January 2008

I was about to say we still have power - but it has gone out six times now in the last hour - the last time just seconds ago. So maybe I'll get this out, maybe not.

I went up on the roof yesterday morning around dawn to clear the gutters (full of leaves) and we brought three loads of wood in (for when we lose power). I also rearranged the pones some to maximize shelter V. herd dynamics - Roo is in with the non-workers (Provo, Zini, Jack) and the Bobsey Twins each have their own shelter (Hopi doesn't want Uno anywhere near him when it's raining and hogs all the food and has gotten ginormously fat because of that).

The wind really picked up in the night with the rain beating on the window. When I went out there this morning, Roo was shivery and sad. He's now in his own stall, blanketed; and I also blanketed Zini, since she was pretty wet and cold too. The temps are in the mid-40s, so not too bad. The cold storm is supposed to hit Sunday with snow down to 1000' (we're at 2000').

I wanted to blanket Jack as well, but a) don't really have a wet weather blankie that fits him and b) thought it would be an insult to his pony heritage to blanket him, so I just put out more hay bags, so hopefully he'll get at some. He's getting the raw end of the deal right now, with Provo and Zini hogging the dry, hay-filled areas (Provo always makes sure he gets the best spot, but even he had a wet butt this morning).

Ann called to say that her sister-in-law was due to be casaerianed today to have her baby, but the power's out in the hospital, so never mind. She's staying off-line, I think, because of the fluctuating power. That's a definite advantage of laptops - they don't care about power outages...at least for a few hours, anyway.

Hey, when I was down in DVE, I recharged my laptop a couple of times from an inverter that Brenda had that plugged into her RV cigarette lighter. I definitely want to get one of those - a handy thing.

Well, I typed sommat ~11 am yesterday, but then the power went out and has been out ever since. They say it could be 3-5 days before we get it back, since everyone else is out also - something like 800,000 people? Don't know - haven't seen the news in 24 hours +

pft's next door buying batteries and dry ice - and an inverter for my laptop, so I can run it off the truck battery <beam>.

We have no water (no power to the well), but have candles, my propane shower (not the greatest of showerlovely!), a wood stove, and the freezer is already peeing all over the floor. I'm praying the waterbed keeps its warmth for as long as we're missing power.

We didnt' have any trees blow down, but lots of debris in the road and several small local roads are shut.

Ann and Jess don't have power either, but at least they have running water, so we went over to them last night for dinner (Ann's lovely new propane stove). They have toilets! Oooh.

The wind subsided late yesterday afternoon and we even saw the sun briefly this morning - although now it's pouring with rain again and getting colder. <sigh>

Well, so much for that. Although I could get a wireless connection at Starbucks, they wanted $19.99 for a subscription to actually *send* things with it. Not. So my email didn't get sent.

We've now been without power for two and half days (since Friday morning). They say maybe it'll be back on by Wednesday or Thursday. <sigh>

We emptied the fridge and dumped everything in a cooler along with the remains of the ice that was peeing out of the freezer. We haven't dared open the big freezer since the power went off, so maybe that stuff will survive? Ann told me PG&E said that things could stay good in a freezer for 3-5 days, so it could work out... maybe.

In the small freezer there is a bunch of ice cream... I'm thinking I should break into it before it completely melts. I mean, it'd be a shame to lose it, wouldn't it?

The waterbed is definitely cooling off. It's going to be chilly tonight. Tomorrow I think we'll have to put foam matresses or something under the sheet, or we'll just be lying on cold water <sob>.

The bedroom is down to 50 degrees, despite having the wood stove going the whole time (bedroom is in the opposite end of the house - rats - bad design). pft is laid out in a rocking chair in front of the stove with books and magazines. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday. Having charged up my laptop at Starbucks, I got 2.5 hours out of it this afternoon to finish my real work.

I've been as inventive as I can, trying to cook things that only required boiling water added to them, to minimize grungy saucepans that are hard to clean with little water. We filled our containers at Ann and Jess' yesterday, so have 15 gallons, but it goes fast when you are constantly having to wash mud off whenever you go outside (wiping my hands down the horses only gets the surface mud off).

