Notes from Maine - 2022/11/27
The horses have a dental appointment tomorrow. The vet will dope them up, crank open their mouth with a metal ratcheting device, hang their head from a stand, and then go to work. There’s no scraping with fine picks involved. A horse dental involves a really long grinding bit attached to a big drill. The flat parts of the molars are flattened, and the ridges are smoothed.
It’s a shocking sight.
You might wonder—how does an anesthetized horse stay on its feet? The answer: very, very poorly. These giant animals will sway and totter. A lot of horses cross their back legs. You know that scene where Bambi slides across the ice? It’s like that but less graceful. By some grace of gravity they stay up but it never seems like a sure thing.
After their teeth are cleaned up, chewing will become easier and more efficient. Flat teeth are able to grind grains. With the spikes gone, they won’t cut the insides of their cheeks as often. A good dental appointment can make a horse keep their weight with less food. Last checkup, the vet said that Maybelle could use a little less food. I’ve been separating them more so Earl can eat at will while Maybelle starves. It’s cruel and unusual, and also a little scary. One of the primary ways to keep a horse healthy is to make sure they have constant access to good hay. Their digestive systems have to keep moving all the time. But, constant access to good hay can also lead to overeating. There are ways to slow them down (hay nets, and special feeders). For now, I’m just going to see if she will thin out if she doesn’t feel like she’s in constant competition with Earl to get all the hay in her mouth. Maybe the time separated will allow her to take her time.
Finn got the staples out from his knee surgery. There were twenty of them. I was pleased that the vet counted them on the X-Ray and then counted them as they came out. The last time he had surgery, a different vet left several sutures behind after his appointment. I just happened to see them a few days later and had to take them out myself. Staples are more difficult. You really need those special pliers to remove them efficiently. His incision is healing well. I can only hope his trussed-up bones are also healing.
Thanksgiving was very quiet here. For maybe the first time, I managed to slip right through the holiday without even thinking about it. That was nice. I didn’t make a huge meal or watch endless parades and football. I was quietly thankful without making a fuss.
I don’t have a schedule of deadlines at the moment, and that’s stressful. I thought the opposite would be true. A few months ago, I was feeling overwhelmed with estate chores (banks, lawyers, real estate people, and accountants), so I decided to take a break from personal deadlines. Without calendar goals for my own work, I don’t have proof that I’m being productive. Without proof, I assume that I’m not being productive and therefore I feel stressed. I need to set hard goals for myself again and then work to meet them. That’s the only way to “get back on track.” Staying busy doesn’t automatically make me feel like I’ve accomplished anything. I look at all the things left to do and lament.
I have so many rainy day (or snowy day) projects kicking around. When I write up my new schedule, I’m going to set aside some “free time” to do a project that I would otherwise skip. Maybe after I finish revising my current book, I will do some woodworking again and knock off one of these closets. Reorganizing is always satisfying. You get to put stuff away and also take pride in how nice the new shelves look.
Now if I could just stop procrastinating on making my new schedule, I would be all set.
