Update on Sweetpea

She is doing very well. We had her to the vet and he was appalled at her poor teeth. They looked as though they had never been floated. The swelling on her side was not a true hernia, thank goodness. It is fluid coming through a torn muscle.

He sedated her and they led her to to do the power float on her teeth. She was very obediant but very worried. Her eyes wouldn't leave us as we stood there. And if we moved, her eyes followed us. Afterward, he gave her a tetnus and antibiotics, and also a shot to help wake her up.

It was surprising how quickly she perked up. She was very happy when we led her back to the trailer and hopped right in. I think she was afraid we were going to leave her.

We see a little more personality and hope in her every day. Her eyes are bright now, she's gaining weight and feeling more ambitious.

She settled in so quickly with Bo and Tacoda it was surprising. Trav and Jackie don't care much for her though, but Jackie doesn't admit to liking ANYone. He's a grump.

The Curse of the Paso Fino

Yeah, we knew it was going to happen.

We bid on a Paso Fino Bay last night.... and won. It was destiny. She's just a little over 13 hands, has a very high croup and a small hip. She didn't move with a lot of animation but we could tell it was very smooth. They had a 6 foot tall cowboy on her who's legs were so long that when he tried to cue her, he had to bring his feet back and they'd hit her right in the flank. One of his spurs had caught her on the patella and left a little cut. She had a slight bulge on one side, possibly a kick mark. Her feet her long and her eyes were dull and sad. But she did everything that was asked of her and did it very responsively.

We bid $150 and won. Peg stayed with her while I ran home for the trailer. While I was gone, Peg said that she just stood there, with that dull hopeless haunted look in her eyes. I packed some hay in the trailer for her and came back.

She came willingly with Peg to the trailer and perked up just a little when she saw the hay inside, then hopped right in. She remained in the trailer munching away while we went on to the tack auction. We didn't stay too long though.

She is about 18 to 20 years old, horribly thin and ragged, and brushed and cleaned her up, she didn't look much better.

So we started her on Nutrena Compete 10(tm) grain, Source(tm), twice a day and coastal hay. We have a round of hay in the pasture as well. Her name was Tinkerbell or some crap like that. We've been calling her Sweetpea.