Foxsun gives Echo a heart attack almost.

The other day Foxsun wore his horse hat for the first time. He didn't know he was allowed to move when he was wearing it, so he stood still in the middle of the lawn. Brad had to lead him around to show him he wasn't blind or paralyzed.


He had a super time in his fly bonnet. That evening I was giving the mustangs some carrots when Echo suddenly turned into 'a high stepping above the ground' creature. I thought, 'What the...' then I saw Brad bringing Fox in for the night. I had to yell at Brad to take off his horse hat otherwise Echo was going to have a heart attack. What Echo did was so incredible I plan to have a camera handy next time Foxsun wears his hat. Echo is the Freaking Out champion of the world I think.

Here's Foxsun enjoying the shade under the apple tree near my pool. He has a bucket of water there so he doesn't try to drink my pool water. When the water warms up I'm looking forward to showing Fox how humans can swim.

Lazy Cats and Vermin.

The cats are supposed to be hard working farm cats yet I have noticed gopher mounds appearing in my garden. OK, I will cut them some slack because they are being terrorized by that vicious stray tom cat...but really...


I put Max and Andy outside for an airing and poor little Tommy Two Tone had to watch from the window.


He longs to go outside because he's getting bored of tearing up my curtains and furniture. I decided to give him supervised tree climbing session. Here he is climbing in the weeping Elm (Camperdown Elm).


Muffin climbed up there to play with him and they looked so cute together but when I returned with my camera she had gone off to play with a butterfly. Tommy had a good climb anyway.



For the second time in ten years I have cherries on my cherry tree!


The tree has five different varieties grafted on to it. The first are about ready to be eaten.


As I was marveling at the cherries to my horror a magpie jumped down to the ground with two cherries in his beak. I went to put him into orbit like I did Jet Lag but he fled leaving the mutilated cherries on the ground, which were ironically eaten by Jet Lag.


I don't feel so bad about the magpie that drowned in Foxsun's water bucket the other day now.

Well those birds maybe eating my cherries but they'll never get my..............................................
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Strawberry!

I put a glass cup over my strawberry to protect it while it ripens.


Today I ate my strawberry and it was GOOD. I've been trying to eat those cheap tasteless strawberries from Walmart and almost forgot what a real one tastes like. I found another and quickly covered it for later.


I ordered 50 strawberry plants this Spring but couldn't decided where to plant them. I needed them to be safe from the chickens but handy and easy to maintain. About the time half of them were dead I had a brilliant idea. We had a 800 gal tank that had rusted out in the bottom.

Strawberry troughs forever!


They are filling in nice and hopefully we'll have lots more to eat.

Foxsun is in the Dog House.

The cows have been let up on the bluff and Foxsun cannot stand it when they head out without him. Given the choice of being with the cattle, his human family or the outlaw mustangs, he chooses the cattle every time. He tried to follow them out and was met by an electrified barbed wire fence. Being resourceful he went looking for an opening in it and his little adventure meant him scrambling around on the bluff like a mountain goat. Wildairo's excitable whinnies alerted me. From the corrals I could hear Wildairo's girlish whinny, Echo's deep Barry White rumble and in the other direction Foxsun's old man's grumble. And boy was he mad!
This is him (smack dap in the middle of the picture) racing around and calling the cows back.


I had no choice but to grab his halter and lead rope and go after him. As I was dashing to get the horse catching gear the rooster, Jet Lag was laying in wait for me behind the burning barrel. For the first time ever he charged me! I was ready for him though and I kicked him square in the chest with my bionic foot and sent his arse flying in to the forsythia bush. "Take that you sumbitch"! lol.
Here's Foxsun watching me climb after him and calling him even worse names than I called that rooster.


There is an electric wire but it's on the other side of the fence because no cow in her right mind would attempt or even want to do what Foxsun wanted to do. After I put his halter on he was screaming at the top of his lungs (right in my ear) for the cows, who were disappearing from view. After he had a good shout he started, in his excitement, rubbing his fly bitten ears on me, knocking me about and almost sending me flying over the edge. I smacked him around a bit and called for back up. Brad was doing the irrigation and had to drop everything to come and rescue us. There was no way I could lead him back down. Here's Brad leading him down.


Foxsun won't be let out as long as the cows are on the bluff. Their next grazing place is the irrigated meadow and so he can be with them then. That's them left of the poplar tree. The mustang's are calling him home.


I had to slide back down on my bum. In the sharp rocks I found chunks of Foxsun's sole. Our place is pretty hard on a horses feet.


Muffin the rescue cat came up to escort me down and to keep an eye out for rattlesnakes.


Oh, did I mention Foxsun is feeling better?

Another escape.

When I was walking Foxsun in to visit the cattle the other day I left one of the gates unlatched and although it took a few days the cows finally discovered it. Foxsun was having a walkabout and was happy to see his friends out as well.


The bull has fallen in love with Dandylyons (for the moment) but she is loyal to Foxsun. He's a nice mellow bull.



This morning Brad loaded up a truck with our first cutting alfalfa.


Poor Wildairo looked very worried as the hay was hauled off. He loves that alfalfa and thought it was all for him.

