Let Loos

It’s that time of year again. 130bales down 870 to go.

My 1st “official” client. We’ve been working together for over 5 years. We’ve both come a long way. You are now in the 6th grade and starting to grow up. You’ve ridden almost all of the horses and Mercy has become your favorite.

Today marks a 1st though. After your ride and tasks you asked me to read you a book. I gave you 3 choices and you chose Dr. Suess’s “Oh the Places You’ll Go” I doubt you realize how fitting it is. Though you are non verbal your communication skills are going to take you far.

Our client are excited and happy we have new babies to work with. The last time we got chicks was 3 years ago. We got Frazzles which will have curly feathers, (smaller birds) Blue Star Pullets and Barred Plymoth Rocks. 9 totall, which is plenty of chickens but if any Americanas we might get some more.

Photo of the chicks in thier brooder. Photo of a chick being held and showing off its belly. The red light doesn’t show the colors.

Update on Silver. Her hoof is much improved. Not painful anymore but still looks like the 1 abcess the vet opened up is still draining a bit.

She’s eating dry food in the morning fairly easily in the morning. I have been turning her out the past couple of days, she gets to roam the farm. She is eating the grass. She’ll be done with her antibiotics on Monday. I’ll start taking her down to the other barn and working with her again next week.

Update on Silver.

She’s doing well. She’s eating a mash 3x a day and has access to all the hay she can pick through and a little grass through the snow. I started letting her roam on her own around the farm as she feels comfortable doing. To add to her lip issue, she developed an abscess in her front right foot.

An equine body worker is coming on Sat to give her a massage and some other therapeutic procedures to help her feel good. I’ve been giving her mini-massages and some red-light therapy daily. Monday the vet is coming to re-evaluate her. I think overall she is improving. The farrier comes on Thursday. It’ll be a busy week.

Picture of Silver getting her foot soaked.

Prayers, get well soon wishes and donations would be greatly appreciated for Miss Silver.

While I was on vacation last week Silver got kicked in the face by Mercy. I’m not sure if it was an aggression or accident as I wasn’t around at the time. They usually get along really well. My caregivers did have the vet out ASAP.

This is a very unexpected veterinary bill. Luckily nothing was broken, but Silver does has some nerve damage and paralysis in both her upper and lower lips. She is currently eating mash and learning to eat with just her teeth. Next week I’m going to start some physical therapy with her. She has a follow up visit with the vet in 2 weeks.

Silver has been with my program from almost the beginning and she’s only on her mid-teens. If anyone is able to assist with her vet bills please DM me. It’s over $200 just to have the vet come to our farm and currently I am not able to take her to the vet clinic. This is going to be a long recovery process. It is unlikely she’ll have 100% recovery but she will have the best quality of life we can provide.

1st picture is where she for kicked, the others are of her working with clients and running for fun. As long as she’s happy and comfortable she will
get to keep participating with clients. But she’s going to get some time off first.

My patience and persistence paid off. Red did really well for his 1st farrier visit. Though he didn’t get his back feet trimmed he did manage to be calm, quite and trusting.

Our farrier, Jackal Crenshaw, gave me a high 5 for how well Red did. That’s like getting a hand shake from The Great British Bakeoff’s Paul Hollywood.🤩

Pic of Red w/ my favorite red head student trying to get him to walk on the teeter totter. He put one foot on it.

Let Loos Stables and Guardian Ranch are looking for working students and volunteers.

If you are interested, here is the basic information:

Working students (only at Let Loos Stables) must be at least 13yrs old and able to work independently with little to no supervision after receiving training and must work 6 hours to receive free lessons. Lessons are dependent on what the working student’s level and interests are. Please note lessons don't have to be horse related.

Volunteers needed at Let Loos for Guardian Ranch horses & Guardian Ranch) may be younger than 13 but must be accompanied by an adult volunteer.

Let Loos Stables is located in the Kelso school district and Busses from Huntington and the High School Drive by every school day.

For more information please send a DM or email [email protected]

or [email protected]

Red is working on building trust and I’m working on being clear and concise on my requests. When he’s in a stall or area where he doesn’t have a “big” escape route we do better. But when we’re out in the open and have lots of distractions and choices we have difficulty attaching and trusting. Any recommendations Shannon Sikes Knapp, Tanner Jobe, Jake LaRue