So I told you I got Remus and he is home safe and sound. He is by himself right now due to we have met Tate, we love Tate, but I haven’t had time to go get Tate yet! Remus seems to be okay on his own in his paddock. However Saturday night when I went out to put him in (I am kind of doing a 6 am-10 shift in the am for him then letting him out in early evening until almost dark since I don’t want him out overnight on his own) he was running and sweating. I though it might be the horse flies since he had big welt on his neck (the horse flies here are not numerous but they are mean) but then I heard all the pop pop in the distance Yep fireworks. Sigh. He was UP like 17 hands up. LOL. I put him in his stall and gave him some hay (he is not a fan of the Bermuda hay so popular here in TN he will nibble on it but ehh, he says not my orchard and timothy he says) and he spun a bit but seemed to settle down.
I also have some compressed alfalfa with timothy and compressed plain timothy which I have been feeding in a bucket. He does like that for sure. I don’t think he will starve. He is on Omolene 100 only because it was available and is 10 percent protein. He literally gets a handful with his supplements to mix in so I think this is all good. Sunday morning he was bright eyed and bushy tailed and banging on his stall for his grain when he saw me. After feeding him, I put his purple fly sheet (it is a bit thick I need a better cooler one but it is not hot today yet) and his mask and turned him out for a while.
On with the story!
First off, Shawn texted me around 2 and told me the driver would be there soon then she texted me these photos of Remus in the big rig all by himself. He was on his way! Shawn said he had about 12 flakes of hay in front of him so she thought he would be fine! 🙂
I left around midday Thursday to head toward Kentucky. I took both Gretchen and Ollie with me so Mark didn’t have to stress about them since he had a doc appt on Friday etc. They love to ride so no problem there. Off we went.
I decided rather than going old boring I40 I would go the Kentucky Parkway. Good choice. Gorgeous ride a bit hilly but pretty views. But BORING. OMG SO BORING. Let’s just say it was a long ride. Let’s also bring up the maps part of this journey. Have you ever driven with someone who tells you directions but gets them wrong like half of the time? Yeah. That was Maps on my iPhone for some reason on Thur and Friday. I kid you not. Thursday was not so bad but I noticed a few bobbles along the way where she had the wrong exit number but the correct direction. So I finally made Lexington by about 7 or so that night…..not sure why it took me so long considering it should not have.
The next day coming back after getting Remus the map not only was saying the wrong exit # but it kept taking me off road on these back roads that took me miles out of my way. I finally got back to Hwy 51 and sharply turned maps off. Go away woman your voice bothers me anyway! 🙂
But as Thursday night approached I drove into Lexington with my head spinning on my neck trying to see all the sights (I was like BuBo the owl!) Keeneland, Kentucky Horse Park, Man o’ War Boulevard and all the gorgeous farms!! OH MY I have to go back and explore! !It was very neat to see all that history.
But I ended up staying at the worst La Quinta in the world on Thursday night after getting into Lexington. Like the worst. UGH. The room was clean but the hotel was just old and decrepit and I am really shocked a La Quinta would be this bad shape. The door to my room was actually splintered from it looks like someone breaking it open. Shudder. I was up at 5 am watching my phone waiting for the driver to call me to let me know Remus was in KY. My hotel was three minutes from where he would be delivered.
The driver called me at 630 am and said Remus was tucked in the stall for some rest and he would be there whenever I wanted to go pick him up. (I had decided Remus needed a potty break and a chill time in the layover before I loaded him so I headed to the layover place around 8ish to grab him). I pulled up to the barn and was like shit how will I find my horse? It was a big barn.
But lo and behold as I walked in the aisleway looky who I found in the first stall?
He actually nickered when he saw me. Oh you big buckskin goof ball! HA. I paid the layover place and I loaded the big guy up and off we went!!
The funny thing is everywhere we stopped for gas or for a potty break for dogs, I would open up the trailer to give him a break and I would go walk the dogs or go inside for a drink and I would come out and there would be two or three people standing outside the trailer oohing and ahhing over Remus. He had a fan club everywhere we stopped.
We continued on back home on the longest ride ever especially with the side trips that my iPhone kept sending me on. Rolling eyes. But we made it, and the dogs were happy to be home and I keep thinking Remus must have wondered what the hell were doing. I am sure the air ride big rig was more comfy on his bones than mine on the rattling TN roads. Poor guy. I could barely walk by the time I got out of the truck Friday night. Like my hip was fused in place. OLD OLD OLD. 🙂 I do want to go back to Lexington sometime. I would love to explore it more with Mark and not drag a trailer along with us.
It was an exhausting drive for sure. I think I have done like 2000 miles considering the drive from DE to TN and then this one (in the last month) not including the driving around here. Whew. Hope everyone had more relaxing weeks/weekends than me!
In other news Smartpaks were delivered on Thursday afternoon while I was driving to KY. Mark stayed at his apartment Thursday but came back on Friday and found the Smartpak box torn open on the driveway and luckily only one well devoured. I am about ready to kill a raccoon or two. Stay tuned. Luckily once we put the stuff in the barn its in a room with a lock and no access but those things are PISSING ME OFF…….
Fat Buckskin in a Little Suit 
Remus and his hay… Oy. Next thing you know, he’s going to be as picky as SUBI. hahaha! Just saying… Strangely enough, hay isn’t something he’s picky about, though he prefers the “cheap” TS chopped hay vs the dengi chopped or TC chopped hay…. We rarely have cheap tastes. Granted we are only allowed 1st cut hay thanks to chunk 1 and mini explosion…
Love all these extra pictures! Other than the raccoon. I saw one larger than Hermione in the paddock yesterday… I can mail it to you if you’d like. And you need to send pictures of Remus in the purple fly sheet!
