Connections

Connections (to or with people, horses, pets, etc.) are so important.  Our relationships with other living beings are essential to our well being.  Also, we need to realize our importance to others.  We do make an impact on their lives.  

Research indicates that social connections are essential for human survival, longevity, and overall good health.  Strong social bonds improve physical health, boost mental health, foster a sense of belonging, and increase resilience against stress. 
I think most of us have also experienced the unique, unconditional bond that animals provide.  They can offer a sense of safety and reduces loneliness.  Studies show that interacting with animals increases dopamine and serotonin, which are essential for happiness.

Sunday 2/8 - I actually took these photos of the neighboring horse who was down by the barn last week.  We only saw him, not the other two.  I like how the sun rays hit him in the second photo.  










Shirley was sick so we stayed home from church.  This gave me a chance to get a great deal of work done on my next blog about Patty's week.

I went to the ranch to give Amiga her 'daily' pain/anti inflammatory pill.  I did some other chores up by the house and then went in to visit with Debra.  We started this big, 1000 piece puzzle while I had a cup of hot tea and a cookie.  Connecting pieces into the puzzle while we chat, has enabled us to build a connection with each other.  I also find puzzle working relaxing.  




Pugsley had been a little revved up, but finally settled down for a nap.

I went down to the barn to move hay and do a few chores.  Jan had just gotten back from a ride so we chatted for a bit.  Then Bonnie came and I talked with her also.  I so enjoy the connection I have with all my Saddle Sisters.

Wanda was enjoying the warm sun, having been feed three times by now.  LOL  It was a pretty day and the sun had done a nice job of chasing the cold away.

It was Super Bowl Sunday.  While Joe was playing poker and watching the game with his buddies, I enjoyed the peace and quite of home, and got finished and posted the blog about Patty's week.  Then I started on last week's blog.

Monday 2/9 -  Yaneth had been at Dan and Vale's over the weekend and posted several photos on Facebook.  I love that she stays so well connected to the granddaughters.  Look how stinkin' cute Layla is.  


I finished last week's blog, but wanted to edit it before posting.  I even had time to play some games on my computer.  










I 'aced' Connections, but miserably failed at Wordle.  Unfortunately, I lingered here too long so didn't have time for a morning trip to the gym.  

Karen, Joanne and I went on a lovely ride (video).  Getting set to go, mounting up.  










My Amiga, waiting for me.

The horses were well behaved, although actually acted a little tired or winded a few times.  They did pick up the pace on the way home.  We ended up going three miles.  


Jan had come late and tried to find us, but I didn't read or answer her text message, thinking it was just idle chatter from family or friends, because my phone had 'pinged' several times.  I had totally forgotten about Jan coming to join us later.  UGH
Far too often, I think my brain has a loose connection when it comes to remembering things.


The butts have it.

Jan arrived back a little after us.  We four ladies ended up, down at the barn chatting for quite awhile, while un-tacking and doing some extra cleaning and hygiene care on the horses.  






I could have made a quick trip to the gym, but don't like to rush my workouts.  Instead, I came home, proof read and posted last week's blog, finished my James Patterson book, and napped.  Sheesh. 

There is still a sweet connection between Mama Styx and Babe, her daughter.
 

Tuesday 2/10 - It was another beautiful day, and after a great, total body workout at the gym, I went riding with Jan.  


This wasn't camera wars, but Jan had taken this photo when we stopped and I was dictating an answer to a question to someone.  I don't even remember who or what it was about, but apparently it was important enough to warrant stopping to answer. 

Since Jan had kind of gotten a butt shot of Rico and I, I then took one of her and Cash.  



I guess in the quarter horse world, butt shots (rear-view conformation photographs) are popular to show off or highlight a horse's hindquarters because the hind end is considered the "motor" and powerhouse of the horse.  A large, heavily muscled hindquarter is highly valued.

We had a relaxed, enjoyable three mile ride.  There were no big spooks, even though we rode past the construction site and had to wait for a large road grader on Marmaduke to pass us.  







Cash sets a good example for Rico and I think helps keep Rico calm.  Jan also has many helpful hints for me.  





I had chores, with a limited amount of time, so didn't dilly dally.  These last three photos are of each of the boys after their dinner.  Cash went straight to the new round bale.  






Rico was picking through the old round bale hay Joe had spread out over the muddy, high traffic area in the paddock.  

Cowboy was getting a drink before heading out to the field to join the other two. 

