Remi Pout Fest

Sometimes I wish I could get inside my boy's only working brain cell and figure out just what he is thinking. He has been going through a major pouting faze lately and neither one of us can quite figure out what's causing it.

It pretty much started right after Sara left. He bellowed and looked all over the pasture for her for at least 3 days. He and Princeton finally settled down and stopped looking for her, but we could still tell that Remi missed her. He had that lost puppy look on his face.

Because I'm still in the boot and on limited barn visits, I haven't been down to see him much either, so maybe he's missing me too. He isn't speaking to trainer mom right now, because she's the one who was treating his leg and he didn't LIKE IT. Anytime she goes toward the stall, he turns his back to her and starts pouting in Bad Boy Corner, appropriately named because every time he misbehaves, he goes to the back right corner of the stall and ignores us. It's almost like he thinks if he can't see us, we can't see him. Hmmm, not working Big Boy!!

About 2 weeks after Sara left, trainer mom brought the new kids home. Remington is fascinated by the two of them and will look at them for long periods of time through a knothole in the wall of the loafing shed. We've had to keep the big boys separated from the little ones until we can get them all used to each other and so no one gets hurt. I think it's going to take some time for that to happen. Here's a picture of him peeking through the knothole. He stood there for 45 minutes just looking at them.


He and Princeton weren't too happy today when the little guys got put out in the back pasture and they couldn't go. So, with new kids on the playground and Remi, not allowed to play with them, he has continued to Pout! Maybe he's just frustrated that he can't play with them. Maybe, he can't figure out what they are, or maybe he's just being a big spoiled Doofus, who wants all the attention. I dunno, I can't figure it out.

Yesterday, pouting turned into mischief and he decided to break into the feed stall and help himself to the buffet. He had a grand ole time getting into the oats, Princeton's feed and the alfalfa cubes, and managed to knock over two of the three feed barrels. He must have heard the patio door shut and gone into a panic because he backed out of there so fast, he tore the door off the chicken coop, broke a broom, and backed right into the corner post of the barn and split it in two. He hit it with enough force that the base of it was cracked as well. Oh noooooooooo!!

Into pony prison he went and straight to Bad Boy corner where the pout fest continued. I actually went to the barn and let him know, I was not happy with him one little bit! I don't like to scold him, but he was just acting like a big spoiled brat and that is not acceptable.

With the help of some dear friends, a new post was installed, but Remi had to remain inside his stall and finish his sentence. It would be our luck that he would go over and knock the new post down while the cement was still drying. Nuh Uh, that was not happening.

So far today, he hasn't gotten into any trouble, but then again, the day isn't over. He's not talking to either one of us right now, so he must be plotting while pouting.

Go figure, a big horse with a big attitude. That's my boy!

Stay tuned, stay happy and stay with us.

Remi's Latest Trick

We got enough rain on Thursday to cause the big boy to have to stay in his stall for the day. Now, as you know, he doesn't like this one bit and yesterday was no exception. He was bellowing and kicking the gate to the point that I had to get on him a time or two. Now that isn't an easy task, especially when you have an injured foot, which, by the way, is now sporting a brand new air cushioned boot that I will be living in for the next 6-8 weeks.

Trainer Mom is out of town checking on a new pair of SMALLER horses for the business, which has left me in charge of all of the fur kids. It's not too hard, but getting down to the barn multiple times to tell Remi to stop clanging on his gate wasn't too good for my foot.

To make the situation a little more difficult, Princeton the Shire was out roaming and that made Remi a little more aggravated. He didn't like the fact that he was in pony prison, while his buddy was out and about. Princeton has to be able to move around because of his arthritis. He's gone down a couple of times and it takes both of us to get him back up. So, mud or not, he had to be out because I can't get him up by myself. Of course, Remi wasn't happy that Prince was eating his hay from the outside of lockup. You know how my boy loves his groceries.

Now on to Remi's latest trick. If you have read earlier posts, you know that we have been applying medicine to Remi's leg and he doesn't like it. He picks up his foot and swings it back and forth to make it more difficult. Well now, Mr. uncooperative has decided, anytime you come near him, he's going to lift his leg, whether you have medicine in your hand or not.

I went in his stall to strain out the hay in his water bucket and as soon as I got in there, UP CAME THE LEG! I had to laugh, and said "it's ok Remipup, I'm not going to put medicine on you." Down came the leg and the minute I turned around to leave the stall, UP CAME THE LEG again! He did this about three or four more times and I just stood there and watched the big goofball be silly.

