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How to keep a stall bound horse entertained. Cut some holes in a milk jug, fill with goodies, hang in stall!

Earlier in the day, she flung it so hard she launched grain and cookies out of her stall and clear across the aisle!

Caution:  Beware of Cody and her milk jug.  Projectiles in the form of grain or cookies may come flying out of stall at any time!

Cody's Surgery

Cody's knee surgery seems to have gone well.  Though it definitely had some scary moments.

At the clinic - 11-15-11

Thankfully I was able to take the day off work, so after taking away all food except water after 10 pm Monday night and leaving her in a stall with no bedding for the night to make sure there was no temptation to eat bedding, we headed out with her Tuesday morning and arrived at the MSU vet clinic by 10 am.

Cody was going to be the last surgery of the day, and since I had the day off, I camped out with my book in a chair in her open stall door making sure she didn't eat any of her bedding so she didn't have to suffer wearing a muzzle, while she stood there with me either snoozing or poking at my head or my book now and then with her nose looking for attention.

She was a good girl while they got her IV put in.  Not such a good girl while the students tried to put her meds in her eye for her eye problem.  That is definitely a bit of a battle.  Not that she's throwing her head around or anything, she actually stands there pretty well, but Cody can clamp her eye shut tighter than any horse I've ever met, and prying her eye open enough to get meds in there before she clamps it shut again is definitely a challenge.

IV in, now nap time - 11-15-11

But finally they came and gave her some sedation, then walked her back to prep for surgery.  And I sat in my chair outside her stall with my book, waiting and worrying.

Finally Dr. Caron came out and said the surgery went well, and she was in the padded stall for recovery.  Instead of doing five passes like he did last time, he did seven this time.  So that should have cleaned up any cartilage left in the joint to encourage it to fuse all the way this time.  And the parts that were fused were fused pretty solid with bone, so there shouldn't be any trouble with that part of the joint refusing itself.  And hopefully it will be enough to get the parts that didn't fuse last time, to finally fuse this time.  Time will tell.

But my heart just sank when they brought her back to her stall after surgery.  I heard her calling on the way back to the stall, but what I saw when she came around the corner definitely had me thinking "OMG, what have I done to my horse!"  She was still very drunk and shakey from the anesthetic, but she also basically couldn't walk on her leg.  And it's really scary when the surgeon and the people working there are all saying "That's not normal!  That's not good!"

Still shaky after surgery - 11-15-11

As soon as Cody saw me, she stopped calling and pretty much dragged the lady leading her down to her stall as she tried to get to me as fast as she could on three wobbly legs, weaving around like a drunk as they tried to slow her down, but she wanted no part of slowing down.  When they finally made it to her stall, I stood aside out of the way since Cody was pretty unsteady on her feet, but then she refused to lead past me and go in her stall.  So I went in her stall ahead of her and she followed me in.  She calmed down some in her stall, but kept tipping and stumbling forward.  She finally planted her forehead against my chest and just stood there trying to keep her balance.

Her degree of lameness and pain apparently was a first after this type of surgery, and very concerning.  Dr. Caron ordered morphine for her right away, and also gave her a half and half short term/long term nerve block in her leg so she could stand on it as she finished waking up and make her more comfortable.  And added another three bags of bedding to her stall to give her a nice comfortable place to lay down.  He said it's the first time he's ever had to use morphine and a nerve block on a horse after this type of surgery.  I felt horrible.

Looking better the next day - 11-16-11

But, apparently she had a pretty rough recovery this time around.  It sounds like she started trying to get up a little too early, and fought them when they tried to keep her down a bit longer.  And stumbled and tumbled a little in the padded stall.  So they're wondering if she wrenched her leg trying to get up and stumbling around, and if that's where some of the pain was coming from.  She also started calling for other horses, but since she was the last surgery she was the only horse back there, and started working herself into a bit of a panic and trying to pace when no one responded to her calls.  So that's why she was still so out of it when they brought her back to her stall, as soon as they knew she wasn't going to fall down trying to walk, they brought her back a little earlier than normal, hoping being back in her stall and with me and the other horses would calm her down, which thankfully it did.  Poor girl.

When I left that night, she was still a wee bit shaky, but able to stand on all fours and busy eating hay.  But we'd have to wait and see what morning brought.

Give me cookies! - 11-16-11

Dr. Caron called me Wednesday morning and said she was still more sore than she should be once the morphine and nerve block wore off, so she had another dose of morphine that morning, and he wanted her to stay another day.  Apparently morphine can slow down gut function, so he wanted her there where they could help her right away if she started having any colic problems.  Which I completely agreed!  But thankfully they were able to wean her off the morphine and by that evening she was staying fairly comfortable with just bute, no colic problems, and was standing on that leg and walking on it gingerly, a little more normal for this type of surgery.  When I went to visit her Wednesday evening, she seemed in good spirits and was happy to mug me for more of the treats I brought with me.

