This morning there were two swans parading back and forth across a very busy road, stopping traffic. They weren’t in trouble, didn’t appear to be leading baby swans, they were just strolling back and forth, honking at the cars. Go figure.
Last night I turned Kip out in the outdoor arena (trusting him not to jump the fence), and I just sat watching him for a bit. He’s an interesting horse; most horses will judge everything on a can I eat it/should I spook at it/if not, ignore it basis. Kip thinks about things, you can tell. He stood in the darkness, head lifted to look out over the fields, listening to owls and ducks and other night noises. When someone went to open a trailer in the parking lot, he watched them, moved down the fence a bit to see better, then went back to gazing out into the dark fields. He’s quite introspective, for a horse.
It scares me to care about animals. Their lives are so fragile. Would I keep Kip forever if he was injured and permanently unable to work? No, I wouldn’t be able to afford to. Horses make very expensive pets. Would it tear me to pieces? Yes – I can’t remember the last time I felt that way about a horse. Never, maybe…he’s very special.
Work is still great. :)
It’s vet care that costs here, even a common colic costs in the thousands. I always kept horses outside with a run in shed style barn, and they rarely went ill, now it seems to happen often, and so expensive.
I will echo that! I only spend perhaps $100 per month on each horse when I break it down. But I don’t even want to think about what Denali’s vet bill is at right now, and she’s still got a half dozen vet visist in her future. Of course, if I’d insured her this would be less, but $400 a year for insurance on a horse who hasn’t been sick in four years.. yeah, it only works if you pay for insurance in the actual year they get sick. Otherwise overtime it really does not add up.
Don’t even ask me about Ally’s $10k kidney problem.