The "Neigh"bors and other thoughts ...

Howdy Y'all. Yep its me "Copper" starting to pick up on the southern twang that is so common
in texas. Well the other day I was keep'n a eye on the owner and check'n out the new fillies in the
neighbor's pasture. Whew..... they sure have some pretty cute ones. Anways I happened to over hear a conversation ( I really wasnt eaves dropping ... just munch'n on grass) and I heard
the owner Lea Ann talking about "strangles" with the other neighbor over the fence line.
Well that certainly got my attention!! I'm sure that many of you folks are not familiar with "strangles", so I will tell you a little about it and why it makes me real nervous to even be near the fenceline next door.
Strangles is a highly contagious virus that can settle in your throat and actually "strangle" you so that you can not breathe. It starts with a runny nose, a slight fever, and then gets worse and worse. You get huge bumps( kinda like mumps) under your jawline and neck and that fills with
fluid and yucky stuff. After a few days if your lucky this burst opens and then you start to heal and get better. However when you have all the yucky stuff draining that is when your the most
contagious and it can spread to every horse that comes in contact with other horses, it can be
transferred from when another horse that was sick and took a drink out of the local watering hole....... boy I am so glad that I heard Lea Ann and KD talking about it because now I can
tell the rest of the herd to stay clear of the fence line of my neighobrs and whatever they do
not to touch noses over the fence either!!!!
What a scary thing!!
Well its time to hit the hay for now, got a big day ahead. Guess I have to go out on a job
tomorro to visit with at least 200 kids that are at a daycare near Austin Texas. Sure hope they
have some treats like apples and carrots to give me. Cause after all that work I will be for sure
hungry!
Till next time
Your friend
"Copper"

Tis the season for NEW BABIES!!

Spring is popping out all over!! We have had several new babies in the last couple weeks!!
We have 3 new baby pygmy goats, 2 girls and 1 boy. One of the boys is named Junior and is drinking out of bottle. He is very cute and has been living in our house and loves to do his crazy goat dance !
Kiwi our tennesee walker mare had a new baby on February 9th. It was a filly. She is white with brown ears and a brown belly spot, and also a few other brown markings on her face.
We also had a set of twin lambs. One boy and one girl.
Paris our long haired chi is expecting pups
on April 9th. We took her to the vet and her ultrasound showed that she has 2 puppies in her
tummy!
WE ARE SO EXCITED!
Diago is the proud daddy. If you came to camp last summer you had a chance to meet Diago
He was all black with a few white chin hairs. He weighted a whopping 3.2 oz. We are very sad
to announce his death on February 9th. He was attacked by a larger dog and his short life was ended. However his legacy will live on with his new babies.
So it has been a very fun time with all the new arrivals!

Where oh Where has Leo gone?

Well this week has been a week of searching the Texas countryside looking for Leo. Leo is one of
my dog friends that lives here in Texas, and actually lived in Minnesota for quite some time asat Down on the Farm as well. Leo loves to ride in the bed of the pick up truck with his ears blowing in the wind, his nose in the air catching any wonderful scent that catches his attention. But for some reason he decided to jump out of the truck and run off after a "hot" scent, with no thought that his owners
did not realize it till several miles later. They searched every day up and down the road that they thought Leo might have jumped out at, they contacted the local vets, animal shelters , they
evem put a ad on craigslist!!! Lucky for Leo his owners never gave up and on Saturday they
were contacted and were told he was found and brought to a shelter almost 2 hours away from where is jumped out!!!
When they brought him home, he greeted me with his doggie bark, but he said his paw hurt, I
noticed he was hopping on 3 legs. He said he was very tired from his long journey and wanted to
rest ...... he said when he felt up to sharing the details of his "lost Journey" he might tell me.
I can just imagine!!!
Well till next time
Copper