Decisions, decisions.....

The Tractor - We were approved for financing. Since we paid off my daughter's car, Mike figured we'd replace the payment with something USEFUL. 0% financing for 60 months, and 10% off attachments. With a front loader, rototiller, and pull-behind rotary mower, our payment would be $155/mo. He knows my feelings. (I want to roll the payment onto another bill and lower our debt) BUT...

We used the tractor with the loader all weekend and yes! It WILL lighten our work load a LOT! The decision is up to him. I'm just guessing here, but I believe he will get the tractor. Very rarely does he buy something for himself. He shells out a ton of money for MY horses, the least I can do is not pitch a fit when he wants a new toy. Besides, at least it's not something totally impractical like a motorcycle, which is what he REALLY wants. And the tractor will help us out a lot around here. My only stipulation is that he also gets me the arena groomer that I want so I can "top dress" the ground in the arena after he rototills. (Yeah...that's like $100) Stay tuned...

We will be saying goodbye to Dobbs this weekend. He can barely walk. I hate to see him in pain and he's been getting progressively worse over the last three weeks. A horse shouldn't have to live on bute. I thought initially that he had an abscess or that he'd gotten too much grass. I'm not sure what happened, but I can't stand to see him in pain. We will stuff his face full of apples and carrot on Friday, then say goodbye and ease his pain. This just breaks my heart. He was totally fine a month ago.

Little Miss Honey in the Money is feeling better. She was really long in the hoof, and the farrier trimmed her short. She was foot sore for a couple days. I put the brown goop on the soles of her feet (I can't remember the name, but it's what they use on the track for foot sore horses. Their slogan is "The Sole-Solution") and she's all better.

Thai and Classy are looking a LOT better! They've gained weight and are starting to get slicked out. Thai's hair is growing back and she's looking a LOT healthier! Mike suggested that perhaps that awesome hay we were feeding had too much protein. Anyone ever hear of that? I know that dogs will lose their hair with too much protein, but horses? It makes sense actually. As soon as I switched her to straight grass hay and orchard grass pellets, her itchy issues sort of disappeared.

Millie the Fillie is all shed out and starting to look like a horse rather than a bratty baby! She is very vocal and is really turning into a nice little mare. Once I have a decent day, I'm going to actually cinch up the saddle and see what happens. My hope is that I can saddle her and pony her off Angel or Squirrel. I might even introduce her to the bit. I want to be able to everything except climb on. We'll see...