Gosh it has been a long time since I have done any blogging. The last post came up when I logged in and it hit me hard. It was a pictures of me and my best friend Prince and the tribute I wrote on his passing to "Horse Heaven". It has been almost two years since he died and I still miss him so much. Rest in peace my wonderful Prince. You are in my heart.

Tribute To My Horse Prince

MY TRIBUTE TO PRINCE -- THE BEST FRIEND I EVER HAD

March 11, 1982 – June 5, 2012

In his liquid eye is the blackness of desert nights

Strewn with flickering campfires.

His two ears, pinnacles on an Ebony mosque,

Are formed in graceful symmetry

The cavernous nostrils convert an Oregon breeze

Into the hot desert wind.

His voice can be a trumpeted call to war

Or a soft, meandering tune of mystery,

The whole quicksilver image of him

Shimmers like heat waves over scorching dunes.

He is molded of morning mist and rifle smoke –

Of soft, cold ashes and boiling clouds,

He hallows the earth where he stands,

He is mine and I am his.

But I know the Prophet's Thumb cannot save him:

It has no power here,

He is gone, the tapestry of my life

Is torn – a void exists –

Where once was an awkward baby,

A willing companion,

A happy friend.

"If three people say you are an ass, put on a bridle.---Spanish proverb"

Tunnel Vision

Mom decided Tuesday morning that because it was snowy and cold outside (and because Star and I had stirred up some mud) it would be a good time to set up the dreaded doggie tunnel that Uncle Mike had sent to Mom for her birthday for our fun and games.

Now Mom had tried earlier this year to get Star and me to go through the tunnel, but no way, no how would we go through it.  Oh she tried every trick in the book, crawling through it herself, putting pieces of cheese and hotdog inside, rolling my tennis ball through, but we stuck firm and didn't play her game.  But, now.........

Mom decided it would be fun to set up the dreaded tunnel in the back hallway. Then the pleading began.  It was funny to watch her crawl through it, but we didn't follow her through it.  Then she started bouncing one of our tennis balls on the floor to get Star and me to try to go through to get the ball, she tried rolling tennis balls through it and we resisted, but then - she called for backup!  Dad!  Well, how could we resist him?  He's no patsy.  Finally, Star, my 'fraidy cat sister went through first!

Well I couldn't let her do something I wouldn't do, so I had to go through too.  What next!

 Oh dear, I heard her mention something about jumps!

Star's ER Trip

Poor Star.  On Thursday the 14th, I discovered that Star had torn her nail on her right front dew claw.  It was pretty bad.  I thought I could wrap it so it could heal, but she wouldn't let me touch her foot. 

I called Dr. Brown and she said to bring her right in.  Star ended up in surgery so that Dr. Brown could remove the nail.  She had completely torn it and it was just dangling.  Dr. Brown had to cut into her dew thinging to remove the nail.  So Star's leg was bandaged.  I had to keep Star fairly quiet, make sure she didn't get her bandage wet, and make sure she didn't try to tear the bandage off.  The first two orders were easy, but she sure frustrated me in keeping her from tearing her bandage off.  I ended up wrapping duct tape around the bandages and she even managed to chew the duct tape. 

Finally I was able to remove the bandage yesterday (Monday) and she is a lot happier, but I have to keep her from licking her "owie."

Jade and Star Update

Gosh it has been a couple of months or more since I posted anything about Jade and Star. 

Update on the doggie door caper:  It took Jade about a month of going through the taped up doggie door before she just barreled though it untaped.  Not Star though, if the door wasn't taped up, she would lay in front of it and throw dirty looks our way until one of us would tape the door up for her.  But, finally, on Saturday, the 16th, she couldn't stand it any longer and slowly crept through the doggie door.  The reason?  She couldn't stand the fact that Jade and I were outside playing ball and she was stuck indoors.  Why, do you ask, was she stuck indoors.  Well, she was still recovering from her surgery on her right front dew claw and was all bandaged up.  But, I'm getting ahead of myself.  I will post on her injury later.  Back to Star and the doggie door. 

Star still wasn't sure that she could go through the door on her own, because she still wanted one of us to let her out.  We were leaving the door flap down because Star was supposed to be kept fairly quiet and this was one way to keep her inside.  But I guess the sight her Jade and me playing outside was too much for her, so she finally started going through the door more and more on her own.  Success!!  Though she hasn't learned to come back in the same way.  Oh well, I'm sure she will figure that out soon! 

Prince

Prince in a happier day this month munching all that lush green grass in his brand new pasture. Now he is back to spending his days in his stall/paddock and will have to wait until the pasture isn't so green and lush. He is not one bit happy with me for not taking him out to pasture in the afternoon these days.

He had his farrier appointment the day after his picture was taken (May 12th) and Mike, the farrier, discovered that his feet were beginning to show signs of heat, so he advised to take Prince off pasture until he sees him again the end of June.

Prince got new shoes anyway and he doesn't seem to be having any problems with his new shoes. He is trotting and loping just fine without stumbling with all those ouchies he gets when he hits a stone when he is running barefoot.