Too Much Poop

I will admit that it has felt a bit like the universe has been plotting against us lately. There have been too many goodbyes lately. In the last sixty days we have lost Silky, Largo, Stormy and Dutch. I know it is part and parcel of having a retirement farm. I also know it tends to go this way sometimes. We've experienced this before where we go for a long period without having to say goodbye, only to find ourselves saying goodbye several times. Nonetheless, it hasn't been much fun. Of course in the middle of all this my mom, sister and I sold our family farm. I told Jason it was getting to the point where I was scared to get up in the morning. 

To add insult to injury our big tractor decided that it would be great time to develop a major hydraulic leak. We had already been ignoring a very minor transmission fluid leak. Jason knew that repairing the transmission fluid leak would involve splitting the tractor in half and then putting it back together again. As the saying goes, ain't nobody got time for that. That is, until we found ourselves in the position of having to make time for that with the hydraulic issues. Thus, in the middle of saying two goodbyes in a row last week, our tractor was hauled off to get repaired. I don't even want to know what that repair bill is going to look like.

Bye bye tractor, enjoy your expensive vacation

By Saturday afternoon my nerves were pretty well shot. Carter was up at the front barn with me Saturday afternoon, "helping" me feed horses. He was outside playing while I was inside scooping out feed. Then I heard him calling, "mommyyyyy, mommmyyyy, MOOOMMMYYYYY." I asked him what he needed and he said he needed to go poopie. I asked him if he could wait a few minutes or if it was an emergency. He said it could wait a few minutes so I carried on with scooping out feed. 

I walked outside with my hands full of feedbags just as Carter was pulling his shorts up while standing in front of the barn. "Never mind mommy," he said proudly, "I already went poopie." He proudly pointed at his poop right in front of the barn on the driveway. I made a mental note to myself to put on disposable gloves and dispose of Carter's poop. Carter has never cared to poop anywhere but the potty in the last 18 months, that is before that moment. I hoped we weren't starting a new trend of indescriminate potty choices, but I couldn't muster up the energy to care.

We carried on with our day and the incident was forgotten. At least it was temporarily forgotten until the next day. Carter and I were walking up to the barn and he ran in front of me, leaned over, and picked something up. He turned around and said "what's this mommy?" as he held up his poop from the day before, now dried out from the sun. 

I was mortified. In a spectacular parenting fail I shouted at Carter to put it down. He dropped his poop and started crying, confused as to why I was yelling at him. I was reminded of the scene at the swimming pool in Caddyshack, a movie I haven't seen in a million years. I was thinking of the scene where the kid drops a candy bar in the pool, maybe a Twix bar, and someone sees it floating by and screams, and points at the "poop." Then everyone starts screaming and there is the mad dash, mass exodus from the pool thanks to the Twix bar. Except in my case Carter wasn't holding a Twix bar, it really was poop, and I was the first kid in the pool that started screaming "poooop!!"

We washed Carter's hands thoroughly while mommy apologized for yelling at him. This time mommy remembered to put on latex gloves and properly dispose of the poop. Overall, life has had a little too much poop in it lately. Hopefully we're done pooping on the driveway for awhile.

____________________________

Ritchie and Rip

Leo and Chance

Nemo and Renny

Fabrizzio, Walden and Duesy were in a hurry to go somewhere, Remmy and Hesse were not

Oskar and Donovan (Clayton hiding behind them)

Sebastian and Johnny

Dolly and MyLight

Romeo and Gus

Asterik and Donneur

Timbit and Griselle

Johnny and Kennedy

Merlin and O'Reilly

In Memory of Dutch

We had to say another goodbye a couple of days ago. Dutch's passing was very unexpected and very sudden. That being said, Dutch, had a nice long life as he was in his early 30's when he passed.

Dutch

Dutch was a bay Dutch warmblood gelding. He and his mom first met each other ten years ago. His mom had been taking dressage lessons and she was looking to purchase a horse and start a partnership. One of her husband's coworkers was dating someone who would regularly go to the local horse auction and purchase horses to train or retrain and then resell. Dutch was one of the horses purchased from the auction. Dutch narrowly avoided a one way ticket to Mexico to a slaughter plant when he was purchased from the auction. It was also a fateful day for him as it set events in motion that led him into his mom's life.

this is how Dutch looked when his mom met him

an after picture of Dutch and his mom taking a lesson

When his mom went to the farm to look at Dutch what she saw was completely different from what she was expecting to see. She was expecting to find a reasonably cared for horse that had a dressage background that was about 11 years old. What she found was an extremely skinny, mid-20's horse that desperately needed an upgrade in life. She immediately went into rescue mode and made sure that Dutch came home with her. 

Dutch and Murphy

Murphy and Dutch

Dutch and Wiz

From the little bit of information his mom has been able to piece together of Dutch's history, the only "crime" he committed, which led to him being dumped at a low end auction, was that he had gotten older and could no longer hold up to the demands of his former job. Dutch was a nice horse in all areas, temperament, conformation, movement and training. He didn't have any holes aside from his age. His Dutch warmblood brand on his left hip helped to give her some clues as to his identity and former life.

