Thursday, September 25, 2008

Sick Horse, Sick Economy, Sick Internet

I could go on, too, with my list.

Internet is not back yet. We are waiting on more help from AT&T. At least they are helping.

Economy is getting sicker. I am irritated that there is so much ignorance about it and more irritated that congress is so slow. I am pretty impressed with Henry Paulson. It does remind me a lot of the early 80's here during the oil, real estate, and banking busts. Except that here is better this time. If credit is not made available soon though things will become dire.

We have a sick horse.

The prescription is antibiotics and albuterol twice a day. Horses are big so a dose for this one is 10 big antibiotic pills. We crush them up and mix them with sweet feed. The albuterol is kind of a thick liquidy stuff in a syringe. I am amazed at how my tiny wife is able to get the syringe into the horse's mouth and squeeze it all at the same time. Maybe the horse is similarly amazed.

Sweet feed is a mixture of grains and molasses. The horses really like sweet feed. Actually it kind of looks good to me sometimes. We have one horse that I think might like her oats better than sweet feed. We (actually my better half - so "we" only in the grammatical sense) bought some rolled oats for the horses the other day. They look pretty good but were a little chewy for me. They aren't as dusty as the usual oats we feed to the horses. Also had to get some cleaner hay.

When I was a kid I used to always taste the cattle cubes and other things we bought for them to eat. I figured if the cattle could eat it then it had to be more or less safe for humans.

Yesterday morning I was doing the honors of administering the antibiotic mixture. All the other horses wanted some attention as well as some sweet feed, so they all came over. They are such inquisitive creatures. Then they (the other 3 that is) were trying to get their heads into the bucket. The one named "Bucky" tried to get my left hand off the bucket by biting my hand. He didn't bite as hard as he could have but it still hurt. Not that he held back on my account mind you.

We had one horse while I was growing up but as far as I recall she (Babe was her name) was never sick. So I am having to learn quite a bit about my patient. Horse whisperer I am not.

And we "found" some kittens of the cat variety. They were hidden out down by the old silo. Probably some city human dumped them there. I was against messing with them but the females of my herd overruled me. Which is pretty much SOP. I understand the sentiment but it is too painful for me to become attached anymore when the inevitable occurs. They've (the kittens - not the girls) been missing the last two nights.

I saw a coyote yesterday morning on the west fence of the horse corral. The monkey faced owl is still in the barn. I haven't seen the big owls again but I am pretty sure they are there. I did see some more deer the other morning though down by the creek.

There's more sickness I could describe but think I'll quit.

On the interesting article front I read a fascinating article yesterday about this "mysterious dark flow" in the universe. Seems as though there is some far away matter that is speeding (and I do mean fast) along much more rapidly than it should. So the only explanation is that there is something (and a very, very large something) beyond the observable universe that is responsible. Just try to get your mind around that idea.

In my morning Bible study I have now finished Matthew and Mark and beginning Dr. Luke.

I have only had time to glance at blogs but I am trying to keep up with everyone.

4 comments:

Lori1955 said...

First of all, you really need to taste the sweet feed and tell us how you like it. With this economy, we may all be eating it soon.:) The housing market has hit me hard but the stock market is actually doing ok for me. I'm just running out of money. :)

Something dark in the universe? Don't know if I would blame that. Something dark in the oil companies, something dark in congress, something dark on wall street, now those are things I could wrap my mind around.

~Betsy said...

Sorry to hear about the horse, Terry. Been there, done that. I hope it all works out well. One tip - if the hay is dusty and that is bothering the horse (coughs and heaves most likely), you can wet it before feeding. I have to do that with our pony because he has terrible coughing issues.

I don't know if I feel a far away dark something is speeding toward us, but the happenings of late frighten me. I am frightened because I see so much human greed at work. Personally, I think greed is the single biggest human flaw.

Joanne said...

You've been on my mind this past week, Terry. I've been trying to catch up on everyone's blog. You've been quite busy. It's fitting that you sat on the porch during the recent anniversary. Your "Remembering" post was written so beautifully. Very touching. ((HUGS))

Sorry your horse is sick. Hope all is well soon.

I'm not sure I can get my mind around that mysterious dark thing far beyond the universe. It's difficult getting my mind around the dark things in this universe. :)

¸.•*´)ღ¸.•*´Chris said...

Things are certainly becoming increasingly unsteady as time passes. My dad always had a good head on his shoulders about this stuff. I could use his comforting words about now.

I thought about Judy today. My daughter told me today she wants to arrange some riding time on a Clydesdale for her boyfriend's mother as a gift for Christmas. I thought that was a very unique gift she was planning. I hope your horse begins to feel better soon. They are such beautiful creatures.

Hope you get your internet back up and running again soon. It's become a necessity anymore for so many things. Take care.