We made it into 2025. 2024 was such a cluster personally and I’m not overly optimistic about 2025, but I’m just disconnecting and trying to live in my little bubble. We’re here and doing our best, right?

Horse-wise, we’re doing OK. I really need to ramp up the separation training. Nay does decently in the round pen as long as he has some ace on board. Do I love using drugs? No, but for whatever reason, he doesn’t seem to blow through it and I can connect to his brain. We’ve been following the Warwick Schiller method and it’s been decent. Perfect? No, but he doesn’t meltdown and actively try and hurt himself like he has all other ways. This way he’s learning to break from needing his friend and that he can eat or look at other things. I use the bag to break his focus on where Cairo is and then that’s it.

Above video shows him the progression of pawing/ fence walking to grazing, grazing below something he doesn’t always do.

Even when he’s upset in the round pen. He rarely does more than fence walk and trot and call. No cantering/galloping. In his stall or tied, he kicked everything in sight (I have bent welded steel).

Cairo occasionally calls but isn’t that upset alone. Plus a flake of alfalfa usually shuts him up. LOL

On the Cairo front, he’s settling. I did a feed switch because he wasn’t thriving on the first feed. He’s gaining weight though it’s taking time. Lots of soaked cubes and more concentrate than I’d like. Hopefully I’ll be able to cut back eventually. I did sit on him once, but he really needs some good ground work. Plus, my saddle does NOT fit. Great. I’ll try everything else I have hanging around to see if I can find something that will work short term. We’re in a bitter cold snap, but I did talk to my trainer about bringing him over once it warms up. I should be able to do some free lunging too before I hop on if necessary. And a ground work day.

He’s definitely a sweet boy who has started to figure out the routine. He knows I’m the lady who feeds and who gives kisses (not a fan of that one). He LOVES any kind of chewy molasses treat (aunt angi’s are his favorite right now) and it turns out, he likes puff peppermints, but he now also will eat regular peppermints (he turned them down for the first month he was here) happily. But, he is a big fan of carrots and will murder you for carrots. He also loves his hay and his naps and naps daily in the hay. But, he’ll get up from his naps for carrots. He’s also not letting Nay push him out of the hay as much and has realized that the round bale is big enough for 2 horses (especially now that it’s in the feeder). I think he also realizes that Nay doesn’t actually do anything other than bite towards him.

Nay Nay has been super well behaved lately. Scary well behaved. To the point that my husband has been leading him in. He generally is decent, but goes through phases. Lately? He’s a gentleman. A toddler could lead him inside. Going out? Eh. It depends. The second it gets warm/soft? He has to roll. HAS TO. While I’m leading him. Every year. We walk, he goes down. If he starts pawing, I can stop him. So what does he do? He stops pawing and just collapses without warning. He’s got a bag of tricks that one. You think you’re a step ahead and he’ll just outsmart you. I will say, Cairo’s face the first time Nay Nay rolled on our walk to turnout was priceless…

Beyond that, not much else to report. We are dealing with some frigid temps. I like the cold but it’s COLD. And had some snow. Possibly some more snow this weekend. I might not complain about that. I’ll take snow over rain. It’s nice to actually have winter. Boys are bundled. I finally got my Jeffer’s refund that’s to PayPal. And got Cairo a bunch of blankets from other places so we’re all set.

In non-horse news, Dulcy is growing like a weed. She’s 7 months old now and mostly well behaved. Mostly. She’s still a terror and still terrified of the world. But we adore her. Most of the time. Marble is still with us, but we know our time is limited. Just letting her tell us how she’s doing. So we’ll have that to look forward to this year. But we just want to enjoy whatever time he have left. Hope everyone had a good holiday and a happy new year.

This is an ongoing saga. I’m currently trying to get my money back either from Jeffers or from PayPal… But, at this point, I have zero issue sharing all of this online. I’m over it.

On Wednesday 11/27, I ordered a blanket from Jeffers for Cairo. It was in stock, but it never shipped. It was odd. I kept waiting and waiting and never saw a shipping notification.

12/4 I called them to see what was going on. They were swamped with Black Friday sales, but my order was fine and would ship tomorrow. They sent a note to the warehouse to let them know it needed to ship.