Love the layover barn! It’s huge! Temps creeping back up today here. Ugh.
LikeLiked by 1 person
bit your tongue re Remus getting like Subi LOL! Also the racoon here is almost the size of your lab LOL!
LikeLiked by 1 person
lol
LikeLike
May can be funny about her hay. She will try to “hold out” for the good stuff. Give her something just to chew on, and she will act like she is starving until everyone leaves the barn. When you come back? She is still pretending to be starving but all the “lesser” hay has disappeared. Total Mystery 😉
When you go back to Lex for fun, let me know! Keeneland won’t open back up until the fall, so you’re probably better off waiting until then anyway. Even if I can’t meet you there, I can make some recommendation for food and such. (and there is always LRK3DE!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
oh man, i can’t even imagine logging those many driving miles in such a short amount of time… phew!! i’m tired just reading this!! sounds totally worth it tho to have that sweet buckskin finally home ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do not envy your trip at all! So glad everything went fairly smoothly though. What a NAUGHTY trash panda! I’d be pissed for sure, but I also think they are hella cute hahaha.
LikeLiked by 1 person
YAY REMUS IS HOME!!
What a trooper! That big rig looks pretty nice, I bet he thought he was a VERY fancy pony!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Bermuda hay sucks and it took a while before ours realized that was what they were getting. I try to find fescue when possible but even that’s a far cry from orchard or timothy. I miss northern hay.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds like quite an adventure! But I’m glad you’re both home safe and sound.
I used to have a neighbor up the road who liked to target shoot with some kind of semi automatic weapon. Sounded much like fireworks. I HATED it, but it really did desensitize my horses to those sounds. They could care less now. Sorry poor Remus got worked up. I’m sure he’ll be even happier when his buddy arrives!
LikeLike
Phew! What a long trip! So glad you got him home though and he seems to be settling alright. That’s SO CUTE he nickered at you when he saw you! That is a lot of miles but that air ride trailer looks lovely! I’d travel in it LOL
LikeLiked by 1 person
I bet Remus was SO RELIEVED to see you! And serious LOL about the fan clubs.
If you don’t straight up kill the raccoons but instead choose to trap and relocate….drive the fuckers a good 30 miles away. We have legit had the EXACT SAME ONES return when we dropped them off 10-20 miles away. And we live in a rural area! WTF you ridiculous animals!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahahaha OMG this comment cracks me up… “drive the fuckers a good 30 miles away” hahahaha I am dying. That is a riot but I am sure it wasn’t funny for you in the moment hahahaha.
LikeLiked by 1 person
😉 Definitely funny in hindsight. Fortunately my parents dealt with this particular issue and I was just a sidekick to the drama. I have been woken up by raccoons being royal shitheads though when I used to live in a barn apartment. My bedroom had a door to the tackroom (which was always locked from my side) where the coons would routinely go to steal catfood. All well and good until they start fighting about it! A raccoon fight literal FEET from my head (albeit with a wall between) is the worst way to wake up. Screaming demon banshee spawn.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I went out and chased them away last nite with a flashlight. Mark was laughing so hard at me cause i was full on pissed off. They were sucking my hummingbird feeder DRY!. GO FIND YOUR OWN FOOD YOU PESTS. HA HA we do have a bobcat in the area, I hope he likes raccoon meat. (TRUTH : We saw a bobcat cross our road the other nite (about a mile or two from our house he just sauntered by in no hurry like he owned the state). WHERE THE F have i moved. But if the bobcat eats said Raccoons I will not cry a tear. HA They are fat fat fat Raccoons.
LikeLike
I bet the bobcat is smart enough not to tango with trash pandas. I’d be scared to let my dogs after one knowing the teeth they have lol
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love that he nickered to you! Like hey mom, where in the world have you been? haha
Trailering long distances exhausts me and I am literally just sitting there LOL! I get all cramped up, too, so I feel you on that. So glad the long driving miles are behind you now!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
every am he nickers when I come out of the house and he seems me coming (Now that is for breakfast but still it is cute) he also nickers when I return for the store. Course he thinks I have put him solitary confinementLOL! 🙂
LikeLike
Ellie nickers whenever she hears me come out of the house no matter the time of day, because maybe I will bring FOOD! Haha. Face it, we are just the food delivery. Hopefully he will like his new friend Tate!
LikeLike
Way too much driving for me, but it must be such a relief to have him home!
LikeLiked by 1 person
it is a relief but also worrisome as i am going way next week for work for a week. Poor mark 😉
LikeLike
So happy for you that you’re all settled in and the worst of the stress and driving is over! The raccoons here steal the cat food, and one memorable morning, I surprised them and watched one grab for and make off with the ‘raccoon proof’ cat food bin as he ran off. I’m not sure I’m that quick thinking in an emergency, so gotta give him kudos for that. The bin was bigger than him, so it was actually amusing watching him attempt to haul it away in hopes of breaking into it in his secret lair.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you got him home!
LikeLike
Yay for him getting home safe! Great news!
LikeLike
iPhone maps are terrible- Google maps aaaallll the way.
Lexington is super gorgeous- you need to come to Rolex, errr, Land Rover (shall we call it “Rover?”) next year!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad Remus is home safe & sound, even if it was exhausting! Definitely go back to explore Lexington (when you’re not so stuck from driving 😬). I still remember driving around and seeing just a few of the fancy farms when my friends family brought me on a trip with them as a kid – Old Friends, Keeneland and the KHP were so much fun to visit!
LikeLike