The SafeChoice Choice

FarmWife has decided—yippee!—that I need more condition, which is not to say more weight, but rather more muscle and more nutrition. Grass hay alone isn't cutting it, and with the green grass gone and the colder weather setting in I've been looking a little light in the topline. The good news is that I now get some supplements in addition to the grass hay and salt block to which I am accustomed! These things are delicious, and I am immensely pleased with this turn of events. The bad news is that I am also supposed to be subject to regular exercise, especially now that my hock seems quite well. For now, under pressure of short days and bad weather, this exercise is limited to a little longing and short walks around the neighborhood. In the summer, FarmWife hopes that this exercise will include brave expeditions into the wild yonder.

Nutrena SafeChoice has always seemed like a . . . well, a safe choice—it is fairly low in sugar, and better for we easy keepers than a high-starch, sweetened concentrate. FarmWife used to feed SafeChoice to her easy keepers when they needed more cool calories back when SafeChoice was new and highly esteemed on the horse feed market.

Last month, she went to the feed store and encountered Original SafeChoice, Special Care SafeChoice, and Perform SafeChoice. "I want the kind that I used to feed when there was only one kind," she said. "Oh," said the clerk. "You want the Special Care SafeChoice. That's the original Original." Apparently the new Original has corn, which isn't at all what FarmWife had in mind for her easy-keepers! You humans and your taxonomies are still a little bit baffling to me, but at least clear answers can be found on the nutrition panels. (The exception to this is when the nutrition panel on a human menu item lists the values for one half or one third of a ready-to-eat thing, as though you would actually eat the thing as three separate servings spread across three days. That's just silly. Who eats half a soup cup?)

Now, I eat pellets for breakfast AND I eat three hay meals a day (small ones, but a mule takes what he can get). What a lucky fellow I am. Etty, who is a wee bit fluffier than me, gets pellets too: about forty of them. Although they're small, so is she.

FB

Comments

Here are the Cloud Dog's X-Rays

Here, for your edification, are the X-rays of dear Paisley's leg. There is, apparently, no new break (since his Monday siezure) but there is, of course, a great deal of abnormality caused by years of living with a shortened ulna. His pronounced lameness, the vet says, may temporarily improve. Unlike me, Fenway Bartholomule, poor cloud dog can't expect much in the way of a full recovery. Not having the $$$$ for surgery to fuse the joint, we are working on making some sort of rigid splint to support the limb and prevent further degeneration. That is, the humans (with their space-age material inventions and their opposable thumbs) are working on making a splint; I am working on giving cloud dog brayful looks of support and encouragement every time he totters into the yard to relieve himself. As always, he fears me (me?!) and keeps his distance. Ears to you, Fenway

Continued . . .

Vegan Spring Rolls

I, Fenway Bartholomule, am a vegan: of course I only eat plants, not people! My human is too, so I'm sharing my blog with her today so that she can participate in the 2014 Virtual Vegan Potluck ! When you're done perusing the recipe for these delicious spring rolls, click "back" or "forward" for the entire potluck experience! Virtual Vegan Potluck: Spring Roll Appetizers Beautiful? Check. Healthy? Check. Delicious? Check. Easy? Check. Fancy? Check. Quick to clean up after? Check. Vegan? OF COURSE! If you're looking for something portable, colorful, and crowd-pleasing for your next potluck, look no further than these simple vegan spring rolls! The best part? You can substitute ANYTHING. I never make these the same way twice, so play around with cilantro, kale, cabbage, scallions, or whatever you think sounds good! Ingredients Veggie mix: 2 carrots (grated) 4 oz mung bean sprouts 1/3 cup chopped peanuts (raw, or roasted and salted) or ...

Continued . . .

Catastrophy

This is the emergency broadcast system. This is not a test. I was going to entertain you with more haiku today, but something terrible has happened. I need your support. Today was supposed to be a regular spa day—a nice little hoofie trim, a fresh mane roach, an ear massage, and a handful of sunflower seeds (for shine). Instead of merely taking care of my beauty routine, however, FarmWife spent a full hour in contemplation of and attention to my overall physique. The upshot? A revision of my condition from Plump to Obese. (Her actual words, upon removing my blanket for the first time in a few days, were "Oh my God! You've ballooned!") She has decided that my fatness has become a health risk, and has resolved to exercise me as often as possible. It gets dark at 4:30. Her husband gets home at 5:30. She has small children and no sitter. This, my friends, means that I will end up being longed. Longed at the end of a stupid, smelly old rope. Forced to walk and trot...

Continued . . .

Mowers and raccoons and steers, oh my!

In my informal Facebook survey I learned that the majority of Friends of the Muleness want more stories—All the Stories!—and that the story they want most of all is the story of the raccoon. Farmwife says it's hardly a story at all, and that it would be something to talk about had the raccoon been in my barn, or touching my body, or gesticulating at me with it's bizarrely human little fingers to indicate that it would like a little snack or help with its homework. Alas, this is not that kind of story. Before I tell you about the raccoon I have to go backwards and tell you that I am feeling very good in my body these days. My track through the forest has been expanded, my laminitis is at bay, and my health has been very largely excellent since I came here to the Atomic Ranch in December. I am feeling so good, in fact, that I have been cleared for long walks around the neighborhood! Puck, Farmwife, and I sometimes make the long loop up Saratoga and back around Fox Spit, which ...

Continued . . .

BRAYS OF OUR LIVES

Search This Blog