We've been using a bucket to get water from the pool to flush the toilets which works OK.

Ann and I went to the cinema yesterday afternoon and saw "P.S. I love you" which made me cry.

The cold storm is just now starting up after a few hours respite from the rain. It's supposed to bring snow, but no sign yet - still 40 degrees. It's pretty sloppy out there, though.

Pones are OK. It seems that the horse waterers are below our pressure tank, so they still get topped up. Not sure how long that'll last. Once they don't fill anymore, we're going to have to schlepp water from the pool (which hasn't had chlorine in it for months ;-)

) which is going to be a pain (and messy to boot).

To our surprise, the lights came on about 2:30 this morning. I was still thinking it was going to be Tuesday/Wednesday at the earliest, so that was good. The phone is still not working.

I lost about 80% of the fish in my tank - apparently tropical fish don't like being cold and dark for three days. The remaining fish aren't looking great, but we'll see if a bit of light and heat perks them up any. :(

And something ate one of my hens. So now we have four roosters and two hens. <sigh>

This morning I'm at work, sending all the emails I typed over the weekend and couldn't send. :)

Lying in bed, watching the oak trees swaying around outside the bedroom window was a little alarming. I drew the curtains in the end ;-)

. I'm astonished we didn't have any trees down. I think what saved us is that the wind came before the worst of the rain, so the ground wasn't sodden. And our good red clay held the roots in place far better than the namby-pamby pretend soil down in the valley.

I had a red-tailed shark in there that I'd had for about five years - he was about 4" long. I also lost four tiger barbs, two bala sharks, and I think my pleco is done for. I left him in the bottom of the tank thinking he's primitive, so maybe he'll come alive again, but it's doubtful. There are two corys still in there that weren't dead, but weren't happy. If they go, I'll be left with three yo-yo loaches... that's it :(

Gah. I'm looking at the ride calendar today... you know... just looking and thinking... casual-like...

Those RMs should do a better job of spacing out the rides I want to go to - I mean, what's up with putting them all on top of each other??

This is what I came up with (my first choices are in red)... June is hopeless:

....and of course all this would depend on having a horse with four working legs. And the price of diesel to be lowered. And a large bonus at work to pay for the entries. And for Hopi to be 50 miles fit. And for me to be able to cope (physically and mentally) with more than one ride a month. And for me to have enough vacation to be able to take the necessary days off.

Talked to Ann last night - they are *still* without power (they were down in Sac, babysitting grandchildren, very conveniently). There's still a house near us on generator. Not sure where exactly though - the sound carries through the valley.

Now that Roo has a lameness pull, I'm convinced he'll never be properly sound again, so I might as well give up on the planning right now. Not that I'm fatalistic, or anything....

He's still pretty subdued, which is to be expected, I guess. I let him out to run around while I'm feeding (since their paddocks are very similar to bogs, right now, so they are reduced to living in two 12 x 12 stalls and the small shelf between them). Before we left for DVE, when I would let him out, he was doing gallop-bys, leaping and bucking in an alarming "I bet he'll pull something" manner. Since we got back, he just walks about sedately. Much better for my heart rate and nerves, but not as good in terms of feeling good about my happy, bouncy pone.

Both he and Zini are permanently blanketed and Zini is loving her extra armour - protects against being bullied by Provo ;-)

Friday - 11 January
More Thoughts on the Ride Calendar/Hoof It/Runnin' Videos

I'm going with the "wait and see" concept. I need to see how much riding I can get on Hopi and whether he'll be
up and running to do anything - and if so, when.

And I probably have to decide between the Triple Crown (NV Derby/NASTR 75/VC 100) or the High Desert I, II, & III blankie. I'm thinking the High Desert one is more attainable <g>, esp. as has been pointed out, you can't really do Swanton 100 and VC100. What we need is to find out if Barbara McCrary is really going to scrap Swanton 100 or not.

Bridgeport is a must.

Report on Hoof It Pads

Finally got around to pulling Roo's Hoof-It pads out, 15 days after I put them in for Death Valley Encounter.]