12/5, still no shipping notice so I called again. No issue at all. It would ship tomorrow. I tried to ask a question but they hung up on me when I was asking. So I emailed to ask about my order.

12/6 response, more of the same. This time, they were certain the blanket would ship today.

12/7, I finally received a reply with UPS tracking information and word that they would tell the warehouse that the order NEEDED TO BE SHIPPED ON MONDAY.

12/10, UPS tracking number was invalid, showed it hadn’t been scanned. Followed up with Jeffers again. They stated that the package likely was lost (in the warehouse?/never made it to USP) and they would need to issue a reshipment.

12/11, I asked for the new tracking information. I was told it didn’t yet exist as the adjustment for the previous order was still in process (I don’t even know what that means) and it would take 5-7 days before a new tracking number could be issued. I replied that they had had my money for over 2 weeks with no movement and this was not an acceptable solution. No reply.

12/12, Reply again asking for a solution (tracking or refund). No reply.

12/16, ask for a final time for refund or tracking. Let them know that I would be disputing with PayPal if I don’t hear back.

Tomorrow marks 21 days. 21.

My advice is to stay away from Jeffers.

2 really is the worst number.

Way back when, I had 3 horses. The OGs. The 3 chestnuts. When we lost Hayley, we added Jiminy. When we lost Batts, we added Nay Nay. But, after Subi, we just stuck with 2. 2 really is the ideal number for my property and finances (actually, 1 is the ideal number but we’re not going there) so 2 it is. With Nay Nay still NQR, adding another riding horse was ideal but it leaves a new challenge: separation.

NOTE: after everything that unfolded with Jiminy and conversations with my vet, I am not willing to entertain the idea of a mini ever again. I have the perfect setup for a mini and even then the metabolic issues compounded and there was nothing I could do. This wasn’t the first time my vet has seen it (though, to be fair, Jiminy was a unique case in that his weight was ideal and he STILL had issues) and it’s heartbreaking every time. Unless I was dealing with a super well bred mini without any known risk factors in their genetic lines (and even then, they’re minis), I couldn’t do it.

So that brings us to this bunch. Nay Nay and Cairo. Nay Nay has always been weird about being left. He’s always been fine doing the leaving and less fine being left. Now that I think about it, he’s never liked being left even if he wasn’t alone. So, if I pulled out Subi and left him with Jiminy? He was displeased. But, it was fine.

Now, with the 2 of them? I need to come up with a solution. I don’t feel that it is true separation anxiety because once the horses are reunited? He has zero interest in the other horse (in this case, Cairo). There is no greeting, not sniffing, no touching noses. He just walking immediately past and goes about his day. It’s very odd.

My vet suggested that we start by leaving him in his stall and just see how he reacts. Give him something tasty and just see how it goes. He lasted about 4 minutes before he had an epic meltdown. Weaving, screaming, kicking, etc. Soaked in sweat. Brain fell out of his head. 0-100 in seconds. Even when I turned him out, he was trying his hardest to hold it together but…

Next suggestion was a tree of knowledge type of situation. Instead of the tree, we tried a stall tie (the tree may have been less dangerous, but I don’t even know). He didn’t really fight the tie, but he had a similar reaction. Hopping/dancing on his front legs (not rearing, just bouncing), soaked in sweat. Ignored all hay, kicking, screaming, meltdown that got worse. My neighbors ended up calling to see what was going on. He escalated to the point that I worried he’d hurt himself. With a tree, he’d not be able to kick, but he’d probably try and climb the tree and smash his body against it…

The last 2 times (Sunday, Monday) I turned him out in the round pen. I did a little bit of ground work and then left him. He did a tiny bit of grazing (more Sunday than Monday), some trotting (more Monday than Sunday), an anger roll (Sunday), some calling (more Monday than Sunday), but nothing dangerous. He didn’t appreciate it. But, no cantering, lots of walking (more Sunday than Monday), very little screaming (more Monday than Sunday but on Monday Cairo started it). So, definitely the best of all the situations. But, Monday was worse than Sunday. Before I turned out, I did do some additional ground work and both times he immediately zeroed his focus onto me. So, I never lost his brain. It was 100% an “I don’t like this” vs an “I’m going to die” situation.

