Hard to Say Goodbye 12-29-2018

I knew this day was coming. I had been trying to prepare myself but when it arrived ... I wasn't ready.

We had to make the choice to do what was best for Clyde.

I had taken him to the vet the Saturday before Christmas. Nothing obvious other than he just nibbled at his food and didn't eat it all during his morning feeding. BIG RED FLAG! Since there were no obvious symptoms I listened to his gut. There should be almost a constant gurgling sound in a healthy gut. I heard nothing! Not good.

I discuss it with Doyle. We decide with it the weekend and then Christmas that we should take him in to avoid a more costly examination!

I got a new vet at the clinic. My guess he was probably fresh out of school. Our clinic has a lot of these to help them get experience. Most of the time I'm okay with that and that day I was okay with that.

He did his initial examine and concurred with what I thought...early stages of colic. He did say he needed to have his teeth floated (term used for filing their teeth so they can chew properly) as he was holding wads of hay in his mouth which could lead to choking. He also listened to his heart and said his heart was beating really slow. That's all he said. I thought that was good because for it to be high would be an indicator that he was in distress.

He treated him with mineral oil and water mix to help get his digestive system moving again and sent us home. He told me to wait about a week for the teeth float.

I got an appointment for that the following Saturday, December 29th. I also got the vet who owns the
clinic and we have been using for years. He saw us through the health of many of our animals.

Kennedy and Remi wanted to spend the night on Friday. I told them they could but that I had to take Clyde in early on Saturday morning. Kennedy wanted to go, Remi not so much but she didn't want to stay behind.

I fed Clyde his morning carrot and breakfast before I took him in. We get there and I unload Clyde leading him into the area for the procedure. Dr. Herbal asks me how old he is. I say "28". Says he looks good for his age and commended me on keeping wait on him. He said he was underweight but not bad.

He felt and looked in his mouth and said he definitely had a sharp place but he didn't have much teeth left. He gave him the lowest dose sedative for his size and he nearly went down. He stopped and checked his heart. He said "I don't know how this horse is still standing. His heart is only beating about 10 beats a minute!" He listened a little more and said "I hear a murmur. This horse's heart is bad. He asked me if anyone was still riding him. I said no. He said 'good because with his heart he could drop dead in his tracks without warning'. Instead of doing a float today I think you need to consider doing something else."

My heart sank. I told him I needed to call Doyle and Vanessa. Thankfully the girls got cold and were sitting in the truck during all this.

We decided today would be the day. Our decision may have been different if we owned the land our horses were on but we don't. If he were to die in the pasture we would have to figure out what to do with him. Dr. Herbal said he would bury him on his land next to one of  his daughter's horses. It's also where our first horse Valentine is buried.

After calling Doyle I went to the truck to tell the girls. I couldn't hold back the tears as I told them "Clyde isn't coming home. If you want to say your goodbyes, you need to do it now."

Dr. Herbal said he knew this was a lot to process and he told us to take whatever time we needed to say our goodbyes.

I took the girls home, picked up Vanessa and Doyle and went back to the vet for our final farewells.

Many a friend and family member has ridden Clyde. He was my "go to" horse for all my beginner riders. Korin is the only one of the family who never rode him.

Thank you Clyde, for serving us well.

Rebel Quixote aka Clyde
February 1990 - December 29, 2018

Christmas at the Baileys

This was our year to get Remi after Christmas. It was so hard for the kids to wait. They were so penned up with energy they could hardly contain themselves.

Remi's flight got in around noon and she got to the house about 2:30.

We bribed the kids to get the group Christmas photo!

Granddad carried on our family tradition of reading the Christmas story using an electronic Bible.

A lighted water bottle. Pretty cool!

Everyone needs a kid like this guy! No matter what you give him these are his expressions and he says "it's what I always wanted" 😊

Doyle looks forward to getting "new threads" every year and proudly shows them off.

Grammer happy with the new phone case/wallet she got.

Remi brought her camera with her. She was pleased that she took a picture of me taking a picture of her. 😏

Doyle gets a new handcrafted leather wallet!

Keannon is always happy to get "Cowboy apparel".

Kennedy was so excited to get her own cookbook!

Vanessa wanted a shirt from The Market. I managed to get the very one she wanted...Mom score 😉

Mom was so excited to get a copy of the newly released Passion Translation of the book of Isaiah.

Remi is in shock she got a hover board. Kennedy got one for her birthday last year. Remi's mom and stepdad won't let her have one. This was a really big deal for her.

As I mentioned before Kashton gets excited about whatever he gets but he really was over the top thrilled to get a basketball goal!

How these kids adapt so quickly is amazing to me. Riding this like a champ!











Below is a video of Kennedy and Remi riding their hover boards.

Korin got a play sink that runs water. She played with this for a long time!

The aftermath. Another success Christmas for the books!

Have a good one!

The Boy Who Rarely Sleeps 😊

Kashton is on the go all the time. When he does sleep it's because he got still then he's OUT! Vanessa says he doesn't even sleep well at night. They are looking in to seeing what can be done to help that.

He had spent the night with us on Saturday December 23rd. We came home after church and had lunch. After lunch he went into the living room to watch tv. I laid on the couch next to the chair he was in. He was talking to me then it got quiet. I looked to see if he was still awake and just not talking and this is what I found.

I don't know why he ended up between the couch and sofa.

Doyle tried to put him back in the chair. He woke up and I figured he would stay up as he usually does but it wasn't long

and he was asleep again! He slept for 2 hours. We both concluded he was in a quiet place without the disruption of his little shadow, his sister Korin 😉.

Sleep is always better at Savtah's house 😊.

Have a good one!

Three Days Before Christmas

Kashton came to spend the night. I've trained these kids well. Kashton kept asking me to take a picture of him!

He always insists on having a picture taken in the hay. My hay stash is much less than it was the last time I took his picture!

The sky was really pretty while we were feeding.

Have a good one!

New River Christmas Program 12-8-2018

New River is the church the kids go to.  They had a Christmas program I attended. None of our family were in the program but Kennedy helped serve refreshments.

Afterwards everyone was invited to see the animals.

Kennedy didn't get a chance to pet the camel but the handler let her bottle feed the baby Zebra.

It was very good and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Have a good one!

Pretty Fall Day 11-28-2018

It was a pretty fall day and I decided I wanted to ride. I usually grab a bucket and throw a handful of feed in it otherwise my "sweet babies" run from me. Imagine that 😊. Well, I grabbed a halter instead and yep, Diamond took off running...everywhere I wasn't. However he made one costly error. He ran into an "catch pen with one way in and one way out. Gotcha! Ha, ha, I win!

Once he was caught he was a perfect gentleman.

I chose to ride the area close to the horses. The trees at Southside Church of Christ next to the horses pasture were beautifully colored. I love how the trees line the drive into the church parking lot. There are two drives and trees line both driveways.

The colors are not as vibrant as they are in other parts of the country but it's pretty too me.



It was a great afternoon.

Have a good one!