1.10.2009

Furry and Dirty and Fine

Now is when cabin fever starts to dig in, and dig in good. Beautiful, furry and dirty, Odin was, I think, feeling it too. The last few days, he had been mopey and listless, and not at all his usual full-of-himself, pain-in-the-ass self. It worried me, so I took this photo yesterday, with my iPhone, to send off to a friend for advice on what could be going on. Of course you can't see anything in a photo, you have to know him to notice the differences in behavior, and she sent back, "that's a nice photo of him."

I breathed a really heavy sigh of relief when I went out earlier today. He's back to himself. How do I know? Well, there's a few things that let me know. His head was back up, he was energetic - and he grabbed hold of my coat sleeve, then my pant leg, easily avoided my swat, then stuck his tongue out. He sticks his tongue out to let me know he wants to play.

Those that say that horses can't communicate don't know Odin, Mr. Personality himself! He let me know he's feeling better! I guess I'll suffer through cabin fever without his company now...

6 comments:

  1. We had a bit of cabin fever today as well.

    My wife looked at this digital clock we have in the kitchen and saw the temperature was 68 degrees. So she told our 21 month old son, Brady, that we were going to the park.

    However, once outside, we quickly realized she must have read the wrong reading, as it was 40 degrees and the wind was howling.

    But how do you tell a 21 month old we can't go?

    So after thoroughly bundling up, we headed out and walked to the nearby park.

    A good time was had by all.

    But next time, I'm watching the Weather Channel first.

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  2. I think the clock was saying it was 68 degrees where the clock was instead of outside!

    Yeah, I bundle up and head out with Odin when the ol' cabin fever starts getting to me.

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  3. I used to love when the horses got their furry winter coats... so much the better for keeping me warm when I hugged 'em. ;)

    Odin is a gorgeous boy... just looks like he needs a good romp...! LOL! Or am I projecting? ;)

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  4. What you don't see with all that wasted hay on the ground is all the mud that is everywhere else! No romping for awhile until it dries up a bit. It's funny to watch him - he'll want to chase the dogs (and they want to chase him) so he'll rear and buck in place instead.

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  5. He is beautiful. It's funny how we can sense something wrong even though we are not quite sure what's wrong with our animals. Any idea why he was acting differently?

    I am glad he is fine and whatever "it" was that had him feeling down has now passed.

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  6. Yes, it's like babies and little kids - you wish they could talk to say what's wrong. But, you know something is wrong, just not what.

    About 90% of the time, Odin is as hardy as they come. He gets fat looking at feed! Usually. Since we moved from NY to AR, it's been a constant balancing act with the different available forage and feeds to keep him at a good weight. He's usually way too fat!

    But, my friend's best guess is that the worms in his gut (yes, I worm on schedule to keep the load at the right level) are at a stage that is causing some trouble. He'll get a mild wormer, then the powerful one in about 10 days.

    There's no way of knowing if that's it for sure though. I don't have a microscope or a way to do a load count. It won't hurt him to wormed that way though.

    I'm thinking he's probably not liking that I'm not out there as much since it's cold and muddy, and the dogs come inside with me too. Maybe he misses me!

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