Someone also suggested that I try Warwick Schiller focus work. Whether I do this in addition to continuing the other round pen work or instead of it, it looks interesting. If nothing else, it certainly can’t hurt. I’m going to play around with it.

I definitely want to start riding Cairo soon but I suspect I’ll have to haul both out to start. It is what it is. At this point, I’m aiming for the week between Xmas and New Years to start riding. But, hopefully come sometime in the New Year, I’ll be able to just take one out.

I will add, Cairo doesn’t seem overly bothered to be alone. He did call out to Nay Nay once or twice on Monday, but he was never upset. He never moved from the hay even when he called for him. On Sunday, he couldn’t even be bothered to voice any acknowledgement that Nay Nay wasn’t in the paddock with him.

I’m still very much struggling with the loss of Jiminy. It seems November/December are difficult times with the anniversaries of losing Batt, Hayley, and now Jiminy. But, I’m trying not to sink too deep. I just didn’t expect to be so… I don’t know… lost? Bothered? Affected? Especially when I have no regrets and know it was the right thing.

Which brings us to Cairo.

I’m trying by best not to let grief affect my feelings towards him. Normal people don’t immediately go out and get a horse but at the same time, Nay needs a horse so a horse we got. And, I actually shopped around and tried a couple before settling on Cairo lol

Cairo has been here now for just over 2 weeks and is a complete gentleman though very reserved. I haven’t figured out if it’s his personality, if he’s still getting settled, or if it’s a little bit of both. Probably the last one. He and Nay Nay are fine together. No fireworks though they’re not the best of friends which I’m fine with. Nay is a lot of personality. A lot. Too much probably for a lot of horses and people. Cairo seems to be very level in comparison which is nice. But it’s a strange adjustment if I’m being honest.

Cairo is also a complete pushover. He’s big. Huge. 16.2/16.3 (we tried to stick him) and if someone suggests he walks away from the hay, he will. Nay Nay figured this out immediately. One look, one side eye and Cairo backs off and away and Nay has all the hay to himself. Not good. With a big, multi-sided round bale, Nay Nay should not be able to keep Cairo away from the hay (especially without using teeth or kicking). But Cairo is so meek that he was scared to eat. Sigh. I will say, it’s gotten better. And they are both eating. I’ve also supplemented with extra piles of hay. But, I suspect this is why Cairo really needs weight. Yes, the post track transition is rough, but I think full time turnout and group feeding likely wasn’t leaving him all his feed… now he gets night hay in his stall plus evening feed in his stall, hay cubes, and is separated for breakfast outside. I hope he’ll put on weight quickly even if he doesn’t eat as much with Nay as I’d like (though I have been seeing them eat side by side the last few days). [ETA I started this a couple of days ago and since then, he’s gotten a lot more comfortable with Nay Nay and eating hay with him]

I turn the boys out myself in the morning though my husband generally brings Cairo (or Big Boy Roy as he calls him) in at night. He’s very good and has settled into a routine. He’s a good eater, loves his stall and hay and grain though is just as much of a pig as Nay Nay. No escaping these gross boys. LOL

He saw the vet on Monday for a post purchase exam if you can call it that. He’s got some mild arthritis in his front left (also a chip but I knew that), but nothing unexpected for a warhorse who raced until he was 9 with 43 starts, 10 wins, graded stakes placed, and almost $500,000 in earnings. She wasn’t concerned about the chip based on location (nor were the vets that saw him before) though he’ll likely need some maintenance eventually. His feet look good (though he was in glue ons at some point which was odd) and his teeth look good too. Oh, and he strongly objected to his eyes being checked. STRONGLY. My vet also felt that he’d already put on weight.

Next step? Legal separation. I’m to start separating the boys as often as possible for anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour a day to just get them used to being apart. Mostly to get Nay Nay used to being alone so I can start hauling Cairo out to ride. Mostly we just don’t want me to have to take them both out all the time. Wish me luck!

I’ve started this post every day for a week and I just can’t seem to actually write it.

