Strange phone call....

Last night I listened to voice mail at home. A woman had called looking for a doe kid, aged 6-8 mos, milk and alfalfa fed... to eat.



Furry Husband and I both raised our eyebrows a bit. Generally, dairy goat folks don't sell the females for eating since they are the milk and kid producers.



Furry Husband called the woman back. He told her we didn't have what she was looking for and she might want to contact a Boer goat facility - those are the stocky meat goats. We gave her the name of a local ranch we know raises Boers....

She said she'd eaten an intact male goat and it was awful. I don't doubt it! All that testosterone and stink? Eww.



She was looking for goat meat because she has some sort of digestive issue, and get this, her Dr. told her that she could only eat:

goat meat
Not so odd... I know goats are popular in Hispanic and Middle Eastern countries. I'd heard goat meat popularity is on the rise and we have some goat in our freezer....

buffalo meat


I do love a good buffalo burger...

Here is where it begins to get a little unusual....

turtle meat


I don't know this as fact, but isn't turtle a popular Asian dish?? I've heard of turtle soup.


And more unusual still....

zebra meat


Uh. Where exactly would you FIND zebra meat? I mean c'mon.... seriously? Zebra meat?


camel meat

oh man, my mouth is watering just LOOKING at that hump.... nom, nom, nom




llama meat
I personally don't have a big fondness for llamas, but that doesn't mean they look like good eatin' to me either....

She should really consider finding another Dr. in my humble opinion.


I bet she got our number from the nut milk lady....

Chiropractic work...

I had another chiropractic session with Rosso a week ago. Not that I'm looking for a "cure-all" for his bad behavior; at the same time two different DVMs found him very painful over his loin and rump, so I do want to make him comfortable and find the source of his pain.

This chiropractor was SO incredibly COOL! She was incredibly thorough and Rosso - who can be "reactive" and "fizzy" was falling asleep and really relaxed through 99% of her exam and adjustments.

She thought his posture was asymmetrical and he walked asymmetrically behind. She examined him before adjusting him and found that one of his wither bones had been broken... probably from pulling back and flipping over.

His hips were uneven with one side obviously higher than the other side and she thinks he had a stress fracture in his pelvis from racing. She said 80% of race horses have stress fractures there.

As an aside, when he went in for his tooth floating on Friday, he is missing 2 of his upper front teeth which makes him look like a complete gomer. There are 2 tiny tooth nubs there and a large dip in his gums above the tooth nubs.

My vet thinks his 2 front teeth were crushed. Upon further exam, there is a definite line in his upper palate and those ridges we all have on the roof of our mouths?, Rosso's are out of line - like one side of his mouth shifted forward and the other shifted back. That makes her think he broke his upper jaw.

Sure would be interesting if they could tell us their stories doesn't it? He's obviously had an interesting past.

Anyway, the chiropractor suggested some alternative therapies. One was to put 2 strips of duct tape, each strip being 12 - 15 inches long on each side of his rump parallel to each other. She said he would feel the tape as he walked and he would feel his asymmetrical footfalls. This would result in him trying to even out his footsteps.

The second one was that when I work him, he should wear cat collars with bells on his hind fetlocks... again the idea being he would hear the irregularity in his footsteps and take efforts to become symmetrical.

I don't know if those therapies will work or not, but neither one costs me much and it can't hurt him to try it out.

I also had Anthony, the cowboy trainer, stop by the other day. He said in his thick Aussie accent, "I hear you've been having trouble with your horse."

I gave him a shortened version of what's been going on... he offered to come and ride Rosso at my house a few times free of charge. I told him I would pay him because I know he's busy and it's his time... but he won't hear of it. (what a NICE guy!)

He asked why I hadn't called him and y'know it's not that I was afraid to call him but I figure that it's Rosso disrespecting ME and I need to step up and make Rosso see that I am to be respected just like he respects Anthony or Rex or any other trainer or rider more experienced than me.

I will call Anthony to have him come out and ride since I am afraid to ride Rosso at home right now... will be good for both Rosso and me.

It's not that Rosso shies or bucks that bothers me - I can sit those on Sera - I don't like it but I can sit it, remain in balance, correct it and move on. For whatever reason, Rosso can pop me off his back easier than I can pop the top off a beer. It's only happened twice and both times I got right back on and rode him hard - walk, trot, canter... but after those two times, my confidence and trust in him is completely shattered. I stopped riding him without help because I don't need him to think the rider coming off his back is standard operating procedure.

My trainer, Rex, thinks Rosso dumps me so easily because he is narrow and it doesn't take much for narrow horses to step out from under their riders. She has complete faith I'll get through it. I wish I had her faith... in the meantime, Rosso has his duct taped ass, I bought cat collars yesterday and he's to be worked on a long line for a week before being ridden per the chiropractor's orders. I'll give Anthony a call and we'll see where that goes.

