Calm, Forward, Straight

Calm, Forward, Straight

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Hope springs eternal... or Nothin' left to do but smile, smile, smile

I guess I'm officially addicted to the internet. It was more of a bummer not to be able to get online than it was to have no power, a/c, refrigeration, tv. I did miss my vacuum almost as much as my darling apple though... I've been optimistically carrying the laptop around for days. In the car... in my bicycle basket when you couldn't drive yet, (frantically) trying every available plug or wifi spot. No luck until today. Weeeee - I'm giddy :)

While the storm was bad, it could have been much much worse. (Stay tuned for my official rant about The Weather Channel - all drama, all the time + pix and video) Val thinks it was pretty bad since he had to endure the experience alone. (I thought I heard Val singing a sad little song when I made it back up to the farm..."♬♪Where have all the cookies gone.... long time pa-assing...♪♬")

His buddy Cowboy evacuated - against better judgment - to a place off island , and much more vulnerable to tide than here. I still haven't gotten through to his people about how they fared.

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As it stands now, we're cut off from the mainland by several (five) new inlets, which will have to be filled in and a new road built over.


In the meantime sole access to the island will be by a two hour ferry ride to the mainland - dependent on weather conditions - landing you in the middle of nowhere, another hour to civilization...

I don't even want to think about the repercussions. Minimum six hours to equine veterinary care and hay. A trip of any consequence will require staying overnight. Moving plans on hold until there's a road to deliver the 10 x 20 building I ordered (hay storage + studio space). Val's feet are atrocious- un-rideable condition - and the farrier canceled his two week overdue appointment last week. I doubt he'll be back until the road is sorted out. I guess I'll be borrowing tools and trimming Val myself. Anyone with advice (smazourek?!) please leave in comments. Bottom line - life is going to be even more (I really want to use curse words here) complicated than it already was.

Looking on the bright side:

My home wasn't flooded
Generators arrived to supply our power yesterday
The Shimmy Shack survived intact other than a minor leak
The truck only suffered a few high speed pine cone scars
I had just purchased feed + raised and tarped my hay supply- so no diet for Val ;)
My refrigerator is sparkling clean - "when in doubt - throw it out"

And finally, to all of our readers... I haven't said enough (ever?) how much it brightens my days to be connected to such a kind, knowledgeable and supportive group of horse(wo)men. Thank you!

25 comments:

  1. Oh happy day! So inspired by your positive outlook in the midst of a not-so-perfect situation. Love up Val and give him his much deserved cookies.

    Good thoughts continue your way from this quarter. I hope the roads/bridges are repaired miraculously fast!

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  2. Welcome back!! I am so glad you guys are OK!! Your positive attitude is great (love the sparkling fridge!) in spite of the additional complications.

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  3. Boy! I'm glad your OK and found a way to get on line. I was thinking of you throughout the ordeal. Unfortunateky all I had was Weather channel, and some sketchy internet stuff to hear about what was going on, so needless to say, I am looking forward to your claricifations of the experience.

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  4. Woo!!! I really thought it would be longer before you could get online - great that you found a signal and glad to hear more news from you.

    If you can post photos and get online, consider joining the Yahoo group EC Hoof. You can post photos of Val's hooves and the hoof trimming experts will mark them for you showing you what to do until you can get your guy back out there again.

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  5. Glad you're all OK! Very scary! And glad you're looking on the bright side . . .

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  6. I'm so glad to hear you're ok!

    A basic safe trim would take off the walls down near the sole. Maybe 1/16th of an inch above sole. Pick the hooves as well as possible before you start - scrape out the white crumbly stuff. You can pull/cut off dangly bits of frog but don't carve away at it. Check the bars - if they've grown forward and folded against the sole, you will need to cut them back. A hoof knife or bonsai shears work well. They can stick up a bit too but they shouldn't be overlaying the sole. If Val's coronet band has a little hump at the quarters, you can take the quarters down to sole level. Roll the outside of the walls into that pretty mustang roll, but don't rasp high on the walls.

    Don't try to do all four hooves at once. You can do one per day with no harm done! Rasping is awkward but you'll get the hang of it. Wear gloves and your worst pair of jeans - you can rasp a hole in your jeans pretty quickly.

    I really like having a pro to check balance issues over time, etc, but anyone can trim a sound horse for a cycle or two without hurting him. You can do this!

