Sometimes I wonder why we love horses so much...

*Warning* If you don't like blood or general gross injuries, don't look*

My May Long weekend did not go as planned.  At all.  The plan was that after I finished work at 5 on Saturday, my sister and I would drive up to my dad's.  We would go for a ride on Sadie and Pawnee that night, and then on Sunday we would go for a ride on Pawnee and Thor over to the lake.  On Monday we'd go for a shorter ride on Pawnee and Seven.  In between we planned to work with Cassidy and Hades, and help Sommer (granddaughter of our landlords) with her yearling Star.  On the way home on Monday, we'd stop off to see Socks, Jimmy and Artemis.  That is not what happened.

I woke up on Saturday with a sore throat.  After eight hours of saying hello to people and answering questions, I could barely speak by the end of my shift.  I forgot my cowboy boots at the stable so we went out there.  I like seeing my horses, but my sister let my BO's son in the field with Socks and Artemis after I told her we don't let them in, just to be safe.  That was annoying.  Then my sister wanted to to stop EVERYWHERE.  It took us four hours to do a two hour drive.  No ride on Saturday night.  I did hang out with Cassidy so that made up for it.

On Sunday Sommer came over.  While Jillian got ready, Sommer and I went out and caught the horses we'd be using that day.  Cas and Star were long overdue for a good grooming, so along with Pawnee and Thor, who were going to be ridden, they went into the pens.  Then we had to run into town quickly, and we stoped at the Lake Store on the way home for ice cream.  Once we got home, Sommer and I went out to groom our horses.  That didn't happen.  Cas came up to meet me so I stopped to pet her and Sommer went up to Pawnee.  All I heard was, "Omg Pawnee what did you do?"  Right away I knew our plans were scrapped for the afternoon.  I sent Sommer back to get my sister and the vet's phone number while I looked at Pawnee.  Somehow he basically severed a muscle in his front left leg.  Pawnee wouldn't move he was in too much pain.  It looked pretty bad.  I just have a bad cellphone picture so you can't really see how bad it was.

We washed it out and wrapped it while we waited for the vet to come.  She gave Pawnee a little bit too much sedative and I had a hard time trying to keep him standing.  She got him confused with Fonda, who takes a lot to get him under, but Pawnee, you can pretty much cover his eyes and he falls asleep.  He had a lot of stitches, over twenty, and he has a tube inside to help it drain.  He also needs to have a needle once a day with 35 cc of Penicillion.  Pawnee hates needles so that in itself is a whole other story.  But the weekend did not end there. 

Monday.  It rained.  All day.  A steady downpour.  Sommer and I went out to check on the horses to find Pawnee barely moving and shivering a little bit and Cas (who was put in the pen to keep Pawnee company) shivering so hard she could barely stand.  We spent the next hour making half of the shelter into a makeshift stall with water, hay and straw and put the two of them into it.  Then we spent the next few hours checking on the three different groups of horses.  We were soaked.  Jillian went home and Alex came up to spend the week with Pawnee, since my dad isn't there to give him the needle.  On Tuesday Alex and I went for a ride in the rain on Thor and Sev.  It was fun.  I bought a blanket for Cassidy, which doesn't fit her because she's too narrow.  I also bought her special feed since she's on the skinny side and she won't eat it. 

By the end of this weekend I was soaked to the bone and had probably had close to 100 pieces of Halls.  I love the horses but sometimes, I have to wonder why we do it...And then Cas comes up for a hug and it's all worth it.