The Drama Llama

Literally.

So, Ms. Broken Bones is a smart ass. There's a low spot in her stall where rain water and urine have been accumulating. So after I finally manage to sop up all the moisture with pine shavings, I put some fresh ones down in the spot and leave it be.  I go out the next morning to find that she had apparently rolled in the shavings.  This made me die a little inside, seeing her wool covered in filth. I had planned on shearing her after vacation. However, she's a pain to shear and I don't want to stress her out too much with her leg.

The filth

Hungry Pony

Someone found some mulberries.  This is the look I get when I'm taking a picture instead of feeding him morning hay. 

Today I'm trying the blogger app on my phone. We shall see how it works.

Photo Friday: Puerto Rico

 Quick update: Cindy is still doing okay.  She was excited to get her grain tonight, but still holding that leg way up when she first gets up from the ground. I don't know how she broke it. My first thought was Max kicked her, but the location and lack of skin injury makes me think that's not what happened. Part of me wonders if she was kicking at Max or flies and hit the wall awkwardly.  Or she was twisting around to move and it got caught in mud.  This is one of those things that I will never have the answer to.

Pony is pony. what can I say.



Last week the husband and I took a trip to Puerto Rico.  It was awesome.

Rain over San Juan.

A view from El Morro in Old San Juan

Another shot from El Morro

Lots of sea urchins hiding in tidal pools on rocks. D managed to step on one at another beach.

One of several waterfalls at El Yunque in the rainforest.

Crazy Week

So, a lot has been going on over the last week or so.  There's not much of an update on the pony though.

Last week I went on vacation to Puerto Rico. That was awesome.  What was not awesome was the unbelievably horrible Monday, also the day we left.

Best Buds. They do everything together, especially begging for food.

Two hours before we were to leave for the airport, I went out to feed.  And found Cinderella the llama, horribly lame.  Her back foot was completely limp and just hanging there.  I felt it slightly and could feel bone fragments moving around.  Thankfully, there weren't any breaks in the skin.  I called the vet and left him a panicked voice mail and text. He got back to me fairly quickly and told us to go ahead and leave, he would come out and do what he could and get back to me. I made her as comfortable as possible in Max's stall (his has mats and stays drier in rain) and rearranged so everything would be ready for the person watching the critters and the vet. There was some quick discussion on the phone about putting her down, but I could not deal with that right now.  First, Max would just be a mess since he would be alone for a week. Secondly, what to do with the body.  It was supposed to get hot and I can't just leave it there while we were gone. I have plans, but those all involve me or my husband being there to oversee things.  So I told the vet to do what he could to manage pain and make her as comfortable as possible. Which seems to be working for now.

Bandage is holding up well.

So far she seems to be doing okay-ish.  It's a wait and see game. It will all depend on if or how well the bone heals over the next couple of weeks. Thankfully, llamas are not like horses who need use of all 4 legs. so her laying down all the time or simply not using the leg isn't as big of a concern.

Max has been very excited to see me.  So excited that I'm wondering if my caretaker was feeding him treats while I was gone. He's been trying to mug me over the stall wall way more than normal.  I'm also wondering if switching stalls and having Cinderella locked up has stressed him a bit.  It looks like he may have started to rub out his mane again. Last year, he started doing it in February. This year, he hasn't been doing it at all until now. It could also be the new fly spray I put on him before I left, or there are some new, irritating bugs beginning to emerge.

He was so happy to get some grass after a week that he didn't move far from this spot. Note the scraggly looking mane.

Friday, I'll have a continuation of the horrible Monday and some vacation photos.

TOABH: I'm A Loser, Baby

Since I started this blog at the beginning of the year, I ended up missing several of Beka's blog hops. I'm going to go back through and post the rest of them over the next few weeks. They're a lot of fun and make me think about some things I probably wouldn't have thought of before.

This is the last one, then I'm caught up!  Thanks Beka, for all the great hops.

I'm A Loser, Baby

Let's talk about your horse's biggest fail.  What did Thunderhooves do that embarrassed you, scared you, shocked you or just annoyed the hell out of you?

Hands down, Max's spinning and bolting is the scariest thing he has done.  It probably doesn't help that this mostly happens when I'm riding bareback and the spin throws me off. I think he knows this now, and this is why he tends to try that shit when there's no saddle.  Bad pony!  

Product Review: Hay Hoop

My dilemma:  I'm lazy, especially when I'm already running late for work in the morning. Also, Max inhales his food and wastes hay

The first solution: Slow feed hay nets. The problem I had with these was hanging them. The quick release knots were difficult to release fully and I got tired of yanking on them.  Plus, filling them is always a pain. Eventually, I just started tossing hay into the stall counting on his pig like nature to clean up scrap hay. Only, he didn't and it resulted in a lot of wasted hay.

My next option: The Hay Hoop Collapsible Wall Hay Feeder. I must admit that I was a little wary at first.  Would he pull the thing out of the wall in his manic need to get the hay?  Would he use it as a scratching post and rip out his mane or rub off his fur?  Would the net stay in the little curly hook things?   Could I rig it so he and Cinderella could share the hoop instead of buying two? They mostly shared hay as it was since Max kept popping out the one stall board anyways.

Quality Control. He was supervising the installation

For the most part, I love it. It's easy to flip it down, stuff some hay in it, and secure it shut.  If Max has been using it as a scratching post, I can't tell. It's very secure on the board.  The net has never come off the hooks. Both Max and Cinderella can share the net safely the way I have it positioned.

They can both eat from the hay hoop!  Cinderella can also get between the slats up top.

A few small things I don't like:
-I need to add hay in stages. The 3 or so flakes won't fit in at once.  It's not that big of a deal, but like I said above...I'm lazy.
-It didn't come with a net. Maybe it said this on Amazon, but I don't remember seeing it.
-Sometimes it can be difficult to line up the hoop with the latch. I've gotten a finger caught between the two a couple of times and it hurts!  This mostly happened in winter when I could barely feel my fingers anyways.

Overall, I love it and would recommend it for the lazy person such as myself.

Note: This was a review I did on my own. I wasn't compensated in any way. 

TOABH: Shining Star

Since I started this blog at the beginning of the year, I ended up missing several of Beka's blog hops. I'm going to go back through and post the rest of them over the next few weeks. They're a lot of fun and make me think about some things I probably wouldn't have thought of before.

Shining Star

Let's talk about the biggest achievements your horse has accomplished.  I'm not talking about you as a rider - I want to know what your ponykins has done to make you proud.  Is there a glorious satin collection, did he/she figure out some dressage movement that took months to learn, or are is it just a great day when your butt stays in the saddle?  

I think the end of the last sentence sums up my answer.  We haven't had so many problems now that I'm riding in a saddle. I can stick better.  Something else recent that has made me proud is his side passing under saddle. He goes really well to the right. Not so much to the left yet.  We've also been learning some tricks. He is picking those up very quickly. Smart boy.