Stand Still and Sweat

That was the theme of this weekend. Of course just standing could not happen, so work hard and get drenched was also a theme.

We had a crazy storm on Friday night with insane winds. Power flickered at home, but stayed on which is more than most can say in the area. Driving to the barn the next day we noticed a few lights out. Luckily the barn had power, this equals water, the horses were all fine and there was only a branch down by the house and mom had to chase down her tomato cages.
The day was already getting hot and we had a farrier appointment. He showed up early so I did not have shoes pulled like I normally do. So I nabbed DaVinci pulled his 2 shoes and handed him off. Then I put Dottie in the cross ties and pulled her 4 shoes off. She cooperated as much as Dottie does on a good day. By that time after some chatting the farrier and I could switch horses. I filed, rounded and smoothed the toes, then clinched the nails. It is a system we have developed over the last few years which saves time and money for us. Dottie got new shoes and was not happy about the extra time it was taking. She was less cooperative by time I started finishing her feet, but at least she did not rip my pants like she did with the farrier. Even with a fan blowing, we were both sweaty. No dainty dewy look for me.
Once the appointment was finished, we settled all the horses with hay in their stalls. We decided to just go home and come back later to put them out. At home on the computer I found that Peggy's home took a big hit during the storm with trees coming down on fences and one stall flooding. Plus her trails were covered with debree and new downed trees. Hmm, maybe future jumps.

Sunday brought more hot weather and lucky me more hoof care. My barefoot guys were due and unless something comes up, I like to keep them on schedule. The girls were already in the barn since we give them access on warm days to stand under fans. Roscoe came in easy, but the grey boys decided to check out the girls sacrifice area. I was going to feed them first, but our wet beetpulp/alfalfa cube mix had an ice chunk that needed to thaw. The day was not getting any cooler, so Rosemary was up first. She was really good, standing and cooperating. The hard part was the sweat going in my eyes and causing my glasses to slip. I need glasses to see far away, but it is annoying to have a wobbly field of vision as I am filing. At least I am finally staying ahead of Rosemary's long hind toes.
After a break in front of the fan, I went to face Roscoe. We had to have our normal conversation about standing still in the cross ties and he had to check out my hoof stand. For 3 of his hooves, he is almost perfect, but just like his mother the 4th is always a pain to work on. The right front, he just can't seem to leave it in the cradle and tries to pull away. Rosemary does the same thing, I think even with the same foot. Who knows why? Anyway he was much better than last month. Considering that by this point it was near 100 degrees, I was thrilled with his behavior.
Well two down and one to go. Winston and DaVinci finally decided to come in and the beetpulp mix melted, so I put them out of there misery and fed them. I then took the poor starving Winston, HA HA, away from his hay to finish my trims. He does not grow as much as the Cobs, but he gets a few flares that I try to stay ahead of. Mostly he just needs a bit of rounding. He is probably the easiest horse that I trim though that could be that I have trimmed him the longest time.

So this weekend may have sweated a few of my extra pounds off, but not much else happened. And when I got home I found out that my work does not have power. Which means generators power the main retail floor and registers, but no AC anywhere and no power for my office or the upper floors. Ugh, that means I will have to figure out something to do without a computer. The audit I am working on was at the point of researching data which can't be done. Maybe I will go straight to reccounts.
Keep your fingers crossed that my work and all the many areas without power will regain service soon.
Stay cool and your animals too.