Where's your tail?!

This is a question that I ask Lola daily.  She quickly responds letting me know exactly where her little nub is!

I don't know why I felt impelled to share this with you, but I did!

I have successfully gotten my horses foot well and she is no longer in the stall. Thank the Lord!

I LOVE having a horse in the stall and I very may well decided to put her in there a few nights out of the week. I have had zero problems catching that little mare ever since she was stalled for her injury. Also, I like actually having something to do with my horses besides look at them (when I'm not busy with school!). I don't mind cleaning out the stall, her water bucket, and filling her hay bag. I actually thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't miss the wrapping her foot everyday with a new bandage though, but I miss her being at the barn.

Here are some before and after pictures of her foot just for my records! And, of course to show you what I was dealing with! ;)
I am aware that her feet are hoof disasters X 10. She is such a little twit when it comes time to catch her for her trims that she doesn't get trimmed because she is a twit. Did I already say that?! She's a twit. Me trying to catch her did this to her, so maybe she learned her lesson.

But she is so much better now that she lived in a stall for a month!

click for larger view!

Day 1:  July 31

on this day, I was clueless as what to do... I don't remember what I did. I know I washed it with an iodine scrub, globbed some furazone on some gauze that I had in my 1st semester nursing kit, and then wrapped it with some vetwrap and teal duck tape. yes, teal! :) All I had.

Day 2: August 1

Lamina is seen behind the broken part...

I unwrapped it, washed it scrubbed it, globbed it, and wrapped it back up.

Nice and pink, no infection, so far we are golden.

Took pictures to my vet this same day and he told me I was doing everything that I could and to continue to use Furazone. Pshew. Cause that's all I had.

Day 4: August 3

By this day, I got my shipment from Jeffers and was ready to do some serious wrapping!! I also obtained a whole 'rectangle' of 4X4s from my vet. I scrubbed, dabbed the furazone on, put a 4x4 gauze over the furazon, wrapped with a gauze wrap, then vet wrap and then duck tape. This is what it looked like everyday. I kept pressure off the coronet band and made sure that it would stay on with pressure on the heels. And if you don't know jack about horse hooves, I found this awesome website so that you can study up on their parts! :)

Actually, the duck tape is a little extreme in this picture because I started not going up so high, but you get the picture!

Day 5: August 4

Lamina isn't as pink, but still no injection. unwrap, clean, wrap!

Day 7: August 8

A really good picture of the crack, and how the coronet band is releasing the hoof that is going to fall off.

Day 14: August 15

I got a little brave and cut the broken piece back with my nippers... Tried to take the weight off of it so it wouldn't press into the coronet band.

Day 21: August 22

On this day I got REALLY brave and cut the whole entire piece back. She had gotten use to me messing with her hoof so much and she wasn't tender anymore. I exposed the lamina, but left the heel. The heel is 'floating' so that the hoof can grow back at a faster rate. You can see the new growth already starting at the coronet band (the orange at the top that looks like the rest of her 'normal' hoof). The piece I cut off was pushing up against the coronet band and making the new growth grow funny, so I had to get rid of that. I wrapped it one more time, stalled her, and then turned her out. The next day I unwrapped it and left it unwrapped.

The lamina hardened up and her sole did as well. The sole that had built up over the past few months is finally shedding off. She will have a trim very soon!! :) Now that she can be caught!

 I am still very angry that this happened, because she will have problems with this hoof for the rest of her life... when the coronet band is injured like hers was, it never grows back the same. Oh well, things happen I guess!

I'm Cursed.

I have been having a bad streak of luck lately (except with nursing school... wooo!!)

I'm ROCKING nursing school right now!  :)

Now for my bad streak of luck.

1. Flint stepped on my toe. He didn't just step on my toe and go "oh I'm sorry let me pick up my foot". It was more like, "I'm sorry I stepped on your foot let me slowly SLIDE my foot off of your toe as slow as I can and scrap your skin off"

Needless to say, my toenail is in the process of falling off.

2. Lizzie almost broke my nose the other day after I accidentally poked her in the eye. I was SO excited she let me catch her without any trouble that I just wanted to give her a hug but... bang into my nose. 

It started bleeding and it was really sore for about 2 days, now it's ok though.

3. SoBe is out to get my I'm quite sure of it. I fell off of her about 2 months ago and kind of caught myself and didn't get hurt. 

I fell off of her again yesterday at a canter, going up a hill, in huge gravel. Something jumped in the woods to our right (I heard it, never saw it) and I went off the right as she went to the left. 

It was my fault cause I was bareback and I shouldn't have ridden her bareback by myself, I'm just glad I had my phone with me because Josh was at my house and he came and got me!

I hit on my right hip towards my lower back. I immediately had a huge knot and when I stood up my legs were shaking like I have never seen them shake. I sat down back down and called Josh. I knew he was going to be so upset because before I even left the house he told me now to go because he knew I was going to get hurt. I hadn't been gone 5 minutes when I called him.

Hopefully my bad luck streak is over. Don't they usually come in 3's?!? I hope so. Cause this is making me feel like I don't even know how to ride a horse!!!

and because I never go without a picture... Me and Coal Kitty :)

Horses, Food Trucks, Six Flags, and.. Josh! :)

I would have never though that my two weeks off of school would be two of the busiest weeks of my life!!!

