Lots of updates of nothing much

We are now deep in the throes of the holiday season, and of course I'm behind on everything, including my house which looks like, well, I don't even want to describe what it looks like. I'm uploading stuff to Ebay, which seems to take forever and a day, so I figured I will post an update here as I toggle back and forth waiting for my page to catch up.

I have not had any time to ride Lakota since she came back from training. She was quite untouchable when she returned, she seemed to have regressed quite a bit to her past of being an uncatchable horse. Then I noticed some behavior changes that had nothing to do with humans. I decided to try her on a gut buffer for ulcers, and low and behold, within 3 days she was back to her loving self!

So in her time off from any riding due to her tummy issues, has used up all the good weather we had, and it has been a steady barrage of rain, mud, rain, mud, rain, ice, ice, snow, mud, ice, rain, snow, mud, and tomorrow will be ice again. Isn't winter fun?

Jen had come down with some sort of bug, I still have no idea what it was. About 10 days after Lakota came home, Jen was acting a little odd, nickering for her dinner, but not actually coming over for it unless I went and got her. We were in one of our deluges, so she had a rain sheet on for a few days, and the day I took it off, I was horrified to see her looking tucked up. That same day, it was raining again but she felt hot, I took her temp. and she was a littel high for her (around 101, her normal is around 98, she came her at 96, most likely due to her starvation). She had one runny eye, had a slight fever, and was nibbling at her feed. I called the vet, and we greed to put her on SMZ. She can't afford to take any time off from eating. Banamine and Bute had brought her temp. down, and she was eating again, finished the 10 day course (only one day of the B&B), and she's been fine since . She's gaining weight and looking very good.

Leroy is settling in very well, and has come along leaps and bounds. He arrived on 11/12, and really had no use for humans. He didn't want to be caught, nor touched, and he kept a wary eye on me at all times. Its a rather long story, that can be read at www.chestnuthilldesigns.com/Leroy.htm, but suffice it to say that with some communication, some Reiki and energy work, and a lot of patience and love, Leroy is beginning to learn to trust, and relax. He has started putting on a bit of weight, and has started eating a more normal portion for his size and level of starvation. He is about a c.s. of 2, he has scars from his many years as an Amish workhorse. He has bony changes to his shoulders from an ill-fitting collar, mane hair that won't grow due to nerve and soft tissue damage from the collar, and a bald spot on his nose where the hair won't grow. He also bites at his shoulder and knees quite a bit, so I think they are painful. He is on a joint supplement, and his Vitaroyal feed and gut buffer, and oats, and tons of hay. He is now letting me pet him and rub on him, and he will let me take his halter. I haven't asked him to do anything yet but soften and relax and give to me, and he is beginning to do this for me (well, for a scratch in his favorite itchy spot, actually). I don't think a human has ever scratched his itchy spots. He's a sad, broken-hearted, broken-spirited old boy.

The rest of he girls are all doing well, Whinney is still a pony mare, April is, well, April, and Ana is a little monster of a filly, sweet as can be, but such a little devil, she cracks me up daily (literally, when she kicked me in the knee!) Dogs are all good, and I hear a rumor there may be a puppy coming this Christmas for my son (sshhhh, you'll all have to wait for that). Kitties are good too. Our ancient chicken had a run-in with a hawk, but survived, I'll have to post that story soon. Perhaps I'll share the orange wheelbarrow story, too.

I've redone my website, as my webmaster seems to be MIA and I have been unable to access the site. The look is a little different, and the cart is different, but otherwise the products are the same, with a new line of Amulets, which I think are really cool and very versatile. All the proceeds from the sales on my website feed and fed my rescues, Jen and Leroy.

Kids and hubby are all doing well. I'm seeing a new ND, and we are doing a detox program. I'm feeling better already, and its only been a bit over a month. She has decreased my supplements by about a zillion it seems. I was so worried going off of them, but I actually feel better! My massage therapist (this is not fru-fru, relaxing massage, I can't believe I pay these people to hurt me *s*) has told me that I should not be carrying bales of hay, feed, lifting, pushing, carrying, etc. Yeah, ummm, OK. So this is the real world, who is going to do it? What about the groceries, and shoveling myself out of the driveway to get to this appointment in the first place? I feel like I'm spinning my wheels, everytime I make progress, I end up exacerbating it again, by shoveling soaked, rained on manure, or pushing an overfull wheelbarrow, or having to shovel myself out, or put up hay, or, or, or .......