We said goodbye to Jiminy on Wednesday morning. He’s free. He’s pain free. It was the 100% the right decision.

But, I’m completely struggling with his loss. More than I ever expected.

I’m not traumatized, I don’t regret the decision, but I just don’t feel at peace. Not even close. It didn’t feel easy, he didn’t feel like he wanted to go and fought until the end to stay. He was a spitfire even in his last moments just like in life.

Jiminy joined us in at the end of July 2015. He helped fill the void left by Hayley.

He was immediately Subi’s best friend. He idolized Subi. He and Batt tolerated each other–on a good day, and hated each other–on a bad day. But Subi? Subi was his best friend. He’d follow him around. Play halter tag/face tag with him. He’d use him as a rain shelter (literally. he’d stand UNDERNEATH him. Subi did not care). He’d help himself to Subi’s feed (Subi was happy to share). He just worshiped the ground on which Subi walked.

When we lost Batt, he stayed as close to Subi as he could though it wasn’t necessarily enough. But, in the end, after Nay Nay joined the family, Subi and Jiminy were glued together again until Subi’s last days.

Nay Nay and Jiminy were never that close. Jiminy was the pesky little brother who was always eating Nay Nay’s food. But, Nay Nay always needed to know where he was. They generally stayed close. Very close. And enjoyed the same hobby. Food. Despite annoying each other (it went both ways), they got along very well. Nay Nay may have been a bully but Jiminy was a little pest and earned most of the shit he got (which…wasn’t much). They mostly played musical hay cubes, at hay, and napped. After we let him go, I walked Nay Nay over and he just stood over Jiminy, staring at him for a good 10 minutes or so. It was the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever witnessed.

It wasn’t all sunshine with Jiminy. He learned the art of escapology in his early years with us. I can remember being in Seattle and my marriage almost ending when Jiminy was running loose and my husband couldn’t catching not once, not twice, but three times. It was only then that he listen and left him in the shed with the gate closed until I returned. He is the reason for all the electric wire and extra fencing. He also learned that his muzzle is a good tool to tear apart electric fencing without getting shocked.

Jiminy hated water. And rain. Give him a bath and die. Truly. For a pony that loved being groomed, he hated baths. And he loved his blankets. I made an early mistake of not blanketing and then it rained. He would try and kick you in the head if he wasn’t wearing a blanket. Toss one on? Happy boy. We ultimately compromised and clipped and blanketed and he was the happiest pony in the world.

I could write more about all his struggles with IR, cushings, laminitis, winter founders, etc., but what is there to say? His body fought against him. For a mini in perfect weight, he just wasn’t meant to be here any longer than 13 years.

Goodbye Jiminy. Be free. Be pain free. Be with Subi. I’ll miss you always.

In a very quick attempt to find Nay Nay a new buddy, I spent the last few days hunting Facebook leads. I initially found a mare 3 hours away that looked promising, but I had reservations. I ended up posting an ISO add and ended up overwhelmed with responses. In the end, I looked a mare who I liked a lot, but she was also a mare.

I also reached out to MidAtlantic and they suggested Megacity. He was a quiet warhorse by City Zip, stakes placed, 9 years old, with earnings of nearly $500,000. My requirements were a horse that my husband could lead around. Somehow this translated to, Megacity would be quiet enough for your husband to walk around on.

Oooookay. I set up an appointment to see him on Sunday.

When they said he was quiet, they weren’t kidding. He was quiet. Very quiet. Classy and quiet. I haven’t ridden in a year and he didn’t care. Just took care of me and that was that. In the barn after, a horse kicked the stall grate and we all jumped — except Megacity. He just stood there and ignored it all. Anyway, on the way home, I decided he needed to come home with me.

I picked him up today. He was in a stall when I arrived just hanging out. He was so quiet I didn’t even realize he was there. Evidently? That’s just who he is and who he’s been since he retired in June.

We got home and Nay Nay was very… emotional. Megacity, now Cairo, took one look at this nutty horse walked away to eat and more or less ignored him until he got over himself. Later, when Nay got his emotions in check and calmed down? The two happily snacked on hay together. No squealing, no kicking, no drama (other than Nay Nay). Just Cairo being Cairo.

