Hoof Blogs

FLOSSIE'S SECOND WEEK WITH THE FLU

FLOSSIE'S SECOND WEEK WITH THE FLU

We fell asleep in our muggy beds listening to the sound of ear-shattering thunder
accompanied by streaks of lightning slashing through our open bedroom window last night. It
rained non-stop, hard and steady, straight into the morning. I predicted this rain, you
know, when Flossie fell sick and the weather was cool and dry. "As soon as she's
well again", I said, if you remember, "the hot, muggy, rainy weather is going to
arrive." You know it's only because of Murphy that I'm so bright. Like the
rest of us, I know his law by heart.

I phoned Des this morning and he said Gary took Flossie's temperature and she's back
to normal again. Billy's horses are still sick, though, so it's just as well I
won't be going anywhere near his place again for a while. I don't want to be going
in and out of contaminated property needlessly.

I gotta go so Aussie ya next time! Hopefully It'll be after a ride on Flossie.
PS I ran into Liz, Billy's wife. She told me all three of their geldings responded
differently to the recent flu they're just now getting over. One had a terrible runny
nose; another had a cough so bad it sounded like he was going to hack up his lungs, and the
other experienced muscle stiffness. Now their mare has the flu. Her stall is a bit
isolated, so she contracted the illness a bit later than the geldings did.

Liz told me Flossie lost weight while she was sick. She stood for five days under the
boughs of a tree in her paddock, with her head hanging, and never moved a muscle. BamBam
spent those few days lying down on his side. Now they're all back up on their feet
again, however, moving around and grazing as if they were never sick, thank goodness!
Flossie's an easy keeper, so she's already put some weight back on.

The weather was dry today. There's a slight chance of rain in the forecast for tonight,
but other than that, it's supposed to be dry until the end of the week. That being the
case, I should be able to get a ride in either on Thursday or Friday morning. I'll just
have to wait and see what happens.