Waiting for turnout

I'm still going to the barn twice a day and grazing Dude and Bestie and mucking their stalls. This weekend one horse on solo turnout was at a show, so I was able to use his empty field to put them out for a couple hours (separately) on Friday and Saturday. Sunday was a washout ... after heavy rain Saturday night the fields were a mess and in fact, all the horses were in both Sunday and today.

The weather forecast does not look at all good. At this point the fields are so wet that we would need at least two and maybe three days of sun before they'd dry out enough for me to consider it "safe" to put Dude out without the risk of him losing a a shoe. And because the horses were turned out when it was pretty muddy, the fields are punched pretty full of pockets.

The muddy conditions are also making me nervous with Bestie, because the vet had preached caution about putting her out when really wet because the risk for picking up cellulitis would be higher. I guess once it gets nicer the plan is to try her with Lexie, one of the mares in the group that she was out with before, whom she didn't seem to have any problems with. Fingers crossed. I told barn manager Emma tonight that I didn't want that arrangement to be tried unless I was present. I'm just playing it super cautiously. At this point she's well on the way to recovery and I don't want to jeopardize that.

Despite the lack of turnout Dude and Bestie have been very good. They both seem to have chilled out somewhat at the new barn. Tonight a rabbit shot out of the woods about 15 feet from Bestie and I and she didn't even pick up her head. Dude had his door open today with his stallguard up and from Emma's report he was perfectly well behaved, except for some cranky faces--that will never change!

Last week I heard the very sad news that my friend Caroline had to put her Jake down. It ended up being liver cancer; who would've thought. He had been up and down healthwise since we all departed the Fairfax barn in early May, and it sounded like she had investigated everything medically with nothing conclusive until recently when a tumor showed up. Very, very sad for her since she had owned his grandma and his mom. I hope that when she's ready she will find another pony to love.