Our little Cocoa, a 43 year old mini mule, suffered a stroke yesterday and was euthanized. You can read his story on the MHR web page. Cocoa had been fostered by my parents since 2002. They so loved little Cocoa. They were so comitted to him. Since Cocoa had lost his eye sight he relied so much on his other senses, and when he would hear my mom's voice he would raise his head quickly and begin talking to her. One of his fav things to eat was Stud Muffins, to Cocoa it was a party in his mouth. He will be sorely missed by all of us, but I saw the look and tears of devastation on my parents faces. I hope that today they will feel the peace today that Cocoa now has. To those of you who have already heard this news, my thanks goes to each of you for your kind words and condolences..especially to my parents.
It has been truly a brutal two days of work around here. All pens were scraped out, horses had to be moved, corrals disassembled and reassembled, but it is done for now. Water barrels have been scrubbed yet again, but we are trying an experiment. There is an item called a "Barley Straw Bag" (Stock Tank Secret) they were developed by a horsewoman and her vet. You drop these bags into your water tanks and it is supposed to keep them clean and the water fresh. The little known "secret" is barley straw which has been used for decades in England as a water treatment. The barley straw is in little burlap bags. We have them in two of the tanks and we are going to see if it works. They are costly at 9.95 per bag, but they state they keep tanks clean for up to two months! If it works then we will do so for all the tanks. Helps cut down on all the scrubbing as well as allowing the horses to have clean tanks daily.
Jerri and Hope are doing great, my nickname for Hope is "stinkbug" (endearing) she is too cute and LUBS people. She truly is a joy. Jerri is really coming around, when I love on Hope, Jerri comes over and sniffs me as well. She is seeing that life is good for her and her little one. This is the biggest reward I could ever ask for in the progress of Jerri. It is wonderful!!! Over the next few days and weeks Hope will be getting lessons in leading, not like her brief one the other day when she escaped. She is also having her feet messed with now as she did the day she was born and does not mind having her feet or legs messed with.
Apple is huge and we will be making the switch here very soon, so ladies and gentlemen, when you see Apple then "FOAL WATCH" will officially begin.
Again many thanks for your kind words. I hope that everyone has a great day.
Stephanie
