Grandiose names and grouses....

I just have to come up with a name of some sort for the new horse. His registered name is quite impressive: Chelsea's Chief Cherikee. Ugh, too icky. For right now, Bluegrass has him on their barn chart as "CC", but I am hoping for something inspired and "right" fairly quickly. Lucky, or Spendy, or something witty, perhaps.

I stopped by the barn on my way home, dropping off a bag of complete for him. He was friendly, bright, and cruising for treats. He was having some very mild gas discomfort-just enough to stomp a hind foot gently and swish the tail.....but his innards were very active-I could hear it over the stall door, lol I presume it was due to the haul and move-fairly common, actually. I spoke with the BOs later on last night. They led him over to the indoor arena and let him loose to do what he chose ;) He bucked, he ran, he trotted, and he rolled and rolled. It didn't take too long to tire him out, since he has so little muscle or energy to spare. They hope to get him some time in the indoor arena every day while he is there. Exercise will help keep his guts moving, and rebuild wasted muscle. My husband did manage to get hay and extra bedding over for him too, which saves me trying to deal with it on my own.

From there I scooted home, driving directly to the barn. I could see that my spouse had unloaded the rest of the bales, and given the loose stuff to the three horses there. They got a light dinner and I called it good. This morning I go up and discover that the one mare, with the more sensitive tummy, has had a mild bit of diarrhea overnight. Oh joy. I checked her carefully and could hear really good gut sounds, which was reassuring. And again, the barn help has not shown up, so the place is a mess. I will have to call him today and find out if he can clean any more, or what. Once a week is not cutting it, it needs to be done every other day. Tonight I will have to muck stalls, because a frozen pile of manure is a bugger to get loose. Can't let it go too long, let's put it that way. Oh and tomorrow I will use the hydrant for the first time, topping the stock tanks.

I am annoyed at my husband, he just doesn't really understand not chucking out this or that hay willy nilly. Despite their size, horses have very delicate digestive tracts and good forage management is critical to their continued health. So naturally I am now sitting here at work, worried about the mare whose owner entrusted her care to me. Argh.

To top that off, I get a phone call from the town shop. They are having a retirement get together for the shop foreman-it's his last day today. Naturally, no one thought to let me know about this until the last minute. I can't go, I have a customer supposedly coming for a septic system, plus people coming for hay. Would have been nice to have known beforehand, so I could have made arrangements in advance. It's indicative of the communication between the two places, is about all I will say about that ;)