7 Hours of Sickness

Wednesday, Lisa picked me up at 1 pm for a 'girls day out'. I was so, so, so excited. We had so much to do.

First of all, I should mention that I'd been feeling sick for a couple days. Stuffy nose, head hurting (that's normal though), aching body, not really motivated to do anything. That being said, you all know I'd do anything for  a day at the barn. So, sickness and all, I was able to get up, dress, and be ready for Lisa when she picked me up at 1 at the house; we spent 7 hours at the barn.

We went to Noodles & Co. for lunch. We, of course, had some delicious noodles that I quite enjoyed. While eating, we talked about various things and generally just caught up on each others' lives. We finished quickly and hopped in the truck to drive over to Rural King.

Who knows what season it is? It's SHOT SEASON. Oh, my favorite. The only experiences I've had with giving shots to horses have been bad ones. Last summer during Saddle Club, three horses went lame and at least two had to be given shots in order to make a full recovery. Well, let's just say that those horses were less than thrilled with the idea of getting shots. Taco had to have shots in his butt, and - now, I can't blame him - he wasn't too happy about that. It took three people to get him to stand still, be quiet, and to give him the actual shot. April, whens he had to get shots, made quite a scene in the middle of Saddle Club. I feel so, so sorry for the vet and Katie, who were trying to get her to not bring down the barn. At least it got done in the end. I've given Emmy one shot, a long, long time ago, and even then I felt nervous about it because it was back when she was sick.

So, we picked up vaccinations for Missy, Lucy, Grinder, Chief, Misty, and Cookie. Yes, Cookie. I was really, really wringing my hands about having to give Cookie a shot, or even having to assist Lisa in doing it. Man, that horse is a devil. In case you haven't already heard of my feelings for him, allow me to sum it up in a few short words: stud; mean; evil; kicking; rearing; bruises; attitude. That good enough? If you're really interested in more about Cookie, go to the bottom of this post, click "Cookie" in the tags, and read read read. Trust me, though, you'll get bored of the same old mean stuff he does eventually. Anyways, after a $200 bill for vaccines and wormers, we ran to Lisa's house to get her boots and then finally headed out to the barn.

When we arrived, the first thing we did was put all the wormers/vaccinations on a chair in the tack room. Then, we proceeded to bring all of the horses (except Cookie, who was, as usual, already in his stall) inside and into a safe, warm, secure stall. First order of business -- vaccinate/worm all the horses, except maybe Cookie. We did Missy first. She stood like a perfect angel and it didn't take more than a minute to do her. Next was Lucy.. sigh. The shot part didn't take any time at all - in fact, she took it like a really good girl and just stood there like nothing was happening. When it came time to worm, though, she got nervous. She could tell when Lisa wanted to put it in her mouth, and she kept spooking towards me. I was standing sort of to the side, and every time Lisa tried to put the tube near Lucy's mouth, Lucy would turn her head towards me and sink her head into the crease between my arm and my torso. It was so cute, but when Lisa actually stuck the tube up in Lucy's mouth to administer the medicine, Lucy spooked into the aisle. Only the cross ties, which are designed for emergencies like that, and use long, 14-foot ropes, saved her from running further. I grabbed the cross tie as it flew out of the holder and pulled Lucy around. After that, we used the approach/retreat method and she did fine in the end.

Next was Chief. He actually did pretty well, but we also had to use the approach/retreat method with him. Shots were very, very easy. He took it all like a pro. After that... it was my turn to give vaccinations/wormer. Next up? Grinder.

Now, as I mentioned, all of my shot-giving experiences have been nothing but bad. Well, all that turned around when I gave Grinder his vaccines. He just stood there, like a pro. When I had to worm him, he looked at me slightly worried but once I had patted him for a minute and reassured him, he was fine. Misty was almost the same way - shots were a little bit of a struggle but mostly because she was oogling at the ATV that is in one of the other grooming stalls.

Next, we put Cookie in the round pen from his stall. Man, that horse is a bucking mess. As soon as we let him go, he dropped and rolled for a good five minutes, then leaped up and twisted, jumped, and hurled around the arena for a really good while. He stopped to sniff a few things and dig like a dog under the gate, but mostly he was running. We left him there and got Missy and Chief out to groom them.

Miss Mare was filthy! Of course, she stood in the cross ties like a pro (really, neither cross tie was attached, she just had her lead rope hanging on her back) and let me pick her feet, everything. When I saddled her, she looked at me a little funny but didn't show signs of discomfort or anything. Chief saddled up nicely as well. Lisa rode in Troy's gear since it fits Chief a lot better than her own gear does. Lisa and I removed Cookie from the round pen, stuck him in a stall next to Grinder on one side and an ATV on the other, and Lisa lunged Chief. After that, she briefly hopped on to take him for a spin to make sure he didn't have any kinks he wanted to work out. Next, I lunged Missy briefly and she did perfectly fine. I love her.

We went on a trail ride out back. Chief and Lisa were in the lead. We went through water, over ridges, through dense forest and mud, down hills... and guess what? In the places where Missy hesitated, Chief went right ahead and was practically fearless.

It's really hard to believe that he's only 3 years old.