Truby Tuesday

This is what 5:20 AM looks like

Today seemed like a good day to get up super early. I didn't get to the barn (or out of the house) quite as early as I'd have liked, but not bad! The horses had already been fed and turned out when I arrived, so I must have just missed the barn staff. I had the place to myself.

Not quite to myself

I've been at many different barns over the years. I've been startled by mice, raccoons, foxes, and of course, barn cats slinking out of stalls or scurrying down the aisle. But this is definitely the first time I've encountered a tarantula causally stroll out of a stall and down the aisle. They're really tall when they're walking. 

NOPED but took pics anyway

I'm still ever hopeful for a bobcat sighting, but so far, nothing. It's still really nice to spend early mornings at a barn, so I don't mind too much. Truby and Cinco were frolicking a bit when I drove up. Well, Cinco was frolicking, Truby was just looking for something to munch on. But it was nice to see two happy, playful horses when I pulled up.

She met me at the gate, and I brushed her, tacked her up, and hopped on by 6:20 AM. Just as the sun was making it over the mesquite trees.

ahhhhhhhhhh

what a beautiful morning

by 6:30 the sun has cleared the trees in our little valley

It's gonna be a hot one

Facing west. We've gotten some great monsoons recently, and 

everything is so green!

Since Truby and I are out of shape, I'm starting us off with 15 minutes or so of just walking. Nice, steady walking. A lap or two each walk of trot, but mostly we're walking a few times a week. Even at 6 am, it was 80 degrees with humidity almost reaching 60%. What is this???? Our humidity is usually in the low teens/single digits. Ah, monsoon season. It's weird. 

It's a nice way to spend a morning, and hopefully soon we'll be able to get back to doing something more interesting than a short arena ride. Maybe head over to the Loop trail next week. Since we've been taking a riding break, I wanted to make sure Truby wasn't going to throw a tantrum or buck me off - while in the safety of the arena! I needn't have worried. There was some mare glares, and nice giraffing OMG I CAN'T during the trot lap, but no drama. Truby's usually a pretty good egg like that. 

Grass!

After our little ride, Tru got a nice little curry with a soft jelly curry/scrubby. She loves it! Best $2 ever spent. I tossed her fly sheet back on, and we strolled around looking for bobcats in the trees. Didn't find any, but Truby found a little patch of grass. A rarity, so I let her nom for a few minutes. Then tossed her out to be wild and free!

Wild and free = eating breakfast

Truby Check Up!

Truby had a vet appointment Tuesday. Nothing major, just a couple of booster shots. Somehow I decided that an 11:30 - 1pm arrive window was a good idea. It wasn't. It was 109f, if you're wondering.

All the other horses were in their shady stalls in front of fans

Truby was sunbathing

I got to the barn in plenty of time to give Truby a good bath, and deep condition her tail. Even though the desert dust cleans up pretty easily, I wanted to give her a good scrub and wash off old sweat and help soothe any little bug bites she might have. She enjoyed it, and even let me rinse her face with the hose! That's a new thing she's only begun to let me do since moving to the new barn. I guess it's so hot she doesn't mind it so much.

She's so WHITE!

for the moment, anyway

The vet came right on time, which is great, because I was HOT and ready to go home. Or at least wallow in a water trough. Truby was a perfect pony for her exam and vaccines. We chatted a bit about how she was doing (great!) and got chastised for her being chubby. I had noticed over the last 6 weeks or so that she was bulking up, and had started to cut down on her grain and flaxseed. About 3 months ago I switched her to Triple Crown low starch, and I think that's part of the weight gain. I'm sure it's a better grain than the low starch I was feeding before. She wants to cut down on hay, but I reminded her of the ulcer history, and she agreed to try cutting just the grain first. 

I love her practice - very devoted to gentle handling and making everything as positive an experience as possible for their patients. They do large and small animals. While I also love Cookie Doctor, Dr S is really my go to. Very experienced, constantly learning, very enthusiastic. The clinic holds a horse specific lecture once a month on varying topics, and they are fantastic! I've learned a ton. Next month's lecture is on ulcers with a guest speaker. Dr S made sure to remind me, and I'm looking forward to it!