I took two ATI tests today for nursing school and passed them both so now I can move onward to the next classes!! (Which start tomorrow).

As I think back to what my last two weeks have contained the things that stick out the most are:
1) Hang out with Joshua (that's my favorite part!)
2) Take care of Lizzie, clean out her stall 2X a day, and re-bandage her foot 1X day.
3) Being a part of Brittany and Patrick's wedding. It is so special to share those days with friends. :)
4) Hang out with Joshua (told you!! It's my favorite!!!)
5) Finding out one of my friends is getting a miniature pig for her birthday this week! Eee! So cute!
6) Canceling my and Josh's yearly camping trip, but making it up with a trip to ATL to visit with my friend Becky and going to six flags! :)

Last Wednesday Josh and I decided to make a trip to the ATL and visit Becky. We had already talked about it at Brittany's wedding, since Becky was a bridesmaid too, so we were ready and all planned out! She lives in the Virginia Highlands area of ATL and I LOVE that area. It is SO nice.

Wednesday night we decided to go to 'the food trucks'. I was so excited when Becky told me about them, because we eat 'taco truck' at the watermelon farm and I could just imagine it being just like that! I pictured some trucks that look like the taco trucks driving through the neighborhoods selling food... but what I actually saw was SO much cooler!!!

The coolest trucks ever all lined up in a circle.... with TONS of people and dogs!

We at Texas Tacos! And of course little Oliver came with us! Oliver is Becky's little dog!

We all had the Chicken Fresca and Lime fries. Those fries are DELICIOUS!

Gelato truck. Yum. 

But, I didn't get gelato because I decided I want to get some yogurt from the Yoforia. Have you ever been to one of those?! It's awesome. You serve yourself and they charge you by weight. It was amazing. I need to open one up in my town.

Me and Becky!

And a cupcake truck!

aren't these the coolest?!?!

I wish I lived in Atlanta sometimes. I just would have to have my horses up there, especially right now because lizzie just can't go without her bandage being changed.

and to top things off...

Oliver.

Thanks for letting us sleep under your roof Beckster! :)

Josh and I had a wonderful time at six flags! We liked watching all the people get shot with the water shooters on the thunder river ride. It was hilarious! I swear this one guy spent at least $10 on tokens.... 25 cents a toke. Ridiculous!

We rode almost all the rides. We got to the Georgia Cyclone and it about killed us. We were holding each other down trying to keep each other from shaking and bouncing around. The worst feeling that I've ever had was when I was on that ride "ok, I'm really ready to get off right now!" but, you can't get off and it just seems like the ride keeps going and going and going. Miserable.

But the Goliath was awesome! and the Mindbender too. Always loved that one.

And the best news! We only spent 13 dollars inside the park! Awesome I know.

I must go help Josh feed his pigs now!

I hope everyone has had an awesome Monday! 

And was it just me... or did it feel like Fall was trying to come around this morning?! It was gorgeous outside!

Brittany's Wedding!

Before I study and before my computer dies.... enjoy these pictures from this weekend! :)

Gorgeous Bride!!

Notice all the ribbons coming out of the cake? Each one had a charm for the bridesmaids that would tell about their future.... I got the engagement ring! Next to be engaged?! We will see!  ;) 

Some of the others were an airplane for life of travel, money bag for financial security, four leaf clover for luck, and wedding bells for the next to get married.

All of the Bridesmaids and the pretty bride after Brunch.

Pedicure time!

Rehearsal dinner seats for the special couple!

Pretty plate. 

Got our hair did.... time for a wedding! :)

Loved these wreaths!

I had my 35mm lens on my camera and didn't really want to trek it backwards down the stairs with all my bags!

Brittany's dress. Stole this shot while the photographers were working ;)

Pretty decorations. 

Getting her ready to go down the aisle!

Brittany and me

That handsome boy I always talk about!

Brides cake (my mom made it!)

She made this one too!

High school friends!

My so handsome boy again :)

LOVE this picture! :)

He's a funny one! haha

It was a beautiful wedding that ran so smoothly and fast! Just how I like it! Short and sweet!

Congrats to Patrick and Brittany!!!

Always something...

We had a mishap on our farm yesterday.

Bound to happen with a new horse around.

Flint got out... those three words make me so angry. Even worse he got into the pasture with lizzie, somehow. Still haven't figured that one out. She was in a woven wire fence that doesn't allow anything bigger than an armadillo to do through those little holes. None of the gates were broken or open. It's like he just appeared in there.

My mare, Lizzie, split her hoof all the way up to the coronary  band...

So annoying...

Needless to say, she's my 'bad horse'... as in she is the one to always go "HAHA you can't catch me!! I will NEVER have my feet trimmed again!!! HA!"

So that is why her feet look like.... poo.

Dearest Lizzie, we will now become best-est friends since you are now stall bound for the next 3 weeks. Have fun in your little box.
Love,
the one who use to chase you for hours and is now having to clean up your poo and wrap your foot in duct tape.