Booger is a miniature horse.
A real horse.
Poco equine.
He weighs 125 lbs.
Booger with his long hair-mane & tail
Booger Bean eye
D left little Booger here for us to babysit
while she and her family went to the lake.
She rents our stalls/barn for her other horses
Dream, Skipper, and Cowboy.
I have been feeding them and enjoying the time I have spent messin with them. Booger lives in D's back yard (they live in town)
and she didn't want to leave him alone, so she fixed the pen so he couldn't get out, and he would be fine.
Of course he will,
and he is.
Booger and I started our relationship with me walking in his pen with food
(hay and milo).
I put the food in his barrel and
he started eating right away and I started petting him.
I turned my head and looked away at something and
that little turd
reached around and got a-hold of my forearm
and went into clench mode.
Square-dab in the middle of my arm
he bit me so hard,
I thought my arm was broke in-two.
Crap.
Oh man it hurt.
I screamed and reflex and adrenaline injected, I slapped the shit out of him right in his mouth.
Well, he thought that was funny and the fight was on!
He started going after me!
I was dodging his attempts to bite me again .
Fast little Booger.
I barely escaped bite after bite.
He didn't get me again, but it wasn't easy.
I got the lead rope and put in on his halter, and tried to make him settle down.
That was funny too.
Strong little Booger.
He became more interested in his food than in me, so
he settled down.
I took the lead off and left him to his food.
The bite was bad, but it did not break the skin
so I rubbed on it and
continued on to feed the other horses.
ow-ee
Skipper, Dream, Cowboy (behind)
Booger
Skipper and Dream
Things rocked on with no real incidences
except I scolded Wolfy for barking at
Booger.
Booger would respond by hitting the fence with his little hoofs
and biting at Wolfy.
They would ya-ya thru the fence, I would yell,
and then they would stop.
This happened a couple of times when I was outside.
It is so hot, I usually get outside early
and don't get back out there until later in the day.
I've noticed the dogs don't do much in the heat either.
Bonnie won't even chase a car in 103 heat.
They ALL have been getting in the swimming pool alot.
Justin put up a cooling vapor mist-strip along the fence so the horses can cool off too.
Justin is a good egg.
The Beauties
One thing I love about the desert,
is that is cools off at night.
It almost can feel cold on a summer nite.
Now, and the next 4 weeks will be the hottest of the year, but our days are getting shorter already.
The mornings are nice and cool, so I open up my bedroom windows and
a couple others in the house.
Just for a little while, I air out the house.
Thank goodness I opened the windows on Monday,
because when I went to shut the front window,
I heard a faint little whinny-kind-of screaming.
I instantly knew something was wrong with little Booger.
I hurried out of the house and noticed right away that Shaggy was out of the fence and running wild. Since the new renters moved in next door,
this has been a problem.
They don't know how to shut the gate. They sure cant latch it.
IS IT BRAIN SURGERY? IS IT THAT HARD TO DO?
(I swear under my breath at these people)
If Shaggy is out, Verdell can be out too
and sure enough,
as I got closer I could see
Verdell was in Boogers pen fighting with him.
Bonnie, Clydee, Wolfy, Hoppy were all in the pen getting their bites in as well.
It was a free for all.
Booger was on the ground and Verdell kept charging at him.
I started screaming at everyone and they all scattered.
Just like when Verdell killed Jane the chicken,
he acted as if he knew he had done wrong and started being ashamed.
I shamed and shamed him.
My first concern was to see how badly little Booger was beat up.
His neck on the mane or hair side had deep bites in it. There were at least 4 or more big holes from Verdells big teeth. It was awful.
Fortunately, there were no bites on his throat or to any vital organs.
His legs had several bites and he had a gash about 7 inches long on his little thigh.
Crap.
I decided he was ok-enough for me to get Verdell put up, so I went in and got his chain and leash,
and chained him up. I then went and found a guitar strap and whipped him good. That may sound like abuse to some people that don't understand dogs, but Verdell is a huge animal. I have to make him understand that what he did is not
ok.
"Don't be too hard on him", my Dad said.
"He's an animal"
He said the same thing when Verdell got Jane.
Dad agrees that I need to make him understand that
he can't do what he did,
but chances are,
if he had the chance,
he would do it again,
he is an animal.
Verdell the animal.
I left Verdell tied up on his leash, which makes me nervous because I have seen dogs accidentally hang themselves when they are tied up.
I put him in a spot where I could keep an eye on him.
I went back to Boogers pen and he was doing ok, but he was in pain.
He wasn't bleeding real bad, but bad enough.
I washed the wounds out with peroxide and tried to clean them the best I could.
Booger didn't try one time to bite me.
Thank goodness.
Poor little Booger.
He drank a little sip of water.
Now was the time to call Justin.
I knew we had to fix the pen,
and determine whether a trip to the vet was in store for us.
Booger was doing fine, but he was in pain
and I was afraid of BAD infection
and I didn't want him going into shock.
Justin came right home
and we fixed the pen and decided to
take Booger to the Vet.
We have a nice horse trailer,
but it is not here at our house
(go figure that one)
so Justin and Booger Bean
rode in the back of my truck
all the way to Andrews.
Its about 40 miles to the vet
and it was at least 101 degrees.
It was so hot.
I was proud of little Booger and Justin,
they did real good on the ride.
Justin told me Booger was so
calm and happy because he was singing
Merle Haggard and Buck Owens
to him.
I could see Justin's
Lips-a-flappin
in my rear-view mirror
but his lips are
always flappin.
He never hushes.
I'm sure Booger was thoroughly entertained.
We got to the vet and they started right in on assessment of little
Booger.
The vet said he would be fine, he needed a tetnus and another shot, and then stitches and antibiotics.
Thank you Lord.
Boogers little hooves needed triming and we all agreed that it would be great if the vet could trim them while they have him sedated.
The only problem was he had no clippers.
We drove down to the store and bought a pair and by the time we got back to the Vets, Booger was all stitched up and looked much better.
The vet started clipping his hoofs.
Justin really tried to help.
Lips-still-a-flappin.
Lordy.
Finially,
with Justins help, we were all done.
We paid out and got Boogers RX's and back in the truck we went.
Booger was still sleepy and laid on a blanket most of the way.
Justin fed him ice and we made the ride fine.
When we got home, getting a sedated mini-horse out of your truck
is kinda tricky.
We did it,
and he was fine and happy to be back in his little pen.
He looked so cute with his mane cut off.
I know it was a tough way to get your hair and nails cut.
Cute little Booger.
I had tried to call D and tell her what happened,
but we never talked, so I decided to just wait and tell her
when she came home. I feel bad about what happened.
I am sorry it happened.
I am so thankful he was not killed or hurt real bad.
He was hurt bad enough, believe me.
Tough little Booger.
D was a champ when she saw Booger. He looked pretty bad because the puncture wounds on his neck were draining pus
and it was ugly and stinky.
D is in nursing school, so I knew the pus and stink
would be something she could handle just fine.
She did.
I probably won't get the best babysitting award, but
I was sad when they loaded him up and took him home.
I miss the little Booger.
He tried to bite me again before he left.
Fast little Booger.
ma
