 

Body Language 101 - Part Four: The Tail End :o)

THE ARRIVAL


Our newest and final resident, Sara (a.k.a. Blue Seranade, a.k.a. Sarabear), was donated to the farm last month.  Her owner was selling her other horses, but due to Sara's abusive past wanted her to go somewhere she would be well cared for and understood. Sara arrived here safely on a weekday afternoon. Thankfully, this gave her plenty of daylight hours to adjust to her new surroundings.  She unloaded in a big hurry, but since it was a four hour trip to get here we could hardly blame her. She was a bit nervous at the change of scene, and let us know by snorting softly several times as she looked around her new environment.  Even so, she was a perfect little lady as we made our way to her temporary quarters. 

Something that I found interesting was that one of the shippers referred to her nervous snorting as "An Arabian thing", which surprised me. It's not a breed trait at all, but simply an expression of equine anxiety. A precursor to those frantic whinnies, if you like, should the stressful situation escalate.  Shadow, our resident weenie, snorts at things on a regular basis. Have you ever heard it before?


We walked Sara slowly around the area we had fenced off for her so she would know exactly where the boundaries were.  Initially, she was more interested in the grass than anything and spent the first 30 minutes or so with her head greedily buried in it (yum :o)

We left her alone to acclimate, but hung around outside for a bit to make sure that she was settling in, and to make sure the returning school bus (next door) did not cause her to have a coronary...thankfully, it didn't. The bus drivers are required to "bleed the brakes" which is super loud (although it doesn't last long).

The Girls had been at the top of the hill initially, but hot-footed it downhill to see what was going on.  Rina, Lady and Taya decided fairly quickly that Sara was "a nobody" and should be completely ignored and thoroughly snubbed.  The threesome immediately returned to the hay pile at the top of the hill, with noses and tails haughtily in the air.  Bella however, who is the loner of the group, turned out to be absolutely fascinated with her new neighbor. 

Apparently it was mutual, as the two of them spent an entire hour completely transfixed and staring at each other across the fences, which I thought was pretty funny. Sara eventually went back to chomping away on the grass, but Bella continued to stand and stare until it was time for supper. Maybe she finally found herself a friend. Wouldn't that be nice?



Watch for the next post: Joining the Herd

Aside from the fly issue, the tail can also be an integral part of a horse's body language . It is usually used to indicate extreme feeling (an exclamation point of sorts, if you like - I do :o)

Swishing - (not at flies) Angry, extremely aggravated or total happiness/euphoria.*

Flagged - Extreme fear (when running) or utter delight (together with a head bob while trotting/prancing in circles or other patterns; a full-body celebration).**

Clamped - Fright (usually precedes a kick; they may just drop their derriere and scoot) or if feeling cold and/or wet.

* Visit our website and watch the video clip of Blue Horse Matinee on our Horse Heroes page to see some of those happy swishes in action :o)

**Some breeds have a higher tail set (see Lady's photo, above) and consequently offer a more intense version of the "flag". Both Bella and Shadow's tails will flip all the way upside down at these times (there is a photo of this further down).

Casual vs. Clamped

There is usually a small space under the horse's tail (L). The horse on the right has his tail clamped due to cold (if it is due to fear, it is usually a precursor to either bolting or kicking).

Comparing The Tail Set

These two horses have different tail sets. While both horses are trotting and each has raised his tail slightly, the horse on the right has a higher tail set. If I was going to guess, I'd peg the horse on the left as a Quarter Horse and the one on the right an Arabian.

Tail Torquage: How High Will it Fly?


This photo shows a horse with his tail flipped completely over. Two of our horses; Shadow (a Tennessee Walker), and Bella (an Arabian), do this. Actually, I have been known to tell all of our horses not to get their tail in a twist over things (when asking for calm :o)

Punctuation is Crucial to Clarity: Be sure to read the complete "sentence"!

Looking at the photo on the right, note the pinned ears, pinched nostrils and tucked chin of this horse. It is easy to tell by looking at these things that she is angry.

When you add in the tail as an exclamation point, however, you can see that this mare is not merely angry she is LIVID.

Next up: Practice putting it all together with some more sample photos :o)