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Happy NW Trail Riding

Wet.. soggy... mud

Today it really felt like fall.. an overcast rainy day. Running errands and in & out of the truck.. mud, mud, mud. All I could think about was it's here to stay 6 months ... I was thrilled to find a puddle to "rinse" off with. Of course you really are in it at the barn. With grain to unload and more cleaning stuff to pack in I just kept pondering my boot going squish...

Another horse at the barn spiked a temp so its on antibiotics. Great is was caught early. Not contagious yet which was a good thing. Crossing fingers we are on the downhill side of horses showing symptoms. By the time this is all over I am going to know more about my horses hind end and temps than I care too. :)

Lockdown until further notice

Due to Jr. horses illness I had already started my protocol to reduce exposure and cross contamination where I could. The test results are in and it's official, Jr has Strangles. I don't know the strain but in any case notices went up and we are not able to haul in/out which for me is fine. Spent the day taking temps, cleaning feet and spraying down with bleach solution and fly spray on all 3 horses. It was good to see other owners taking the same measures. If we all do our part maybe we can keep the case count to the current two sick individuals and they can get well and life can get back to normal. I know it's gonna be a long 30 days .... I think it's just natural to wonder how and question why but in this case there is no bad guy. It's just unfortunate it has happened and all we can do now is support our friends and do what we can to get through the nightmare.

Junior & his mom, your in our thoughts and we wish you a speedy recovery

An apple a day ...

Wish it was that simple, there are sick horses in the barn. I feel so sorry for them. Coughing, not eating or drinking they looks so forlorn. Of course anytime sickness happens plenty of folks go nuts and their lack of knowledge is painful. All we can do is support our barn friends while they deal with this and minimize the opportunity for other horses to be exposed. The sickest one has been moved out of the barn but another won't be moved. We have implemented the best cross contamination procedures we can and stopped turnout until we know just what's going around.

Imagine my surprise when I drove in and saw stuff on the trailer! It's really starting to look like the real thing. The new lights are waiting in a pile to be attached. We decided to try and stay as true to original so it's going to have a vintage look :) The guy at the paint store thought we should have put about 3 more coats of clear on .. wow! With the clear coat already applied we can't paint the original white strip at the top so I am thinking of the farm name in white up there against the blue.. Andalusians Northwest...