EOTRH: Extractions, Round Two (Graphic Photo Warning)

Don't worry, the graphic photos aren't until further down in the post, so you can read the first few paragraphs even if you're squeamish! I'll give you a warning and a bunch of dead space before the icky stuff. On Wednesday, Jack had his second rounds of extractions for his EOTRH (first round in June). A few weeks ago, I noticed that he had broken off one of his bottom incisors. When I emailed his vet a photo of the broken tooth, she was on vacation (bless her), but she scheduled us an appointment for when she was back in the office. The date she had open also happened to be the day of my virtual kickoff for my charitable campaign at work (aka THE BUSIEST/MOST STRESSFUL DAY OF MY YEAR), so I had DH take off work to run Jack up to the hospital in the morning. 

The most majestic derp of all time.

He is not always a reliable trailer loader (when I got him the sight of a trailer would send him into fits of rearing and striking at anyone within reach, he's definitely come a long way since then but I never expect him to load first time), so I headed out to help DH load him up before I left for work. He climbed right on without a fuss, and I hoped that was a good omen for the day. That hope was dashed an hour later, when I found out that despite the vet emailing me about the appointment and confirming it earlier in the month, apparently it wasn't actually on the hospital's calendar and they were not expecting him. My mom (who works in equine now) called me to ask me to forward the confirmation email because he wasn't on the schedule, and I might have loudly yelled "ARE YOU F#$%ING KIDDING ME" at the phone before she told me I was on speakerphone.... Sorry vet hospital reception area, I have been a little overwrought this week!

He's beauty. He's grace. He'll lick you in the face.. haha. 

At any rate, they figured things out, and fit him in for rads right before lunch, then the vet called to discuss them with me. Aside from the broken tooth, the two next to it were also very affected by the EOTRH, and the tooth on the other side of them was fractured as well. In order to get to it, she'd have to take the affected teeth too, and at that point she might as well just take all of them so I don't have to come back in 3 more months for the rest. I was totally fine with that, as it was pretty much what I had expected from previous rads/conversations with her. 

Wednesday's rads. I still don't know what the hell I'm looking at lol. I assume this is the after?

And these are the before?

Got another jar of teeth. I should probably do something with them, I just have like an entire shelf in my freezer that's full of horse teeth HAHA. 

Back home, after dinner and meds, ready for night turnout! 

Trigger was annoyed we took his boyfriend away for the day. When he got back they were nuzzling each other over the partition and it was stupid cute lol. 

Last time he had extractions, they did him first thing in the morning, so he was ready to go early in the afternoon. This time, since they did it later in the day, he wasn't ready until about closing time, which actually worked fine for me -- I had to take less time off work and DH got to be productive and run a ton of errands. But I was so frazzled from my work day that we were halfway there before I realized we forgot to throw Trigger on the trailer as an incentive for Jack to load. Another oops! Thankfully, he loaded like a champ again (although somewhat groggier and drooling blood all over me). I got another very expensive goody bag full of drugs and teeth, and we brought him home. Based on how his aftercare went last time, I modified how I was feeding him (still doing the soaked food, but starting on a smaller amount and working back up to his usual amount). The first few days I am syringing the meds into him, to make sure he gets all of them (or most of them at least), and then based on how he's eating I may go back to crushing them up/sprinkling them on his food. I mixed up more of the clorahex rinse and am syringing out the holes as instructed, and he's got his follow up scheduled for next week. Same as last time, he immediately dug back into grass/hay/food, so I think he feels much better without those icky teeth in his mouth. The tongue droop is definitely permanent now. Poor old king droopy tongue :)

I hassled my mom unmercifully about her lack of photos last time, so she did a MUCH better job this time. So much gore. Are you ready?

No seriously, they're gross.

I posted them on IG and apparently they got censored for being graphic and you had to click to uncover them (EVEN THOUGH I WARNED PEOPLE IN THE CAPTION THEY WERE GROSS).

OK surely if blood freaks you out you've stopped reading by now, so here are the gnarly pics!