I can't help it, I love to see her eat forage of any kind

YEAH! EAT THAT HAY
(this was right after she got hosed off, not a weird skin problem)

One of the past lectures was on travel safety. Pretty good, but sorta old news/common sense stuff. Great for newbies and a general refresher though. It's always good to review safety, right? As a special bonus, we all got coupons for half off microchipping. Wow! That's a great reward for attending an hour lecture! 

At least I thought it was half off. Turns out, it was for a FREE microchip. We double checked the coupon, and then again with Dr S, since it's her practice, and yup, free microchip! Since horses get stolen/lost/let out in AZ all the damn time (seriously, it's scary) I was really happy to finally get her chipped. Plus with fires, sometimes the only thing to do is let livestock loose and hope for the best. Knock on wood nothing ever happens, but now we're a little better off if it does. Plus, free!

She was really pleased overall with Truby's health and her new home. She loved the barn and the set up. With big turnout areas and regular turnout being so uncommon out here, she's glad that Truby gets both. I had to give her a little tour (fitting, it's a little barn) and show everything off. "Here's the wash stall with hot and cold water! Here's the indoor/outdoor stalls! Here's the HUGE turnout! Here's a human bathroom!'There's the 1/4 mile on property trail!" 

Flies are INSANE here right now. I've never seen anything like it. There's a literal carpet of living flies on the barn aisle, in the stalls, and the lower parts of the walls. Our barn is clean. It's cleaned at least twice a day, instead and out. The horses get fly sprayed. We have fly traps ALL over, and the barn aisle is treated once a week. I don't know. It's an Arizona thing, apparently. 

Anyway, I told Dr S about Truby's itchy hives, and how her ostentatious fly sheet keeps the bites down enough to where she's not breaking out. I'm sure she's still getting some bites on her legs (homegirl does not tolerate fly wraps) but not enough to cause the reaction. I also had to show off Barn Owner's geldings, that wear special belly sheets, with a pouch for a snug fit around the sheath. She had never seen those before, raved about it, took pics, and showed her tech and ride along, too.

Stop showing off and put my fly sheet back on!

The only really bad thing was the discovery of a melanoma. A little tiny 1 cm bastard on her head. I had just assumed it was a bump. As careful as I am, I don't know why I didn't think it could be a melanoma. Good news is that it's tiny, we know it's there, and we can keep an eye on it. Dr S was confident that it didn't need to be removed or tested. She's pretty hardcore, so I trust her. This is the second melanoma Truby's had. The other 10 or so years ago. That did have to be removed, and was found to be benign. I suppose only 2 melanomas in 18 years isn't too bad for an old gray mare. 

Can YOU spot it? It's tiny.

Our vet has an equine package, where you pay a sum up front and all your basic needs are covered for the rest of the year. Truby's includes her vaccines, fecal tests, a discount on dental work, and maybe something else. When the visit wrapped up, the tech told me that since I had the package, the only thing I needed to pay for was the coffee. 

What?

The coffee. You know, everything was covered by the wellness package but the coffee.

The coffee? I asked dubiously. 

Yup. 

Then she broke it down, because I am clearly an idiot. You have to pay for us to come out and visit Truby. A FARM CALL FEE. 

Omg, I about died. Might have been a little delirium from over heating, but we all got a good laugh, and I think I might have to give them a Christmas present of Starbucks giftcards this year. You know, to cover the coffee. 

 Last week the sky turned ORANGE

The light was ORANGE

Not sunlight, not golden, ORANGE

like looking through a bottle of orange soda

It was incredible

Tucson is a strange place, but unbelievably, and shockingly beautiful 

Some More Wildlife

We had quite an exciting week, weatherwise! Monsoon storms all over the place, although not really right where I live. Sunday I woke to an absolute downpour Sunday morning, and it rained most of the day. It was magical. It's been cooler (90s) but grossly humid. This week we get back into the 100s, with lower humidity, but still high for this area. 

There were magnificent clouds and skies all week. But the weather seemed to cause a large increase in anxiousness and stress, both in myself, other people, and the dogs I groomed. This week everyone is calmer. 