Dutch (front left) galloping through the pasture with his friends

Murphy, Dutch and Wiz hanging out

Dutch and Renny

His mom took basic dressage lessons on Dutch and they also trail rode together. She had hoped to take him to some shows but unfortunately they never made it to the show ring. Dutch suffered a minor ligament injury from which he recovered. However she found when they were back to work his respiratory rate would get quite high very easily, regardless of fitness level. So his mom changed her goals to fit her horse and they mainly did a lot of trail riding together. Dutch's mom deserves a huge round of applause for all that she did for him.

Dutch and Renny snoozing

Dutch giving me a goofy look

Dutch napping with Renny hanging out

After spending about five years together, and slowly retiring Dutch from any riding at all, his mom contacted us about sending him to Paradigm Farms for retirement. After patiently waiting for us to have an opening, Dutch traveled to our farm from Georgia in August 2010. He made the trip with two other retirees with which he would remain friends, Murphy and Fuzzy Punch. Sadly Fuzzy Punch preceded him in death three years ago.

Dutch and Murphy

Dutch (far right) doing some early morning grazing with Renny and Murphy

Dutch showing off his trot

Although Dutch was already an elderly statesman when he arrived, to him age was only a number. Dutch had the spirit and tenacity of a three year old. He did things on his terms. He was very serious about keeping the people and horses in his life in line. Whether he was a chow hound in general or thanks to his days of being hungry, Dutch was highly food motivated, even by horse standards. Whenever he thought he wasn't getting fed quickly enough Dutch would do what I called his heavy breathing. He would start breathing louder and louder and louder, all while staring you down, until you fed him. Dutch expected large meals, served promptly, and settled for nothing less.

Sam, Johnny, Dutch and Wiz

 

Murphy and Dutch

Dutch in front of some fall leaves

Dutch's self confident manner seemed to inspire some of the horses he lived with. He always had at least one horse that was dependent on him for making the majority of their life decisions. Wiz and Renny especially both looked to Dutch to run their lives for them. Whatever Dutch was doing was exactly what they were going to be doing, whether he wanted them to or not. Dutch was also quite attached to Murphy, although their relationship was one of equals instead of one of co-dependency.

Wiz and Dutch

Wiz and Dutch having fun on one of our rare snow days

Murphy, Dutch and Sam

Dutch's mom always made sure that Dutch had nothing but the best. Whatever Dutch needed was exactly what Dutch got. As of a couple of years ago Dutch had officially outlived the majority of his teeth. He had to come in every day and eat large amounts of hay cube mash. He needed certain supplements every day as well. Whenever we asked his mom for any of these things we never got anything but a yes. 

Dutch and Mick

Dutch and Murphy

Chili and Dutch

This weekend I was preparing to feed the horses in Dutch's pasture one morning. Everything was normal and all of the horses were at the gate waiting to be fed. As I did every morning, I was preparing Dutch's mash of senior feed and hay cubes. He was impatiently waiting for me to bring him in to eat, letting me know of his displeasure by breathing at me more and more loudly.

Dutch grooming with Chili

Dutch, Sam, Murphy and Renny

Murphy, Dutch, Wiz and Renny

I had my back turned to the pasture as I was preparing feed. Suddenly I heard a commotion and what sounded like some scrambling, and then silence. Whatever happened, it happened so fast that by the time I had turned around and surveyed the scene, Dutch had passed. He went down a few feet from where he had been standing, I can only assume he had a heart attack or something similar. The one thing I do know is that his passing was quick, painless and instant. All of his friends surrounded him to see if he was ok, and then they quietly said their goodbyes.

Dutch, front right, going for a run with Murphy, Johnny and Sam

Dutch and Renny

Fuzzy Punch, Murphy and Dutch

Dutch and Wiz

As traumatic as his passing was for me, it was about as peaceful as possible for Dutch. I'm glad he never knew a moment of pain, and he kindly spared us from the possibility of ever having to make "the" decision for him. He was Dutch, full of life and in charge, telling me to hurry up and feed him, literally until his final moment.

I'm thankful we had the opportunity to get to know Dutch and his mom over the last five years. I am so thankful to his mom that Dutch's story continued to be written over the last ten years, instead of ending at a slaughterhouse in Mexico. Dutch wasn't finished telling his story ten years ago, and his mom let him keep him writing it.

Rest in peace Dutch, we all miss you.

Sunday Stills

Apollo and Thomas

George, Faune and Flyer

Dolly and Norman

Happy, our newest resident

Timbit has already introduced himself to Happy

B-Rad and Alex doing some early morning grazing

Clayton, Walon and River

Maisie

Calimba was watching Carter intently

Jason with Ewen and Jo

Jason and Ewen hanging out with the World's Cutest Fainting Goats Jo, Mina and Miss Lyle

Ewen is skinny but gaining weight daily and seems content

Elfin, Tony and Homer

Baby and Trigger

Ritchie and Chance