Catching up.

I been off my regular computer and was on my old and almost useless computer trying to retrieve some photos. It's been very slow going and frustrating. I think the people who infect peoples computers with viruses, spy-ware etc should be dealt with harshly. That poor old computer is irreparable but I didn't manage to get some photos off it even though it took a few days.

On Friday Echo and I had a bit of a fight. It all started when I got him into the little pen for some 'hands on action' and he got spooked and exploded before I could get the gate closed. I made the mistake of carrying my long stick in with me and it freaked him out. He got a little scrape above his eye from the fence he bounced off and I hurt my leg when I got shoved back. That was a bad thing for him to discover he can escape like that. When I started moving him down the alley back towards the pen he turned to face me tossing his head in defiance. I decided to rush him (in my own way) to get him turned but he stood his ground and snorted at me which made me really mad. I yelled at him, beat the ground with my horse chasing stick and called him a bad boy. He was nothing but entertained and amused by my temper tantrum and as soon as I pulled a carrot out of my pocket he walked up and took it like nothing happened. I suppose everything humans do is madness as far as he's concerned. Later I did get him into the little pen and just had him stand there calmly before calling it a day.

Sunday we had a nice visit from Lea and Bob from 'Lea and her mustangs' blog. Echo wanted to impress Lea with his snorting skills but she'd heard it all before. Wildairo was remarkably well behaved compared to how he reacts with the farrier. He seemed to take a shining to Bob and took a carrot from Lea before running away like a little filly. He was nervous but I could tell it would take much for him to come around and interact with them. The one thing about Wildairo is that he knows a good thing when he see's it. He loves treats humans have and also being made a fuss of. Foxsun loves to have visitors because it means more chances of getting his belly rubbed.

Monday I took my lawn chair and relaxed in Echo's pen. He waited for the hand signal and eagerly came right up to me and stood over me and sort of fell asleep. His eyes were half closed and his bottom lip hung down a bit and I called him Bubba Gump. He let me tickle and stroke his lips and nose like when he first arrived... before he started playing games with me. I think he was relieved to have just me with him and not a herd of humans. Also the little stinker knows that generally people in lawn chairs are harmless to horses. When he woke up he kept rubbing my knee caps with his nose and top lip and I was going crazy squirming because it tickled and I expected his teeth to come into play at any moment. The funny thing is he bites the arm of the lawn chair really hard yet doesn't bit me.

Today I cleaned out the horses water tubs. Echo tried to get Bobby to play like a horse but she sniffed around like a dog instead. Echo is so sweet and gentle with her. Wildairo wanted a back rub and just a general cuddle session, which he got. Foxsun was acting like he didn't feel well again. He's been making progress but not as fast as I'd like. Today he didn't eat his grain and when I let him out he was walking aimlessly around stopping to paw the ground every now and again. I took him in to visit the cows and his old cow wife. The calves were glad to see him.


He hasn't been with dear old Dandylyons for weeks, although they visit through the fence. They gave each other a great big kiss. That's love! He's 23 and she's 18.


I went home to get him some bute and when I returned he was flat out on the ground. I had the rim of my hat down and almost tripped over him. His eyes were half closed and his body still. I thought he was dead, but no, he was just getting ready to roll about in the soft dirt and was having a think about it first. Remember Foxsun even fooled the vet into thinking he was dying out right in the examination chute so I don't feel so foolish. He's just a real good actor. He spent the rest of the day eating dried dead looking grass from around the stack yard even though he has his choice of excellent grass or alfalfa hay, grain or fresh grass down in the meadow. I don't know why he does that. Maybe he likes that anorexic look.

Defusing a bomb called Echo.

I have been working with Echo and it's extremely frustrating at times. I'm a very patient person (when it comes to horses) but he's really testing me.

Last weekend I had Brad help me get him into the little pen so I could try to touch him again. I pulled the wing gate closed a bit to keep him up against the other gate he just stood with his feet frozen to the ground, his whole body shaking and staring straight ahead. It tried to make him relax but he was completely in the fear zone and oblivious to my friendly overtures. He only exploded once and it was when I moved my crop too quickly from his withers to his shoulder. lol I forgot to drag it slowly, so as not to scare him, but lifted it about 2 inches!!!

This week I have been working with him alone. I've been too afraid of working with him when there's no one around because when he detonates I'm hit hard by the wing gate and if I don't have a firm grip on it I'm toast. Also he managed to bolt right past me once when I was attempting to get him into the little pen. I hung on to the fence and had flash backs of getting my ankle squashed flat lol. I wish I was younger and didn't know all that I know now as far as how dangerous a horse can be. Heck the younger Arlene would have been riding him by now (or dead).

Anyway he's calmer when it's me all by myself. I look very harmless in my straw hat singing show tunes and munching carrots. I say all the things that he's familiar with like step up, bump up, here ya go, big boy big boy (to encourage him) and good boy when he bumps or steps up. Bump up is when he gently bumps my knuckles when their held out. Brad has him bump up very morning when he feeds him.

