Auction Worthy?

The March fundraiser for Equine Voices is fast approaching. It is one of their big fundraisers for the year. They have a silent auction with all sorts of great donated items -- artwork, jewelry, hotel stays, restaurant gift certificates, etc. They also hold a Dessert Auction. Last year, I baked a Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese frosting that was bid on fast and furiously and went for over $100! This year, I'm looking to beat that amount with the following: Fudge Glazed Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter filling.

I did a trial run of this cake over the weekend. WHOA. Very moist, very rich and chocolately and peanut buttery. I think it's a winner!

This cake can easily feed 12 people. A small slice is all you need to satisfy your sweet tooth. I found the recipe on the King Arthur Flour website here. I actually doubled the cake portion of the recipe to make 2 full layers (rather than cut the layer in half as the recipe calls for).

I'm hoping this cake will raise a nice chunk of change to help the horses.

Bunny Sunday

Happy Valentine's Day from the whole gang!

A Matched Pair

At the risk of sounding like "crazy horse mom" - I pulled out Piper's other top front tooth today (the one on the right): Now, don't go thinking I was out there with a pair of pliers or anything. I've noticed for the past 3-4 days that it was getting looser and pulling away from the gum. Today all it took was a little tug and that was that.

In case you missed the post on her very first baby tooth, you can read about it here. That was on January 25th and her permanent tooth is already half way in. A lot of people commented on that post that they had no idea horses lost their baby teeth. Being mammals, horses are born with a set of "milk teeth" and then those are replaced by permanent ones. The front middle incisors (on top and bottom) are the first ones they lose and that is at approximately 2 and 1/2 years old (which just so happens to be how old Piper is), the teeth next to those are next to come out at 3 and 1/2 years and the teeth next to those at 4 and 1/2. The premolars and molars (cheek teeth) that are farther back in their mouth start coming out closer to 3 years old.

Losing baby teeth is also referred to as "shedding". As the permanent tooth pushes out the tooth cap the remaining edges can be quite sharp which can irritate the horse's tongue and gum tissue. That is one of the reasons I gave Piper a little help. OK, OK, that and I wanted the teeth for her baby book...

We joked about making a necklace with the first tooth. But now I have a matched set, so what do you think--- earrings????

Treat Yourself

It's not too late to order yourself a little something-something for Valentine's Day and take advantage of the 15% off sale and FREE SHIPPING in my Etsy shop. Now, I'm not doing this for everyone, just those special few that visit my blog. :)

A few new heart designs:

Rose Quartz and Sterling "LOVE" Bracelet

Matching Rose Quartz Earrings with the cutest sterling silver heart bead caps:Pewter Heart and Rhodonite Bracelet

The sale applies to everything in my Etsy shop. If you see something you like, simply send me an e-mail and I'll adjust the price for you to reflect the discount.

Treat yourself --- it's calorie free!

Nothing Comes Between Friends

I don't drink beer, but I do LOVE the Budweiser Clydesdales commercials. This one is especially great!

In case you missed it (or just want to watch it again...and again) here it is:

Happy Monday and Enjoy!

Bunny Sunday

"Let the pics speak for themselves" - Turbo

Bandit's New Shoes

Our poor old guy Bandit came up very lame on his left front leg about a week and a half ago. We've had him for about 4 years and prior to us I think he must have had a hard life. He was raised on a ranch and then used as a calf roping horse and then a team roping horse. We suspected he had navicular problems, ringbone or arthritis. Turns out he has them all, as well as bone spurs.

We've always done what we could to make him comfortable and for the most part he usually was. Our farrier does corrective shoeing on him to keep the pressure off his heels and if he seemed to have some discomfort at times I would give him a little bute. It has been fairly manageable.After a trip to the vet for the severe lameness in his left front leg, it turns out that he has adhesions on his suspensory ligament and one of them ruptured. Not good. He was in a lot of pain and all I wanted to do was make him feel better. The vet suggested some very specialized shoes for his front hooves that he felt sure would give him relief from his pain while the ligament healed.

These therapeutic shoes, called the Equine Digit Support System, were developed by Gene Ovnicek, who also developed the Natural Balance shoe. (If you are interested in reading a little more about them, check out his website here).

First, dental impression material is packed into the sole of the hoof and allowed to harden. Then, a pad is placed over that and an aluminum shoe is nailed into place. The black wedge rails along the sides of the shoe come in different heights depending on the needs of the horse and are screwed through the shoe and into the pad, as is the white frog support. If it is determined that a different height wedge is needed, they can be unscrewed and different ones put on without having to remove the shoe. Pretty clever.The end result is pretty crazy looking. But let me tell you, when I turned to walk Bandit down the middle of the barn to see how he would walk out, he took ONE STEP and was not limping anymore. This is a horse that could hardly walk from the back of the pen to the front earlier that morning. It was amazing. I have to give a huge thanks to our farrier, Eddie McKenzie, of Ace Posse Farrier Service here in Tucson. He knows how much we care about our horses and always does a great job taking care of them. He is not just a "shoer", but takes the time to educate himself on all aspects of hoof care and more importantly (to me) knows our horses and their individualized needs.

I am so relieved that these shoes are working for Bandit and that he is back to being his old self!