It was a big day here at Sweetgrass. Early this morning, farrier Scott Norgaard and his apprentice, Jamie, came by to check a couple of horses for me. Scott has an excellent understanding of equine physiology and a real knack for identifying potential sources of lameness. If he doesn't find something readily, I know I'm dealing with some kind of transient soft tissue anomalies. That was the case with my gelding Irish, although Gin is exhibiting some soreness in his left rear hock. For now, my follow-up will include some low level pain medication under the direction of my horse veterinarian, Dr. Jennifer Posey. Next Wednesday, the horses will be receiving their annual vaccines and Dr. Posey and her ace technician, Nikki James, will be on hand with their portable X-Ray machine. If need be, they can take a look at Irish and Gin then.
By the way, if you are in the market for some awesome custom made farrier tools, Scott is your guy. He makes everything from scratch, including horseshoes and has successfully competed in American Farrier Association competitions. When I haul my horses to shows across the region, everyone always wants to know about my farrier because Scott does such a nice job. You can reach Scott at 503-793-3220.
After we said goodbye to Scott and Jamie, Lorenzo helped me debug some soreness we're seeing in my coming two year-old filly, Jetblue. Last week, Jetblue battled a tough virus and it seems her digestive tract, while fully functional, is still sore. Add to this some additional soreness in the poll region -- likely from setting back a couple of times while practicing on the Mountain Trail course -- and you have one cranky pony. For now, we're dosing Jetblue with a little Equioxx as advised by Dr. Posey and keeping her exercise routine basic with a lot of stretching.
Next, I was off to dermatologist Dr. Sandhya Koppula to have some pre-cancerous sunspots freeze-burned away. The whole procedure lasted less than sixty seconds and was relatively easy. I should know in six weeks or so if it was successful. For now, I'm thinking POSITIVE.
On the way home, I swung into the tiny North Plains post office, where my favorite clerk, Jill from Louisiana, helped me select boxes for my long-distance family ho ho ho's. Tonight, I spent several hours at the kitchen table, assembling all the goodies I've been collecting and getting notes written and packages labeled. This is my first Plaid Friday Christmas, meaning our family gifting supported local and independent businesses. Tonight, I wrapped and packaged Portland musician Lincoln Crockett cd's, our annual holiday note that includes a year-in-review paragraph from each family member, and an Old Tyme Photo studio shot of our clan dressed as three pirates and a pirate Indian chief. In my notes to family, I explained that upstate New York fiber artist Maria Wulf is creating and shipping some amazing potholders to everyone, too. To check out Lincoln's sweet melodies and Maria's visionary creations, please visit their respective web sites:
http://www.lincolncrockett.com/
http://www.fullmoonfiberart.com/
As I put the last piece of tape on the very last package tonight, I had a profound sense of accomplishment. Our hard-earned dollars went to support some very cool, creative independent businesses this year. Going Plaid feels great!
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