Since I have my mare, Sera, to ride and have fun with, I'm on no time line with Rosso.... I have the luxury (tho I dunno if the anxiety he gives me is really a "luxury"?!? heh, heh) to keep Rosso and take my own sweet time with him.

He's getting old...

Wait. He IS old.

My gelding, Brandon.

He didn't get this shiny this summer - more Cushing's looking... furry and curly and dull coated - and loss of muscle and ribby and compared to this pix when he was in his late 20's he looks OLD.

I bought him when I was 16 and he was 8 yrs old from a nice lady in South Dakota. I still send her a Christmas card each year to let her know how he is. He was born in 1979. I have the flier his owner gave me showing his sire in my file for Brandon - his sire was an Appaloosa that threw 98% color. As you can see, Brandon is a solid, dark bay.... brown with black legs, mane and tail. Not a spot or a speck on him to show he is 1/2 Appaloosa.

His dam was a Quarter Horse...

Brandon has ALWAYS been very stout. Easy keeper. Too heavy. Cresty neck. "This horse needs to lose some weight".... He has lots of bone and huge feet that have always made the horseshoers sweat because they were rock hard which comes from his Appy heritage. People always mistook him for a Morgan or an old fashioned Quarter Horse.

This summer for the first time in his life he was ribby. Even being out on pasture all day and in at night for his beet pulp/Equine Senior mash.

I had our vet pull some blood just to make sure there was nothing obviously wrong.

Brandon with his clod hoppers on... I bought him some Cavello boots for when he's sore. They help him quite a bit.

I mean, he has things wrong - I don't think a horse gets that old without something wrong.

He has high and low ringbone (arthritis) and he has Cushing's disease so he is prone to founder, tho' he hasn't all year (knock on wood)... some days he doesn't get around so well.... more in winter with the hard, frozen ground....and we give him bute (horse aspirin) to help him out. And he has an odd white spot in the corner of his eye that we are pretty sure is cancer - tho' there is no point in taking a scraping cuz that could piss the cancer off and cause it to begin growing. So far, it doesn't bother him and isn't growing rapidly. Best to just leave it alone.

This summer has been good to him. He's gotten around better than he has in a long time, the farrier is shocked to see his feet have improved and how well he's moving around. He's been seen trotting - trotting! - out to pasture and in for his mash at night....

Yesterday I left work early to take Brandon and Rosso over to the vet for tooth floating... the vet rasps down any sharp points on their teeth so they are able to eat better...

Last year, there was a tooth or two we thought might fall out with Brandon, his teeth were wearing down but overall things looked good for his age. I guess I had no idea their teeth could deteriorate so fast.... tho' I suppose a year is a long time and he is 31...

Oh the indignity of having to pose for Christmas pictures!

He lost many teeth and the ones he still has are worn purt near to the gum line...

It gave me a little sharp pain in my heart.

I KNOW he's old... but you get used to a certain level of "old". This hits home that he's old-ER you know?

No more hay for Brandon. He'll get beet pulp mixed with Equine Senior and some rice bran with some trace mineral salt thrown into the mash for his meals from now on. He doesn't have enough tooth to grind up the hay and he'd either colic with impaction or choke trying to get the hay down...

Oh, he's still getting around fine. He is still top dog and keeps Rosso and Sera in line. He is bright eyed and alert - he nickers for his dinner....

He just isn't going to be here forever...

I'm still here!

Here we are to see Bob Marley... My custom bumper stickers were a hit. Bob came on stage and I put my sticker on... he noticed you could tell by his facial expression.

Then I think Furry Husband and Sally put their stickers on.... and you could see Bob Marley's face recognize more "fans of Marley otherwise known as Farleys"... then Shonda and Paul put theirs on and Harry put his on... Bob Marley's face sorta lit up as the whole front row morphed into hard core Farleys.

We were all sitting FRONT ROW and CENTER.

So close we could reach out and touch our favorite comedian. It really was a hilarious show... we all laughed until we cried...
Then there was mountain biking... more for Shonda and Paul, the fit, coordinated people. I walked our 3 dogs and had a good time. It was a spectacular day.
Look! We are fit and trim and we eat pudgy people like you for breakfast!
We drove up to Red Feather to see this crazy Buddhist Stupa. Well. The Dali Lama doesn't think it's crazy. He came to bless it and give some speeches a couple years ago but regular folk like us couldn't get there, only the up and up Buddhists.

It's sorta odd cuz it's just right in the middle of the mountains and you wouldn't think there would be this elaborate, shiny temple...

They had these bamboo poles with little bird silhouettes tied on long strings so they'd "fly" - I thought those were purty durn kewl. Those Buddhists.... they do the neatest, most peaceful things!

Then Shonda and Paul left and we were so overcome by sadness we've been in mourning ever since... 'sniffle'

House guests....

