Is it bad that while I was removing frozen poop balls this morning from the paddocks, I was suddenly craving powdered donut holes from DD's?  I know, kinda gross.  But you horse people will know what I mean.  All horses seem to be doing great despite the bitter cold.  I feel bad that I rarely talk about Fanci or Codi, so I will start to give some updates on them too.  Fanci says she wants to be preggo again.  I don't know, this may be her calling.  We will see about that in 2011.  This year will be getting her back in shape and working again.  Codi man is proving to be quite the play mate to Rozzi, as they head toss and nip at each other over the paddock rails.  Codi also loves to pick Rozzi up by the blanket near his rump, and Rozzi seems to love being dangled in the air at random times.  This has caused Matt to have to teach me how to sew some rips in Rozzi's blanket back together.  Yes, Matt knows how to sew and I don't.  He went to a vocational school, k?  You gotta cut me a break.  Spending all my free time my entire life in the barn does not allow much time to learn how to me Suzie Homemaker.  Instead, I am Suzie Barnmaker.  So Poppi is back to his 1033lbs and he lays down about twice a day, enjoying the fact that he can lay flat out with his head mashed into the shavings (and occasionaly, a manure pile).  He can't wait to go outside, and I can't wait to let him out.  The poor thing looks out his stall and looks so sad wondering why he has been imprisoned since October 12th.  The day he is off stall rest, we are going to have a party!  Rozzi's nose looks great.  He let me clean it out the first two days after the procedure, and then he decided that I couldn't touch it anymore.  It may have gotten sore, but he is on meds til Sunday and there is no sign of infection.  It looks SO much better then it did, I am hoping for some minimal scar tissue.  Lets keep our hooves crossed.  I also noticed today that he is going through a gangly stage.  His legs don't quite match with his body... more of those to come, I am sure.  I just hope he doesn't look too funny for the first show in April...

Doc Schmidt came out yesterday for two reasons.  One, to see Rozzi and figure out what to do about the small cyst on his nose that he has had since he was born.  And two, to let me know how Poppi looks and what our next step should be.  Good news on both counts.  He drained the cyst and cut it open so that it can drain and slowly heal.  He didn't want to cut it from the outside because that would have left a visible scar.  So it was done from the inside and my poor little man leaned his entire body weight on me the whole time while Doc performed the procedure.  I felt bad making him go through that, but I needed to be sure it was JUST a cyst and nothing more serious.  He was sore yesterday, but he let me rub his face all over today and even clean his nose out.  He is such a good little man.  He was very happy this morning and wanted to play with his big ball more than he wanted to eat his breakfast.  The swelling is already down and I think he feels better than he did before the cyst was drained.  Doc suggested it could have been from a piece of wood getting stuck in his skin the first night he was here, or it could be something he was born with.  Either way, he is fine and well after his cosmetic surgery procedure.  And Mr Poppi was given a clean bill of health, including the news that the small area near the incision where his body wall is soft is more a hemotoma than a hernia!  Doc says the large intestine has "adhered itself to the body wall" so to speak, and that the body wall itself looks great.  His hernia is almost non-existent which is a HUGE relief because I felt like the hernia would get bad because we can't keep the hernia belt on him.  Doc took out two staples that were hanging out in his incision.  I had tried to take them out myself, since Doc Provost left me the tools to do it, but I just did not feel comfortable yanking that hard.  He is still on stall rest until March 1st, at which point we will head over to Tufts to get him an ultrasound to see if he is safe to run and play.  My babies are doing well as of today, lets keep praying! <3

Today must have set some kind of record.  The wind was awful and the temperature was WAY too low!  All four horses stayed in their warm stalls and had no intention of going out into the cold.  Poppi seems to be holding his own, even in this cold weather.  Poop production is very good, he has quite the appetite at each of his four feedings during the day.  His hernia has not grown in size, although the body wall is still softer than I would like.  I will be making his ultrasound appointment for the first or second week in February.

The blankets came off today and the horses loved it!  I found them all sun bathing at noon, well, except for Poppi.  He can only stick his head out into the sunlight which is his favorite thing to do!  He layed down a couple time last night and then Mom saw him in the stall cam in a deep sleep at 5am flat out and in REM mode.  He loves his nap time!  Today he got a full brush down and body massage with concentration around his withers where he is itchy and sore.  I applied more meds to his back sores and they look better than they did last week.  His vision is staying about the same, not worse or better.  One eye is worse than the other, but he manages and is still very happy and content.  Though he longs to go outside and run.  Hopefully soon.  I will begin to now let his muzzle hairs grow out so that he can feel his way around easier.  I will pray for some more warm weather!  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night <3

Today is a good day.  Poppi is VERY hyper and VERY hungry.  He wants his food and right away!  His incision site looks great.  His fur is growing back in, although I don't like seeing the few staples that I can't get out sticking out.  I have tried many times to pull them out, but he lets me know it hurts by picking up his hind leg and shaking it at me.  So, they will have to wait till we go to Tufts to be taken out.  I washed him up good today, and I think I have frostbite now.   The only thing that worries me still is his hernia.  Although it has not dropped too much, his body wall is soft and I want it to be hard so that he can heal and not have any issues.  Putting the hernia belt back on is out of the question, the sores on his back are still healing and drying up and he is still sore.   I left the leg wraps off yesterday to let his legs breathe, and they didn't swell at all.  I think he loved the feeling of no constriction on his legs.  Maybe tomorrow, no blanket if it warms up!  It has been so cold and not even reaching 20 degrees, so all the horses have been bundled up and wrapped up like mummies.  Well, sort of.  =0)

I feel the need to update everyone on Poppi's progress,  I wish I had been doing this right along, starting October 12th- the day he got sick and went in for surgery.  But time flew by, and most of my free time was spent in the car driving back and forth to Tufts.  Now my time is spent mostly out in the barn, caring for Poppi and of course, spoiling the other three horses.  I am going to try to start from the beginning with Poppi and tell his story.  Please be patient, as it will take me some time to get you all caught up.