Dream Valley Ranch

Taking a break...

I didn't want anyone to worry...there's been so much going on this past month with illnesses and Snappie's surgery and all of the extra work associated with her return that I've decided to take a bit of a blogging break.

I'll be back in a week or so! But, before I go, I just wanted to thank everyone for all of the good thoughts for our critters...it means more than any of you could know!

Snapdragon is doing really well-hopefully I'll have funny stories of her silliness when I come back :)

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Suebeedoo

Time for The Bunny Cam

A quick update: the BunnyCam is down-there are some software glitches I am fixing tonight :) Please do not be concerned if you can't see The Bunny...he is fine :) xoxo

Our little Bunny has been having a rough month...I don't write about all of our difficult experiences with the critters because it becomes overwhelming and I like to point out the happy moments on this blog whenever possible. But, in this case, his slow decline and new weakness means that he is getting into trouble when I am not inside with him. Having 4 other active pups who need twice daily hikes in the woods, not to mention my full Flower Garden of rescued ponies with various needs, I have to figure out a way to keep everyone's demands met. Enter the Woofcam-or BunnyCam in this case :)

You can view the live BunnyCam by clicking on this link (a new image uploads every 30 seconds so just click F5 and you can see the latest image). But this is a preview of the little boy resting on his comfy bed as I get ready to go out and give meds to the baby Snapdragon.

Happy Bunny viewing to all! Oh, and if anyone sees our little boy in trouble, I'd sure be grateful if you would please email me right away-I always have my iPhone with me so I check on his image every few minutes, but sometimes he falls backwards and I certainly would appreciate a heads up if he looks like he's in trouble!

He is such a cute little boy...we adore him.

(Oh-and in case anyone is wondering...no-that is not a particular design style we are following with the carpets :D Our boy needs full carpet coverage so that he doesn't slip so you'll notice my mishmash of area rugs taped together to give him the texture/support he needs. Eventually, when we don't have a recovering baby dragon in the barn and I have the time, I'll find a nice large area rug so that we don't end up with a headache every time we walk into the kitchen!)

 
   

CARROT!!!!

YUM!!!

Won't somebody pleeeease

feed me????

Hello World!!!!

I am SNAPDRAGON!!!! Hear me ROAR!!!!!

pony kong time

poor little snappers is having a rough time...i gave her a pony kong with some tiny hay cubes to help distract her but she is sad and whinnying. she does interact a little with buttercup but i think she wants her mom and mom isn't interested. poor little winged one (all dragons have wings after all). i hope she settles in soon...it's breaking my heart to hear those baby whinnies!

hi mom i'm home!

poor snappers...mama took one sniff and ran off in the other direction...sigh...



the baby is having a somewhat worried and stressed night because her return to DVR is so different than life before surgery. 5 more weeks of stall rest...this will be quite interesting.



it is amazing to have her home but my little heart hurts watching her look so sad and worried and hearing her nervous whinnying....



welcome home baby girl-we misses you!

Project Snapdragon is almost completed!!

Project Snapdragon is underway-she just loaded and we are under way!! she looks great!! Updates and more pix later...



Sent via Pony Express



<^_~ 



   /\ \ ...

Happy Howl-o-ween!

A very happy halloween to everyone!



Our sweet fuzzy boy, Count Basie (aka The Woodle) turns 12 today. Here he is napping after breakfast, getting rested for his late morning Birthday Hike. He is an amzing boy still able to hike 3-4 miles per day. We worship The Woodle

as do most people who meet him :)



Today is also a melancholy day for me and mr. smrp...this was also our sweet Monkey's birthday. She was so strong and healthy...we were certain she would be here for this year's WoodleMonkey day. Our hearts still hurt every day missing the pack's Matriarch.



Hug your loved ones extra tight today in her honor please...life seems far too short to me these days.



Hoping everyone has a wonderfully ghoulish day,

xoxo

Critter update

Sorry for the lack of updates yesterday-it's been a bit crazy around here with the storm and now (my favorite!) insane winds.



First: Snappers is doing really well...the theory is that gastric ulcers caused a decrease in GI motility and thus she colicked. Foals are prone to gastric ulcers-especially foals on milk replacer like the baby dragon was. She will be on Gastrogard for a few months to help her tummy heal (yes-we know how expensive that will be...but it's cheaper than another colic surgery so it's all relative I suppose).