His hay bag was empty, so I went and filled it and when I came back to hang it up, guess what...UP CAME THE LEG! Oh for heaven's sake Remi, you are being such a big baby. With a full hay bag in sight, he put his leg down and went on to happily munch away.

When I let Mr. Temper Tantrum out this morning, I needed to check and make sure the medication was still on there. I didn't even get that close, when he started the Leg Up game again. Fortunately, everything looked good and I just left him alone.

But, wait until later when he goes in for the night. This is going to be a real fun time. It's hard enough to get out of his way when you're walking right, but applying medicine on Mr. Leg Action when you're in a boot is going to be a real challenge. At this point, I don't know how many leg up, leg down, leg all around sessions we will go through, but I know it will be many.

So, wish me luck, it's going to be a fun time in the ole stall tonight!

Stay tuned, stay happy and stay with us.

Another Critter Casualty

Even though Remington demands a lot of time and attention, and is usually the one getting into mischief, we do have other animals that certainly keep us busy. In addition to Princeton the Shire, Remi shares his ranchette with two dogs and a cat.

Trainer Mom's dog Keiko is an Akita and my dog Bailey or as we call him Doodlebug, is a Schnocker (half Schnauzer/half Cocker). Gabe the kitty is an orange and white tabby who despite getting on in years, is still busy hunting mice in the barn and snoozing soundly in Remi's wagon.

During the summer, the horses are fed late in the evening after it cools down so that it lessens the possibility of them getting colic and so Remi won't be sounding the alarm at the crack of dawn for his breakfast. He usually does anyway, but you have to try, right?

The dogs really love going to the barn and tearing across the pasture romping and roaming to see what adventures or trouble they can get into. Keiko knows how to stay out of the way of the horses, but Bailey doesn't, so they usually don't go down until the horses are in their stalls and it's safe for them to be there.

The other night trainer mom took them to the barn and while Bailey remained right by her side in the feed stall, which by the way is very unusual, Keiko darted right back up into the back yard and was on the way to a rumble with something. And that something was a skunk!!! Keiko, that wasn't a kitty!

Oh my word, she got sprayed in the face. I of course, was inside since I am still banned from the barn, when trainer mom came rushing through the door saying "Keiko's been skunked". Out I hobbled and P.U., there was skunk smell everywhere. She was sneezing like crazy and stunk to no end.

I did a quick search on the internet to find a solution because the tomato juice remedy really doesn't work. It makes a big mess and all it does is mask the smell temporarily. And we didn't have it anyway. I found several posts about mixing hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and a little dishwashing liquid. Ok, we had everything but baking soda, so we used baking powder instead. We also used natural tears solution to soothe her eyes and it worked wonders for that part.

I hobbled back outside and help scrub her down, which made us both now smell like skunk and it really didn't seem to help much. The whole time we were washing her, Remi and Prince were hanging their heads out watching the action. Every once in a while I would see them both shake their heads, because it was just so very nasty. I did have to laugh at them, and quite frankly we were both crinkling up our noses and shaking our heads too.

Poor Keiko had to sleep outside on the patio that night because the smell was so overwhelming, we couldn't have it sinking into the carpet and furniture. And quite honestly, none of us could breathe. It was a clear, cool night so although we didn't like leaving her outside, we had no choice.

Yesterday, she got two more baths, but since she got the worst of it on her head and neck, it's been harder to get the smell to go away because we don't want anything getting into her eyes. We did finally let her come in because it was just to hot to make her stay outside. She came over by Bailey and he growled at her and ran away. Now, Bailey absolutely adores Keiko, but he wasn't having any part of that action. He spent the whole day by my side in the computer room.

Since she was inside and still not smelling to sweet, I gave her the temporary name StinkerBell, which seemed appropriate for the situation. We both feel so bad for her and are taking care of her just as much as we do Remi and the rest of the critters when they need us.

So, as they say, there is no rest for the weary and around here that is certainly a fact. It makes me wonder if Remington decides he's going to take a day off from getting into things and sends a message to the other fur kids to stir up some action and take the attention off of him :) What do you think?

Here's Keiko (alias StinkerBell) and Gabe


And here's Bailey (alias DoodleBug)

Stay tuned, stay happy and stay with us.

It's a "Guy Thing"

So, with Remi taking meds orally and getting his leg painted with medication he is not a happy camper. I have gotten all but one leg healed, but I can see now that this is going to be a long drawn out project. Apparently that leg was the scene of the most bites and inflammation. Now that alone would have been bad enough, but between the itching and the flies he began gnawing on his boo-boo's and has made a real mess of himself.