Stay tuned for more updates, but for now, welcome home Cairo!

Typing on my phone because I’ve thought about blogging and keep talking myself out of it. But maybe if I just word vomit? I’ll post.

I’ll keep this 100% horse related though I’m sure I could expand. Choosing not to right now.

I left off with Jiminy’s struggles and not much has changed. If I’m being completely honest, in some ways he’s gotten better and in other ways, he’s gotten worse. I’m really at the point of throwing up my hands and giving up.

I don’t quite remember where I left off, but Jiminy is dealing with Cushing’s, heaves, and IR. The Cushing’s is (thankfully) under control with a half a tab of prascend/day. Getting the prascend in him? Another story. 1 sugar free peppermint worked for a while but now it doesn’t. I got smacked (hard) in the face when dissolving it in water and had to pin him to the wall and force it down his throat. He’s better with 1Tbsp of no sugar applesauce but I’ve had enough people PM me to tell me that even 1 Tbsp that was approved by my vet would kill him that I accepted the concussion(s) that I got.

Anyway, his initial insulin levels were deathly high so we put him on Ertugliflozin. He improved. Sort of. Now he’s no longer deathly high. Just scary and/or dangerously high. He is only getting soaked hay and soaked hay cubes. Half his hay through a muzzle. Since we can’t stop feeding him (and he does not need to lose weight), we’re continuing down this path but MAY move to 100% hay cubes at some point.

On Saturday, we’re building him a small run so that we can remove the muzzle and better control/restrict his hay access while returning Nay to free choice unlimited hay. ideal? No. But we’re doing our best.

Anyway, we’re adding another medication. pioglitazone. It’s significantly cheaper than the Ertugliflozin so that’s something? But it’s too soon to tell if adding in the new medication will help. Jiminy is sick of getting stuff squirted down his throat.

I’m also at the point where I’m spending 1k/month on medications (he’s on ventipulmin which is $$$$) and bloodwork and he is not improving. All my reserves are gone. I’m giving him 2 months to make progress before I make a decision unless he makes a turn the other direction…

His breathing still isn’t good but it’s better than it was and at this point I’m taking it.

Anyway, hope that joyful update lifted your spirits.

Let’s just start with a boolean phrase because why not? How very librarian of me? WARNING, this is me whining.

Jiminy’s bloodwork came back on Friday and his bloodwork was worse than month ago. Well, his ACTH was improving, but his insulin was levels were substantially worse.

The vet put him on ertugliflozin which is similar to Ozempic (human brand name is Steglatro). It’s a freaking pain in the ass to dose because he’s a mini… I’m basically using a syringe to pull the paste out of the large syringe. Oi. Thankfully, he takes it without issue.

His lung inflammation is also not good. He’s on his inhaler which IS steroid based which MAY be impacting his insulin levels. My vet is NOT convinced the inhaled levels will raise levels enough to have a significant impact while my research is showing me that it still could (I went full medical librarian…) We’re talking about adding ventipulmin because the inhaler itself isn’t having the impact it was in the past… I ordered a dog sized spacer because we do need to switch to a different inhaler soon because the equihaler has been discontinued (even if it is the same medication). So yeah. Fun fun.

I’m also exploring a nebulizer. I’ve talked with Flexineb and they feel he’ll fit in the foal size based on his measurements and made some fitting suggestions if the mask is too large. Not quite ready to go that route, but it’s an option.

Anyway, next stop is the vet, again, for Dulcy. She spent the morning peeing about 15-20 times over 90 minutes which is not normal. So she’s getting checked out.

Long time, no post.

Very little and a whole lot has happened. Honestly? I just wasn’t in the mood to blog.

In May, the best Hermione dog was diagnosed with mast cell. She was doing super well and her tumor was looking great. But, time wasn’t on her side and the tumor grew massively and likely spread. We lost her in August. She was my best friend and companion for over 14 years. The best dog I could have ever asked for. My heart is still broken, but it was time and she was ready to go.

