Basket o' Kitties

Around here, we never know when a mom is going to bring in a surprise for us. This mama kitty had all of 1 kitten in her last litter. When she decided to deliver this litter in the deepest depths of the berry vines, we figured we might never see them. We haven't had many come in from the wild this year. We were mighty surprised to see this litter...and a litter of 5 no less come in from the wild! So far, everything we've done to try to help her out has been rejected. LOL! She wants it all her way. She hid them behind the dryer for a week... Then she moved them behind the washer. Now...they won't be hidden any longer! They're EVERYWHERE! We've started supplemental feedings to give Mom a break. They tend to rat-pack her from time to time, and she's starting to get grumpy about all those tiny teeth! Can't say that I blame her there...

Meanwhile, back in the house...


Tiki has a new buddy...Half Pint. We've had a lot of kittens lost this year. This is one of the laundry sink babies. One of the "wild" litters was dragged in very sick, and whatever they had spread like wildfire. It wiped out Half Pint's litter in 2 days. Those kittens were fat and healthy one day, and literally dead the next. I grabbed this one up hoping to save at least one...and it looks like we did. We believe the illness was passed by fleas, so that was our first chore - deflea the little fella.

We'll be keeping the 5 little ones above inside until they're old enough for their vaccines because I'm not sure what we're battling out there. I know most of the older kittens survived, but many didn't. None of the little kittens survived, except this one. We don't know how many were out in the brush that we never saw this year. We do know we no longer see several adult cats as well...and these are cats we've had several years. Since we're also on the coyote track and the bobcat track...those are possibilities as well. Sometimes Willow lets me know that there is something she doesn't like out in the brush... That's rural living for you! You always have to be wary of what might be out in the brush...

Our First Farrier Visit Together

Willow has definitely had her hooves trimmed before, but not the way our Farrier does them. Our Farrier is a Natural Hoof Care specialist, and does barefoot horse care. I adore him. I loved the way he took care of Willow during the procedure...his patience and understanding of Horsenalities! He taught me so much during the process, it was amazing! I feel like I know my way around a hoof much better now, and I'm not afraid I'm going to hurt her.

Phil uses an angle grinder on the horses' hooves to create a smooth surface that's less likely to chip and split. Willow's hooves have been left unattended for so long that she's way over grown. She'll need to be seen every 4 weeks for awhile, until her hoof is back to the proper size. I knew she needed attention. I just didn't realize it had been that long since she'd had attention.

Let that be a thought on your mind if you adopt a horse from a rescue... They do the best they can for horses, but they can't attend to every horse all the time. If there are a lot of horses, and not a lot of caregivers, then there's not a lot of one on one care being given to the horses. That doesn't make the rescue a bad place...it just means that they aren't a home...they're a way-station in between death and salvation of a new, loving home. Don't expect that you're adopting a 100% fully healthy horse that's up to date on all immunizations, worming and routine care such as hoof care. The worst are attended to, and those that can wait, will and do. Facts are facts. You invest your resources where they're needed most. There's no shame in that....you just want to be mindful of it.

Finally...a ride!

Well...Here it is. Our first official, fully saddled, and mounted ride! She's a perfect lady! Stood stock still while I mounted, and behaved absolutely beautifully...especially considering what she had to put up with! LOL!

It didn't take too long to find out that Willow has been trained more to the Eastern style than Western. She doesn't neck rein. She doesn't have the first clue about neck reining. She frankly, wonders what the heck I'm doing up there with the reins!
Yeah? Me too! I've never reined any other way, and she's never been reined any other way...so here we are! Quite the pair! It took a couple of minutes for me to catch on and try things her way... You have to admit...steering is an extremely important part of this equation! We got it together as the sun went down and achieved a nice little trot...

As the weather cools off, we'll have a really nice day when we can spend the whole day together and see if we can get out of the yard and go exploring some!