This morning when I went out, the horsey group was here as usual. When Max the horse walked over to get his treat, I was horrified to see hundreds of prickly pear cactus spines sticking out of his neck, shoulder & body on his left side. He obviously had fallen in a cactus sometime during the night. He looked like he had a nasty run-in with a porcupine. No pictures, my first reaction was to start trying to pick them out. He was pretty good about standing & I got most of the big ones out, although, when I got to the shoulder the nerves that automatically get rid of flies kicked in, & some of those I haven't been able to get ahold of. He's also covered with the little tiny red hairy stickers, everywhere. He did try to bite me a couple of times, but doesn't seem to be bothering the remaining stickers, so I assume they bother me more than they bother him. It will only take a day or two for his body to start breaking them down, so I guess it's not a major crisis, but I do feel bad about it. Because of his broken neck & nerve damage we have to keep in the back of our mind someday he will get to the point that he will no longer be safe to roam around on rough ground. At that time we will have to make a decision in his best interest. I hope this was just a fluke & not a change in his situation. Right now I am not happy with the rest of the gang. It was after 10 am this morning before they all managed to wander in for breakfast. It's interesting to watch the dynamics of the herd. They will go along for weeks, showing up on time, going in their pens, perfect little angels. Then something happens............. I sometimes think they've been replaced during the night with donkeys from hell. So the battle is on for a few days, & then they go back to being angels again. I've threatened to close the gate to Burroland, with them on the other side & leave them over there for the day. I have 2 reasons why I haven't........... # 1, there's no water over there..........& # 2, they probably wouldn't notice & if they did they probably wouldn't care.......!!!! (G) They do love their WILD country..............!!!!
4 comments:
Falling on a sabra cactus--ouch!
You guys have enough adventures for TWO blogs.
We do seem to have trouble stringing more than 2 or 3 days of blissful peace & quiet together.....!!!! We're certainly never bored, that's for sure.
Natural acupuncture without the hefty price!
Very funny, I don't think Max would appreciate your humor..........!!!! (G) Considering he had dozens & dozens of the big prickly pear spines sticking everywhere on that one side. He managed to miss his head & his butt, everything else was pretty well covered.
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