I have not been spending as much time with my horses as I’d like, or they’d like. This, I have been thinking, is not fair to them. I have considered selling them; they’d go to a home where they’d have pasturage and good care. I have even wondered, am I still horse obsessed? And do I still love them?

Today I ceased to wonder. Of course I love them all. I just have to find that all elusive balance. I made some steps in the right direction today. I got up with the objective of getting a poop sample from Tyra. I first cleaned the horse pen, then put Tyra in Tinni’s old pen. After eating breakfast, I went back outside, to wait for Tyra to poop. Then I had an idea. I decided to first take her for a walk and then after, to clean her up. I reasoned that if I did this that she’d poop readily. I did this and also did some body work.

Alys and Tyra head down steep hill in Wyoming

I returned her to her pen and sat on the tack room steps. Tyra first went and took a drink of water, then after eating some hay, she stepped outside the enclosure and pooped. I was relieved to see that it was pretty solid. If it had been splat, I would have had to wait for another sample. I pulled a latex glove out of my pocket, put it on, scooped up several balls of warm manure, and raced up to the cabin.

I put the manure in the sample cup, added water, and then waited for the bits and pieces to settle out. After a half hour, Pete and I did the Elisa Fecal Blood test. Using a pipette, Pete put a sample in each of the two wells. We then waited, me occupying myself with other things. I looked the appropriate time and was pleased with what I saw – the control windows had red lines, and there were no lines in the A or H test windows.

If Test A (which is for albumin) had been positive, it would have meant that there might be a GI tract issue. If Test H (which is for hemoglobin) had been positive, it would have meant that there was a GI tract issue in the hindgut. Both were negative. I thought, well, this is one less thing to worry about.

This evening, we gave Tyra her first dose of Panacur – she now has four more to go. The veterinarian’s thinking is that she might have parasites. If her poop is again solid, this most certainly will be the case.

Pete and I went for a ride after lunch – he rode Tyra, and I rode Raudi. Tyra seemed chipper, but a little slow. Raudi did move out some. The sun was low in the sky. It was a great ride. After, I took Hrimfara for a walk – the sun was setting – the white snow on the mountains was pink. I decided, yes, I do love my horses.

I am going to stay home tomorrow, just in case Tyra colics.

Next: 6. 1/6/25: All the News that’s Fit to Print