I've now taken to bandaging the leg to keep him from it overnight, but as usual he is trying to beat the system by chewing thru the leg wraps. Next comes the cayenne pepper on the outside of the bandage to try to keep him from chewing them off.

It was the meds and bandaging that caused him to send me rolling like a bowling ball across his stall. Keep in mind that he didn't kick me, he just did what any kid would do with mom putting iodine or the like on a scrape, he keeps trying to yank his leg out of reach.

As a precaution, I decided to add electrolytes to his water in order to insure that he is drinking enough while on the meds. Usually don't need that as he normally drinks almost 40 gallons of water per day. His water bowl in the stall is a 55 gallon plastic drum. Now when you do something like this, you have to do it to all available water sources. That means the outside water barrels & Princeton's too.
Here's where the fun begins... It smells and tastes a little like raspberry. Not too bad I think. WRONG!!! It turns the water PINK. Horrors.. You could see it on their faces and almost hear both the horses saying "Its PINK, I ain't drinkin that!"
So out comes the salt to rub on their tongues periodically until they finally give up and decide to drink the snazzy new colored water.

My days are getting longer with each new addition of how to medicate the Remipup. Just another episode in how to raise and care for the big galoot.


Posted by:
Trainer mom Bunny

Missing Remi

It's been a little over a week now since the big foot came down on mine and it has kept me away from my boy for longer than I like. Poor trainer Mom has been playing house keeper and doctor all by herself and Remi hasn't exactly been cooperating.

He has still been biting at his one leg more than we would like, so trainer Mom has had to resort to wrapping it up to keep the flies and his big teeth away from his boo boo's so they will heal. For the most part, the ant bites and his bad reaction to them have cleared up, but since he insists on irritating his leg, he will now have to remain in the leg wrap until it heals better.

I swear, he is such a handful sometimes. Before I was banned from the barn while my foot is healing, I was helping treat his bites with medicine. Now, let me tell you, I trust my big boy, and he's pretty good about letting you take care of him, but you do have to let him know you are doing it, or you can get a swat from his tail because he thinks you are a fly.

Both of us know how to make sure he doesn't kick us so we weren't too worried about that. However, even though the medicine didn't sting, he didn't like us fussing with his leg and kept picking it up and moving it around, which made it harder for us to get the stuff on his leg at the right place.

The other day, trainer Mom came in the house and was not real pleased with him. It seems that he raised such a fuss that she lost her balance and had to do a tuck and roll to get away from him. Can you say mega aspirin time? You have to get in some pretty awkward positions to apply the medicine and one sudden movement from him can cause you to loose your balance quickly.

Yesterday, he fussed a little too much and BOOM, down she went again and hit her head on the stall wall. I can tell you that she wasn't very HAPPY and it didn't exactly thrill me either. I was on the computer working when she came in the door and all I heard was "YOUR BOY", and I knew he had misbehaved again. Great googly moogly, two days in a row. Remington, what are you doing? Get out the aspirin!

I don't know how much longer I will be banned from the barn. My foot is still giving me plenty of problems and if I go down and start moving around on it too much, there is a chance I can do more damage to it. So, I have to watch from the window to see what he's up to. He seems to be getting over the mopes from Sara being gone, which is good. But I do have to wonder what other mischief he's thinking about.

I'll eventually get back in the saddle, so to speak and will be able to be around him a little more and then I can share some more stories with everyone. Until then I have to rely on reports from trainer Mom and sit inside hoping that I don't hear "YOUR BOY" again when she comes in the door.

Knowing Remi, I don't give it too long :)

Stay tuned, stay happy and stay with us.

Remington's moping

We finally found a good home for our little mare Sara. That is the problem... Since the day he arrive she has followed him around either like he was her baby, or she was just keeping in his shade. Either way he is not happy with her departure. He hasn't left Princeton's side in 24 hours except to walk to the fence and nicker for her. Like I didn't feel bad enough with her leaving.

I guess if the weather is cool enough I will begin to take him for some drives down our country roads to get his mind off it. Who knows, I may even throw a saddle on him and see how he acts. I had planned on teaching him to ride under saddle in the spring, may have to move that date up.

Keep your fingers crossed, its a long way down. LOL

I know he won't do anything bad, but jeez it's scary to look at getting up on him for the first time.

We are still waiting on Guinness. Cheryl says she may check next week to see what is taking soooo long.

We'll keep you posted.

Bumps and Bruises, Oh My!

