A Little Bit of This & That

 

 

After returning from vacation, we had another week of hot weather and now it finally has cooled off enough to tolerate.  No rain, though.  The drought continues.  The damage is done.  The farmers are starting to cut the corn hoping to be paid by insurance rather than yield.  Our pastures are brown and we are starting to feed our winter's supply of hay.  My hope of a fourth cutting of alfalfa is waning.  If we don't get rain in the next month, we will be desperately looking for hay before springtime.  It is scary. 

 

 

On the plus side, I have been riding most every evening.  I put both Fancy and Butter in the the rotation when I ride here at home.  Heck, I even got Blue out one evening.  Yes, the Distance Derby continues to motivate me but I am also back on a diet and trying not to eat after 7:00 PM.  If I am out riding, it takes away the temptation.  I've started going to Curves again regularly, too.  I know from past weigh loss that diet and exercise are both needed to be successful and I am committed to getting back to where I was a couple years ago.  I won't say its easy; its ranking right up there with when I quit smoking all those years ago but at least I have a reward at the end:  my wardrobe which no longer fits. 

 

 

Last night when I loaded Windy for the Platte River Ride, I noticed her eyes were gunky.  I used my finger to clean it out and put on her fly mask.  After work tonight, I checked it again and although not quite as thick, it was still messy.  Without moisture, everything is dusty and dirty.  I am sure that has contributed as well as the eye flies being more persistent.  I am feeding last year's grass hay in small bales and it might be a bit dusty.  Lots of things could be contributing to the irritation.  I know that eye issues shouldn't be ignored, but since it is in both eyes, I think it is environmental not an injury.  The Horsetales group gave me some ideas for treatment.  I'll pick up some ointment in the morning as a first step and if I don’t see results, I’ll take her over to the vet. 

 

 

Butter is a gnarly little mare toward Fancy.  She has not warmed to her although Fancy ignores her for the most part.  Tonight she went for Fancy's pile of hay and tried to bite her in the shoulder.  Fancy turned away from her and scraped her face on the panel fencing.  I was there when it happened and treated it right away.  The flies were relentless so I put a mask on her, too.  It’s always something, isn’t it?

 

Overnight it was down to 45 degrees.  Whoa!  That’s Wyoming temperatures and quite refreshing.  We'll have some hot days yet to come but it sure gives us a taste of fall.  Wouldn't it be great to have as long of an autumn as we did of spring? 

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