There is nothing sweeter than the Christmas season and kids........there is also nothing busier than the Christmas season with kids!  Joe played the part of Amahl in the opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors", Sarah was in a play called "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" and all three kids were in Christmas performances at church.  Between practices, curtain calls and dress rehearsals the days seemed to fly past and sometimes we would find ourselves coming and going at the same time!  But these are the memories that will live on forever and when combined with time spent with family and friends we truly had a wonderful Christmas. 
 
As you know, we have a great concern right now with Penny.  Our last update told you that she seemed just a little off beat and we had taken her to the vet.  They kept her for two days and treated her with IV fluids and steroids which seemed to be making her feel much better.  We brought her home and she was doing good until this Tues. morning when Bill noticed that Penny wasn't eating her breakfast.  He moved her to a larger stall and she began to circle constantly.  We immediately took her back to the vet and started her on antibiotics in case there was a vestibular(?) infection affecting the balance part of her brain.  They also began month-long EPM medicine which is quite costly but if she has EPM it should make her better pretty markedly.  We’ve ruled out so many things…allergic reaction, poisoning, food contamination, EEE, broken bones, ear infection, West Nile, pregnancy-related issues…but cannot pinpoint what is going on.  At this point the vets are going to focus their attention on a possible brain infection or EPM because after certain testing they know now that there is definitely something wrong with the 7th and 8th cranial nerves.  Unfortunately these nerves have no secondary nerves to take over their functions when damaged as some other nerves do. There is no sign of trauma so it may be a virus that settled there. No idea if it could ever get better or if there is permanent damage, or if there are many other things going on.  She has been on EPM medicine for two days now, and they are going to continue this and also try some different, stronger antibiotics that pass through to the brain. 
 
We really need her to eat.  She is sedated to stop the spinning, but needs to be taken off of that so that she can focus and swallow. She does accept a small amount of hand fed hay when the sedation is removed but her tongue is not working properly and so you have to get the hay to her back teeth so she can chew it.  This morning the vet's report was that Penny was no worse today, so that's something to hang onto. She stood by herself without the wall holding her up for a few minutes, so that's something she could not do yesterday. She still circles if they cut back her sedation, but this morning she circled a few times in the opposite direction, also something different. At this point, we are thinking different is good, and that maybe something is happening, or healing or changing or responding - no one really knows. Last, she turned her head in the opposite bend today once or twice as well, and that is something she could not do yesterday.
 
We are still “hoping” that the Marquis drug for EPM is the path that leads us to recovery and we should know that in a few days. We may never find out what happened.  As long as she gets better we will have to accept that, I guess. Thank you all for your ideas and your prayers and your concerns.  We are using every bit of information we have to talk with the vets and it is very comforting to know you’re *out there*.  Thank you very, very much!
 
In other horse news, we think we’ve got it narrowed down to two candidates for Fanny’s boyfriend. You may know that one of the greatest halter horses of all time was Dreamfinder, a beautiful leopard stallion that won tons of awards, including World’s Best Appaloosa for many years. He is not living anymore, but his semen is. Well, alive and frozen that is. We haven’t contacted his owner yet. He may not even do breeding anymore or the fee could possibly be way expensive, which would make the decision for us, but you never know until you ask. Another candidate we like a lot is a son of Dreamfinder, Maid’s Dream. He is a snowcap (like Frosty) so color is pretty much guaranteed. We have more phone calls to make and we’ll keep you posted.
 
Call Scotland Yard – we just got our first Scottish BarnCam a-workin’ over there!! A very nice lady from Scotland named Jackie ordered a camera system from us, and we have been working with her to get it up and running. First we had to get her a camera in PAL format; the ones we use here are NTSC. NTSC is the analog television system in use in Canada, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, the United States, and some other countries, mostly in the Americas. Most of Europe uses the PAL system. Then Scotland has a different electrical current than here in the US, so our power adaptors would not work there. Bill found a company in Scotland with the right adaptors and had them shipped to Jackie. They have several different connectors that can go on the ends so it was mostly a matter of figuring out which ones would work. Jackie and Bill worked it out over the phone via Skype, so now she is good to go and will be able to watch her horse foaling. She is planning to do a Webcam as well, so we might be able to see it too!
 
The Big Mamas have started to waddle and the spring in their step has sprung. Walking back and forth between the barn and the paddock each day, you can hear that the usual “clip-clop” of their hooves has turned into more of a “clomp-clump.” Of course, Frosty seems to start showing from the moment she conceives, so she’s been huge for a while now. But Cookie has quickly caught up in the last couple of weeks and her tummy looks like a Buddha’s belly!   As "mare stare" approaches and new little ones will appear in the barn, a couple of our "older babies" have found new homes.  Romeo made it to his new owner in South Carolina and had a balmy southern Christmas.  You may have noticed our cam caption of "Merry Christmas Peg" on Christmas day.  Peg is a very lucky lady from Illinois whose husband Richard bought Phoebe as a Christmas gift for her.  They had both come up to see her a while back and the sly guy called us later to complete the surprise.  We kept it under wraps until Christmas day when Peg's family had her complete a scavenger hunt with a picture of Phoebe at the end of it! 
Now with foaling season upon us and the busiest season of the BarnCam business as well it is always a blessing to have a "helping hand".   We have hired a young lady to do just that and Erika started to move in to the barn apartment last night. And none too soon.  With the added stress and concern of Penny our barn will appreciate Erika's attention.  

2007 is two days away and our countdown ticker says that Cookie is due in 30 days!  We wish you all a Happy New Year and as always thank you for being here to watch with us.