So how did last week go for you?

Most horses that board here usually stay until they cross the Rainbow Bridge.  But sometimes their owners have to move to a different part of Florida, or even a different state.  I have had several over the years, and it really wasn’t a big deal.  I pack them off with their health records, some grain for the transition, and a little blurb about the horses habits.  Give the horses their last carrots from me, a hug to the owners and they are gone.

The two that moved last week seem to be a whole different ball game.  I feel like a parent that is sending their kids off to college in another state.  It’s not just packing their lunch, giving them their book bag and putting them on the bus.  It’s organizing all the paperwork to get them out of the state plus.

The one horse came in with many health issues.  It’s like an onion.  We’re still pealing back the layers.  The young college student who owns them is a very hands on owner, but has so much going on in her life right now that I’m trying to cover her with the horses while she deals with a boyfriend who just had surgery the week before.  She is tying up loosed ends with the teaching job she is leaving here, graduating college, being very excited about her new career at a very prestigious college in Nashville, and the “big move” itself.

Her parents live in Alabama and are not here to help her.  Her father is going to come down and drive a rental truck with all her personal belongings.  She and a girlfriend are moving the horses.  The boyfriend will be coming up the following week after he has his last doctors visit.  He’s totally enjoying the loving care he is getting, which is usually reserved for the horses.  (I think he’s milking it)

So where did that leave me.  Well the normal paperwork for the Ag Station.  Health Certificates and current Coggins.  Which, even though we started in plenty of time, we were four days away from leaving, and still didn’t have the Health Certificate.  The secretary has been out sick for a week.  Oh My!  The owner was concerned about changing grain since the one horse is on a very strict special diet.  So I got an extra bag of grain to send with her.  I also checked and the grain company does sell in Nashville also.  I am sending hay because the hay I use is not local to that area.  I have included their shots, worming, and farrier schedule.  Feeding schedule with a list all their supplement’s and medication dosages.  Some hints on their handling instructions.  Boy, I wish people would give me a heads up about that when they move in.  It’s always a trial and error period until you work the bugs out of the system.  Check.

What could be packed a head of time is, and I’m going to have to make a list so I don’t forget to send what I’m still using.  Lists are a good thing when you are old and stupid.  I refuse to be old and senile, I like stupid better.  Check.

The owner has the names of the specialized vets that have been working on this case, so she can continue the process with her new vet.  Check.

My husband has gone over her trailer to make sure that it’s road worthy for the trip. Check.

Let me see, paperwork, feed, hay, blankets, trunk, misc. barn items, horses, give hugs, cry, wave goodbye, collapse, text to make sure they made it there safely, and start life again.

Just another day in Paradise.