Firstly, the right foot pad was a bitch to get out - that pad wasn't going anywhere and I was worried it'd be stuck in there forever. I skinned my knuckles fighting with it. This was the second foot I poured and - like making pancakes - the second foot always seems to go better. I used more mixture (perhaps 70 ccs? I have to look what it says on the measuring cup, but it was 70 "somethings") compared to maybe 50 "somethings" on the other foot, and as a result the pad was thicker and had better coverage - and stayed whole.

When I finally got the darn thing off (the pad was firmly wedged under the back of the shoe next to his frog), his foot was in really nice shape. We've had torrential rains here since I got back from Death Valley and he's been tramping around in wet, sloppy mud, so I expected him to be thrushy. He wasn't. The pad wasn't exactly delightful smelling, but no black gooey stuff down next to his frog.

The left foot pad had already started to disintegrate on Day 4 and I'm surprised it was still in there after 15 days when I scraped off the mud this morning.

The pad had split across one side and after 20 miles I was able to pry up the split and look under it (hoping against hope that he was off because of something trapped under there. No such luck). This was the side he felt off on (left front/right rear?), but it's also his dominant side, so works harder. I doubt the thinner pad on this side was related to him being off, but it's possible (grasp at those straws, Lucy).

Despite the split letting in mud, this foot was also in nice shape and not thrushy, although there was quite a bit of moisture under there.

The pads weren't as rubbery as I'd hoped, but you can see the scours on the underside showing the abuse they underwent, so maybe that's a good thing. I'd like them to be rubberier around the frog to allow for expansion, but equally want the pad to be harder and tougher to prevent rock bruising. I'd describe the material as "flexible plastic". You could bend it somewhat without it splitting.

I let Provo, then Jack, the Roo out while I was mucking and feeding this morning and this was the result. I'm in the process of splicing Jack's video together, since he's a riot to watch.

You have to try and tell if Roo looks off. I'm sure you'll be able to tell. Yes. At least he looks a bit more, er, energetic than he did, so maybe just be the rain that sapped his enthusiasm.

I also took some of the Jackit and Provo:

(notice at the beginning when Provo comes up to me and drops his head to the ground - that's his way of asking for treats. It's his default behaviour learned through click-treating. The expression on his face just before that is his irresistible "black button eyes" look that usually gets him treats. <g>)

My driveway isn't quite the same after this morning's activities.

Actually, there was some chicken abuse in the other one too - the horses seem to delight in chasing the chickens if they "happen to be in the way".

I also worried about a reaction to the poultice. The year Zini did Bridgeport, she got a rub from her splint boot and I foolishly poulticed her leg - she woke me up in the middle of the night banging around and when I checked on her, her leg had swollen up like an elephant and she was dead lame on it. Michelle Roush suggested it was a reaction to the poultice.

So what did I do? I went out and bought the exact same splint boots for Roo (I like the coverage on them - Professional Choice ones) and he rubbed in exactly the same way at DVE - on the back corner of the fetlock. <sigh> Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I'd religiously kept them clean, as well - taking them off at each stop and cleaning out the grit - but they have a badly placed seam and that's what does it.

The stupid thing is, he doesn't even interfere that much - I put them on for insurance purposes... not much good if they cause him to have problems - at the last VC on Day 3, I trotted him once with the boot on and he trotted funky, so we took it off and it was much better.

Anyway, when I poulticed him that night, I was careful to avoid getting the poultice anywhere near that rubbed area.

I'm assuming there's benefit to icing for say 20 mins, then leaving the horse bare for 40, then repeat for a couple more cycles? Is that any more faffy than poulticing and wrapping, I wonder?

A new cat appeared on our doorstep in the last couple of months or so, and despite setting the dog on him to discourage him from hanging around (all Chili would do, I hasten to add, is chase energetically), he was really tenacious and has moved in anyway. In fact, I'm not sure he's been outside in six weeks.

I was only able to flick through and look at the pictures - which, funnily enough, were almost identical to those pics
I drew of Roo. Hah!