The Drama Queen

It was a busy week with a lot of new customers that are a result of the advertising I did this month. I am fortunate this year that all of the new customers I have met the past couple of weeks have good quiet horses that stand tied. Things come in three's, they say. Last week I wrote about falling in the mole hole and hitting myself in the chin with the car door. This week was the third thing. I usually just motor along, but lately I feel like a drama queen.

One of my regular stops is a barn where I am alone while the owners are at work. There are three mares and a pony to round up and trim. We had a front moving through Wednesday, so the flies were biting the horses mercilessly. That means the horses pull their feet away from you constantly so they can stomp or kick at the flies. It also means you get hit in the eye with their tails as they swish the flies away. I finished with the first mare and put her back into the pasture. Before I haltered and tied the second mare I went into their barn for fly spray. While I was under the third mare, I realized my heart was racing and I was sweating a lot. It was humid, so I drank water and slowed down.

The mares were all back in their pasture and I was left with the pony, who is foundered and has a lot of foot to take off. Taking this much foot off is hard work. I was bent over working and started to feel nauseous. When I stood up, I was lightheaded. So, I took my water and sat in the corner of the stall for about twenty minutes. I don't usually get this tired or sick to my stomach, but I figured it was weather related and I was pushing myself too hard.

By the time I was done and in the car, my right arm started hurting at my bicep, which was weird as the none of the horses did a lot of violent pulling. I hurt enough that I called my evening appointment and rescheduled, so I could go home. The next morning I found two small holes in my forearm with a halo like bruise circling it. I didn't feel anything bite me, which usually indicates a brown recluse spider. I stopped in at the doctors office today. She thought the bite marks were too large. She did say that whatever bit me was venomous and to watch it closely for a couple of days. This is the stuff you don't read about in the horseshoeing books. Like two years ago when I got ringworm from the horses at one barn. They got it from the feral cats in the barn. I noticed the cats had ringworm, so I stayed away from them but didn't realize the horses had it too.