Well Cheryl is in the boot and using a cane (temporarily), Remington is sporting the latest version of horsey calamine lotion and I as usually feel like a cowboy who has stayed at the rodeo too long. I lent her one of my canes, as after years of the big horses I have braces and help aids for every moving part of my body. All just part of the everyday price of owning and working with the big fur kids, but nothing in comparison to hearing the soft nicker of Remipup when he sees you come out to him and he is glad to see you, or the laughter he brings when he is trying to sneak behind you to grab a bite of some already forbidden goodies.

By the way, for any of you who may not have seen this and even you who have, here is a link to a video I found of Remipup on YouTube. Go watch his antics and tell your friends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU92qKW1JjY


posted by: Trainer Mom - Bunny

Remi's Mom Foot Update

The ole foot wasn't feeling any better so I went and had x-rays taken. Nothing appears to be broken, however there is a lot of swelling and they can't tell if I have any fractures or ligament damage right now.

So, I am supposed to stay off of it as much as possible, which means I don't get to go down and see my boy very much for several days, or spend much time with him. He did have to check out the cane I have to use, to see if it was edible, but that's normal for Remipup.

I told him that it was not his fault and gave him a big kiss. I'm sure glad I held on to the orthopedic boot, the funny soft shoe and the crutches so I didn't have to spend more money. I guess that's all necessary equipment when you have a horse as big as him. You never know when you might need them again. I will be back in action soon and paying a whole lot more attention!!!

Stay tuned, stay happy and stay with us.

Remi's Foe

There's been a little excitement around the ranchette the last week or so and it hasn't been a whole lot of fun. It seems like even when Remington doesn't go looking for trouble, it comes looking for him.

We had four days of rain where the horses had to stay inside, which as you have seen from previous posts, is not any fun for them or for us. The rain let up in the morning on the fourth day so later in the afternoon, we decided to let them out into the back pasture where there is grass and little chance of them slipping and sliding in the mud. Big mistake, huge, really, really big uh oh! :O

Remington didn't come out bucking and kicking up his hind legs like he usually does, so I couldn't get those pictures that I said I would take. I had the camera all ready to go, but no, Mr. I'm not going to do it for you just wandered slowly out to the back pasture to munch on grass and play tug of war with the weeds.

He wasn't out there very long when he came flying out of the pasture at a pretty good pace and started stomping around. It seems he got himself into a pretty good size mound of fire ants and by the time we got over to him to check him out they were gone, but they had already bitten him in several places. Now, I'm sure the horses have all encountered fire ants before, but have been able to shake them off and go about their business, but this time he wasn't so lucky.

He didn't show any signs of distress except for a stomp here and there and we couldn't see anything on him, so we didn't really know that there was a problem. Overnight, the venom from the ants must have really gotten to him and he started biting at his legs and causing some bad sores to develop. It's kind of like us scratching at a mosquito bite and aggravating it, except he did much more damage, which we discovered the next morning.

We still didn't know what was going on so we called his vet. He recommended a couple of things to help heal the sores, so I immediately went to town and picked up what we needed, and we started his treatment. After a couple of days everything started to look better. But then, he started biting himself again, so we asked the vet to come out and take a look and he said it looked like Remi was having an allergic reaction to the ant bites.

On top of the treatments, trainer mom had to give him a nice bath with ivory soap to help soothe his itching and help make him stop biting at himself. Of course we didn't want to get his feathers wet since there was medicine on his legs, so trainer mom took some plastic and made him some little rain slickers to keep them dry. Aren't they cute. They look like spats over his shoes :)

Since he still has a few places that need to heal, he got another bath yesterday and I took a picture to share with you all. He doesn't looked thrilled, does he? It's like he's saying "Hay, can't a guy have a little privacy in the shower?" The baths are helping him to feel better and with continued treatments, his bites should be cleared up real soon.

Yesterday, while I was walking him back to his stall, I didn't turn him wide enough and once again, my foot ended up under his. OUCH!!! Fortunately, I was able to pull it out before his full weight came down on top of it, but I still have a very sore foot today. And, yep, it's the same foot that he stepped on several years back. I am now wearing the orthopedic boot, which looks real funny with shorts, but it helps to keep pressure off of it. If it's not better by Monday, over to the doctor I will go and have x-rays taken. Oy vey, if it's not one thing, it's another! But, it is my fault for not paying close attention, so MY BAD :(

So, between the fire ants and my foot, we have had such a wonderful week and a half...NOT! But, that's life around the ole ranchette with Remipup. We're taking good care of him so not to worry. We'll be telling you about more of his antics soon.

Stay tuned, stay happy and stay with us.