My view from the backdoor of my job. 

Since it was randomly storming all week, I took of Truby's fly sheet. Didn't want her to get soggy and moldy under it! Plus the flies weren't as pesky. I took the time to clean it and hang it up to dry and air out a bit. Unfortunately I waited a day or two too late to put it back on. Poor Princess Pony got all bitten up! She was itchy, but didn't seem to be painful. Looks ouchy. Neither one of us seems to handle Tucson fly bites well - we both tend to overreact. 

HELLO HIVES

omg

I did go back and look for her water tub tarantulas. They were both gone, so I'm gonna assume they were both alive and the one wasn't a shed skin. One the day I took the first two pictures in this post, I happened to notice something moving across the driveway when I was leaving. I stopped my car, got out, and sure enough, there was a tarantula walking across the driveway. I assume it was a male out lookin' for love. I hope he found it, and didn't get eaten after.  

They seems MUCH bigger when they're walking

I haven't been riding much at all. Not that we were hardcore athletes before or anything, but it's dwindled to nothin'. It's just so HOT. And recently, HOT and HUMID and GROSS. Basically Florida weather, except I'm no longer used to it. I've been trying hard to get more consistent with my own exercise. I've actually been doing better than usual! So I decided I really needed to get more regular with Truby as well. No reason we can't at least walk for 15 minutes, right?

Yesterday I got on with the plan to walk a lap or two in the ring, and then go on the Backyard Trail. Ease into life with just some little walks. About 2 seconds after I got on, I heard coyotes everywhere. These guys in the video were yipping and crying to the north, and there was howling from the east, and even a yip or two from the south. They were WOUND UP. By the time I decided to take a video, they were starting to settle down, but we stayed in the arena anyway. Just in case. 

Afterward I got to talking about desert wildlife with the guy that takes care of the horses (Let's call him A). A is from Mexico, and his English is pretty good, but he's still learning. My Spanish is minimal, but I know a few words. He was telling me about Bobcats, apparently he's seen them at the barn, in the early mornings. Walking the washes or snoozing in trees. New goal: go to the barn super early at least once a week and look for Bobcats! He was also telling me of seeing a momma bobcat and her kits a few years ago. He couldn't think of the word for baby bobcats, so he just called them "leetle meows". It was 100% the cutest thing I've ever heard! I think I need to start calling kittens of all kinds leetle meows! 

A also told me about hiking in Mexico and coming upon a lion mountain that was sunning on some rocks. Can you imagine? We do have mountain lions in Tucson, but I'm not sure if they'd be near enough that Truby and I might come across them. It would be so cool, but also terrifying, I imagine! 

Ready to find wildcats 

And cookies.

Oh My God, there's TWO

This week has been all about waiting. Waiting for storms. We've had a ton of monsoon activity in the area, but all of it has missed where I live. Storms in Tucson can be extremely localized, and the 'it's raining on one side of the street but not the other' is common. I've been trying to learn more about monsoon science, and it usually starts pinging my BS meter. Weather here is so WEIRD.

These two storm clouds went northwest. Losers.

No love from this, although it was pretty

Today it finally rained where I am! We had some thunder, and a gentle rain. No real storm or downpour, but I'll take it! We have some moisture coming up from Mexico, and apparently "if the sun is out and it gets hot, we'll get monsoon storms. If it stays overcast, we'll get showers." Okay...guess the sun didn't heat things up enough. The clouds were at least beautiful and absolutely stunning and my phone didn't really capture just how amazing desert clouds get. 

I stopped by to visit Truby after work yesterday, just in case I got monsooned at home. It was hot and the ponies were sleepy. I thought about giving her a good grooming, but there were so many flies I didn't want to take off her fly sheet. I noticed her water tub was low, and I decided to pull it out and scrub it before filling it up. As one does. It was a little heavier than I thought, so I had to rock and slide it out of the corner of her stall. I got it out, glanced into the corner...

NOPE

NOPE

NOPE

Yup. that's a tarantula. I got the heebie jeebies and the twitchies and the omg omg omgs. I try to be tough, but I'm NOT a creepy crawly girl, especially when I'm not expecting it. My father is an entomologist, so I was raised with bugs and respect them, but some of them are still just NOPE. 

