So a wise friend once told me...

A friend of mine who worked on the track for 15 years and with a horse vet for 6 once told me this, more or less:
"The world of horse people is like a bale of hay- full of flakes."
This is something that I am learning is crazy true.
I didn't know it would be so hard to trailer a horse 8 miles.
The old barn (the rescue) couldn't give back my board money, which is understandable, but promised to trailer Solomon down the road to the new barn. It was supposed to happen at about 1pm on Tuesday. I waited and waited and waited. I waited until, I don't know, 7 or 8. Was promised that it would happen in the morning the next day.
The next day I waited and waited. Left at 8:45pm. There was a lot of Jerry-Springer-esque drama going on. I wasn't a part of it, but the person with the trailer was, apparently. So I left with the promise that he'd get moved first thing in the morning. A boarder promised me that if he didn't get moved in the morning, he'd trailer him for me at 6. Said boarder didn't get there until about 7:30, he came with a bunch of friends, and did not bring his truck.
So he said he could do it tomorrow. Hrm.
So a third person with a trailer could do it on Saturday probably, for the cost of the gas. I really hope that can happen.
Oh yeah, the barn people called me today and said that they didn't think the trailering could happen, but they could ride him to the new place for $60. Uh what. No. Nononono no. He's a little bit lame in one foot, still a little underweight, totally out of shape, and he just had his teeth floated. His mouth is full of lesions from his teeth cutting him up. I called the vet up and they confirmed my instincts on it- hell no and no. It's 8 miles or so by road, actually probably more from the old barn, and it's through a bunch of hills and stuff.
The stall is filthy, and there are no shavings anywhere. My horse has been kicking the hell out of it, too, now that he has energy. He wants to be able to run around.
I can't wait to move him. I'm really sick of waiting and being promised things that don't happen. I'm drinking mead right now. I'm probably going to finish off the bottle.

Solomon, for his part, aside from wanting more room to run around in, is pretty happy about things. Yeah, his mouth hurts, but he's had mom with him all day for three whole days. Yesterday I sat in a chair in the indoor arena and he rested his muzzle on my chest, light as a feather, his cheek against mine, his nose blowing on me softly. He stood like that for a good 5 minutes, and he's just been clinging to me like crazy. He's getting more obedient too. We're doing well with ground manners. I think he's sick of getting groomed. Well, he doesn't mind the brushing, but he doesn't like being washed and sprayed with Endure and Cowboy Magic. He's loved getting multiple meals of LMF Senior Feed. He destroyed his old bucket, so now all I have is the good one, so I hold it for him. The vet said to feed him from a bucket raised up a bit if I could, since he's sore all over right now from the floating, so I sit in a chair with the bucket in my lap. He drops senior feed and horse drool on me but I don't mind. I massage his jaw too, which he sighs and leans into. If I walk away and he's in his stall, he calls out to me. He's a big baby. People who have been there a while say he looks better than he ever has before, and that he looks like he's 5 years younger. I'm pretty proud of him.

Eh, I hope I don't sound too whiney. I just want him to get to his new home where he will be safe and where everything will be clean and he'll get to eat as much as he needs all the time. His stall is next to the grain room. The new BO gave me a metal can to stick his senior feed in. All I have to do is go around the corner and it's there. I have a locker, too. My own tack locker! Other people will get to ride in my car now without holding a bucket containing gloves, a sponge, and a bottle of Excalibur sheath cleaner. I bet they'll appreciate that. I'll be able to hang up his tack, and even, when I can afford one, his saddle!

So also I got the very paddock I wanted!
It's a mare motel, but it's up against the barn, so he actually gets a real wall on one side. It's 12' by 24' and 12 by 12 of that has a roof. Also I am getting kind of tipsy. This is damned good mead.

[img]http://www.niceboots.org/~evergrey/horsestuff/hossmoor0808/Solstall.jpg[/img]

[/img]http://www.niceboots.org/~evergrey/horsestuff/hossmoor0808/pipepaddock.jpg[img]

He also, of course, gets turn-out whenever I want in this:
[img]http://www.niceboots.org/~evergrey/horsestuff/hossmoor0808/pasture.jpg[/img]
Not the arena inside the white fence, though if he has a serious problem with the herd I can do that instead, while supervising, but all of those hills behind it. 90 acres. Hell yeah! He won't be kicking his stall any more there!

I just need to focus on the positive and remember that once he is at his new place, he'll be fine, and he'll survive until then.

You know, Chaucer's mead is not the best mead. That would be Gryphon's Fairy Dew mead, or maybe his Chocolate Strawberry mead. In fact, Chaucer's is looked down upon by mead connoisseurs. But it'll do in a pinch. Oh yes, it'll do.

So anyway, yeah, everything is settled and official with Hossmoor, I am a boarder there now, paid and everything. It's just a matter of getting him those 8 miles down the road to his new home.


PS: Fugly blog people- awwh y'all are gonna make me blush. Okay, I'll come back. To the non-horse forums at first, maybe I'll go back to the horse ones too. I'm just not much of a fighter, ya know? But y'all are great (heh, I WAS actually even taking ol' peanut butter and jelly's advice into consideration, and I thought pretty well of him too) and you've helped me so much, and more importantly you've helped Solomon so much. It's thanks to you, some nice people on my Livejournal, and my favorite scary but awesome soon to be a lawyer redhead that Solomon is getting the care he needs. You all have just been invaluable. I'm still green as hell, but I know how to pick a hoof and clean a sheath, I know what to do to help a horse gain weight, and what to ask the vets to do. And Solomon has transformed to a beautiful animal (mind, I am biased, but everyone is in love with him at the old barn now, hehe,) who is bright and energetic and who lets chickens roost on his butt and children cling to his legs. Not that I encourage the clinging, heh. But when I turn around and one runs up and does it, he stands stock still for them. Amazing.

Today when I took him to the arena for a bit of turn-out, he trotted with me, immediately! It's not something I should do with my ankles, but I just had to at least across the arena, for the sheer joy of it.