We brought Dulcy into the family pretty much immediately. Marble (who is 13-15) is pretty happy to have a puppy around though she can’t move very well. We’re worried we’ll lose Marble soon, but she’s the best, calmest puppy wrangler we could ask for. Dulcy adores her. Dulcy was pulled from a high volume kill shelter in WV and was fostered in Maryland. But she experienced some trauma and is very skittish. It’ll take time, but we think she’ll get over her fear. She’s very comfortable around us and at home. She’s 16 weeks now. The cats are NOT impressed. We’re working on it.

On the horse front, Nay Nay is doing OK. I’m sort of kind of putting him into work, but he’s still NQR. He’s better than he was mid summer, but ultra weak to the right. Not lame, but almost? His hind end is a mess from Lyme and EPM and I just have to buckle down and start building back muscle slow. But it’s hard and he thinks it’s hard and it’s not fun for either of us. He’s pretty good to the left (and as a result, only wants to work to the left). I need to find some good ground work exercises to start doing that are more interesting that what I’ve been doing.

Then there is the problem child. Why yes, Nay Nay isn’t the problem child. That would be Jiminy. He has a whole slew of issues.

1. Asthma
2. Cushing’s
3. Insulin resistant?
4. Laminitis

The asthma/heaves isn’t new. We’ve dealt with it before. Did an inhaler last year and ventipulmin the past (he actually used up all of the BRAND NEW BOTTLE I BOUGHT FOR BATT prior to his inhaler…) Last year the Aservo EquiHaler worked really well (they are, however, discontinuing the darn thing). This year? It’s not a complete miracle. It’s helping, he is FABULOUS for it (I actually don’t use a halter half the time I use it). But, the vet was out for more blood work (see 2-4) and while he’s improved, he’s still wheezing on the right side of his lungs (the left are showing more improvement) and putting more effort into breathing than should be necessary. They’re harvesting a lot of corn, tobacco, and soy beans right now so it’s possible that is making everything worse. So, we’re going to give it a few days/until next week. If he doesn’t sound like he’s improving or he gets worse, we’ll add ventipulmin to his plan. This actually worked better than anything else in the past so hopefully in conjunction with the inhaler it’ll be magic. I can also get a small bottle unlike the mega bottle I bought Batt before we lost him… Oh. Jiminy is also on zyrtec (10 – 2x/day)

We ran blood on Jiminy and it turns out he has Cushing’s. With his recurrent foundering over the last couple of years, this actually makes sense. He’s not fat. He’s never been fat. So, at least this was an answer. He started on a half tab of prascend daily. He’s not thrilled but it may have been the zyrtec that he was suspicious of vs the prascend. Right now he gets his prascend with no sugar added apple sauce and 10 zyrtec squirted in his mouth every day before we turn out. Turns out, this is his preferred method. If you use an old succeed tube? You don’t even need to any of the pills. Grab the sauce, pop in the pills, add a couple drops of water, shake, and dose. It’s fabulous. James approved.

His blood levels also showed his insulin levels were out of whack. But, before we treated that, my vet wanted to treat him for cushing’s for 30 days and retest. So we just hit the 30 day mark and retested today. I’ll share the results when we have them. We’ve been soaking at least half his hay. I’d soak it all, but that would mean cutting him off from Nay Nay in turnout and I cannot do that. Or making Nay Nay eat soaked hay. I am willing to let Jiminy eat or not eat his soaked hay (somedays he eats it, some days I trash it), but I can’t do that with Mr. Ulcers and Gut Issues. But, outside he eats his hay through a muzzle so it’s something. While I’d like to see his levels improve, I’d also like them to be similar if it means that there is something we can address or fix. Since he seems about the same, I don’t actually expect his insulin levels to have improved. Stay tuned.

We’re also STILL dealing with some laminitis. Again with his freaking right front hoof. Again. I am over this. He’s fine. He’s sound enough. And he has no issue wandering around and exploring (they’re both off the grass this year — Jiminy for obvious reasons and Nay Nay because he can’t graze without Jiminy). He sees the farrier next week and my vet wants a really good trim (he has too much toe right now — his feet are growing way too fast). We’re going to drug him this cycle to see if that process makes it easier for everyone.