The winds are bad for the next few days so we will shoot for a Sunday homecoming. In the meantime, my original plan for her new Dragony Headquarters have been ridiculed by this oh-so-lovely wind so today I must plan for a totally new and different set up. I have no idea where to stick our little girl-perhaps I should just put some booties and diapers on her and bring her inside ;)



I'm sure I will have something sorted out by tomorrow and will be able to focus on bringing her home Sunday to a posh new Dragonfly Suite :)



Chloe is doing really well. She loves to nap in the snow and has been a nut literally galloping through the snow. She's such an amazing critter.



Everyone else is doing pretty well. We've had a few sleepless nights with Mr. Bunny throwing up and having some diarrhea, but that comes in cycles so we just roll with it the best we can to keep him comfy and happy.



Thanks to everyone for the sweet emails asking about our crew! Hope everyone is keeping cozy out there :)

xoxo

woohooo!!

We are having SO much fun in the snow it's simply absurd :)

Snappie update: she is doing great!!

More pix and vids soon :) 

 

Snow Day!

What a beautiful morning to wake up to...14 inches of snow greeted us. The Monsters leapt through the fluffiness with joy, poking their faces deep into the snow banks then suddenly racing and bounding full speed like crazed muppets :)

This is early for such a big storm but we love it. The weather forecast is calling for 2-3 feet by tomorrow...woohoo!! Time to break out the snowshoes :)

Last night Mr. smrp plowed our 1/4 mile long driveway so that we can stay ahead of the curve in that sense. There is no way we could live here without Clifford our Big Red Truck and his plow.

I'll post some pictures of the Snowy Flower Garden later this afternoon when I post the baby Dragon update :)

Happy snow day to all!

nighttime dragon report

Our vet called our little girl a "pistol!" today :D He is very pleased with her progress and feels good about our tentative Saturday Home Coming :) He started her on grass hay today-just a small handful at a time. Well...Miss Punk Muffin Dragonfly did not appreciate such measly quantities and let it be known that a Wiiiiiild Baby Mustang MUST have more food! They love her :) And-he told me again about her perfect baby horse poops. Sigh...I love hearing about how great and cute her little poops are.

Chloe is doing great-the edema in front of her udder has almost completely gone away and she is full of whinnies when she sees me. She is looking for someone to hang out with and I'm making sure I give her lots of treats and scritches so that we can bond a bit before Snappers returns (tho they will not be in the same stall).

We have a big storm hitting us tonight-they are calling for up to 2 feet of powdery snow by tomorrow afternoon-yippee! The pups are in heaven and so are we :) The Flowers are snuggled inside their toasty flufy stalls and we have a fire roaring...hope everyone has a nice evening!

morning dragon report

Doc Hudson called today to let me know that the little Dragonfly is doing well...she even had an almost normal poop this morning!! I'm very hopeful but also very aware that things could just as easily change for the worse. Hanging onto each good moment is incredibly important right now!

Sent via Pony Express
<^_~
/\ \ ...

little sweet snapdragon

she is doing really well but seeing her all bandaged and muzzled broke my little heart...on our way home-just wanted to send a few quick pix...  (i'm home now and wanted to mention that the muzzle is on her because she was trying to eat the wood shavings...she has not eaten in a few days and I guess they looked pretty tasty. i am so grateful that she is doing so well, but it's still just sooooo wrong that she's had to go through all of this and the weeks to come. But I'm doing my best to focus on the fact that she is still here and that she is doing so well!)

take me hom please!

can i drink with this thing on?

hannibal lecter?

sigh... 

 

i think we dodged one bullet!!

just finished working with Uncle Jerry and Chloe-temp is normal so we are thinking it's more likely a full udder...crossing fingers and toes!! Snapper update this evening but ao far so good for our little baby dragon!

you have got to be kidding...

This was what I found tonight at the 11pm feeding...we are now worried about Chloe having mastitis.

Noooooo! My poor mama mustang!!

Trying to care for a mare with mastitis who I cannot handle yet and who kicks and bites?

Please oh please let this just be a full udder :(

she's out of surgery!!!

my baby flower made it through surgery...phew!! she had an obstruction in her large colon. they are puzzled because it wasn't that big...we will talk more about it when i go see her tomorrow. in the meanwhile i am relieved she is out of anaesthesia and recovering. i will visit her tomorrow and hopefully get to bring her home next weekend. now to figure out some baby dragon headquarters for her month of stall rest!!

oh: and for those who are worried about mama mustang: she seems to be doing well...just a few whinnies every few hours...poor sweetie.

i think i need a long nap now :)

thanks to eveyone for the good thoughts!!!