Thankfully Thursday she was staying comfortable all day on just bute, so she was able to come home that evening.

Trailering there and back was a bit of an adventure both ways.  Tuesday morning was the foggiest morning I've seen in a long time.  One of the awesome ladies that boards at the barn hauled her to MSU for me, and I followed in my truck, but even following a quarter of a mile behind the trailer, I couldn't see the trailer at all.  I noticed the running lights on the trailer weren't on (brakes and blinkers worked, we checked those), so I called Nancy to see if she could turn them on so anyone behind her, myself included, could hopefully see the trailer a little sooner.  Well, it seems her new Grand Traverse decides for you when to turn on the day time headlights, and the night time headlights, tail lights, and running lights on the trailer, and according to the Traverse, it was day time so we didn't need running lights on the trailer.  Gotta love modern technology.  I'm guessing the sensor on the dash needs to be covered so the Traverse thinks it's night time, but by that time we were finally on the express way and soon drove out of the fog.

Anybody out there? - 11-16-11

Coming home Thursday evening was another adventure.  Another of the awesome ladies that boards at the barn was bringing her home for me.  I met her at the barn to ride with her and we headed out.  It was still day light, but would be getting dark soon.  As dusk just began to set in, she turned on her headlights and bam, dashboard lights on the truck went out and no running lights on the truck or trailer!  Headlights, brake lights, and blinkers was all we had.  Blown fuse or something.  So we got Cody checked out and loaded up as quick as we could, so we could try to make it home before dark.  But we finally had to pull over because it was too dark to go any further without lights, and waited for my husband to drive out and meet us and follow us the rest of the way to the barn with flashers.  Thankfully Cody was an angel in the trailer for all of this.

Home sweet home - 11-17-11

Sometimes I swear Cody and I are cursed!

"It never goes smooth.  How come it never goes smooth?" - Malcolm Reynolds (Firefly)


"If we could bottle your luck, we'd have a weapon of mass destruction on our hands." - Edward Cullen (Eclipse)

Oh well, at least we can laugh about it now.

But Cody is finally home, and seems to be doing ok.  She's tucked in a nice deeply bedded stall for 3 to 6 weeks of stall rest.  And we'll see how sound she is in 6 months.  Here's hoping and praying!

Welcome home big girl! - 11-17-11

And things were back to normal with the girls.  Love each other one minutes, fight like sisters the next!

My hay! - 11-17-11

Laying down for a nap - 11-19-11

Miss you little man!

One year ago today we said good bye.  Can't believe it's really been a year already.  Just doesn't seem possible.  I still miss you like it was yesterday.  I miss you every day.  Rest in peace sweet boy.

Wayne - Haflinger Stallion - 1986-2010

Wayne - 11-19-10






Let's call today "Hug your ponies" day.  They're never with us long enough.

Last Ride

It was a beautiful day out today, so Lady, Cody, and I took our last trail ride together.  At least for a while anyway.  Life's been kind of crazy lately, and I haven't ridden in probably a month, but Lady is such a trooper, you wouldn't really know she's had a month off.  And Cody seemed to enjoy getting out to pony along with us, though she was rather full of beans.  She hasn't been out on the trails in a while and mixed with the crisp wind, she was practicing her little Cody explosion airs above the ground every now and then.  It's nice to see some spunk, but she was usually a little ouch for a couple of strides after that.

So I say last ride, because it's probably the last time the three of us will trail ride together this year.  The weather is getting yucky, the days are short, and Cody's knee surgery on Tuesday is going to land her out of commission for the winter.  Though I'm sure Lady will be pulling lead horse duty often over the next few months to help hand walk Cody, but most likely in the arena on good footing while Cody's knee heals up.  And here's hoping by next summer I'll be riding Cody and ponying Lady!

On the eye front, Cody's eye just didn't get any better over the weekend, and by Tuesday I noticed a small spot in the middle of it.  So Dr. Collier came out Wednesday afternoon to check it out, and Cody's done a bit of a number on it.  I don't recall seeing the spot over the weekend, so she thinks she might have scratched it rummaging through the burrs and weeds (which are now all successfully cut out of the girls pasture as of last Sunday), then proceeded to itch and dig it, and made it horse.  But she's got a nice little round ulcer dug into the cornea of her eye.  So new eye ointment and plenty of bute and a fly mask till things heal.  Poor girl can't win. And it obviously hurts really bad, because trying to medicate that eye is a battle, but I think it might finally be getting a little better, or at least less ouchie, because she's actually been really good about letting me put the meds in her eye last night and again today.  So here's hoping that heals up quick and easy.

July 2011

Nine Lives

Sometimes I swear Cody is part cat.  With the number of times she's nearly killed herself, she's got to be.  Though she's definitely used up some of her nine lives.

