When it rains...

... it pours. This week has been insane, and pretty full of bad luck. We've lost a few horses due to various things. The situations are not that common in reality, but because we have such a high concentration of mares, those rare cases show up more often. Today was the pinnacle of the bad week. It would be hard to beat the chaos of today.

At 1pm today, I literally stood in the barn aisleway, totally confused and lost. There was so much activity, such a disturbance in the daily routine, and so many people that I honestly couldn't think of what needed to happen next.

Parked at the east end of the barn was a group of trucks belonging to two vets examining one mare's recovery from laminitis, the two managers, and the three vets plus one assistant that had just spend two hours at the barn with a sick mare who had to be euthanized. Inside the barn were piles of old bedding tossed out by the four extra grooms who came over to help with chores (we only had 3 stalls of 27 done when they arrived), and the tractor with manure spreader taking up the entire aisle. Out front was another set of vehicles, including the truck and trailer that arrived to pick up the deceased mare. At the west end of the barn was another truck and trailer delivering a nurse mare for the newly orphaned filly. All together, we had 21 people scattered throughout the barn and more trucks than a rodeo parking lot. And we still didn't finish the stalls for another three hours.

If there is one thing I'm learning, it's that the only plan that you can have is to be flexible. An agenda perfectly planned for the day will quickly be turned inside-out and upside-down as our beloved equines show how unpredictable they can be. Our day today was supposed to be busy, but still manageable. By ten-thirty, all our hopeful plans had been thrown out the door.

On the brighter side, the filly who lost her mother today is one of the best looking babies I've ever seen. She's huge! She's the size of other foals a month older. Her chestnut coat is accented by a bright blaze and three striking stockings on her legs. The circumference of bone on this filly's legs is substantial and she's filled out a lot more than you would expect to see on day-old foals. I hope to have pictures of her soon. This is one filly I'm going to have to keep tabs on.