Sent via Pony Express
<^_~
/\ \ ...

surgery :(

my little Snapdragon goes into surgery in an hour...i am sad and worried. i'll update as soon as i can. thanks so much to everyone for their kind emails and thoughts...we are crushed.

Sent via Pony Express
<^_~
/\ \ ...

ittybitty...

just had to post this picture of my baby girl when she was just 1 day old...she's a strong little masked superhero. i miss her :( come home soon little Sunflower B Snapdragon!!!

snapdragon update

i'm exhausted so this will be short...snappers will be at the hospital about three days. we are hoping for medical management but she might need to undergo colic surgery if she doesn't get better. we have no idea which direction this will go-it's scary to say the least. coming home to chloe's heart wrenching whinnies was so sad. i just want everyone to be okay...please keep our baby dragon and her mama in your thoughts and hearts these next few days. thanks to everyone from the bottom of my heart for all of the amazing good thoughts and kind words. xoxo one worried suebeedoo

another hospital picture

Baby Snapdragon gets an ultrasound.

snapdragon's at the hospital

We're at Littleton Equine Hospital waiting for Xray results...been a rough and scary 24 hours. The baby Dragon was a star at trailering 1.5 hours down off the mountain. Mama is home and doing okay-we had hoped to avoid weaning until spring but sometimes life makes other decisions. i'll update soon but it looks like our little girl will be here at least a few days. we are desperately hoping that she does not need surgery. Thanks to everyone for their good thoughts-we sure need them! Here is our baby nuzzling Uncle Jerry for comfort. and that's the vet tech giving her sone love, too.

our baby snapdragon is sick

Please think good tboughts for our little baby mustang...she is sick. has been colicky and with diarrhea since 5pm last night. we've been watching her, examining, medicating, and waiting-holding our breath and worried as you can imagine. no sleep...my amazing vet came up at 6 and then at 1...trailer is hooked up and ready in case we need to take her to the hospital. we still don't know if it's a tummy bug, gas colic, or twisted intestines. Babies are known to be somewhat exaggerated when in any pain, but my vet is worried that she is continuign on these 4-5 hour cycles of pain. I'll update later...poor little baby Dragon...she has been so so good with all of the shots and meds...

worried...sigh.

Yes...he is a monster

But an oh-so-delicious one! How can I ever resist this sweet face of such an adoring binary Bear Guppie? I have absolutely created a monster (with the help of his anti-seizure drugs!)and I love every little itty bitty part of him. I remember too well his first fearful 5.5 years...hugs would make him catatonic...putting on his harness would result in him cowering his head down to the floor...snuggling? Out of the question. Yes...I'll take this New Brave Demanding "I must touch my mom at all times" Bear any day of the week! This was the look he gave me as I, GASP!, had stopped scritching his ears for a second to hug Jesse Guppie who had plopped down against me on the sofa. Oooooh, the horror of it all! :D Pooooooor poooooor Beah ;)

Sigh...I am one lucky Guppie Mom :)

(And, yes, The Look worked and I am sending this via iPhone typing with just one hand while the other hand scritches his fuzzy ears-who can blame me?)

Things I love about DVR

i love watching the sun as it sun peeks over the ridge...

 

which makes the trees sparkle...

and that time each morning when The Flowers finish eating and find the perfect spots to take naps like lizards...

 

i love knowing that my little monsters will happily snuggle in their beds for a cozy morning as I drink my coffee...

 

hang on a sec...11 degrees...really? i just called The Princess who lives over over at The Magic Kingdom just a few miles up the road: she had a toasty 23.5 degrees.

oh well...i love our chilly valley, every itty bitty degree of it :)

Pretty snowy morning

I can't help but smile when I wake up to a snowy valley.

I love knowing that my Flowers can choose to stay cozy and warm in their stalls or go out into their roomy paddocks and enjoy a roll in the snow.

The Yahoos will enjoy a few hikes in the snowy woods today, too.

And I will embrace the peaceful silence that accompanies each little snowstorm.

We sure do live in a wonderful place...

Did you hear that?

