GOING FOR THE GOLD!

GOING FOR THE GOLD! Well, it’s just about the first of August. Just in time for big Charlie’s annual bout of cellulitis. And, true to form, it’s here. This is just about the weirdest thing any of us – Dr. Rollins included – has ever seen. For four out of the past five years, within a couple days of August 1st, he’s gotten an attack. The only year of the five when he didn’t get it was that year where he was full of the antibiotics we used to conquer that horrible sinus infection of his. Why August 1st? That’s the big mystery. There seems to be no real explanation for it – that any of us can see, anyway. This year, though, we caught it in the very first hour. Cellulitis generally comes on suddenly – within a matter of an hour or two or three. At first, nothing, then – bang! – swelling, pain & fever, all at once. The other day, Charlie’d been out running around in the arena with M’Stor, perfectly normally – the last two guys in the arena before lunchtime. By the time I’d gotten back from some errands – maybe an hour later, Charlie wasn’t eating, could hardly put any weight on that hoof & had a fever of 104.4. Eric & I swung into action – injected antibiotics, gave him Equiiox (pain & fever), did some hydrotherapy on him & got his leg covered with Furazone & wrapped the leg almost to the hock (knee). Anyway, now, the fever’s gone, the pain isn’t quite as acute & we’re all settling into the ‘cellulitis’ mode. It’ll probably be a couple of months before he’s really back to normal. Oh - & by being lucky enough to catch it right away, we stopped it from traveling all the way up his leg & - in some bad cases – into the groin. I’m thinking that next year, we might start him on antibiotics around the first of July to see if we can help to break the mysterious cycle. I love mysteries, but not when it comes to horses. Okay. The Games of the XXX Olympiad have started. I love the Olympics. Well, really, who doesn’t? And this year, we’re holding our own mini-Olympics right here at the ranch. It’s called “Going For the Gold” & all the horses are vying to get to - & stay – high atop the leader board in terms of medals. See, for each $20 you make in the name of your favorite horse, he or she gets a ‘gold’. We have a huge board set up here in the office with everybody’s name on it & big gold stars signify the ‘medal count’. As of right this moment, Charlie’s in the lead, with M’Stor Chance, Cadence & the Iron Man also showing gold. Your horses are counting on you to help them compete. Here’s how….. Just go here: http://tierramadrehorsesanctuary.org/HowToDonate.html & use our simple PayPal function - then put the name of your horse in the note/comment box. And watch for daily updates on our Facebook pages & on the Alex Brown Racing Forums. This is fun! We had a small troop of Boy Scouts here yesterday morning. To gain one of their merit badges, they have to do some community service work. And, because the troop is located in Cave Creek, they chose Tierra Madre. Thanks to the help of a couple of our terrific volunteers – Jacqi & Kristina – the boys (& a couple of moms) did all the water tanks & buckets. They seemed to have a pretty good time (one comment: “Hey, this is pretty hard work!”) & a couple of them asked if they can come out & volunteer, again, on their own. Why, sure! Speaking of water tanks, I have to tell you about a little bunny. Behind the back field fence is a big bush. And a family of bunnies lives under it. When we empty out the field tanks, we pour the old water into one specific area near the bush. Most of the water runs under the fence & into the wash, but a little pool has been created in that spot, although the pool dries up by late morning. Every morning, one of the baby bunnies sits right there at the edge of the pool, waiting for his or her early drink. “Hey, mister. You wanna hurry that up a little? I’m kinda thirsty over here.” When I get there with a cart full of water, the bunny backs up a couple of feet & I slowly pour it into the pool. “Great. Thanks, mister!” And the bunny goes to the ‘shore’ & drinks mightily. Sometimes, I even have to wait a couple of minutes before I can pour the second cartful into the pool. “Hold on, mister. I’ll be done in a sec.” “Okay, bunny. No problem.” Good, bunny! Okay, kids. That’s about it for now, but don’t forget – if you live anywhere in this area to come to our Comedy Night, this coming Friday (Aug.) at the American Legion Hall in Cave Creek. Doors open at 7 & the show starts at 7:30. Call for more information & to RSVP. In the meantime, we all hope your lives are filled with gold medals, too. See ya. Peace. Out.