So…here’s the Big news:  Annie’s JAKE and EASY arrived at TIER the evening of 8/13/2020!!  Woot!  Woot!  Thanks to Kathy at Quarantine, the horses were in great shape for the trip.  Thanks to Marlene Dodge for transporting them in spite of snafu’s here and there previously. 

EASY immediately saw the donkeys and ran over to make friends.  He and Paco have started a friendship.  Once he realized that JAKE was in his corral with him, he forgot his obsession with donkeys and made his way over to the other horses to introduce himself.  JAKE remained aloof and standoffish.

JAKE had shoes put on while he was in quarantine.  We had ordered a pair of Easycare easyboot rx therapy boots for him while we waited for the farrier to be available to put shoes on him.  Let me tell ya, those boots ain’t cheap, but they helped him with his thin soles and tenderness immensely!  Once he had the shoes put on he has been doing well.  Our farrier will be out again Monday morning and will take a look to see what, if anything, needs to be done since his last shoeing.  JAKE wasn’t too keen on being bothered so we will wait until Monday.  Afterall, they had just arrived the night before and were most likely tired and not used to their new home yet.

Behind the QT facility where JAKE is currently residing is a large property that run some cattle.  For the most part, the cattle roam their property out of sight of the horses at the QT facility.  When they rotate pastures, the cows are then visible/closer to the QT facility.

Such was the case the other day when JAKE, the Quarter Horse, spotted them.  He got kinda edgy/watchy and was on high alert.  Not cowsense alert, but "Monsters are in the field" alert.  Sometime later, Kathy heard thundering hooves.  Her keen ears detected that the area the sound of hoofbeats was coming from was NOT an area where she should be hearing them.  They were in her yard!

JAKE had been in an agitated/worried state and something (Monster Cows?) had startled him.  Scared him enough to enter the Olympic Gate Jumping event at a moments notice.  Needless to say he did not qualify and managed to give himself a good sized owie.  Not to worry, the jumping accident did not necessitate a call to the vet and is healing nicely.

It did result in reconfiguration of the gate.  We paid for a new gate despite Kathy's protests, and she promptly installed it the next day.

I guess we now know he isn't a jumper or a cowhorse.  Sigh.

Sometimes we get lucky. I tried contacting the previous owner of Peppy Rocket Cody for any information he might have about him. That person was a bit gruff and said "I don't know nuthin 'bout that horse". We get that quite often when trying to put together a past history on horses.

We kept researching and found one of his owners that was willing to talk to us. The horses on the ranch were a project that his wife started after she retired. Unfortunately, the wife, whose name was Ann, was killed in farm accident in June 2019. Some time after, her husband had to sell off the horses and sell the property. This man was very nice and you could tell he was heartbroken at the loss of his wife, the horses and the property...his dream. The information he shared with us is below. In honor of the woman who once loved this gorgeous horse, we have changed the barn name we were told about to Annie's Jake. Gonna call him Jake.

"Barn Name: Jake. Hasn't been ridden in years. Don't put a saddle on him and think you are gonna ride him. When he gets mad/frustrated, get off. He will just get madder than hell. He threw son of last owner OUT of the pasture when he tried to "cowboy" him. (Same guy that said he didn't know nuthin about that horse). Needs groundwork. Very personable on the ground. 1st one to come up to you in the pasture."

Earlier this month, Kathy took both EASY and JAKE to the vet's office. Easy needed his tear ducts flushed again and we needed to have the vet look at JAKE's on/off slight lameness. His eyes were also pretty goopy and we had his tear ducts flushed. He needed his teeth floated so we had that done and while he was under sedation we had his sheath cleaned. X-rays of his hooves just showed very thin soles. The vet felt that he had strained a ligament and that was the main reason for the lameness. He was put on Bute for a week and seems to be doing much better. Hoping to get the farrier out to put shoes on him. We still owe for the vet bill.

JAKE and BEAU seem to get along well except that BEAU is dominant when it comes to Hay Time as you can see from the picture below. JAKE just takes it in stride and doesn't argue.

It's been hot and muggy for the boys in Quarantine, so Kathy gave them some frozen watermelon which they all LOVED!

JAKE is a snuggler.  Great with fly spray, great with his feet, thoughtful, respectful, and goodness gracious he’s handsome.  He’s doing so well.  Weepy eyes and a damp nose though.  I’m not a fan of antibiotics “just in case” and even though he wasn’t snotty some of the other horses and mules in his pen were and he had snot on his neck so it seemed like the right thing to do.  He is getting a probiotic. He’s eating well, drinking well and output matches input. 

He doesn’t like alfalfa stems and though I didn’t see or feel anything horrid in his mouth, he wasn’t exactly opening wide and saying “ahhh” either.  I would like to have his teeth checked.  He has shown some very slight lameness in his left front.  When I clean his feet it looks like there could be some bruising. I don’t have hoof testers so no way of knowing if there is an abscess of any kind. I don’t see any obvious signs of arthritis and when he walks down the cement shed row his foot fall sounds fine. He didn’t think twice about fly spray, isn’t bothered by the wheelbarrow in his stall and is just all around a very sweet, trusting, lovable guy. 

JAKE: Loaded right into the trailer at the feedlot/ship pen when our transporter went to pick him up.  The guy at the lot was moving horses around with a flag and they were getting all worked up.  When he tried to load JAKE using the flag, you could see that JAKE was getting pissed.  Transporter took over the catching/loading, haltered him with no problem.  He unloaded nicely.  

He is a great minded boy. Needs a few quick moments to process what's being asked of him. Quick look at his feet and he may have some bruising but I need to wash them to get a good look. He's a little long in the toe but in really decent shape. Great with his feet. A nice cooperative attitude. A little bloody eye discharge from flies biting at the corners of his eyes. I'll put a mask on him. I found one in my tack room. He was delighted to get a flake of alfalfa.

It was noted that he was a bit off on one of his front feet.  Kathy removed a stone that had been wedged in there and he seemed to walk out better.  There may be some bruising on his sole.  Will know more later on.

From Kathy/QT:  “He had a good first night.  Doesn’t particularly care for alfalfa stem so as soon as I can I’ll peek at his teeth.  He prefers the coastal hay anyway which is fine.  Probably what he’s used to.  He still has eye goobers which is no surprise.  Super good about having his stall cleaned while he’s in it.  Didn’t mind the wheelbarrow in his stall. Drank a full bucket of water last night. Adequate poop piles and a huge wet spot.  No strong ammonia smell. He bears weight even on all four.”

Kathy will make a vet appointment to have his eyes/tear ducts looked at and to do a lameness exam.  He hasn’t shown signs of runny nose or respiratory problems.  He did have a horse snot on him from the other horses that were in the pen with him, so Kathy is picking up a jar of Uniprim from the vet’s office just in case.