In Repose Blog

Bad Design = Dangerous Design

Lenette asks, "What happened to that horse's leg?"

<imagine great big sigh coming from out of my mouth right now.>

I have always always hated rounded pipe fence corners. I do have a few panels around, but you can see my fence of choice beyond this intersection of panels: plain wooden boards. The paddock you see in the background of this photo has "no-climb" horse fence combined with wooden boards for when there was a baby in there. (Coyotes, donchaknow?)

The rounded corner of common horse panels creates a trap for a horse's hoof. I have other horse friends who have said when I have worried over this detail: "Yes, its possible, for a hoof to get trapped there, but not very likely."

I think if its possible for a horse to hurt itself, it will. Its like having a 2 year old and, say, a house with a brick (sharp-edged) fireplace hearth. That sharp edge is just calling for that toddler's forehead to come and meet it in a big way. Any mother knows this.

Its the same with horses.

So the mare kicked at this fence and wedged her leg in that bent opening somehow. Yes, she did that damage with her leg. Even now I am discussing with a horse friend whether or not a square corner would have actually been worse. Did the curve invite the leg to be trapped, but allow it out in the end? Would a straight corner actually just have ripped off her hoof? Who knows?

This shelter was made for cows, not horses and has fairly severe limitations for equines. I have always known this, but have not had 60k in my back pocket to build a little horse barn...either plain or with padded stalls with pillows on the floor.

Now, where is that ice pack for my head?

Massive Swelling

Waiting on the vet, who is booked solid until late this afternoon. The mare is on pain meds, and I am applying ice packs to her leg as best as I can. . I need another ice pack though, for my head.

May 22, 2008

 

Well here is a nifty new blogging feature from Typepad. I can post an entry, with photo and everything right from my horse's paddock using my Blackberry. Now even emergencies are no excuse to keep current.

This photo was actually taken yesterday not long after the injury. (Note to self: Take only horizontal Blackberry blog images)

This morning the leg  looks much worse, and is a swollen ugly mess. I await the big white truck with the young curly haired vet and his travelling xray machine and bag of drugs.

Once again, the real hero here at the house is the man who without fail, pays every vet bill that arrives without complaint, and will pay this one too.

I love you honey.

Triage, a Definition.

tri·age /triˈɑʒ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[tree-ahzh]  

1.	the process of sorting victims, as of a battle or disaster, to determine medical priority in order to increase the number of survivors.

2.	the determination of priorities for action in an emergency.

–adjective 

3.	of, pertaining to, or performing the task of triage: a triage officer.

–verb (used with object) 

4.	to act on or in by triage: to triage a crisis.

If life wasn't busy enough...with impending visits from relatives, parties to throw and attend, work to do, end of year events to go to...I have come to consider myself a triage nurse of late.

Here, lets list the current patients.

1. Myself  (details later...maybe.)
2. Cielo the rat. Had some sort of stroke. I thought he was going to die within hours. Not only did he not die, he has improved, but needs some pretty constant care. We carry him around in a basket. Vet visits in the past 10 days: Two. Prescriptions: Also 2. Imagine administering drops to a little rat....not easy.
3. Angelo his brother. Always a needly dental patient Angelo has now decided to add bleeding eye to his repetoire. Believe it or not he needs his teeth ground down, about twice a month. Every time I walk in for this service I think to myself this little rat has better dental care than most of the planet's human population. The irony is totally not lost upon me.
3. Nicky the cat. Bacterial and fungal ear infection, vet visit Tuesday and ear drops daily.
4. Ellie the cat. Allergies so intense she licks her belly to infection. 101 degree May days do not help the matter at all. She needed a shot this week, antibiotic pill daily.
5. Literally five minutes after making the appointment to have Nicky's ear looked at, I notice Raven the dog has a bloody growth on her eye. I call the vet back, they say, sure, bring her in with Nicky.  Raven needs eye surgery ...TOMORROW, says the vet, before any more corneal abrasion.
6. And just when I considered myself filled to the brim with crisis, this afternoon I discover my mare Belle, has really messed up her leg with severe lacerations and swelling. I don't think anything is broken, I am calling the vet first thing in the morning. I have come to think that a horse could hurt itself in a padded stall with pillows on the floor. Sheesh.

I am just plain tired.

In Repose Update

I think May is as busy or busier than December. With a graduating senior, parties, events, proms, and all needing photographing...well...I have been remiss in keeping up this blog. I will be back in full force mid June, I promise.

To my faithful readers, including Joyce Gemperlein. take a look at her fascinating article over at Obit

Quite the combination for me, life/death/photography. I think you will enjoy the article too.

Forever Remembered

-Jamie Sue Austin for In Repose

New high tech grave stones will allow people to view photos and video of the deceased through use of a bar code.

In a way it’s ironic.  We spend out entire lives fighting categorized, screaming out that we are not faceless numbers to be devoured by the societal machinery around us, only to find our lasting legacy burned into a barcode. 

When in a cemetery we cannot help but to wonder about the person beneath the stone.  What they looked like, how they laughed, who their family was, what they enjoyed in life.  In our minds eye we reconstruct them, bringing them to life in our imaginations if only for a moment. Now with the push of a cell phone button we can vividly recount their life in a swirl of images and sound.  We can even sign their guestbook. 

The families would surely take comfort in these gravesite visits—being able to recall on demand the face that fades from memory. But, how much of this change in headstones reflects not our desire to remain connected to our dead, but to our own voyeuristic tendencies?  At what point do we cross the line between honoring the dead and leering into their past private lives?

Neptune Memorial Reef

I'm normally vaguely fearful of water, but I'd actually like to visit this place some day. What a fabulous idea. Click on the link below to watch a little minute long video. Enjoy a tiny tour of a beautiful place.

Neptune Memorial Reef

Resentment

"Resentment is like taking poison and hoping your enemy will die" - Nelson Mandela

What's in a Name?

The filly favorite in the Derby didn't have the luckiest name.

In nautical parlance, "Eight Bells" is the end of a four-hour watch. It's also a nautical euphemism for the death of a sailor: his watch is over, eternally

Are We Really Just "An Accident of Atoms?"

"If you went out and asked people, “Who do you think has the power to bestow joy and suffering on a person?” the most common answer you would receive is God. The 'father' God of organized religion has become a symbol of how many have externalized their power. This has become so acute that some have rejected any notion of their divinity, instead choosing to believe of themselves as an accident of atoms that perishes at death. The middle ground being trodden by many at this time is the reclamation of All as God, divinity expressed from within. Some people fear that to realize God as being internal would somehow be the loss of God when, in actuality, it is the discovery of God. There is a God and you are a living self-determining expression of it."

Taken from article by Story Waters author of 'The Messiah Seed' and 'You Are God. Get Over It!'