A Visit from the Vet

Today I worked from 8 to 3:30 so I could be home for the vet to make her annual visit to give the horses their vaccinations and check whether they need dental work. As usual she made a big fuss over Hap: she likes Thoroughbreds and thinks he is a fine example thereof. As usual, I didn’t argue with her. (More to the point, she also thinks he is in great shape for a 23 year old Thoroughbred.)

She also did the yearly ritual of sedating Rags so she can float his teeth and check a lesion on his sheath. He has had the lesion for years now, without any changes, and the yearly sedation ensures that it isn’t doing anything nasty where we can’t see. As usual, Rags made a pretty good attempt at cow-kicking her despite heavy sedation while she cleaned his sheath. She also said his eyes look good. Since he is the most common breed (Appaloosa) in the most common state (Colorado) for getting sun caused cancers, and won’t wear a fly mask, this was good news.

Magic, the mare I board, was well-behaved and the vet commented on how fat she is for a 28 year old mare. I couldn’t believe she was 28 when I started to do the mental math, but a group of us who were around when her owner bought her agreed that she was close to 12 when she was bought 16 or 17 years ago.

The visit from the vet also led to my yearly ritual of checking my horse medications. I suppose it is a good thing that they expire before I use them, since it means the horses are doing well, but I still have a bit of a twinge when I have to discard them. Despite the cost, I always try to keep the two most commonly used pain-killers on hand.

Thirty Years…

…ago today, Jack and I exchanged vows in my grandmother’s back yard in Mount Airy, Maryland. During the reception the kids played frisbee, and one of my nephews, a toddler at the time, played in the icing on the cake when no one was watching. My grandmother, who had a small house, was concerned about what we would do if it rained, but it was the perfect June day. I’ve been to lots fancier weddings over the years, but none where people had more fun.

Tower

June 03, 2008 – Click on image for higher resolution version.

Colorado Springs has many old Victorian buildings downtown, most of them subdivided into multiple living spaces now. Many of them are wood frame houses, but there are some like this one in brick.

Instapaper

I frequently find a long article while browsing the web for something else that interests me, but I just don’t have the time to read at that moment. Instapaper was designed for this problem. One nice feature is that you don’t even have to sign up to use it: it can keep track of your list of articles based on cookies in your browser. If you plan to use it from more than one browser, it is quick and easy to sign up for an userid. The developer of the site said he was motivated because he wants to encourage people to write longer articles for the web.

Quiet Memorial Day

We spent a quiet day here. Jack is hobbled by a flare-up of bursitis in his left knee, and has confined himself to his chair, with frequent applications of ice packs and ibuprofen. I mentioned gently on Saturday morning that it might not be the best plan to play eighteen holes of golf when his knee was already acting up, but his brother was in town and they had been planning the round for some time. Jack shot his best round in two years, but it looks as though he may be paying for it for a while

I did go over to the barn planning to ride Lily. However, she came out of barn doing her best to look like an eighteen hands high horse. She finally settled down a bit on the longe line, but not enough that I felt like riding her on a cool day with a fresh breeze blowing. I saw no point in getting into a fight with her when she is not getting enough work.

Supper is home-made chicken rice soup: probably the last time I will make it until fall.