When you look outside

[Minouri]

and you don't see horses or children...it's always best to investigate. Lucky for me, my camera was already in my coat pocket for our trip today.

Alisha! Oh, Alisha! Where did that kid get to now?

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e48/RuthieBetta/DSC03981.jpg

Come on, Alisha. You can't cuddle with Snowy all day. We've got places to go!
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e48/RuthieBetta/DSC03985.jpg

Is it my imagination -- or does he almost seem like he wished she could stay?
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e48/RuthieBetta/DSC03983.jpg

[Red Ryder]

Is that sand I see in the stalls??? Looks like a good idea to me
If it's sand I have a few questions
Does it absorb urine well?
Do you have any problems with sand working up the white line
area of the hoof causing an abscess?
Do you remove the wet sand when stall cleaning??
How often to you strip the stalls?
How about a summary of how you care for your stalls
Do you have any horses that are stalled 24/7 on sand???

[lalecl]

Made me cry. beautiful touching pictures.:D

[Minouri]

Is that sand I see in the stalls???

Yes, it's a sand mixture. It was free -- so we took it.

If it's sand I have a few questions
Does it absorb urine well?
So far, no urine in either stall so I really can't say yet.

Do you have any problems with sand working up the white line
area of the hoof causing an abscess?
We just built the run-ins....so I can't tell you, but I've never heard of that.

Do you remove the wet sand when stall cleaning??
I wouldn't. I would mix lime in eventually if it were a problem and most likely put down a level of pea stones, then stall mats.

How often to you strip the stalls?
How about a summary of how you care for your stalls

Do you have any horses that are stalled 24/7 on sand???
In freezing rain or the coldest of winter nights -- when they have warnings on tv -- we stall them. Other than that, they have free choice of where to be. And usually we stall them in the main barn with shavings on stall mats on cement.

I'd think that the main concern someone would have with sand as a floor....is sand colic. I don't feed my boys in there for that reason. They just have water on the walls.

My plan was to finish the stalls with the pea stone then stall mats....but if the boys like to sleep in it the way it is....I may leave it. We'll see.
[/QUOTE]

[Heidi]

Beautiful pictures of a girl and her fave horse!

I think sand is a wonderful surface to sleep on. It shifts and you can work the bony parts into depressions so they are not carrying all the weight of a sleeping or reclining body. I had a rescue kitty for a few weeks who was suffering from the end-stages of cancer and he liked to sleep in his freshly cleaned litterbox because it was easy on his very bony body.

[swaite]

Very sweet photos.........

[Pam M]

Hollis, my property is incredibly sandy and my stalls are sand that I put shavings on top of to keep the dust down. I like it. It's a nice, forgiving surface. I've had no problem with with either hooves or sand colic. The only thing I dislike about sand is the dust. If you've got the heavy-grained sand that might not be a problem. Mine is really fine so I'm in the process of mulching most of my high-use areas.

Beautiful photos Ruth!

[Minouri]

Heidi,

What a great way of looking at the sand bottom. I hope it really does feel like that to him. I'd like to think it gives the old boy some comfort. He doesn't usually lay down much in his stall no matter how many shavings we put down.

He does lay down outside in the dirt. I was surprised to find him inside laying down. I bet you're right! :)

[Linda Y]

That is the sweetest thing I have seen in a long time!
That horse is an angel.

[Jane Hurl]

That horse is the most extraordinary horse that I've ever had the pleasure of "knowing". He's one in a million.

[Terri]

They are so cute together. :v:

[Minouri]

I already knew I had made the right choice...but finding Alisha and Snowy cuddling when I was getting ready to load Cosmo -- somehow it was just... right.

[Jane Hurl]

Hopefully, Ruthie, it hasn't been "a choice". Hopefully you will have Cosmo back before too long. That is the way this story SHOULD end ... for Tony's sake, for Cosmo's sake, for everybody's sake.

[Minouri]

Jane,

I can't think like that. I'm putting my money and resources toward fixing the property problem and finishing school. I won't be able to afford Cosmo after I fight for the right to have a third horse. Crazy as that sounds.

But I'm ok with that. I'm ok with Cosmo finding a new home. I'm ok with moving on. I'll go crazy if I stay in the limbo of not knowing. I WANT Cosmo to be as happy with a new family as we are with our boys.

I know in some way that means my neighbor WON...but I don't really care about his feelings in this matter. I care about my family and I've put them all through heck with this Cosmo ordeal.

I don't think Cosmo was meant to be here. It was one problem after the other...and we never successfully brought him home.

Maybe he's meant to be somewhere else.

At least, that's what I've decided to believe.

[Jane Hurl]

I can see why you'd think like that, Ruthie, and I not only respect it, but I admire it.

*big pause*

.
.
.
.
.

(But I'm putting MY money on the bigheartedness of Erin and Terri. *grin*)

[dana]

What fond memories you will have to look back on! Wonderful pictures!

[Finogirl]

Wonderful pictures. Some of my most special moments with my horses are when you can cuddle them like that, they trust they impose by letting you into their own body space when they are at their most vulnerable it a priviledge.

[Minouri]

Finogirl,

Snowy definately likes human attention, but he doesn't usually "cuddle" with adults. I've sat with him before, but not like Alisha does. She practically curls up with him and he kind of hugs her.

Kids and animals just have that bond, I guess. Whenever I find them together, they look like are deep into a conversation. If Snowy gets sick of hearing about boys and high school drama, he doesn't show a sign.

[DebbieS]

I love those pictures! How sweet.

[Pasogirlz]

Sweet pix! Priceless moments. Snowy is worth his weight in gold.