I love my little pack...and they make me laugh when they hear something in the woods. Is it an elk? A bear? A lion? Nooooope. Just the echo of our UPS man heading up our driveway confusing the silly monsters :)

I love my mustang whisperer

This is Jerry and the mustangs. Jerry is an old cowboy turned horse whisperer...he's a gem of a man and I honestly don't know how I would have survived this first year of horse momness without his help and encouragement. I am lucky to be able to count him as one of my closest friends. Yesterday I was working on changing something or other in the barn (as usual!) and Jer called me out to watch. He was kneeling in front of the girls, putting treats on top of his hat, and letting them eat off of it :D why was he doing such a silly thing you might ask? Well-Chloe is just starting to actually believe that living among humans is safe and that people can be kind. Jerry said that he wanted to encourage her curiosity and build her confidence. Personally I think he just wanted to have some snuggle time with his two favorite mustangs :) and who doesn't love a gruff ol' cowboy who lets wild ponies eat treats off of his head? :D

Happy Bunny

And a more satisfied Bunny after a yummy breakfast. Sweet sweet boy...as long as you feed him on time that is ;)

Feed us already!!!

I took some pictures of the two BFFs this morning as I waited for the hot water to cool down in the dog bowls. Can you see the look of annoyance on their faces? If they could steal my camera so that I would just focus on the important things (I.e. Breakfast!) they'd be happy ;)

What a weirdo!

Recently Bear has been begging when I eat apples. Okay-that doesn't seem too weird I guess? Carrots, broccoli, apples, steamed fluffy soymilk from my morning lattes...he does live with a vegan human mom after all, right? But for some reason today's newest treat just seems odd for a dog to want. i just discovered that he loves oranges, too! An orange slurping Guppie? Who ever heard of such a creature? :D his sister is a bit more picky and walks away from soy milk and oranges with a look of disgust on her little cute face. But not Bear Guppie-he grabs the orange pieces with gusto and makes happy loud smacking noises as he slurps them all up :D I just adore this ridiculous boy...do you all see how sweet his liquidy eyes are? DO YOU? (Ninja Pony Mom: that last sentence was just for you hehehe).

 
  
  

Another beautiful day

No words needed...just a happy sigh...

Happy nappy puppies

I love this comfortable GuppieBunny friendship that has slowly become the norm around here. I would never leave them unattended together, but it sure is nice that they can all hang out together in the kitchen with me while the shepherds nap in the livingroom.

It's been a wonderful week with Auntie Wendy visiting and spoiling me and the critters by helping to muck stalls, holding Bear's paw, and making a yummy burrito fest dinner among other things!

Always grateful to have visits from dear friends who adore our critter world as much as we do :)

We miss you Auntie W!!!

8 degree mornings are fun!

Well-actually-we're a toasty 22 now at noon and I finally emptied, cleaned and set up the last water troughs with heaters today. Probably would have been wise to do this last week when it was warmer, but as they say: hindsight is 20/20 :) that and it's been a ridiculously busy week here so we do our best to roll with it all :) thank goodness that Auntie Wendy is here visiting! Right now she is holding Bear's paw for me so that I can get a few critical chores done. Some people underestimate the importance of Bear Paw Holding but let me tell you: it's probably the most wonderful gift anyone can give me :) star likes her fresh, clean, warm water-doesn't she look so peaceful?!

Funny morning moments at the ranch

Watching our resident magpie take turns sitting on all of the ponies' backs...wondering why Snapdragon was circling around a pole-she was chasing the magpie :) laughing at the mad dash of the Bunny as he darted past me and hopped full speed up the deck ramp...walking the fourpack and hearing that wonderful WHOMP as The Woodle flopped upside down in the snow...asking the non-Bears to sit for a picture, having them all wiggle with silliness, and seeing Bear sit down and look at them all in disgust as if to say "like THIS dummies!" what a nice morning with such silly critters...

We looooove the snow!

Got slobber?

So...our fourpack hikes are only possible because I have an endless supply of yummy treats in my pocket...as a result, I end up hiking one very slobbery Woodle :) isn't he funny? Yes-that is slobber resulting from long stringy slobbey things bouncing up and onto his face with each step :D

p.s. Today's Woodle was posted in honor of The Pony Whisperess who worships The Woodle more than anyone I know :)

Pony Kongs!!

