We hope you are all planning to attend this year’s annual Buddy Bash, which takes place on Saturday, June 18. Mark your calendars – lots of fun is afoot!! Right now we are getting ready with lots of spring clean up, planting, weeding, trimming and fence & barn mending/painting. The place should sparkle by next month! We are planning some very fun events, such as a demonstration with one (or maybe more) of our own Saddlebrook horses by Jack Curtis. Jack is an exceptional horse trainer who is native to Wisconsin, but works in Arizona most of the winter and is very busy when he returns home. We call him “The Wisconsin Horse Whisperer,” he’s so good with horses, and he taught Bill most of what he knows. We’ve been trying to get Jack to come out and do a demonstration for a couple of years, and we finally picked a date that he was free. We’re very excited about that. There will be plenty more activities, including the traditional “Barn Karaoke,” so we hope you can all make it here!

The other day Chris detected what turned out to be gas colic in Frosty. She was showing signs of discomfort and lying down a lot, trying to roll, so Chris got Frosty up and walked her in the arena. You never know how severe it may be, and we don’t like taking chances, especially with a mare as great as Frosty, so we had the vet come out. He cleaned her out and then put a tube down to her stomach and pumped in some mineral oil and water to get things moving out. She’s doing just fine now and no worse for the wear.

The farrier came out to do Lucy’s feet. When he got her shoes off and trimmed her down enough, he was very pleased with what he saw. All the old abscesses were gone as well as most of the bruising that results. This is really the point that we were hoping to get her to – comfortable, stable and as healthy as possible. We turn her out in the small pasture near the barn for part of each day and she really enjoys being out in the sun and fresh air. She’s practicing for AZ!!

Roxy started to get some edema and the foal has really been moving around a lot. She is getting really uncomfortable and grouchy. Susan spent some time reviewing foaling procedures with Chris as he is getting pretty excited about Roxy foaling. He calls her “My Girl”. Same with Kate…those two have so much horse experience and yet neither one has ever seen a mare foal. Roxy is more restless today and we thought we spied a tiny bit of wax at one point, but she ate all her dinner. We will have her on one-hour checks though, just in case. Now the fun begins!  Thanks for watching!