I had a bunch of time to take photos…

I’d say about 5 hours, give or take.

The first day, Monday, we spent three hours.  The second day, Tuesday, another two.

So, I had plenty of fairly idle time to take oodles of photos.

But, I didn’t.

Why?

Because she wouldn’t load.

And that’s all I could think about.

NOPE, NOT GONNA…

Ever since MT has had feet problems, she has become worse and worse about getting into the trailer – any trailer.

It got to the point that if I needed to load Mama Tess, I would have to ask a very patient friend to come over and load her for me because my anxiety level just added to the stress level.

So, it was no surprise that she refused to load when I arrived to collect her on Monday at 2pm.

Except, this was the first time she flat out, refused.

After 3 hours, MT made the decision that this exercise was over and started pawing at the door to her air-conditioned ICU stall.  She was done and so were we.

OY, IT IS TOO HOT TO BE DOING THIS!

One of the main issues on Monday was that it was just too dang hot to be fighting with an Equine Diva.  It was hot outside, it was hot in the trailer – it was just too dang hot and miserable.

I should have made the decision to pick her up early on Tuesday morning, to beat the heat… but, I was really anxious to get her home so I went midday on Monday anyway.

Mistrake.

But I have to say, the Medical Staff at Loomis Basin Equine Hospital went above and beyond the call of duty to help me.  One of the Techs actually assisted me in this fruitless endeavor for at least 2 hours.  She even took my keys and backed my trailer into a shady spot to continue the ordeal.

But, Tess was having none of it.

So, we sedated her slightly.

Nope.  Not budging.  Sedation Schmedation.

She was willing to step into the trailer with her front legs.  She was willing to accept treats if she moved forward.  But, tapping her on the hind end or doing anything else near her behind would result in a REAR which was very, very bad for her feet.

So, we had to prohibit her from rearing.

This became the ‘Tess Gets Treats’ game.

If she moved forward, she would get a treat.  If she got too close to being inside the trailer, she would retreat …and starts over.   Step, treat, step, treat…. backup!, step, treat, step, treat, backup!

We were all miserable.

Wait, I take that back.  All of the humans were miserable.  Tess was fine.

SAINT FIELDING.

So, we gave up.

We put Tess back into her air-conditioned and lovely ICU stall and the humans sat down to commiserate.

Me:  Well, she cannot live here…

Dr. Fielding:  We’ll get her in.  I’ll call my buddy who has loaded horses for us for 12 years and has never had a failure.

Me:  She’ll be his first.

Dr. Fielding (hanging up the phone):  We will never know because he isn’t around…

Me (disheartened, disgusted and dehydrated):  Figures.

Dr. Fielding:  Does she have an issue with your trailer or any trailer?

Me:  I’m not sure, but I think she likes stock trailers more than my slant-load trailer.

Dr. Fielding:  I’ll tell you what… I’ll bring both of my trailers in tomorrow.  They are bigger and taller then yours.  You can decide if either one looks promising and we’ll load her again.   After we load her, you can drive my truck and trailer back to your house, then come back.  How’s that sound?

Me (in awe of his generosity):  Are you an angel?

Dr. Fielding:  No, we just love Tess.

SO THAT’S WHAT WE DID…

At 6:30am on Tuesday morning, Dr. Fielding put a short-term block on her feet – just in case soreness was the issue.  After that, Dr. Fielding and a Tech tried for 30 minutes to get her up the ramp and into his trailer.

No dice.

Then, I arrived.

Still no dice.

After an hour, we switched out trailers.  This time, we used mine.  I tried to get firm with her but we didn’t want Tess to do any dancing or rearing, so we went back to food bribing, cajoling and zig-zagging her into movements.  (Any tapping, whip snapping, lead rope swinging, lead rope thwacking… whatever… would result in a rearing episode which was no good for her feet.)

Finally, Tess decided she had had enough.

I noticed that she was hopping on her fronts.  Hopping is what she does when Tess is seriously contemplating getting into a trailer. I could hear MT’s thoughts rolling around inside her mare-head… “Maybe it was time to go home… Maybe her air-conditioned stall wasn’t as good as her Barndo.  Maybe she missed terrorizing Gwen.”

So I yelled out to the Tech behind MT, “She’s about to Blow!  She’s going in – encourage her!”  And with that, Tess hopped in and stood like an angel.

Wow.  And it only took 5 hours total.

I turned and hugged the Tech.  Various audience member started cheering.

And we drove home.

The Queen riding on HER terms.

 

MAMA TESS’ TREASURE CHEST IS FULL AGAIN!

I received several new pieces for Mama Tess’ ongoing medical expenses!  Both of these are from MT’s artist friend – and horse lover – in Poland!

*Prices include shipping in the USA.  If the link doesn’t work, it has sold!  Thank you!

1) HANDMADE DRIED FLOWER NECKLACE from Poland created with the Tiffany method using eco-friendly tin.  This piece is so lovely!  My mouth dropped when I saw it.  Pale purple and soft white blooms.  Gorgeous and so unusual.  It is large.  I’d say about 2.5 inches wide and almost 3″ tall.  The chain is 32″.  No one has anything like this!  SALE!!  This is gorgeous, but BIG!  Take the chance now that it is on sale!  (was $125)

To Purchase HANDMADE DRIED FLOWER NECKLACE large for $68, click here

2)  SWEET MINI DRIED FLOWER PENDANT from Poland!  I guess she was on a dried flower kick!  This one is very sweet and I just love it, too!  It is much smaller:  1″ x 1″ with a half inch bale added.  It has weight to it.  30″ chain.  Darling!

SOLD!  THANK YOU, KAREN!