3 minis and a pony

Hello 3 minis and 1 pony. It's so nice to see you all getting along so well. Left to right: Princess Buttercup, Paisley, Nelson, Pearl & Zanina in the background.

Hand-washing station

I made this! This was one of those Pinterest inspired projects, I thought - I can do that! I started the project right - I asked someone much smarter than me to help me plan (thank you Stephanie), she drew me a diagram. Then I thought, this will be a $20 project because I have the barrel! and some left-over PVC pipe!

In the end, it cost around $100, it took a whole bunch of banging head against keyboard moments, and approximately 14 trips to Home Depot. I switched to copper pipe for some reason? And, in true form, I didn’t exactly finish it. I think it needs to be topped off with some prettier rock, or even some flowers? And the faucet is kinda spray-ey. I’m just thrilled we have a place to wash our hands near the playground.

On the mend and Funny video

Pearl is feeling better! Her 2 front feet were so sore with laminitis she could barely move this past week. The vet assessed her and fortunately, her coffin bones have not rotated. This good news is the acute crisis of her laminitis episode has passed. However now we need to address the root cause which is basically... Pearl eats too much and too much of her diet is high in starches / sugar. So Pearl will be eating ONLY hay that has been soaked (soaking removes starches / sugars in the hay). We need to make sure she eats NO treats, no fresh grass, no "rich" hay. This means no more apples for Pearl! Oh Pearl, I'm sorry girl, you and me both. Being a sugar lover has rough consequences.

Laminitis

The hardest part about taking care of animals is watching them suffer when they are sick. Miniature horses (minis) are notorious for being susceptible to overeating, which result in all kinds of potential health problems. I thought since I know this health concern, I would make sure our minis were always fed in healthy moderation and never have access to too much sugar. Unfortunately, Pearl is in so much pain right now, she is foundering (also known as laminitis). The cause is uncertain, but the vet and I suspect she got into an excessive amount of big horses' hay. For now, we are keeping her comfortable, trying our best to manage her pain and consulting with the vet more this week. I'll keep you posted, but her prognosis is "guarded."

Our herd of horses

Have you ever tried getting all of your children, or dogs or cats or whatever all in the same photo? This is the closest I can get with all 5 horses... Princess Buttercup, Pearl, Lucy & Nelson all waiting for Lujen to return from his walk.