Updates

Good news! The warm weather has returned. By warm, of course, I mean roughly 20 degrees Fahrenheit. This means I can venture out into the winter wonderland to visit my filly. The footing is still problematic due to ice under the foot or so of snow, so I haven't done any training. I did throw a halter on her in the pasture, however, to see how much she remembers. I was pleasantly surprised to find that she is soft and responsive. 

Thankfully, as you can see in the picture above, Ava has grown hair over all of her bald patches! She still has a few suspect scabs I'm keeping an eye on, but this is a huge improvement. 

I noticed that she has lost her hay belly, so she is now getting half a cup of grain once a day. Depending on how she responds to that emotionally and physically, I might change it to twice a day. 

So curious

As for me, I have been spending my winter months doing the whole college thing. The highlight of my weekly schedule is that I have once more enrolled in a college level riding course. It is an introduction to reining and cutting, which is completely foreign to me. What an exciting learning opportunities. While Ava enjoys her winter vacation, I've been enjoying another of my hobbies: fish keeping!

This is Astor.

If you have read my last blog, you will know that I have owned several bettas. My first betta lived a long life, but all the fish that followed died quickly and I couldn't figure out why. A little research later, I discovered that it is actually harmful for bettas to be kept in unheated 1 gallon fishbowls like mine.

Astor is now comfortably situated in a 2.5 gallon heated, filtered aquarium. I even got some marimo moss balls to keep him company. I was amazed by how active he became when I put him in the new tank. He moves around more and his fins have grown out. Hopefully, this means he will live a longer, healthier life.