There was the back leg through the high tensile wire fence that she very nearly bled to death from, having ripped open her hock clear down to the bone and joint.  That was the injury that resulted in my taking ownership of her.  More on that story here.  She should have been broodmare sound at best if she survived, but by some miracle, she was rideable sound with only a small scar.

There was fillet o'knee, when she somehow managed to rip open a huge flap on the front of her left knee.  Amazingly that one healed with only a hairline scar.

Then there was the Friday October 13th phone call five years ago.  "Cody's hurt pretty bad.  The vets on the way right now.  How fast can you get here."  Of course I was an hour away, that was a long drive.  When I got there, there stood Cody in the cross ties, all four legs swollen twice the size they should be, all four legs cut and bleeding, some of the cuts nearly to the bone.  Apparently she had laid down in her stall and gotten cast or something and couldn't get up, and proceeded to fight and panic and turn herself into a pretzel until she finally got back up.  There was blood all over the stall, and the divider between her stall and Lady's (wasn't the most sturdy of stalls in this old barn cobbled together barn) had been shoved over so far in Cody's panic, that Lady was literally left with nothing but a standing stall that she couldn't turn around in.  We had to take down part of the wall to get Lady out, because Lady's stall door was now the second stall door in Cody's stall.  Thankfully Lady was unhurt and didn't panic, and Cody recovered with a few more battle scars.

And of course there was knee surgery last December.

So what's that, four out of nine?

Not to mention all her other bumps, bruises, scraps, cuts, near misses, and "Cody, what the hell now?"  When it comes to accident prone, she is the queen, and has the battle scars to prove it.

More than once she freaked out while tied, pulled back, broke the lead rope and flipped herself over backwards.  This was when I first got her and didn't know about this little panic attack bad habit of hers.  Thankfully we broke that habit and she's much better these days.

There was the back flip out of the trailer.  The barn owner was making two trips to haul a bunch of us up to the show at the fairgrounds.  Cody was going in the first trip along with the barn owners mare and foal and another horse.  After a battle (foals first time loading and mare wasn't very good at loading), mare and foal were in the trailer.  But just as Cody and I stepped in to the trailer, foal panicked, mare went berserk, and Cody tried to back out of there as fast as possible, rearing, slipping, and somersaulting right out the back of the trailer.  How she came away unharmed, I'll never know.  Needless to say, we waited for the second trip, and somehow loaded with little drama.  Though the whole affair was chaos with the barn owner who was about as nutty as her horse.  Someday I'll have my own trailer.

There was Lady and Cody vs the Gate, round 1.  But that's another story for another day.  And then Lady and Cody vs the Gate, round 2.  Again, another story for another day.

There was the cowboy that decided to hobble her front feet to teach her to stop pawing.  Can we say upside down pretzel.  How she didn't break a leg, I'll never know.  I was livid.

There was the hives attack, when she suddenly broke out in hives, that broke open into sores and got infected, all within a matter of hours.  Most bizzare thing I've ever seen.  Called the vet, vet came out, gave her antibiotics, said she could go back outside.  Put her back outside the next day, and suddenly the hives came back twice as bad, which broke open into more sores and got infected, all within a matter of hours.  Call the vet, put her back in the barn, hives went away, but nearly 50% of her body was covered in weeping sores and her eyes were nearly swollen shut.  Still no idea what caused that, and thankfully it's never happened again.  That definitely falls in the "what the hell" category.  Along with the worse case of scratches I've ever seen on all four legs.

There was the kicking a fly while standing next to the gate and slicing her leg open almost to the bone on the bottom of the gate that no one realized was sharp till she cut herself open on it.  The gelding that was determined to eat her alive, leaving her looking like an appy with all the spots of ointment all over her body.  And the gelding that left a nice hoof print scar on her butt from his steel shoe.  Come to think of it, that was the same gelding that just left a scar on my face with one of his steel shoes.  Guess Cody and I match now.

There was her attempt to slit her throat, thankfully it was on the opposite side of the juggler vein.  And her punctured and ripped open shoulder.  Old farm machinery in the pasture with Cody is a recipe for disaster, but try telling those old farmers that.

And there was the kick to the knee that resulted in knee surgery last year, and is now resulting in a second surgery to try to fix that knee.

Most recent boo boo, appears to be a scratched eye from scavenging around in the burrs and weeds in her pasture because the grass is dead and gone for the year.

I know there are many many more mishaps and close calls that Cody's had over these last 8 1/2 years.  Too many to remember or mention them all, but those are some of the highlights.

So she's definitely used up some of her nine lives, but here's hoping she's still got a few more in her, and praying for another miracle.  She goes in next Tuesday for knee surgery to try again to fix her knee.

Steampunk?

