WATER WATER EVERYWHERE

It's become warmer in Southern Arizona.

The horses still have on their winter coats, since it still gets down into the 30's at night, and are pretty uncomfortable during the regular sunny days here.

But there is normally a pretty brisk breeze, and they have very large water containers to help them cool off.

Except for one pen.

The colt, Rue (who I actually have been calling "Roo", as in Kanga and Roo, for over two years now), has discovered that if he works at it hard enough, he can tip the water tank over.

And somehow the simple joy of water gushing out over his little hooves just sends his little heart aflutter.

Without understanding the consequences of being without water for the rest of the day or until I notice that he has tipped over the water for himself and Najale, my horse.

And then I  feel all guilty that the animals are thirsty!

THE GREAT ESCAPE

Some of us as we get older slow down some.

For instance, I used to be able to run at a eight minute pace.... for about 20 feet. And now I can walk... for about 20 feet before I need to stop for breath.

Anyway, my mare, Sally, is a Thoroughbred, who are normally fairly fast - they've been breed for racing.

And did you know that Quarter Horses were originally bred for racing? Just shorter sprints - a quarter mile - which is where the name came from.

And I think that Sally did race at one time; her upper inside lip is tattooed. No, not with a rose or "Semper Fit", silly, but with registration numbers, which normally are only for racers.

So although she is somewhere in her late twenties, Sally can still run faster than my eight-year-old gelding... at least when she really really wants something.

But most of the time, she is the stately grande dame gazing at the horizon.

Unwittingly, today I pushed her right over the edge.

It's been the first day warm enough for me to wear shorts, and I felt sorry for my hot, sweating horses. It's still cold enough at night (low 40's) that they both still have fairly think coats, so I got the water hose out to soak them.

Sally loves getting hosed down - I think it brings back memories of the track, because she gets very flighty, prancing around and acting like a young filly.

Najale, my horse, absolutely detests water cascading over his back... or his sides... or his anything. But he will put up with it, under loud protest, because if Sally enjoys it, he is going to enjoy it, damn it.

But then, three hours later, when I went back into the pasture, Sally, still under the influence of cold water, simply bolted out from the gate and went on a merry tirade of gallovating around the house.

Normally I can catch Sally fairly easily, even when she gets out of her own, but today? No way. Until the creaks and groans of her older bones slowed her down and forced her to meekly make her way back home.

Whew. More exercise than I planned on for myself.

ANIMAL CRUELITY

Our laundry room is tacked on to the farthest end of our house. And although this placement is convenient for location of a cat's litter box, it isn't practical for something like washing one's clothes.

This small, non-ventilated room is either the coldest or the hottest place in the house. There is barely room for the two machines, let alone folding or hanging garments. During the washer's spin cycle, the pictures on all walls rattle. And at it's loudest, the dryer's ending cycle beep can barely be heard ten feet away, even with the door left open.

This morning, however, I heard just a little too much of something. I was switching clothes from the washer to the dryer (sidebar - I know in Europe they have combination washer/dryers that go through the wash cycle and then in the same machine, dry the clothing - when the heck is that going to catch on over here!?) when I heard a sound that made me pause -

A tiny splashing sound accompanied by a metallic scratching noise.

Now, it couldn't be the cat - unlike most domesticated felines, Pandora is approximately the size of a small lion, and does NOTHING quietly. Both the dogs were sound asleep in front of the television (I know, I know, I should limit the number of soap operas they view daily - I'm trying).

It sounded like it was coming from the boarded off water-heater area to the immediate left of the dryer.

I do not trust my hearing ever, so I grabbed my son and made him listen and track down the noise.

And yes, it was coming from the water-heater. Unmistakably, a mouse or small rat had fallen into the water and was trying frantically to not drown.

Talk about a conflict of emotions.

1) The automatic maternal "RESCUE THE POOR MOUSE!" mode kicks in before anything else. Then...

2) "Yuck, there is a MOUSE in our water supply!" And then...

 3) "OMG how much is it gonna cost to get a plumber to come all the way out here and remove a small carcass from the water heater?

I could not find a plumber who believed the situation - "Lady, (southern accent here), them heaters are self-contained - ain't no way a mouse or a rat could get into one."

So somewhere in my house an animal has died, and I cannot tell if its death is at all related to our water supply.

But I am drinking only Diet Coke in bottles for the next two weeks.

PEEKING OVER THE FENCE

When I stop and look back over my day, I realize my neighbors must think I am clinically insane.
(No comments necessary from you who actually know me)

I walk outside, turn on the water hose, and start yelling my horse's name.

(He normally responds, not because I am such a incredible horse trainer, but because he is an absolute pig, and is continually optimistic that I will have something, anything, for him to eat).

He takes one look at the running water, and immediately heads in the opposite direction.

The mare, however, simply adores being hosed down. I'm certain it's because when she was on the track, it was a regular deal to be rinsed after a race, and it felt GREAT.

And a 95 degree Arizonan day like today, she knows it's also going to feel good.

So she trots over, and immediately and happily moves herself right into position to be drenched.

Now my horse simply can NOT stand for ANYone or anything else to get more attention than him. He will nose or push or trample into any situation where he is not already the main center of attraction.

So, with the water still running, he dashes over, pushes the mare aside and gets under the water stream.

Now here begins the quandary - my horse does not particularly like the sensation of cold water running over his back... or his legs, or his side or any other portion of his body.

But he cannot possible give up the position of POWER.

However, he does not WANT to be in the middle of the stream of water.

So, mentally conflicted, and psychologically confused, he alternates between:

1) Hosed down or 2) Running away.

Perhaps my neighboors don't think I'm nuts - but now they know that one of my horses is.

HBP

My body is extremely confused. About more than one thing, to own the truth.

Well, so is my mind, but that's a whole 'nother story.

I have low blood pressure - which is great for my heart, but bad for almost everything else in my body.

Picture your average, run-of-the-mill garden hose, with water moving through from the faucet.

When you tighten the hose, like with a nozzle, the water shoots hard and fast. If that's blood instead of water, that means your heart is having to work really, really hard to force the blood through that narrowed hose.

Now if you make that same water hose larger, the water sloshes through real sloppily (yeah, that's an interesting image), which means your heart doesn't have to work as hard to move the blood through.

However, it also means, when you point the hose in an upward direction, the water doesn't rise as fast.

Which, when it's your blood that can't move fast enough, can cause you to pass our when you stand up quickly - because the brain isn't getting enough oxygen via the blood.

Or at the very least make your vision a little blurry for a couple of seconds.

My blood pressure is low - a sloshy, slow hose - and in complete opposition to most adults, mine continues to drop.

So I'm just thinking - should I begin to smoke, gain weight, get stressed about every little thing - all the things that are supposed cause high blood pressure?