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  7. That aerial shot is wild. I am so glad that you and your animals are okay. That was amusing about missing the internet the most. I am impressed by your resolve!

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  8. I'm going to be singing "Where have all the cookies gone" in my head all day. That was a great chuckle line. And the aerial shot is fascinating. Beautiful but - wow - what a lot of water across the road in a lot of places.
    I'm with you on the blog buddy sentiments. In the evenings, my husband is glued to the TV and I'm glued to computer reading posts.

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  9. I agree with the advice on one hoof per day! And I hope things get back to normal as soon as possible. I'm glad you got through without too much damage, although your 'detour' is a major worry. Farrier tools are expensive, but look at it this way--so is a farrier. If your guy is going to be unreliable, you might save yourself a lot of heartache if you can learn how to do it yourself!

    Re the Weather Channel--up here in the NW, we have "hurricanes" too. Our winter windstorms can be just as big (usually bigger, actually) than hurricanes and pack just as much wind. The theory is we don't get the coverage because we don't have a gazillion people living on the coastline in OR and WA like on the Eastern seaboard, but you have to admit "windstorm" just doesn't sound as exciting as "hurricane."

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  10. SO GLAD you are okay! I was thinking about you out there during the thick of it.

    I see that Funder gave you some advice (she's good like that), my trimming style is a little different- I take all the wall down to the level of the sole. If that's all you do for the next few weeks he should make it to your next farrier appt just fine. The biggest thing you need to watch is the balance: use a ruler or something to make sure you don't leave one heel higher than the other (or one leg higher than the other) and site down his cannon bones to check the overall balance and make sure you didn't leave any high spots.

    Rasping the walls is not difficult, but it will make you sweat. Trimming the bars is a little more complicated to get right. If you want more in-depth help with that you can email me at radal16@hotmail.com.

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  11. Very happy all is ok in your world.

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  12. I'm so happy to hear that you and Val are okay. I was really worried about you because of your location. It's a bummer that you have such a hard time getting in and out but you'll handle it with a smile on your face and a "cookie " song in your heart.

    I hear you about the internet, just got our power and cable back about an hour ago. It was hard with no ac and internet... for me anyway.

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  13. so glad to hear ya'll are safe!

    It sounds like you've prepared for the worst... and are just hoping for the best (roads repaired quickly!)

    I loved that photo- really helps me understand what is going on.

    Corinna

    ps
    youtube farrier videos, perhaps? I can hardly file my own nails, let alone the idea of trimming the hooves!

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  14. Whoa, that picture is amazing!! Thank goodness you and Val are ok-you make it all sound like a big adventure, although I know it's probably a huge pain in the butt mostly:) Continue to take care!

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  15. I didn't realize you were right in the storm's path. Glad your situation is manageable, and not tragic. Hang in there!

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  16. Oh my, you see everything in such a positive light. Complicated, yes, but does kind of throw the 'normal complicated' into some kind of perspective! It'll be a dawdle after all this!

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  17. Welcome back! Glad you are looking on the bright side since it does appear that life will be more complicated for awhile. In the end you and Val are ok and that is what is important!

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  18. So good to hear you and Val and farm is well. Christian that's so scarey. Your attitude is positively- perfect.
    Now need to know the after did not get you!
    XO
    Kac

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  19. So happy that you and Val made it through with flying colors. I loved the notes on Billie's blog. We were 5 days without power and I agree that not having the Internet was the worst. Just as I've gotten the flooded barn back in order, we're getting 3 inches of rain right now. Abscess time again with Siete holding up her back right hoof to let me know that all the soaking and wrapping hasn't helped yet. I hope that you get some access to the mainland soon.

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  20. OMG - I haven't been blogging or checking blogs, so just saw this. The picture of the road washed out says it all. I sure hope you're doing okay. Glad you had hay and feed stored ahead. I'll be watching for your next post. Take care.

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  21. How are you making out? Doing okay?

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  22. Hi! It appears that Shannon and I are on the same wave length. :-) Just wondering how you are managing.

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  23. No internetz still?

    I hope you, Val, and your menagerie are okay.

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  24. Hello sweet,
    You and your brood well?
    XO
    Kac

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  25. I am checking in here to see how you are doing? Getting a little concerned that you haven't updated in a while, but fingers crossed you are just very busy and maybe still having internet issues. Take care, write soon.

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