We have house guests arriving tonight! My best friend from high school, Shonda, and her husband, Paul, are coming... they normally reside in Fairbanks, AK and it is a HUGE deal for them to be in the lower 48.

They'll stay with us through Saturday, then head out to UT for some extreme Moab mountain biking.

We have all sorts of activities planned... one of which is to see Furry Husband's and my favorite comedian, Bob Marley.

How odd is it that he's playing at the Comedy Works in Denver this week? He isn't a cool, black reggae dude but a skinny, dorky, white guy from Maine... complete with Maine accent. He is wicked funny!

Fans of Bob Marley are referred to as a "Farleys". Because I am such a dork, I had bumper stickers made up that say FARLEY.

Our friends Harry and Sally are meeting us the Comedy Works, I'll hand out the bumper stickers to everyone so we can plaster them all over our clothes.

Furry Husband gets a pained look on his face when I tell him of my plans and wonders why I am compelled to do stuff like this.... it looks like it physically hurts him.

My answer?

CUZ IT MAKES IT MORE FUN!

Ew, Ew, EWWWWWW

We let the dogs out for one more potty break before bed last night. When they came in, Toe ran to his dog bed in the living room and began chewing on something.

I was in the bathroom... (I'm tellin' ya, everything happens when I'm in the bathroom....)

Furry Husband asked me if I'd given Toe anything to chew on.

No, I hadn't.

Then Furry Husband says, "Can you come here? .... Quick?"

"O.k." and I finish up with washing my face or brushing my teeth ... whatever I was doing in there.

"That's not quick!" he says and there is some urgency to his voice.

I come out of the bathroom and he has Toe's muzzle in his hand. "Look."

I start to look at Toe's mouth thinking I need to fish something out or he's cut himself or something....

"No. Look down."

Lying on Toe's front paws is a big ol' dead vole. It is wet and it's fur is all spikey from being in Toe's mouth and being chewed on.... gross, gross, gross!

I picked it up by the tail, put on my birkenstocks and headed outdoors to toss it in the field. Eww, ewww, ewwww!

Furry Husband got these shots... Toe didn't want to give up his "prize".

That is IT Punkin. That is the last straw! I'm not playin' with you any more. You keep bringing these voles into the yard and you've left me no choice.

Your catnip supply is cut OFF!

I don't know where the time goes...

I keep thinking I need to post every day but somehow the days just get away from me!

This weekend was a busy one... I took Toe to Ft. Lupton, CO for a spaniel hunt test. Of course I called before coming to make sure it was o.k. to bring my dog and for me to come and watch. The chairperson told me as long as my dog was on lead, newbees were welcome.

Toe is a bird dog, an English Cocker Spaniel and I wanted to see his instincts in action.... or if there were any instincts in there. He's never been around game birds. The breeder who sent him to me didn't work him on birds.

The hunt test folks had some extra orange for me and my friend Ann to wear. Did I mention there is a bunch o' orange in the field?

A BUNCH of orange.....

The hunt test committee buys chukar birds raised on a farm, they plant them out in the field and the dog teams go one by one and level by level - there are Junior Hunters who have to find birds, Senior Hunters who find birds and retrieve them and Master Hunters who find birds, retrieve them and are under control at all times - steady to wing and shot.

It was really interesting. And super cool to watch the dogs do the work they were bred for.

Spectators can go out with the hunter and their dog as long as they stay back about 20 feet. There is a woman who leads "the gallery" (the observers), and we all stay clumped together quietly watching the dog and handler work. Every so often, the volunteers and show committee take breaks to plant more birds in the field and the next dogs/handlers head out.

I asked a ton of questions.

Furry Husband has been making noise about getting a shotgun... I see that as an opportunity to investigate training a gun dog. (yeah, I totally see the oddness of this. Me - the saver of baby voles, watching bird hunting. But they aren't babies, they are feathered vs. furry, and most importantly, they aren't in my yard needing assistance. They are dispatched quickly and efficiently by guys like this.)

A very kind woman took the time to introduce Toe to birds... she let him sniff them... he was definitely interested.

She tossed a dead bird maybe 8 feet from us... Toe instantly and without any hesitation ran to the bird, gently picked it up and brought it right back to us. THAT was really cool. The bird dog instinct is just there... I love that.

All the different breeds of dogs were developed specifically for very different tasks and that instinct is still there in our modern day world... how did people do that so long ago? And how cool is that?!

Toe and my friend Ann's dog, Elzie, a Welsh Spaniel.
Lookit Toe with a chukar in his mouf'!

I met people, gathered names and numbers for training and working my little bird dog in the field. AND, I found a woman who could teach me all I ever wanted to know about tracking - I have ALWAYS been interested in tracking... dogs following a scent and using their nose....

I'm all geeked up and ready to go do sum'thin' with my new speckled up!