Crow Hoppin' Belgiun Horses for the Fair







 (photo by peachesrox)

 

Morning, Readers.
 



It's that typical time of night that my prednisone laden body wakes up and either I try to keep my eyes closed or I "study."

Lately I have had to lean on my endocrinologist for lab work and what to do next. Now that I am below ten mgs of the pred. I am closer to what the body makes by itself and closer to a recovering set of adrenal glands. That appear to be not so happy.

(Like a bull at the Idaho State Fair. Picture courtesy of the site.)

Good news is that I have had relief again from the esophagus that wants to close off and I have stayed on top of drinking that chalky stuff regularly.

*If you have Crohns, Cushings, or are in prednisone withdrawal, I will put the symptoms I am having below the post that I wrote this morning.

Today's topic is how fascinating I found a particular breed of horses: The Draft Horse

(greengardensfarm.com)
 

Just one of the random things to come along as I endure the effects of tapering off prednisone.

Which I have decided has officially and totally changed my life.

 

Okay, so back to the Draft Horses that caught my interest
.



My sister returned home from a trip the other day to some visitors in her corral; Belgiun Horses who had just endured a 14 hour stretch of standing in the same place from North Dakota to Iona, Idaho.

 

The draft horses are here to compete in the Idaho State Fair! 

 

(I write that as if I would be in attendance but you won't find me there this year. Possibly the next three. Picture courtesy of Eastern Idaho State Fair )

 

The first thing the huge horses wanted to do was play around in the dirt like my nephews. They rolled around and put their feet in the air like they were riding a bike upside down. Then they would do the cutest looking little stretch and then hop. It actually had a name: Crow hopping.

 

A horse loves freedom, and the weariest old work horse will roll on the ground or break into a lumbering gallop when he is turned loose into the open.
~GERALD RAFERTY

(or Zebra. Shout out to those with Cushings as this is our mascot. Hooves beating on the ground, and obvious rolling around on the ground we would assume horse. But NO! A Zebra. )



(chickensmoothie.com- this one is just hilarious)

 

The sun was set in the sky just right to glisten a golden glow off the dirt kicked up and the horses inside it.

 

In a word: Stunning.

(horsenation.com Clydsdale cousin)


And STRONG.
 

It wasn't until actually the next day that mom asked if I wanted to accompany her and my nephew with them to see the horses in person.

 

We took the short jaunt out to the country where the fences are "broken." (my son, J. ,used to say that was one of the reasons he loved it out in the country; broken fences.) There by the corral were some lawn chairs set up for us to sit down.

 

After tip toeing through the "horse tulips" we sat down a few feet from the animals that were about to be tied up to a truck and then left to do what they were meant to do- work. Or pull heavy trucks to get ready for Fairs.

(courtesy of Eastern Idaho State Fairs.) 

 

The horses went in a circle, starting out with just a bit of weight and then the driver put the brakes on and that is when these horses ability to pull was put to the test. Their flanks suddenly burst out some serious muscles and their front hooves dug into the dirt.

 

Me and the "regular horses" of my sister's gaped at the show in front of us. We had front row seats to these amazing animals.

(cs.thehorse.com)

Next to me was Grandpa. Padre had picked him up and brought him over to watch the event. It led to a story about a man from Preston, Idaho- whose pair of Belgiuns won every year. But they didn't "train" for it in the way these ones do for State Fairs, instead they truly worked on a farm.

 

They did enter the fair each year and won consistently.

 

I didn't stay long enough to interview the owner of the horses or Grandpa about the animals that were so strikingly strong and beautiful. Everything about them was grand and ornate. The leather reins and bit? were black with golden studs against the light brown colored hair of the Belgiuns.
 

 

So that is the news for today. And a diagram to help those who have no idea about horses even though they are related to those who do!

Have fun eating fair food like cotton candy, Idaho Spuds swimming in butter, and scones the size of a Large Pizza.

I wonder if they have scooters like those at the library.....

 

*I am still at 8 mgs and have been there for more than the anticipated "3 weeks" due to lab work and the levels they found. I am so glad to be in good hands with my tapering right now. In the past I never had this kind of help.

 

So you can imagine my gratitude for a doctor's office that is readily available- from when I call and get right through to a nurse who promptly returns a call, to having an in house lab that can do everything that I was sent all over the city for from lab work to IVs.

 

It makes coming off prednisone safer. Now that I have been on it this long (four years) I have learned some big lessons. So- sniff- I feel very weary. The esophageal stricture was dilated again a week ago and that was mixed in with getting J. ready for Jr. High. I had almost two days of being awake which were not helped by racing thoughts, anxiety,  and then crashed.

 

I am dealing with weak wasting skeletal muscles, tendons feel shredded, stiffness in my joints. Especially in the a.m. I tire super fast. During family get to gethers, I had to take them in doses.

Interacting and visiting then laying down to rest.

Pushing myself in the area of interacting is helpful even if there is set backs because it gives me that time to talk with others.

Like right now- I need a break from blogging. Which means I will go swallow a nexium generic and then the chalky stuff before I eat.

 



 my bedroom shelf. background picture is of the woman from the New Testament with the issue of blood drawn by Christensen. A frame and water color painting all from J and I's Easter weekend in Driggs, Idaho. The artist is a holocaust survivor. Each came to $1.00)