So I took some pictures, like I do, and then continued to slide the water tub out. Then I thought "hmmm, better make sure there's nothing on the sides of the tub!" Nothing on the sides...but then I saw...

Still nope

Yeah, there's TWO

I was pretty sure tarantulas are not threatening to people or Trubys, so after dumping and scrubbing out the water tub, I carefully put it back. They might be alarming, but they have just as much right to be there as anyone. Probably more, actually. I did check and Google says Arizona Blonde Tarantulas are pretty okay. My dad wondered if the second one is a shedding, so I guess I'll go check that out tomorrow. It is mating season though, so I won't try too hard to figure out if we're a real tarantula or shed skin. 

Truby cared not at all

These are the first tarantulas I've seen 'in the wild'. No lie, I'm okay with them being the last tarantulas I see in the wild! I have yet to see a rattlesnake or scorpions. I'm okay with that too.

Auri is doing well and more adorable by the day!

Not normally cross eyed :P 

Unexpected

Loose horse!!!

Not much going on here in Trubyland. It's hot. It's dry. We were expecting to get some monsoon storms last week, but at the last minute they stayed south. I was really looking forward to it and was disappointed they didn't make it to Tucson. They're calling for monsoons again this weekend, but I'm not getting my hopes up this time!

Truby is doing great. She got a new, larger water tub in her stall. She's doing a great job of staying hydrated! She loves to nap out in the sun in the afternoon, even if she has the option of being inside her stall under her fan. She loves that too. She's well balanced.

Morning rides are best rides

Last Friday I got home a little after 4pm. I was HOT and TIRED. The heat is draining everyone's energy, according to my own informal poll of people I meet. I was hot because I hate using the AC in my car. Don't ask, there's not a good reason. Anyway, I asked my husband to go pick up a package at the front desk, so I could lounge on the sofa and drink some icy water. 

He sent me a text saying there was kittens at the front desk. Husband is NOT a 'let's get a kitten!' kinda guy, so I just texted him back to bring me a kitten and the packages. I knew he was joking, and wasn't surprised when we came back sans kitten. But I WAS surprised when we told me the kittens were really pretty, I should go get one. We had no plans to get a kitten. Too soon after loosing Sara. We might move at the end of the year. We had a chance to foster/adopt a beautiful and sweet young tortishell cat, but passed. Just not right. Not ready.

So when we were up at the apartment office and holding pretty little kittens, I was still suspicious. My husband told me if we got one, I'd have to go out and buy some kitten food. And then we were walking back to our apartment with a tiny kitten in my arms. 

Sent husband to pick up an Amazon package, 

came home with a kitten

Apparently at the beginning of May, one of the residents here found a momma cat and her three tiny baby kittens inside a big clay pot on her patio. One of office employees ended up taking them in. She's keeping the already spayed momma cat, and one of the kittens. We took the prettier and friendlier of the available pair. It's been a few days, and she's settled in quite well. She's silly, and playful, and into everything. Just the way a kitten should be!

 She's fallen into the window behind her a time or two...

She loves being under the sofa,

but is happy to come out and play!

I haven't had a kitten in almost 15 years, since I first got Sara and her two tiny kittens. That's a long time! Both husband and I are completely enchanted by her. The cats we've had since getting together have always been MY cats, and husband never really connected much. He's in love with Auri, and it's so nice to have a kitten together.  

She got her name almost as soon as I met her. Having reread The Slow Regard of Silent Things just a few days before, Auri seemed like the perfect name for the tiny, dainty little kitten that so unexpectedly appeared in my life. 

So yes, in some ways, these would be enough. But how awful would that be? How terrible to live surrounded by the stark, sharp, hollowness of things that were simply *enough*? 
Sitting on the warm, smooth floor of Mantle, Auri shivered at the thought of moving through a joyless world like that. Nothing perfect. Nothing beautiful and true. Oh no. She was too wise to live that way. Auri looked around and smiled at all her luxury. She had a perfect loving leaf and lavender. She wore her favorite dress. Her name was Auri, and it was a shining piece of gold inside her all the time.