Too funny...I gave the girls their Amazing Graze toys with just 10 cubes of Timothy hay in them...what smart ponies! They had a blast throwing them around, stomping on them, and otherwise acting ridiculous. I love finding new ways to entertain my herd :)

(I took some video that I'll post soon, too)

 

Ummm...mom? It's following us!

Silly Guppies...I was heading down the driveway for a quick potty break for the Gups after a morning of pony chores when trainer Robin piped up "wait for us!" She was taking the baby Dragon for a walk down the driveway and wanted company. You can see what the Guppies thought of this idea ;) they quickly got used to their little hooved friend, though, and before we knew it we were all walking along enjoying the crisp morning air :) Snappers did really well walking away from her mom and aunties, too! What a great group of critters we have here :)

 

It's a plaid mustang!

And here is the Monthday Dragon in her plaid blankie...she looks like little race horse here :) that's our baby mustang trainer, Robin, in the picture.

Happy 5th Monthday little Snapperdoodles!

The baby dragon is a whopping 5 months old today...time has flown by!!! She is doing great in pony kindergarten and she is such a sweet and trusting soul :) here she is checking out a new product one of our favorite peeps brought by. Ninja Pony Dad is making these cool collapsible barriers for Cyclo Cross bike racing. Snappers thinks they would be perfect little Dragon Jumps...the Guppies think they would make great agility jumps :) everyone has an idea :)

I love how curious the little monster is about everything :)

Beware the fired up Bunny

I just had to add this one to the morning posts...Mr Bunny was ina deep slumber this morning so I set up the BunnyCam and watched him as I completed my morning puppy chores. I think letting him wake up when he's good and ready is a good thing-the crazy little boy tore outside, took a long pee, then darted past me up the dog ramp, through the living room, into the kitchen, and was clearly intent on continuing his Mad Hare actions! i finally had to sprint forward and leap to grab his little hind end just before he ran through The Woodle who was in his way. Whew!! What a fired up little hare!! This was the look he gave me as I held up some treats. Be afraid...be verrrry afraid!!

Beware the napping coffee table guppie

Bear Guppie back to his real job of napping in bizarre places :) Note that we cater to his odd behavior by putting a folded comforter on his table...this was done to make ME feel better as i think he prefers the cold, hard, stone surface. Sigh.

(notice the tiny Guppie sleeping in a more conventional place: the fluffy sofa :) good J Guppie!)

Beware the guard guppie...

Bear Guppie leapt up from his nap this morning, certain that he heard an intruder. I couldn't help but laugh at the sleepy, confused look on his face- complete with his dried crunchy tongue peeking out at the world-he is so darned adorable! If I was an intruder I'd probably run away laughing rather than in fear :D something tells me that's not the effect he was hoping for :)

Convinced that all was well with his world after all, he curled back up into a snuggly ball perched up on his favorite napping spot: the stone coffee table.

Such a silly boy...he melts my heart with his ridiculous ways :)

In other news-the Flower Garden weathered the first official freeze of the season...all water troughs had frozen tops this morning but my smart ponies had poked holes in the top to drink. Time to set up the trough heaters!

Unfortunately I've got what feels like the beginnings of a cold...I guess being out in the freezing winds so much of the day must have gotten to me. I sure hope I can find a way to avoid a full blown cold somehow :)

How much do I love my ponies?

How much do I love my silly ponies? So much that all 5'3" of me battled these heavy 16 foot boards in gale force winds in order to create a wind break. The winds are freakin' HOWLING today and they are whipping through the new back stall. We knew this would be an issue but were hoping it wouldn't be too awful. I guess we were wrong ;) All I can say is that I hope the Flowers appreciated the effort...the wind chill is 15F right now (outside high of the day was 32). I'll be carting down warm water tonight since our water trough heaters aren't in place yet. Can you all believe that this afternoon there was a 1/2 inch of ice on the top of each of our 70-100 gallon troughs? It's looking like we're in for a rough winter...bring it on baby! I'm fired up and ready!!!

Good puppies!

Such a well behaved little pack posing for a group shot. Later I realized they were just doing some Aspen peeping behind my back ;)

These were the aspen they were peeping at...smart little monsters!

RTT spots an aspen grove as we hike up to The Woodle Womp Woods...

But she quickly realizes how boring it is to aspen peep near the road and so we head off in search of more gold colors...

One more little drop of yellow bursts joyfully through the conifers...such a beautiful time of year...

p.s. Auntie Kerry with a K, these pictures were posted just for you :)