I lied, this isn't gnarly, just a drunk poneh haha

THERE'S THE GORE

I love the look of total concentration on her face!

I don't think I really realized how long some of their incisors are!

For all those who really like the squicky pictures, I hope you enjoyed the gore! I again understand why they don't really encourage owners to come watch these sorts of extractions, lol. 

Tempestuous Thursday

So! I'm working on a post about Jack's extractions from yesterday (boy do I have some GNARLY PICS for you!), but in the meantime.... 

When we went out to feed yesterday morning, the feral momma cat had brought up three kittens to eat. We made plans to catch/tame them, and I headed off to work. While I was at work, DH caught the first two and got them settled in the shed we used to tame the last litter of feral kittens, and then I caught the third one when I got home. As we were sitting outside congratulating ourselves on only having three to rehome this time, and also trying to figure out how in God's green earth we were going to catch the mom (she is too wily for a live trap), we heard some mewling coming from the barn area....

Oh look. More. Hooray. 

ANOTHER one. 

Yeah. So we ended up with six kittens total. FML. They're all settled in the shed with a fan, eating wet food, and hopefully learning how to use the litter box. Thankfully we still had some leftover supplies from the last litter so I didn't have to run out and get anything right away, but since there are more than last time I'm going to be going through wet food like craaaaaaaaazy. Ugh. 

Anyway. If you're local, want a kitten? They seriously are the sweetest when they grow up! I've been loving watching the adventures of the last three, who stayed relatively local and whose new owners still regularly update me on their shenanigans :) 

Welcome L O N G B O I

 So... Did a thing this weekend! 

longboi

We've been truck shopping for a while -- when the diesel went in this June for some minor maintenance that turned into some MAJOR work, I started window shopping. At the time, we decided to fix it over buying something newer, but I kept the idea in the back of my mind. I've never been a huge fan of hauling with the diesel (it's mostly the manual thing but also it's a BITCH to start in the winter), but I dealt with it because it was supposed to be the holy grail of engines to haul with. But after the breakdown two weekends ago, I just couldn't anymore. It already stressed me out pulling up to stop signs on hills or people creeping up too close when I had to try to take off without letting it roll backwards at all, but now the idea that the DRIVESHAFT might just... FALL OFF and strand me. Nope. I was done. 

It worked out that DH was making his last car payment this month, and he banks at a credit union that gives you better perks if you have a loan with them. We had been kicking around the idea of buying a bigger boat, but couldn't seem to find any that we agreed on (I wanted something more ski/comfort and he wanted something more fish/utilitarian lol). Soooo we decided a newer truck it was! 

Let me tell you, what people want for used trucks is INSANE. Like, $30k for something with THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MILES. What in the fuck? No! We were aiming for something 2012 or newer, under 100k miles, extended or crew cab, 3/4 ton, and less than $30k (preferably A LOT less). Locally there weren't a ton of options - I widened my search parameters and came across a promising dealership in Kansas - he buys commercial fleet vehicles off lease down south. They're typically low-frills work-type trucks, so it's kind of a niche market and not everyone's cup of tea, but it was one we could live with. Everything locally in our parameters sold within about half an hour of being listed (or wasn't actually listed at all, just sold to a previous dealership customer), so when I found something I wanted at the Kansas dealership early in the week, I assumed it would be sold by the time we could get out there...but miracle of miracles, it was still there when I touched base with the salesman on Friday night. And since he does a lot of out of state sales, the extensive photos (70+ of every conceivable angle lol) and discussion we had prior to making the 4-hour trip meant zero surprises when we showed up. The truck was just as advertised - maybe even nicer! It did have some dings and flaws, you could tell it had been a work truck, but mechanically it was sound as a dollar and as a 2015 with 70,000 miles, it was perfect for our purposes. The Carfax showed all the expected maintenance (done regularly by dealerships, because commercial vehicle). Icing on the cake? The extensive aftermarket add ons of a massive brush guard, a "headache rack" to protect the back glass wired with lights, super heavy duty rear bumper/hitch, almost brand new tires all the way around, and best part? A top quality gooseneck hitch! Literally ready to hook my trailer up and go! Even before you factored in all the extras, we still paid significantly less than the Blue Book/NADA estimated value, and I couldn't be happier 🤗

Never thought I'd own a truck that needed it's own ZIP code lol

Also unexpected bonus? IT FITS IN THE GARAGE.

