Roller Coaster weekend

It's been a long hard week and a half, with some very good things and some very bad things. Since this blog concentrates on my animal adventures, I will leave the ongoing and emotional dental drama to Facebook and general in-person ploys for sympathy. But since I write this blog first and foremost as a record for me, I can't leave out the sadness of the passage of my ancient kitty.

I did go out to the barn during the week to see Skye and groom her. The bump was still big, but didn't seem to bother her, and the general consensus among the horse people I spoke to and the Internet (that expert!) was that it is a splint. So it is a more of a blemish than anything else.

I have remained a little concerned (and remain so), but I had bigger things to worry about in that my beloved kitty went downhill in what seemed like the blink of an eye. She was 18 and a half years old, and it was not unusual for her to not eat for a day or two, so by the time we knew something was really wrong (renal failure, as guessed by an excellent veterinarian friend), we also knew that any monumental efforts to save her would be stressful for her (even getting blood from her old veins was a torment) and short-lived at best. She was weak, but didn't appear to be in pain. It was difficult but we opted to let her die at home. I had an appointment for her at the vet for Monday anyway, and if she had not passed by then, we would assess her at that point.

That all sounds very logical and grown-up, doesn't it? The reality was that although I know we did the right thing in not subjecting her to a scary vet visit and poky pinchy scary treatments to give her another few weeks, I sobbed like a child when I was home, but used the barn as therapy for a few hours each day during that time. I was privileged to have that kitty in my life for a long time (since my 20's!), so it was very hard. I wrote a tribute to her perfect self here:

carolinajaybird.tumblr.com

So when I wasn't home crying, I was at the barn, and strangely had a really good time both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday the place was hopping, so there was lots of horse talk going on and people and horses all over the place. Since Skye wasn't lame, I took a chance and tacked her up and walked her around the arena. I had a sweet girl hold her while I tacked her up since I am not prepared to deal with pullback issue right now. I had warned her that Skye might be wiggy about the saddle pad or saddle. Therefore, Skye happily made a liar out of me and was PERFECTO about getting tacked up, standing like a statue then dropping her head and taking the bit better than just about any horse I've ever known. Then she was perfect for our 25 minute walk. I was dying to do a little more, but I was cheating a bit getting on her, so I didn't. She actually seemed interested in doing something different.

When I was done riding her, I put her in her stall for a while as part of my grand plan. This plan included getting Reebok out and bringing him up to the barn to see Skye. I figured it would be much easier for me to get him out without Skye there guarding her treat machine (me), and it would be easier for his little herd bound self to concentrate on learning something if he felt safe with his queen nearby. I went to get him. He is so friendly that he is as easy to catch as a potato, but he was not crazy about being led away from his herd. He would stop occasionally but more often he would 1) curve around like a crescent toward me blocking our way or 2) blunder into me from following too close or 3) rub his fuzzy face on me. All unacceptable. So my first order of business is working on him keeping a respectful distance from me and walking acceptably on a loose lead. He was rather nervous, and the girl who had been working with him earlier had said he some trouble in the cross-ties, so he wasn't too keen on heading back to the barn.

He's only kidding. He doesn't really want to
leave his herd. Not even for me. Yet.

I kept working with him though, calmly backing him up when he curved, blundered or rubbed, and he got a little better. Then I took him around the corner to the row where Skye's stall is, and called her. The second she stuck her head out, he let out a big sigh and I could feel his relief flooding through the lead line. His queen and protector. Right there! He let out a big whinny, and she whinnied back. I then led him past her, then back around to his pasture. He rushed it a little, and used his muscly self to try to lead, but he is not aggressive. He just wants to get back to safety. So I established my authority a couple more times, and he started to feel safer with me.

Sunday was also very fun. Erin led an offsite trail ride to some undeveloped property down the road, and I rode Ike the Incredible! It was a little dicey crossing the busy road, but then we went right into a thick pine woods. Erin had cut a trail through, but there were a few places that were pretty tight for me and the big guy I was on. He was a honey though, as he responds instantly to leg pressure and would move the few inches I needed not to scrape my legs. We also rode on roads through a neighborhood. He was not perturbed by anything in the environment. His only concern was the horses around him. He spent a good deal of his life being bullied away from his food by a mare, so he is a little afraid of them. And he also has a couple of horses he is just not crazy about on general principles. He is not aggressive, he just puts his ears back slightly in a way that Erin told me means he is afraid. I figured out pretty quickly who bothered him the most, then maneuvered appropriately. I swear I think he understood, and he became more and more comfortable as we rode on.

My ride's here! I'll be taking the black SUV.
Nice tongue, Ike.

As we got closer to home, he became rather determined to keep going. He didn't break into a trot or anything, but when I had to stop him to let others catch up, I had a handful to deal with. Holding back an 18.3 hand, 2000 pound Percheron/Friesian cross when he wants to go home ain't no easy thing! He would circle though, and when we put someone else in front of him, he was fine.  Once onto the road to the barn though, he was READY! We got about 20 yards up the road toward the barn, and he let out a deep bellow of a whinny that I swear shook the very Earth. It was so awesome. If I had not already been in love with that boy, that lion's roar of a horse whinny would've won me over. I let him trot a few yards until Skye's pasture came into view.

As soon as she and her pasture mates saw us, they came trotting up. I called to Skye, and that silly girl stopped dead in her tracks and stared at me. Mommy, whatcha doing up there? She was so funny. Then she trotted around in a such a playful way. The cutest thing was Reebok though. He came running up fast doing his funny little gait (which I think is an Indian shuffle - more on that to come), then bucked around, showing off.  Now that's a welcoming committee!

The welcoming committee, bored with us already.

I handed Ike over to Natalie, the love of his life, for the next ride, then gave Dave a call to check on my kitty. When the news was not good, I hightailed it outta there.

By the time I got home, Little Kitty was rather weak and wanted only to sleep. So after that beautiful day, I showered then lay down beside her, pulled her beside me and held her while she napped for the rest of the afternoon. I got her to get up and get some water some time in the evening. Later that night when she was sleeping on my chest, she indicated she wanted to get down so I moved her to her favorite spot beside my pillow. She slipped into unconsciousness sometime later and stayed there until she passed away 12 hours later. She always knew how to do everything right.

My wee beauty resting. She was perfection.