I scurried home, showered, did pet care chores, and then Joe and I picked up Patty and Karen to go to Vegas Steakhouse.  Joanne and Debra met us there and we enjoyed a cheerful meal together.  The food was great and we were in no hurry, chatting nonstop, having a lovely time.

Wednesday 2/11 - Patty, Joe and I were at the ranch by 10:30 to look at some repairs needed in the house, unload feed, and I gave Amiga her pill.

Then we headed out to clear trails which had gotten very chocked up from the two winter storms we'd had the end of January.  Jan took this photo.  She was here with Cash who you can see behind the gator.  







We started at the biggest obstruction, which was three moderate sized pine trees, all fallen in a tangled mess across the trail.  




We didn't think to take a before photo.  We removed the trees one at a time, first working on branches and then getting the trunks.  This is the last of the trees in the big snag.  






We proceeded down and around our favorite riding path, clearing trees and branches as necessary.  Patty took most of these photo.  Oh, and right from the start we met a horse and rider on Marmaduke.  It was Yevonne on Maslow.  It was so nice to see them.



We actually 'ran into' Yvonne three more times, the last time when she was at her trailer at the corner of Beachwood and Marmaduke.
We took the gator down one narrow trail to get to a dead tree that was leaning across the trail, and getting lower over time.


Joe tried cutting it, but it was too risky, not knowing how it would fall.
  
So we used the gator, first trying to pull the tree, then turning on the winch, which immediately did the trick (video).

Joe also sawed off some small stumps the horses have sometimes tripped on. 

Last of all, we started clearing Stratford Circle, which has been choked up with large downed trees for quite awhile.  We made progress, but had to stop because Joe and Patty were out of time.  









Joe and Patty took the gator back to the ranch.  I had plenty of time so walked our back woods trail and cleared some sticks and small branches off of it.

When I got near our lower paddock, I noticed Amiga and Zorro sunning.  It looked like Zorro had his head over Amiga's neck, but when I zoomed in, I saw that he was behind her.  These two have a special connection with one another.  







I finished on the trail and thought about taking Rico out, alone on a ride.  None of the ladies were available today.  Knowing I need to work on our connection, in hopes for a deeper mutual bond, I decided to just do ground work and see how he did away from his horse buddies.  Rico did much better than I anticipated.  He was calm, attentive, and obliging.
 
 
I read that: Connecting with a horse involves building trust and communication through consistent, patient, and respectful ground work, shared experiences like grooming and walking, understanding their body language, and allowing them to initiate interaction, creating a partnership beyond just riding. Focus on positive reinforcement, making activities enjoyable, and showing them you are a calm, reliable companion to foster a strong bond between you."  




We walked out under the power line and down Hathaway in the opposite direction as usual.  I was looking to see if the road needed clearing.  At one point we got to this road block, but it had a somewhat cleared work-around off to the side that we used.  The board you see propped against the rubble in the road, had probably a dozen small gun shot holes in it.  UGH.

I did a quick change of clothes once home, and then headed to the gym.  After an hour of elliptical and 20 minutes of rowing I was totally exhausted.  Following a good 20 minute stretch and shower, I went to Food City.

At pet feeding time, Monita started acting very strange, hiding under the dinner table.  She is always the first to run to her bowl to eat.  When she didn’t, I picked her up and put her by her bowl.  She licked a little bit of the gravy off the canned food, and then looking dazed and confused, started staggering and stumbling around.  Over the course of at least an hour I observed many seizure like symptoms: head shaking, drooling, itchiness, vomiting a viscous liquid, a dazed look, and Nystagmus - which is rapid involuntary movement of the eyes.

I put Monita in a cat crate and set up an infirmary in the upstairs bathroom.  By the time I had eaten and walked the dog, I checked on Monita and she had either slobbered or vomited a bunch of liquid in the front end of the cat crate.  It was not urine.  Her front paws were very wet.  When she came out of the crate she acted much more normal and I eventually decided to let her back out in the house and monitor her.   She crawled in a cat crinkle tube and stayed there, I believe most of the night.  I recalled a similar episode a month or so ago at feeding time when she was hiding under the dinner table and not coming to eat.  She was staggering and stumbling and falling to one side.  At the time, I thought maybe she was having a mini stroke.