DH and I had to trade sides so now it's on the side with the lift, his car is on what used to be my side, and my Malibu got kicked outside 🤣

The crew cab is so spacious!

Super excited to feel like I can haul out again with less worries about my truck 😁 of course we have to wait for the title in the mail and then hassle with paying sales tax/registering an out of state truck, so I'm sure it'll take a while to get the license plate situation sorted out, but I can't wait to hit the road!

Word-Y Wednesday

In a departure from my occasionally Wordless Wednesdays (okay they're never wordless, I usually caption the photos haha), here is a massive mish-mash of updates. New Blogger is really cramping my style, because I used to do about 90% of my draft blogging on mobile, and then give it a quick onceover on a computer before I scheduled it. Now it's way too much of a pain to draft in mobile, so any kind of actual blogging needs to be done on the computer, and after I spend all day working on the computer, I'm not super inclined to sit at it even longer/start my day even earlier to blog. Grrr. First world problems -- am I right?

Dogs still love the new house. Based on the intent stares I must have also been holding food when I snapped this shot lol. 

Cruce is getting spoiled with his weekend porch time with DH. 

The noodles still love me WFH so they can come in and watch me. 

When they're not snoring on the couch.

The baby goats are not really so much babies anymore, and they have perfected the judgmental glare the adults already had down pat lol. They like to watch me ride.  

Anyway. Regardless of there not being much posted here, I am riding a ton and feel really good about where the horses and I are -- getting fitter and more consistent, and both girls have settled back into a routine. I am back to riding at about 6:30 am every day that it's not raining, and I alternate horses. On nice days or the weekend, sometimes I get both ridden in the same day :) I have an interesting offer from a local trainer to take some lessons on an older schoolmaster that I am hoping to explore, and I need to see about getting back on my old instructor's regular schedule now that the horses and I could probably make it through a full lesson without dying (or at least we're getting there!). 

One of my favorite parts about WFH is catching the horses napping alllllll the time when I go out to check waters or throw hay. 

We keep getting in a vicious cycle where his allergies flare up so he rubs his eyes and then his eyes puff up ridiculously large and he rubs them even more. So now he wears the bug eyes of shame in his stall and we seem to head off any issues. 

Jack is about the only one I don't catch sleeping during the day... but he makes up for that by sacking out in the pasture for hours, lol. Dunno why he prefers to sleep outside, but he seems perfectly happy so whatever. He's off next week for his appointment to have more teeth pulled. 

I temporarily stopped using the Pivo when I ride in the mornings -- my arena set up wasn't really conducive to getting useful video earlier this summer because of the angle of the sun/the time it rose/the shadows thrown by our outbuildings. But I'm looking forward to trying again soon as the days get shorter/as I switch to riding in the evenings. I'm still happy I have it available, particularly as they keep updating the AI!

I really thought I had it set particular ride, but I still only got a few minutes of usable footage. This was during an evening ride, so I was having the same shadow issues as I do in the morning, just the opposite direction.

I do love watching the sun rise every morning from the back of one of my horses :)

It's not just arena rides -- we did venture out for a weekend trail ride last weekend (although that was a shit show because the truck had a huge issue caused SOLELY BY AN INATTENTIVE MECHANIC) so that was a nice change of pace. I am hacking Ruby out a lot before and after my rides, even though our old trail through the woods is fenced into the goat pasture at the moment. I'm loathe to go down the gravel and chew up the horses' feet, and I'm also not quite ready to invest in hoof boots, although I did discuss them with my farrier and I do have a good source to help me measure/order if I make it to that point. So I just mostly ride around the yard (I'm sure DH loves that lol) and then over up into the mowed area in front of our abandoned church. 