He's getting better with standing behind the wing gate and has not exploded once when it's been just the two of us. My big achievement was getting him to munch carrots as I rubbed him with my crop. Before his mouth was tightly closed and eating was the last thing on his mind. He still stares straight ahead but every now and again takes a very quick look at me. I always tell him it's just mummy. I dare not push the gate closer to him until the hinges are oiled because it squeaks at a certain point, so I've been unable to get my hands on him again. We'll get there, the century is still young.

Here he is trapped by the wing gate.


Look at his poor frightened face.


He's looking at the carrot despite himself.


Defusing da bomb.


I have discovered something about him; if I dance up to him or waddle like a penguin he lets me get so close I can kiss his nose. Deep down inside he knows that penguins don't kill horses and is very entertained by the dancing. Horses are one of the few animals that dance so I think he appreciates the effort. Anyway, predators generally don't dance about when they go in for the kill, lol.

Wildairo

Brad discovered something about Wildairo. When he was moving hay about he was wearing those chap thingies like a farrier wears, when he went to feed the horses Wildairo BOLTED when he saw him coming. Either Wildairo thought Brad had morphed into the farrier or he hates certain clothes...I bet it's the former lol. I have a feeling that Wildairo is not so much afraid of strangers but just people who mess with his precious hooves.

Foxsun

Foxsun doesn't seem to be gaining weight. I thought he'd put the weight back on pretty fast. I remember how he lost weight so fast that week. I couldn't sleep last night because I kept thinking about it. He was eating the whole time except that Friday when we were out of town and discovered his breakfast untouched when we returned that night. He wasn't eating much but he was eating some hay and all his grain that week, yet he lost a ton of weight! I think if you just gave a healthy horse water for a week they wouldn't get that thin. I still think he looks like he has a huge worm load but he's been wormed. The last time I wormed him was last week with Iver-care. I look at his poo and he seems to be digesting his food OK. If he doesn't start to fatten up soon he's going back to the doctor.

Foxsun The Wander Horse.

I haven't blogged for awhile because Foxsun's condition has been changing from day to day. He would have some good days but more bad days. Brad feeds in the morning and a couple of times he'd call and tell me that Fox was needing his pain meds right now. His grain would be untouched and he'd be depressed.

I'm very happy to report that about Friday he seemed to turn the corner. His big droopy belly seemed to shrink and his attitude changed. Yesterday he was even better and today he was back to normal. This has really been hard on us to see him so ill and I really thought he was going to die. I dreaded the thought of being left with two young mustangs who have no idea where they can and can't go on our place. We need Foxsun to show them around and how to behave as ranch horses.

Here is Foxsun on Friday. He was out wandering around and I dubbed him the 'Foxsun the wander horse'. He generally comes when I call him.



I escorted him to the meadow so he could eat some greener stuff.


Later he followed me to feed the mustangs. He had to test the hay first. Even though he can eat whatever he wants he got excited when I picked up the hay fork. Wildairo bangs the fence with his hoof trying to get Foxsun to feed him.


Foxsun really likes Echo.


Here's Foxsun Saturday.


And today.


It's so nice to see him improve. Today he was tearing up the grass like there was no tomorrow. He doesn't eat much of the really green stuff for long. He likes to mix it up with some of the shorter drier grass that grows around the stack yard or some hay.

We are now feeding the mustangs this years hay crop and they love it. They started on it before it was baled (right out of the windrow) and I found it's impossible to fork loose hay over a fence when it's windy. I've been picking hay out of my hair.

I stayed up late the other night waiting for the dew to come on. When the hay was just right, (that's when you can grab a handful of alfalfa and squeeze it and the leaves don't shatter) I woke up Brad to bale. I'm so glad it wasn't me. I have done my fair share of night baling. The first time I did it I was all alone in a very dark field walking in circles trying to find where Brad had parked the tractor and baler. It wasn't all bad, sometimes I baled all night and would watch the sun come up. Although thing's got ugly once the seagulls showed up and started eating all the rodents I uncovered. I remember a gruesome sight of gophers caught in the bales getting eaten by the gulls. Yuck!

This field is 100% alfalfa and is the best I've seen. Each of these bales weigh 100 Lbs. We will get two more cuttings this year.


Now the edema has gone down and Foxsun has got his appetite back I expect him to start gaining weight and energy. The other day when it was hot I had a rope around Foxsun's neck and as leading him to our house so he could graze by the meadow, he was walking too fast for me to keep up so I pulled the rope off him to let him go. He stopped and waited for me to catch up and then walked slower beside me. It was so sweet. When he thought we were turning right I said "No Fox, this way" and he just came back and continued beside me to the house. Once at the house I went inside to get out of the sun and heat (it makes me ill because of the sarcoidosis) and when I looked out he was still standing in the driveway waiting for me. He thought I was getting his tack to ride him..oh dear.. I had to tell him his services were not required. He was still so ill that day, poor chap. I went back out and he followed me to the maple tree shade but still stood waiting, so I walked under the oak tree and lay down on my belly because I was getting light headed. He stood beside me and my head was about 18" from his back feet. I wasn't worried because for years I've seen new calves all sleeping around his feet and he's so careful not to step on them. After awhile he wandered off to graze and I was able to get in the house and enjoy the air conditioning. Phew.