Ok, so I don't completely get the whole Steampunk costuming fad, and haven't ventured into it yet myself.  But some of my costuming friends have, including my photographers from the Renaissance Photoshoot of Cody and I (still waiting for the pics of Lady and I with the dress).

But in exchange for the Renaissance photos, Lady and Cody helped out with some steampunk photos (Cody for ground pics, Lady for mounted ones)........

 

You know you have a steady eddie when there is a highly modified noise making Nerf cannon involved and she could care less!

 

Above pics (c) New Age Duchess Designs

So what the heck is Steampunk?  Good question.....and one I seem to have a hard time answering when asked.....but it seems to be a combination of Victorian era meets Wild West era meets Steam Power era meets Science Fiction.  The best example that everyone seems to come up with is Will Smith's movie "Wild Wild West".  Lots of brass and gears and strange things.  

Who knows, I may venture into it yet.  I mean, Victorian era riding outfit gone steampunk?  It could happen!  And I have the horses to make it look good!  Yeah, we'll see, I have many other costuming projects to finish this winter, and I'll be lucky to get through all of those.

Though I must say, I think my favorite Steampunk costume that I've seen so far.......Steampunk Boba Fett.....but then we already know I'm a Star Wars geek!

 

Ok, sorry about the total derailment!  Back to your regularly scheduled program, with a little more horse and a little less weird......

Blanket Washing

Today was blanket washing day.  Cody decided to help.

"Ok mom, I'll hold it down!  You scrub!"

Thanks Cody girl!  Lady decided to stay out of the way.  A little cold to be getting wet.  But blankets are washed.....well, rinsed and spot scrubbed, way too cold and insanely windy to do much more than that today.  Someday I'll actually do this during the summer instead of waiting till it's fall and cold.  But now I can get the ripped ones sewn up, and finish getting them rewaterproffed for winter. 

Step Back In Time

So this past weekend, I took a step back in time.....in a couple of ways......  Back to the Renaissance, and back to when I could still ride my Cody girl.....  Well, in pictures anyway......

 

I started making this dress a few years ago.  I picked out the fabrics specifically because the colors would go so well with Cody's beautiful red dun coat.  And I was going to get pictures riding Cody in it when it was done!

I had a few pictures taken on Cody in it a couple years ago, but it was still very much a work in progress at the time.  It was wearable, that was about it.  The bodice didn't come out right and needed to be remade, sleeves weren't done yet, beadwork was only half done, still needed to make the partlet and the caul for my hair.  So we had work in progress pictures, but I wanted pictures on Cody with the finished product.

And finally this summer, just in time for the festival season, I sewed on the last of the beadwork, tied on the bejeweled sleeves, put everything together, and after literally hours upon hours of sewing and hand beading, declared my first court gown officially complete!

And I can no longer ride my Cody girl........

Cody's knee never completely fused after her surgery like it should have.  She's pasture sound, but not rideable sound.  At least not yet......  After going back to see the surgeon and find out our options, I think we're going to try the surgery again.  Dr. Caron has never had one of these fail before, unfortunately Cody had to be the first.  But she is in great health and of sound body, the rest of her joints are fine, if we can just get the rest of that knee joint to fuse, she should be sound enough to ride again.  As soon as finances allow, we'll try the surgery again (thankfully at a reduced cost).  Probably end of this month, or first of next month. 

So here I am with my dress finally done, and I can't ride my girl.  Yes, I have sweet Lady (and I did get some pictures riding her in the dress as well and will post some when I get them from the photographer), but this dress was made for Cody.

I finally decided I was getting on my girl, even if only for a few minutes, and even if all we did was just stand there.  I wasn't sure how it would go, she hasn't had anyone or even a saddle on her back in a year and a half since she first got hurt.  And here I am climbing on her back in 10+ yards and several pounds of court gown.  Maybe that was wrong of me, but she showed no signs of concern as I carefully climbed on her back off the mounting block.  She honestly could have cared less. 

She even willingly walked off on her own without my asking and was happy to walk around, even if just slow and easy.  And she hasn't forgotten a thing.  She collected up so nice and light in the bridle.  Even did some leg yield and side passing, remembered how to turn on the haunches and forehand with light aids.  She was an absolute angel.  I nearly cried.  Heck, I am crying right now.  I miss riding her so much!

Thank you Cody girl!  It might have only been a 15 minute ride, but it was worth every second of it!  You have no idea how much you made my day! 

And how much I love that beautifully expressive face of yours.  A noble steed indeed, befitting of the Duchess stature of that dress.

  

Thanks big girl!  I needed that.

And if all goes well, we'll do this again in the spring....in more appropriate riding gear, out on the trails, with Lady as the pony and you as my mount.  I hope and pray.

Yes, you can have some grass now!  You deserve it beautiful!

All photos (c) New Age Duchess Designs