My happy place.

She's still rocking out hacking out in this sidepull - I think she's ready for DH to step up and start taking her out, but he is dragging his feet. We easily W/T/C out on this ride as well as crossed water, and she was foot perfect. 

Knowing that when we got back to the truck we'd be waiting for a minute to get it fixed, we tried to get them to drink from the stream we crossed. They were not interested... lol. 

I do love this crossing though. 

Heading back to the truck to untack -- oh yes, it broke down fully on the side of the road, couldn't even make it into the parking lot 300 feet down the road hahaha. 

Grazing in the shade while DH and his dad fix the truck. 

This is what happens when your mechanic doesn't tighten down the carrier bearing bolts after balancing your driveshaft -- one falls off entirely, and the other only held the driveshaft on by a quarter turn of the threads. I said a lot of bad words. Luckily, it was a SUPER easy fix with the right tools/parts, and nothing else was damaged. Minus my faith in humanity. Oh and my desire to haul my horses behind this truck!

And lo and behold, after a FOUR MONTH WAIT (and also being straight up lied to by the CSR about when the package was shipped out, grrr), my custom Hufglocken pads finallllllllly made it here. I do love them, but the customer service experience left such a bad taste in my mouth that it's probably not going to be an experience I repeat again any time soon, much less in the near future, lol. Not that that should matter, lord knows I own plenty of saddle pads ;)

The truck issues that have plagued us this summer now have me seriously truck shopping -- while our big diesel is mechanically sound again after a stomach-churning amount of money spent and 6 weeks in pieces at the shop this summer, the last breakdown (even though it was human error, not an actual engine problem) eroded the last of the faith I have in hauling with it. Although the situation could not have resolved any better (we broke down nearby to DH's dad and he was able to run out the tools/supplies to get us back on the road with minimal waiting and the horses were able to graze in the shade), I cannot have that happen hauling alone (which I do a lot). We will keep the diesel as a general purpose work truck, particularly for hauling hay, because it's a beast and has many useful years ahead of it, but I am actively looking for something newer to haul with. So hopefully I'll have updates on that front in the near future! I have a few interesting possibilities bookmarked to check out this weekend if they don't sell by then -- what I'm looking for in a truck and my budget means that a lot of times what comes available that fits all my criteria sells IMMEDIATELY, so it's going to take some patience and being ready to pounce with cash in hand on the right one :)

I really thought I was done with the construction posts at this point, but apparently I am not. It's hard to believe we've been settled in the new house for almost a year now, but we're still making some little tweaks and things to make things more comfortable and great for us. One thing we noticed earlier this summer is that the amount of time we spend hanging out on the porches was negatively impacted by the amount of bugs. We mostly solved that on the front porch by adding a high-powered fan in the corner, and we are in the process of screening in the back porch. I wanted to hire someone, but DH thought he could do it himself for a fraction of the costs -- jury's still out on that, but it's coming along!

First railing up and stained. 

Second railing installed and stained. 

I'm not sure if we're going to start on the screen next, or finish the last side (which involves framing in the screen door). 

I think that's more or less all the important things going on these days! Oh, minus absurd amounts of canning!

I posted this photo on IG on a rainy day where we did a lot of canning. 

When Amanda posted that comment I laughed so hard I cried, and I still laugh out loud every time I read it. Both at the idea of staging the cabinet for dramatic effect, or having a canned tomato cabinet. The real answer is somewhere in between -- the new kitchen has about 3x the cabinet space, so when we moved in that cabinet was empty, and I put all the empty Mason jars we had accumulated in it (instead of boxed up in a closet). As we used them for salsa and spaghetti sauce, I just replaced the empty jars in there with full. I guess it does look a little dramatic, lol. 

At any rate. Now you're up to speed on what's going on with my life! Which, presumably you care about, since you clicked on the link ;)