Thursday 2/12 - Monita seemed fairly normal this morning.  She ate a little, drank a bunch and used the litter box.  She also slept quite a bit.  For a year or more, I have noticed that she has been drinking a lot of water.  Being over weight, I worry she could be diabetic.  I planned to monitor her fairly closely to see if there would be more seizures.  I don’t want to do heroics or spend a boatload of money, but if a blood or urine test could determine a simple, affordable way to treat an underlying cause, I would be willing to do that.

I did research and read that seizures in cats are caused by underlying issues affecting the brain, broadly categorized into structural (brain disease), metabolic (body system dysfunction), or toxins.  They often occur at times of changing brain activity, such as play or feeding time.  Affected cats can appear completely normal between seizures.  Diabetes can cause seizures in cats, typically as a result of severe hypoglycemia (dangerously low blood sugar) often due to insulin overdose or lack of food intake.  Neither would be the case for Monita. 

Then it dawned on me.  Monita sometimes tries to nibble on my Arrowhead plant, a highly toxic plant for pets.  I put a cage around it years ago to keep her out.  I took a look at the plant, two leaves were partially missing and another was completely gone.  I believe this is the connection to why Monita had the seizure.  I banished the plant to the garage.  

On my way to the ranch at 11:00, I just so happened to follow Joe in from Chestnut Hill Road.  He had gone earlier to get hay.  

Driving down our lane, you can see the ranch house in the distance and the big hay trailer in front of me.  

 

Joe parked outside the shop to re-arrange things (old hay, tractor and various attachments) before storing the trailer, with load of hay, back in the shop.  


Ta-da, everything stowed and shop neat and clean.  It is ALWAYS a good feeling to have an ample supply of hay.

I had gone about my business with little chores, and then headed out to better clear the road Rico and I had walked the day before.  

I got the work-around better cleared, but then while trying to cut a relatively small tree (but I guess too big for my clippers) they broke.  Oops and shoot.  

I returned to the barn with my broken clippers and also this board that had been used for target practice.

Next I did some ground work in the round pen with Rico.  He did well, considering I was so rusty and not giving clear cues.  



I went into the house to visit with Debra, have one of Patty's homemade cookies, and work on the puzzle.  

Then I fetched Amiga to go for a ride.  Look at the dirt on this girl!  She had been rolling at the edge of the pond.  You can see the stripe of clean hair down her back.  She can't roll all the way over.    

Tied in the barn, I worked at brushing Amiga off.  I have noticed she is really getting sway-back.  Riding helps her top-line and her arthritis.  We didn't go long, far, or fast; but had a nice little 1¾ mile ride (video).

Home for pet chores, I was thankful to see that Monita was completely her old self; the obnoxious, annoying, persistent, pestering kitty she usually is. 

Joe did not get home until 1:30am, after getting a late night over-nighter and horse settled in.

Friday 2/13 - Yep, Friday the 13th, no big deal.
I made it to the gym earlier than usual and had a solid arm and abdominal workout.

When I got to the ranch just after 11am, I was a little surprised to see the over-nighter (a young rodeo cowgirl) still had her trailer parked down at the shop.  Well, she had gotten here rather late.  

Joe arrived while I was giving Amiga her pill and we discussed how to re-fence the upper paddock.  Jan and Karen soon came on the scene and we had Joe ask the the rodeo girl to move her horse out of Zorro's stall down in the barn, which she promptly did.  






Once the visiting horse was out of the barn (up in the coral) we were able to bring ours in.  






We were soon tacked up and out on the trail for a nearly four mile ride, which went very well.  It was nice having the trails cleared and passable so we could ride all of the connections of our favored route.







I had a few hours to eat, clean up, and rest, before Micki picked me up for a 'Ladies Night' out.  





We started out at Pit-stop (used to be Rumors) for a beer, appetizers, and Karaoke.  Terry (the DJ) did do a few good dancing songs for us and some of the singers sang some good ones we could dance to.  

Karaoke is not the best venue for good dancing, so our group of eight dispersed before 9pm.  However, Micki, Elaine and I were not ready to quit.  We headed over to Club 1660 for some more dancing.  We had fun dancing to good music, almost continuously, until 10:00, when the DJ switched to 'Club music,' a non-stop, energetic, reoccurring 4/4 beat (kind of monotonous).  We stayed a while longer until we'd had enough of the scene.  I was home and in bed shortly after 11pm. 

I encourage you all to build connections with others by nurturing existing relationships, volunteering, joining groups based on your interests, and engaging with your local community.  Stay connected.