411 The Walters Bunch

  What a difference two weeks, and a really good farrier, can make! Our horse has been doing wonderfully since we were able to get her shoes off and a corrective trim done. It has been great having a rideable horse. She has someone in the saddle for about 45 minutes three times a week.  The kids are having a blast. Hopefully soon, we can put a bridle on her and the kids can ride that 45 minutes three times a week without me leading them around. I am just worried that since she is such a big horse and because she sometimes she tries to "coerce" the children into doing what she wants I need to make sure she will listen to them so no one is hurt. She can be pretty pushy now that she feels better.  Gwen, the morbidly obese donkey, is doing great and several times a week we will catch her. It takes about 30 minutes of active running from us so that combined with the strict diet and she is starting to look better, but still has a LONG way to go. She is such a sweet ani

I guess we have good timing on starting back to school. It had been so unseasonably cool that I was worried we may start too early and not be able to go out and do things in the "nice" weather (low 90's is nice for TX in August). However, things took a turn for the hotter this week with temps in the triple digits and humidity levels crazy high. It literally feels like a sauna out there. I feel so sorry for all the animals.  They all have multiple waters out, access to shade, and are checked on multiple times a day. The horse even gets a sponge bath to help cool her off on the really humid days. Two of the kids were finally able to ride the horse! We were so excited. It felt like we had a real horse and not just a large dog. Unfortunately, two days later she went lame. It was not caused by the kids 10 minute ride, but not being well taken care of during her formative years and old age. At this point it looks like she will recover and we will be able to ride again, but